Events  

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Our Spring Speaker Series starts April 3, 2023!  You will be contacted with registration details if you are a paid up member of TALYR.


Thanks for supporting Third Age Learning York Region.


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Upcoming events

    • April 03, 2023
    • 10:00 AM
    • May 15, 2023
    • 12:00 PM
    • Zoom virtual meetings
    Register

    Spring 2023 Speaker Event Series 

    All Spring 2023 speaker events will be conducted virtually using Zoom software


       April 3  

    David Miller  


    While Nations Talk, Cities Act

       April 17

    Dr. Sylvia Solomon 


    The Trial of Leo Frank: Precursor to Peril?


      April 24

    Ambassador Bob Rae

    Policymaking in Times of Crisis



       May 1

    Rev. Michael Stainton 

    150 Years of Canada Taiwan Relations and no Embassy Yet - Does it Matter?  


       May 8  

    Medécins Sans Frontières Speaker 


    A Day in the Life of MSF on the Front Lines
       May 15 Dr. Cynthia Wesley- Esquimaux  

    Living the Medicine Wheel Teachings 

     
         
       

     


























      


     


    • April 03, 2023
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom virtual lecture



        David Miller 

    David Miller is the Managing Director of the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. 

    Mr. Miller was Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010 and served as Chair of C40 Cities from 2008 until 2010. Under his leadership, Toronto became widely admired internationally for its environmental leadership, economic strength and social integration. He is a leading advocate for the creation of sustainable urban economies.  

    Mr. Miller has held a variety of public and private positions and served as Future of Cities Global Fellow at Polytechnic Institute of New York University from 2011 to 2014. He has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waterloo in Environmental Studies, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from York University and is currently Executive in Residence at the University of Victoria. He is the author of "Solved, how the great cities of the world are fixing the climate crisis" (University of Toronto Press).

    David Miller is a Harvard trained economist and professionally is a lawyer. 


    While Nations Talk, Cities Act

    David Miller will speak from his experience with C40 Cities, as Mayor of Toronto, and from his book "Solved, how the great cities of the world are fixing the climate crisis" about how our hopes to address global heating can best be met by embracing the leading climate mitigation actions happening in cities today -  and ensuring they happen everywhere, now.



    This event is part of the Spring 2023 Speaker series. 

    • April 17, 2023
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom virtual lecture



          Dr. Sylvia Solomon

    Sylvia Solomon  (M.Ed, Ed.D) is an experienced educator who retired after more than 20 years of teaching and 14 years at the Ontario Ministry of Education. At the Ministry, among other initiatives, she was responsible for policy and resources for English Language Learners, the development of Standards for Gifted Programs and the revision of the entire Ontario High School Curriculum from five years to four. She has taught at all levels of public education including special needs/gifted and she was a Professor of Education at several universities including the University of Toronto, Queens and Ryerson.

    After retiring she began presenting the Great Trials That Changed the Course of History course at U of T and Ryerson as well as at the Instituto d’Allende in Mexico and the 92nd St. Y in New York city.

    The Trial of Leo Frank: Precursor to Peril?

    Some say that perhaps no 20th century trial had more far-reaching effects on American society than the heinous trial of Leo Frank. Now largely forgotten, in its day it was on everyone’s lips. The degree of anti-Semitism involved in Frank's conviction and subsequent lynching is difficult to assess, but it was enough of a factor to have inspired Jews, and others, throughout the U.S. to protest the conviction of an innocent man.

    The success of the Broadway musical Parade has rekindled interest in the Leo Frank case, and the case still spurs debate and controversy. What are the facts of the Frank case? Come and find out! 




    This event is part of the Spring 2023 Speaker series. 

    • April 24, 2023
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom virtual lecture



          Ambassador Bob Rae 

    Before his appointment by the Government of Canada as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York, Bob Rae served as Canada’s special envoy on humanitarian and refugee issues, continuing the important work that he began in 2017 as Canada’s special envoy to Myanmar while also addressing other pressing humanitarian and refugee issues around the world.  

