The Rotary Club of Toronto
Club 55 -  Founded 1912
March 26, 2021     Volume 108     Issue 27
 
 
Officers:
President: John Fortney                                                                      President-Elect: Prince Kumar
Vice-President: Jayson Phelps
Treasurer: Kurt Kroesen
 
Executive Director: Carol Hutchinson
 
Editor of the week: Maureen Bird and Natali Soroka
 
Charitable Foundation President:
Rick Goldsmith
Foundation Vice-President: Barbara Thomson
 
RI President
Holger Knaack, Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany
 
District Governor
Mark Chipman, Whitby Sunrise
 
 
 
FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2021- 12:15 to 1:15 PM
ROTARY TORONTO VIRTUAL MEETING
 
Guest Speaker:  Mark Garner, Chief Operating Officer/ Executive Director 
Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area
 
Topic:  Forever Yonge - Canada's Iconic Main Street Coming Out of Covid
Host:  Robert O'Brien          
 
Rotarian and Guests: RSVP to office@rotarytoronto.com
if using Google Meet to be admitted to the meeting.
 
Mark Garner has been a successful business and community leader for more than 30 years, and is now focusing his expertise and vision on the transformation of one of Toronto’s most vital tourism and business hubs.
 
As Executive Director and Chief of Staff for the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area, Mark is an active champion for building a thriving, vibrant city centre. His business acumen and social conscience were forged during his years as a senior executive at major Canadian companies, including Bank of Montreal, AT&T and NCR Canada. Over the past decade he has increasingly concentrated on the revitalization and development of urban downtowns, playing an integral role as a catalyst for targeted economic growth, vibrant neighbourhoods, social innovation and start-up incubators. An action-oriented advocate for change, Mark has spearheaded numerous campaigns and projects to bring about improvements – including executing programs to clean up laneways, developing and implementing a comprehensive Music Strategy, and working directly with municipal leaders on urban planning and revitalization.
What you Missed , March 19, 2021
by Lori Brazier
 
If you missed this meeting, you need to make plans to watch it on YouTube - see link to past meetings below!
 
First up after the usual Presidential welcome, invocation and anthem was a very warm and entertaining Let’s Be Personal talk by one of our newer members, Sean Stephenson.  Great to get to know a little bit more about a Rotarian who joined the club on the eve of the announcement of the global pandemic.  Sean looks forward to meeting more of us and has extended an invitation to all of us to connect with him for a virtual chat.
 
Then over to Dave Dame who delivered an inspiring talk about resilience and overcoming adversity.  Dave was born with cerebral palsy before the time of human rights and accommodation for persons with disabilities.  His parents were issued a grim prognosis that their son would likely not live beyond his teens and would never learn to speak clearly.  It was recommended that he be placed in an institution.  His parents refused to accept the recommendation, and focused on having their son integrate into mainstream society.  They got him out of bed every day and helped him bathe and dress.  They registered him for school when the time came and pushed him to excel in school - which he did every step of the way.  He acknowledges that Rotary played a huge role in his life.  The local Rotary club in his hometown of Windsor built a ramp into his school so that he did not have to be carried inside.
 
Dave not only lived through his teens, but graduated from high school and was accepted into university just at the time when human rights legislation was coming into being, and universities were figuring out how to accommodate students living with disabilities.  But an interesting twist was that Dave elected to leave home and move into residence.  Without his parents to help him bathe and dress every day,he had to hire a caregiver and accept the humility of being undressed in the presence of a stranger.
 
Dave’s first  job post-graduation was with Chrysler as a logistic coordinator.  It wasn’t easy finding an employer who would hire someone with cerebral palsy, despite the fact that Dave had always excelled in his studies.  He didn’t ask for any accommodation at the time because he was just so grateful for a job and a chance to prove himself.  “My father made it clear that I could not just live under his roof forever”, says Dave.  “I need to be independent.  Those first weeks and months were a tough slog.  There was a lot of paperwork, and everything was done manually.  It would take Dave 12 hours to do what others did in 8.  But he never gave up.  Dave also couldn’t use the washroom as the doorway was too narrow for his wheelchair.  So he learned to hold until the end of the day when he could get to an accessible washroom.
 
Then Dave was the first in his office to get a computer.  Suddenly he could do his work in less time than everyone else.  His boss came to see one day to ask what more he could provide his star employee,and offered up several suggestions.  “I probably could have asked for personal jet”, quips Dave.  His reply was to ask for an accessible washroom.  Shock washed over his boss’s face when he realized the hardship that Dave had faced, uncomplaining, every day since hiring.
 
Fast forward to today…Dave is a highly sought-after and doesn’t have to look for work anymore.  He has trained over 600 professionals in produce management, leadership and agile delivery practices, as well as coaching many seasoned executives.  
 
