Beakerhead presents The Walrus Talks Experimentation

September 14, 2013, 3 pm MT, – Theatre Junction Grand, Calgary, AB

Featuring talks from

• Poet Christian Bök
• Educator and Musician Steve Kirby
• MDA Space Missions’ Natalie Panek
• Arts & Crafts Records’ Jeffrey Remedios
• University of Alberta’s Indira V. Samarasekera
• …and more!

Buy tickets now

The Walrus Talks the Art of Conversation

Monday, September 16, 2013, 6 pm PT – The Belfry Theatre, 1291 Gladstone Avenue, Victoria, British Columbia. Reception to follow.

Featuring talks from

• President of Hoggan & Associates Jim Hoggan on Empathy and the Polluted Public Square
• Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster Michael Ingham on Faith and Reason
• Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Wilton Littlechild on Reconciliation
• War Child’s Samantha Nutt topic to be determined
• Broadcaster Shelagh Rogers on The Art of the Interview
• Carbon Talks’ Shauna Sylvester on Bringing Disparate Parties Together
• Student Energy’s Kali Taylor on Building a Movement
• …and more!

Buy tickets now

Archived Events

Past works of the Walrus Foundation and its partners

The Walrus National Gallery Debate

Does Canadian Culture Need Protecting? A lively public debate about culture, patriotism, and Canada’s place in the world.

Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 p.m. ET – The National Gallery of Canada Auditorium 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa

Our debators will include

• Governor General’s Literary Award–winner Charles Foran
• Trudeau Doctoral Scholar Sara Angel
• Author and critic Randy Boyagoda
• and the host of CBC Radio’s The Signal, Laurie Brown

Peter Simpson, arts editor and writer for the Ottawa Citizen, will moderate this lively debate, and will be joined by provocateurs including National Gallery of Canada director and CEO, Marc Mayer, and online rabble-rousers via the Walrus Soapbox, at walrussoapbox.ca.

Purchase tickets in person at the National Gallery box office or by phoning (613) 998-8888 or 1 (888) 541-8888
VIP: $30* Non-member: $15 Member: $12 Student: $10

* Includes admission to an exclusive cocktail reception afterwards with the debaters and other special invited guests and patrons. (Limited amount of VIP tickets available.)

The Walrus Talks at Blue Met

The Walrus Talks Building Bridges

Saturday, April 27, 2pm ET – McCord Museum, Montreal

Welcome by D’Arcy Levesque, vice-president of public and government affairs, Enbridge. Introductory remarks by Shelley Ambrose, co-publisher of The Walrus and executive director of the Walrus Foundation.

Featuring talks from:

• Canada Lands Company’s Cameron Charlebois on I, Bridge
• The Walrus magazine’s Rachel Giese on Crossing Borders
• CBC Radio’s Jonathan Goldstein on Truth and Fiction
• Scotiabank Giller Prize–winner Vincent Lam on When Bananas Write
• Trillium Book Award–winner Pasha Malla on Audience and Spectacle
• McGill University professor Henry Mintzberg on Across Public, Private, and Plural
• Journey Prize–winning author Saleema Nawaz on Family
• Award-winning poet and novelist Alison Pick on Secrets
• Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada Will Straw on French and English

Reception hosted by Canada Lands Company.

Tickets are sold out, but you can watch the livestream here.

Suncor Presents the Walrus Talks

The Walrus Talks Energy

Thursday, April 4, 2013, 6pm ET – MaRS Discovery District, Auditorium, 101 College St., Toronto

Tickets on sale now! Click below to purchase yours.

Fifth Annual

The Walrus Foundation Gala: Thank You for a Great Night!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 in Toronto

The Walrus Foundation would like to thank all our supporters, sponsors, and guests. Thanks to you, the fifth annual Walrus Foundation Gala was a huge success and a great way to launch our tenth anniversary year!

Enbridge Presents The Walrus Talks at High Performance Rodeo

The Walrus Talks Performance

Tuesday, January 29, 2013, Calgary

Seventy minutes of lively, thought- provoking ideas about performance and how to measure it.

Ideas in Dialogue Series

Democracy in the Year of Election

Monday, November 5, 2012 at the Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queens Park), Toronto

On the eve of the US election, join PEN Canada in a conversation on democracy in the new century. Moderated by CBC’s Carol Off, Mark Kingwell and Janice Gross Stein consider whether the choice in the coming election is between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, or between two equally tarnished visions of the city on the hill.

Visit PENCanada.ca to purchase tickets.

The Walrus RBC Conversation Series

Early Intervention: Searching for Signs

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts (50 Tank House Lane), Toronto

Moderated by Valerie Pringle, veteran journalist and broadcaster and mental health advocate.

