January 27, 2023 – Celebrating the 2023 Clarkson Laureates
The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson arrived in Canada from Hong Kong with her family in 1942 and made the astonishing journey from penniless child refugee to accomplished broadcaster, journalist, and distinguished public servant in a multi-faceted lifetime. Madame Clarkson was Canada’s 26th Governor General from 1999-2005.
When she left Rideau Hall, she co-founded the Institute for Canadian Citizenship which helps new citizens to feel involved and included in Canadian life. The ICC offers a one-of-a-kind program, Canoo Cultural Access Pass, an app that gives newcomers free VIP access to +1,400 of Canada’s best cultural and outdoor experiences.
Among her many merits and awards, Madame Clarkson is a Companion of the Order of Canada, an Arbor Award recipient and has received 28 Honorary Degrees from universities in Canada and abroad. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and Trinity College. She was appointed Lay Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario and Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Museum of History from 1995 to 1999. Recently, Madame Clarkson received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany.
Madame Clarkson is the bestselling author of the 2014 CBC Massey Lectures’ Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship; Room for All of Us: Surprising Stories of Loss and Transformation; Heart Matters: A Memoir; and Extraordinary Canadians: Norman Bethune a biography of Dr. Norman Bethune.
Dr Blaise Clarkson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.She is a family doctor at the South East Toronto Family Health Team where she runs a busy practice and teaches medical students and residents to become family physicians. Dr Clarkson has a strong interest in the care of older adults, and she leads a Memory Clinic to manage dementia in primary care. She is here tonight with her husband Tim Lewis and their daughter Talia Lewis who is completing her BA at Trinity College.
Kyra Clarkson is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she studied French and Art history. She is delighted to spend the evening in the Great Hall as her graduating thesis paper was on the architecture of Massey College.
Kyra holds an architecture degree from Yale University and heads a studio in Toronto. Her firm focusses on the design of modernist houses and is working on projects in the downtown core and the Niagara escarpment.
Kyra enjoys guest lecturing at the Daniels School of Architecture and mentors women in the Toronto design community. She recently sat on an advisory panel for the City of Toronto on “Missing Middle” multi-unit housing, and was elected as Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2022.
Lisa Balfour Bowen, a Senior Fellow at Massey College, is a former Canadian journalist who served as a political correspondent in the province of Quebec and as an art critic in Toronto for 35 years. .
Ms. Balfour Bowen was the first female Anglophone political correspondent appointed to the National Assembly Press Gallery in Quebec City and worked as a bilingual policy advisor to the Government of Ontario’s Federal-Provincial Affairs Secretariat under Premiers John Robarts and Bill Davis. During this time, she helped establish bilingualism and biculturalism programs in Ontario for the Ontario-Québec Permanent Commission.
She helped found French for the Future thanks to an idea conceived by John Ralston Saul, in the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec referendum and continues to maintain an active role in the operation of that organization.
She has been recognized with the Ordre de la Pléiade and the Ordre du Mérite Francophile, the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, appointed a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Republic and Honorary Doctorates from Laurentian University and the Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Nova Scotia.
Ms. Balfour Bowen is a former director of the Toronto French School and the Alliance Française de Toronto, helped found the Toronto Arts Awards, Tarragon Theatre and the Friends of the Library at Trinity College, and served as an Ontario governor of the now defunct Canadian Unity Council.
James Bird – James K. Bird is Massey Junior Fellow and a 2022 Clarkson Laureate. James is a member of the Dënesųłiné Nation and is affiliated with the Northwest Territories Métis Nation. After completing a master’s degree in architecture at the University of Toronto, he is now working on his PhD in architecture.
His current work examines the intersection between Indigenous languages and shape forming using parametrics and algorithms. This research was supported in part by a Social Science and Humanities Research Council grant for research in linguistics and architecture in the Dene language. James has received several academic awards and national awards: the Prideaux Award for Science and Architecture, University College Merit Award, the Gordon Cressy Award, the Dr. Lillian McGregor Indigenous Award for Excellence, and the President’s Award.
