McLaughlin College invites the York University community to come and listen to interesting speakers as they share their knowledge on a variety of topics, and enjoy a free lunch during the popular Lunch Talks Series. The long-running series continues into February with two events on the calendar.
Students who attend six or more Lunch Talks throughout the year will receive a Certificate of Participation, while those who attend 10 or more will receive a Certificate of Honour.
The talks take place in the Senior Common Room, 140 McLaughlin College, Keele Campus.
Feb. 12 – The Independence of the Senate: Principle, Policy, and Politics Presented by Marc Gold
Presented by Marc Gold, government representative in the senate, this talk examines how the Liberal party electoral platform of 2015 pledged to end the partisan nature of the Senate by creating “a new, non-partisan, merit-based process to advise the Prime Minister on Senate appointments.”
The commitment of the government was repeated in the 2019 electoral platform and was reflected in the mandate letters of the president of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and the leader of the government in the House of Commons. Changes to the appointment process were introduced in the last parliament, and more than 50 new senators have been appointed since then. The senate now comprises a majority of senators who are not members of a political party caucus.
The talk will evaluate the changes that this has brought to the work of the senate, with special attention to the concepts of independence and partisanship as they relate to the constitutional role of the senate. It will conclude by offering some thoughts on the steps that still need to be taken.
Gold was appointed to the senate in November 2016 by Prime Minister Trudeau, and in January 2020 was appointed as the government representative in the senate. He previously served as liaison of the Independent Senators Group during the 42nd parliament. A full-time law professor at Osgoode Hall Law School from 1979-91, and an adjunct professor of Law at McGill University since 2003, Gold has published and taught in the areas of constitutional law, legal theory and the Charter of Rights. With extensive experience in the business world, he is an accredited mediator and has held many leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector.
The event takes place from 12 to 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 27 – The Third Anniversary of the Trump Administration
The third year of the Trump administration recently ended. America’s economy is booming, a new trade deal is in place between the United States, Mexico and Canada, the first phase of a trade deal with China has been negotiated, the American military has been rebuilt, and many other gains have been realized – but the president faces two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of congress. How are we to make sense of this?
This event will featured panelists:
- Robert Drummond, professor emeritus, Department of Politics and School of Public Policy and Administration, York University
- Ian Greene, professor emeritus, School of Public Policy and Administration, York University
- David Leyton-Brown, professor emeritus, Department of Politics, York University
- Stephen Newman, associate professor, Department of Political Science, York University
- Benjamin Lowinsky, Faculty emeritus, cross appointed between the Department of Social Science and the Writing Department, teaches history, social and political thought and writing at York University
The moderator for this event is Philip MacEwen, who teaches in the Departments of Philosophy and Humanities and is coordinator of the York Collegium for Practical Ethics.
This event runs from 12 to 2 p.m.