Panel Members:

• Dr. Anthony Levitt (Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute; Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto)
• Janine Robb (Executive Director, Health and Wellness, University of Toronto)
• Fran Carnerie and Sarah Fazackerley (Sunnybrook Hospital family)

For additional details, contact miranda.newman@thewalrus.ca.

The Walrus co-presents

Geoff Morrison’s Northwords

Thursday, October 11, 2012 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1 (350 King Street West), Toronto

Northwords, directed by Geoff Morrison.

“It is my brother’s kind of trip—the land unspoiled by cities—nothing but tents and boats and guns… whether it’s my kind of trip or not, Labrador has me from the start,” Alissa York (Effigy, Fauna) writes about the experience of being in Northern Canada. She, along with a group of acclaimed Canadian writers including Joseph Boyden (Through Black Spruce), Sarah Leavitt (Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me), discover that the North is so much more than they imagined when they embark on a life-changing journey to Labrador’s magnificent Torngat Mountains National Park.

Invited on the eye-opening adventure by Shelagh Rogers, award-winning journalist, activist and host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter, the writers find inspiration in unexpected wildlife encounters, the arresting landscape and the inhabitants and history of the region as they revel in the stimulating conversations that emerge from these interactions.

The creators of the National Parks Project have spearheaded in Northwords a multi-platform initiative that provides insight and an intimate look at the culture of the North.

Director Geoff Morrison and Shelagh Rogers will be in attendance.

The Walrus Talks at the Art Gallery of Ontario

The Art of the City

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at Baillie Court, Art Gallery of Ontario (317 Dundas Street West), Toronto

Watch The Art of the City live

Ninety minutes of lively, thought-provoking ideas featuring:

• Kamal Al-Solaylee
• Roberta Bondar
• Dionne Brand
• Matt Galloway
• Jennifer Keesmaat
• Jamie Kennedy
• Deepa Mehta
• Shawn Micallef
• Donald Schmitt

For more information, visit ago.net/the-walrus-talks-at-the-ago.

Enbridge Presents The Walrus Glenbow Debate

Calgary’s Cowboy Culture: Living Legacy or Just History?

6:30 pm, Thursday, June 7, 2012 at EPCOR Centre: Max Bell Theatre (205–8 Avenue Southeast), Calgary

As we celebrate 100 years of the Calgary Stampede and the country looks at Alberta as a key economic driver, we will debate how Calgary’s rich past relates to the present and our future. Join some of Calgary’s top thinkers for a lively debate about culture, city-building, and what it means to be Calgarian.

Moderated by Carol Off (host, As It Happens, CBC Radio), and featuring:

• Chris Turner (journalist)
• Chima Nkemdirim (Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s chief of staff)
• Joan Crockatt (journalist and political commentator)
• Mercedes Stephenson (reporter, CTV News, CTV)
• Aritha van Herk (author)

The Inaugural Walrus HOOPP Luncheon Debate on Pensions

Be it Resolved that Canadians are Incapable of Saving for Their Retirement Needs Alone

12 pm, Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at Hart House Debate Room (2nd Floor, 7 Hart House Circle), Toronto

Join the Walrus Foundation, HOOPP, and your peers—leaders and influencers in the financial, pension, and healthcare fields—for a lively, engaging onstage debate about the future of pensions in Canada, and Canadians’ roles in preparing for their retirement.

Moderated by John Tory (Newstalk1010), and featuring panel members:

• David Herle, L.L.B. (principal partner with the Gandalf Group, known for his work on nine consecutive federal budgets and his frequent media appearances)
• Jon Chevreau (editor of Moneysense and author of eight financial books, including The Wealthy Boomer, and most recently his financial novel, Findependence Day)
• Jim Keohane (president and CEO of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan)
• Malcolm Hamilton (principal and worldwide partner at Mercer, and a well-known speaker on pension issues)

This invitation-only, exclusive lunch event will feature leading thinkers on pensions and personal finance.

The Walrus RBC Conversation Series

How to Foster Mental Wellness in Our Children

7 pm, Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Prairie Theatre Exchange (3rd Floor, Portage Place, 393 Portage Avenue), Winnipeg

Moderated by Marcy Markusa (co-host, Information Radio, CBC Radio), and featuring panel members:

• Dr. Rob Santos (Healthy Child Committee of Cabinet, Government of Manitoba)
• Marion Cooper (Manager, Mental Health Promotion, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority)
• Denis Granger (Director of Student Services, Louis Riel School Division)

The Walrus RBC Conversation Series is a national series of conversation events with a focus on children’s mental health. The events are invitation only, and feature an onstage moderated conversation between stakeholders in the mental health community. Our moderators are well-known journalists or public figures with knowledge of the subject. The topic is children’s mental health, and in particular, solutions to stigma. Our audience typically numbers around one hundred, and is comprised of mental health professionals, media, corporate stakeholders, and influential opinion leaders.

