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“Beyond the Pale is a Toronto-based Canadian world/roots fusion band. Their style is rooted in klezmer, Balkan and Romanian music but heavily accented with contemporary and North American styles including bluegrass, jazz, reggae, funk and classical chamber music. They are known for unique songcraft, virtuosic musicianship, meticulous dynamics, and exuberant live performances. [...] The name of the band is a reference to the Eastern-European Jewish Pale of Settlement, from where their music is partially inspired.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_Pale_(band)

“Black Umfolosi is a self taught Acappella (Imbube) singing and traditional dance group that was formed in 1982 by the then school age members who wanted to develop themselves and contribute to their community. Specialising in imbube music, gumboot dance and Zulu dance, Black Umfolosi has toured extensively nationally and internationally in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Asia.” https://myriadartists.com/black-umfolosi/

“Oscar Brand was a Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. In his career, spanning 70 years, he composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs. Brand's music ran the gamut from novelty songs to serious social commentary and spanned a number of genres. Brand also wrote a number of short stories. And for 70 years, he was the host of a weekly folk music show on WNYC Radio in New York City, which is credited as the longest running radio show with only one host in broadcasting history.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Brand

"Matt Andersen is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter from Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, signed to True North Records. He is a Juno Award nominee. His musical career started in 2002 with the New Brunswick band Flat Top." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Andersen

"Arden has received a total of 19 Juno Award nominations to date. She has won eight of them, including solo artist of the year in 1994, Songwriter of the Year in 1995 and 2002, and Female Artist of the Year in 1995 and 2001." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jann_Arden

“Afie Jurvanen is a singer-songwriter and musician professionally known as Bahamas. The Ontario-born, Nova Scotia-based artist is known for albums Barchords, Bahamas is Afie and Sad Hunk. Jurvanen's Sad Hunk won the 2021 Juno Award for adult alternative album of the year.” https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/full-episode-aug-9-2021-1.5869059/juno-award-winner-afie-jurvanen-was-jolted-out-of-his-comfort-zone-after-reading-david-goggins-can-t-hurt-me-1.5869169

"Dave Bidini formed Bidiniband, featuring former Rheostatics member Don Kerr on drums, Paul Linklater on guitar, and Doug Friesen on bass. Their debut album, The Land is Wild, was produced by Kerr and was released on Pheromone Recordings in 2009. Bidini's website describes the album features "more songs about dead hockey players, cannibalism and lesbian school teachers." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Bidini

"Big Little Lions are an award winning duo who were born out of a collaboration that won them a JUNO Award in 2014. Since then they have been cranking out infectious folk pop songs that are jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies that sound like the product of two people working side-by-side instead of living in different countries." https://biglittlelions.com/about

"Megan Bonnell is a Canadian folk musician, born in Caledon, Ontario." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Bonnell

"Shining a modern light on the roots of North American popular music, Patrick Brealey blends elements of folk, country, cabaret and blues, delivering lyrically driven songs with a uniquely powerful voice that harkens the crooners of early rock and roll. An agile vocalist, adept guitar picker and accomplished pianist, Brealey is a natural performer. Originally from Vancouver, he moved to Toronto in 2008, and was welcomed into the city's vibrant country and roots scene. [...]" Mariposa Folk Festival programme, 2009, p. 51

“Charlie A'Court is a Canadian musician, songwriter and producer. [...] As a five-time East Coast Music Award winner and eight-time Nova Scotia Music Award winner, A'Court has earned awards for Blues, Pop, and R&B/Soul Recordings of the Year, and on multiple occasions been recognised as Entertainer of the Year. A'Court has also received multiple Maple Blues Award nominations including Male Vocalist and Songwriter of the Year.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_A%27Court

“Steve Addabbo is a record producer, songwriter and audio engineer who helped launch the careers of Suzanne Vega and Shawn Colvin. He had a vital hand in Vega's hit single, "Luka" and Colvin's album Steady On. He has produced and/or engineered for artists including Bobby McFerrin, Bob Dylan, Eric Andersen, Loudon Wainwright III, Jeff Buckley, Gary Lucas, Lara Bello, Richard Barone, The Bongos, Robby Romero and Red Thunder, Richard Shindell, Suzanne Vega, Ana Egge and The Stray Birds, Chiara Civello, Jane Olivor, Olivia Newton-John, The Manhattans and Dar Williams.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Addabbo

"Coco Love Alcorn is a Canadian pop and jazz singer. The daughter of jazz singer John Alcorn, she released her debut album in 1995. She toured as an opening act for Burton Cummings, Chantal Kreviazuk, Jesse Cook, and Ani DiFranco and performed on some Lilith Fair dates. She is a backing vocalist for 54-40, and her music has appeared on the television programs The Dead Zone and The L Word. ... She won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year at the 16th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2021, for her album Rebirth." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Love_Alcorn

“Along with her band mates Andrew Collins, Shane Cook, Tony McManus and Joseph Phillips, Allison Lupton brings to life the best of the contemporary folk music scene in Ontario, while incorporating the Celtic influences that have been such an important part of the Canadian immigrant story as well as her own musical path.” https://stratfordsummermusic.ca/event/allison-lupton-band/

