Town hall is a twitter-character attempt to make it clear these are panels you can participate in, if you visit the online discussion webpage. So go, discuss, and let me know what happens.
From the Africa Canada Accountability Coalition:
On November 2, 2010 ACAC and the The Mark News are co-sponsoring an online discussion on the Mark’s website to enable Canadians to learn about and shape Canada’s policy options in the Great Lakes Region of Africa – where our foreign policy can mean the difference between justice or impunity for suspected war criminals living in Canada, responsible or exploitative mining investment and effective or wasted aid.
Experts include:
- Hon. Paul Dewar, chair of the Canadian All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity (9:15 – 10 am EST);
- Jim Freedman, professor of development studies in the department of Anthropology at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and former member of the United Nations’ Expert Panels advising the Security Council on measures to restore stability to Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (10:00 – 11:00 am EST);
- Desiree Zwanck, gender advisor to a local NGO called Heal Africa in Goma, DRC (11:00 – 12:00 pm EST);
- Ian Smillie, an internationally recognized development expert and leader of the effort to stop the trade of ‘blood diamonds’; and (12:00 – 1:00 pm EST);
- Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade (DFAIT) representatives (1:00 – 2:00 pm EST);
- Matt Eisenbrandt, legal coordinator for the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ), the first organization in Canada that mobilizes civil society to bring war criminals to justice and to offer compensation to survivors (2:00 – 3:00 pm EST);
- Prof. Frank Chalk, co-founder of the Will to Intervene (W2I) project (3:00 – 4:00 pm EST);
- Gerald Caplan, an international authority on the Rwandan genocide (4:00 – 5:00 pm EST).
This is a new way of forming policy: vetted by experts, shaped by citizens; raise your voice and contribute by participating in the discussion – all you have to do is go to the Mark’s website and starting talking.
Click here for more information on this event.