Gordon Foundation Newsletter - Autumn 2012

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From: Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation <mharrison@gordonfn.org>
Date: 29 November 2012 12:54
Subject: Gordon Foundation Newsletter - Autumn 2012

Autumn 2012 View this email in your browser President's Message Thomas S. Axworthy   Preserving Canada's water. Empowering Canada's North - The Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation In achieving the Gordon Foundation's goal of "Preserving Canada's water. Empowering Canada's North," the Foundation has re-directed its program spending so that more than two-thirds of our activities have a northern focus. The Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship Program will recruit a new cohort of Fellows in early 2013. The Mackenzie River Basin Initiative supported the Rosenberg International Forum on Water in the fall of 2012 to draw international attention to the significance of the Mackenzie. The Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program will be hosting its annual conference on January 29-30, 2013 on the theme Arctic People and Security. In carrying out these initiatives, we strive to ensure that northerners are fully engaged. Members of our Board, like Mary Simon, and partnerships like ones we share with the Small Change Fund's North of 55 Fund, are crucial in this regard. Designed to support small-scale projects in the North, the Fund's attention to capacity building, leadership and networking is well aligned with the Foundation's goals.    Empowering the North means giving northerners themselves the tools to create their own futures. That is the underlying mission of all of our northern programs.   Message from the Board of Directors The Board of Directors of the Gordon Foundation is pleased to welcome two new members: Willa Black, vice-president, corporate affairs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) for Cisco Canada; and Mary Simon, chairperson of the National Committee on Inuit Education. Willa Black Willa Black is responsible for strategies designed to drive Cisco's external brand relevance and transformational impact across key constituencies. She leads initiatives in support of CSR, building strategic partnerships and reinforcing the company's role as an organization committed to social advancement across governments, non-governmental organizations, and communities of all kinds with a focus on Education and Healthcare. Black is a 30-year veteran of the public relations and marketing industry, and has been with Cisco since 1999. In 2011 she was named one of Canada's Top 25 Women of Influence.    Mary Simon Mary Simon has advanced critical social, economic and human rights for Canadian Inuit regionally, nationally and internationally. Over four decades she has held senior leadership positions including, president of Makivik Corporation (the Land Claims Organisation for the Inuit of Nunavik), president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Canadian Ambassador For Circumpolar Affairs as well as to the Kingdom of Denmark. More recently for six years, she was the president of Canada's National Inuit organization, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Gold Order of Greenland. Toronto | January 29-30, 2013 The goal of this conference is to explore different ways of conceptualizing and understanding security in the Arctic in order to develop and implement sounder, more productive, and more inclusive public policies in the North.   The traditional view of Arctic security is focused primarily on military defence, and is habitually seen as distinct from local, northern understandings of security that are often inclusive of economic and social concerns.   This conference is designed to engage decision-makers and the academic community in a conversation about how to better integrate the needs and wants of northern residents into the broader Arctic security debate. Register here Arctic Security 865 followers 1,056 tweets following 633 people follow Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy Presented by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and Simon Fraser University's Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT), the prestigious Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy convened in Vancouver, BC from Sept. 5 to 7, 2012 to discuss the national and global importance of the Mackenzie River Basin and what can be done to protect it going forward. Along with presentations from the Honourable Bob McLeod, Premier of the Northwest Territories, and The Honourable Michael Miltenberger, Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, panellists were also invited to a special presentation by Dr. Lance Lesack, professor of limnology and biogeochemistry at Simon Fraser University. The lecture, entitled "The Mackenzie Basin: Why it Matters to Canada and the World", is available online in video and PDF formats.   The outcomes of the three-day discussions are currently being compiled into a report to be released in early 2013. EVENT Munk-Gordon Arctic Speaker Series welcomes J. Michael Miltenberger Northwest Territories Devolution and the Impacts on Water December 10, 2012 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Toronto The Speaker Series is pleased to host Minister J. Michael Miltenberger of the NWT as our December keynote speaker. Minister Miltenberger will review an initiative currently underway that could see authority over NWT's land, water and resources migrate from Ottawa to the NWT. He will highlight the responsibilities of water management as they currently exist in the NWT and will discuss how this might change when and if this authority is devolved. Register here PUBLICATION Speech by Thomas S. Axworthy "The North's Contending Visions" The North's Contending Visions Senior Fellows Luncheon Massey College University of Toronto Delivered Nov. 14, 2012 Dr. Axworthy's speech describes four contending visions of the North: a military frontier, a treasure trove, a wilderness park and a homeland. In outlining these contending visions Dr. Axworthy draws heavily on his experiences with the 2012 Jane Glassco Arctic Fellows, the work of the Gordon Foundation, as well as the works of prominent northerners. In his analysis he concludes that the North as a Homeland is most apt, as it reflects the realities on the ground. Download here

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GEORGE LESSARD

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