Building Inclusive Communities in the Commonwealth: A New Role for Universities | 2019 Annual Gladwyn Lecture

Greetings and introduction Good evening, everyone. Bonjour and Bhoozho. Allow me first to thank the Council for Education in the Commonwealth for hosting me this evening. It is an honour to follow in the footsteps of the previous Gladwyn Lecturers and I can only hope to approximate the insight offered by those who have spoken […]

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Opening Remarks at a Memorial Ceremony at the Lassonde School of Engineering This year marks the 26th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, and every year at this time I am reminded of how personal an issue this is for me—not only as a woman and as a mother, but also as a sociologist whose research […]

The Role of Inclusion in Building Smart Cities

Keynote Address to CityAge Toronto Summit 'Build the Future' Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Let me start by saying I am proud of the fact that so many of Toronto’s city-builders are in fact graduates of York University—including the Mayor of Toronto, John Tory; Deputy Mayor DenzilMinnan-Wong; nine of Toronto’s city Councillors; and GTA […]

Installation Address

And because my parents never stopped hammering into their children the idea that higher education would open up a new and exciting world for us, enabling us to contribute to the welfare of others, my brother and sisters and I were the first members of our family to attend university. We worked our way through school to pay for our tuition, allowing us to realize our dreams, and those of our parents.