Ken is a long time active member of the Toronto Whiff who now lives in Peterborough. Born and raised in North Toronto, his post-secondary education saw him attend Ridley College and then the University of Toronto, majoring in psychology. He then began a 30-year executive career with Imperial Oil Limited, Exxon Corporation and Esso Inter-America which meant moving 18 times to support his roles in marketing, strategic planning and human resources. In his 50s, he joined accounting giant Coopers and Lybrand as a management consultant and, on behalf of the Canadian Executive Services Organization, served as a company consultant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia until his dream job was offered to him – running Outward Bound Canada.
Continue reading Ken Powell, “Civilizations Collide in the Search For a Northwest Passage”, March 28, 2023
John Anderson Fraser, The Monarchy in Canada: an update, February 28, 2023
John Fraser is no stranger to the Whiff membership. John first spoke to us 12 years ago, when his topic was Through a glass darkly: Why academics (and journalists) should never try to predict anything. His most recent talk was at our November 2020 Whiff@Home meeting on What to do about China!. Following that meeting, he became a member of the Whiff. Continue reading John Anderson Fraser, The Monarchy in Canada: an update, February 28, 2023
Dr Alexander Louie, Scientist, and Bev Moir, Lung Cancer Advocate: “Why lung cancer should be on your radar”, January 31, 2023
Bev Moir‘s career took her from ‘health’ care to ‘wealth’ care. After completing a nursing science degree at Queen’s University and a graduate degree in health administration at the University of Alberta, she spent 20 years in health care, primarily in academic tertiary care settings. During the early 1990s, she sought another opportunity and spent 26 years at Scotia Wealth Management, building and leading a wealth advisory practice.
In 2019, Bev was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and given a life expectancy of six months to three years. As the reality hit, it’s not surprising her priorities shifted. By February 1, 2020, she successfully transitioned her practice to another Scotia Wealth advisor to spend her remaining time with family and friends doing what she enjoys.
Continue reading Dr Alexander Louie, Scientist, and Bev Moir, Lung Cancer Advocate: “Why lung cancer should be on your radar”, January 31, 2023
Ted Barris, Author, Journalist, Latest Book: Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet to Victory, November 29, 2022
Ted Barris is an award-winning journalist, author, and broadcaster. His writing has regularly appeared in the national press, as well as magazines as diverse as Air Force, esprit de corps and Zoomer. He has also worked as host/contributor for most CBC Radio network programs, WNED’s Canada Files, and on TV Ontario. And after 18 years teaching, he recently retired as a full-time professor of journalism at Toronto’s Centennial College.
In 2022, HarperCollins published Ted’s 20th non-fiction book, his largest work to date, on the longest battle of WWII, the Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet to Victory.
Continue reading Ted Barris, Author, Journalist, Latest Book: Battle of the Atlantic: Gauntlet to Victory, November 29, 2022
Jean Paul Gladu, Executive Director, Indigenous Resource Network, “Reconciliation from an Economic – Business Point of View”, October 25, 2022
Jean Paul (JP) Gladu is currently Principal of Mokwateh and previously served as the President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) from September 2012 until April 2020. Anishinaabe from Thunder Bay, JP is a member of Sand Pont First Nation located on the eastern shores of Lake Nipigon, Ontario. JP completed a forestry technician diploma in 1993, obtained an undergraduate degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University in 2000, holds an Executive MBA from Queens University and the ICD.D from Rotman School of Management University of Toronto.
JP has over 25 years of experience in the natural resource sector. His career path includes work with Aboriginal communities and organizations, environmental non-government organizations, industry and governments from across Canada. Currently, JP serves on the board of Suncor, Noront Resources, Chair of Boreal Leadership Champions and previously served on the Board of Ontario Power Generation and past Chair of the Mikisew Group of Companies. He is a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and served as the Chancellor of St. Paul’s University College Waterloo from 2017 to 2020. His previous appointments include Canadian Electricity Association Public Advisory Panel, Colleges and Institutes Canada (previously ACCC), the Northern Policy Institute, Canadian Foundation for Economic Education, advisory member to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, a committee member to the Ontario Provincial Forest Policy Committee.
