PROGRAM

EVENT PROGRAM

November 24 to 27, 2026

This Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation event takes place on Treaty One Territory and the National Homeland of the Red River Métis.

We acknowledge that these are the ancestral lands of the Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Anishininiimowin (Oji-Cree), Cree, Ininiwak/Nehethowuk, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, and Michif Piyii (Métis) Peoples. This territory is also a place of significance for the Denesuline and the Inuit, some of whom have been living here for generations.

We are grateful to be guests of the people who have taken care of these lands for time immemorial.

November 24
November 25
November 26
November 27

Nov 24

Tuesday (Day 1)

Location: Winnipeg Art Gallery
300 Memorial Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3C 1V1

5:00 p.m.

Departure from the Hotel by Shuttle bus
 to the  Winnipeg Art Gallery 

5:30 p.m. -6:30 pm

Cocktail reception and Gallery visit 

7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Opening Dinner

Keynote Presentation: “Welcome to Winnipek,
Ground Zero for Truth and Reconciliation”

Moderation: Sheryl Lightfoot, Fellow 2026

Welcome by the Elders

Nov 25

Wednesday (Day 2)

Location: The Fort Garry Hotel
222 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0R3

7:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.

Breakfast
Crystal Ballroom (7th Floor)

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Opening of Conference
Provencher Ballroom

  • Peter Sahlas, Chair of the Board of Directors, The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
  • Bettina B. Cenerelli, President and CEO, The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation

9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

Keynote: “The Role of the University in the City”
Provencher Ballroom

  • Dr. Jack Mintz, President’s Fellow, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, 2026 Mentor

Moderation: Joseph Wong, 2023 Mentor

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Health Break
Mezzanine

10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Plenary Panel: “Cities as Sites of Encounter and Innovation”
Provencher Ballroom

  • Dr. Kate Parizeau, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Guelph (2007 Scholar): “Municipalities as sites of innovation – Our Food Future Case Study”

  • Dr. Robert VanWynsberghe, Professor, Department of Education, UBC: “Transformative education and emergent relational approaches to community-based engagement”

  • Dr. Marta Berbes-Blazques, Caivan Communities Assistant Professor, School of Planning and the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo: “Prefigurative futures and narrative resistance – the Black to the Future Arizona project”

  • Dr. Karina Benessaiah, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Guelph (2010 Scholar): “Cultivating Seeds, Composting Change, – scaling grassroot transformative actions”

Moderation: Dr. Christina Sharpe, 2026 Fellow

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Lunch
Crystal Ballroom (7th Floor)

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Keynote: “Housing in the City”
Provencher Ballroom

  • Lisa Helps, Executive Lead for BC Builds Project Origination at BC Housing; former Mayor of Victoria, 2006 Scholar

Moderation: Dr. Jino Distasio, President Pro Tem, University of Winnipeg

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Health Break
Mezzanine

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Breakout Sessions

  • Breakout 1 (Provencher Ballroom): The Roles and Responsibilities of the Various Levels of Government in Urban Issues: Connection, Understanding, and Collaboration Between Municipal, Provincial, and Federal Governments
    Moderation: André Juneau, 2025 Mentor
    With Dr. Greg Selinger, Professor, University of Manitoba, and former Premier of Manitoba
    And Tony Penikett, former Premier of the Yukon, 2016 Mentor.
  • Breakout 2 (Gateway Room): “It makes me feel like home” – Hidden, Cultural and ecological Food Assets that foster belonging in Vancouver. A Citizen Science Photovoice Study
    Presentation: Dr. Tammara Soma, RPP MCIP, Associate Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management, SFU, 2014 Scholar;
    And Belinda Li, Co-founder of Food Systems Lab, SFU.
  • Breakout 3 (Tache Room): Civic Activism and Community Engagement – a case study of an airport
    Presentation: David Morley, former President and CEO, UNICEF Canada, 2006 Mentor
  • Breakout 4 (La Verendrye Room): Re-centering Equity in Urban Sustainability Transitions: Community, Multiple Knowledges, Justice and Belonging
    Presentation: Paty Romero-Lankao, Canadian Excellence in Research Chair’s Network for Equity in Sustainability Transitions
    Dr. Elisa Privitera, Researcher at CERC NEST, University of Toronto Scarborough;
    Dr. Valerie Berseth, Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Public Communication, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
    Dr. Xiang Zhang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto Scarborough).

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Reception and Networking
Mezzanine

Nov 26

Thursday (day 3)

Location: The Fort Garry Hotel
222 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0R3

7:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.

Breakfast Buffet
Crystal Ballroom (7th Floor)

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Plenary Presentation: “What is in a name? Building Cities of Belonging for Newcomers” 
Provencher Ballroom

  • Onome Ako, CEO Action Against Hunger Canada, 2025 Mentor 

Moderation: Peter Dinsdale, 2026 Mentor

10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Health Break
Mezzanine

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Keynote: “The right for a clean environment in the City
Provencher Ballroom”

Moderation: Christine St-Pierre, 2025 Mentor

12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Lunch
Crystal Ballroom (7th Floor)

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Plenary Panel: “Healing our Shared Home – Home in Crisis” – A Storytelling Panel about Urban Indigenous-Settler Relations
Provencher Ballroom

Moderation: Dr. Lily Yumagulova, Program Director, Preparing Our Home, 2008 Scholar 

4:00 p.m – 4:30 p.m.

Health Break
Mezzanine

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Fireside Chat: “Unhoused and unseen – how to change the narrative?”
Provencher Ballroom

Moderation: Val Napoleon, Fellow 2026

5:45 p.m. 

Departure from the Hotel by Shuttle bus to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Location: Canadian Museum for Human Rights
85 Israel Asper Way, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0L5

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Cocktail reception and museum visit
Garden of contemplation

7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Keynote and Closing Dinner
Bonnie & John Buller Hall with Foyer

  • Alex Neve, former Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada, 2008 Mentor

Moderation: Erin Mooney, 2026 Mentor

Closing Ceremony led by Albert McLeod, Elder

nov 27

Friday (Day 4)

Location: The Fort Garry Hotel
222 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0R3

7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

 

Breakfast
Crystal Ballroom (7th Floor)

Departure