Speakers Program
Join your neighbours for informal evenings with distinguished speakers.
Presentations are free and will be followed by questions, coffee and cookies.
WINTER 2012 Lineup of Speakers
Wednesday, February 29, 8 p.m., Rockcliffe Park Community Hall, 380 Springfield Rd, Lieutenant General (Ret'd) Andrew Leslie: “Transforming Canada's Armed Forces
Wednesday, March 28, 8 p.m., Rockcliffe Park Community Hall, 380 Springfield Rd, Anabelle Kienle: "Behind the Scenes of the Van Gogh Exhibition",
Thusday, April 19, 8 p.m., Rockcliffe Park Community Hall, 380 Springfield Rd, Victor Rabinovitch: "A Worldwide revolution in Museums: Changing Roles, Challenges and Urban Impacts",
Wednesday, May2, 8 p.m., Rockcliffe Park Community Hall, 380 Springfield Rd, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson: “Room for All of Us" [To be Confirmed]
List of Speakers presenting at the RPRA hosted events in the past
Senator Landon Pearson - Personal Representative of the Prime Minister to the United Nation’s Special Session on Children: “The New Global Agenda for Children” (Feb. 5, 2001)
Madame Justice Louise Arbour - Supreme Court of Canada: “Prosecuting War Criminals” (Feb. 13, 2001)
David Levine - President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa Hospital: “Challenges in Health Care in Ottawa-Carleton” (Feb. 27, 2001)
Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli - Royal Canadian Mounted Police: “The Surprising Face of Crime Today and what it Means for the RCMP” (April 23, 2001)
Peter Herrndorf - Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Arts Centre (Sept. 26, 2001)
Andrew Cohen - Former Washington Correspondent for the Globe and Mail: “George Bush and the End of the American Summer” (Nov. 7, 2001)
Mayor Bob Chiarelli – “Ottawa and what Amalgamation has Meant”
(Nov. 21, 2001)Hugh Winsor - Columnist for the Globe and Mail, and Arthur Kroeger - Chancellor of Carleton University, former Deputy Minister: “Patronage: What is Proper and Improper in Relations between Cabinet Ministers and Senior Officials” (March 6, 2002)
The Honourable David Anderson - Minister of the Environment: “Climate Change: What can we do?” (March 20, 2002)
Marc Garneau – Canada’s first astronaut and now Director of the Canadian Space Agency: “Canada in Space” (April 3, 2002)
Charlotte Gray - Author, journalist: “Flint and Feather: Writing the Life of Pauline Johnson” (Oct. 9, 2002)
Shirley Thomson - Chairman of the Canada Council for the Arts and former head of the National Gallery of Canada: “The Arts, the Public and the Public Purse” (Nov. 13, 2002)
Thomas d’Aquino - President, Canadian Council of Chief Executives: “After Enron: Trust and Accountability in Corporate Decision – making”
(Dec. 4, 2002)The Honourable Flora MacDonald - Former Minister of External Affairs and now program advisor to Care Canada: “Afghanistan: Kabul and Beyond” (Feb. 6, 2003)
David Runnalls - President and CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development: “What do We Learn from the Kyoto Protocol” (Feb. 19, 2003)
Senator Wilbert Keon - Head of the Ottawa Heart Institute and member of “Kirby Committee” on healthcare: “The Future of Canada’s Health Care System” (April 2, 2003)
L.Col Pat Stogran -Commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan
(April 30, 2003)Andrew Cohen - Former Washington Correspondent: “While Canada Slept: How Canada Lost its Place in the World” (October 1, 2003)
Hugh Segal - Head of the Institute of Research on Public Policy: “Democratic Development” (November 5, 2003)
Don Newman – CBC’s Senior Parliamentary Editor: “Canada’s new Political Landscape” (January 29, 2004)
Paul Heinbecker - Former Ambassador of Canada to the United Nations: “Leading Horses to Water: Iraq from the East River’s Edge”
(February 11, 2004)Charlotte Gray - Author, journalist: “Canada: A Portrait in Letters”
(March 4, 2004)Senator Sharon Carstairs -“Palliative Care in Canada” (March 31, 2004)
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin -“The Role of the Supreme Court of Canada in Canadian Democracy” (April 7, 2004)
John de Chastelain - Chairman, International Commission on Decommissioning and former Chief of Defence Staff : “The Northern Ireland Peace Process : Ten Years and Counting” (November 3, 2004)
Graham Fraser - National affairs writer for the Toronto Star : “Martin Minority Government : An Early Look”(November 17, 2004)
Victor Rabinovitch - Head of the Museum of Civilization: “From Bacchus to Vimy to the Golden West: Tales from the Canadian Museum of Civilization” (December 1, 2004)
Major-General Andrew Leslie – Recently Deputy Commander of international security forces in Afghanistan: “Canadian Forces: Overseas Operations” (January 20, 2005)
Mary Taylor – Author: “A Black Mark: the Japanese-Canadians in World War II” (January 26, 2005)
Mike Duffy - CTV’s man on Parliament Hill : “The Age Wave: the Story behind the Story of the Martin Government” (February 16, 2005)
Christina Cameron – Director General of Historic Sites at Parks Canada: “Canada’s Historic Places” (March 16, 2005)
Huguette Labelle - Chancellor of the University of Ottawa and former President of the Canadian International Development Agency: “Canada's Humanitarian Assistance: Rwanda and Southeast Asia” (March 31, 2005)
