Welcome to our 41st Season!
Dinner Speaker Program 2026-2027
2026
September 26 – Bhavan Sodhi, JD – “Innocence Canada” Wrongful Conviction Specialist, Board Member and former Legal Director, Innocence Canada, former Executive Director, Osgoode Innocence Project (Toronto) and former Chief Program Officer, Innocence Project (NY).
October 15 – Amie Archibald-Varley, RN – “The Wisdom of Nurses” Amie is an award-winning healthcare & political thought leader and a #1 nationally bestselling author of The Wisdom of Nurses and the current creator and host of The Gritty Nurse, a top-charting podcast in the Medicine in Canada category, dedicated to tackling the raw realities of healthcare with grit, integrity, and humor.
November 19 – Dr. Hendrik Poinar, PhD – McMaster University Michael G. DeGroote Chair in Genetic Anthropology. A world renowned evolutionary geneticist specializing in ancient DNA, Dr. Poinar has uncovered minute traces of organic molecules in museum collections, fossils and sediments to uncover the genomes for the Black Death, the 1849 cholera epidemic, and the first complete ancient smallpox genome, among others. In our modern time, his lab developed a very effective rapid testing procedure for the COVID 19 virus. Recipient of many excellence in teaching awards, Dr. Poinar was named Distinguished University Professor by McMaster in May 2026.
2027
January 26 – Hank Idsinga – Metropolitan Toronto Police Detective (Retired) – His grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust, became the country’s leading homicide detective; he shares his insights into tracking down murderers and serial killers over his colourful and decorated thirty-year career. Author of #1 bestseller “The High Road – Confessions of a Homicide Cop”
February 18 – Sue Williams – “An Adventure on the High Seas and the Journey Within”
March 25 – George Takach – “Taiwan, Canada, and Global Democracy”
April 29 – Dr. Bruce Lourie – “The Road to Net Zero: Are we there yet?”
Location: Oakville Conference Centre, 2515 Wyecroft Road (QEW & Bronte)
Registration/Cash Bar 6:00 pm; Dinner 7:00 pm
Members $65; Non-Members $75
