A rising star in Canada's legal community, a bestselling author, the son of Jamaica's
third Prime Minister, an internationally recognized artist, a medical doctor and
a retired shipper who, through his benevolence, has raised thousands of dollars for
medical students in Canada and the Caribbean, are among the honourees at the University
of the West Indies (UWI) third annual Toronto fundraising gala.
Kittitian-
A partner at one of the country's oldest law firms, WeirFoulds LLP., Walwyn -
"This award is very humbling," said Walwyn, the immediate past president of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers and a member of the International Training Committee of the Advocates Society and Ontario's Judicial Appointments Committee. "It makes me reflect on many things."First and foremost, I think of the University of the West Indies which is a storied institution responsible for the development of many of our great Caribbean thinkers."When I consider the contributions the university and its graduates have made to the Caribbean and to the world, it is a wonder that I am recognized by it as being a rising star in Canada. "Another point of reflection is on others who have been honoured in this way. That is where you realize there are many persons of Caribbean descent doing so many great things in Canada and around the world...I hope I am strong enough and committed enough to fulfil the expectation that this award reflects and that I continue to do my Caribbean heritage proud."
Vice-
He is also a member of the University of Toronto's Governing Council and Principal's
Advisory Committee. Seivright, who was employed as an assistant distiller at Innswood
Estate in Jamaica before coming to Canada in 1969, has raised thousands of dollars
for scholarships through the Independent United Order of Solomon Pride of Toronto
#12 Lodge that he founded in 1978. The lodge has presented 77 scholarships in the
last 21 years to third-
North Buxton-
A celebrated writer, Gladwell was appointed to the Order of Canada and recognized with a U of T honorary degree this year.
The University Health Network, comprising Toronto General, Toronto Western and Princess
Margaret Hospitals, along with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, is the recipient
of the Chancellor's Award presented to companies or organizations which have contributed
significantly to the UWI or who have advanced the well-
Ryerson University chancellor, Dr. Raymond Chang, is the event's patron for the third straight year.
"I am again honoured to be the patron," said Chang. "As 2012 dawns, so too does the 50th independence anniversary of Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. We must be mindful that in the scheme of things, the Caribbean region is small, but some of its people are large on the world stage. Education is one way that keeps us on that stage and the scholarships from the UWI gala benefit is one way to assist those bright minds in the Caribbean and tomorrow's leaders."
The UWI Toronto fundraising gala has provided 40 scholarships for the university's students.
UWI to honour local community stalwarts
By RON FANFAIR
TORONTO, January 23, 2012 /CNW/
The University of the West Indies (UWI) is hosting
its 3rd Annual Benefit Gala in Toronto, on Saturday March 10, 2012. Under the theme:
Light, Learning and Liberty, Canada's business community will honour award-
Other outstanding Canadians being honoured at the UWI Gala include: Dr. Pamela Da
Camara, Ms. Artis Lane, Dr. Anthony MacFarlane, Mr. Lloyd Seivright, Mr. Howard Shearer,
Mr. Suresh Sookoo and Mr. Frank Walwyn. Masters of ceremonies at the UWI Gala are
award winning journalist and diversity consultant, Hamlin Grange and award-
The University Health Network, which includes Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western
Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, is also
being honoured as an outstanding institution that facilitates post-
UWI," says Dr. Ho Ping Kong. "It's a win-
Under the patronage of the Hon. G. Raymond Chang, OJ (Order of Jamaica), the UWI Gala is known as a remarkable evening of celebration, embracing Canada's rich diversity while raising funds to benefit students through the UWI Scholarship Fund and the UWI Haitian Initiative. Dr. Chang is a Director of CI Financial where he recently served as CEO and Chair, and Chancellor of Ryerson University. He is also an honorary graduate of UWI and shares this alumni status with an estimated 1,000 leaders in business, judiciary, medicine, law, engineering, nursing, religion, communications and media sectors throughout Canada. "This extraordinary evening celebrates UWI and the leadership of the wider Caribbean community in Canada, as well as outstanding students who themselves will one day lead the way in their own communities in the Caribbean, here in Canada and around the world." Says Chang. He further states, "UWI has a number of sustainable relationships with several universities and colleges across Canada. In fact, Ryerson and UWI have collaborated on a number of successful programs."