"Alfie Smith and Nicole Christian are old-style slide guitarists, multi-instrumentalists and blues duo." https://www.reverbnation.com/alfiesmithandnicolechristian

“David Werner Amram III is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings. He plays piano, French horn, Spanish guitar, and pennywhistle, and sings. [...] As a sideman or leader, Amram has worked with Aaron Copland, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Jack Kerouac, Sonny Rollins, Lionel Hampton, Stan Getz, George Barrow, Jerry Dodgion, Paquito D'Rivera, Pepper Adams, Arturo Sandoval, Oscar Pettiford, Allen Ginsberg, Mary Lou Williams, Kenny Dorham, Ray Barretto, Wynton Marsalis, and others.He has also worked with a wide range of folk, pop, and country figures, such as Bob Dylan, the Roche sisters, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Willie Nelson, Oscar Brand, Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Josh White, Patti Smith, Arlo Guthrie, and others.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Amram

“ Inge Andersen has been writing poetry and songs all her life and she performs regularly as a singer. Her vocal harmonies appear on several albums, as well as her debut solo-album Fallen Angel. As long as she can remember, Inge Andersen loved poetry and music. Inspired by Dutch poets such as Hans Andreus and Ellen Warmond, the American poet Irvin Layton, and songwriters like Phil Ochs, Fred Neil, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor, she wrote many poems and songs. She studied Educational Psychology in Utrecht and Amsterdam, got her Ph.D. in Social Sciences and has worked as a researcher and consultant. Throughout her career she has continued writing songs, performing regularly as a back-up singer. In 2005, she accompanied Eric Andersen on his tour throughout Japan, providing back-up vocals. Many joint performances followed, in venues all over the globe. In 2006, Eric and Inge got married. In 2008, she was invited by Norwegian Hardanger fiddle player Hallvard Bjørgum to record vocal harmonies for his album “Peace Will Come”. The song “ The Prodigal Son” -- produced by Hallvard Bjørgum and Garth Hudson from The Band -- documents Inge’s debut recording. The album was released in March 2009. In 2009, Inge and Kersten de Ligny sang harmony for “The Lone Wolves”, a vocal collaboration of Eric Andersen, Ad Vanderveen and the Texan songwriter Richard Dobson. Spanning sixties Greenwich Village folk and today’s Americana, this project gave a musical overview from the protest singer to contemporary singer-songwriter. In 2011, she performed as a guest on Eric Andersen’s webcast in Woodstock, New York, along with performers such as John Sebastian, Happy Traum and Joe Flood. Following the webcast, John Sebastian commented on her singing with – Inge, you were the secret weapon! Performing as a back-up singer gave Inge a lot of stage experience. But given her passion for poetry and lyrics she wanted to record her own writings. In 2011, she recorded her debut album “Fallen Angel" in Italy. The album was produced for MEYER RECORDS by Eric Andersen, together with the Italian violinist, composer and song poet Michele Gazich. Eric, Inge and Michele Gazich had previously collaborated on Eric Andersen’s live album, The Cologne Concert, and they still perform together regularly.” https://www.eomega.org/workshops/teachers/inge-andersen

Alex the Folk Band is a seven-member, music-making cooperative that specializes in harmony vocals and fiddle-based instrumentals. "The band has released three albums over the years — the self-titled debut (2004), Alex in the Kitchen (2009) and OK, Heaven, Here I Come (2012). They used to average 10 gigs per year." http://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/friendship-and-folk-fuel-alex-30-years-later-1311177#:~:text=Current%20band%20members%20Gord%20Ball,banjo%20and%20harmonica%20with%20Alex.

“Eric Andersen is an American folk music singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead and many others. Early in his career, in the 1960s, he was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene. After two decades and sixteen albums of solo performance he became a member of the group Danko/Fjeld/Andersen.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Andersen

3 Gars Su'l Sofa is a French-Canadian folk rock trio from Quebec."The group is a trio composed of guitarist and singer Nicola Morel, bassist and singer Guillaume Meloche-Charlebois and guitarist and singer Guillaume Monette." http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Gars_Su%27l_Sofa

"Mr. B. (born Mark Lincoln Braun, 1957), is an American boogie-woogie pianist." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._B._(Mark_Braun)

Beverley Noel Salmon, nurse, politician and prominent anti-racism and community activist, was the first Black female commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the first Black woman elected municipally in Toronto.

Salmon graduated as a registered nurse at Wellesley Hospital, Toronto in 1953 and obtained a public health nurse certificate in 1954 from the University of Toronto. After marrying Dr. Douglas Salmon (Canada’s first Black surgeon,hospital medical staff president, and Chief of General Surgery), Salmon worked in Detroit, Michigan until 1960 and left the nursing field.

