U.S.-Canada Relations Transformed: Border, Security, and Trade in a New Era
April 1st, 2025 5:30PM -7:00PM
The relationship between the United States and Canada has long been defined by deep economic ties, shared security interests, strong personal connections, common values, and the world’s longest undefended land border. In just a few short weeks since the inauguration of Donald Trump, these long-standing relations have been put to the test, challenging trade, border policies, and security cooperation.
Is North America at a crossroads? What are the new realities of U.S.-Canada relations?
Join us for a panel discussion as we explore the future of trade, borders, and security between these two key allies.
About Our Speakers
Dr. Christian Leuprecht (PhD, Queen’s) is distinguished professor, Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College, director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Military Journal and adjunct research professor, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt University. He has held visiting positions in North America, Europe, and Australia, including as Fulbright Research Chair in Canada-US Relations at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College in Rome, Matthew Flinders Fellow at Flinders University of South Australia, and Bicentennial Visiting Professor at Yale University.
A recipient of RMC’s Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research and an elected member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada, he is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Centre for North American Prosperity and Security. He is regularly called as an expert witness to testify before committees of Parliament.
His publications have appeared in English, German, French, and Spanish and include 20 books and over five dozen scholarly articles. His editorials appear regularly across Canada’s national newspapers, and he is a frequent commentator in domestic and international media.
Dr. Todd Hataley is a professor in the School of Health and Community Services at Fleming College, and a criminal intelligence analyst with the Ontario Provincial Police. He is a retired member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. During his tenure as a federal police officer, he worked as an investigator in organized crime, national security, border integrity and sensitive and international investigations. Dr. Hataley is an adjunct associate professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and in the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, Australia. His research currently focuses on the management of international boundaries, money laundering, Indigenous policing and transnational crime. Dr. Hataley is the co-author of North American Regional Security: A Trilateral Framework (2013), and the co-editor of Patterns in Border Security: Regional Comparisons (2023) and Security. Cooperation. Governance. The Canada-United States Open Border Paradox (2023).
About Our Moderator
Dr. Laurie Trautman is the Director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University. Dr. Trautman engages in a range of research activities focused on the U.S. – Canada border, particularly in the Washington – British Columbia region. Topics include trade, transportation, security, and human mobility. In addition to working with faculty and students, she collaborates with the private sector and government agencies to advance policy solutions that balance cross-border flows with the need for efficiency and security. Laurie participates in working groups that are actively engaged in the U.S. – Canada relationship, including the International Mobility and Trade Corridor Program and the Canada – U.S. Transportation Border Working Group. She co-chairs the Border Issues working group of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region and was recently appointed to the steering committee for the Cascadia Innovation Corridor. Laurie is currently a Global Fellow with the Woodrow Wilson Center and a Fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Oregon, a MSc. from Montana State University, and a BA from Western Washington University in Environmental Economics.
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