The goal of this series is to raise awareness of the issues faced by stakeholders, while also helping to foster a community among our attendees in order that they can work together to provide the best treatment possible for children and parents who access the mental health system.

RBC has an ongoing commitment to supporting children’s mental health, and this conversation series is a key part of the RBC Children’s Mental Health Project. The charitable non-profit Walrus Foundation, publisher of The Walrus magazine, has a mandate to promote and foster public conversations on matters that are vital to Canadians.

The Walrus National Gallery Debate

Art in Daily Life: Essential or Irrelevant? Who decides? Who pays? Who cares?

7 pm, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at the National Gallery of Canada (380 Sussex Drive), Ottawa

The National Gallery’s CEO Marc Mayer and art critic Sarah Milroy face off against the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Executive Director Stephen Borys and the Globe and Mail’s Kate Taylor. Our moderator is Carol Off, host of CBC Radio’s As it Happens; our provocateurs include Peter Simpson of the Ottawa Citizen, and others.

The Walrus Foundation and Hot Docs present

Brigitte Poupart’s Over My Dead Body

10 pm, Friday, April 27, 2012 at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 (350 King Street West), Toronto

4 pm, Sunday, April 29, 2012 at the ROM Theatre (100 Queen’s Park), Toronto

With masterworks like Pornography of the Soul and A Little Tenderness for Crying Out Loud!, queer Montreal choreographer and wild child of the international dance scene Dave St-Pierre has shocked audiences with raw aesthetics, violent physicality, and the astonishing beauty of naked humanity, provoking comparisons to Pina Bausch’;s theatre of cruelty. Now, only thirty-four, St-Pierre’s health is seriously declining: his cystic fibrosis has worsened, plastic tubes connect him to an oxygen tank, and without a transplant he will die. As the months pass and he waits for the call about a donor that could save his life, director Brigitte Poupart—his “soul sister” and longtime collaborator—gathers stunning excerpts from his danceworks, beautifully composed images and tableaux, scenes from the hospital and operating room, interviews, graphics, and text and brilliantly manipulates them into a portrait of an artist facing death and a powerful, immersive work of contemporary documentary cinema.

—Lynne Fernie

The Walrus McGill Talks at the Segal Centre

The Art of Cultural Diversity

6 pm, Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts (5170 Chemin de la Côte-Ste-Catherine), Montreal

Join us for ninety lively minutes of thought-provoking ideas featuring:

• Jenny Burman (Art History and Communication Studies, McGill)
• Cameron Charlebois (Canada Lands Company)
• Maurice Forget (Fasken Martineau)
• Manon Gauthier (The Segal Centre)
• Nantali Indongo (Nomadic Massive)
• Anne-Marie Jean (Culture Montréal)
• Anne Lagacé Dowson (Tolerance Foundation)
• Eric M’Boua (Diversité artistique Montréal)
• Noah Richler (Author, broadcaster)
• Will Straw (McGill Institute for the Study of Canada)

The Walrus Talks at High Performance Rodeo

The Art of the City

7 pm, Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts (205–8 Avenue Southeast), Calgary

Ninety minutes of lively, thought-provoking ideas featuring:

• Joseph Boyden
• Edward Burtynsky
• Douglas Coupland
• Mark Kingwell
• Lisa Moore
• Mayor Naheed Nenshi
• Noah Richler
• Chris Turner
• Aritha van Herk

Fourth Annual

The Walrus Foundation Gala

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at the Fermenting Cellar (28 Distillery Lane), Toronto

Once a year, the Walrus Foundation holds a gala fundraising dinner that the Globe and Mail has referred to as “a legendary bash.” The annual Walrus Foundation Gala attracts the folks that matter in the arts, business, and political worlds, and is widely considered to be an essential event on the social calendar. Our gala features a unique, creative, one-of-a-kind silent auction, top raffle prizes including a $20,000 trip aboard the Walrus Expedition, and great music. In 2011, the Walrus Gala garnered full-colour photo spreads in both national newspapers as well as Hello! Canada magazine; our partners enjoyed access to other movers and shakers; and we kept costs low and raised $249,000 for the work of the Walrus Foundation.

On January 18th, 2012, the Walrus Foundation Gala returns for its fourth year, and it will be better than ever. Our honourary gala chair is Rupert Duchesne, president and CEO of Groupe Aeroplan. The theme of the 2012 gala is “The Walrus Travels.”

This is a unique opportunity to partner with a trusted, optimistic, intelligent Canadian voice. Join the Walrus Foundation, The Walrus magazine, and platinum sponsor Bennett Jones LLP, gold sponsors Aimia, RBC, and Thomson Reuters, silver sponsors TD, Enbridge, Manulife, Labatt, Rogers, Air Canada, National Bank, CIBC, Adventure Canada, and others, and become a sponsor of the 2012 Walrus Foundation Gala.

