MEMBERS ONLY EVENT

Samir Gandesha is Professor of Modern European Thought and Culture & Director of the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University.  A leading scholar of modern European thought and critical theory, his work examines the psychological and political forces that drive populism, authoritarianism, and the resurgence of fascist ideas in contemporary life.

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Why are populist movements gaining unprecedented power across democracies?

Is liberal democracy under attack?

What do the MAGA movement and growing authoritarianism in the United States mean for politics in Canada?

As witnessed in the United States and other liberal democracies, Professor Gandesha traces how identity-based movements can both empower and divide, and how populist leaders exploit these tensions to consolidate power.

A widely published public intellectual, Professor Gandesha contributes to the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, and international publications. Professor Gandesha is the editor, most recently, of Spectres of Fascism: Historical, Theoretical, and International Perspectives (Pluto Press, 2020).

Join us for a timely, accessible, gripping discussion about democracy’s vulnerabilities and the urgent task of resisting authoritarian drift.

Humanity is set to return to the Moon—with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen due to fly around it soon!

In anticipation of that historic voyage, the Salt Spring Forum is delighted to welcome Charity Weeden, a former officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force who recently served as Associate Administrator of NASA, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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Charity Weeden has more than two decades of military, government and industry experience. She continues to advise political and corporate leaders about the rapidly changing political and technological dimensions of outer space.

Charity Weeden is perfectly qualified to help us understand the dramatic increase in space activities. Indeed, there were just 2,000 operational satellites in orbit in 2015, and today there are more than 13,000!

SpaceX operates about 10,000 of those satellites, providing high-speed Internet to customers worldwide. Those same satellites have shaped the direction of the Ukraine war, enabling low-cost armed drones to be operated at great distances.

The satellites have also created congestion and collision risks in low Earth orbit, light and radio interference with astronomical telescopes, and chemical changes to the upper atmosphere that could, in turn, have climate impacts.

Meanwhile, Earth imaging satellites have proven indispensable for agriculture, weather forecasting, climate science, forest firefighting and disaster relief, as well as military reconnaissance and targeting.

Further away, on the Moon, both the United States and China have plans for permanent human habitations—in competition, not cooperation, with each other.

There’s an awful lot going on in space, and Charity Weeden is the perfect person to situate us. Please join the Salt Spring Forum in a timely discussion about opportunities and risks on the “final frontier”.

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Catherine McKenna has never been one to take the easy path. Long before she became Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, she was the woman who kept being told she was “too ambitious,” “too outspoken,” or simply “too much.”

In Ottawa, she found herself at the center of some of the hardest fights in public life: negotiating the country’s Paris Agreement commitments, putting a national price on pollution, and facing down the political backlash that came with pushing for change. Whether standing before the world at the United Nations or cycling to events where angry protestors would be shouting her name, McKenna learned that progress isn’t made by those who wait — it’s made by those who show up.

Today, as the founder of Climate and Nature Solutions, she advises governments and global institutions on how to turn climate promises into concrete action. But the heart of her mission hasn’t changed: empowering people — especially women and girls — to step forward, claim their voice, and lead.

In her book Run Like a Girl: Ambition, Resilience, and Fighting for Change (Sutherland House, 2025), McKenna shares not just what she accomplished, but what it felt like.  Her story is an invitation — to be bold, to take risks, and to run toward the future we need.

Please join the Salt Spring Forum and Catherine McKenna for a candid discussion about climate solutions, leadership, resilience and perseverance.

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Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic promise—it’s the infrastructure of everyday life.  Our phones finish our sentences, our cars guess where we’re going, and our search engines quietly learn what we care about.  But beneath the hype, there is something interesting happening: we’re trying to understand a new kind of intelligence while it grows up in real time.

The Salt Spring Forum is pleased to welcome a leading expert who can explain how AI actually works!

Kevin Leyton-Brown is Professor of Computer Science and Director of Centre for AI Decision-making and Action at the University of British Columbia. He has been a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, Harvard University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Microsoft Research New York City.

Professor Leyton-Brown’s work blends mathematics, computation, and behavioural insight to reveal what these systems can deliver. He advises leading companies while participating in global conversations around responsible AI.

Please join us for a clear and candid tour of AI’s past, present, and emerging future. What do we all need to know?

As the global headlines shift daily — from war crimes in Israel and Gaza to airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran, from humanitarian crises to fragile ceasefires — it’s easy to feel adrift. Who knows what’s really changing vs. what’s just noise?

Professor Michael Barnett, who teaches in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, can help us identify the realities under the headlines.

A renowned scholar of international affairs, Middle East politics, humanitarianism, and global governance, Professor Barnett has authored and edited some of the most influential works in the field — from Rules for the World: International Organizations in World Politics (2004), to Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism (2011), to The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of the American Jews (2016). 

Professor Barnett’s deep dives into topics such as humanitarian response, state behaviour, and Middle Eastern politics draw on decades of research, teaching, and fieldwork in countries such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Liberia. 

Whether you follow international politics closely or simply want clarity in an uncertain time, this is a rare chance to speak with an expert who sees the deeper currents, both in the Middle East and in the United States.