YP Speakers Series

Wrongful Convictions in Canada
2022-04-29 19:00 (America/Toronto) | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

In this lecture James Lockyer will be talking about his work, the causes of wrongful convictions and how to reduce their numbers in the future.
This lecture is a live, in-person event in Cameron Hall. You do not need to pre-register to attend — just show up.
BIOGRAPHY:
James Lockyer obtained his LLB at the University of Nottingham in 1971 and is a member of the Bar in England. He taught at McGill University and the University of Windsor before being called to the Ontario Bar in 1977. He has been a criminal lawyer for 44 years. Since 1992, the majority of his practice has involved unravelling wrongful convictions. Mr. Lockyer is a founding director of Innocence Canada (formerly known as the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC)) in which capacity he has been involved in high profile wrongful conviction cases including those of Guy Paul Morin (1995), David Milgaard (1997), Steven Truscott (2007), William Mullins-Johnson (2008),Tammy Marquardt (2011), Leighton Hay (2014), John Salmon (2015), Maria Shepherd (2016) and Frank Ostrowski (2018). He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees and, in 2018, was made a member of the Order of Canada. He is a partner in the law firm Lockyer, Zaduk and Zeeh.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada’s Arctic
2022-04-01 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
National best-selling author and professional adventurer Adam Shoalts takes us on the journey of a lifetime: a nearly 4,000 km solo odyssey by canoe across Canada’s Arctic. This harrowing expedition took almost four months to complete and years of preparation. Shoalts will share photos from his journey, which involved weaving through ice floes, facing down snarling bears and galloping musk-ox, and paddling under the midnight sun in a land as old as time. But also why we urgently need to save vast wild places while it’s still possible.
This lecture is a live, in-person event in Cameron Hall. You do not need to pre-register to attend — just show up.
BIOGRAPHY:
Adam Shoalts, PhD, is a national best-selling author, adventurer, and the Westaway Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. A geographer, archaeologist, and historian, Shoalts is best known for his long solo wilderness journeys. His award-winning books include Beyond the Trees, Alone Against the North, A History of Canada in 10 Maps, and most recently, The Whisper on the Night Wind. He enjoys long walks in the woods.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

What’s so evil about the Notwithstanding Clause?
2022-03-15 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The Notwithstanding clause is perhaps the most obscure part of Canada’s constitutional history that everyone loves to hate. Ever since 1982 critics have attacked Section 33 as an unfortunate compromise that negates the Charter’s great promise of human rights. When the Quebec government invoked Section 33 to allow them to pass otherwise unconstitutional language laws, many in the rest of Canada were irate. Ever since, each time a government invokes or threatens to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause, the same criticisms re-emerge. In this talk historian Christopher Dummitt explains the origins of the clause, including how pivotal it was to ensuring repatriation, and places it within the long and vital history of responsible and parliamentary government in Canada.
BIOGRAPHY:
Christopher Dummitt is Professor of Canadian history at Trent University and host of the podcast 1867 & All That. His book Unbuttoned: A History of Mackenzie King’s Secret Life was shortlisted for several major awards including the best book on Canadian politics from the Writers Trust in 2017. He writes on history, politics and culture in venues like the Literary Review of Canada, the National Post, The Hub, and Quillette. He is currently conducting research on the state of academic freedom and viewpoint diversity in Canada and researching a book on the final decade of the life of former prime minister Mackenzie King.
Presented by theChurchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracyand co-sponsored by the Yorkminster Park Speakers Series
The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy, www.ChurchillSociety.org, is a non-partisan, charitable organization that honours the life of Sir Winston Churchill by facilitating education, discussion and debate about Canada’s parliamentary democracy.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

The COVID 19 Pandemic in Perspective – Two Years On
2022-03-04 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

FEATURED PANELISTS:
Dr. Allison McGeer, Microbiologist and Infectious Disease ConsultantProfessor Kate Choi, Associate Professor of Sociology, Western UniversityProfessor Erica Di Ruggiero, Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, UofTProfessor Christopher Rutty, Historian
Two years on from the start of the pandemic, we invite four distinguished scholars from four different academic disciplines and research traditions to consider the pandemic in perspective. Each panelist will offer an opening statement summarising their particular approach to the pandemic, the kinds of questions they’ve been engaged in and what they have learned so far following which Dr. Allison McGeer will lead a panel discussion among the four guests digging more deeply into some of the key issues and themes. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions from the audience.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Kate H. Choi is a social demographer interested in examining the causes and consequences of international migration. Her research areas encompass two fields: (1) neighborhood contexts and their impact on immigrant integration and (2) the social determinants of COVID-19. Her work has been published in leading journals in migration, demography, and family sociology, including Demography and Journal of Marriage and Family. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA and completed her postdoctoral training at Princeton University. She is currently an associate professor in Sociology and the Director of the Centre for Research on Social Inequality at Western University.
Erica Di Ruggiero is Associate Professor of Global Health, Division of Social and Behavioural Health Sciences and Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH), University of Toronto. Dr. Di Ruggiero is the Director of the DLSPH’s Centre for Global Health and Co-director, of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Promotion. Her research examines how evidence affects global policy agendas related to employment, other determinants of health and health equity in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Her work focuses on governance-related questions about the roles of global institutions.
Dr. Allison McGeer is a Professor in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and an Infectious Disease Specialist and Senior Clinician Scientist at the Lunenfeld—Tanenbaum Research Institute of the Sinai Health System in Toronto. She has a research interest in adult immunization and in emerging infections, and has been a member of Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Since February, 2020, she has been working on research related to the prevention and management of COVID-19.
Christopher J. Ruttyis a professional historian with special expertise in the history of medicine, public health, infectious diseases and biotechnology in Canada. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in the Department of History, with his dissertation on the history of poliomyelitis in Canada, for which he was supervised by the late Professor Michael Bliss, author of the seminal book, The Discovery of Insulin. Since completing his Ph.D. in 1995, Dr. Rutty has provided historical research, writing, consulting and creative services to a variety of clients through his company, Health Heritage Research Services. Dr. Rutty also teaches at the UofT’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

