HALIFAX -- Top security officials from around the world continued their meetings in Halifax on Saturday as the 11th annual Halifax International Security Forum continued. Amidst the high-level meetings and behind-the-scenes deals being made, there was much to discuss.

The 2019 Halifax International Security Forum kicked off in the morning with a presentation from Cindy McCain. The widow of the late United States senator, John McCain, presented the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service to the people of Hong Kong,

“That’s what John McCain was about; that's what he believed in; that's why we established this award,” said McCain to a room filled with security officials, politicians and more. “So I'm just grateful that we recognized the people of Hong Kong and recognized the fight that they're under against a threat that is ominous.”

McCain said they were recognizing the Hong Kong people's fight for rights against China – a country which was a hot topic as delegates from the U.S. discussed issues with telecom company Huawei.

“It would make it very difficult to have a full intelligence sharing information with a partner who has installed a direct line to Beijing,” said U.S. Senator for Maine, Angus King.

“The United States cannot be the policemen of the world, but we have a role to play as the glue to hold and bring people together,” said U.S. Senator for Wyoming, John Barrasso. “As John [McCain] used to say, ‘we cannot fight every fight; we cannot put out every fire. But when we could we should.’”

While delegates spoke inside, protesters with the activist group, Women for Peace, gathered outside the forum; rallying against it as a vehicle that promotes war, instead of promoting peace and diplomacy. The group is calling for representatives from the No Harbour for War group to be allowed to participate.

“If they are so geared towards one way, maybe allow others to think out of the box for them,” says activist, Rana Zaman. “That is a beginning. I mean, I spoke with someone last year and said we should be there. We should be there – we should be in those talks.”

Also attending the event was Conservative Party leader, Andrew Scheer, fresh off the heels of firing two of his top aides. However, Scheer declined to answer questions.

Other questions which went unanswered concerned details about the impeachment process for U.S. President, Donald Trump.

“I am not answering any questions that deal with the impeachment process. It's going on in the house,” said U.S. senator for Idaho, James Risch. “These fine people in the house are going through a process over there, and we have the process for impeachment. And when that's completed, I guess we'll all have a lot to say about it.”

However, delegates did praise the United States’ relationship with Canada; noting while politics may change, Canada remains a close ally.

“It's a relationship that's been maintained over several hundred years, the longest peaceful border in the world,” said King. “My only concern is I'm urging that a wall be built between Maine and Canada because Canadians keep coming across – being nice to us and offering us free health care.”

Meanwhile, the conference will continue Saturday evening and run until Sunday afternoon and will see panellists discussing topics including the arctic, Afghanistan and Iran, and more. However, a panel most people will be watching is a Sunday morning discussion about women’s contributions to security issues – which was recently changed to include female panellists as well as a female moderator.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Emily Baron Cadloff