Media Releases

John Manley to receive honorary degree

June 10, 2010

TORONTO, ON. – On Tues­day, June 15, 2010 at 2:30 p.m., the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to will award the Hon­ourable John Man­ley, Pres­i­dent and Chief Exec­u­tive Offi­cer of the Cana­di­an Coun­cil of Chief Exec­u­tives, an hon­orary doc­tor of laws degree in recog­ni­tion of his out­stand­ing record of con­tri­bu­tions to Cana­da, through ser­vice in pub­lic office, and the devel­op­ment of pub­lic pol­i­cy in sup­port of research, tech­nol­o­gy, and inno­va­tion..

Man­ley, a for­mer Deputy Prime Min­is­ter of Cana­da, was first elect­ed to Par­lia­ment in 1998. Dur­ing his polit­i­cal career he was re-elect­ed three times and has served in mul­ti­ple capac­i­ties, includ­ing as Min­is­ter of Finance, Indus­try and For­eign Affairs. As a Cab­i­net min­is­ter, one of Manley’s pri­or­i­ties was the estab­lish­ment of a nation­al inno­va­tion agen­da and the cre­ation of the Cana­da Foun­da­tion for Inno­va­tion.

Fol­low­ing his depar­ture from gov­ern­ment, Man­ley remained active in pub­lic pol­i­cy as a media com­men­ta­tor, speak­er and advis­er to gov­ern­ment. He con­tin­ues to pro­mote the impor­tance of sci­ence, tech­nol­o­gy, and research as crit­i­cal to the future of Cana­da through his ser­vice on the boards of the Insti­tute for Research in Pub­lic Pol­i­cy, MaRS, and the Con­fer­ence Board of Cana­da.  In 2003 he led a review of the province’s elec­tric­i­ty sec­tor for Ontario Pre­mier Dal­ton McGuin­ty. In 2005 Man­ley co-chaired the Inde­pen­dent Task Force on the Future of North Amer­i­ca for the Coun­cil on For­eign Rela­tions. And in 2007, Man­ley was named Chair of an Inde­pen­dent Pan­el on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan by Prime Min­is­ter Stephen Harp­er.

Mem­bers of the media are invit­ed to attend the con­vo­ca­tion cer­e­mo­ny, but seat­ing is lim­it­ed and advance con­fir­ma­tion of atten­dance is required. Please RSVP to U of T media rela­tions at 416–978-0100 no lat­er than 3 p.m. on Mon­day, June 14.

WHAT:           John Man­ley to receive hon­orary degree at spring con­vo­ca­tion.

WHEN:           Tues­day, June 15, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. Media need to RSVP in advance and should arrive no lat­er than 2:15 p.m. to ensure seat­ing.

WHERE:        Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, Con­vo­ca­tion Hall, 31 King’s Col­lege Cir­cle.

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For more infor­ma­tion and to RSVP:

con­tact media rela­tions at 416–978-0100