Talks Past Summary
Mitchell Marcus “City Building Through Creativity: the Redevelopment of the Downsview Airport Lands” (Spring 2023 Talk #5 Summary)
Our last Spring Talk for the season had Mitchell Marcus talking about how to be creative with one of the largest underused open spaces in the city, indeed in any city in North America.
Read MoreAndrew Kirsch: “Discussion with a Spy: What CSIS is, What it does, and Why It’s Important to Know More About It” (Spring 2023 Talk #4 Summary)
Andrew Kirsch’s Spring Talk was an interesting presentation of what has become a currently topical issue in Canada.
Read MoreDr. Jean Marmoreo – “MAiD: Where We Have Come, Where We Are Going” (Spring 2023 Talk #3 Summary)
A well-attended Academy Spring Talk at Innes College featured Dr. Jean Marmoreo, a Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) assessor and provider since the enactment of Bill C-14 in 2016.
Read MoreThe Honourable David Crombie – “Why the Upcoming Mayoral Race Matters” (Spring 2023 Talk # 2 Summary)
Throughout his excellent talk David stressed the importance of the up-coming byelection for Mayor of Toronto.
Read MoreJohn Fraser: Integrity in the Fourth Estate: Ensuring Media Remains Ethical and Honest in a Digital Age (Spring 2023 Talk #1 Summary)
Mr. Fraser is well known to many of us for his multi-faceted career. He was trained as a journalist, but he dabbled in many other fields, though he always remained a journalist at heart.
Read MoreProfessor Ann Shteir – Women and Plants: A Fruitful Topic (Winter 2023 Forum #5 Summary)
Our brush with botany came early. Remember those primary school drawing lessons, the collections of native field flowers, the glorious autumn leaves pressed in waxed paper? Those who took it a step further, who were hungry for a deeper scientific understanding, then worked harder and longer to discover and achieve, despite societal obstacles, are the…
Read MoreJan Wong – My Half Century with China: Reflections from the Cultural Revolution to COVID to Xi Jinping (Winter 2023 Forum #4 Summary)
The timing couldn’t have been better. At the moment the House of Commons was embroiled in arguments over China’s alleged tampering in Canadian elections and as international concerns were growing about whether it would arm Russia in its war against Ukraine, Jan Wong provided her unique perspective on the last 50 years of Chinese history in ALLTO’s fourth winter forum.
Read MoreMichael Layton – Personal Reflections Reaching Net Zero Housing Standards (Winter 2023 Forum #3 Summary)
This forum presented Mike Layton’s personal reflections on reaching net zero housing standards. Mike is now devoting much of his time to energy savings issues with respect to climate change. Mike gave an inspiring talk about how he and his family have converted their century-old Toronto house from a fossil fuel guzzler scoring 134 on…
Read MoreCathy Crowe – “Dying for a Home: The Chronic Crisis of Homelessness and Housing in Canada” (Winter 2023 Forum #2 Summary)
Cathy Crowe, a long-time “Street Nurse” who works in the area of social justice nursing, presented some important and timely issues in an Academy Winter forum at Tartu College. Her background in nursing homeless people, as well as advocacy, writing, and filmmaking, have provided her with significant insights which she shared in a very visual presentation.
Read MoreLinda Woodcock and Sharyn Salsberg Ezrin – Presenting our Presenters (Winter 2023 Forum #1 Summary)
Linda took an interesting approach to the presentation as it was an imagined trip to see the dark sky events that have occurred recently. The first stop was to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park to see a total eclipse of the moon which is on the lands of the Blackfoot people. Linda told us of the traditional celebrations for the Beaver moon (also called the Grandmother moon) of Algonquin people.
Read More