The 2012 Luminary award recipients are outstanding leaders in their community and on the international stage. They include Ms. Zanana Akande, the first black woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and to serve as a cabinet minister in Canada and Mr. Malcolm Gladwell, an extraordinary journalist, speaker and author of international bestsellers The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), and What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009).
This year's Vice Chancellor's Awardees are: Dr. Pamela Da Camara, former Chief &
Medical Director of Laboratory Medicine at Toronto East General and medical laboratory
pioneer; Ms. Artis Lane, an award winning Canadian sculptor and painter; Dr. Anthony
MacFarlane, Internal Medicine and Cultural Philanthropist; Mr. Lloyd G. Seivright,
President of the Supreme Council of Independent United Order of Solomon Inc. Canada,
a not-
The University of the West Indies 3rd Annual Benefit Gala will take place on Saturday March 10, 2012 at the Four Seasons Hotel, with interview and photo opportunities available for select honourees. Find additional gala details at http://www.uwitorontogala.com and for more timely updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Building on Success
With such a strong Caribbean community in Canada, UWI has initiated a successful
Annual Benefit Gala that will continue to strengthen the relationship between Canada
and the Caribbean for years to come. The Gala has become a much-
About The University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies (UWI) was established in 1948 as a college of the
University of London. It achieved full university status in 1962 and today, is the
only pan-
For more information, please contact:
Rachel Pardy
Cahoots Communications Inc.
rachel@cahootscommunications.ca
647-
www.cahootscommunications.ca
or Vince Ciarlo,
vince@ciarlo.ca
416-
Malcolm Gladwell, Zanana Akande and Other Notables of Caribbean Heritage Honoured
in Toronto in March
The University of the West Indies hosts 3rd Annual Benefit Gala
in Toronto
Dr. Tony MacFarlane believes in being good to your school. And now it’s being good
to him.
A onetime science student at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, the Hamilton
resident will receive the Vice-
MacFarlane, 74, has bequeathed his King Street West home in Westdale to the university and has donated 2,000 classical CDs from his extensive collection to the university’s radio station at the Mona campus, near Kingston. It has three other campuses.
MacFarlane, who has lived in Hamilton for 52 years, is a pre-
Also known as a collector of rare books, MacFarlane has donated some of his collection
of West Indies books to McMaster. He was integral in landing for McMaster last year
the archives of Louise Bennett-
We asked MacFarlane five questions:
What do you think of this honour?
“I have been very supportive of the university as a member of its alumni, so I think it’s kind of recognition of what I have been doing. It’s not just me alone. There are lots of other people who have worked along and helped the university … Every year I give money to the university in Jamaica for a scholarship. I have been attentive to them and they deserve all the help they can get. In the late 1950s, they maybe had 650 students. Now they have over 40,000.
What interests you about West Indian culture, music and books?
“When I went to school in Jamaica — we are talking about the 1940s — we weren’t taught anything about our history. We weren’t taught anything about slavery. We weren’t taught anything about colonialism. When I was in the equivalent of Grade 13, I did European History and learned all about the Congress of Vienna and Metternich and all these guys. We knew nothing about West Indian history, so initially it was part of an attempt on my part to sort of make sense of what was going on in the society I was growing up in. That’s where it started. I spent a year in Europe and started collecting antiquarian books and I started educating myself.”
How did you become a collector?
“Collecting is kind of an obsessive compulsion disorder. I became interested in classical piano music when I was a teenager, about 16, and to educate myself I would go and buy recordings. That’s how I learned about the musical world. I took a year off and went to Paris and I also studied piano there. I also became fluent in French and that helped me in terms of my book collecting because I collect books that I can read. I collect books in both French and English. So, that’s where I have been for the last 40 years or so.”
Why is it important to preserve this?
“Everybody preserves their history. One of our great scholars said, ‘The need for roots and the attendant quest for identity are said to be natural to people’s everywhere … (that was said by) Professor Rex Nettleford. He was one of our greatest scholars at the University of the West Indies. He’s one of our iconic figures.”
How did you come up with the idea of donating your home to the University of West Indies?
“It’s described as a gift of residual property. My mother and I would live in here until we died — my mother died two years ago — and after we die the university can take it over and they can use it however they want … They have a nice piece of Hamilton, Canadian, real estate, and they can do with it what they want. It seems to me like a good idea.”
dnolan@thespec.com
905-
University of the West Indies thanks a local doctor
dnolan@thespec.com
He spent decades imparting his knowledge to medical professionals from around the
world and was instrumental in arranging for doctors from Jamaica to be trained in
Canada as specialists in areas that are most needed in the Caribbean.