Hot Art @ Indigo

Rachel Giese in Conversation With Joshua Knelman

7 pm, Thursday, December 8, 2011 at Indigo Books, Manulife Centre (55 Bloor Street West), Toronto

The Walrus Leadership Dinner

Legal Services: Whither the Billable Hour? Billable Hours versus Alternative Billing

5:30 pm, Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton (181 Wellington Street West), Toronto

Three times a year, the Walrus Foundation assembles sector leaders for an intimate, private dinner where they discuss the present and future of their industries. Our Leadership Dinners are a chance for Canada’s top CEOs, lawyers, high-level executives, analysts, academics, and pundits to gather and take part in conversations that shape the policy decisions of tomorrow.

The dinner—sponsored by Manulife—will be hosted by Honourary Chair Jean Cumming of Lexpert® (and a member of the Walrus Foundation Advisory Council) and Shelley Ambrose, co-publisher of Canada’s best magazine, The Walrus. The conversation will be moderated by Steve Paikin, host of Canada’s best current affairs program, The Agenda on TVO, and will be preceded by a reception sponsored by Fasken Martineau.

The Walrus Law Leadership Dinner is limited to just eighty seats in a private dining room. This is an off-the-record opportunity for leaders in the legal sector to be in the same room with other key decision makers—those who will determine the future of the relationship between law firms and clients in Ontario and Canada at a time when everyone is looking for efficient, successful outcomes.

Brief remarks will be made by David Corbett (firm managing partner for Fasken Martineau), David Allgood (executive vice-president and general counsel for RBC), Martine Turcotte (chief legal and regulatory officer and vice chair, Québec for Bell Canada), Bill Ainley (senior partner in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities, and energy practices for Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP), Jennifer Warren (senior vice president and general counsel for CIBC), Jody Becker (2011 Canadian General Counsel Award winner and vice president and general counsel for EllisDon), Jean Cumming, and other experts in the field. Then, because the Walrus Law Leadership Dinner is participatory in nature, you will have your turn to join the conversation about the future of the billable hour.

The Walrus Leadership Dinners consistently attracts attendees and guest speakers at the highest levels of their respective fields, and have become a cornerstone of many corporate calendars. These dinners always sell out and are a rare opportunity for our guests to network in an intimate dinner setting with their peers: Canada’s true movers and shakers.

Cocktail reception sponsored by Fasken Martineau; dinner and discussion sponsored by Manulife.

Tenth Anniversary

Scotiabank Giller Light Bash

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 in Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg

Party for a good cause—literacy. The Scotiabank Giller Light Bash, in support of Frontier College, is an exciting evening where people come together to celebrate Canadian literature and raise money for Frontier College, Canada’s original literacy organization. This signature fundraising event began in Toronto ten years ago as a house party organized by a group of friends, and has continued to evolve over time into a much celebrated and talked about cultural event.

One night. Four locations: Toronto (The Burroughes Building)—Calgary (Amsterdam Rhino)—Winnipeg (Prairie Ink Bakery & Café)—Vancouver (W2 Media Café).

Amgen Presents The Walrus Leadership Dinner

Withstanding the Boomer Bubble: How Do We Build a Sustainable Health System?

Thursday, November 3, 2011 at Grano Restaurant (2035 Yonge Street), Toronto

Three times a year, the Walrus Foundation assembles sector leaders for an intimate, private dinner where they discuss the present and future of their industries. Our Leadership Dinners—in the financial, health, and, for the first time, the legal sector—are a chance for Canada’s top CEOs, lawyers, high-level executives, analysts, academics, and pundits to gather and take part in conversations that shape the policy decisions of tomorrow.

The dinner discussion will be moderated by Steve Paikin, host of Canada’s best current affairs program, The Agenda on TVO, and feature comments by Ron Sapsford of the Ontario Medical Association, LDIC’s Michael Decter, Tom Closson of the Ontario Hospital Association, Elyse Allan of GE Canada and others. The Ontario Ministry of Health has been invited to return to The Walrus Leadership Dinner for the third straight year.

The Walrus Leadership Dinner is limited to just fifty seats in a private dining room, and is always sold out. This will be an off-the-record opportunity for leaders in the health sector to be in the same room with other key decision makers—those who will determine the future of health care in Ontario and Canada at a time when an aging population is increasing the strain on our system, and the federal-provincial agreement is set to expire.