James has been equally active outside academia. He is a Member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Indigenous Task Force on Architecture and serves on the Massey College Governing Board and Chapel Royal Commitee. James was very proud to be part of the Canadian team that won the 2018 Venice Architectural Biennale, a team headed by world-renowned Indigenous architect Douglas Cardinal and 18 other Indigenous architects.
Alan Broadbent – Alan is a Massey Senior Fellow and former Chair of the College’s Governing Board. He is Founder and Chair of the Maytree Foundation, who work to advance systemic solutions to poverty and strengthening civic communities by ensuring that economic and social rights are safeguarded for all people. He is the CEO of Avana Capital, a private investment holding company that also initiates and funds various civic engagement projects to strengthen public discourse on sustaining civil society, including the Jan Jacobs Prize and Ideas That Matter.
Alan is the author of Urban Nation: Why We Need to Give Power Back to the Cities to Make Canada Strong, co-author of You’re It! Shared Wisdom for Successfully Leading Organizations, and a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star on poverty alleviation and city building.
He received Honorary Doctor of Laws from Queen’s University and Toronto Metropolitan University and is a member of the Order of Canada.
John Fraser – Senior Fellow and Master Emeritus of Massey College serving from 1995 to 2014, John is a journalist, academic and author of twelve works of fiction and non-fiction – the most recent, “Funeral for a Queen – Twelve Days in London” released in December 2022.
John is currently President for the Institute for the Crown in Canada, and is National NewsMedia Council’s executive Chair where, he had served as the founding president and CEO.
He started his journalism career as a teen-aged copy boy for the Toronto Telegram, and became a noted dance and theatre critic. He has been a columnist, China correspondent, Ottawa bureau chief, national columnist, national editor and London correspondent at The Globe and Mail. During his time as Editor of Saturday Night Magazine, he pioneered the use of mixed circulation. He is the recipient of multiple national journalism awards, and was chair of the Canadian Journalism Foundation.
During his time as head of College, John created the Clarkson Laureateships to honour college members who excelled in public service and as a way of thanking Madame Clarkson for her service to the country and her loyalty to Massey.
We are all grateful to him for creating this program that brings us all together this evening.
Paul Gooch has been a Senior Fellow of Massey College since the end of the last century, when he was acting Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. He currently sits on the Massey College Governing Board, is President Emeritus of Victoria University, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus U of T, and Chair, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance. His scholarly interests include Plato’s Socrates, philosophical theology (Reflections on Jesus and Socrates, Yale UP), philosophical issues in the New Testament, especially Paul’s letters (Partial Knowledge, U Notre Dame Press); Paul and Religion, CUP); university governance, academic freedom, undergraduate education (Course Correction, UTP). He is an enthusiastic recommender of Vic students for Massey Junior Fellowships.
Andrew Lam – Andrew Terence Lam was a 2021 Clarkson Laureate and is now a fourth-year Junior Fellow and resident doctor in the combined specialties of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine. He has an interest in health equity and health systems innovation and clinically in low-risk obstetrics and inner-city health. He received both his Master of Public Health and medical training from UofT and has been an epidemiologist for the different levels of Canadian government. Currently, he chairs the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s Section of Residents and is board member for the Resident Doctors of Canada and is working towards addressing the health human resource challenges in Canada. In his free time, he enjoys mentoring students, biking across the city or fencing from a socially safe distance.
Janelle Lassonde was born in Illinois and after studying at Northwestern, The University of Chicago, and LSE, she worked as an investment banker in London and Johannesburg. Now based in Toronto and mother of an industrious 17-year-old, she blogs and recently completed a memoir from France with the working title Roquelune: The House That Taught Me French. Janelle is a founding advocate of the Education Finance program at microfinance NGO Opportunity International and serves on its US board. And as a lifelong musician who plays the flute, cello, and piano, she serves as a director of The Royal Conservatory of Music.
Tim Lewis is an Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ontario Ministry of Health, where he runs the province’s COVID-19 Vaccine Program.