    The former premier of Ontario and former interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Mr. Rae was elected 11 times to federal and provincial parliaments between 1978 and 2013. He stepped down as a member of Parliament in 2013 to return to legal practice and, in particular, to work with Indigenous communities and continue his work in education, governance and human rights. His passion for social justice dates back to his early days in student politics and community service. 

    Before his appointment as permanent representative, Mr. Rae was senior counsel at Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP. In addition to his legal practice, he taught at the University of Toronto in the School of Public Policy and Governance, in the Faculty of Law and at Massey College and Victoria University, and he was a fellow of the Forum of Federations, Massey College and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He has also worked as a mediator and arbitrator with ADR Chambers. A former partner at Goodmans LLP, Mr. Rae led the restructuring of the Canadian Red Cross and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and chaired the board of the Royal Conservatory of Music. He is the author of 5 books and a number of government reports.

    Mr. Rae is a privy councillor, a companion of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of Ontario and has numerous awards and honorary degrees from institutions in Canada and around the world. He received his Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History from the University of Toronto and a Master of Philosophy degree as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.


    Policymaking in Times of Crisis

    We are in a time of great upheaval. The current global turmoil is marked by inequality, climate change, pandemics, food insecurity, and war, among other things. These challenges we face also present us with opportunities. Canada, by virtue of its history, geography, demographics, social composition, and economy, is directly involved in the world. How should we engage in this tumultuous world to promote peace and justice, end conflict, and create sustainable economies and societies?



    This event is part of the Spring 2023 Speaker series. 

    • May 01, 2023
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom virtual lecture



        Reverend Michael Stainton 

    Rev. Michael Stainton is the founder of the Canadian Mackay Committee, President of the Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada, and a retired  associate  at the York (University) Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) .

    In the 1980’s he was a missionary with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan working with indigenous university students , then in  rural community development and adult education. In the 1990’s he did graduate study in anthropology at York, focused on Taiwan’s democratization and indigenous rights movements. He has led two Canadian election observer groups to Taiwan.  In 1996 he organized the first visit of Taiwan Indigenous leaders to Canadian First Nations, to study self-government.

    In 2000 he founded the Canadian Mackay Committee, to promote the memory of Canada’s first overseas missionary and outspoken opponent of the Head Tax, George Leslie Mackay (1844-1901) who is forgotten in Canada but a national hero in Taiwan. In 2022 he has been busy organizing activities and speaking for the 150th anniversary of Mackay’s arrival in Tamsui.


    150 Years of Canada Taiwan Relations and no Embassy Yet - Does it Matter? 

    Reverend Stainton will discuss the fascinating history behind Canada’s relations with Taiwan and from there to all of Asia.   
    • It started when Canadian Presbyterian missionary George Leslie Mackay began a mission in Tamsui, at the northern tip of Formosa, on March 9, 1872. After his death in 1901 the Presbyterian link continued, but now Taiwan was part of Japan, not China. In 1928 Canada’s first diplomatic relation in Asia was established with Japan.  
    • In 1943 Canada established relations with China and in 1945 Taiwan became part of the Republic of China. The 1947 “228”massacres on Taiwanese by KMT were witnessed by Canadian missionaries. Canada did not open an embassy in Taipei but  voiced support for the right of the Taiwanese people to self-determination.
    • Canada switched its recognition to the Peoples Republic of China in 1970 but the Trudeau government insisted “we are not going to sell out Taiwan”.  Training in a Christian strategy of non-violent social transformation was provided by Taiwanese Canadians, led by Ryerson teacher Albert Lin. They were a major factor in Taiwan’s peaceful democratic transition.  
    • Since 1989 the Taiwan’s representative in Ottawa is de-facto treated as an ambassador, and Parliament has passed resolutions in support of Taiwan’s international status.
    • Back from the grave 2001-2022 Mackay is officially a national hero in Taiwan, but bigotry against “missionaries” in Canada keeps him unknown. In 2020, in gratitude for Mackay, Taiwan gave over 2.4 million PPE as gifts to Canada when we had no masks. We still have no “embassy” but Taiwan is now a major partner for Canada in Asia.     




