2025 VRMNC AGM & SPEAKER LUNCHEON

Oak Bay Recreation Centre

Thursday September 25

The Club’s Annual General Meeting and Speaker Luncheon are combined for this event.  See mailout during September for the AGM Agenda or click HERE for Agenda and supporting documents.

PRESENTATION:  “Navigating the Geopolitical Landscape – The Challenges and Opportunities for Canada”

The geopolitical challenges today are seemingly endless. From Washington to Moscow, Beijing, Kyiv and beyond, the world is facing turbulent times. Over the past 18 months, our speaker, Dr. Chris Kilford, travelled to Turkiye, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Bhutan on official and semi-official visits, where he had a chance to sit down with numerous senior officials. Earlier this year, Chris also spent two weeks in Poland and Latvia, meeting officials from both countries and visiting members of the Canadian Armed Forces who are training Ukrainian military personnel and leading NATO’s Multinational Brigade in Latvia. During his talk, Chris will speak about his various visits, what he learned while on the ground, what are the key geopolitical issues right now and to come, and what it all means for Canada and Canadians.

SPEAKER: 

Chris is a member of the national board of the Canadian International Council, the editor of CIC’s online foreign policy magazine Open Canada, president of the CIC Victoria branch and a sessional professor with the Canadian Forces College where he teaches courses focused on Canadian foreign and defence policy. He also holds a PhD in history from Queen’s University with a focus on civil-military relations in the developing world. Chris also enjoyed a 36-year career in the Canadian Army. From July 2009 until July 2010, Chris deployed to Canada’s Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan as the Deputy Military Attaché. On his return to Canada, he commenced Turkish language training, after which he was sent to Canada’s Embassy in Ankara as the Canadian Defence Attaché with cross accreditation to Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkmenistan. He was in this post from July 2011 until July 2014. Chris retired from the military in September 2014 in the rank of Colonel.

Please note that the venue is the Sports View Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Oak Bay Recreation Centre, 1975 Bee Street, near the intersection of Fort St and Foul Bay Road. There is substantial free parking at the Rec Centre. Overflow could consider parking in the Save On Foods shopping center or on Goldsmith. Doors will open at 11:30.

TICKETS: Click + sign then click Get Tickets. When complete you will receive two emails, 1) payment receipt from PayPal, and 2) ticket from software. If you do not get these two emails you have not completed your ticket.  Sales cutoff is September 21, 4pm.

WAITLIST: Contact Organizer (Peter Boland: peter.boland@shaw.ca) if the event is sold out.