Winnipeg’s branch of the Canadian International Council has a very young feel to it. And that’s a good thing, says branch President Nicholas Hirst.

“Our CIC branch is largely organized and run by people under the age of 30,” he said, making it somewhat unique among the 13 CIC branches nationwide. “These are people who want to change the world and believe they can.”

The key has been getting recent university graduates involved. “It gives these grads who are interested in international affairs a forum to talk about it and continue their interest and often their passion,” said Hirst, who by day is CEO of Original Pictures Inc.

The branch, which was formed last December, is well on its way to facilitating discussions about global issues. In september it will host an international conference on the future of nuclear strategy, bringing together experts from Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Conference organizer Dr. James Fergusson, director of the U of M’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies, says the event will examine “current and future strategic postures and thinking amongst the nuclear powers of the world, and how they will impact future proliferation, arms control, and their implications for Canada.”

Another upcoming event will see Flora MacDonald (humanitarian and one-time conservative secretary of state for External Affairs) in Winnipeg to talk about her work in villages in Afghanistan.

Hirst believes these types of conversations are critically important, and he applauds Jim Balsillie for creating the CIC. “That he has decided to spend some of the money that he gets from the sales of his little device—which is about communication—on a conversation about how we get on with everybody everywhere, and avoid war and pestilence and deal with climate change, is a very interesting thing for him to have done.”

So Google “Canadian International Council” on your BlackBerry and read allabout it.