Keith Boag – Chief Political Correspondent for CBC television: “Understanding Politics through String Theory!” (September 28, 2005)
Louise Reynolds – Author: “Mackenzie King: Friends and Lovers” (November 23, 2005)
Michael Pantazzi – Curator of European Art at the National Gallery of Canada: “Investigating Nazi Loot” (January 25, 2006)
Joe Guertz – Head of the Canadian War Museum: “Canada’s Newest National Museum” (February 22, 2006)
David Halton – CBC Correspondent: “From the Front: Personal Tales of a Television Journalist” (March 29, 2006)
Kate Taylor – Globe and Mail’s columnist on culture: “Canadian Culture and the Digital Revolution” (April 6, 2006)
Rosemary Thompson – Former Washington correspondent and current Deputy Bureau Chief in Ottawa for CTV News: “Elections Unpacked” (May 4, 2006)
Dr. Michael Rudnicki – Professor and renowned scientist in stem cell research: “The Potential of Stem Cells” (October 11, 2006)
Eddie Goldenberg – Top policy advisor to Prime Minister Chrétien: “The Way it Works: Inside Ottawa” (November 22, 2006)
Jack Granatstein – Distinguished historian, writer, and outspoken commentator on things military and political: “How Canada can protect itself in the Post-9/11 World” (February 14, 2007)
Elizabeth May – Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Thomas d’Aquino – President & CEO Canadian Council of Chief Executives: “The Environment and its Challenges” (February 28, 2007)
Andrew Cohen – Author: “The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are” (March 29, 2007)
Catherine Clark – Television host: “Life in the Public Eye” (April 19, 2007)
Gordon Pimm and Alan Cumyn – Authors: “World War I: A Soldier’s Life in Fact and Fiction” (November 7, 2007)
Roy MacSkimming – Author: “John A. Macdonald: A Novel” (December 5, 2007)
Alan Baker, Ambassador of Israel and Nabil Barto, Ambassador of Jordan: “The Fruit of Peaceful Relations in the Middle East” (February 13, 2008)
The Honourable Flora MacDonald “Another view of Afghanistan” (February 28, 2008)
Derek Burney – Member of the Independent Panel: “The Manley Report on Afghanistan” (March 12, 2008)
Barry McLoughlin – President and CEO McLoughlin Media: “Communicate with Power” (April 7, 2008)
David H. Wilkins – Ambassador of the United States of America to Canada: “An Ambassador’s Story” (October 29, 2008)
Andrew Cohen – Professor, journalist, author of new biography: “The Life of Lester B. Pearson” (November 26, 2008)
Thomas d’Aquino – President, Canadian Council of Chief Executives: “The Economic Meltdown: Why? What next?” (February 4, 2009)
Elizabeth May - Leader of the Green Party of Canada: "Canada's Dual Crisis: The Climate and the Democracy Crises and how they Interlink (February 10, 2009)
Dr. Robert Roberts - Head of the Ottawa Heart Institute: "Medicine: A Glimpse of the Future" (April 28, 2009)
The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson – Former Governor General: “Norman Bethune: The Myth and the Man” (April 29, 2009)
Don Newman - Broadcast journalist extraordinaire: "My Career So Far" (September 30, 2009)
Marc Mayer - Director of the National Gallery of Canada - "My Favourite Works in the Collection of the National Gallery of Canada" (November 11, 2009)
John English – Author / Executive Director, Centre for International Governance Innovation: “Watching Him: Pierre Trudeau and his Times” (February 10, 2010)
Senator Mike Duffy – Former broadcast journalist: “Reflections on a Year in the Canadian Senate” (February 25, 2010)
Allan Rock - President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Ottawa: “Courtroom to Commons to Campus: Adventures of an Itinerant Canadian” (March 10, 2010)
Robert Fowler – Former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations: “A Season in Hell: With al-Qaeda in the Sahara” (April 14, 2010)
Sarah Jennings – Political/Cultural journalist: “Art and Politics in the 40 year History of the National Arts Centre” (April 22, 2010)
Tim Murray – Celebrated Ottawa architect: “Art and Architecture” (May 5, 2010)
Nik Nanos – Pollster and commentator: “The Political and Economic Mood in Canada” (September 29, 2010)
Charlotte Gray – Author and journalist: “Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike” (October 27, 2010)
Paul Heinbecker – Former Ambassador to the United Nations and foreign policy thinker: “Getting Back in the Game: A Foreign Policy Playbook for Canada” (November 10, 2010)
Andrew Cohen – Celebrated journalist, author, speaker, and founding
President of The Historica-Dominion Institute: “The Urgency of History: Why the Past Matters in Canada”” (Wed., February 2, 2011)Barbara Clubb – Head of Ottawa Public Library: “What Future for Books and Libraries?” (Wed., February 23, 201)
Thomas d'Aquino and Don Newman - Distinguished journalist interviews CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief executives (1981-2009): In the Fray: reflections on Three Decades of Business and Public Policy" (Wed., March 30, 2011)
Dan Gardner: Ottawa Citizen columnist and author of “Future Babble”: “Forecasting the Future: Sense and Nonsense” (September 28, 2011)
The Right Honourable Joe Clark: Former Prime Minister and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, (November 8, 2011)
Allan Thompson: Journalist, professor, humanitarian: “Re-building the Media in Rwanda - a Generation after Genocide" (dECEMBER 7, 2011)