Our Objectives
The Canadian Club of Vancouver exists today, as it has for a century, 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 – as stated in the original founding objectives – ‘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.
Our Programs and Themes
In the hundred years 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 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 Vancouver 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 the then-fledgling University of British Columbia and, later, towards Simon Fraser University, has grown into today’s active sponsorship of secondary-school students’ attendance at Club functions and of awards recognizing their achievements in various areas.
 •Its devotion to honouring Canada’s war veterans, through leadership of a campaign in the 1920s to erect a cenotaph in Victory Square and through its work to organize Remembrance Day activities.
• Its involvement with ceremonies at which citizenship is formally conferred on ‘new Canadians.’
• Its celebration of BC-resident Order of Canada recipients at special luncheons.
Our History
The Canadian Club of Vancouver held its first meeting on September 25, 1906, and featured Canada’s Governor General Earl Grey addressing the luncheon guests on ‘The Destiny of Canada.’ From this high-level start, the Club continued to attract illustrious speakers to its podium.
More than 1,000 distinguished people from all walks of life have spoken to the Club over the past century. There have been leaders from the Commonwealth, the Empire, and Canada, diplomats, governors-general, cabinet ministers, war heroes, explorers, writers and publishers, artists, industrialists and merchants, scientists, educators, urban planners, architects, judges and legal scholars, doctors, journalists, economists, ecologists, conservationists, internationalists, and athletes.
And royalty. Queen Elizabeth II graced an event organized by the Club in May 1971. Other members of the British royal family, including the Prince of Wales in 1927 and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954 and again in 1969, have also attended Canadian Club functions.
In recent years, the Club has been pleased to host individuals such as:
- the astronaut Julie Payette,
- renowned explorer Bernard Voyer,
- Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Beverley McLachlin,
- Quebec Premier Jean Charest,
- Simon Fraser University President Michael Stevenson, and
- Cirque du Soleil CEO Daniel Lamarre
Club Leadership
The Canadian Club of Vancouver is a rigorously non-partisan and non-denominational organization which does not engage in advocacy on any topic. Its Board of Directors is made up entirely of volunteers who give freely of their time and talents.
The 2010-2011 Board: Officers, Directors and Special Advisors
President: Mike Shardlow
Vice President:
Treasurer: Ronald W. Royston, CA
Secretary: Anar Popatia
Past President: Linda Johnston
Directors:
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Mike Shardlow
Dean Duperron
Ron Royston
Anar Popatia
Linda Johnston
Cam Cathcart
Linda Coyle Mario Cyr |
Lyall Knott
Simone LeBlanc Anthony Leoni
Robyn McVicker
Colin Metcalfe
Tom Siba
King Wan |
Special Advisors:
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Andrew J. Winstanley
Dr. Jean Watters
Kelly Ip |
Patrick Reid, O.C.
Peter Kendrick
Renée Popov |
Club Linkages
The Canadian Club of Vancouver enjoys ties to Canadian Clubs right across this country and in various universities and cities around the world.
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