Jack Austin’s Memoir Launch: Unlikely Insider
Join us on April 13 for a conversation with former federal cabinet minister and senator Jack Austin as he discusses his political memoir, Unlikely Insider: A West Advocate in Ottawa, a forward-looking reflection on challenges facing Canada and its citizens.
The event will also feature a panel of distinguished co-hosts: Sarah Kutulakos (Executive Director & COO, Canada China Business Council), Jeff Nankivell (President and CEO, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada), Paul Evans (Professor of Asian and trans-Pacific international relations, UBC), and Jing Li (Co-Director of the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies). This session will be moderated by Evaleen Jaager Roy (Chair, SFU Beedie School of Business Advisory Board).
About the book:
At a time when too many of the world’s political leaders are consolidating power by playing on divisions and stoking fear, Unlikely Insider comes as a welcome reminder of the value of public service as a force for economic progress, social justice, and nation-building.
With both historical perspective and an eye to the future, Jack Austin reflects on events and people whose impacts are still felt, and on the enduring challenges of Canadian life. Moving away from colonial domination of Indigenous Peoples, navigating our pivotal relationship with the United States and engagement with China, the nature and purpose of the Senate: these remain timely concerns, to which Austin has made significant contributions. Sharing insights into policy as well as into the personalities of colleagues and friends, Unlikely Insider paints vignettes of figures from Premier Zhou Enlai to Queen Elizabeth and recounts the author’s travels with Pierre Trudeau after the prime minister’s retirement.
As a British Columbian, Austin worked to ensure that his province’s perspectives and interests mattered in Ottawa; as someone who came from a disadvantaged background, he is sensitive to the need to make the country a place of fairness and opportunity for all. Unlikely Insider reminds Canadians that inclusion – regional, social, and demographic – makes our nation both stronger and more just.
Program:
4:30 – 5:30 p.m. – Registration and book signing
5:30 – 6:30 p.m. – Book presentation and panel discussion
6:30 – 7:30 p.m. – Meet the author reception