Canada and Canada-U.S. relations will get spotlight Feb. 1-2

Canada, the world’s second-largest country in total area, and Wisconsin’s most important international trading partner, will be the focus of a series of talks and a film on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 1-2, at UW–Madison.

The events, which are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted, are sponsored by the Government of Canada, the Division of International Studies, the department of geography and the Professional French Master’s Program.

Canada’s consul general in Chicago, Anne Charles, will be on campus during the events. Among the highlights:

• On Wednesday, Feb. 1, a keynote address by Canadian journalist and author Jeffrey Simpson will be given on “The January 23 Canadian Elections: Why Americans Should Care.” The event will be at 2:30 p.m. in room 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive.

  Simpson is one of Canada’s foremost political commentators. As The Globe and Mail’s national affairs columnist since 1984, he is an informed and compelling voice on domestic and international issues. The January elections could result in a major political shift in leadership in Canada.

• On Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m., Paul Cowan’s film “The Peacekeepers” will be shown at Frederic March Play Circle, Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St. Seating is limited.

With unprecedented access to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping, this documentary provides an intimate and dramatic portrait of the struggle to save a “failed state.” The film follows the determined and often desperate maneuvers to avert another Rwandan disaster, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Embassy,” Canada’s Foreign Policy newsweekly, said the film “manages to accomplish something never done before. It opens the door on the frustrations, the egos, the reality of U.N. peacekeeping in an unvarnished critical light.”

On Thursday, Feb. 2, from noon-1 p.m., a Canadian Studies grant information session will be held in 260 Bascom Hall for graduate students only. Reservations are required. Call (312) 327-3615 or email tracy.klos@international.gc.ca for details.