Dr. Herbert Ho Ping Kong, a Jamaican-
Through the UHN, senior medical professionals from the Caribbean are offered a two-
According to Dr. Ho Ping Kong, who graduated from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus in 1965 and later taught medicine there, the collaboration between UWI and UHN dates back to the 1970s when three senior Canadian neurologists went to teach at the Campus.
It was after a Jamaican doctor, Owen Morgan, who received advanced training in Canada and returned to UWI that Dr. Ho Ping Kong started a collaborative initiative to have staff trained as leaders, consultants and professors at UHN.
"We started off with respirology and intensive care medicine. We did two of those people and they actually went back and helped set up a modern intensive care unit and introduced modern respirology to Jamaica. Since that time, we have had something like 21 of these young leaders/consultants that have been to the University Health Network in a variety of areas…. Of this group, some 14 people have returned to the Caribbean, one to Antigua, one to St Kitts, but most to Jamaica."
He has received several awards and recognitions, says currently the specialists are being trained in infectious diseases, cardiology, endocrinology and other areas that are not available in the Caribbean. Doctors from Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados also benefited from the program.
For the first time, there is a trained cardiologist at the hospital in Montego Bay, according to Dr. Ho Ping Kong. "It's important for Torontonians because there're approximately 150,000 Canadians who actually visit Montego Bay every year. Until she went there, there was not a fully trained cardiologist in the biggest hospital in that part of the island."
He added that while the specialists gain from program, UHN also gains. "These people are the best students we have in Jamaica and they come to us highly recommended by the chairman (at UWI). They have seen a lot of medicine, it may be different to what we have here, but they bring high motivation and help with our service and also our teaching program…."
Currently there are some 10 trainees in the program and according to Dr. Ho Ping Kong most of the funding to train these specialists comes from UHN.
But there has been a sizeable donation from fellow Jamaican Canadian, Ryerson Chancellor,
Raymond Chang. "About six years ago, mid-
A gold medalist in medicine at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr. Ho Ping
Kong completed post-
And after almost 40 years of living and working in Canada, he has not lost his Jamaican accent. He says he is proud that he was born in Jamaica. "It gave me a great education at St George College. I'm a member of the Hall of Fame there and I got great education at the University of the West Indies. You never forget the place that taught you how to be what you are. I had great teachers… It gave me a change to do research while I was there. The level of training there is as high as anywhere in the world….. I think where you were born is important, even though things have changed in Jamaica, I don't like what's going on in some areas, it's still where I was born, it's still where I grew up, it's still where I studied…. It's gratifying to see these young people come here spend their two years, make us proud. I'm proud of them when they come here. I tell them to do back and make the difference that they are making, it's a great satisfaction.
The UHN will be recognized for its contributions at the third Annual Benefit UWI gala in Toronto on March 10. Dr. Ho Ping Kong was honoured at the first gala for his sterling contributions to UWI.
UWI Gala to honour medical pioneering program
By Jasminee Sahoye
THE University of the West Indies (UWI) Toronto Benefit Gala has been an amazing journey that began two years ago when Elizabeth Buchanan Hind, executive director of International Advancement for the UWI, asked Ray Chang to be the patron.
The Hon G Raymond Chang, OJ, director of CI Financial and chancellor of Ryerson University (Toronto), is an honorary graduate of UWI — an alumni status he shares with an estimated 1,000 leaders in business, judiciary, medicine, law, engineering, nursing, religion, communications, culture, media and philanthropic sectors throughout Canada, and so he is particularly sensitive to how the University of the West Indies and the wider Caribbean community contribute in Canada and worldwide.
As he says: "In every sector there is most often a UWI graduate or someone of Caribbean descent playing a leadership role."
Honorees in the past have included Harry Belafonte, former Canadian governor general
Michaëlle Jean, Former deputy chief of Toronto police Mr Keith L Forde, the Honourable
Jean Augustine, The Honourable Justice Dr. Irving André, Dr Karl Massiah, Jamaican/Canadian
sprinter Donovan Bailey, and Michael Lee-
In fact, the Portland Holdings billionaire founder and philanthropist Lee-
And that's the point really, that this event "is lifting the perception that the wider Canadian society will have of Caribbean people", and of course, making the impossible possible.
