Ensuring the Flow: Water Security for Canada and the World 

A Daylong Conference at Massey College 
Thursday, September 25, 2025 
8:45 AM – 4:30 PM 

Massey College, in partnership with The Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW), is pleased to host “Ensuring the Flow: Water Security for Canada and the World,” a timely and urgent conference exploring the centrality of water to our collective future—locally, nationally, and globally. 
 
With climate pressures mounting and freshwater systems increasingly under strain, water security has emerged as a defining challenge of our time. This full-day gathering will bring together thought leaders, policy-makers, Indigenous knowledge holders, scientists, and civil society voices to examine the role of water in public health, environmental resilience, sustainable development, and peacebuilding. 

Schedule Overview 

8:45 AM – 9:00 AM 
Arrival. Coffee and Light Breakfast Provided

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM 
Opening Remarks 

9:45 AM – 11:00 AM
First Panel: Weathering the Storm: Building Canada’s Water Resilience in an Age of Extremes
Exploring domestic water issues, including the role and limitations of the newly formed Canada Water Agency, Indigenous water rights, and the need for cohesive national water governance.

Speakers: Dr. Aimee Craft, Minister Jay Macdonald, Oliver M Brandes. Moderated by Emily Hines.

11:00 AM Coffee Break

11:15 PM – 12:30 PM 
Second Panel: Flowing Together: Canada & US Water Security
Examining bilateral challenges and opportunities, building on conversations sparked at Massey College’s 2024 conference on the future of North American relations.

Speakers: Merrell-Ann Phare Leah, Taylor Roy, Rob Sisson, U.S. Consul General Baxter Hun. Moderated by Soula Chronopoulos.

12:30 PM – 1:15 PM Lunch

1:15 PM 2:15 PM Welcome
Tom Axworthy & Michael Miltenberger

Keynote Address: John Vaillant

2:15 PM – 3:30 PM 
Third Panel: From Source to Solution: Canada’s Global Leadership in Shaping a Sustainable Water Future
A look at the global dimensions of water security, its implications for public health, peacebuilding, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The panel will also ask whether water could serve as a unifying theme in revitalizing Canadian foreign policy and international development—an area that has lacked coherence in recent years. 

Speakers: Dr. Kaveh Madani, Dr. Nandita Basu. Moderated by Dr. Corrine Schuster Wallace.

3:30 PM Coffee Break

3:45 PM Final Discussion, Featuring an Open Q&A and Final Remarks