But working life continues to have its challenges.  A few years ago, when Dave needed to travel to Europe, his employer refused to pay for his personal assistant to accompany him because this was outside corporate policy.  No longer shy about asking for accommodation, he pointed out that this would mean he would be up in front of people unwashed and unkempt.  He suggested that the company change its policy...and got approval for his assistant.  Before Covid hit, if meeting times were changed with short notice, he often had to miss the meetings because he couldn’t have his assistant with him. He asked that his practice stop...and a colleague thanked him, citing that she had challenges with child care arrangements when meeting times suddenly changed or were outside business hours.
 
Dave’s advice to us all:  firstly, we can do anything if we put our mind to it and look beyond the challenges.  But more importantly, he urges us to hire diverse candidates rather than going with the traditional HR recommendations.  The result will be an eye-opening experience that will drive innovation and new ways of thinking.  He also implores everyone to do what we can to eliminate the hate that seems to be ingrained in today’s reality.
 
SAVE THE DATE! BIRTHDAY PARTY OF THE CENTURY!
WEDNESDAY EVENING ROTARY MEETING
MARCH 31, 2021 - 5:30 P.M. TO ???
 
ROTARY TORONTO VIRTUAL WERM MEETING
HOST:  VICE PRESIDENT JAYSON PHELPS!
NO ROTARY MEETING GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021 
Let’s Be Personal: Sean Stephenson

I joined the Toronto Rotary Club in 2020 shortly before lockdown, however, my experience with Rotary extends well before that time. Notably, I participated in the Rotary Youth Exchange where I spent year living and going to school in Brazil, and was further a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar when I completed my Master of Laws at University College London in London, England. Given my incredibly positive experience with Rotary I had no choice but to get involved at some point.

In my day job, I am currently a Senior Associate with Dentons Canada LLP, where my practice focuses on trade, investment, international arbitration, government contracting and regulatory law. In this role, I advise on all aspects of trade including sanctions, anticorruption, customs, import and export controls, controlled goods, and trade disputes in Canada and abroad. Some recent trade related highlights include acting in a Canada Free Trade Agreement arbitration, and our firm being nominated a panel to assist the UK with post-Brexit matters. I am also specialist in foreign investment disputes including those und trade agreements such as the NAFTA, CETA, CPTPP. I have been involved in some of the most significant NAFTA disputes in recent times. I frequent write and speak on these topics and I am currently completing a doctoral degree on international investment law.

These days when not working I am generally trying relax with my wife Stephanie, who is a professor in Canadian politics, and our pandemic pup Joni Mitchell.

 
Our Charitable Foundation Continues to Good Work in our Community
 
 
 
Fellowship & Entertainment Activities
Pat Neuman, Chair
 
We are here for the long term so please join in. All events are listed on our Google Calendar accessible through your @rotarytoronto.com account or find the emails sent out in advance. Contact Maureen Bird to set up your access. 416-804-3726.
 
Virtual Cooking Club, Saturday March 27 - 7:00
This week Mardi and Neil will be having us do fish cakes.  You don't have to cook - it is an opportunity to just chat. Contact Neil if you are not on his list.
nphillips@dgn-marketing.com
 
Gardening Club will meet on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 4 pm...
Next date is April 20, 2021 4 pm.
To Join...
Contact Co-ordinator June Brown
Spring really is just around the corner.
 
New Members Get-Together - District 7070

On Thursday April 8th from 7 to 8 pm the District Membership Committee is hosting a fourth New Member Zoom get together.  There is lots of interesting info about our Rotary organization and often there is not enough time in a regular meeting to ensure that new members get to hear about it.  So on April 8th join us as we share more Rotary basics and not so basics. 

Bring any questions you might have or send them ahead of time!

The session will be of particular interest to members who have joined Rotary in the past 2 years.

Online Registration

75 Years of Action: Rotary & The United Nations

Date: Saturday, 10 April 2021
Time: 10:00 - 13:00  U.S. Eastern 

You are invited to participate in an upcoming global live-stream celebrating the shared values of the United Nations and Rotary- a global network of 1.2 million neighbours, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change.
 
This is a unique opportunity to:

• Witness special “behind-the-scene" interviews with leaders from United Nations, including Téa LeoniUNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres 
• Educate students and community members of all ages of ways to collaborate with United Nations Offices and Agencies
• Take action for the Sustainable Development Goals - join a service project featured in the gallery of Rotary’s member-led initiatives or respond to a series of Call-to-Actions from various United Nations Agencies
• Chat with like-minded global citizens joining from every continent to connect, inspire and transform the world
• Experience the power of civil society members in fostering global harmony, demonstrated by Rotary members since helping charter the United Nations over 75 years ago
 
SERVICE ABOVE SELF
The Rotary Club of Toronto, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, H Level
100 Front St. W., Toronto ON, M5J 1E4
Tel. 416-363-0604  office@rotarytoronto.com 
 
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