Welcome to the MacEachen Lecture Series (2015)

DR. KENT MACDONALD
PRESIDENT, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY

2 February 2015

Good evening everyone. I look with some level of satisfaction at the New England Patriots’ jerseys and hats here this evening. Let me just welcome everyone here tonight, in particular, our guest speaker the Honourable Don Johnston, who will be introduced formally shortly. The MacEachen Lecture Series was started almost 20 years ago to honour one of our own. A gentleman from the class of 1944, the Honourable Allan J. MacEachen. This series was put together with the help of Senator Gerry Grafstein and other friends and colleagues of Allan J.'s. The lecture series is administered by our own Department of Political Science with help from our Advancement Department and the direct involvement of Allan J. MacEachen himself. The objective of the lecture series is to invite to St. F. X. former party leaders, politicians, distinguished journalists and academics, to present formal public lectures on topics related to politics, government and public affairs. And since 1996, it has attracted the ‘who's who’ of Canadian politics. The Honourable Bob Rae, the Honourable Frank McKenna, Dalton Camp, Senator Gerry Grafstein, the Right Honourable John Turner, the Honourable Roy Romanow, Preston Manning, Dr. Margaret MacMillan, Dr. Jennifer Welsh, the Right Honourable Jean Chretien, the Honourable Flora MacDonald, the Right Honourable Joe Clark and the most recent, Senator Lowell Murray. This lectureship is well established and is one of the most important and distinguished high profile events that we have on the campus and on our St. F. X. calendar. And it plays an important role here at the university in terms of our mission of combining research and teaching in the areas of government and public policy. It is important to link this university, our students and our community to national and regional and global political networks. And it is a tremendous opportunity for the entire St. F. X. community to come together, to hear and engage with informed, learned and distinguished commentaries on key issues in politics. And today, what could be a more important topic than the notion of global warming. And so on behalf of the Board of Governors, I do want to welcome all of you here today. I see members of our community who have joined us, faculty and staff who have joined us here this evening. The Honourable Randy Delorey, our own Environment Minister and StFX alum is with us here today. Students, the fact that on this snowy evening you have taken yourself away from your studies or library or some other activities, we appreciate it, and hope that you will have a very interesting experience tonight. But most importantly, I do want to welcome back to St. F. X., as I said, a member of the class of 1944, the Honourable Allan J. MacEachen, who is sitting in the back of the hall.