The Crisis in Afghanistan Six Months On
2022-02-11 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Afghanistan Six Months On: “Why are the Taliban back on top in Afghanistan? And how should the world respond?” Author and journalist Terry Glavin and former Canadian Ambassador to Afghanistan Chris Alexander will team up to offer their expert analysis of the situation in Afghanistan six months after the American withdrawal in August 2021. Their discussion will cover the origins of the Afghanistan conflict, the events leading to the Taliban’s restoration, and the consequences for Afghanistan and for the rest of the world. Glavin and Alexander will also provide an update on the ongoing humanitarian crisis as more than twenty million people face severe hunger through this cold Afghan winter.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Terry Glavin is a senior fellow with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, a columnist for the National Post and the Ottawa Citizen and a contributing editor to Maclean’s magazine. He has covered the Afghan conflict extensively and is the author of Come From the Shadows: The Long and Lonely Struggle for Peace in Afghanistan. Newspaper assignments in recent years have taken him to Afghanistan, Israel, the Russian Far East, the Eastern Himalayas, Northern Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, China, Hong Kong and Central America. Author of seven books and the co-author of three others, he has won more than a dozen literary and journalism awards, including the Hubert Evans Prize and several National Magazine Awards.
Born in Toronto, Chris Alexander was educated at Oriole Park School and UTS. He attended university at McGill, Laval and Balliol College, Oxford, earning a BA in history/political science and an MA in philosophy/economics. He joined the Canadian foreign service in 1991 and was Canada’s first resident ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-05). He served as Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General (DSRSG) for Afghanistan (2005-09). In 2011 he published The Long Way Back: Afghanistan’s Quest for Peace and was elected Member of Parliament for Ajax-Pickering where he served as Parliamentary Secretary for National Defence and then as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. He lives in Ajax with his wife Hedvig Christine and three children.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

The Discovery of Insulin: a cure from death (due to diabetes)
2022-01-14 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

One hundred years ago, Frederick Banting, MD had an idea in the middle of the night that culminated in the discovery of insulin, a ‘cure’ for certain death in patients with Type 1 diabetes. In this lecture Professor Patricia Brubaker will trace the origins of this discovery, covering not only the science and the individuals involved in this ground-breaking discovery, but also the process that led to the commercialization of insulin, enabling worldwide access to this lifesaving treatment.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Patricia Brubaker obtained her PhD at McGill University followed by post-doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, where she is currently Professor in the Departments of Physiology and Medicine. Since 1985, she has been actively involved in studies on the regulation and functions of several intestinal hormones, most notably glucagon-like peptide-1, used in the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity, and glucagon-like peptide-2, recently approved for patients with short bowel syndrome. Dr. Brubaker has published over 200 papers and trained over more than 200 students and fellows during her career. She has been supported by a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Vascular and Metabolic Biology since 2001, was inducted as a Fellow into the Royal Society of Canada in 2016, and received the Diabetes Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

The Symphonies of Beethoven – the Universe in Music
2021-11-26 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The plays of William Shakespeare, the sculpture of Michelangelo, the poetry of Pablo Neruda. These are all considered pinnacles of human artistic achievement, and the nine symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) are included among them. They are the most famous and frequently-performed and recorded symphonies ever composed. But why are they still popular and what makes them so great? In this lecture with music examples, classical music writer and broadcaster Rick Phillips will uncover the reasons behind the undying legacy of the nine Beethoven symphonies, and what they can express and communicate to us today, in our busy, hectic lives, two hundred years later.
BIOGRAPHY:
Rick Phillips is a busy broadcaster, podcaster, freelance writer and reviewer, panel moderator, lecturer, consultant, concert host and music tour guide. He presents a variety of Music History & Appreciation courses at such venues as the University of Toronto, York University, the Royal Conservatory of Music and George Brown College. Often a juror in the classical music categories for the Juno Awards, he is the author of The Essential Classical Recordings – 101 CDs, published by McClelland & Stewart. From 1994 to 2008, Rick was the Host and Producer of SOUND ADVICE, the weekly guide to classical music and recordings, heard across Canada on both CBC Radio One and Radio Two every weekend. Affiliated with the CBC for 30 years, working in Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto, his career spanned production to management to on-air. He holds a B. Mus. from McGill University and a M. Mus. from the University of Toronto. www.soundadvice1.com and soundadvice@sympatico.ca.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Forgetting, Remembering and Remaking Canada’s Second World War
2021-11-05 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

In this lecture, best-selling author Tim Cook will talk about his book, The Fight for History, and he will examine the strange way that Canadians ignored for decades their epic contributions during the Second World War. Despite 1.1 million Canadians who served in uniform, and millions more who supported the total war effort from the home front, Canada rapidly left the war behind, publishing few histories, building fewer monuments, and advancing into the prosperous second half of the twentieth century. Dr. Cook will talk about the neglect of our Second World War history until quite recently, and highlight the key role of veterans in reclaiming this important legacy of service and sacrifice.
BIOGRAPHY:
Tim Cook is the Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum. Cook is the author or editor of 13 books and they have won the C.P. Stacey Prize for Military History (twice), the Ottawa Book Award (three times), the RBC Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, and the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize (twice). In 2012, Dr. Cook was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to Canadian history and in 2013 he received the Governor General’s History Award. He is a frequent commentator in the media, a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Member of the Order of Canada.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Hiking Where Your Heart is
2021-10-15 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

