FORUM FOR DISCUSSION:
Event organizers hope to brand Halifax as ‘global meeting place’ through security conference

Halifax is again preparing to welcome a five-star array of senior government officials, top-ranking military officers, thinkers and writers for discussions on a broad spectrum of issues.

The Halifax International Security Forum runs from Nov. 18-20. Among the topics on this year’s agenda are the Arab Spring, the global financial crisis, and the post 9/11 world.

But while the issues discussed may be global, organizers say the forum has a significant impact that is regional and local. There are economic benefits, which are in the process of being studied. “More than that, what we’re doing is regenerating the word ‘Halifax’ as a global word, as a global meeting place,” says Peter Van Praagh, president of the Halifax International Security Forum. “And that is something that is very important. What we’re trying to do is actually brand Halifax as synonymous with global meeting place where important decisions and plans get made.”

This is the forum’s third year. Past attendees include former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. John McCain (the Republican nominee for U.S. president in 2008) and defence ministers from Afghanistan, New Zealand, Colombia and Belgium. This year, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will be among those coming to Halifax.

“It’s a great opportunity to look back at the past calendar year, what’s happened, why it happened, how it has happened, what can be taken forward into the next calendar year to help make good decisions going forward,” Van Praagh says.

He notes that discussions initiated at the forum have had concrete impacts in the past.

Last year, according to Van Praagh, U.S. and Israeli officials (including Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak) publicly discussed a controversy over enhanced screening at American airports. Fast forward to this August, and the announcement that officials with the two countries were working together to test the Israeli screening model in the United States. “We do know that this conversation started in Halifax,” Van Praagh says.

Van Praagh says it’s important for the region that there is a venue in Atlantic Canada where serious people can come together to discuss important issues. And decisions springing from those discussions, he notes, can affect people everywhere and their day-to-day lives.

By Rob Antle