BURNABY – The Thakore Charitable Foundation and Institute for the Humanities and J.S. Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities at Simon Fraser University (SFU) are honouring Dr. David Suzuki, the famed Canadian scientist, broadcaster, author, activist and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, as this year’s Thakore Visiting Scholar Award recipient.
Suzuki is one of Canada’s best-known public intellectuals, a world leader in sustainable ecology, and has received numerous awards for his work, including a UNESCO prize for science and a United Nations Environment Program medal. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Due to COVID restrictions, this year’s award presentation was hosted virtually, and in lieu of the Gandhi Commemorative Lecture, the Institute for the Humanities will showcase Suzuki and 2020–21 J.S. Woodsworth Resident Scholar and former NDP MP Svend Robinson in a spirited and freewheeling online conversation covering a range of topics including climate change, Indigenous knowledge, civil disobedience and racial violence. This exchange between two of Canada’s most influential activists and public Figures will deliver a powerful message about social justice activism and is a clarion call to action from two of our most committed eco-warriors.
The Thakore Visiting Scholar Award has been awarded annually since 1991 at Simon Fraser University. It honours individuals who have devoted their lives to “creativity, commitment and a deep concern for truth in public life, which includes but is not limited to, showing the connection between academic values and critical public spirit.”