    This event is part of the Spring 2023 Speaker series. 

    • May 08, 2023
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom virtual lecture



       

    Medécins Sans Frontières Speaker 

     



    A Day in the Life of MSF on the Front Lines

    TBD



    This event is part of the Spring 2023 Speaker series. 

    • May 15, 2023
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom virtual lecture



         Cynthia Wesley- Esquimaux

    Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux served as Vice Provost for Indigenous Initiatives at Lakehead University for three years. Effective September 2016 she was appointed the 1st Indigenous Chair for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada for Lakehead University and continues to develop pathways forward to reconciliation across Canada.

    Cynthia was inducted as a “Honourary Witness” by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2014 and is Chair of the Governing Circle for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.

    She is a member and resident of the Chippewa of Georgina Island First Nation in Ontario and has dedicated her life to building bridges of understanding. She sees endless merit in bringing people from diverse cultures, ages, and backgrounds together to engage in practical dialogue and applied research initiatives.


    Living the Medicine Wheel Teachings

    The medicine wheel teaches us there are four quadrants that require our dedicated attention - the "Physical quadrant" which encompasses everything we are from conception to elderhood.  The "Mental or learning quadrant" where we gather knowledge, courage, and confidence about our world. The "Emotional quadrant" where we embrace the concept of "all my relations" as a foundation for our lives and build capacity to love unconditionally. The "Spiritual quadrant" where we are reminded of the need "to be good ancestors" and guide next generations with a good heart as we walk the 7 values (grandfather/grandmother teachings) into the future.



    This event is part of the Spring 2023 Speaker series. 