“Not everyone is as lucky as I am,” says writer and hiker Nicola Ross. “Not only was I born in a spectacularly beautiful place: the Forks of the Credit, but I still live there!” In this lecture Ross invites you to join her on a hike along sections of the Bruce Trail that are filled with stories, memories and fabulous flora and fauna. She will take you back in time, catapult you into the future and then spend a moment admiring what the trail has to offer right now – today. From the legend of the Devil’s Pulpit to Canada Dry’s first bottling plant to killer cataract falls. From the mighty Niagara Escarpment to the hummocky Oak Ridges Moraine. From kettle lakes to rare walking ferns. Childhood picnics to red tinted limestone. A gold rush to a salt mine. Using great photos and a lifetime of getting to know her own back yard, Nicola Ross will take you along on a short adventure and invite you to come to know and love your back yard as well as she knows hers.
BIOGRAPHY:
The winner of numerous writing honours including a National Magazine Award, Nicola Ross is the author of ten books, including the popular Loops & Lattes Hiking Guides (Caledon Hikes; Halton Hikes; Dufferin Hikes; Hamilton & Area Hikes; Waterloo, Wellington & Guelph Hikes; and Collingwood, the Blue Mountains & Beaver Valley Hikes). A biologist and former climate change consultant, Nicola is a regular contributor to and columnist with In the Hills magazine. Her articles have been published in The Walrus, The Globe and Mail, Explore magazine, Mountain Life, Avenue, Ontario Nature, Alternatives Journal, and more. She was a regular environmental contributor to CBC Radio in Calgary, regularly appears on CBC Radio program Fresh Air and was the long-time editor-in-chief of Alternatives Journal, Canada’s national environmental magazine. Ross is now pursuing her love of writing, travel and sport on a full-time basis. For more visit her websites www.nicolaross.ca and www.loopsandlattes.ca, where you can find her blog, “What’s Not to Hike?”

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Winston Churchill, Mackenzie King and Appeasement
2021-09-27 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that British foreign policy in the 1930s, commonly described as ‘appeasement’, was a disaster that produced the second world war. Winston Churchill was one of the few who insisted that not standing up to Nazi Germany by threatening armed force would lead to war. But was appeasement simply a policy of weakness and fear? Why was it so supported by so many leaders in Britain, the dominions and elsewhere, including Mackenzie King, the prime minister of Canada? What exactly was Churchill arguing and why was it rejected for so long? Professor Thompson will continue the presentation into the war, when Churchill himself had to deal with the threats of Italy and Japan entering the war and the territorial claims of the allied Soviet Union, and will conclude with some reflections on appeasement and diplomacy.
BIOGRAPHY:
Neville Thompson is Emeritus Professor of History at Western University where he taught modern British and European history from 1973 to 2004, following five years at Huron College and three years at McMaster University from 1970 to 1973. His first book, published in 1971, was The Anti-Appeasers: Conservative Opposition to Appeasement in the 1930s. Fifty years later, his latest book is The Third Man: Churchill, Roosevelt, Mackenzie King, and the Untold Friendships that Won WWII, published in February 2021. In between, Professor Thompson wrote three other books, served as a board member of the Ontario Heritage Foundation and of the Historica Foundation, and was a member of both provincial and federal Electoral Boundaries Commissions. He was on the Editorial Advisory Board of The International History Review from 2003-06. Professor Thompson lives in London, Ontario.
This lecture is a presentation of the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy, and is co-sponsored by the Yorkminster Park Speakers Series.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Birds of Ontario: An introduction to Birdwatching
2021-09-17 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

One of the side-effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns in Ontario over the past year has been an increased interest in nature, spending time in parks and watching birds. The sale of birdseed and bird feeders increased last winter, attendance in parks grew significantly and people paid more attention to the birdlife in Toronto’s ravines, our waterfront and in our own backyards. In this lecture, David Lindsay, a lifelong birdwatcher and member of the Board of Ontario Parks and the Greenbelt Foundation will offer some tips and suggestions for birdwatching in Southern Ontario. Using his own photographs, he will introduce us to some of the common and not-so-common species to be found in our area. He will offer suggestions for where to go and what to look for during the different seasons of the year.
BIOGRAPHY:
David Lindsay was recently appointed Chair of the Board of Infrastructure Ontario after retiring as President of the Council of Ontario Universities in the fall of 2020. David was a deputy minister in six portfolios and held other senior roles in the Ontario Public Service after serving as Chief of Staff to the Premier of Ontario from 1995 to 1997. Throughout his long career David combined his passion for birds and nature with his interest in public policy by serving on the Boards of the World Wildlife Fund and the Ontario Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He was involved in the Lands for Life initiative which resulted in the largest expansion of parks and protected spaces in Ontario’s history. He is currently Vice-chair of the Parks Ontario board and serves on the Greenbelt Foundation. Birdwatching and bird photography continues to be an interest in his retirement.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

What the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and its Observances Reveal about Human Relations Today
2021-07-22 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The Tulsa Race Massacre is believed to be the single worst discrete incident of racial violence in American history. During the course of eighteen bloody hours on May 31 and June 1, 1921, more than one thousand homes and businesses were destroyed, and as many as three hundred people killed. By the time the violence ended, Oklahoma’s second-largest African American community had been burned to the ground. As the Oklahoma Historical Society summarized: “The outbreak occurred during an era of acute racial tensions, characterized by the birth and rapid growth of the so-called second Ku Klux Klan and by the determined efforts of African Americans to resist attacks upon their communities, particularly in the matter of lynching.” So, what does a 1921 state-sponsored white massacre of a relatively wealthy Black community in America’s 48th state have to tell us about our own here and now? Join Amos Jones in a lecture that grapples with this and related questions and promises to offer what, to many, might seem to be some surprising answers.
BIOGRAPHY:
Amos Jones is a lawyer and legal scholar from Washington, D.C. He is a widely published authority on the law of racial relations and constitutional rights. As a top-rated practitioner, he has prosecuted numerous civil-rights actions, including against governmental agencies. Jones received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, cum laude, from Emory University in 2000, his Master of Science from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2003, and his Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University in 2006. In 2006-07, he was a Fulbright/Visiting Scholar at Melbourne and in Fall 2015 was Academic Visitor to the Faculty of Law at Oxford. In addition to engaging in the full-time practice of law and lecturing widely, Jones, a former journalist, serves as Adjunct Professor of Media Law at Trinity Washington University and Executive Director of the African-American Trust for Historic Preservation.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

