Past Speakers

June 11, 2026 - Dr. Brian Lee Cowley - Managing Director, Macdonald-Laurier Institute
Talk Title: How should Canada feel about America in the age of Donald Trump?
Brian Crowley is a notable Canadian policy analyst and commentator on national and international issues. He addressed a rapt Probus audience on June 11, 2026. Brian began by describing Donald Trump as an immensely consequential US president. He acknowledged the president’s aggressive and seemingly inconsistent behaviours, but positioned this theatre as demonstrations of Donald Trump’s signature negotiating style.

Trump seeks to intimidate and confuse his negotiating counterparties in combative pursuit of a “win” for his own agenda. Brian then described the United States as the world’s dominant power from immediately after WWII until today. In 1945, US GDP represented 50% of the then decimated world’s total. US defence spending was 70% of all western nations’ combined defence spending, as they together faced the emerging USSR as a major geopolitical threat.

Since the start of this century all US presidents have been pressuring their western allies to finally step up and restore balance by carrying their fair share of the defence load. Brian suggests that Trump is simply the latest, most determined, and by far the most aggressive pursuer of a world order where the US remains dominant, while now facing China as a global leadership challenger. In Trump’s view, most of America’s long time “friends and allies”, (including Canada), have taken advantage of the US for decades, and only he can successfully restore US world leadership on American terms.

For dealing with Trump’s impact on Canada, including ongoing CUSMA negotiations, Brian quoted Pete Hegseth, the US Secretary of Defence (or War?), saying “take Donald Trump seriously, not literally”. In effect, to increase its US negotiating success, Canada needs to adopt an astute “work with them, not against them” approach. “Elbows up” has not been effective. It would be better for Canada to tacitly acknowledge the US as the leading nation confronting China, demonstrate that Canada will carry its own weight, and visibly support US global objectives where it possibly can. Canada’s known strengths, including its huge oil reserves, are strong bargaining chips which can be leveraged if properly sold to the US as a long-term complement to their current energy supremacy.

In Brian’s view, convincing the US that Canada is a committed and worthy partner is a practical necessity, since 80% of world trade is driven by proximity between trading partners, while only a small fraction of trade is driven by the establishment of “special trading agreements”.

By better adapting to Trump’s world vision, and his unusual operating style, Canada now has an opportunity to achieve bilateral success if it will play its negotiating cards in a more effective way.

May 14, 2026 Professor Mark Rector

Talk Title: Canadian Inventions

Professor Rector informed and entertained us with Canadian inventions for space. The Canadarm has performed flawlessly on the International Space Station for over twenty years, but we all know about that.

But did we know of one of Sir Frederick Banting’s inventions that was essential for aircraft pilots and astronauts? The cancellation of the Avro Arrow was a shock, but many of its engineers went south and joined NASA.

Several made vital contributions to the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs. Mark had a long list of inventions and discoveries and regaled us with the stories of the Canadian men and women who made them.

April 9, 2026 - Peter Macleod
Talk Title: Democracy is in Peril. It’s time for the Second Act

“Democracy’s Second Act: Why Politics needs the Public” is a book to be published before our April meeting. According to Thomas Homer- Dixon , Executive Director of the Cascade Institute and Royal Roads University, it is a “clarion call for democratic renewal”.

We are delighted to welcome co author Peter Macleod who will speak about his soon to be published book and the need for a Canadian Civil defense Corp.

About our speaker
Peter MacLeod is the founder and principal of MASS LBP, and one of Canada’s leading experts in public engagement and deliberative democracy. Since its founding in 2007, MASS has earned international recognition for it’s work in completing more than 200 major policy projects for governments and public agencies across Canada.

Peter frequently writes and speaks about the citizen’s experience of the state, the importance of public imagination, and the future of responsible government. A graduate of the University of Toronto and Queen’s University, he travelled across Canada visiting almost oe hundred constituency offices as part of his studies at the London School of Economics.

He is a former researcher at the British think tank Demos, and a lecturer at Denmark’s Kaospilots. While leading MASS, he has chaired more than three dozen Citizens’ Assemblies and Reference Panels, including the Canadian Citizens’ Assemblies on Democratic Expression (2020-2022).

In 2024, he was invited to deliver the annual Meisel Lecture at Queen’s University. He is the past chair of Toronto’s Wellesley Institute for Urban Health and a former director of the YMCA of Greater Toronto. He currently serves on the board of the Environics Institute and is a mentor with the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation.