In 1975, Salmon founded the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, a non-profit organization that works with the community, public, and private sectors to provide education programs and research to address racism in society. Salmon was also a member of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. In 1985, Salmon entered municipal politics and encumbent Councillor Andrew Borins to become Councillor of Ward 8 in North York; then elected to Metro Toronto Council until her retirement in 1997. Her career also includes work with the Ontario Status of Women Council, the Toronto Board of Education, and Toronto Transit Commission board member (1989-1994) and vice-chair (1991-1994). In the 1990s, she co-founded the Black Educators Working Group with former school principal MacArthur Hunter to advocate for an inclusive curriculum, teacher training, and anti-racism policies.

Born as Beverley Bell on 25 December 1930, she is the daughter of Herbert McLean Bell Sr., who immigrated from Jamaica to enlist in the Canadian army during the First World War (he remained in Canada to own and operate an automotive repair business in Toronto for twenty-four years) and Violet Bryan, a fifth-generation Canadian of Scottish and Irish descent. Salmon’s younger brother, Dr. David Bell was Professor Emeritus and former dean of York University’s Faculties of Environmental Studies and Graduate Studies.

Her awards and achievements include the African Canadian Achievement Award for Excellence in Politics (1995), Federation of Canadian Municipalities Roll of Honour recipient (1999), an honorary doctorate from Ryerson University (1999), the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), the Order of Ontario (2016), and the Order of Canada (2017). She passed away on 6 July 2023.

William Jaffé (1898-1980), educator and author, was associated with York University for the last ten years of his life as a professor in the Economics Department. Prior to his tenure at York, Jaffé had spent 1928 to 1966 at Northwestern University (Illinois), where he began his lifelong work on the French nineteenth-century economist, Leon Walras. He translated Walras’s "The elements of pure economics," and edited three volumes of Walras correspondence. Jaffé was made a Member of the French Legion of Honour, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science and Letters, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the British Academy.

Ellie E. Prepas, Professor Emeritus of Natural Resource Management at Lakehead University, author and activist was born in Hamilton, Ontario and received her Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo, her Master of Environmental Studies from York University in 1974 and her Doctorate from the University of Toronto in 1980. She was a prominent member of the Waffle movement in Canada.
Prepas joined the Waffle movement within the New Democratic Party (NDP) as a graduate student in 1971. The Waffle was a Canadian national socialist party that opposed American and foreign ownership of Canadian resources and industries. As a Waffler, Prepas participated in protests that included the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project and the Canada-US Auto Pact. Prepas was also a prominent member of the women’s group within the Waffle, advocating for women in the workforce and changes to the Criminal Code on the issue of abortion. During the 1972 Canadian Federal Election, Prepas was successfully nominated as the NDP candidate for the riding of Trinity-Spadina but resigned her candidacy prior to the election date due to the expulsion of the Waffle from the NDP.
Prepas’ early research centred on limnology, the study of fresh or saline waters within continental boundaries, which later expanded to studies of watershed disturbance and climate factors and their impact on surface water quality and biota. She taught at McGill University, the University of Alberta and Lakehead University. During her tenure at Lakehead University, she was awarded the Canada Research Chair by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada in 2001 and received it again in 2008. Prepas was involved with the Forest Watershed and Riparian Disturbance Project (FORWARD I to III) from 2001 to 2016.

Judith Rudakoff, playwright, author, and professor, was educated at McGill (BA), the University of Alberta (MA), and the University of Toronto (PhD). She was the literary manager and resident dramaturge for a number of Toronto theatres including Toronto Free Theatre, Canadian Stage Company, and Theatre Passe Muraille and has worked with both new and established playwrights throughout Canada. She is the author or editor of a number of works on dramaturgy, contemporary Canadian theatre and Cuban theatre including "Fair Play: Conversations with Canadian Women Playwrights," "Dangerous Traditions: A Passe Muraille Anthology," and "Questionable Activities: Canadian Theatre Artists in Conversation with Canadian Theatre Students." She has been an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University since 1989 and has lectured on topics including cultural identity and the role of archetypes in artistic creation in such diverse places as Cuba, Denmark, South Africa, England and the United States. She was awarded the Dean's Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Faculty of Fine Arts and the University Wide Teaching Prize for her work. She was also awarded the Elliott Hayes Prize in Dramaturgy for her work on South Asian choreographer Lata Pada's multidisciplinary work "Revealed by Fire."

York Region Alliance to End Homelessness (YRAEH) was founded in 1999 as the York Region Alliance on Homelessness and Social Isolation after a merger between the York Region Task Force on Mental Health Services for the Homeless and Socially Isolated and the York Region Advisory Committee on Homelessness. YRAEH was a community-based, unincorporated coalition and was the product of community efforts to understand the emergency of homelessness in York Region at a time of both significant population growth and the lowest proportion of rental accommodation in the Greater Toronto Area.

YRAEH’s objectives included: telling the story of homelessness in York Region through research, partnerships and public education; developing and strengthening partnerships to promote systems thinking on structural and systemic issues; promoting inclusivity of individuals and organizations from all sectors and communities; facilitating collaboration for the exchange of ideas amongst member agencies and individuals; building the capacity of the sector through innovation; advocating for resources for vulnerable individuals and for the sector as a whole to help inform progressive policy change; and providing professional development opportunities and training for front line workers.

