Consul General Andrew Parker, along with staff from the Political and Economic section, Public Affairs section, and Homeland Security Investigation unit participated in a colloquium on Quebec’s U.S. strategy at the École nationale d’administration publique (ÉNAP), organized by the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les relations internationales du Canada et du Québec (CIRRICQ), and its Groupe d’études sur les relations internationales du Québec (GÉRIQ). The colloquium consisted in a series of animated discussions between speakers from the public and the private sectors, on topics ranging from energy to economic partnerships to security and border issues cooperation.
Minister of International Relations, La Francophonie, and External Trade, Jean-François Lisée discussed the Quebec government’s priorities in the U.S., followed by welcome remarks by Consul General Parker who highlighted the role the Embassy and consulates play in maintaining prosperous relations between the U.S. and Canada.
Among those involved in the conference were several Department of State exchange program alumni, including Stéphane Roussel, Director of CIRRICQ; Stéphane Paquin, Director of GÉRIQ; Joël Plouffe, Researcher at ÉNAP; Frédérick Gagnon, Acting Director, Raoul-Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Quebec at Montreal, Pierre Martin, Director of the Chair of American Political and Economic Studies at the University of Montreal; and Michael Hawes, Executive Director of the Canada – U.S. Fulbright Program. Panelists shared their expertise and concluded each topic by opening up the conversation to questions from the public in the room and via Twitter. The Consulate is proud to have supported the participation of several American panelists through a grant and thanks all of the partners for their hard work executing such a well-organized and high quality interactive discussion. Check out our Flickr page and GÉRIQ’s Facebook page for photos of the event.
