There Is Always An Alternative

Remarks presented to York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies Graduating Class of 2023.

Author’s note: On June 20, 2023, York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies awarded me an Honourary Doctor of Laws. I was privileged to present the convocation remarks to the graduating class. This is a transcript of my remarks.

Goodness me, it is a gigantic honour to be here today, and to be recognized in this way. I’m profoundly grateful to the faculty and administration here at York, and to my friends and family in the audience, especially my parents, who put up with a lot — as you’ll shortly hear.

I want to tell you a funny story about York.

When I was 21, I visited this campus to inquire about enrolling in an interdisciplinary humanities program. I’d had a weird education, taking seven years to graduate from a four-year high school, SEED school, Toronto’s great, original alternative school. I was accustomed to designing my own curriculum…