The Architecture of Difficult Conversations: Civil Discourse Across Fields
Hosted by Massey College, this series of fireside chats brings together leaders from healthcare, ethics, and civil discourse to explore the art and ethics of difficult conversations. Grounded in principles of empathy, power awareness, and reflective practice, the series invites participants to consider what it means to speak and listen with civility when the stakes are highest.
Who Decides? Power, Protection, and Paternalism in Critical Care
In the ICU, clinicians, researchers, and ethics boards frequently make judgement calls about what families can handle- which conversations to have, which options to offer, and which decisions families are ‘ready for’. This panel, moderated by Junior Fellow Julia St Louis, explores essential questions about civil discourse in critical care. When does protecting families turn into removing choice and deciding for them, and how can we have civil discourse when the stakes are so high?
Panelists:
Sonny Dhanani trained at the University of British Columbia, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the Great Ormond Street Hospital. He is the chief of the pediatric intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa and Professor (Pediatrics) at the University of Ottawa. He is the Ontario Health Pediatric Critical Care lead.
Dr. Dhanani is Associate Director for donation research for the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program. He is the Chair of the Canadian Donation Physician Network, Chair of Canadian Blood Services’ national Deceased Donation Advisory Committee, and steering committee member of Health Canada’s Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative. He has previously been the Chief Medical Officer for Trillium Gift of Life Ontario
His own area of focus is leading international research pertaining to practices and standards for determining death after circulatory arrest for the purposes of donation. He is advancing research in predictive modelling to identify optimal donors and increasing organ utilization.
Jennifer Woolfsmith is Vice President of Sustainability at NOVA Chemicals, Canada’s largest petrochemical company. She leads sustainability strategy and designs and implements systems that embed environmental performance into business priorities within complex decision-making environments. Over her 25-year career with NOVA Chemicals, Jennifer has held progressive roles across financial and commercial functions in Europe, Canada, and the U.S., most recently serving as Chief of Staff to the CEO, working closely with senior leaders and the Board of Directors. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), a Project Management Professional (PMP), and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
Jennifer is passionate about fostering the difficult conversations that drive lasting and meaningful systemic change – particularly around organ donation, which is deeply personal to her. Her daughter, Mackenzy, became an organ donor in 2012 following her sudden death at the age of 22 months. Since then, Jennifer has been an active contributor to the organ donation research community and a strong advocate for organ donation awareness and policy reform.
Nicholas Murphy is a bioethicist whose research focuses on ethical issues in organ donation and transplantation, critical care, and research ethics. His work aims to advance critical care and organ donation research. Dr. Murphy collaborates widely with clinicians, policymakers, and donation organizations across Canada and internationally, integrating ethical analysis with empirical and policy work to support trust-preserving innovation in organ donation and transplantation systems.
Massey College Senior Fellow Randy Boyagoda is a novelist and Professor of English at the University of Toronto, where he also serves as the university’s advisor on civil discourse, the first such position in Canada. He was named one of Toronto’s fifty most influential people by Toronto Life magazine because of his work in civil discourse. He is the author of seven books, including four novels that have been nominated for the Giller Prize, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize, and named New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections and Globe and Mail Best Books of the year. A frequent contributor to CBC Radio, including as a national columnist on civil discourse, and former President of PEN Canada, he writes opinions, essays and reviews for publications including the Atlantic, the New York Times, the Financial Times of London, the Globe and Mail, and The Walrus. He also podcasts for the Toronto Public Library and lives in the east end of Toronto with his wife and their four daughters. His new novel, Lords of Serendipity, will be published this September.
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Speakers
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Randy BoyagodaMassey Senior Fellow Randy Boyagoda is the author of six books, including the novels Dante’s Indiana, Original Prin, Beggar’s Feast, and Governor of the Northern Province. His work has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize, and named a Globe and Mail Best Book of the year and New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. He is an essayist, book critic, and Professor of English at the University of Toronto and Vice-Dean, Undergraduate, in the Faculty of Arts and Science. He lives in Toronto with his wife and their four daughters.
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Sonny Dhanani
Sonny Dhanani trained at the University of British Columbia, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the Great Ormond Street Hospital. He is the chief of the pediatric intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa and Professor (Pediatrics) at the University of Ottawa. He is the Ontario Health Pediatric Critical Care lead.
Dr. Dhanani is Associate Director for donation research for the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program. He is the Chair of the Canadian Donation Physician Network, Chair of Canadian Blood Services’ national Deceased Donation Advisory Committee, and steering committee member of Health Canada’s Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative. He has previously been the Chief Medical Officer for Trillium Gift of Life Ontario
His own area of focus is leading international research pertaining to practices and standards for determining death after circulatory arrest for the purposes of donation. He is advancing research in predictive modelling to identify optimal donors and increasing organ utilization.
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Jennifer Woolfsmith
Jennifer Woolfsmith is Vice President of Sustainability at NOVA Chemicals, Canada’s largest petrochemical company. She leads sustainability strategy and designs and implements systems that embed environmental performance into business priorities within complex decision-making environments. Over her 25-year career with NOVA Chemicals, Jennifer has held progressive roles across financial and commercial functions in Europe, Canada, and the U.S., most recently serving as Chief of Staff to the CEO, working closely with senior leaders and the Board of Directors. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), a Project Management Professional (PMP), and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
Jennifer is passionate about fostering the difficult conversations that drive lasting and meaningful systemic change – particularly around organ donation, which is deeply personal to her. Her daughter, Mackenzy, became an organ donor in 2012 following her sudden death at the age of 22 months. Since then, Jennifer has been an active contributor to the organ donation research community and a strong advocate for organ donation awareness and policy reform.
-
Nicholas Murphy
Nicholas Murphy is a bioethicist whose research focuses on ethical issues in organ donation and transplantation, critical care, and research ethics. His work aims to advance critical care and organ donation research. Dr. Murphy collaborates widely with clinicians, policymakers, and donation organizations across Canada and internationally, integrating ethical analysis with empirical and policy work to support trust-preserving innovation in organ donation and transplantation systems.
