About The Canadian Club of Kingston
The Canadian Club of Kingston is an apolitical community-based organization that arranges monthly meetings at which distinguished speakers address its members on subjects of national or international significance. It typically meets on the second Thursday of each month, from October to May. Each luncheon meeting features a speaker on a current topic of special interest to Canadians.
Understanding the Issues: A Challenge for Us
The Canadian Club of Kingston exists for a simple reason—to provide a forum where members can hear speakers on issues of current interest.
There is a Canadian Club in most major cities across Canada, and their common objective is to strengthen Canada by helping individual Canadians be better informed about important national and international issues.
In Kingston, the Canadian Club meets once a month (see upcoming speakers) from October to May to hear an invited speaker talk about a subject of common interest.
Keeping an Alert Mind
Belonging to the Canadian Club in Kingston is a good way to stay informed about some of the key issues of our time. It keeps your mind alert, and it builds a wider circle of friends and contacts.
Keeping track of some of the important issues of our time involves more than simply watching the TV news or reading one or two daily newspapers. The Canadian Club arranges for speakers who have the expertise and knowledge to deal with current issues of public interest.
Where did it begin?
The Canadian Club movement had its origin in 1892 among a small group of men in Hamilton, Ontario. They wanted to be more active, better informed. They hoped to stimulate a sense of pride in being Canadian. The idea spread across Canada. And the clubs still flourish today, even in the face of so many competing activities and interests.
Other Canadian Clubs
www.canadianclub.org (Toronto)
canadianclubottawa.ca (Ottawa)
www.owcc.ca (Ottawa Women’s Club)
www.canadiancluboflondon.ca (London)
www.canadianclubcalgary.ca (Calgary)
www.canadianclubofedmonton.com (Edmonton)
www.cerclecanadien-montreal.ca/en (Montreal)
www.facebook.com/cdnclubvan (Vancouver)
Canadian Identity and Unity
Our Objectives
The Canadian Club of Kingston exists today, as it has since 1980, to promote Canadian identity and foster Canadian unity. It encourages knowledge of Canada’s own history, honours native talent in the arts, sciences, business and public affairs, and ‘fosters patriotic sentiment.’ The Club is a product of its time and of its place. At the outset, it was about nation-building. As Vincent Massey, one of the country’s great Governors-General, put it in 1952, “Canadian Clubs are made possible by our national character; they are made necessary by our national need. Theirs is a great honour and a heavy responsibility.” Still today, it is about nurturing a sense of nationhood in a highly diverse population.
Historical and Contemporary
Programs and Themes
In the decades since its founding, the ways and means the Club has used to pursue its goals have evolved but its purpose has remained the same: to foster fellowship among people proud to celebrate their Canadian identity and to educate, inform, and stimulate thought about issues of national significance. Different from service clubs or groups raising funds for specific causes, the Club’s not-for-profit work focuses mainly on organizing events at which invited speakers share their knowledge and insights with Club members and guests. Some unique characteristics of the Canadian Club of Kingston include:
- Its strong association with students and educational institutions at secondary and tertiary levels. An ‘attitude of helpful friendliness’ in the Club’s early days towards Queen’s University, the Royal Military College, and St. Lawrence College has grown into today’s active seeking of secondary-school students’ attendance at Club functions.
- Its focus on a balanced set of topics between those of historical interest and contemporary events and activities.
Who we’ve been
Club History
The Canadian Club of Kingston held its first meeting in 1910, but at some point in its history it ceased to meet. It was reborn in 1983 and has been active in the life of Kingston since then. From this high-level start, the Club continued to attract illustrious speakers to its podium.
In recent years, the Club has been pleased to host speakers such as:
- the Honourable Bob Rae,
- General (Retired) John de Chastelain,
- Jan Wong, author and journalist,
- Brian Osborne, Past President Ontario Historical Society, and Professor Emeritus Queen’s University Geography Department,
- Mr. Volker Thomsen – President, St. Lawrence College, and
- Dr. Henri Habib – Professor Emeritus, Concordia University.
Who we are
Club Officers
OFFICERS
- President – Gay Keithly
- Past President – Patrick McCue
- Vice-President and Treasurer – John Chown
- Director Member Matters, Meeting Recorder, & Webmaster – Bruce Morris
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
- Judith Cardwell
- Charlie Simonds
- Jan Hartgerink
- Brian Hopkins
- Ron Paquin
- Susan Till
Honorary Patron – Honourable Peter Milliken O.C.
We invite you to join us! The Canadian Club of Kingston is open to all.
Get Our Email Updates
We send out one email per month with upcoming speaker information and how to reserve your spot. You can unsubscribe at any time. We may send out an email in special circumstances when information changes.
To subscribe, send an email to info@canadianclubkingston.org with the message 'Subscribe' in the subject line.