Minister of National Defence Co-Hosting Halifax International Security Forum

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - Nov. 5, 2010) - The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, is co-hosting the second annual Halifax International Security Forum (HISF) taking place from 5-7 November, 2010. The event, co-hosted by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, brings together more than 300 politicians, experts, policy makers, and journalists from forty-four countries to discuss and debate global security and defence priorities and challenges.

"The Halifax International Security Forum brings some of the world's leading security and defence experts to Canada to debate and discuss key global challenges," said Minister MacKay. "Given Nova Scotia's rich military history and current celebrations surrounding the Canadian Naval Centennial and Remembrance Week, Halifax provides an ideal setting for this important forum."

Event participants include: U.S. Congressional Delegation, including Senators John McCain and Mark Udall; Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano; Israeli Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak; Baroness Pauline Neville Jones, Minister of State for Security for the United Kingdom; Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews; NORAD Commander, Admiral James Winnefeld; Chief of the Defence Staff, General Walter Natynczyk; former U.S. National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, as well as a number of ministers of defence and chiefs of defence from around the world.

Discussions will cover a wide range of topics, including forward defence, protecting the public, state building, NATO, cyber security, nuclear weapons, and global governance.

People interested in watching the open panel discussions will be able to do so in real time, on the HISF's website at www.halifaxforum.org. Live proceedings will be streamed online and transmitted via satellite (free downlink, no encryption). More technical information, including satellite coordinates for all feeds will be listed at the above-mentioned website. Open panels will also be broadcasted live on television and online by the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).

Founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, which helped Europe recover from the Second World War, the German Marshall Fund is a non-partisan public policy institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation between North America and Europe.