The 4N6 of Engineering Failure Investigations and Why Accidents Do NOT Happen
2021-06-04 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

So which belief is true: ‘accidents happen’ or ‘everything happens for a reason’? Behavioural sciences show that in the world of interpretation, human judgement is powerfully affected by how problems are initially framed. As humans, we are prone to subconsciously anchor on preconceived notions and then tend to find what we are looking for during an investigation.
The function of an engineered artifact is to deliver the desired fit, form and function to society. It is the purpose of engineering to postpone failure of an artifact for a safe design lifetime. The lecture will highlight the practice of forensic engineering investigation and illustrate methods to assess potential sources, causes and solutions for prevention of failure of engineered products, and of the investigation itself.
BIOGRAPHY:
Doug Perovic is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto. A renowned authority on forensic engineering and failure analysis, Dr. Perovic has led many investigations in Canada and the United States, often serving as the voice of the profession in the media on high profile cases. He developed and teaches the only undergraduate and graduate university level Forensic Engineering courses in Canada and recently championed the Certificate in Forensic Engineering Program at U of T. Dr. Perovic is the Celestica Chair in Materials, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Senior Fellow at Massey College in the University of Toronto and Co-director of the Ontario Centre for Characterization of Advanced Materials.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Matters of the Heart: Staying Alive
2021-05-07 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Your heart is a marvelously complex organ responsible for pumping blood to the body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to all tissues, and removing carbon dioxide and other wastes. Cardiovascular disease, which can lead to heart attack, heart failure, sudden death, stroke, and acute limb ischemia, affects millions each year and involves a huge cost to society. Staying alive means protecting yourself from the risk of having either a first time or subsequent event. This session will be a simplified state-of-the-art review of the cardiovascular system in health and disease, and the management of risk factors. Diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease will be discussed, as well as future developments in personalized medicine through genetics and biomarkers, and advances in imaging, devices, and artificial intelligence.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. David Fell is an invasive cardiologist with a large clinical practice at Southlake Regional Health Center in Newmarket, where he served as Physician Leader and Chief of Cardiology for 13 years, and led the development of what is now the third largest regional cardiac care program in Ontario. He was also VP of cardiac and cancer programs at Southlake for four years and regional VP for Cancer Care Ontario. After graduating from Queen’s University in Kingston in 1981 he specialized in internal medicine and cardiology. He worked at the Toronto Western and Scarborough Grace Hospitals, where he was Chief of Staff at the time of its merger with the Scarborough General in 1998–99. He and his wife Donna have four children and three grandchildren. He has a deep Christian faith. An avid sailor, Dr. Fell raced competitively in regattas all over the world, and was a member of Canada’s National sailing team.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Caring During COVID
2021-04-16 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

During COVID, the number of Toronto citizens who are affected by homelessness grew greatly. Currently, twenty percent of visits to the St. Michael’s Hospital Emergency Department are by those experiencing homelessness and many more are part of a growing number of vulnerably housed individuals. People who live in shelters were more likely to be affected by COVID – both the virus and by the decreased support services in the community. In addition to lack of permanent housing, many have medically and socially complex concerns, such as food insecurity, complex mental health conditions, addictions, and poverty. Dr. Snider will discuss the various ways that the department has had to adapt during COVID for all patients and how they are working with their community partners to change and improve the care that they provide.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Carolyn Snider is a Canadian Emergency Physician Leader and Researcher. She is the Chief of Emergency Medicine at Unity Health Toronto – St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, a Scientist with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and MAP for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at University of Toronto. Practicing emergency and trauma medicine for over 15 years in large urban Canadian teaching hospitals, Dr. Snider’s focus is on working with patients and community colleagues to redesign how emergency department care can be delivered in an equitable way for those experiencing marginalization and low resources. In addition to living her career with passion she is a member of Voices Rock Medicine, enjoys the outdoors, adventure travel and is fortunate to be a mom and part of a loving, supportive family.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Paving the Way for Change: Anti-Black Systemic Racism and the Church
2021-02-19 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Anti-Black systemic racism is defined as the policies and practices rooted in Canadian institutions including education, health care, and justice that mirror and reinforce beliefs, attitudes, prejudice, stereotyping and/or discrimination towards people of Black-African descent. The term ‘Anti-Black Racism’ was first introduced by Dr. Akua Benjamin, a Ryerson Social Work Professor as part of her PhD thesis. This moderated panel discussion will focus on illuminating the ongoing reality and impact of anti-Black systemic racism on Black/African/Caribbean Canadians with focus on understanding the intersectionality of the church and faith. The discussion will be candid and aspires to not only inform but also to serve as a catalyst for further dialogue and action to dismantle all forms of anti-Black systemic racism.
PANELISTS:
The Rev. Michael BlairGeneral Secretary of the United Church of Canada
The Rev. Denise GillardCBOQ Pastor, Founder, Executive Artistic Director of TC3 and The HopeWorks Connection
Ms. Dionne PeartBarrister, Legal Aid Lawyer
MODERATOR:Dr. Claudette KnightVice President, CIBC Talent Development
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
BIOGRAPHIES:
The Rev. Michael BlairRev. Michael Blair is a member of the Order of Ministry in the United Church of Canada and currently serves the General Council of the United Church of Canada as the General Secretary a role he began, November 1, 2020.
In his time at the General Council Office, he has served as Executive Minister for Ethnic Ministry; Executive Minister of Communities in Ministry and Executive Minister, Church in Mission. Before joining the General Council staff, Michael served as the Executive Director of the Toronto Christian Resource Center (CRC), which was a ministry of the then Toronto South Presbytery, now Shining Waters Region. Michael was admitted to the Order of Ministry in 2010 and has previously served as a congregational minister of a number of Baptist churches in Toronto and St. Catherine’s, Ontario; a staff member with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Toronto, and as a community chaplain with the Ontario Multifaith Council’s Reintegration Program.
Michael lives in Toronto with his partner, and is the father of two adult sons one of whom is part of the CBC’s Tallboyz comedy troupe. Michael enjoys photography in his spare time.
The Rev. Denise GillardServing as Senior Leader of Denise Gillard Ministries, Founder and Executive Artistic Director of The HopeWorks Connection, CEO of My Divine Appointment, and Senior Pastor at Kingdom City Church, Denise focuses on supporting and activating healthy, impactful and accountable leaders who serve as change agents in the world.
Her impressive commitment to empowering people of African descent motivates her to invest in the spiritual development, equipping and mobilization of Black Christian leaders and their allies, while remaining intentional about helping people of all faiths, creeds and cultures to reach beyond their perceived limitations.
Born in Oakville, Ontario, Rev. Denise learned how to create opportunities for others from her Jamaican-born father and her Nova Scotian mother whose people settled in Canada by way of the Black Refugee and Loyalist movements.
Rev Denise received her undergraduate degree at Tyndale Bible College & Seminary (Toronto), and her post-graduate degree from the Divinity College of McMaster University (Hamilton). She was first ordained with the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec in 1999 and now leads the flagship church of Partners in Missions and Outreach International, a Catch the Fire church.
Rev. Denise is the recipient of several distinguished awards including The African Canadian Women’s Achievement Award for Excellence in Youth & Women’s Development and The African Canadian Achievement Award for Excellence in Religion. She is also an award-winning author and songwriter. Denise is mother to 3 children and grandmother of one. Along with her husband, Wilton, Denise lives in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
Ms. Dionne PeartLegal aid lawyer since 2004 primarily, Dionne focussed on poverty law and bail law. She obtained a BA from York, did graduate studies at Queens, and graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1997.
Dionne articled with Legge and Legge and was called to the bar by Laura Legge when Laura was the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Dionne sat on the board of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.
Her hobbies include screenwriting and photography. She also worked in the music industry with Sam Sniderman who encouraged her to go to law school. Dionne was raised in Yonge Eglinton, Etobicoke and Leslieville neighbourhoods and lives in East York. She is married to Miroslav who is an amazing chef and has attended Yorkminster Park since 2010.
Dr. Claudette KnightClaudette has over twenty years of experience in the Financial Services Industry and is passionate about empowering financial, social, physical, and emotional wellbeing in others. She is recognized as a collaborative leader who delivers high impact learning solutions that build employee capability and drive business results.
Additionally, she has a doctorate in the field of Business Administration with a focus on gender and leadership and several academic publications including: “Women, Leadership, and Promotion in the Corporate Arena”, and “Black Parents Speak: Education in Mid-Nineteenth Century Canada West”. Claudette is HR’s Executive Sponsor for the CIBC Run for the Cure and co-executive sponsor of CIBC’s Black Employee Network.
Claudette has been attending Yorkminster Park for at least ten years. She and her husband Guy live in the YPBC neighbourhood and have one young son.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Funny Business: Writing TV Comedies in Canada
2020-03-06 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