Join us on April 9 to hear Peter’s thoughts on this important topic.

March 12, 2026 - Nadeem Esmail, Director of Health Policy, Fraser Institute

Talk Title - How Ottawa Discourages Reforms of Canada’s Failing Health Care System

Nadeem Esmail first joined the Fraser Institute in 2001, serving as Director of Health System Performance Studies from 2006 to 2009, and was a Senior Fellow from 2010 to 2025.

Mr. Esmail has spearheaded critical Fraser Institute research including the annual Waiting Your Turn survey of surgical wait times across Canada and How Good Is Canadian Health Care?, an international comparison of health care systems.

In addition, Mr. Esmail has authored or co-authored more than 50 comprehensive studies and more than 150 articles on a wide range of topics including the cost of public health care insurance, international comparisons of health care systems, hospital performance, medical technology, and physician shortages.

A frequent commentator on radio and TV, Mr. Esmail's articles have appeared in newspapers across North America. Mr. Esmail completed his B.A. (Honours) in Economics at the University of Calgary and received an M.A. in Economics from the University of British Columbia.

February 12, 2026 - Marie Wilson (honoris causa), M.A., B.A., C.M., O.NWT., M.S.C.

Talk Title - The Truth and Reconciliation Commission 10 Years On

Marie Wilson served as one of three Commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of
Canada following decades of experience as an award-winning journalist, trainer, and senior executive manager. She is also an author with the 2024 release of, NORTH OF NOWHERE: Song of a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner, a memoir of her TRC days.

Ms. Wilson has devoted her professional life to public service, serving many years as Regional Director for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the CBC North region, responsible for three northern territories and northern Quebec. Fluently bilingual in French and English, she has been a university professor, a high school teacher in Africa, a senior executive manager in both federal and territorial Crown Corporations, and an independent consultant in journalism, program evaluation, and project management.

Dr. Wilson was appointed the 2016 Professor of Practice in Global Governance at the Institute for Study of International Development, McGill University, and a 2016-2017 Mentor for the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, and continues to serve on several boards and committees.

In addition to awards for writing and journalism excellence, she is the recipient of a CBC North Award for Lifetime Achievement, Northerner of the Year, the Calgary Peace Prize, the Toronto Heart and Vision Award, and the Pepin Award for Access to Information.

She has Honorary Doctorates from six Canadian universities, and has received the Order of the
Northwest Territories, the Meritorious Service Cross, and the Order of Canada.

Marie Wilson and her husband, Stephen Kakfwi, have three children and four grandchildren. She sees them as her most treasured achievement!

January 8, 2026 - Bill Fraser

Talk Title - Research and Development in Support of Canadian Forces Personnel

Members of the Canadian Forces are often required to perform their missions while exposed to
extremes of heat, cold, atmospheric pressure, sleep deprivation, acceleration, physical and
cognitive workloads, and psychological stress at levels rarely or ever experienced by civilians.

The Canadian Defence Department has a long history of investigating the impact of these
stresses on human performance and developing technologies to minimize their impact on the
men and women of the CF, enabling them to undertake their assigned missions successfully.

The presentation will focus on some of the unique challenges associated with undertaking this type of research, including the use of human subjects, ethical constraints, equipment and personnel costs, and multinational collaboration.

Bill was employed by Defence Research and Development Canada for 32 years, retiring in 2012.
His research efforts were focused on models of stress and human performance, the
biomechanical, biochemical, and neurological factors underlying neck pain in rotorwing aircrew,
the immunological aspects of decompression sickness, the development of techniques for
monitoring and quantifying aircrew performance, the physiological responses to high altitude
rapid decompression, the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mechanisms of acceleration-
induced loss-of-consciousness, and the development of computer-controlled aircrew life support
systems for crews of high-performance aircraft.

He has authored or co-authored over 150 conference presentations, technical reports, articles, and journal publications.

As well, he is an elected Fellow of the US Aerospace Medical Association, an elected Fellow of the Aerospace Human Factors Association, has served as Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the Aerospace Medical Association Annual Scientific meeting, is a past President of the Life Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Branch of the Aerospace Medical Association, and is past Chair of the Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States, and United Kingdom Technical Cooperation Panel on Human Systems Integration – Air.

