TICKETS NO LONGER AVAILABLE - A standby line will be set up in the lobby two hours prior to the start of the event. Any returned tickets will be reallocated to the standby line on a first come, first served basis.
John Ralston Saul - "The Aboriginal Peoples and New Canadians: The Missing Conversation"
Chan Shun Concert Hall
The award-winning Canadian author and social commentator, John Ralston Saul, will deliver the 2009 annual UBC – Laurier Institution Multiculturalism Lecture.
His topic, based on work in his latest book, A Fair Country, will be “The Aboriginal Peoples and New Canadians: The Missing Conversation”.
In A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada, Saul delves into our history and argues that our ties to the Aboriginal people are far stronger than our ties to the European. He suggests that we are a nation heavily influenced and shaped by aboriginal ideas of egalitarianism, a desire to resolve conflict with negotiation over violence and a commitment to maintaining a balance between the individual and the group.
His provocative declaration that we are a “metis nation” touches as much on the question of who we are as a nation as much as it does the roadmap to our future.
Canada was built over its first centuries on a conversation between Aboriginal Peoples and what we would now call the immigrants. This is the most important missing conversation in Canada today. In order to make the country work, we have to find ways to put this conversation back at the centre of Canadian affairs
Join us as this dialogue continues with “The Aboriginal Peoples and New Canadians: The Missing Conversation”.
Saul will be joined by two distinguished panelists, BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Shawn Atleo, and Associate Dean for Indigenous Education & Acting Director of NITEP (Native Indian Teacher Education Program) Jo-anne Archibald.
Launched in 2004, the UBC - Laurier Institution Multiculturalism Lecture celebrates Canada’s diversity by examining the various aspects of today’s multicultural society and It brings together speakers from many cultural backgrounds who share their views as Canadians.
The UBC - Laurier Institution Multiculturalism Lecture is hosted by Paul Kennedy, and will be broadcast on CBC Radio’s Ideas on Thursday, June 25th.
Tickets are free and can be picked up at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts or downloaded through Ticketmaster for a nominal fee of $2.50. Maximum 4 tickets per person.
Reception to follow in the Glass Lobby. Musical entertainment will be included in the evening.