March 1, 2005 QUEBEC CITY – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour will launch this year's LaFontaine-Baldwin Conference at Le Capitole de Québec in Quebec City with a lecture on Friday, March 4, 2005, entitled Freedom from want: from charity to entitlement. The LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium was created by John Ralston Saul to encourage discussions around the future shape of Canada's civic culture. Named in honour of 19th-century political reformers Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin, the symposium, an annual event organized by the Dominion Institute, examines the interplay of Canadian history and contemporary values. "Freedom of expression may well be a right but homeless people are still dying in the street," said John Ralston Saul. "Louise Arbour has opened this debate on social justice." The lecture will be delivered on Friday, March 4, 2005, at 7:30 p.m. in the Cabaret room of Le Capitole de Québec in Quebec City. A panel made up of Louise Arbour, His Excellency John Ralston Saul and professor, Faculty of Philosophy (Laval University), Thomas De Konink, will discuss the issues raised in the lecture. RDI television journalist Michaëlle Jean will moderate the discussion and facilitate a question and answer session with the audience. "It is our hope that the symposium captures a sense of the political and intellectual risk-taking of its namesakes: Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin. In Ms. Arbour, we once again have a powerful mind to lead the symposium and challenge us to reflect on the assumptions we have about the reality and future of our democracy," said Dominion Institute executive director Rudyard Griffiths. Admission to the lecture is $7.50 for the general public and free for students (with identification). Call 1 800 261-9903. On Saturday afternoon, John Ralston Saul and Louise Arbour will co-host a public discussion on the symposium themes designed to encourage maximum participation among the public with the help of local leaders, project partners and LaFontaine-Baldwin board members. The public is invited to join the debate on Saturday, March 5, 2005, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Cabaret Room of Le Capitole de Québec. Admission is free. Please RSVP via e-mail at rsvp@dominion.ca. Panellists will include Université Laval philosophy professor Thomas De Koninck and Maclean's columnist Paul Wells. The lecture will be published in Le Soleil and La Presse on March 5, and in the March 7 edition of Maclean's. On the evening of March 4, RDI will broadcast an interview with Louise Arbour and host Michaëlle Jean and show clips from the lecture. CBC Newsworld will broadcast an interview with Louise Arbour and host Carole MacNeil on March 13 on CBC News: Sunday. CBC Newsworld will also air a special on the symposium on April 9, at 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. Finally, CBC Radio Ideas will broadcast the lecture on April 9, 2005. An interview with His Excellency John Ralston Saul and Mme Arbour's lecture will also be presented in full text and on video clip on the National Film Board's Citizenshift Web site: http://citizen.nfb.ca/onf/info. Further information on the symposium and the text of the previous years' lectures can be found at www.lafontaine-baldwin.com. Information can also be obtained by visiting www.gg.ca. -30- Media information Lucie Brosseau (Ottawa) Rideau Hall Press Office (613) 998-0287 www.gg.ca Randy Mylyk (Québec) Press Secretary to the Governor General Tel.: (613) 290-0014 Information (Symposium and the Dominion Institute) Angela-Claire Coutts (416) 368-9627