What’s it like being a comedy writer? Are you always laughing? Are there snacks? In brief: challenging, no and occasionally. Join Kevin White as he shares what goes into making successful and unsuccessful TV comedies because he’s done both. Having written and show-run comedies such as THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES, CORNER GAS, SCHITT’S CREEK and KIM’S CONVENIENCE, Kevin will take us behind the scenes to describe how an idea is developed into a half hour of award-winning TV comedy. Or more often, a half hour of comedy most people have never heard of. Come share some laughs, some awkward pauses and if we’re lucky, snacks.
BIOGRAPHY:
Kevin White has written and show run some of Canada’s top scripted television comedies including This Hour has 22 Minutes, Corner Gas, Schitt’s Creek and Kim’s Convenience. In 2018, Kevin and the other Kim’s Convenience producers took home the Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series and in 2016, Kevin was lucky enough to win the same award for Schitt’s Creek. Kevin grew up in Ottawa but now lives in Toronto with his wife and three children. He also enjoys swimming, playing piano (just learning), and falling off a windsurfer.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Why the Olympics Stink… and Why They Don’t
2020-02-07 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Almost no sporting event captures the imagination like an Olympic Games. Unlike Soccer’s World Cup or the NFL’s Super Bowl, there’s a whole smorgasbord of different sports and disciplines on display. And you get to cheer for your own country to do well. What’s not to love? But not all is gold medals and glory. The Olympics has morphed from an idealistic 19th century idea to a 21st century corporate juggernaut. Along the way it has picked up elements of fascist spectacle, capitalist ideology and unrestrained nationalism. Within those problematic realities, there still exist the moments of inspiration, joy and tragedy. How to watch and enjoy the good stuff while not forgetting the bad stuff?
BIOGRAPHY:
Kevin Sylvester is an award winning illustrator, author and broadcaster. He’s known for his wide range of interests, which made him a popular sports commentator for CBC Radio, where he continues to fill in from time to time. Kevin has had a lifelong love, and hate, for sports. He covered more than ten Olympic Games in his time as a CBC sportscaster, and has continued to write sports-books for kids. Those books include Gold Medal for Weird, Basketballogy, and Baseballogy. He also writes and illustrates everything from picture books (such as Gargantua (Jr.): Defender of Earth) to middle grade detective novels and science fiction (Neil Flambé, Mucus Mayhem, MINRs).

