A panel discussion on the importance of independence in parliament. Moderated by Professor Alex Marland and featuring three Canadian legislators:

• Bobbi Ann Brady (Ontario MPP, Haldimand-Norfolk, independent)

• Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin (Nova Scotia MLA, Cumberland North, independent)

• Scott Simms (MP, Newfoundland and Labrador, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, Liberal, 2004-2021)

2023 Churchill Dinner

We invite you to join us for the 40th annual Churchill Dinner on November 29, 2023, at Arcadian Court in Toronto (401 Bay St., 8th floor) at 6:00 p.m. for 7:00 p.m.

This year, the Churchill Society will celebrate the Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien, 20th Prime Minister of Canada (1993-2003). This year’s dinner will feature a fireside-style discussion between author and journalist Ron Graham and Mr. Chrétien.

“In his maiden speech 60 years ago Mr. Chrétien dedicated himself to the ideals of parliamentary democracy by pledging that “even though we occupy the government benches we must give the members of this house the assurance that we will give our point of view on every matter raised before the House of Commons” remarked Cameron MacKay, Chair of the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy. “He guarded that flame throughout his remarkable parliamentary career and it never dimmed, and for that we honour him” added MacKay.

Jean Chrétien was elected in 1963 as the Member of Parliament for Saint-Maurice—Laflèche and served in the House of Commons for more than 36 years until his retirement in 2003. Mr. Chrétien was a member of the cabinet from 1967 until 1984, serving in Finance, Justice and External Affairs, and was elected Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 1990. In October 1993, Jean Chrétien was elected Prime Minister at the head of a Majority Liberal Government and was reelected in 1997 and 2000 with two more majorities. He retired as Prime Minister in 2003.

As Minister of Justice in the government of Pierre Trudeau, Mr. Chrétien helped negotiate the patriation of the Canadian constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As Prime Minister, Mr. Chrétien led the federalist forces to a victory in the Quebec separatist referendum and in 1998 produced Canada’s first budgetary surplus in nearly thirty years. Under Mr. Chrétien, Canada joined the coalition war in Afghanistan but did not join the United States in the war in Iraq. In 2003 Mr. Chrétien introduced legislation to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

Mr. Chrétien has been awarded fourteen honourary degrees from Canadian universities and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2007.

Mr. Chrétien will be the 40th recipient of the Churchill Society’s Award of Excellence and sixth Canadian Prime Minister to receive the award.

The Churchill Society and the Yorkminster Park Speaker Series are pleased to present Western University Professor Neville Thompson

It is almost universally acknowledged that British foreign policy in the 1930s, commonly described as ‘appeasement’, was a disaster that produced the second world war. Winston Churchill was one of the few who insisted that not standing up to Nazi Germany by threatening armed force would lead to war.

But why was appeasement so supported by so many leaders in Britain, the dominions and elsewhere, including Mackenzie King, the prime minister of Canada?

What exactly was Churchill arguing and why was it rejected for so long?

Professor Thompson will explore these questions and other issues that Churchill had to deal with during the water itself, including threats of Italy and Japan entering the war and the territorial claims of the allied Soviet Union, with some reflections on appeasement and diplomacy more generally.

As polities are becoming more divisive, now more than ever, we must recognize and celebrate those who have upheld parliaments as flexible instruments of free debate.

Join Canadian Club Toronto in partnership with The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy, as former Federal cabinet minister, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, PC receives the Society’s 2020 Award for Excellence in the Cause of Parliamentary Democracy. This award places Mr. Goodale among Canadian political titans including past Prime Ministers, Premiers, Chief Justices and many distinguished Privy Councillors.

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, PC will be joined in conversation with David Herle (The Herle Burly Podcast) to reflect on his four decades as a parliamentarian, his views on the state of parliamentary democracy today and into the future.

The Churchill Society hosted a conversation with Rob Wright, Assistant Deputy Minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, and Malliha Wilson, a Churchill Society board member. Rob is responsible for implementing the Long Term Vision and Plan to restore and modernize the buildings and grounds of the Parliamentary Precinct. This conversation was recorded on October 29, 2020.