YRAEH grew in membership to sixty individuals representing over thirty agencies, community members, and community service providers working collaboratively to understand, plan and implement a strategic response to homelessness and the risk of homelessness in York Region. Member organizations in the early years included: Crosslinks Housing & Support Services, Simcoe York District Health Council, Transitional and Supportive Housing Services of York Region, The Salvation Army, Pathways, Red Cross, York Region Social Services Department, Transitional Housing Services of York Region, Canadian Mental Health Association, York Region Social Services, York Region Public Health, YSSN 310-COPE, Georgina Community Legal Services, York County Hospital, Housing Help Centre, Yellow Brick House Women’s Shelter, Blue Door, Youth Housing Markham, St. Elizabeth Health Care, Sandgate Shelter for Women & Children, Out of the Cold Program, Queen Street Mental Health Centre, Oak Ridges Methodone Clinic, Grace Baptist Church, Family Credit & Counseling, Children’s Aid Society, Cedar Lane, Aim for Change, York Region Food Network and others.

In 2005, YRAEH hired a part-time Public Education Coordinator, its first paid staff member. Until this point, member organizations and committees were instrumental in achieving program and advocacy goals and focused on the areas of sustainable funding and organizational structure, education and training, community development, research and policy, and advocacy for women experiencing homelessness. YRAEH, through collaborative research projects, was the first organization to document and understand the transportation challenges and health issues facing people experiencing homelessness in York Region, as well as housing issues for newcomers to the region. In December 2007, YRAEH became a project of Sage Centre (subsequently Tides Canada Initiatives), a federally registered charity formed to support and incubate projects and coalitions that enable social justice and environmental sustainability.

Among YRAEH’s accomplishments was its successful decade long lobbying to open the first emergency shelter for women not fleeing violence in York Region. Belinda’s Place, named after then Member of Parliament, Belinda Stronach, opened in Newmarket in 2016. In partnership with the Krasman Centre, YRAEH developed an award-winning photovoice awareness campaign, Hidden in Plain Sight: Living Homeless in York Region, where individuals experiencing homelessness documented their daily lives with cameras provided by the organizers.

The YRAEH was forced to close in March 2011 due to a lack of sustainable funding. Published reports and videos from the organization can be found on Homeless Hub, an online
homelessness research library maintained by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness at York University (https://www.homelesshub.ca/).

Ray Stevenson was a trade union organizer and peace movement participant. He was born near Virden, Manitoba in 17 December 1919 and started working in mines there before joining Upper Canada Mines in Kirkland Lake, Ontario in 1939. He participated in the Mine Mill union organizational drive that culminated in the 'union recognition' strike of 1941-1942, which led to the Federal Government legislating compulsory bargaining. Stevenson was a member of the Communist Party of Canada from 1940 to 1998. He was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the Canadian Army in (1942-1946), but served at home, due to his political affiliations. Stevenson ran unsuccessfully for the Communist Party in the Ontario Provincial Election in 1945, and in 1946, he moved to Northern Ontario and became the Educational Director for Workers Co-op. He joined the Labour Progressive Party soon after and was a political organizer in Northern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec. In 1950, Stevenson went to work for Inco and was elected to the executive of Local 598 in 1951. Nationally, he served on the Canadian Mine Mill Council, sitting on Canadian Executive Board of the council until 1961 when he became executive editor at the Mine Mill Herald. When the Mine Mill Canada union merged in 1967 with the United Steel Workers of America, Stevenson served as editor of the USWA magazine "Information" until 1972. From 1972-1978, he was acting Public Relations Director for USWA Canada. He left the USWA in 1978 to pursue his interests in the peace movement organizations, including the World Peace Council in Helsinki, Finland, the International Committee of Trade Unionists for Peace and Disarmament and the Canadian Peace Congress. Stevenson was also a founding editor of the "Northstar Compass" from 1991 until his retirement in 1995. Stevenson died in Toronto on 24 August 2004.

Barbara Godard (1941-2010), educator, critic, and translator was born in Toronto, Ontario on 24 December 1941. She received her B.A. in 1964 from the University of Toronto, Trinity College and her M.A. in 1967 from the Université de Montreal. She received her Maitrise from the Université de Paris in 1969 and her PhD from the Université de Bordeaux in 1971. She lectured at the Universities of Montreal and Paris before joining York University in 1971 as an Assistant Professor of English. She subsequently taught as a professor of English, French, Social and Political Thought and Women's Studies and was the Avie Bennett Historica Chair of Canadian Literature. The author and editor of numerous scholarly publications, articles and essays, Godard's publications include the books "Talking about ourselves: the cultural productions of native women in Canada" (1985) and "Audrey Thomas: her life and work" (1989). She also edited "Gynocritics/gynocritiques: feminist approaches to Canadian and Quebec women's writing" (1987), "Collaboration in the feminine: writing on women and 'Culture' from 'Tessera'" (1994) and "Intersexions: issues of race and gender in Canadian women's writing" (1996). A noted translator of numerous Quebec women writers including Nicole Brossard's "Intimate journal" (2004) and "Picture theory" (1991), Antoinine Maillet's "The tale of Don l'Orignal" (2004) and France Théoret's "The tangible world" (1991), Godard was shortlisted twice for the Felix-Antoine Savard Translation Prize. In 2001, she collaborated in organizing the conference 'Wider boundaries of daring: the modernist impulse in Canadian women's poetry' with Di Brandt, the proceedings of which were published as "Re:generations: Canadian women poets in conversation." The founding co-editor of the feminist journal "Tessera", Godard received numerous awards for her work including the Vinay-Darbelnet Prize of the Canadian Association of Translation Studies (2000) and the Teaching Award of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, York University (2002) and of the Northeast Association of Graduate Schools (2002). Godard belonged to a wide variety of organizations including P.E.N. Canada, the Association of Canadian and Quebec Literature and the Canadian Semiotics Association. She passed away 16 May 2010.