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Parliaments & Power: Canada in the Parliamentary World
2020-01-17 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

From Tokyo to Canberra, from Warsaw to Westminster, prime ministers are more often removed from power by their own backbenchers than by voters in general elections. In Canada, the idea of MPs wielding that kind of power shocks experts and the public alike. Today the parliamentary system thrives all over the world, but every country’s parliamentary system has its unique quirks and conventions. Historian Christopher Moore, author of 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal invites us to consider Canada’s parliamentary culture in world context.
BIOGRAPHY:
Christopher Moore has been called Canada’s most versatile writer of history. He’s a Toronto-based writer who has been presenting Canadian history to non-specialist audiences through many media for many years. Moore’s books include 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal, which Dalton Camp called “just about the best book on our history I’ve ever read,” and Louisbourg Portraits: Life in An Eighteenth Century Garrison Town. That book, his first, won the Governor General’s Award in non-fiction for 1982. In 2011 From Then to Now: A Short History of the World, won another GG, this time in Children’s Literature. Moore is a full-time writer. His other writing includes magazine essays, a blog, columns, film scripts, radio documentaries, and reference works. His provocative commentaries on history and politics have appeared in the Globe & Mail, the National Post, Maclean’s, The Literary Review of Canada, and other periodicals. He is a past chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

23 & You: The Future Science & Ethics of Genetics
2019-11-22 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

There’s enough DNA in all your cells to stretch from Earth to Saturn 9 whole times! But what can all that genetic information really tell us? Apparently – at least according to popular personalized genomics kits being sold online – everything from your health risks to your ideal music playlist or romantic partner… And while your DNA is rich and full of instructions for building and maintaining our bodies, the latest genetics research suggests we’re putting the cart way ahead of the horse, with potentially dangerous consequences. Let’s get up to date on the latest research, and discuss future ethical concerns we need to be considering in policy and health discussions today in this friendly but informative session.
BIOGRAPHY:
SAMANTHA YAMMINE, (she/her) is a neuroscientist, science communicator, and digital content producer. She earned her PhD from the University of Toronto researching how stem cells build the mammalian brain before birth and maintain it throughout adulthood. Samantha is passionate about empowering people to explore science by making it more familiar, accessible, and inclusive, taking an audience-first approach to share complex topics in clear and entertaining ways. She shares interactive science commentary and research updates on Instagram as @science.sam and regularly appears as a guest expert on popular media to discuss a range of scientific concepts. Samantha is a member of the Editorial Committee for the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers and the Program Committee for the Royal Canadian Institute for Science.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Remembering the Holocaust: Past, Present and Future
2019-11-04 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The Holocaust was central to Western memory and institution building for the entire second half of the twentieth century. It informed the post-war international liberal order we long took for granted, including the creation of the United Nations, an organization that has been central to global stability, and the International Criminal Court, the first tribunal with a mandate to seek accountability for the world’s most heinous crimes. Yet the collective memory of this unprecedented historical event has always been controversial. Today, more than seventy years after this rupture, it is vital to examine how Holocaust memory has altered over the decades, and where it may be headed in the future. Erna Paris’s lecture will explore the social and cultural implications of shifting public memory and the staying power of the so-called lessons of the Holocaust.
BIOGRAPHY:
Erna Paris, C.M., is the author of seven acclaimed works of literary non-fiction and the winner of twelve national and international writing awards for her books, feature writing, and radio documentaries. Her works have been published in fourteen countries and translated into eight languages. Among them, Long Shadows: Truth, Lies, and History was chosen as one of “The Hundred Most Important Books Ever Written in Canada” by the Literary Review of Canada. Ms. Paris has appeared on radio and television around the world and has lectured in countries as diverse as Japan, Russia, China, Mexico, Britain, the United States, and Canada. She is a frequent contributor to the opinion page of the Globe & Mail. (www.ernaparis.com).

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

The Persons Case: The Origins and Legacy of the Fight for Legal Personhood
2019-10-18 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The 1928 Persons case, declaring women to be legal “persons”, eligible for appointment to Canada’s Senate, is one of the most important constitutional decisions in Canadian history. This lecture will consider the case in its political and social context and examines the lives and views of the people behind it – Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung and the other members of the “famous five,” the politicians who barred women from the Senate, the lawyers who argued the case, and the judges who decided it.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History.
BIOGRAPHY:
Robert Sharpe has been a member of the Court of Appeal for Ontario since 1999. He practiced law with MacKinnon McTaggart (later Wright McTaggart) and joined the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto from 1976 to 1988, serving as Dean from 1990 until 1995 when he was appointed as a trial judge. From 1988 to 1990, he served as Executive Legal Officer at the Supreme Court Canada. Robert Sharpe is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Senior Fellow of Massey College, and was awarded the Mundell Medal for Distinguished Contribution to Law and Letters in 2009. He has published several books on law and legal history including The Persons Case: The Origins and Legacy of the Fight for Legal Personhood (with Patricia McMahon) (2007).

