Join the University of Toronto Liberals for a cocktail reception and debate on the way forward for the Party, with candidates running for the Presidency of the Liberal Party of Canada. The money raised from this event will assist funding for UofT delegates going to the Biennial Convention.

Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2011.

Registration and Cash Bar: 5:30 p.m.

Discussion with presidential candidates on the “white paper”: 6:00 p.m.

Location: McCarthy Tétrault, Suite 5300, Toronto-Dominion Tower, 66 Wellington Street

Cost: $25 per person, those 25 & under are free (additional donations are greatly appreciated but will not be tax deductible) by credit or cheque, payable to the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario), memo: U of T Liberals. All proceeds will support University of Toronto students attending the Biennial Convention in Ottawa.

Join the University of Toronto Liberals for our first event of the school year!

Canvassing & Election Training Session
4:30pm
Location TBA
(Please RSVP at president@uoftliberals.com)

The Ontario Liberal Party Platform was released Monday, September 5th, 2011, titled “Forward. Together.” The main focus of the platform is on education, healthcare and clean energy.
The main points of the platform include:

If you would like to download the platform Click here.

The UofT Liberals will be participating in the UTSU Clubs Day event this Wednesday! Please come visit us Wednesday September 7th, from 10am-2pm at Hart House Circle. We will be able to provide information about upcoming events we have planned for the school year or answer any questions you may have. Most importantly the Ontario Provincial Election is October 6, 2011, and we would love to inform you on how you can get involved with different campaigns!

Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Time: 10am-2pm
Location: Hart House Circle

If you have any questions please email president@uoftliberals.com

The following is a Letter-to-the-Editor of The Varsity, submitted on behalf of the University of Toronto Liberals:

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the two Comment articles on Israeli Apartheid Week featured in the Feb. 25^th issue of the Varsity.  As President of the University of Toronto Liberals, I want to commend Asher Greenberg for his condemnation of IAW as dogmatic advocacy, rather than as an event to promote understanding and dialogue.  As a student who is involved in the political process, I understand the importance of debate on a university campus.  That must be our goal as an educational institution.  However, Israeli Apartheid Week does not promote dialogue.  It is not a debate.  It is a week of intimidation.  Anyone who attempts to debate issues at IAW events is shouted down and called hateful names.  Anyone who attempts to point out that IAW is an unfair singling-out of the Middle East’s only liberal democracy for dishonest criticism is silenced and made to feel threatened.

Israeli Apartheid Week is worthy of our condemnation.  I am proud of the Ontario Legislature’s unanimous motion to condemn IAW on February 25^th.  I am also proud of the work being done by the multi-partisan Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism.  A number of local Liberal MPs are active participants in the Coalition, including UofT’s own MP, Bob Rae, the MP for our neighbouring riding of Davenport, Mario Silva (who serves as the Coalition’s Vice-Chair), and Vancouver MP Hedy Fry who came to speak to the UofT Liberals on the issue of inclusivity and human rights earlier this year.  Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has been clear and unequivocal in his condemnation of IAW, noting that the malicious use of the term “apartheid” is a clear attempt to single out the Jewish state as criminal and illegitimate.

As President of the UofT Liberals, I am proud to speak out against Israeli Apartheid Week, and to stand with UofT students and their elected representatives against discrimination on campus.

Gabe De Roche, President of the UofT Liberals

And the following is the statement from Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff condemning Israeli Apartheid Week:

OTTAWA – Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the following statement today:

“On university campuses across the country this week, Israeli Apartheid Week will once again attempt to demonize and undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state. It is part of a global campaign of calls for divestment, boycotts and proclamations, and it should be condemned unequivocally and absolutely.

Apartheid is defined, in international law, as a crime against humanity. Israeli Apartheid Week is a deliberate attempt to portray the Jewish state as criminal.

The activities planned for the week will single out Jewish and Israeli students. They will be made to feel ostracized and even physically threatened in the very place where freedom should be paramount — on a university campus.

Let us be clear: criticism of Israeli government policy is legitimate. Wholesale condemnation of the State of Israel and the Jewish people is not legitimate. Not now, not ever.

The very premise of Israeli Apartheid Week runs counter to our shared values of mutual respect and tolerance, regardless of nationality, race or creed. It is an attempt to heighten the tensions in our communities around the tragic conflict in the Middle East.

On behalf of the Liberal party of Canada and the Parliamentary caucus, I urge all Canadians to join with us in condemning Israeli Apartheid Week, and to reject, in principle, all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance, both within this country and around the world.”

Join the UofT Liberals for Lunch with the Hon. John McCallum, Liberal Finance Critic.

This event, co-hosted with the Association of Political Science Students, will discuss Canada $56-billion deficit, and what it means for students.  We’ll also look at what it will take for Canada to be competitive in our global economy, the real effects of the deficit on our fiscal capacity, and what our recovery might look like.

Date: Monday 9 November 2009

Time: 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Location: UC179, University College Main Building (15 King’s College Circle)

Lunch will be served.

Dr. Carolyn Bennett will be coming to UofT to talk to students about Canada’s healthcare system and how the Canadian experience might serve as a model for US healthcare reform.

On 30 September 2009, Dr. Bennett testified before the  US Special Senate Committee on Aging to set the record straight on Canada’s healthcare system.  As we know, the Canadian system has been maligned by the Republican attack machine and the pundits on Fox News and elsewhere.  Dr. Bennett went to Washington to set the record straight, and prove that even if the Harper Government wasn’t going to step up and defend our system from conservative attacks, Canadians can count on their elected officials to protect a system that we hold near and dear to our hearts.

This event will be highly interactive, and will feature video footage of Dr. Bennett’s testimony.  We hope you’ll join us for this informative and unique event.

Co-Hosts: International Relations Society & UofT Liberals

Date: Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Time: 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Location: LA 248, Larkin Building, Trinity College (15 Devonshire Pl., Between Harbord and Bloor)

RSVP: rsvp@internationalrelations.ca and include “Bennett Event” in the subject line.