Monthly Meetings
Meetings are normally on the 2nd Thursday eve of the month at Fairfield Senior’s Centre from September through to May.
Our Speakers
A popular part of our Monthly meetings, our speakers are both thought provoking and interesting.
Come out to our next monthly meeting. You can email: info@cfuwetobicoke.ca or join our Mailing List on our Home page.
Find out what we are about then we hope you will JOIN and sign up for one or more of our Interest Groups.
In the normal course:
7.00 pm – Snacks and social time, then welcome and introductions.
7.30 pm – Our Speaker followed by business meeting. Bring your own mug.
October:
Julia Graham
The Impact of Food Insecurity on Health
Julia Graham is an experienced program coordinator and community organizer. She has worked in the field of food and health for over the past decade at the Stonegate Community Health Centre, where she coordinates community programs, focusing largely on food insecurity. Programs under her umbrella include a good food market, market money initiative, market greens RX program, community garden, local park animation through recreation and the arts, as well as Ukrainian based support programs. Julia is a past co-chair of the GTA Community Health Centre Food Security Network.
November:
John Goddard
Exploring a Brutal Crime in 19th Century Rural Ontario
Former Toronto Star reporter and True Crime writer John Goddard tells of the 1894 murder of Jessie Keith, a young teenager who was walking home along the railway tracks to her farm at the edge of Listowel, north of Stratford. The detective who helped crack the case served as the model for TV’s William Murdoch of “Murdoch Mysteries.”
In a forty-minute talk with video, photos and a Q&A, John will share his top research discoveries and argue why Jessie’s grave merits recognition as an Ontario Heritage Site.
John has written about the case in a recently published book, The Man with the Black Valise. His extensive research offers a fascinating glimpse into late 19th-century society in rural Ontario. It is also interesting to note that despite the brutality of the murder, which led people to speculate that Jack the Ripper had come to Ontario, cool heads prevailed, evidence was meticulously gathered and a fair trial was held.
This is a story rich in details about life and people at the time of the murder — the itinerant workers or drifters and their reception as they passed through the countryside, the non-believers in a community with churches at its core, the role of rail lines, the strong personalities who built our province and crowd behaviour following the horrific event.
December:
Social Gathering
2025
Diane Goodwillie
The Pacific Islands: Geography, Gender and Geo-politics.
Diane Goodwillie moved back to Toronto in 2020. She joined the Etobicoke CFUW after 40 years living and working in Fiji, Australia and many of the Pacific Islands. Starting in 1978, Diane worked with women and village groups, mainly through the YWCA, to improve the status of women, develop appropriate technology and educate about environment issues in newly emerging Pacific Island nations. She facilitated the first conference and later initiation of early childhood education training programs in over 10 Pacific nations and also developed nutrition education materials in simple English and helped with women’s political candidates training. She was most popular, when for ten years, she administered the Canada Fund, an annual fund of 1.5 million Canadian dollars for community projects in six countries. Diane also attended international United Nations gatherings, programs countering gender based violence and activism for a nuclear free and independent Pacific. She has ties with the University Women’s Club via her mother, an Etobicoke member, and her membership in the Fiji Association of Women Graduates. Her presentation will draw on all of her experiences in order to raise our awareness and contribute to our greater understanding about The Pacific Islands: Geography, Gender and Geo-politics.
February 2025 CFUW Etobicoke Speaker: Councillor Amber Morley
Etobicoke Civic Centre Development: How sustainable will this new
development be? The new Etobicoke Civic Centre will be located on Bloor Street where it meets Kipling and Dundas at the Six Points intersection. Construction began in the spring of 2024 with completion anticipated in 2028. In addition to housing, the development will include community services, City staff offices, a community centre, a library, and a public square. This is the first major civic centre development in the city in 50 years and it is happening right in our neighbourhood.
The development is to be Toronto’s first near zero emissions community.
Amber Morley, Toronto’s Deputy Mayor for Etobicoke and Councillor for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, will share what initiatives are being incorporated into the development to ensure the “near zero emissions” goal.