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During this time of global crisis, few Canadians have had a closer view of the world’s faultlines than Bob Rae. The former Ambassador to the United Nations spent the past five years at the very heart of global diplomacy, where some of the most consequential decisions affecting humanity are made.

Bob Rae brought four decades of hard-fought political experience to the United Nations. He’d been an NDP Member of Parliament, the Premier of Ontario, and the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. He’d also done important work on Indigenous issues and human rights, giving him a rare blend of moral clarity and political realism.

Bob Rae represented Canada at the United Nations through the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Again and again, his principled voice was heard in the highest corridors of power, helping Canada make a difference on the world stage.

Please join the Salt Spring Forum in an informed, sobering but ultimately optimistic conversation with one of Canada’s greatest statesmen, the remarkable, irrepressible Bob Rae.

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Crown-Indigenous relations in British Columbia have been badly strained since the BC Supreme Court found, last August, that the Cowichan Nation holds Aboriginal title to a portion of land in Richmond. Some politicians and pundits seized on the Court decision to argue that private property was at risk.

Then, last December, the BC Court of Appeal in Gitxaala v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner) found that, because of the 2019 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), BC and Canadian laws must be interpreted consistently with the UN Declaration. Further controversy ensued, with Premier David Eby threatening to amend, then suspend, sections of DRIPA.

But is private property really at risk? What do the legislation and court judgments actually say? Why have these matters become so politicized?

Premier Eby says that DRIPA is one of the most difficult files that he has ever worked on. Can the next few months of dialogue between the BC Government and First Nations calm things down – and offer a resolution?

Adam Olsen is perfectly positioned to answer these and other questions. When Adam steps up to speak, he brings more than political experience – he carries age-old stories shaped by land, law and leadership. A proud member of the Tsartlip First Nation and former MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, Adam has spent years at the intersection of Indigenous governance and provincial decision-making.

Before entering provincial politics, Adam was deeply involved in First Nations governance and community leadership. His approach is grounded in relationship-building, respect for traditional knowledge, and a commitment to long-term, sustainable decision-making.

From 2017-2024, Adam served as a key voice in the Legislative Assembly on issues such as reconciliation, land use, environment stewardship, and democratic reform.

Today, Adam continues to engage audiences across the province, offering deeply informed insights into how Indigenous and non-Indigenous systems of governance can move forward together, and on what meaningful reconciliation would actually involve.

Join the Salt Spring Forum and Adam Olsen on National Indigenous People’s Day for this important discussion.

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

In April, UNICEF reported having received just 16 percent of the US $962 million it had requested from United Nations member states to provide desperately needed assistance to 13.8 million people in Sudan, including 7.9 million children.

In May, a study in The Lancet projected that deep cuts to overseas development assistance by the Trump Administration and other Western governments, beginning in 2025, could result in 22.6 million additional deaths by 2030.

In these circumstances, private humanitarian organizations are sometimes the only ones left with the will and the capability to save lives. The most respected of these organizations is undoubtedly Médecins Sans Frontières—recognized worldwide by its acronym, MSF.

Our next Forum guest is a Canadian who has spent more than three decades working for MSF, including in the most senior of leadership roles.

Stephen Cornish has spent a career saving lives around the world: managing humanitarian responses from Chechnya to Sierra Leone, negotiating with warlords to gain access to vulnerable populations, and securing the release of abducted aid-workers.

Most recently, Stephen has served as the General Director of MSF Switzerland, responsible for providing more than $350 million of humanitarian assistance annually.

It will also be of interest to many Salt Spring Islanders that, a decade ago, Stephen took a break from MSF to serve as CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation, where he helped guide one of Canada’s most influential environmental organizations through a period of growing urgency around climate change, biodiversity, and sustainability.

Please join the Salt Spring Forum in warmly welcoming Stephen Cornish, a humanitarian and environmental hero, who will join us for a wide-ranging conversation about the perilous state of the world—and why we must never give up.