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

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Participant Welcome and Registration

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Welcome by the Elders
Opening Dinner

Keynote Address:

  • Professor Niigaan James Sinclair, University of Manitoba

Moderation: TBC

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

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Opening of Conference

9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

Keynote: The Role of the University in the City

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

Moderation: TBC

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Health Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Plenary Panel: Cities as Sites of Encounter and Innovation

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

  • Dr. Rob 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 Sees, Composting Change, part 1 – scaling grassroot transformative actions”

  • Dr. Chiara Camponeschi, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Guelph (2013 Scholar): “Cultivating Sees, Composting Change, part 2 – community-based problem-solving”

Moderation: Christina Sharpe, 2026 Fellow

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Lunch

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Keynote: Housing in the City

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

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

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Health Break

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Breakout Sessions

  • Breakout 1: “The Roles and Responsibilities of the Various Levels of Government in Urban Issues: Connection, Understanding, and Collaboration Between Municipal, Provincial, and Federal Governments”
    Facilitated by: André Juneau, 2025 Mentor, in conversation with Dr. Greg Selinger, Professor, University of Manitoba, and former Premier of Manitoba
  • Breakout 2: “’It makes me feel like home’ – Hidden, Cultural and ecological Food Assets that foster belonging in Vancouver. A Citizen Science Photovoice Study”
    Facilitated by: Dr. Tammara Soma, RPP MCIP, Associate Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management, SFU, 2014 Scholar)
  • Breakout 3: “Civic Activism and Community Engagement – a case study of an airport”
    Facilitated by: David Morley, former President and CEO, UNICEF Canada, 2006 Mentor
  • Breakout 4: “Re-centering Equity in Ruban Sustainability Transitions: Community, Multiple Knowledges, Justice and Belonging”
    Facilitated by: Paty Romero-Lankao, Canadian Excellence in Research Chair’s Network for Equity in Sustainability Transitions;
    Dr. Elisa Privitera, CERC NEST, University of Toronto Scarborough;
    Dr. Valerie Berseth, Post-doctoral Fellow,
    Dr. Xiang Zhang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto Scarborough)

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Reception and Networking
Fort Garry Hotel

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

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

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

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

Moderation: Peter Dinsdale, 2026 Mentor

10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Health Break

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Keynote: The right for a clean environment in the City

  • Valérie Plante, former Mayor of Montréal

Moderation: Christine St-Pierre, 2025 Mentor

12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Lunch
Crystal Ballroom

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

  • Devin Naveau, Anishinaabe from the Mattagami First Nation
  • Dennis Chartrant, Ojibway language speaker and a member of Pine Creek First Nation
  • Mabel Nahanee, Squamish Nation, BC

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

4:00 p.m – 4:30 p.m.

Health Break

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Fireside Chat: Unhoused and unseen – how to change the narrative?

Moderation: Val Napoleon, Fellow 2026

7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Keynote and Closing Dinner

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

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

Moderation: Erin Mooney, 2024 Mentor

Closing Ceremony led by an Elder

nov 27

Sunday (Day 4)

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

7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Breakfast
Crystal ballroom

Departure