The Walrus Leadership Dinner consistently attracts attendees and guest speakers at the highest levels of their respective fields. Because of the high-profile attendees and pertinent conversations, the Walrus Leadership Dinners have become a cornerstone of many corporate calendars. These dinners always sell out and are a rare opportunity for our guests to network in an intimate dinner setting with their peers: Canada’s true movers and shakers. For our corporate partners, this dinner provides incredible brand visibility and unparalleled access to the top echelon of the finance sector.

TD Presents The Walrus Toronto Project Debate at the AGO

Be It Resolved That Toronto Will Never Be Beautiful

7–8:30 PM, Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at the Art Gallery of Ontario (317 Dundas Street West), Toronto

Join The Walrus Foundation and The Toronto Project at the AGO for a lively and intelligent debate on the future of Toronto. Four prominent Torontonians in two teams will be debating what it takes to make Toronto beautiful, and whether we have the infrastructure, ideas, and resources to do so. This will encompass politics, the arts, architecture, the business community, culture, and Toronto’s local communities. Featuring Jack Diamond and John Barber versus Nick Mount and Stephen Marche; moderated by Amanda Lang; including Albert Schultz, Denise Balkissoon, Matt Galloway, and others.

This Is Not a Reading Series

Dani Couture in Conversation With Jen Knoch

Doors open at 7 pm, event starts at 7:30 pm; Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom (1214 Queen Street West), Toronto

This Is Not a Reading Series presents author Dani Couture and ECW editor and book blogger Jen Knoch in a conversation about writing, ships, and weather at the launch of Couture’s debut novel, Algoma. Through a guided slideshow, Couture shares the story behind her obsession with freighters and her favourite fleet. Listen to Dani’s “Channeling Algoma” greatest-hits playlist, and get ready to tweet throughout the evening as we feature a live feed from the acclaimed David Leonard Weather Service (#DLWS).

ALGOMA: A year after watching his brother go through the ice, twelve-year-old Ferd refuses to believe Leo is gone. Convinced his brother is still alive, Ferd enters into a campaign of letters to persuade his brother to come home, “mailing” notes in any pool of water he can find. Soon, sopping notes begin to appear around the house—folded squares of paper in the rain reservoir, kitchen sink, and washing machine. Ferd’s mother, Algoma, finds the letters and keeps them to herself in an attempt to hide them from her increasingly distant husband. Gaetan, a bartender who obsessively records the weather, rejects his family’s increasingly erratic behaviour and disappears one night leaving behind his weather journal, a newly pregnant wife, and a son consumed with talking to the dead. For more information on Algoma, visit blackbearonwater.com/algoma or invisiblepublishing.com.

DANI COUTURE is the author of two collections of poetry: Good Meat (Pedlar Press, 2006) and Sweet (Pedlar Press, 2010). Sweet is currently shortlisted for a ReLit Award and was named one of Maisy’s Best Books of 2010 by Maisonneuve magazine; it was also nominated for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 2011. Dani also received an Honour of Distinction from The Writers’ Trust Dayne Ogilvie Grant. For two years, Dani curated Animal Effigy, an online photo essay on urban faux animal tracking. Her writing has appeared in a number of publications including the Globe and Mail, Grain, The Walrus, and several anthologies. In 2007, her short story “The Port-Wine-Stain-Removal Technique” won first place in the fiction category of This Magazine‘s Great Canadian Literary Hunt. Algoma is Couture’s debut novel.

JEN KNOCH is an editor at ECW Press and a secret scribe of teen pop culture books. She also runs popular book blog The Keepin’ It Real Book Club, which features reviews, recommendations, videos, and special projects like the Canada Reads spinoff Civilians Read.

The David Leonard Weather Service (#DLWS) is a network of Twitter correspondents posting the weather they see right now. Real-time, crowd-sourced weather. According to his Twitter bio, David Leonard is a “reader, enviro, vinyl junkie, soccer fan, and the accidental creator of an eponymous crowd-sourced weather service (the #DLWS), Walrus, dilettante.”

This Is Not A Reading Series (TINARS) offers a ground-breaking theatrical dimension to the appreciation of fine writing. Employing music, comedy, psychodrama, dance, multimedia performance, lectures, dialogue—everything but reading—TINARS investigates the creative process behind literary works.

National Book and Magazine Festival

The Walrus at Word On The Street

Sunday, September 25, 2011 at Queen’s Park, Toronto

The Word On The Street is a national celebration of literacy and the written word. On one extraordinary Sunday each September, in communities coast to coast, the public is invited to participate in hundreds of author events, presentations, and workshops, and to browse a marketplace that boasts the best selection of Canadian books and magazines you’ll find anywhere. There is always plenty to see and do at Canada’s largest book and magazine festival, and best of all, The Word On The Street and all of its events are free!

A Summer Tradition

The Walrus Foundation Garden Party

Sunday, June 26, 2011 at the home of Diane and Matthew Barrett, Oakville, Ontario

Sandler Photography

The Walrus Foundation Garden Party, hosted this year by Diane and Matthew Barrett, is an annual gathering of supporters to celebrate the progress and future of The Walrus magazine.

