Salt Spring Forum

We need heroes and role models. People to show us how good we, as human beings, can be. People like Palestinian physician Izzeldin Abuelaish who, despite enormous personal loss, embodies the humanity that we all contain. Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish will join the Salt Spring Forum in conversation on Friday, September 26th at 7:30 p.m. at ArtSpring. Dr. Abuelaish is an obstetrician and gynecologist who is currently an associate professor of global health at the University of Toronto. He was born and raised in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip. From a young age, Izzeldin Abuelaish dreamed of being a doctor. After winning a scholarship, he studied medicine in Cairo and Saudi Arabia and then completed a medical residency at the Soroka Medical Centre in Israel, while living with his family in Gaza – and dealing with border checkpoints regularly. Dr. Abuelaish was the first Palestinian to receive an appointment in medicine at an Israeli hospital. In 2009, Dr. Abuela…

Everything can change in an instant. For Captain Trevor Greene, it was an axe-strike to the back of his head – on March 4, 2006 – that instantly and profoundly changed his life. Greene, an officer with the Canadian Forces, had taken his helmet off as a gesture of goodwill while meeting with the elders of an Afghan village. Suddenly, a teenager affiliated with the Taliban buried a stone axe into the back of his head. On Friday, April 11 at ArtSpring, Trevor Greene will join the Salt Spring Forum to discuss his incredible story of recovery, inspiration and hope. After the horrific injury, doctors thought Greene’s brain damage would render him permanently unable to move or even communicate. Greene’s recovery has defied all medical expectations. Today, he can speak clearly and he works hard towards walking. Neurologists have a growing appreciation of the brain’s ability to relearn, rewire and adapt. As Greene’s experience demonstrates, the healing can continue for ye…

In 2008, the position of Parliamentary Budget Officer was established to create more transparency and accountability for the spending of taxpayer money. Did it work, and if so, why? Can an accountant become a national hero? On Wednesday, March 12 at ArtSpring, the Salt Spring Forum is delighted to host Canada’s first Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, for a discussion about fiscal transparency, good government, and personal loss. Page was a career civil servant who, in 2008, was given the independent authority to analyse and report on all of the federal government’s spending plans. At the same time, he sufferred a profound loss in his personal life. Page threw aside his bureaucratic caution and adopted a truly fearless attitude to his new job. As a result, the Parliamentary Budget Office was an experiment in fiscal transparency that, on file after file, caused enormous embarrassment to the  government. Kevin Page was not reappointed for a second term as Parli…

Many Salt Springers care passionately about the environment. We ask ourselves questions like what our dependence on oil means for our future. Many of us want to discuss these problems so we can learn more and find solutions. Now we have the opportunity to learn more. The Salt Spring Forum hosts UBC graduate students at the Gulf Islands Secondary School on March 8 and 9 for a conference on Oil, the Environment, and the Future of Canada. The public is warmly invited to attend this event. Forum Chair and UBC Political Science Professor Michael Byers will bring a group of his graduate students to Salt Spring to present various papers about energy and the environment. The two-day event will feature papers like “Dangerous Waters: Navigating Environmental Risk in the Northwest Passage and Juan de Fuca Strait” and “Science: The PR Problem of the Oil Sands”. The students presenting at the conference are registered in Michael Byers’ International Organization course, which ex…

How many politicians have you met who devote their careers to making positive social change? Who tirelessly tackle issues such as poverty, immigration, public transit, and environmental protection? Who fight to make the world a better place for all? Olivia Chow MP is one such politician, and she will join the Salt Spring Forum in discussion on Sunday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m. at ArtSpring. Last month, Olivia Chow released her much anticipated autobiography My Journey, which details her journey from Hong Kong to Canada, from artist to politician, and from wife to widow of the late Jack Layton. As Chow told Macleans magazine, My Journey is about “immigration, adversity, public service and love.” First elected to public office at the age of 28, Olivia Chow has served multiple terms on the Toronto School Board and Toronto City Council. She has been elected as a Member of Parliament three times for the Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina. Olivia Chow and Jack Layton etched …

The ocean is our planet’s life-blood. And at the detriment of its own well-being, it has been absorbing much of the extra heat and carbon dioxide associated with climate change. To help us further understand and appreciate the ocean, the Salt Spring Forum hosts world-renowned oceanographer Dr. Kate Moran on Saturday, February 1 at 7:30 p.m. at ArtSpring. As President & CEO of Ocean Networks Canada at the University of Victoria, Dr. Moran understands first-hand the importance of oceans. At Saturday’s Forum event, this leading marine scientist will help us discover the ocean to understand our changing planet. Ocean Networks Canada operates the world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS ocean observatories that collect a huge variety of data over long periods. They support research by literally 1000s of scientists. Prior to this important work, Dr. Moran was an advisor to US President Barack Obama on science and technology policy. From 2009 to 2011, she worked at the White Ho…

It’s time to chase away the winter blues on January 11th – with a world-class lesson in happiness! John Helliwell has persuaded governments around the world to pay attention to happiness when forming policies. The Salt Spring Forum is delighted to host this globally-renown economist and well-being expert at ArtSpring on Saturday, January 11th at 7:30 p.m. In 2011, the United Nations invited member countries to measure the happiness of their people and to use this to help guide their policies. A year later, the first World Happiness Report was co-edited by John Helliwell and formed the basis for the first UN high-level meeting on happiness and well-being. The report focuses on happiness rather than per capita GDP as the measure of well-being. The World Happiness Report has since become an annual publication, and has been downloaded millions of times. According to the report, six key factors affect happiness: per capita GDP, life expectancy, freedom to make life ch…

