Spring Talks Program at the Steve & Sally Stavro Family YMCA on Kingston Road begins this Thursday

By KAT BERGERON

The Steve & Sally Stavro Family YMCA on Kingston Road will be hosting a lecture series called Y Spring Talks Program this month, and the first presentation is slated for this Thursday afternoon.

A local committee of volunteers has organized the weekly lecture series on topics of interest in the community, and they will take place on Thursdays from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Studio Room.

The first talk will take place on Thursday, April 9, and the topic is Canada’s Immigration Debate.

The discussion will include author Tony Keller from The Globe and Mail, University of Toronto Professor and author Phil Triadafilopoulos, and Daniel Bernhard, Chief Executive Officer of The Institute for Canadian Citizenship.

They will discuss the question “What is the right strategy for Canadian immigration in the coming decades?”

Keller was an editorial writer at The Globe and Mail going back to 1991, and has also been editor of The Financial Post magazine, managing editor at Maclean’s magazine, and a news anchor on BNN-Bloomberg (formerly BNN). From 2013 to 2022 he returned to The Globe and Mail to take on the role of editorials editor. Nominated three times for the National Newspaper Award, he won in 2016.

Triadafilopoulos is an Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. Triadafilopoulos teaches courses in Political Science and Public Policy, conducting research on immigration and citizenship policy across Europe and North America. Additionally, he is the author of Becoming Multicultural: Immigration and the Politics of Membership in Canada and Germany for UBC Press.

Bernhard is a first-generation Canadian who has dedicated his career to public benefit following a short stint in corporate consulting. He holds degrees from Cambridge University and the London School of Economics, has led and advised charities, foundations and government agencies in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

The April 16 talk will discuss the topic How AI (Artificial Intelligence) Will Revolutionize Healthcare.

The talk will provide insight into how AI is affecting healthcare and treatment, and will be moderated by YMCA volunteer Sandra Gionas. Discussion panelists will be Dr. David Rosenstein from Michael Garron Hospital, University of Toronto Associate Professor Jay Shaw, and Dr. Angela Dong of the Investigative Journalism Bureau.

The specific focus of the talk will be on AI use in medical research, clinical application, pharmaceutical development and health administration, as well as the ethical concerns and ongoing developments in the field. The panel discussion will continue for 40 minutes and questions from the audience will be allotted 20 minutes.

The April 23 talk is called Health: Active Aging, and it will discuss ways that adults can live well physically, mentally and socially as they age.

Speakers for this presentation will be Centre 55 Program Director Jade Maitland; geriatric psychiatrist and scientist Dr. Petal Abdool from CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health); and Beverley Stephenson from the Steve & Sally Stavro YMCA. Moderator will be Dan McCabe.

The final talk of the series will be on April 30 and will feature local author and historian Richard White discussing his book The Beaches: Creation of a Unique Toronto Neighbourhood.

The talk will focus on how the neighbourhood turned into the community that it is from its earlier 19th century lakeside cottages.

White was a University of Toronto Research Associate and Lecturer on Canadian History from 1995 to 2015 and History of Urban and Regional Planning from 2015 to 2022. He wrote Planning Toronto, The Planners and The Plans and Their Legacies for UBC Press in 2016 and The Beaches: Creation of a Toronto Neighbourhood for University of Toronto Press in 2024. He has also won the 2017 Ontario Historical Society’s Fred Landon Award for local and regional history.

All of the Y Spring Talks Program events are free to attend.

However, space is limited to 80 people per event so those wishing to attend a specific talk are asked to register in advance at the YMCA desk, through the Y App, by calling 416-928-3362.

The Steve & Sally Stavro Family YMCA is located at 907 Kingston Rd.