Provost Presents
Provost Presents… is a speaker series organized by Dr. Diane Purvey, Provost & Vice President, Academic, at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Each event will provide opportunities for KPU students, staff and faculty to hear from experts in higher education about timely, compelling issues that are pertinent to work and study in the field of academia.
Why Reconciliation is NOT the right thing to do
(It’s the only thing to do)
Niigaan Sinclair
Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe from Peguis First Nation. He is an award-winning writer, editor and professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba who was named by Maclean's magazine in 2022 as one of the most influential people in Canada. Niigaan is a multiple nominee of Canadian columnist of the year (winning in 2018) and his commentary appears weekly on multiple platforms across Canada – from the pages of The Winnipeg Free Press to TV shows on CBC, APTN and on his co-hosted podcast Niigaan and the Lone Ranger. His first book Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre (McClelland & Stewart, 2024) was a national bestseller that won the 2024 Governor General Award for Non-fiction.
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Event duration:1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Reception and book signing: 2:30 – 4:00pm
Location: Spruce Atrium
Kwantlen Polytechnic University – Surrey Campus
12666 72 Avenue, Surrey, BC V3W 2M8
Past Speakers
Michael Byers - "Elon Musk, President of Mars" - April 11, 2025
Robin Wall Kimmerer Discusses her Book, Braiding Sweetgrass - February 21, 2024
Sara Ahmed - Killjoys at Work - October 26,2023
Kumari Beck, PhD. & Sharon Stein, PhD. - Living With/in the Complexities of Internationalization - April 27, 2023
Jean Teillet - The North-West is Our Mother - January 19, 2023
Sunera Thobani, Benita Bunjun, Enakshi Dua - Coloniality and Racial (in)Justice in the University: Counting for Nothing? - March 10, 2022
Provost Presents: Prior Learning in Focus: Expert Perspectives and Collaborative Conversations - May 7, 2025