Wanda MacNevin (1950-), social worker, activist and author, lived and worked in the Jane and Finch community for sixty years. Born in O’Leary, Prince Edward Island, she moved with her family to Ontario in 1955 and spent her childhood years on the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Station Downsview, where her father was stationed. She moved to a public housing complex at 15 Tobermory Drive in the 1970s as a single mother of three children. Aware of the rapid growth of the Jane-Finch community and the lack of social services in the area, MacNevin began working with the Black Creek Venture Group in 1975.

She was a founding board member of the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre when it opened in 1976. Her education in social work was nurtured by York University’s Bridging Program for Women, which began classes in 1981. From 1991 to 2003, she worked as a program manager at Black Creek Community Health Centre and developed programs and services that supported teenage mothers and seniors. She returned as a Program Manager at the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre in 2003 and retired as its Director of Community Programs in 2016.

MacNevin received Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her lifelong social work in 2016. In 2017, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by York University for her social work and her contributions to collaborations between the Jane/Finch Community and the university.

Alan Phillip Lessem, professor and musicologist, was born 29 November 1940 in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zambia) and educated at the University of Cape Town where he received his BA and B.Mus., both in 1963, and Cambridge where he received his M.Litt. in 1967. He taught at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem and the Telma Yellin School in Tel-Aviv before enrolling at the University of Illinois, Urbana where he completed a Ph.D in Musicology in 1973. He is a founding member of the Department of Music at York University and was a lecturer, assistant and associate professor there from 1970 until his death. He was the Chair of the Department of Music at York from 1975-1982 and Associate Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts from 1985-1988. He is the author of the book "Music and Text in the Works of Arnold Schoenberg : The Critical Years, 1908-1922" as well as the author of numerous essays, articles and reviews that have appeared both in scholarly journals in published collections. In addition to his academic career, he was also an accomplished pianist, cellist and composer. He died on 10 October 1991 in Toronto.

Dennis Charles Hefferon (1933- ) taught at the Osgoode Hall Law School and was active in the affiliation agreement that saw the school relocate on the York University campus in 1968. In 1970 he also began teaching in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York. He left the University in 1988. In addition to his teaching activity, Hefferon was interested in planning issues and has supplied legal advice to the City of Toronto on questions involving development. He was a member of the Metropolitan Toronto Planning Board. Hefferon was the legal counsel to the Province of Manitoba on question involving development and planning. He has also served the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, where he has developed ideas on the teaching of law in Canada. In addition, Hefferon has written several articles and co-authored works including, 'Cases and material on Property Law', 'Cases and materials on real estate transactions' (1976-1977), 'Cases and materials on land use planning' (1976-1977), and others.

Dini Petty (b. 15 January 1945) is a Canadian broadcaster, television personality and talk show host. Born in England, her family emigrated to Canada when she was four months old. In her early childhood Petty moved with her parents and two siblings to various cities in Canada and the United States, including the Rockcliffe neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Galt, Ontario, Baltimore, Maryland, and Danbury Connecticut, until settling in Toronto at the age of eleven where Dini Petty's mother Molly started a modeling agency with Sylvia Train , Producers' Services and her father Gord opened one of the country's first animation houses, Film Technique. Petty attended Park Lawn Public School in Etobicoke, and the Brown School and North Toronto Collegiate in Toronto. Petty has remarked that "I got thrown out of every high school I went to, for talking. No one mentioned this could be a career move."

As an adolescent, Petty worked as a model for her mother's agency working in local commercials, photo shoots and documentaries ("Who is Sylvia", 1957) under the name Diana Kerr (her mother's maiden name). She married at 18 and worked in Peterson Productions (one of Canada's first commercial studios). In 1968, Petty was approached by CKEY radio employee Tommy Vradenberg to join the company. Petty had been active in the Toronto Parachute Club as a skydiver and as a result, CKEY thought she would be a good candidate to fly the company's helicopter to report the morning weather and traffic for the city of Toronto. Petty acquired her pilot's license and became known as "The Girl in the Pink Helicopter" as the radio station developed a marketing strategy around Petty in which she dressed in pink, rode a pink helicopter and drove a pink car while on the job. Petty was a traffic reporter for CKEY for several years before giving birth to her first child, at which point she took a job at CITYTV in 1979, where she hosted a phone-in show titled "HELP", later reworked as "Sweet City Woman" which eventually developed into "City Line". She also worked as a reporter for City Pulse news along with Gord Martineau, Colin Vaughan, Peter Silverman, Anne Mroczkowski and Jojo Chintoh.

