On Tuesday, Ed Clark unveiled Schulich School of Business alumnus Bharat Masrani, 56, as the next chief executive officer of TD, Canada’s second-largest bank. The Ugandan-born banker will take over on Nov. 1, 2014, after a transitional stint as chief operating officer, reported The Globe and Mail and others April 3. It is a significant moment in the Canadian banking world, making Masrani, who is of South Asian descent, the first visible minority to ascend to the corner office of a major Canadian bank. Read full story.
How Martin Luther King’s legacy speaks to our Canadian reality
“The version of King commemorated on the third Monday of January each year in the U.S. – the version Canadians will be familiar with – is that of a prophetic, revolutionary voice tamed and made safe for an America – and a world – still characterized by racial, economic and social injustice,” wrote Simon Black, a researcher at the City Institute at York University, in the Toronto Star April 3. “The King we seldom hear from today is the King who called for a ‘radical revolution of values.’ His message is a moral beacon, a light whose source may have been the black church, a prophetic Christianity forged amid the struggle against American apartheid more than 40 years ago, but it illuminates the dark corners of Canadian democracy today.” Read full story.
NDP’s proposed new rhetoric seeks to dial down socialism
York University Professor Jim Laxer, who mounted a strong campaign for party leader in 1971 but lost to David Lewis, said the party has been moving away from its socialist roots for a long time. “What this does is to further move it in that direction,” said Laxer in The Globe and Mail April 3. All references to socialism in the NDP’s proposed new constitution preamble simply acknowledge the past and the remainder of the document seems to be a “small-l liberal conception of values and society,” he said. Read full story.
EU, Australia, Canada may follow India’s Patent Law
India’s strong stance on minor drug innovations could reverberate in national parliaments and courthouses of the developed world as Australia, the EU and Canada get ready to discuss and ban patent protection for frivolous improvements….”The Indian ruling is not an isolated one; we are seeing in Canada, courts are under pressure to strengthen their patent standards. What we are seeing is that the developed world is taking a cue from developing countries in drafting patent norms,” said Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Ikechi Mgbeoji in The Times of India April 4. Read full story.
Prorogation: A matter of restraint
“The introduction in the Ontario legislature of a private member’s bill on March 6, to constrain the ability of elected officials to prorogue the legislature and call it back within a certain time period, has not engendered much discussion or debate among constitutional scholars and other citizens,” wrote Glendon College instructor Radha Persaud in the Hamilton Spectator April 3. “This is not surprising. Putting a deadline on the term of prorogation is a reasonable change. However, creating a new process to agree on prorogation would produce a hornet’s nest of issues and difficulties for legislatures.” Read full story.
iRun and Rock: A new race in support of first responders
The June 1 event will feature 1-km, 5-km and 10-km distances, a 4-km Full Battle Team Relay and a Glass Tiger rock concert. Perhaps more importantly, it’s generating momentum for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research and awareness in the first-responder community. Held at the Ray Twinney Recreation Centre in Newmarket, Ont., iRun and Rock will bring together speakers, display booths and educational materials….The funds raised through the race will go towards a research study at York University looking at the effects of PTSD on first responders, reported iRun.ca April 3. Read full story.
Sewell: Are the upcoming Pan Am Games a boondoggle in the making?
The Pan Am Village, where the athletes will be staying, is under construction near the Distillery District, so the accommodation will clearly be ready on time. But the location is difficult, reported Postcity.com April 3….The track and field location first arranged in Hamilton will now happen at York University, and the swimming facilities are at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus at Morningside Avenue and Kingston Road….As for Hamilton, city council there said it didn’t want running tracks in the rebuilt Ivor Wynn Stadium, so it will just host soccer – meaning an extra $75 million is needed for York U’s facilities. Read full story.