Bill was the Canadian representative on the NATO RTO/RTA Working Group on Operator Functional State Assessment, a member of the US Environmental Protection Agency panel on the Physiological Effects of Alternative Fire Protection Agents, a member of the Canadian National Sciences and Engineering Research Council Mechanical Engineering Grant Selection Committee, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee of the Aerospace Medical Association and Editor of the Science and Technology Watch column of the Aviation Medicine and Human Performance Journal.

He is the recipient of the Eric Liljencrantz Award from the Aerospace Medical Association. He currently serves as a scientific advisor to 3D4MD, a for-profit social enterprise with a mission to utilize 3D printing technology to create sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and deliver healthcare in the Global South.

November 13, 2025 - Ted Barris

Talk Title: Days of Victory - Canadians Remember 1939 - 1945

Each spring since WWII, children and grandchildren of the generation of Dutch civilians who endured Nazi occupation of their country from 1940 to 1945, celebrate their liberation day – May 4, 1945. Indeed, every May 4, during silent marches in every hamlet and city in the Netherlands,
the Dutch continue to acknowledge the sacrifice that thousands made, in particular their "liberators”, Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen. More than 7,600 Canadians died in the nine-month campaign to liberate the Netherlands.

The Dutch have never forgotten that sacrifice. Ted Barris’s Days of Victory: Canadians Remember 1939-1945 talk/presentation offers accounts of Canadians’ participation in the liberation of Holland – Operation Market Garden, the Scheldt estuary, taking the German surrender at Wageningen and the famous food drops of Operation Mana in the 1945 “Hunger Winter.”

Not a soldier, but the soldier’s storyteller, not a veteran, but recognized by vets as keeper
of the flame. For 50 years, he has worked as a broadcaster in Canada and the US. He taught journalism and broadcasting at Toronto’s Centennial College for 18 years. And he continues to write a weekly newspaper column/weblog, called The Barris Beat.

Ted Barris has now published 22 non-fiction books, half of them wartime histories. His book The Great Escape: A Canadian Story won the 2014 Libris Award as Best Non-Fiction Book in Canada

His book Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid Against Nazi Germany received the 2019 NORAD Trophy from the RCAF Association. And his book Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire was listed for the 2020 Charles Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction in Canada.

Next was Battle of the Atlantic:Gauntlet to Victory then last year Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour.

In 2024, Ted became a Member of the Order of Canada.

October 9, 2025 - David Rosen

Talk Title: Agriculture, Climate Change and Health

David Rosen is a retired family physician who has lived and worked in Mississauga since 1986.

Previously he worked in rural Ontario and was an ER physician at St Mikes in Toronto. In 1974 he spent the greater part of a year working as a physician in Nicaragua and that experience had a profound effect on my understanding of the connection between politics and healthcare. In the 90's David joined the Ontario College of Family Physicians' committee "Environment and Health". Later that led him to become an active member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). In 2008 I, along with 2 other family physicians, he wrote an extensive report "Addressing the Health Effects of Climate Change: Family Physicians are Key".

David presently is working on a programme with the Agrifood subcommittee of Ontario CAPE designed to educate family practice and medical residents on the connection between food systems, climate change, and planetary and human health.

He is a father, grandfather and husband and has been a dedicated musician all his life; retirement has allowed him to spend more time on music studies.

Literacy is essential for immigrants to engage in Canadian society and so with retirement he has also been a volunteer assisting in ESL classes.

September 11, 2025 - Paul Taylor

Talk Title: Canadian Criminal Law

Paul Taylor was born in Montreal Quebec and grew up on the West Island of Montreal. After graduation from high school, he attended Bishop’s University obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree in
History and Political Science.

Finding the demand for freelance historians to be somewhat limited he applied to law school and attended the University of New Brunswick. Following graduation in 1972 he and his young family decamped for the promised land, where he articled for and later practiced as Counsel for the Department of Justice.

In 1976 he became a member of the Peel Crown Attorney’s office,ultimately becoming the 10th Crown Attorney for Peel Region in 1989, a position he held until his appointment to the Ontario Court of Justice. In 2002. during his tenure as Crown Attorney, he was recognized by the Law Society as a Certified Specialist in Criminal Law. Paul retired from the Court in 2020.

Paul has taught Advocacy at the Ontario Crown Attorney’s Summer School, the Criminal Law Intensive Advocacy Program, and the Advocates Society. Paul has lectured on criminal law at the Canadian Police College, the Ontario Police College, the Crown Attorney’s Association, the Ontario Bar Association, The Bar Admission Course, and the Law Society.