He holds a BA from Western University, Bachelor of Laws, MA and DPhil in Political Science and Government from the University of Toronto (would have been a good JF!). He is the author of the book In the Long Run We’re All Dead – The Canadian Turn to Fiscal Restraint, and is husband to Blaise Clarkson, father of Talia (here this evening) and son-in-law to Madame Clarkson and Mr. Saul.
Judy Matthews is a member of the Quadrangle Society and a 2018 Clarkson Laureate. A civic leader, former city-planner and visionary philanthropist, her many initiatives include the revitalization of St. George Street, University of Toronto open space master plan, the Kings College Road Project and the Harbourfront pedestrian piazza. Judy is a passionate advocate for enriching the lives of Torontonians by improving our public spaces. Along with her husband, Wil Matthews, one of Judy’s most recent initiatives is The Bentway; a project that has transformed four hectares of neglected space under the Gardiner Expressway into a series of public spaces connecting people and neighbourhoods of our growing downtown core. She holds a Master of Urban Planning degree from York University and is a past Clarkson Laureateship recipient.
Leah Morris is a Massey alum and a 2022 Clarkson Laureate. A tireless leader and advocate for social justice and equity, Leah has worked with vulnerable populations around the world. In Kingston, Jamaica, she assisted in establishing a mobile health program with the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities coalition. Back home she continued with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the Interagency Organization on AIDS and Development. This was followed by two consecutive internships, first, working at the United Nations Migration Agency in the Migration, Environment, and Climate Change Division and second, a fellowship with Open Society Foundations in Johannesburg, South Africa, which involved documenting gender based violence and the LGBT+ movement. Leah’s research through The Munk School of Global Affairs, examines policies around information communication technology and HIV interventions.
Valérie Ouellet is this year’s Massey College St. Clair Balfour Journalism Fellow.
Valérie is a bilingual investigative reporter for CBC/Radio-Canada with over a decade of broadcast experience. She uses data analysis to uncover systemic failures and social inequalities. She has won an Amnesty Canada Media Award for her work documenting COVID cases in prisons and jails and an RTDNA Award for reporting on school violence in Ontario — but what she is proudest of is her reporting leading to a Health Canada ban of textured breast implants tied to a rare cancer.
When she’s not in the newsroom, Valérie teaches data journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University and writes fiction and nonfiction stories. Her personal essay relating a family member’s death from COVID-19 earned the Gold Medal at the 2021 Digital Publishing Award.
Valérie is also an avid kayaker, backcountry camper and amateur boxer and is joined this evening by her parents.
The Right Honorable Julie Payette was an astronaut, engineer, scientific broadcaster and corporate director, before serving as Governor General of Canada from 2017 to 2021, the 29th since Canadian Confederation.
From 1992 to 2013, Madame Payette worked as an astronaut and flew two missions in space. She served many years as Capsule Communicator at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas and was Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency.
Committed to developing policies to promote science and technology, she has produced several scientific outreach short programs on Radio-Canada and has served on the boards of the Montreal Science Centre Foundation, Robotique FIRST Quebec, Drug Free Kids Canada and the Montral Bach Festival.
She is a Massey Senior Fellow and alumna, can converse in six languages, and holds a commercial pilot license.
Rakshith Ramesh is a second-year resident Junior Fellow and second year Master of applied science student studying Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering. Rakshith is the program co-chair for the Massey is Lunch program, and was instrumental in its creation and successful implementation. For those of you who may not know, Massey Is Lunch pairs Junior Fellows with Senior Members of the College for an informal lunch in Ondaatje Hall. This program has required a lot of time and commitment – and has been invaluable to the intergenerational connections at the college that were seriously set back due to the pandemic, especially for new Junior Fellows and incoming Quadrangle and Senior Fellows.
Most recently, he has volunteered his time and talent to help organize the first ever multiculturalism High Table in celebration of South Asian communities. Outside of Massey and before coming to the University of Toronto, Rakshith demonstrated a strong commitment to community service – volunteering for the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, the Suvidya Foundation as well as the Parikrma Humanity foundation where he provided one-on-one coaching for middle school students who were struggling in mathematics.
