Senator David P. Smith Invites You To Attend
The Walter Gordon Circle
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014
The Honourable Charles Sousa
Minister of Finance, Ontario
As Minister Sousa will be tabling a new budget in the near future and as speculation is high that a provincial election is probably in the spring, this will be a fascinating evening
Cocktails at 6:30 pm, Dinner at 7:00 p.m. SHARP!
To reserve, please fax this form to 416-597-2994 or e-mail it to
$95 all inclusive (cocktails, dinner, wine and a nightcap) The Club maintains a cancellation policy whereby any cancellation must be received by email or fax 2 business days prior to the event to avoid being charged in full.
Elected to the provincial legislature in 2007, Charles has been instrumental in securing new hospital expansions, full-day kindergarten in local schools and seeing work completed on south Mississauga’s Lakeshore West GO line to add a third track. In December 2010, Charles’ hard work and dedication earned him a seat at the Cabinet table when he was appointed Minister of Labour. Charles was later appointed Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
Charles possesses an extensive background in the financial sector. Before joining government, he worked at RBC Financial Group for more than 20 years. He also served as a member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Toronto Board of Trade and a director of the American Chamber of Commerce.
Charles used this background to benefit his community by fundraising for numerous charitable events for the United Way, the Rainbow Ball Foundation of Mississauga and the Community Foundation of Mississauga. Charles also served an ambassador for the Credit Valley Hospital Foundation, gaining important insight into the health care needs of our community.
His commitment to community service earned him the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003. He also received the Order of Merit from the Republic of Portugal in 2009.
Charles grew up in south Mississauga, and he and his wife Zenny are raising their three children in Clarkson.
The Walter Gordon Circle of The University Club of Toronto Statement of Purpose
The Hon. Walter Gordon was a member of the University Club of Toronto for almost 50 years prior to his death in 1987. In 1990, the Hon. David Smith and the Hon. David Collenette decided to establish a dinner Circle at the University Club of liberally minded persons and invite guests to speak on a range of historical and contemporary public issues.
The first dinner was held on March 26, 1991 with Tom Kent (principal secretary to Lester Pearson) as the speaker. Speakers have included David Peterson, Arnold Smith (former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth), Paul Martin, Alan Gottlieb, Lyn McLeod, André Ouellet, Jean Pelletier, David Collenette, Sheila Copps, Hal Jackman, Stéphane Dion, Bob Rae, Allan Rock, Dalton McGuinty, Eddie Goldenberg, John Manley, Frank McKenna, and Peter Godsoe. During the October 1992 Referendum, a debate was held between Ian Scott and Greg Sorbara on the Charlottetown Accord. There have been two black tie roasts, one for Senator Keith Davey and one for David Smith. In 1999 we held a debate on the merits of the United Alternative between a Tory M.P. (Scott Brison) and a Reform M.P. (Jason Kenney). Mr. Brison saw the light and joined the Liberal Party. Most recently, Michael Bryant, David Miller, George Smitherman, John Tory, Michael Ignatieff, Ken Dryden, Martha Hall Findlay, Dominic Leblanc, Ted Sorensen, Dwight Duncan, Chris Bentley, Justin Trudeau, Bob Rae and most recently Sandra Pupatello and Newly-minted Premier Kathleen Wynne have addressed The Circle.
Basic tenets of the Circle include: no fundraising activity for any causes; no efforts to act as a group either within or without the University Club for any specific cause, in other words, it is a social group established to provide a forum for the discussion of public policy issues; no formal political affiliations.