A Joyland Fundraiser Sponsored By The Walrus

Ain’t Too Proud to Beg

8 pm, Thursday, May 19, 2011 at Supermarket (268 Augusta Avenue), Toronto

The Walrus National Gallery Debate

Group of Seven: History or Living Legacy?

7 pm, Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at the National Gallery of Canada (380 Sussex Drive), Ottawa

When the Group of Seven started exhibiting their paintings in the 1920s, they were denounced as “an affront to common decency.” Since then, they’ve achieved iconic status, but are they relevant today, and if so, what’s their legacy? In this lively debate, critically acclaimed author Ross King and Tom Smart, former director of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, square off on the Group of Seven’s place in Canadian history. Moderated by renowned CBC Radio broadcaster Shelagh Rogers.

The Walrus Financial Leadership Dinner

Pension Reform

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at Grano Restaurant (2035 Yonge Street), Toronto

Twice a year, the Walrus Foundation assembles just fifty sector leaders for an intimate dinner where they discuss the present and future of their industries. Our Leadership Dinners are a chance for Canada’s top CEOs, government officials, high-level executives, analysts, academics, and pundits to gather and take part in closed-door conversations that shape the policy decisions of tomorrow. On April 6, the focus will be the financial sector, and in particular, pension reform. This is a rare opportunity for the true leaders of the pension sector to talk about:

• Securing Our Future
• Finding the Best Pension Solutions for Ontario

The dinner discussion will be attended by Alex Mazer, director of policy for the Ontario Ministry of Finance. It will be moderated by veteran broadcaster Steve Paikin of TVO’s The Agenda, and will feature comments by:

• Craig Alexander (senior vice-president and chief economist for TD Bank Financial)
• Keith Ambachtsheer (director of the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management)
• Tom Reid (senior vice-president, group retirement services at Sun Life Financial Canada)
• Susan Eng (vice-president of advocacy for CARP)

The Walrus Leadership Dinner is limited to just fifty seats in a private dining room. It will be an off-the-record opportunity for leaders in the finance sector to be in the same room with other key decision makers—those who will determine the future of pensions in Ontario and Canada at a time when everyone is looking to both the public and private sector for solutions to the pension question. The Walrus Leadership Dinners are participatory in nature. Once the stage has been set by brief remarks, the floor is open and every attendee has the opportunity to stand up and join the discussion, ask a question or comment. Join your colleagues, including the most senior executives from the finance sector.

The Walrus Leadership Dinner consistently attracts attendees and guest speakers at the highest levels of their respective fields. Because of the high-profile attendees and pertinent conversations, The Walrus Leadership Dinners have become a cornerstone of many corporate calendars. These dinners always sell out and are a rare opportunity for our guests to network in an intimate dinner setting with their peers: Canada’s true movers and shakers.

TEDxYYC

Shelley Ambrose @ TEDxYYC

Friday, April 1, 2011 at the Grand Theatre and Lounge (608 1 Street Southwest), Calgary

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

The 2011 TEDxYYC conference will feature a lecture by Calgarian Shelley Ambrose—the executive director of the Walrus Foundation and co-publisher of The Walrus. Shelley worked as a reporter for the Globe and Mail and the Windsor Star before serving for more than a decade as a producer for CBC Radio’s Morningside and later for The Pamela Wallin Show. After three years in public affairs at the Canadian Consulate in New York, organizing media and events and building the Canadian brand, she returned to Canada in 2006. She has produced hundreds of events, including forums, lectures, festivals, book tours, Arctic tours, royal visits, and Bill Clinton’s sixtieth birthday celebrations in Toronto and New York.

Visit tedxycc.com for more information.

TD presents The Walrus McGill Annual Debate at the Segal Centre

If You Build It, Will They Come?

6 pm, Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts (5170 ch. de la Côte-Ste-Catherine), Montreal

TedxWaterloo

Shelley Ambrose @ TEDxWaterloo

March 3, 2011 at Centre in the Square, Kitchener, Ontario

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

The 2011 TEDxWaterloo conference will feature a lecture by Calgarian Shelley Ambrose—the executive director of the Walrus Foundation and co-publisher of The Walrus. Shelley worked as a reporter for the Globe and Mail and the Windsor Star before serving for more than a decade as a producer for CBC Radio’s Morningside and later for The Pamela Wallin Show. After three years in public affairs at the Canadian Consulate in New York, organizing media and events and building the Canadian brand, she returned to Canada in 2006. She has produced hundreds of events, including forums, lectures, festivals, book tours, Arctic tours, royal visits, and Bill Clinton’s sixtieth birthday celebrations in Toronto and New York.