Continue reading Jean Paul Gladu, Executive Director, Indigenous Resource Network, “Reconciliation from an Economic – Business Point of View”, October 25, 2022
Robert Baines, CEO, NATO Association of Canada, September 27, 2022
Robert Charles Jefferys Baines, CD, MA, is the President and CEO of the NATO Association of Canada, where he is focused on communicating the importance of NATO and the international-rules based order to Canadians. The Association is a charitable non-profit which hosts events across Canada, publishes hundreds of articles online every year and engages young Canadians about NATO through social media. Robert is a regular commentator on NATO issues in the Canadian media and has represented the NATO Association at the side conferences of the 2016 NATO Warsaw Summit, the 2018 Brussels Summit and the 2019 NATO Leaders’ Meeting in London.
In 2017 he became a director of the Canada-Turkey Business Council. Formerly he was Executive Director of the Canada-Albania Business Council and Corporate Development Officer of the NATO Association. Robert is Past President of the St. George’s Society of Toronto (Toronto’s oldest charity) and is Co-Chair of the Young Professional Board of the Canadian Opera Company.
Continue reading Robert Baines, CEO, NATO Association of Canada, September 27, 2022
Dr. Amy Barron, PhD, “Digger, Teacher, Soldier, Spy”, What do archaeologists do when the world is at war? April 26, 2022
4:40 PM, April 26th, 2022
What do archaeologists do when the world is at war?
Surprisingly, many of them turn spy. During wartime, archaeologists on all sides have become involved with military intelligence, turning their in-depth knowledge of the land and the peoples they studied to support their countries at war. This was no more apparent than in the Middle East where prominent archaeologists played a very political game during the First World War. Some of these names, such as T.E. Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, would become legendary. Others, when the war was over, simply went back to their museums and their excavations.
Continue reading Dr. Amy Barron, PhD, “Digger, Teacher, Soldier, Spy”, What do archaeologists do when the world is at war? April 26, 2022
Andrew Kirsch, Inside Canadian Intelligence: A behind the scenes look at what the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is, what it does, and what it’s really like to serve on the front lines defending Canada against the evolving threats to our national security, March 29, 2022
Andrew Kirsch served as an intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) for just under a decade (2008-2016). He held roles as a policy analyst and a field investigator, ultimately leading the special operations security team running covert warranted operations. Andrew’s talk will explain the need for the sort of grunt work he mostly did to make the sexier, tip-of-the-spear assignments possible; describe the challenges of “online dating from off the grid”; and burst a few bubbles for anyone gulled into mistaking Hollywood for reality.
Continue reading Andrew Kirsch, Inside Canadian Intelligence: A behind the scenes look at what the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is, what it does, and what it’s really like to serve on the front lines defending Canada against the evolving threats to our national security, March 29, 2022
James Lockyer CM, Criminal Defense Lawyer, Founding Director of Innocence Canada, February 22, 2022
James Lockyer CM, a founding director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC), previously spoke to the Whiff in April 2010. He laid out the clear case that the justice system makes mistakes. These mistakes may have resulted from inadequate investigations, flawed forensic evidence, lying or mistaken witnesses, prosecutorial tunnel vision, or simple human error. His talk laid bare several examples of the inevitably devastating consequences that a wrongful conviction has had for some of his well known clients – Guy Paul Morin, David Milgaard, Robert Baltovich, James Driskell, Clayton Johnson, Steven Truscott and William Mullins-Johnson. Since his last talk, the AIDWYC rebranded in 2016 as Innocence Canada,
and adopted a new dynamic logo consisting of tally marks, one for each of the exonerations they have been involved in. Its team of pro-bono lawyers are currently reviewing approximately 80 claims of innocence.
Continue reading James Lockyer CM, Criminal Defense Lawyer, Founding Director of Innocence Canada, February 22, 2022
Dr Kevin James, Professor of History, College of Arts, University of Guelph, and Scottish Studies Foundation Chair, January 25, 2022
Scotland and the Union of 1707
Robbie Burns Celebration, Scottish Dress Encouraged
The Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph is the oldest – and the leading – academic unit in North America for research, graduate training, and teaching on Scottish history and Scottish culture.