And so the thrust of the annual UWI gala is to celebrate UWI, the Caribbean community in Canada, and the outstanding students who themselves will one day lead the way in their own communities in the Caribbean, in Canada and around the world.
With the help of a committed group of people the gala has become a much-
The 2012 benefit next month will honour particularly Malcolm Gladwell, journalist
and best-
I'd like to mention two of these other outstanding Canadians because they go about quietly, diligently doing their thing and are unheralded and unknown outside of certain circles: they are Artis Lane and Howard Shearer.
Canadian sculptor and painter Artis Lane was born and raised in a community created by the descendants of slaves who came to Canada on the Underground Railroad (and wouldn't you know she has a Jamaican niece). Lane's work has found itself in the private collections of the verrrry, verrry rich and famous.
I won't name drop, but I will mention that her sculpture Truth, a bronze bust of slave abolitionist Sojourner Truth, was unveiled by Michelle Obama in the US Capitol building. It doesn't get much bigger than that, but it is not celebrity that makes Lane's work significant, it is the significance of Lane's work that acquires celebrity.
Lane is concerned about the dignity of persons of African descent and her work depicts African men and women as finely balanced and stately, unlike the stereotypically downtrodden images so many artists still promote.
Howard Shearer, not just because he is Hugh Shearer's son, but because as the president
and CEO of Hitachi Canada Ltd, he has risen through the ranks (since 1984) to become
the first non-
I read a business interview he did which gave some insight into the secret of his success. It's a simple one, really, he says: "I don't screen my calls. If it's good news I want to hear it. If it's bad news, I want to hear it first."
An almost unheard of business practice in Jamaica: let that be a guide to many Jamaican businesspeople and politicians who have armies of assistants to insulate them from their customers and constituents.
We have much to learn from the outstanding work of people like Lane and Shearer, for they remind us that envisioning the seemingly impossible is the first step in making it attainable. We thank the organisers of the UWI gala for bringing them to our attention.
scowicomm@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Envisioning-
Envisioning the impossible
Tamara Scott-
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Frank Walwyn receives Alumni Award of Distinction
Empowered through her social work studies at Ryerson University, Stephanie Asare was set to take on the world when she graduated in 2001.
She was impressed with the work that Ryerson Distinguished Visiting professor, Stephen
Lewis, was doing in his then new role as the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS
in Africa to draw attention to the epidemic and convince leaders and the public that
they had a responsibility to respond. And she made the trip from Toronto to Barrie
to listen to him speak at an event.
Armed with her resume and ready for a challenge to make a difference, she asked Lewis
a question pertaining to international placement and he was able to secure an internship
for the Ghanaian-
“Stephen Lewis has always been someone that I have looked up to,” said Asare, who
was presented with a Ryerson Alumni Award of Distinction last week. “He spoke passionately
about the role of social work and what we need to do within social work to actually
make an impact and provide therapeutic, psycho-
Six years ago, Asare established Social Workers Beyond Borders (SWBB), a non-
“This is all part of that Ryerson experience that I got that really kick-
Former Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) president, Frank Walwyn, was also honoured with an Alumni Award of Distinction. He’s a 1989 Business Administration program graduate.
“As a corporate commercial litigator, not a day goes by without me using the principles and skills learned at Ryerson to better understand clients’ problems and to create solutions for them,” said Walwyn, who was named one of Canada’s top lawyers in the area of corporate and commercial litigation in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada. “Business and accounting principles inform all of the corporate and commercial legal work I do and I say, without reservation, that the education I received at Ryerson in those areas has contributed immeasurably to my ability to effectively serve my clients.
“But I have a higher appreciation for Ryerson than even the education it provided and that has to do with its commitment to inclusiveness and diversity and the way this commitment manifests itself in the student body and faculty. I think it’s that commitment, together with an uncompromising pursuit of academic excellence, that gives Ryerson alumni the sense of community that they all feel and it’s what keeps us loyal to the institution.”
Called to the Ontario Bar in 1995 and a member of the Bars of St. Kitts & Nevis,
Dominica, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda and the British Virgin Islands, Walwyn will
be honoured with a Vice-
Previous recipients of the Ryerson Alumni Award of Distinction include Grenada’s honorary consul general, Jenny Gumbs, who is a 2002 Public Administration graduate. She was recognized five years ago.
