The talk will cover a wide variety of subjects including social topics such as child poverty, distribution of income and wealth, foreign and defence policy, taxation, banks, corporate and media concentration, elections and democracy, health and education. Mel Hurtig is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has been awarded honourary degrees by six Canadian universities.† Among his many other awards and honours, are the Lester B. Pearson Man of the Year Peace Award, the Speaker of the Year Award, the Royal Society of Canadaís Centenary Medal, and, on two occasions, the Canadian Book Publisher of the Year award.