NSB Logo Lloyd Axworthy Lloyd Axworthy

Lloyd Axworthy

Speaker Exclusive

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs & President University of Winnipeg

Dr. Lloyd Axworthy served as President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Winnipeg from 2004-2014. There, worked to renew the campus and its downtown community with the view to making post-secondary education more accessible to inner-city, Aboriginal, new immigrant and refugee students. He also significantly expanded the University’s outreach in the areas of Indigenous education, environmental studies, and human rights.

Keynote Speeches

Universities as Foundations for Community Development

Based on a decade of experience as the President of the University of Winnipeg, Dr. Axworthy discusses how university campuses can work with community organizations, spur innovation and become hubs for community economic development.

 

Aboriginal Education

There is a great appetite for education within the Aboriginal population of Canada. If Canada’s success relies on everyone having the same level of access to education, Axworthy reflects on what campuses can do to make universities a more respectful and attractive place for Aboriginal youth.

 

Human Securities: Promoting Canadian Values and Interests

Axworthy reflects on the principles that Canadians have used to build our country-the rule of law, democracy, respect for civil society and cultural diversity.

The Responsibility to Protect

Dr. Axworthy was behind the creation of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, which ultimately created the concept of the Responsibility to Project. Axworthy reflects on the progress made this far and the possibilities for greater protection of civilians from mass atrocities in the future.

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Panelist/In Conversation
Lloyd Axworthy distinguished himself as Canadian foreign minister with his strong emphasis on human rights. He's also received praise for his work in the education sector. A great conversationalist with a wealth of knowledge, Dr. Axworthy is able to bring fascinating insights to a range of hot-button topics.

Audience reviews:

  • His remarks were well received and entirely appropriate for the topic of the day, 'challenges of migration in today’s world'. Many of those in attendance were very impressed with his remarks and the depth of knowledge that he brings to the subject of refugee movements and their causes.
    - Senior Policy Advisor, The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO)
  • Dr. Axworthy proved to be an excellent opening speaker for us. He set exactly the right tone in his address and touched on all the things that we were wanting him to speak about. I had a lot of very favourable comments from those in attendance after his keynote. He certainly got us off to a very positive start and gave us much to think about.
    - Director, Healthy Child Manitoba Office - Government of Manitoba
  • We heard many positive comments about his talk -- he was both well-informed and easy to listen to.
    - Canadian Library Association
  • He is a visionary in the truest sense of the word – activist, thinking, full of ideas and community-focused.
    - Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations
  • Lloyd was very very good. Sensitive to the fact we had a US contingent in the audience and really presented his speech in a very balanced manor. I really enjoyed meeting him and the conference organizers were very pleased as well.
    - Construction Specifications Canada

Speaker Biography

Before becoming President of The University of Winnipeg, Dr. Axworthy’s political career spanned 27 years, six of which he served in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and 21 in the Federal Parliament. He held several Cabinet positions, notably Minister of Employment and Immigration, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, Minister of Transport, Minister of Human Resources Development, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996-2000.

On leaving public office, Dr. Axworthy served as Director and CEO of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Colombia prior to his appointment at The University of Winnipeg. In the Foreign Affairs portfolio, Dr. Axworthy became internationally known for his advancement of the human security concept, in particular, the Ottawa Treaty – a landmark global treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. For his leadership on landmines, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. For his efforts in establishing the International Criminal Court and the Protocol on child soldiers, he received the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe.

Before leaving office he initiated the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) which developed the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) concept, which was later adopted in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document of the United Nations. Dr. Axworthy is a member of the Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance , sponsored by Institute of Justice in The Hague and the Stimson center in Washington. He also serves as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science Study group on ” New Dilemma’s in Ethics in Technology and War.

He has been a board member for a number of organizations, including CUSO International, The MacArthur Foundation, STARS Air Ambulance, CUSO International, the Conference Board of Canada, Apathy is Boring – Council on Youth Electoral Engagement, the Aspen Ministers Forum, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

In 2010, Dr. Axworthy was made an honourary member of Sagkeeng First Nation and was given the name Waapshki Pinaysee Inini, which translates to White Thunderbird Man. In 2012, Dr. Axworthy become a Pipe Carrier in a community ceremony conducted by local Aboriginal elders and chiefs. Dr. Axworthy has been named to the Order of Manitoba and the Order of Canada and has received honorary doctorates from numerous universities.