Visit TedxWaterloo.com for more information.

Book Launch

Finding the Words

7:30 pm, February 16, 2011 at Duggan’s Brewery (75 Victoria Street), Toronto

J&L Books, The Walrus, and Type Bookstore present

Fundraiser for Another Ventriloquist

6–9 pm, February 5, 2011 at Type Books (883 Queen Street West), Toronto

Third Annual

The Walrus Foundation Gala

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at the Fermenting Cellar (28 Distillery Lane), Toronto

Once a year, the charitable non-profit Walrus Foundation holds a gala fundraising dinner in Toronto. The Walrus Gala attracts the folks that matter in the arts, business, and political worlds, and is widely considered an essential event on the social calendar.

Our gala features a unique, creative, one-of-a-kind silent auction, top raffle prizes including a $15,000 trip aboard The Walrus Expedition, and top-notch entertainment from some of Canada’s best.

On January 19, The Walrus Gala returns for its third year. Sign up today for a ticket or a table, and ensure you don’t miss an event the Globe and Mail has referred to as “a legendary bash.”

The Walrus Foundation Presents

The Last Great River: The Present and Future of the Mackenzie River Delta

7:30 pm, Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (4750 58th Street), Yellowknife

The Walrus Reads

David Sedaris

7:30 pm CT, Monday, November 22, 2010 at McNally Robinson in Grant Park, Winnipeg

© Robert Banks

Something new from the beloved David Sedaris: a book of acerbic, outrageously funny fables, featuring animals with unmistakably human failings. Join us for a reading and signing session for his latest book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary.

Featuring Sedaris’s unique blend of hilarity and heart, this new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales is an utter delight. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life.

In “The Toad, the Turtle, and the Duck,” three strangers commiserate about animal bureaucracy while waiting in a complaint line. In “Hello Kitty,” a cynical feline struggles to sit through his prison-mandated AA meetings. In “The Squirrel and the Chipmunk,” a pair of star-crossed lovers is separated by prejudiced family members.

David Sedaris is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and Public Radio International’s This American Life. He is the author of the books When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, and Barrel Fever.

International Festival of Authors

An Evening With The Walrus

Thursday, October 28, 2010 at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto

An evening of events hosted and/or moderated by the people behind Canada’s most-honoured magazine.

Reading: Franzen, Gruen, Heighton, Hodgins · Jonathan Franzen, Sara Gruen, Steven Heighton, and Jack Hodgins read from their latest books. Hosted by Walrus editor and co-publisher John Macfarlane. This event also includes a door prize of a library worth $500 donated by HarperCollins Canada. Fleck Dance Theatre (207 Queens Quay West), 8 pm ET

Round Table: Coming of Age Through Storytelling · Patricia Engel, Adam Gopnik, and Andrea Levy discuss the rite of passage for both their characters and themselves at this round table discussion moderated by Walrus managing editor Jared Bland. Lakeside Terrace (235 Queens Quay West), 8 pm ET

Reading: Gibb, Min, Tierney, Wangersky · Camilla Gibb, Anchee Min, Matthew Tierney, and Russell Wangersky read from their latest books. Hosted by Shelley Ambrose, co-publisher of The Walrus and executive director of the Walrus Foundation. This event also includes a door prize of a library worth $500 donated by Thomas Allen & Son. Studio Theatre (235 Queens Quay West), 8 pm ET

IFOA Noir Reading: Bishop-Stall, Forbes, Gasparini, Perry · Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, Elena Forbes, Len Gasparini, and Thomas Perry read from their latest books. The Walrus‘s Stacey May Fowles hosts. This event also includes a door prize of a library worth $500 donated by Raincoast Books. Click here for more information about this year’s IFOA Noir programming. Brigantine Room (235 Queens Quay West), 8 pm ET

The Walrus Leadership Dinner on Health Policy, sponsored by the Medcan Clinic

Value for Money in Health Care? Moving to the Era of Accountability

6 pm, Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at Grano Restaurant (2035 Yonge Street), Toronto

The Walrus Leadership Dinner Series are limited to just fifty seats in a private dining room. The annual dinner discussions are off-the-record opportunities for the leaders of the health sector to be in the same room with other key decision makers—those who will determine the future of health care in Ontario at a time when everyone is looking to “bend the cost curve” and looking to both the public and private sector for solutions.

The Walrus Leadership Dinner on Health Policy will feature comments by Dr. Ben Chan—CEO of the Ontario Health Quality Council—and Professor Brian Golden of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The moderator of the discussion over dinner is veteran broadcast journalist Steve Paikin, host of TVO‘s The Agenda.

The Walrus Leadership Dinners are participatory in nature. Once the stage has been set by brief remarks, the floor is open and every attendee has the opportunity to stand up and join the discussion, ask a question or comment.