Dini has received the Jaycees nomination for "Outstanding Canadian." She was one of three finalists in the 1980 ACTRA awards for "best TV Documentary Writer". Her series "Incest: Scandal in the Family", won the silver medal in the nation-wide Can Pro Awards in 1980. In 1981 her documentary "Having A Baby" (which followed her own pregnancy and the birth of her son) won the gold medal at Can Pro, plus the "Award of Excellance", the highest award for the Can Pro festival. She was also nominated for "best TV documentary writer" in the 1981 ACTRA awards.

Petty anchored CITY-TV'scurrent affairs program CityWide from May 1987 to 1989 when she left to work for CFTO-TV, which launched The Dini Petty Show. Directed by Randy Gulliver, The Dini Petty show ran from 1989 to 1999. A reflection of the popular culture at the time, the daily talk show featured interviews with actors, authors, singers and performers. The show received the NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) International Iris Award in 1992 for an hour-long interview with Red Skelton, as well as Gemini Awards for best host (awarded in 1992, nominated in 1997 and 1998), a Can-Pro Award in 1997 for a one hour interview with Sara Ferguson, Duchess of York. Petty's contract ended with CTV in 2000 which led to a legal case that resulted in Petty being awarded the broadcast tapes of "The Dini Petty Show".

Dini Petty continued to contribute and develop documentary television as well as contributing to charitable causes such as the Coats for Kids campaign, the Pregnancy Youth Line and the Christian Children's Fund projects related to children, and as a spokesperson for Amnesty International. Petty has also written a best-selling children's book "The Queen, The Bear and The Bumblebee" which has been translated into three languages and developed into a musical by The Children's Group. She continues to speak publicly and in recently toured her one-woman show, A Broad View in Canada.

John Francis Bosher (1929-2020), historian and educator, was born in Sidney, British Columbia. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with first class honours in 1950 and a Canadian Government Andison scholarship from the French Department. He received a teacher’s training diploma in 1951 from the provincial Education Department, but took an administrative position with the Canadian Civil Service Commission while continuing his studies in French. In 1952, he travelled to London, England, where he met Professor Alfred Cobban of University College and discussed Bosher’s interest in the French foundations of Canada. Cobbon put Bosher in contact with professors at the Sorbonne, where he wrote his MA thesis on the attitude of the Physiocrats toward Great Britain and received his degree in June 1954. He returned to London to study under Cobban’s supervision, leading to a PhD in March 1957 for the dissertation, The Single Duty Project: A Study of the Movement for a French Customs Union, which was published in 1964. He taught as an assistant lecturer at King’s College, London, from 1956 to 1959, when he joined UBC’s History Department as an assistant professor. He taught at Cornell University in from 1967 to 1969, which was followed by his appointment as a professor in York University’s Department of History where he was appointed Distinguished Research Professor in 1989. Bosher was a prolific scholar whose work included: a series of lectures on CBC Radio that dealt with the French in the Fifth Republic and the controversial remarks of French President Charles de Gaulle; French Finances 1770-1795: From Business to Bureaucracy (Cambridge, 1970); French Government and Society 1500-1850: Essays in Memory of Alfred Cobban (Athlone, 1973); The Canada Merchants, 1713 -1763 (Oxford, 1987); The French Revolution (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1989); Men and Ships in the Canada Trade, 1660-1760: A Biographical Dictionary (Canadian Parks Service, 1992); Business and Religion in the Age of New France, 1600-1760: Twenty-two Studies (Canadian Scholars’ Press, 1994); The Gaullist Attack on Canada 1967-1997 (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998); Imperial Vancouver Island: Who was Who, 1850-1950 (Xlibris, 2010); and Vancouver Island in the Empire (Llumina Press, 2012). Bosher was invited to join the Royal Society of Canada in 1976 and he was a visiting fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford in 1991-1992.

Dr. Pat Armstrong was born in Matheson, Ontario. She received her BA in Sociology from Victoria College, University of Toronto in 1966, her MA in Canadian Studies from Carlton University in 1974, and her PhD in Sociology from Carlton University in 1984. She is recognized as an expert in the areas of gender equity; women’s work, women’s health and care labour; expertise acknowledged not only by Canadian courts and international consultations but also by reports commissioned by the Canadian and Ontario Governments as well as by the Romanow Commission and the Pan American Health Organization. She has held various academic positions, most notably: Teaching Master at Sir Sandford Fleming College of Applied Arts and Technology (1971-1973), Professor of Social Sciences at Vanier College (1974-1987), Lecturer at Concordia University-Layola Campus (1975-1976), Associate Professor of Sociology at York University (1986-1990), Director and Professor of Canadian Studies at Carlton University (1994-1999), and since 1990 she has been Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at York University. From 2001-2011 she held one of twelve Canada Health Services Research Foundation/Canadian Institute of Health Research Chairs in Health Services and Nursing Research. From 1998-2011 she was Chair of the Women and Health Care Reform Working Group. In her other work, Armstrong has served as an expert witness on women’s work, in particular on cases related to pay equity and she has been heard before bodies ranging from the Federal Court to the federal Human Rights Tribunals and the Ontario Pay Equity Tribunal.