John Ralston Saul is an award-winning essayist and novelist. His 16 works have been translated into 29 languages in 38 countries. He is a Senior Fellow and the 1995 Massey Lecturer for his book The Unconscious Civilization.
Saul is President Emeritus of PEN International, Founder and Honourary Chair of Français pour l’avenir and, with his wife the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, is the co-founder and co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
He is a Companion in the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Ontario, an Officer in Germany’s Order of Merit and a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France. Saul’s many literary awards include Chile’s Pablo Neruda Medal, South Korea’s Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, Italy’s Premio Lettarario Internazionale and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction. He holds 21 honourary degrees.
Saul is also the founder of the LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture series, named after Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin. In 1848, LaFontaine and Baldwin won responsible government for the Province of Canada, a month after Nova Scotia. Six weeks from now will be the 175th anniversary of Canadian democracy.
Hadiya Roderique – A Massey alumna, previously repping House 3, host of a truly epic Tea Hut, and a 2019 Clarkson Laureate, Dr. Roderique is currently an Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, where her research focuses on how journalists write about race in Canadian media. An award winning journalist, including a 2021 National Magazine award, she has bylines in virtually all of Canada’s top publications. A former Bay Street lawyer and McKinsey Consultant, she holds J.D., M.A. in Criminology and Ph.D. in management from the University of Toronto, where she won the prize for the top student in the JD/MA program. She is also a former elite athlete in Ultimate Frisbee, with multiple national championship gold medals and four world championship silver medals. She has taken up tennis in her retirement.
Caitlin Salviano is a second-year resident Junior Fellow and a JD candidate at the Faculty of Law. Caitlin is Co-Chair of the Junior Fellow led Accessibility Committee and is currently in the process of organizing an accessibility audit for Massey, with funding from the Quarter Century Fund. Additionally, Caitlin spearheaded and facilitated the “Just Ask” workshop at Massey, aimed at having Junior Fellows with disabilities share their experiences with the fellowship and with Massey staff. This event helped to not only raise critical and crucial awareness of disability at Massey, but also helped to position Massey College as a space where disability is present, and where all are welcome.
Caitlin has also worked closely with the Lionel Massey Fund to ensure that events are organized with accessibility in mind, and encourages all accessibility needs be met in all capacities. Caitlin has brought accessibility into sharp focus at the College, and as a result, has made disability and access central to the College’s work and outreach.
In addition to Caitlin’s involvement at Massey College, her scholarship and activism is impressive, both within the U of T Faculty of Law and outside of it. For her work on community advocacy on gender-based violence and disability rights she received the 2022 Governor General Persons Case Award for outstanding contributions to gender equality in Canada.
Currently, Caitlin is the co-president of the Disabled Law Students’ Association, and has successfully advocated for reform to the Faculty of Law’s Financial Aid Policy in order to meet the needs of disabled students, the creation of a lecture recordings police for disabled students as well as the hiring of a specialist in disability at the Faculty of Law.
Neil Seeman is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, a writer, Internet entrepreneur and mental health advocate. He teaches at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and is a fellow in the Institute of Health Policy, The Fields Institute, and the Investigative Journalism Bureau. His forthcoming book is about promoting kinder capitalism and the mental health of entrepreneurs. The book is called “Accelerated Minds”, published by Sutherland House. After many years of failure, he once placed second in the College’s annual limerick contest.
David Smith has long believed in living a portfolio life where he balances his time among his work, community and family commitments. He is the founder of a boutique advisory services firm that supports large business families, their enterprises and their family offices. His community service is wide ranging and he just completed a decade of contribution to Rise Asset Development where he finished as Chair of the national board. At Massey, he sits on the Governing Board, chairs the Quadrangle Society and co-chairs the Selection Committee. At home, he is the proud father of two boys and husband to Cecillia who shares his steadfast commitment to developing the capacity of others.
