Plenary Session Speakers Plenary Session 1 Thursday June 16, 2005 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm Speaker: Dr. Jane Jenson Canada Research Chair in Citizenship and Governance Université de Montréal Biography In 2001 Jane Jenson was awarded the Canada Research Chair in Citizenship and Governance at the Université de Montréal, where she is professor of Political Science and Director of the Université de Montréal/McGill University Institute of European Studies. Between June 1999 and 2004, she was the Director of the Family Network of Canadian Policy Research Networks, Inc., a policy think tank located in Ottawa. She is also Editor of Lien social et Politiques - RIAC, a social policy journal. Jane Jenson earned her B.A. Honours from McGill University and her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1974, and then taught at Carleton University until 1993. In 2005 she was named a Fellow of the Trudeau Foundation and in 2004 a member of the Successful Societies programme of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. She has been a Visiting Professor at a number of European universities, including the Universität Augsburg, FreieUniversität Berlin, the European University Institute in Florence. At Harvard University she held the William Lyon Mackenzie King Chair in Canadian Studies for a year in 1989. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1989. Her current research interests and publications cover a wide spectrum, including social policy, social movements, the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada, citizenship, diversity, and gender studies. Further information and some publications see www.cprn.org, www.cccg.umontreal.ca. Abstract of Presentation: Forging social futures: New realities, new choices. We can hope that Canada will forge its social future in ways that will build equitable communities, but there is no guarantee. Outcomes will be the result of choices, made by governments by also community activists, families and businesses. Many policy choices are available but only some might lead to a future that supports the aspirations and needs of Canadians, their families and their communities. This keynote will first look at the realities of families, work and communities that are putting new choices on the table. It will then turn to overview of some the choices already made in other countries and jurisdictions, particularly in Europe, to see works and what doesn't work. It will end with some proposals about what could work as for Canada, as Canadians mobilise to build an equitable future.