Armstrong has published widely, co-authoring and co-editing such books as Thinking Women and Health Care Reform in Canada (2012); Women’s Health: Intersections of Research, Policy and Practice (2008); They Deserve Better: the Long-term Care Experience in Canada and Scandinavia (2009); A Place to Call Home: Long-term Care in Canada (2009); Critical to Care: the Invisible Women in Health Services (2008) and Wasting Away: The Undermining of Canadian Health Care (1996), as well as more than seventy-five book chapters and numerous journal articles. Armstrong is a recipient of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sociology (2002), and has also been recognized with invitations to give multiple keynote addresses to domestic and international audiences and received professional honours in the form of special lectureships across Canada including McGill, University of Toronto, University of Saskatchewan and Ryerson. At York University, Dr. Armstrong is the recipient of the Dean of Arts Award for Outstanding Research (2007) and the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Contribution in Teaching (1991-92). In addition, she has been recognized in 2010 as a York University Distinguished Research Professor. Since 2011, she has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Ellen C. Adams (1925-1982), was born in Germany and emigrated to Canada in 1948. Her original name was Cammnitzer, which she changed during an election campaign in 1963. Adams was a member of the administrative staff of the Canadian Co-operative Federation and later served for twenty years as assistant to Ontario New Democratic Party leaders Donald MacDonald and Stephen Lewis. She was twice unsuccessful in provincial elections (1963, 1973) running under the NDP banner. Adams was also influential in Toronto municipal politics as a leader in the Stop Spadina (Expressway) movement, executive of the Avenue-Bay Cottingham Ratepayers' Association, and as a founding executive member of the Confederation of Residents' and Ratepayers' Associations. In 1975 Adams took up a position in the Institutional Branch of the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office.

H.V. (Henry Vivian) Nelles was born in 1942 and educated at the University of Toronto where he received his B.A. (1964), M.A. (1965) and his PhD. (1970). A professor in the Department of History at York University since 1970, he was appointed Distinguished Research Professor of History at York in June 2001. In July 2004 he was appointed first L.R. Wilson Professor in Canadian History at McMaster University, and has been a visiting professor at Harvard University, and in Japan. In addition to teaching, Nelles was the Chair of the Ontario Council of University Affairs (1988-1992), co-editor of the Canadian Historical Review (1988-1992) and was a general editor of the Social History of Canada series (1978-1988). He is the author and/or editor of numerous books, among them "The Art of Nation-Building: Pageantry and Spectacle at Quebec’s Tercentenary", "Monopoly’s Moment: The Organization and Regulation of Canadian Utilities, 1830-1930", "The Politics of Development: Forests, Mines and Hydro-Electric Power in Ontario, 1849-1941" and, most recently, "A Little History of Canada". He is the recipient of several awards including Le Prix Lionel Groulx, the Toronto Book Award, and has twice received the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize of the Canadian Historical Association for the best book on Canadian History.

Reg Whitaker, author, professor and political commentator, was born in Ottawa, Ontario and educated at Carleton University where he received his BA and MA in Political Science in 1965 and 1968, respectively. He received a PhD in Political Economy from the University of Toronto in 1975. He was a lecturer, assistant and associate professor in the Department of Political Science, Carleton University beginning in 1972, and Whitaker was the director of Carleton's Institute of Canadian Studies from 1979-1981. He joined York as a professor of political science in 1984. At York, he has served as coordinator of the Public Policy and Administration Program, 1986-1989, and as director of the Graduate Program in Political Science, 1990-1992. In 2001, he was named Distinguished Research Professor. Whitaker is a prolific and leading authority in the study of political parties, federalism, security and intelligence, immigration policy and the history of political thought in Canada. As well, Whitaker has collaborated with historian Greg Kealey to compile, edit and publish eight volumes of RCMP security bulletins, covering the entire inter-war period and the Second World War.

Kenneth Faiz Neamath Shah (ca. 1939-2002) was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago as one of eight children. He spent his childhood in Trinidad, and at the age of 15, represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 1957 World Scout Jamboree held in England.

In 1965, he immigrated to Canada to pursue a degree in Petroleum Engineering at Carleton University. Upon his graduation, he was employed with Texaco Canada before leaving to follow his passion in carnival arts and costume design full time. In Canada, he married and began his family and had four sons.

Shah was one of the founding members of Caribana, and the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC). Formed in 1966, the CCC—originally named the Caribbean Centennial Committee—put on Carnival to represent the West Indian community and participate in the celebrations for Canada’s Centennial in 1967. After the success of the first Caribana Festival, the event became an annual occurrence, with the CCC operating year-round. Caribana remains the largest Carnival Festival in North America. Caribana was held over a weekend in August and culminated in the Caribana mas (masquerade) parade, where bands (groups of people), their band leader, and the King and Queen of the band, would “play mas” (walk the parade) often accompanied by music such as calypso or steel drums. There were also a series of prizes and competitions in order to determine the King and Queen of the Carnival, and the Band of the Year.