In 1965, a young man on assignment in India for the U.S. Department of Agriculture detected the early signs of an impending famine. His urgent warning to the Indian and U.S. governments saved millions of lives. The man was Lester Brown, a key figure in the creation of the global environmental movement. He will join the Salt Spring Forum in conversation on Sunday, November 10, at 7:30 pm at ArtSpring. Lester Brown pioneered the concept of ‘sustainable development’ and recognized the process of ‘globalization’ well before the term existed. He is the founder of the Worldwatch and Earth Policy institutes, two major environmental research groups. For half a century, Lester Brown has helped us to understand the interconnections between overpopulation, water shortages, and climate change, and their effect on food security. His book Who Will Feed China? Wake-up Call for a Small Planet led to a broad restructuring of China’s agricultural policy. Lester Brown has always sough…

Edward Snowden has revealed that the U.S. National Security Agency routinely accesses e-mails and telephone calls around the world. The Communications and Security Establishment Canada is currently amidst allegations of spying against the Brazilian government. What privacy rights do citizens have and to what extent do governments and companies have access to communications? The Salt Spring Forum hosts Ron Deibert, the world’s leading expert on technology, security, and human rights, for an eye-opening discussion on November 1st at ArtSpring. Ron Deibert directs both the Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. He is also a professor of political science and a recipient of the Order of Ontario and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal. His latest book is Black Code: Inside the Battle for Cyberspace (McClelland & Stewart, 2013). Professor Deibert has also co-authored ground-breaking reports such as Tracking Ghostnet, wh…

Are the children and youth of B.C. adequately protected from abuse? Do they have proper access to the mental health services they need? Who is making sure they are safe and cared for? The Salt Spring Forum and the Gulf Islands Secondary School’s Student Council host Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a tireless champion for the rights of young people and B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth, on October 24 at 2:50 p.m. at G.I.S.S. For seven years Turpel-Lafond has been uniquely placed to advocate for the rights and needs of the province’s children and to ensure youth who receive government services in B.C. are protected and safe. For example, since the 2009 report Turpel-Lafond published on the murder of Christian Lee of Oak Bay by his father, she has been calling for a comprehensive strategy for protecting youth from domestic violence. The provincial government still hasn’t unveiled the strategy despite commitments to do so September of last year – though it says it hop…

Salt Spring author Timothy Brook has a big problem with his new book Mr Selden’s Map of China. When people ask, “What is the book about?” there is no simple answer he can give that even remotely does justice to its subject matter. “It’s a book about a map.” “It’s a book about 17th Century trade routes in the South China Sea.” “It’s about the origins of maritime law.” “It’s about manuscripts in Oxford University’s Bodleian Library.” “It’s about the intersection of scholarship, politics, exploration and commerce at the infancy of a globalized economy.” Any of these answers will send the average reader running for shelter rather than off to the nearest bookstore. The truth is that the book is really a guided tour through amazing adventures (some swashbuckling, some intellectual, some geographical, some just plain incredible) that Europeans encountered in the post-Elizabethan age when they first ventured into the mysterious world of the Far East. As in his e…

What if all of us, within our own constraints and circumstances, used our money to generate as much good as possible? On June 25th, the Salt Spring Forum presents Joel Solomon, an investor who uses his money to contribute to socially and environmentally positive ventures, and who strives to make the world a better place. You might be asking, who is Joel Solomon? Have you heard of Vision Vancouver, the progressive municipal political party that governs BC’s largest city? Solomon was the initiating force behind that. Have you heard of Hollyhock, the magical lifelong learning centre on Cortes Island? It was co-founded by Solomon. Have you heard of the TED Lectures? Joel Solomon is the force behind the recent move of the TED Lectures to Vancouver. Speaking of TED, there’s a very heartwarming talk by Solomon on the Forum’s website, in which he speaks about the journey that led him to use his money for good. Watching it will inspire you to do the same. Furthermore, Joel Solo…

Holding those accountable who have committed human rights violations is an enormous challenge, as are preventing global conflict and protecting human rights. Louise Arbour, the Salt Spring Forum’s next speaker on Saturday, June 1, has met these challenges head-on throughout her incredible career. A former Supreme Court of Canada judge, Louise Arbour is best known for her work as a Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. In 1999, when Slobadan Milosevic was still the president of Yugoslavia, Arbour indicted him for crimes against humanity and genocide. This was the first time that an international court had indicted a sitting head of state. During her four year term (2004-2008) as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Arbour took strong stands on certain issues. Her criticism of the US-led “war on terror” and the country’s treatment of detainees was met with overt hostility from the George W. Bush Administration. Dur…

With debates about bitumen pipelines dominating politics and the news, the Salt Spring Forum presents Thomas Berger – iconic Canadian politician, judge, and activist – on May 18th at ArtSpring. Justice Berger will discuss oil and gas development, environmental protection, indigenous rights, and the decisions we now face in our own province. Thomas Berger served as commissioner of the well-known Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry in the 1970s. In this role, it was Berger’s responsibility to examine the impact that the proposed natural gas pipeline would have on the people and the land it would cross. Justice Berger consulted extensively with indigenous peoples across the North, holding hearings to listen to their perspectives and he also pioneered modern environmental impact assessment. In the testimony he obtained, perspectives ranged from claims that the pipeline would be an excellent economic opportunity to the perception of the pipeline as a direct threat to the land and i…