Past events

February 06, 2023 My Life in 4 Chapters
January 30, 2023 How to Confront a Dictator
January 23, 2023 What Were the Dead Sea Scrolls and Why Should Anyone Care?
January 16, 2023 FREE Winter 2023 Speaker Event Series (via Zoom)
January 16, 2023 The Community Roots of Storytelling Careers
November 07, 2022 How To Fix Eldercare: A Prescription for an Aging Society
October 31, 2022 Understanding Transatlantic Slavery and Canadian Slavery
October 24, 2022 Do We Really Need a Canadian Defence Policy?
October 17, 2022 TALYR Annual General Meeting, 2022
October 17, 2022 Ten Ideas to Make Canadian Healthcare Faster, Better, Smarter
October 03, 2022 Growing Up in the Ice Age: Were Children Drivers of Human Cultural Evolution?
September 19, 2022 Innovation in Humanitarian Assistance and Implications on the War in Ukraine
September 12, 2022 TICKETS ON SALE for FALL 2022 SPEAKER EVENT SERIES (via Zoom)
September 12, 2022 Turkey Since 1923: The Rise of a Regional Superpower
May 16, 2022 How pandemics start - a bat’s perspective
May 09, 2022 Harry Oakes and the Writing of History
May 02, 2022 Wild Algonquin: The Nature of a World Famous Park through the Seasons
April 25, 2022 Moonshots and Groundshots: how research is changing the future of cancer
April 11, 2022 Happily Ever Older
April 04, 2022 Climate Change and Growing Extreme Weather Risk: Canada Must Adapt, NOW
March 28, 2022 Spring 2022 Speaker Event Series (via Zoom)
March 28, 2022 The Wicked Problem with Microplastics and What We Can Do About It
February 07, 2022 They Call Me George: Black Sleeping Car Porters and the making of Modern Canada
January 31, 2022 Lahore - The Cultural Heart of Pakistan
January 24, 2022 Home as Memory, Home as Witness
January 17, 2022 FREE Winter 2022 Speaker Event Series (via Zoom)
January 17, 2022 Medieval Anatomy and the Rise of the Renaissance
November 01, 2021 Architecture: Now I Get It! Understanding the Elements of Architecture
October 25, 2021 Annual General Meeting
October 25, 2021 Indigenous ethnies and Nations
October 18, 2021 Aging: Fact and Fancy
October 04, 2021 Decarbonizing our cities: going beyond transit and intensification
September 27, 2021 A Cybersafety Intro: Understanding Where Your Data Goes and Why It Matters
September 20, 2021 Canada Needs a New Seniors’ Strategy: Lessons from the Pandemic
September 13, 2021 FREE Fall 2021 Speaker Event Series (via Zoom)
September 13, 2021 In Praise of Walking
May 17, 2021 A Romp Through the Roaring 20’s
May 10, 2021 Evil, Memory, and Redemption after COVID
May 03, 2021 The Elvis Presley Story
April 26, 2021 An unrivalled city: Constantinople at the time of the Italian Renaissance
April 19, 2021 Your Discovery Years: Finding Joy in Retirement
April 12, 2021 FREE Spring 2021 Speaker Event Series (via Zoom)
April 12, 2021 A Fascinating Tour of the Universe
February 08, 2021 Ten Events That Shaped Our National Character
February 01, 2021 The Future of Publicly Funded Healthcare in Canada: Do We Need a Private Option?
January 25, 2021 Delivering Health Services to Remote Areas – One Plane at a Time
January 18, 2021 Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada's Arctic
January 18, 2021 FREE Winter 2021 Speaker Event Series (via Zoom)
November 09, 2020 Mozart - The Musicians’ Musician and Everyman's Composer
November 02, 2020 Is cannabis a cure all?
October 26, 2020 Human Trafficking: Hidden in Plain Sight in Our Backyard!
October 19, 2020 New Approaches for Treating Cancer
October 05, 2020 Hong Kong, China and the deep roots of the ongoing crisis
September 21, 2020 To See, To Be, To Do: The Landscape of the World's Religions
September 14, 2020 Forensics in Crime Solving
April 06, 2020 The (not so ) Young Persons’ Guide to the Orchestra
March 30, 2020 Publicly Funded Healthcare in the Future
March 30, 2020 CANCELLED Speaker Event until FALL 2020
November 04, 2019 Rush to Danger - Medics in the Line of Fire
October 28, 2019 A Tale of Two Museums: Louvre of Paris, Victoria & Albert of London
October 21, 2019 The Symphonies by Beethoven – the Universe in Music
October 07, 2019 The Fall of the Roman Empire and Why it Matters Today
September 23, 2019 Does Canada really have an immigration problem? Here are the facts
September 16, 2019 True story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz
September 09, 2019 On the Disruptive Technologies of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Virtual Reality
May 13, 2019 Full Disclosure: Beverley McLachlin, former Chief Justice of Canada
