Join us for the launch of Lloyd Axworthy’s memoir “My Life in Politics” which reflects on his life and career, notably as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. His vision and diplomacy were credited with shifting Canadian foreign policy toward a focus on peace building, disarmament, human security and engagement with Civil Society which led to the successful adoption of the Ottawa Convention banning the production, use, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, the establishment of the International Criminal Court, a review of NATO’s nuclear policy, the Responsibility to Protect, and focus on the plight of child soldiers.

Books will be available for sale and signing by Dr. Axworthy.

Lunch will be provided. Email ismgr@sfu.ca by October 15 if you have dietary restrictions after registering.

The event is free but registration is required for catering purposes.

Public lecture by: Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian Foreign Minister
Welcome by: Elizabeth Cooper, Director and Associate Professor, SFU School for International Studies
Moderated by: Paul Meyer, Fellow in International Security and Adjunct Professor of International Studies

From the publisher (2024, Sutherland House):

In this stirring and beautifully written memoir, Lloyd Axworthy tells the unlikely story of a Canadian prairie boy raised in the Social Gospel tradition becoming a prominent force in both national and international politics. After studying politics at Princeton at the height of John F. Kennedy’s Camelot, and marching for civil rights in Alabama, he returned to Canada and embarked on an illustrious political career at the height of Trudeaumania.

Axworthy served as MLA in the Manitoba legislature for six years followed by twenty-one years in the House of Commons, more than half of those in the cabinets of Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, and Jean Chretien. With extraordinary candour and introspection, he invites readers inside his roles in some of the most important political stories of the last half century, including the enactment of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the great debate over the Canada-US free trade agreement, and the global fights to ban landmines and establish the International Criminal Court.

He illuminates such monumental events as the turnover of Hong Kong and Princess Diana’s funeral (at which he was Canada’s official representative), and offers unforgettable vignettes of encounters with a range of high-profile international figures from Fidel Castro to the Māori Queen. He also writes frankly about the disappointments of political life and the challenges of staying true to progressive ideals while dealing with the often brutal requirements of political power. In an open, personal manner he tells of how the contributions of his wife and the support of a network of family, colleagues, and friends helped him stay the course.

Speaker Bio

The Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, P.C., C.C., O.M., Ph.D. is a Canadian politician, elder statesman and academic. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. In 2000, he retired from politics, returning to western Canada where he served as President of the University of Winnipeg for ten years.In December , 2015 he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada. He now chairs the World Refugee and Migration Council and lives with his wife Denise, in Ottawa.

This event is organized by The Simons Foundation Canada, SFU’s School for International Studies, and SFU’s Department of Political Science.

”My Life in Politics” – Lloyd Axworthy discusses his new memoir