Saturday Speaker Series
Fall 2026:
Saturday Speaker Series
The State of the World
Canada and the Shattering of World Order
Saturday, October 3, 2026
The Prime Minister of Canada delivered a eulogy for the Rules-Based International Order at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mr. Carney described the RBIO as a “fiction” that was “partially false,” and suggests that we should not mourn its passing, but the implications of the shattering of world order are immense for a middle power like Canada. We are now in a world characterized by the return of great power conflict; a great economic regression; and a global democratic recession. It’s time for Canada to wake up from its decadent assumptions and get serious about strategic leadership for our country.
Presenter: Dr Mark S. Williams is a professor of Political Studies and Global Studies at Vancouver Island University and an adjunct faculty member in Political Science at UBC. He is the president of the Vancouver Island Branch of the Canadian International Council, a non-partisan think tank and democratic forum on Canadian foreign policy that has been in existence for nearly a century.
Mark is the editor of The Politics of the Asia-Pacific: Triumphs, Challenges, and Threats, published by the University of Toronto Press.
You can follow Mark’s ongoing social media production, @world.reordered, that chronicles the making and breaking of world order—its triumphs and tragedies—and the lessons it holds for our own perilous times.
Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/world.reordered/?hl=en
YouTube Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@World.ReOrdered/shorts
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@world.reordered
Price: $10.00 GST included
Payment Method: For online registration click ‘Register Now’ below or pay CASH at the door, limited space available.
Schedule: On Saturday, October 3, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Location: Nanoose Place Community Centre: 2925 Northwest Bay Road, Nanoose Bay, BC, V9P 9E6
The World Economy in Transition
Saturday, October 31, 2026
The world economy has been evolving for a long time. This talk will briefly review how and then discuss five key features of the contemporary world economy. If and how they are being reframed or upended by US policy will be analysed. The talk will conclude with some observations on the future of the world economy in light of U.S.-China geoeconomic rivalry.
Presenter: Paul Bowles is Professor Emeritus at the University of Northern British Columbia. He received his PhD from the London School of Economics and taught at universities in the UK and US before moving to Canada. He has published widely on the topics of globalization, development, and the political economy of China. He has presented to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on China’s economy and recently held the Fulbright Canada Research Chair at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He can now be found kayaking in the waters around Nanaimo, strolling on its soccer fields, and taking the dogs for a walk.
Price: $10.00 GST included
Payment Method: For online registration click ‘Register Now’ below or pay CASH at the door, limited space available.
Schedule: On Saturday, October 31, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Location: Nanoose Place Community Centre: 2925 Northwest Bay Road, Nanoose Bay, BC, V9P 9E6
On Democracy
Saturday, December 5, 2026
Is democracy (as we know it) an endangered species? In this talk, Michael K. MacKenzie examines the state of democracy in the world today, as well as its past and potential futures. He argues that democracy is a way of doing politics that treats people as autonomous beings to be reasoned with instead of objects to be moved, manipulated, or used. When we navigate our disagreements using persuasion, deliberation, negotiation, compromise, or voting, we are acting democratically. But democracy is difficult to do well. It involves working with others, tolerating disagreements, and embracing the fact that people have potentially legitimate but divergent interests and perspectives. Democracies around the world are being threatened by autocratic leaders such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin who deny election loses or use violence and intimidation to get what they want. We may see the end of electoral democracy as we know it, but we will not see the end of democracy (just as we cannot clearly establish its beginnings). Democracy — like violence — is part of the human condition. We act democratically when it is pragmatic to do so. The challenge, then, is to create conditions that are conducive to democracy while making other forms of politics, such as intimidation and violence, more costly and thus less pragmatic and less desirable.
Presenter: Michael K. MacKenzie has spent the past 20 years studying and writing about democracy. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of British Columbia, an MA in political science & social statistics from McGill, and a BA from the University of Winnipeg. He was a policy analyst and facilitator with the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform, a post-doctoral researcher at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the inaugural Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership at the Vancouver Island University.
Price: $10.00 GST included
Payment Method: For online registration click ‘Register Now’ below or pay CASH at the door, limited space available.
Schedule: On Saturday, December 5, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Location: Nanoose Place Community Centre: 2925 Northwest Bay Road, Nanoose Bay, BC, V9P 9E6