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Artificial Intelligence: Fact, Fiction and the Re-imagination of Humanity
2019-09-13 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The term Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in use since the 1950s, referring to the ability of machines to simulate or augment human intelligence. Notions of AI have long since captured our collective imagination in science fiction. From 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Hal 9000 (the original Siri/Google Home/Alexa) to the sentient humanoids of Blade Runner and Star Trek, we have developed utopic, dystopic and fantastical notions of AI’s potential. But how does AI work in the real world and how does it differ from that of science fiction lore? You might be surprised at just how many ways you interact with AI each and every day. In the coming years, new developments in AI will continue to change the way we all live, work and play. Please join our panel for an engaging discussion on Artificial Intelligence and its broad-reaching impact on the future of humanity.
PANELISTS:
Mary Lou Ackerman, VP of Innovation and Digital Health with SE HealthAdriana Ieraci, Innovation Founder, Lecturer and Robotics Community OrganizerRosalie Wang, AI and Robotics in Rehabilitation Researcher
MODERATOR:Matt McPherson, Entrepreneur, Lecturer & Human-Machine Interface Boundary-Pusher
________________________________________________
BIOGRAPHIES:
Mary Lou Ackerman BScN, MBAMary Lou Ackerman is Vice President of Innovation and Digital Health with SE Health. Mary Lou is a founding member of SONSIEL (Society of Nursing Scientist, Innovator, and Entrepreneur Leaders) and an active member of CHIEF (Canada’s Health Informatics Executive Forum) with Digital Health Canada. Her background is extensive – she has led the development and implementation of many business transformation projects, innovations and partnerships. Mary Lou joined Saint Elizabeth in 1987 as a visiting nurse, and she has augmented her clinical background with a graduate business degree and significant experience with health informatics and technologies. Mary Lou has a passion for community health care, combined with a desire to advance care, creating innovative service models supported by digital health technologies, to create a future that will provide a personalized, accessible, meaningful health experience for individuals, their families and the service providers that support them.
Adriana Ieraci, M.Eng.Adriana Ieraci is the founder and CEO of Conveyor Built, a service design and innovation skills firm focused on the application of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics technologies. She is a human-centred design, design thinking and technology entrepreneurship lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. Adriana’s passion for technological literacy and open innovation inspired her to start the GYBO Robotics Network, a network of over 850 roboticists and robot enthusiasts in southern Ontario. She is a member of the board of the Parametric Human Project. Adriana has a Masters of Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Rosalie Wang, PhD, OT Reg. (Ont.)Rosalie Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto. She is an Affiliate Scientist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and a member of their AI and Robotics in Rehabilitation research team. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on developing and implementing technology to enable daily activity participation and social inclusion of seniors. Her doctoral research examined the application of advanced powered wheelchair technologies for seniors with complex physical and cognitive impairments. She is leading research in robotics for post-stroke rehabilitation and on the use of information and communication technologies by seniors with cognitive impairments. As an AGE-WELL investigator she leads a national project on enhancing equitable access to assistive technologies.
Matt McPherson, B.Sc. (Hons), MISt.Matt McPherson is a tech entrepreneur and operator, having built companies in multiple business sectors, including healthcare, developer tools and artificial intelligence. He is a co-inventor of innovative products and has filed patents in the US, Canada, Japan and the EU, and authored research and academic papers on wide range of topics. He is a passionate advocate for advancing the human-machine interface and has been a proponent of the transformative potential of virtual / augmented reality interfaces since the early ‘90s. He has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology from Queen’s University and a Master of Information from the University of Toronto, where he occasionally teaches a popular course in tech entrepreneurship.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Reflections on Five Years as Premier, the 2018 Election and the Year Since
2019-06-07 19:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, We’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Kathleen Wynne will share her perspective on what happened in the election in June 2018 and the actions of the Ontario government since then. As former Premier, she has a personal and a political take on the forces that are influencing government policies and decisions. She believes that we are in a period of tumultuous public discourse here in Ontario but that we are not alone. Many of the same forces are at play in the United States, in Europe and beyond. What is most important, she feels, is that people who care about our democracy, our institutions and the well-being of our communities come together to make sense of our political landscape. Kathleen believes that this discussion is not a partisan one but one based in a shared vision that government can be a force for good in people’s lives. She will talk about why that discussion is more important now than it has been for a generation.
*Please note that this is not a partisan event. It is an opportunity to hear from our former premier her perspective on the evolving landscape of political discourse over the past generation, and particularly here in Ontario during her time as premier and since.
BIOGRAPHY:
Kathleen Wynne served as Ontario’s 25th Premier from 2013 until 2018. She was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Don Valley West, and became the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in January, 2013. Kathleen has dedicated her professional life to building a better province for the people of Ontario. She and her government were guided by the values and principles that knit this province together: fairness, diversity, collaboration and creativity. Kathleen has served as Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Education and Minister of Agriculture and Food.
Before 2003 Kathleen served as a Public School Trustee in Toronto and led citizens’ groups in a number of grassroots community projects. Kathleen has three adult children, Chris, Jessie and Maggie, and three grandchildren, Olivia, Claire and Hugh. She and her partner Jane have lived in North Toronto for more than 25 years.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Canada Rocks: 4 Billion Years of Environmental Change
2019-05-10 19:00 - 21:00
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The land we call Canada has a long geologic history. We are a nation whose peoples and rocks have all come from ‘someplace else.’ The land we call Canada is a vast confederation of far-travelled crust brought together by plate tectonic collisions since the first small landmass formed about 4 billion years ago. Some of the oldest rocks and landscapes on the planet, one of its largest meteorite impact craters, its richest mines, the clearest evidence of the beginnings of life, the disappearance of mountain ranges and oceans, and dramatic changes in climate – these have all been part of this amazing geologic journey.
BIOGRAPHY
Nick Eyles holds a Ph.D and D.Sc. and has been at University of Toronto at Scarborough since 1982. He has over 40 years’ experience of geological field work around the world from Antarctica to the Arctic using that knowledge to better understand the history (and future) of planet Earth and Canada. He has written several hundred research papers, 5 award-winning books and hosted 2 five-part documentary series with CBC’s Nature of Things on Canadian geology and world geology with David Suzuki. He has awards from leading learned societies and sits on the board of the Georgian Bay Land Trust.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Join our email listJoin our email list to get an email advising you of our next event, as well as a reminder email thirty minutes before each event with a link to watch online, for those unable to attend in person.

Success!

First Name

Last Name

Email

Send Me A Reminder

Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The Chinese in Toronto: Then and Now
2019-04-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The arrival of Chinese and the development of Chinatown in Toronto owe their modest beginnings to the completion of the CPR in 1885 after which time a hostile British Columbia sent Chinese immigrants eastwards in search of employment and a more welcoming place. In 1894, the Chinese population in Toronto numbered fifty. Today, half a million make up the second largest visible minority in the Greater Toronto Area where the most spoken languages, after English and French, are Mandarin and Cantonese. Archival photographs and Arlene’s family stories will trace the history from the early years to the current day.
BIOGRAPHY
Arlene Chan, a retired librarian, has written seven books about the history, culture, and traditions of the Chinese in Canada, several nominated for the Ontario Speaker’s Book Award, Heritage Toronto Book Award, Silver Birch Award, and Red Cedar Award. She shares her stories of growing up in Toronto’s Chinatown through her writing, tours, and presentations. Arlene serves as the president of the Jean Lumb Foundation, board member of Little Pear Garden Dance Company, advisor for Toronto Public Library’s Chinese Canadian Archive, and member of Ontario Infrastructure Heritage Interpretation Working Group. She is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award (2013) and Heritage Toronto Special Achievement Award (2017).

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Join our email listJoin our email list to get an email advising you of our next event, as well as a reminder email thirty minutes before each event with a link to watch online, for those unable to attend in person.

