Newsletter – March 2021

Upcoming Events

25 March 2021

MIGS is hosting the third panel discussion of its “Canadian Women Leaders Digital Defence Initiative”, a project supported by Heritage Canada. Speakers included Luciana Meco (Co-Founder, #ShePersisted), Heather McPherson (Member of Parliament), Lana Cuthbertson (Areto Labs), Tamara Taggart (Former CTV Journalist) and Aphrodite Salas (Concordia University). Register here.

30 March 2021

MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews will participate in a webinar titled “The Rise of China, the Uyghur Crisis and the Path Forward”. Other speakers include Omer Kanat (Director. Uyghur Human Rights Project Executive Committee Chairman), Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian (China Reporter, Axios) and Nury Turkel (Commissioner to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom). Register here.

31 March 2021

MIGS is co-organizing an event to launch the French version of the disinformation game Harmony Square in partnership with Park Advisors. During the event, “Harmony Square – une jeu pour mieux reconnaître la désinformation?,” we will discuss how video games and other technologies can be used to promote digital literacy and make us more informed consumers of games and news. Register here. 

8 April 2021

MIGS is hosting the Atlantic panel of the initiative titled the “Canadian Women Leaders Digital Defence Initiative” supported by Heritage Canada. The event will feature Kelly-Anne Roberts (NTV) and Laura Brown (CTV Atlantic) and will be moderated by Alyse Hand (Global News Morning). Please, register here.

20-23 April 2021

MIGS is hosting its annual “Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights” in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada, the Ministère des Relations Internationales et de la Francophonie, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canada, and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Speakers will include Irene Khan (UN Special Rapporteur), Eileen Donahoe (Executive Director of the Global Digital Policy Incubator at Stanford University), Ines Coppoolse (Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Canada), The Honorable Teresa Ribeiro (OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media). You can register here.

Recent Events

18 February  

MIGS partnered with the Canadian Human Rights Watch Film Festival to screen the film “La Calle”, a first-hand account of the extraordinary efforts of ordinary Venezuelans to reclaim their democracy from the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.

22 February  

MIGS and the Canadian International Council (Montreal Branch) hosted their monthly Democracy Drinks. 

26 February  

Kyle Matthews participated in a panel discussion titled the “Civic Society in a post-trust world.” 

9 March  

Kyle Matthews spoke at the event  “Strengthening Communities: Combatting Disinformation and Discrimination” organized by Heritage Canada.

As part of the Canadian Coalition to Counter COVID Digital Disinformation project, MIGS Project Officer Lauren Salim spoke with the Algorithmic Media Observatory team about their recent work studying memes during the Canadian 2019 federal election and the COVID19 pandemic.

11 March   

MIGS Fellow Dr. Joana Cook spoke about her book “A Woman’s Place” at an event hosted by the Safe Communities Institute.

14 March   

Kyle Matthews spoke at a virtual event titled “Foreign Policy by Canadians” organized by The Canadian International Council and the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health.

15 March  

Naomi Kikoler participated in an online event titled “10 Years of Mass Atrocities in Syria: A Decade of Civilian Suffering.” She also spoke at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum titled “Pursuing war crimes: The meaning of justice in the Syria context.” 

16 March 

MIGS Fellow Fannie Lafontaine spoke at the CRDP event “Justice on the margins – Justice and social standards.” 

17 March

As part of its “Canadian Women Leaders Digital Defence Initiative” supported by Heritage Canada, MIGS hosted Christine St. Pierre (Liberal Party of Québec), Francine Pelletier (Le Devoir), Rima Elkouri (La Presse), Martine St-Victor (Milagro Atelier) and Suzie Miron (Municipal councilor in Tétreaultville) to discuss cyber violence against female journalists and politicians. You can view the discussions here.  

18 March 

Lauren Salim spoke with Christina Nemr, Director at Park Advisors about their projects DisinfoCloud and Harmony Square.

23 March 

Marie Lamensch provided advice to Esglobal’s project “A roadmap towards a feminist foreign policy.” This Spanish initiative is organized within the framework of the aid program of the Secretary of State for Global Spain of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. The result of the discussion can be found here and here.

24 March   

Kyle Matthews spoke at the Transatlantic Expert Workshop on “What can the EU and the U.S. do to counter the ongoing persecution of the Uyghurs in China?”. The event was organized by the European Foundation for Democracy and the U.S. State Department..