A Community Conversation

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, joins Deborah Lyons, Canada’s Ambassador to Israel, and Marc-Andre Blanchard, Canada’s Ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, in conversation about Israel issues and the Canada-Israel relationship, moderated by  Professor Irving Abella, president of the Royal Society of Canada.

Tickets are available through Eventbrite or call 416-781-3511. 

Presented by:
The Sam & Sarah Kerzner and Joseph Kerzner Holocaust Memorial Lectures
Beth Tzedec Congregation
Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue

Media Sponsor:
Canadian Jewish News

Promotional partners:
Adath Israel, ARZA Canada, B'nai Brith, Beth Torah, Canadian Zionist Federation, CIJA, Congregation Beth HaMinyan, First Narayever, Friends of Simon Weisenthal Centre, Holy Blossom, The Israel Connection, Mercaz-Masorti, Shaarei Shomayim, Toronto Board of Rabbis and UJA Federation

Proceeds support the Israel Scholarship Program at Beth Tzedec

Out of respect for our special guests, audio, digital and video recording/streaming is NOT permitted.

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre in a by-election in November 2013 and then re-elected in October 2015 as the Member of Parliament for University–Rosedale. Between November 2015 and January 2017, she served as Canada’s 18th Minister of International Trade. An esteemed journalist and author, Ms. Freeland was born in Peace River, Alberta. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University before continuing her studies on a Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford.

Deborah Lyons, Canada's ambassador to Israel since 2016, has served as ambassador to Afghanistan and deputy ambassador in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Global Affairs Canada, she served in the Department of Natural Resources, Privy Council Office and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Ambassador Lyons is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick and attended Canada's National Defence College.

Marc-Andre Blanchard, Ambassador and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations, was appointed to the UN in New York in 2016. In 2017, he was named as a member of Canada’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Council. From 2010-2016 he was Chairman and CEO of McCarthy Tétrault, one Canada’s national law firms. He was awarded the distinction of Advocatus Emeritus by the Quebec Bar Association. Mr. Blanchard is a graduate of the Université de Montréal, the London School of Economics and Columbia University.

Professor Irving Abella, president of the Academy of the Arts and Humanities of the Royal Society of Canada, is a Canadian educator, author and writer. He is is the past J. Richard Shiff Chair of Canadian Jewish History at York University and the Distinguished Senior Fellow of Canadian Studies at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Abella has  has lectured at many of the world’s leading universities including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Duke, University of California at Berkeley, Hebrew University and Stanford, and was awarded  a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Samuel Bronfman Medal for contributions to the Jewish Community of Canada as well as the lifetime achievement award by the Association of Canadian Jewish Studies.