Upcoming Speakers
     
Tim Sayle - Associate Professor of History UofT and Author

Talk Title: Is NATO Outdated or More Essential Than Ever?

November 14, 2024


Timothy Andrews Sayle is an Associate Professor of History and a Senior Fellow of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Enduring Alliance: A History of NATO and the Postwar Global Order (Cornell University Press, 2019), along with three edited books and over a dozen scholarly articles.
He is the founder of Canada Declassified, an online repository of recently released archival documents
.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, leaders from Western Europe, Canada, and the United States established a system of international security with NATO as its cornerstone. NATO’s fundamental goal was to prevent the world from falling back into general war. 
Now, over 75 years after its creation, NATO is at the centre of the debate about the future of international security.  Is NATO outdated, perhaps the cause of tension today?  Or is it more essential than ever?

Tim will examine the historical connections between NATO’s Cold War and todays' crises, and consider both why NATO has lasted so long and what threatens its longevity today.

     
Ted Barris - Journalist, Author, Broadcaster

Talk Title: The Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour

January 9, 2025

Ted Barris is an award-winning journalist, author, and broadcaster. His writing has regularly appeared in the national press and in magazines as diverse as Air Force, esprit de corps, and Zoomer. He has also worked as host /contributor for CBC Radio network programs, NPR in the U.S., and TV Ontario.

He taught journalism at Toronto’s Centennial College for 18 years. Barris is the author of 22 best-selling non-fiction books, many of which describe Canadian contributions in the First and Second World Wars including D-Day, Vimy, the Great Escape, Dam Busters, the Battle of the Atlantic, and – the latest -- The Battle of Britain.

Ted has received many awards for his work. In December 2022, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada “for advancing our understanding of Canadian military history as an acclaimed historical author, journalist and broadcaster.”

Ted will be speaking to us on his latest book, “The Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour.” This ferocious aerial battle was launched in the summer of 1940 and continued for 113 days as the German Luftwaffe sought to destroy the Royal Air Force, gain air superiority, and invade the British Isles. Fighter pilots from Britain, Canada and other Commonwealth countries scrambled from U.K. airfields day after day in Hurricane and Spitfire fighter aircraft to thwart Hitler’s plan. They won, but paid dearly. For their contribution, in Churchill’s words, “never was so much owed by so many to so few.’’

In his book, Ted tells the history of the battle through the unknown stories of Canadian airmen, ground crew, as well as engineers, aeronautical designers, medical officers, and civilians who answered the call and turned back the very real threat of Nazi invasion.

     
Hon Ian Binnie C.C., K.C. - Counsel At Lenczner Slaght, Toronto

Talk Title: Trumpocracy

March 13, 2025

“Trumpocracy” – should the courts place a restraint on populism or do we let the politicians sort out their own mess? The US Supreme court takes a hands off approach but British and Canadian courts show a desire to intervene.

About our speaker:

The Honourable Ian Binnie is counsel at Lenczner Slaght, Toronto. One of Canada's most respected lawyers, Ian served for nearly 14 years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. When he retired in 2011 he was described by The Globe and Mail as “arguably the country’s premier judge” and by La Presse as “peut-être le juge le plus influent au Canada dans la dernière décennie.”

During his time on the country’s top court (as only the fourth modern Justice appointed directly from the bar) Ian authored more than 170 opinions on many aspects of constitutional, criminal and administrative law.

Over the course of three decades as a litigator, he argued cases in most of the common law provinces and appeared regularly before the Supreme Court of Canada on a range of constitutional, civil and criminal matters.

In the early 1980s he served for four years as Canada’s Associate Deputy Minister
of Justice. He was later appointed Special Parliamentary Counsel to the Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons on the Amendment of the Constitution.

He is an elected member of the International Commission of Jurists and has appeared as counsel on behalf of Canada before the International Court.

Make sure to join us on March 13 to hear Ian’s thoughts on the important issue of
court restraint on populism as reflected in the 2024 election results.