Over a period of thirty years, Shah was a carnival leader, assisting with the development of the vision and programming of Caribana; mas-producer and bandleader, project managing the design and manufacture of a mas band and its costumes each year; co-founder of Caribana’s Kiddies Carnival; and founder of the first J’Ouvert in 1995, a pre-dawn parade modeled after the traditional celebration in Trinidad. Additionally, Shah developed his own costume manufacturing business in Toronto under the name “Creative Costumes.” It became Canada’s second largest enterprise in dealings with parades, shows, operas, and other costume-based performance art.
Shah’s other roles and achievements include: President of Multi-Fest Canada, Inc.; editor of Canadian Caribbean Carnival Magazine; and contributing editor and circulating manager for the magazine So Yu Going to Carnival.

In May 2002, Shah died after complications from a surgery.

J. David Wood, geography professor at York University, was born in Galt, Ontario, on 23 February 1934. He received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Toronto in 1955 and 1958 respectively, and a PhD from Edinburgh University in 1962. Wood began his career as a Teaching Fellow at the University of Toronto. Other major academic positions include: Assistant Lecturer, Edinburgh University; Assistant Professor, University of Alberta; and since 1965 at Atkinson College, York University as Associate Professor (and founding Chairman), Geography Department; Professor, Department of Geography; Director, Graduate Program in Geography; Co-ordinator, Canadian Studies Program; Professor and Chair, Department of Geography and Co-ordinator, Urban Studies Program and Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Studies Program. Wood is the author of "Making Ontario: Agricultural Colonization and Landscape Re-Creation Before the Railway" and numerous articles in prominent journals relating to the study of geography. He organized, delivered numerous papers and chaired many sessions at geographical conferences and symposia. He was inducted into the York University Founders' Society on March 1, 2000 in recognition of his achievements at York University and in the field of geography. Wood died on 15 October 2022.

The York University Staff Association was organized in 1970 as a voluntary organization to represent the interests of the support staff (clerical, technical and related activities) of the University in negotiating working conditions and salaries. On 10 December 1975, it became an officially recognized bargaining unit, achieving its first contract in 1976.

YUSA is comprised of thousands of members and is headed by a president, an executive committee and several standing committees, including Bargaining, Health & Safety, Communications, Constitution & Policy, Equity, Grievance, Job Evaluation and Nominations committees.

Evelyn Kallen, professor of social science and anthropology, has taught at York University since 1970, achieving full professorship in 1984. She has also held an honorary chair at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law from 1989-1990 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1989.
Kallen's research interests include social stratification, social change, race and ethnic relations, religion and ethnicity, hate propaganda, multiculturalism, ethnic and non-ethnic minorities, human rights legislation, The Charter of Rights, minority rights, abortion and euthanasia.
She has conducted empirical research on Canadian Jewish communities, the Inuit of the Northwest Territories, and western Samoan migrants to New Zealand. Kallen has published numerous books on human rights, including: "The Anatomy of Racism: Canadian Dimensions" (with D.R. Hughes in 1974), "Spanning the Generations: a study in Jewish identity" (1977), "The Western Samoan Kinship Bridge: a study in migration, social change and the new ethnicity" (1982), "Ethnicity and human rights in Canada" (1982), "Label Me Human: minority rights of stigmatized Canadians" (1989), "Ethnicity and Human Rights in Canada" (1995, 2nd ed. published in 2003) and "Social Inequality and Social Injustice: a human rights perspective" (2004), as well as numerous articles and book chapters.

George James Rogers, public relations promoter, was born in Rock Terry, Cheshire, England in June 11, 1905. He emigrated to Canada as an adult prior to 1941 at which time he joined Canadian General Electric as a promotions man and editor of in-house publications. In 1949 he removed to New York and became assistant to the chairman, American Economic Foundation. He was very active in promoting the Foundation's educational programmes and films such as In our hands, Its your decision, Backfire, and Let's face it. In 1953 Rogers formed his own public relations firm in the Midwest, American Free Enterprise Productions and began to provide corporations and the general public with media shows, such as Our job security and The Milwaukee Baby, promoting the 'American way of life' (capitalism and representative government). In addition, he provided in-house publications, annual reports and training sessions for private clients. In 1962 he moved to Canada and formed the Canadian Economic Foundation before returning to New York in 1968. Both of Rogers' enterprises proposed to alleviate labour-management conflicts through a programme of economic education directed at workers and the general public. Their message was based on an attack of government spending and socialism in North America. The Canadian Economic Foundation sought to broaden out beyond the shop floor to have its material taught in community centres and public school systems. The Canadian Economic Foundation was a profit-taking organization which also relied substantially on donations from corporations to pursue its work.

Charles Nisbet (b. 1736), a Scottish-born American, was educated at the University of Edinburgh and the College of New Jersey (Princeton). He became principal of Dickenson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.