May 06, 2019 120 Years of Fear and Fascination with the Automobile
April 29, 2019 Forbidden Fruit: Banned, Censored, and Challenged books from Dante to Harry Potter
April 23, 2019 TALYR Members Only - REGISTER NOW! Dr. Brian Goldman: The Power of Kindness in Healthcare
April 23, 2019 Non-TALYR Members - PURCHASE NOW! Dr. Brian Goldman: The Power of Kindness in Healthcare
April 15, 2019 Truth and Reconciliation - what does it really mean for Canada ?
April 08, 2019 Maintaining the Best of Both Worlds
April 01, 2019 The Road to Marylake
April 01, 2019 Spring 2019 Speaker Event Series - Sold Out
November 05, 2018 Does the Punishment fit the Crime? How Judges Sentence Offenders in Canada
October 29, 2018 End of WWII
October 22, 2018 How to Protect Your Privacy Before it’s Taken Away: Embed Privacy, by Design
October 15, 2018 Wrongful Convictions in Canada
October 01, 2018 Surnames and History
September 24, 2018 Use of Music in Film
September 17, 2018 Ridgeway 1866: The Hidden History of Canada’s First Modern Battle and the Last Battle Fought in Ontario.
August 06, 2018 Fall 2018 Speaker Series - SOLD OUT
May 14, 2018 Perspectives on the Federal Government
May 07, 2018 Bomb Girls: Trading Aprons for Ammo
April 30, 2018 Richard III: Monstrous or Misunderstood
April 23, 2018 Gardens: A Microcosm for the World’s Environmental Health Issues
April 16, 2018 Engineering Moneyball in Hockey, Baseball and Beyond
April 09, 2018 Orphan 32
February 26, 2018 Spring 2018 Speaker Event Series - PURCHASE series beginning February 26th at 9:00 am
October 30, 2017 Designing a good community to live in
October 23, 2017 Triage for Extinction – Which Species should we Save?
October 16, 2017 The Amazing Universe
October 02, 2017 The United Nations in the Modern World: Blessing or Burden
September 25, 2017 Where Ideas Come From
September 18, 2017 Canadian Fascination with Weather
September 11, 2017 The Symphonies of Mozart - the evolution of genius
July 31, 2017 Fall 2017 Speaker Event Series - SOLD OUT!
May 15, 2017 The Great Lakes: A History of Water Quality and Water Politics
May 08, 2017 Shakespeare – Confronting the Vexed Authorship Question
May 01, 2017 The Great American Songbook 101 - Dissecting the American Songbook
April 24, 2017 Canada on the World Stage: Past, Present and Future
April 10, 2017 Understanding Japanese Society and Culture
April 03, 2017 Bees, Importance and Diversity
October 31, 2016 The Result of Rebellion: North American Political Prisoners in van Diemen's Land
October 24, 2016 Come from the Shadows: Tales of Ontario Archaeology
October 17, 2016 Brazil: Past and Present
September 26, 2016 The Great Escape: A Canadian Story.
September 19, 2016 Dancing on the Edge: Athleticism and Emotion
September 12, 2016 How Music can Impact Health
August 08, 2016 Fall 2016 Speaker Event Series
May 16, 2016 Tin Pan Alley: the Art and Business of the Popular Song
May 09, 2016 Is War still a Rational Option for Conflict Resolution?
May 02, 2016 Why Canadian History is Not Boring!
April 25, 2016 St Petersburg and the Hermitage: Wonder and Opulence
April 18, 2016 Taking it to the Top: The Supreme Court of Canada and the Cases it Hears
April 11, 2016 Food Insecurity, Consumerism and the Corporatization of Food
November 02, 2015 We Animals: Jo-Anne's Journey and Adventures as an Animal Rights Photographer
October 26, 2015 Footbridges as Philanthropy: Bringing Social Change to a Walking World
October 19, 2015 Sir Winston Churchill - A True Renaissance Man
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September 28, 2015 Ontario’s Opportunities in a Changing Climate
September 21, 2015 The Russia-Ukraine Affair – “my lie is truer than your lie"
August 03, 2015 Fall 2015 Speaker Event Series
May 25, 2015 The Greater Golden Horseshoe in the 21st Century
May 11, 2015 Modern Middle East
May 04, 2015 Happiness
April 27, 2015 Dimensions of Aging: Realities, Intervention, Prevention
April 20, 2015 Produced and abandoned: the best films you have never seen!
April 13, 2015 Innovation in China's Development
November 03, 2014 Pursuit of the Real
October 27, 2014 Prisoners of Tehran
October 06, 2014 Loving Water
September 29, 2014 The European Union: Innovation from Crisis
September 22, 2014 The Aging Brain: Opportunities & Challenges
September 15, 2014 The Play's the Thing - or Is It?
May 26, 2014 Our ailing Parliamentary Democracy - Can it Recover?
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