The Walrus Co-Presents the Extraordinary Canadians Tour

Joseph Boyden and John Ralston Saul

7 pm CT, Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at Westminster United Church (745 Westminster Avenue), Winnipeg

In Extraordinary Canadians—Louis Riel & Gabriel Dumont, Joseph Boyden focuses on two warriors in an earlier battle for recognition of Aboriginal integrity: one a messianic Métis as much concerned with God as with protecting his people, the other a canny military strategist.

As Extraordinary Canadians’ editor, John Ralston Saul’s vision for the series and passion for Canada have made the books an unprecedented success. His own volume, Extraordinary Canadians—Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin shines a light on two men—polar opposites in temperament—united behind a set of principles and programs that formed modern Canada.

This event is co-presented by Penguin Group Canada, CBC Manitoba and McNally Robinson Booksellers.

The Walrus Reads

Jeff Rubin

7:30 pm CT, Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at McNally Robinson in Grant Park, Winnipeg

© Greg Tjepkema

What do subprime mortgages, Atlantic salmon dinners, SUVs and globalization have in common? They all depend on cheap oil. And in a world of dwindling oil supplies and steadily mounting demand around the world, there is no such thing as cheap oil. Oil might be less expensive in the middle of a recession, but it will never be cheap again. Take away cheap oil, and the global economy is getting the shock of its life.

Jeff Rubin was the chief economist and chief strategist at CIBC World Markets where he worked for over twenty years. He was one of the first economists to accurately predict soaring oil prices back in 2000 and is now one of the world’s most sought-after energy experts. He lives in Toronto.

Join us for a speaking and signing session involving his book Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller (Random House of Canada).

The Walrus RBC Conversation Series

Child and Youth Mental Health

5:30 pm, Monday, October 4, 2010 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto

At The Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, The Walrus partnered with RBC to launch an exciting new series of on-stage conversations.

The first event in The Walrus RBC Conversation Series was on “Child and Youth Mental Health,” and featured Dr. Simon Davidson (chair of the Child and Youth Advisory Committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada and chief of psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario), Sarah Cannon (executive director of Parents for Children’s Mental Health), and Dr. Brendan Andrade (clinician-scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). Broadcast legend Valerie Pringle was the moderator of this fascinating conversation about “Solutions to Stigma and Other Barriers to Mapping and Getting Treatment.”

The Young Centre was packed to capacity, and we were delighted to be able to bring this important conversation to the mental health community. RBC and The Walrus will continue to program their Conversation Series. The next event will be in the spring of 2011.

The Walrus Reads

David Bergen

8 pm CT, Thursday, September 30, 2010 at the Prairie Ink Restaurant in McNally Robinson at Grant Park, Winnipeg

© Thomas Fricke

When Morris Schutt, a prominent newspaper columnist, surveys his life over the past year, he sees disaster everywhere. His son has just been killed in Afghanistan, and his newspaper has put him on indefinite leave; his psychiatrist wife, Lucille, seems headed for the door; he is strongly attracted to Ursula, the wife of a dairy farmer from Minnesota; and his daughter appears to be having an affair with one of her professors. What is a thinking man to do but turn to Cicero and Plato and Socrates in search of the truth? Or better still, call one of those discreet “dating services” in search of happiness? But happiness, as Morris discovers, is not that easy to find.

David Bergen won the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel The Time in Between. The work also won the McNally Robinson Award of the Year and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, had its film rights sold to Crescent Entertainment and was published around the world. He is the author of five other novels, including: The Retreat, winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction; The Case of Lena S., winner of the Carol Shields Award; See the Child, which the Globe and Mail compared to the work of Richard Ford and John Updike; and A Year of Lesser, winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and a New York Times Notable Book. The recent winner of the Writers’ Trust Award for a writer in mid-career, David Bergen lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Join us for his hometown launch of his latest novel, The Matter With Morris—which has already been longlisted for the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The Walrus Eats

Doug Saunders

6 pm, Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at Toronto’s Campbell House

Join The Walrus for a lovely salon-style event in one of Toronto’s most historic homes. Enjoy an elegant and intimate dinner from Hearth & Garden at Campbell House, with a sommelier’s selection of fine wines from Lifford Wine Agency, and a cognac service from Remy Martin. Enjoy great food, great wine, and great conversation—all to support the work of the Walrus Foundation.

Featuring award-winning journalist, commentator, and columnist Doug Saunders and his highly-anticipated book, Arrival City: The Final Migration and Our Next World. Saunders is the European bureau chief at the Globe and Mail; his widely read column explores the intellectual and social issues behind the headlines. With Arrival City, he looks at how our world is being reshaped by the large-scale migration of people from rural areas into cities.