By RON FANFAIR
Social worker, lawyer receive Ryerson
Alumni Awards
By RON FANFAIR
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Author Malcolm Gladwell understands the importance of countries remaining open to newcomers during times of economic hardship, having immigrated as a child to Canada, where he says he was welcomed "with extraordinary warmth."
"It’s a mistake not to welcome newcomers with open arms because, properly welcomed, history has shown that they make contributions. Canada is a strong country built almost entirely around immigrants," he said.
His comments come as the Conservative government plans to rejig its immigration policies,
including capping the amount of admissions applications to reduce backlog, while
increasing the intake of temporary foreign workers. And while such initiatives may
protect the immigration system from overload, some critics fear these and other rules
may deter potential newcomers. Not to mention they could harm Canada’s reputation
as a welcoming society.
"I would say that keeping that spirit alive is the great challenge," Gladwell says.
Gladwell, New Yorker staffer and author of The Tipping Point, Outliers, Blink, and What the Dog Saw, has a unique view on Canada's multiculturalism. Born to an English father and a Jamaican mother, he immigrated from the UK to Ontario at age six and, having graduated from the University of Toronto in 1984, left for the United States.
HuffPost Canada spoke with Gladwell about immigration’s effect on Canada’s economy ahead of the University of the West Indies benefit gala on March 10, where he and other notable Canadians of Caribbean descent will be honoured.
HuffPost: Though lauded for its multiculturalism, Canada has also been the subject of recent criticism over new, stricter immigration policies. How will that affect newcomers?
Gladwell: Immigration in times of economic difficulty is always a very politically controversial subject, so it doesn’t surprise me that there should be controversy around this. But I think we have to distinguish two things: historically, over this broad sweep of history, Canada has been welcoming, and I guess my only issue would be is this a temporary thing, or does it mark a real shift in perspective? And I hope it’s just temporary.
HuffPost: If so, what can be done to reverse the trend?
Gladwell: I think it’s easier when the economy is strong... Even though, rationally, you could make the opposite argument that when your economy is weak is exactly the time to be welcoming immigrants because that’s when you need the energy and enthusiasm and ideas that immigrants bring. But it’s a simple fact about people that when they get anxious, they get a little more conservative in opening their doors. Part of me thinks that when things get better, this trend will be reversed.
HuffPost: How do you think American and Canadian economies will recover, considering their different immigrant experiences?
Gladwell: I don't know. We do know, as a general principle ... that immigrants tend
to be highly entrepreneurial as a group, so any country that allows a lot of immigrants
is going to have a kind of entrepreneurial edge. If you look at Silicon Valley, it’s
a kind of case study of the benefits of immigration. I mean, a number of start-
HuffPost: Canada’s immigrant experience is by no means perfect. What can the nation do to ensure newcomers’ economic success?
Gladwell: I think the most important thing is not institutional, it’s an attitude
thing. The most important thing is that those in Canada have an attitude of warmth
and openness to newcomers. That’s not to say all the institutional things and the
support mechanisms and the services and things aren’t important – they’re all crucial.
But the absolute most important thing is that when you come, you feel like you’re
wanted.
The interview with Malcolm has been published and can be found here:
Malcolm Gladwell On Canadian Immigration:
It's The Solution To, Not The Cause Of,
Economic Problems
“The UWI Toronto Benefit Gala is in a class of its own. I, along with the other board
members of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers attended in support of our friend
and past president, Frank Walwyn. Simone Olivero was not the only one to appreciate
his charm filled speech. I want to send a big congratulations to Mr. Walwyn”. -
Recently, the University of West Indies presented its Third Annual UWI Benefit Gala
at the Four Seasons Hotel.
The funds raised from this 2012 UWI Benefit Gala will assist the UWI Haitian Initiative
and the UWI Scholarship Fund.
In addition to the awards ceremony, guests enjoyed a sit-
From humble beginnings in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved
into the Caribbean region’s flagship institution of higher learning.
More photos from
the Gala can be found here:
http://www.snapdowntowntoronto.com/
University of West Indies Third Annual
Benefit Gala in Toronto
Photos by
Jody Glaser
More than 500 community and industry leaders attended the sold-
University of West Indies
Benefit Gala in Toronto
March
10, 2012
By:
Michelle Levy