Success!

First Name

Last Name

Email

Send Me A Reminder

Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Sir John A.: The Life and Contested Legacy of Canada’s First Prime Minister
2019-03-29 19:00 - 21:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The reputation of Canada’s first prime minister has declined dramatically over the past decade. He has been accused of being a racist and of masterminding a genocide against the indigenous people. In this presentation, Dutil will review Sir John A. Macdonald’s claims to fame and address the condemnations that have been levelled against him.
BIOGRAPHY
Patrice A. Dutil, Ph.D is Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University. Among his eight books, Dutil has published works that examine the career of Sir John A. Macdonald, notably John A. Macdonald at 200: New Reflections and Legacies (co-edited with Roger Hall in 2014) and Prime Ministerial Power in Canada: Its Origins under Macdonald, Laurier and Borden (2017). He is currently writing a book exclusively focused on Canada’s first prime minister. Dutil founded the Literary Review of Canada in 1991. He was President of the Champlain Society from 2011 to 2017 and is co-host of the Champlain Society podcast, Witness to Yesterday. His voluntary efforts have been recognized by the Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Ontario Volunteer Service Award. His website is www.patricedutil.com.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Join our email listJoin our email list to get an email advising you of our next event, as well as a reminder email thirty minutes before each event with a link to watch online, for those unable to attend in person.

Success!

First Name

Last Name

Email

Send Me A Reminder

Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Rites of Passion – The St. Matthew Passion by J. S. Bach
2019-03-01 19:00 - 21:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach is sometimes glibly referred to as the “best opera Bach never wrote.” As a provincial church musician in Leipzig, Bach never composed an opera, but the St. Matthew Passion is as close as you could come — a masterpiece of high drama, emotion and impact. Intended for use on Good Friday, this monumental work recounts the story of the final hours of Christ, containing some of Bach’s most beautiful and inspired music. Regardless of your faith, creed, religion or knowledge of music, the St. Matthew Passion will impress, enlighten and move you, clearly illustrating the capability of the creative mind when inspired. Join Rick Phillips for a stimulating voyage into this great musical work of art that speaks spiritually to the whole of humanity.
BIOGRAPHYRick Phillips is a busy broadcaster, podcaster, freelance writer and reviewer, panel moderator, lecturer, consultant, concert host and music tour guide. He presents a variety of Music History & Appreciation courses at such venues as the University of Toronto, York University, the Royal Conservatory of Music and George Brown College. Often a juror in the classical music categories for the Juno Awards, he is the author of “The Essential Classical Recordings —101 CDs,” published by McClelland & Stewart. From 1994 to 2008, Rick was the Host and Producer of SOUND ADVICE, the weekly guide to classical music and recordings, heard across Canada on both CBC Radio One and Radio Two every weekend. Affiliated with the CBC for 30 years, working in Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto, his career spanned production to management to on-air. He holds a B. Mus. from McGill University and a M. Mus. from the University of Toronto.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Join our email listJoin our email list to get an email advising you of our next event, as well as a reminder email thirty minutes before each event with a link to watch online, for those unable to attend in person.

Success!

First Name

Last Name

Email

Send Me A Reminder

Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The Global Refugee Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Solutions
2019-02-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

The world is facing a global refugee crisis unprecedented since the 1945-1952 period. There are currently almost 68 million people forcibly displaced.Professor Hansen’s lecture will review the causes of mass forced migration and explore the solutions. It will argue that solutions are not found in the global north; they are rather found in the global south — where most refugees are. It ends by making a series of policy recommendations: that resources be concentrated in the global south where the refugees in fact are; that refugees be given economic, political and social opportunities in the countries to which they flee; that nascent efforts to encourage refugee self-sufficiency be expanded; that refugee access to education in particular be expanded and that donor support aim to improve life for both refugees and locals so that refugees may come to be seen not as an intolerable burden but as an economic and political asset.
BIOGRAPHYRandall Hansen is Interim Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Full Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and Canada Research Chair in Global Migration. He works on Immigration and Citizenship, Demography and Population Policy and the Effects of War on Civilians. His published works include Disobeying Hitler: German Resistance after Operation Valkyrie (2014), Sterilized by the State: Eugenics, Race and the Population Scare in 20th Century North America (2014), and Fire and Fury: the Allied Bombing of Germany (2009). Professor Hansen has also co- edited a number of books on immigration and public opinion in Western democracies. He appears regularly on TVO’s The Agenda and has written for and been quoted in the national and international press.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Join our email listJoin our email list to get an email advising you of our next event, as well as a reminder email thirty minutes before each event with a link to watch online, for those unable to attend in person.

Success!

First Name

Last Name

Email

Send Me A Reminder

Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Technology, Truth and Trust – Democracy in a Digital Media Age - Panel Discussion
2019-01-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Cameron Hall, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto
Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.

Moderator:Daniel Tisch (CEO, Argyle Public Relationships)Panelists:Wendy Duff (Dean, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto)Carol Radford-Grant (City Archivist, City of Toronto)Robert Benzie (Queen’s Park Bureau Chief, Toronto Star)
The digital age has radically democratized communication — allowing almost anyone to create, publish and consume content. But technological advancement has also decimated the news media and made it more difficult for citizens to separate truth from falsehood — resulting in dangerous declines in trust in leaders, institutions, governments and businesses. Join us for a dynamic dialogue between an academic, an archivist, a journalist and a professional communicator — each a national leader in their field — as they explore the implications of the digital revolution on our democracy, and what we can do to preserve it.

← Previous Speaker

Next Speaker →

Join our email listJoin our email list to get an email advising you of our next event, as well as a reminder email thirty minutes before each event with a link to watch online, for those unable to attend in person.

Success!

First Name

Last Name

Email

Send Me A Reminder

Donations at the door or when you watch online are voluntary and only partially cover program costs. If you agree that continuing education is worth the investment, we’d love to hear from you.

DONATE NOW

A new browser tab will open the Yorkminster Park Canada Helps donation page, please select YP Speakers Series from the dropdown menu.
