Longtime former Vaughan Liberal MPP Sorbara installed as 13th chancellor of York University

YorkRegion.com
June 13, 2014
By Kim Champion

Vaughan's long-serving former Liberal MPP Gregory Sorbara, also a former Ontario cabinet minister, today was installed as the 13th Chancellor of York University at the first Convocation ceremony of Spring 2014 at Rexall Centre on York's Keele campus.

Sorbara, 67, a lifelong public servant and politician, is appointed as York University’s 13th Chancellor for a three-year term. As ceremonial head of the university, Sorbara will serve as lead ambassador of York and preside over all convocation ceremonies and confer degrees.

“It’s a great honour,” said Sorbara in a recent interview with The Vaughan Citizen and who served as minister of colleges and education in Liberal premier David Peterson’s government. “This is my alma mater and it’s the place that set the pattern for my life...And it’s an opportunity to do something for an institution that I think is very important to the health and well-being of the GTA and the province and the country, for that matter.”

Sorbara’s appointment comes 36 years after he earned his bachelor’s degree from York’s Glendon College (1978) and 23 years after he completed his law degree at Osgoode Law School (1991). He received an honorary doctor of laws in 2013.

Sorbara, a former heavyweight in the Liberal provincial government said that after decades in politics, he’s really looking forward to taking on a non-partisan role.

Sorbara’s appointment comes at the same time Vaughan is competing against Richmond Hill and Markham for a York University satellite campus.

Following an initial round of pitches by six York Region municipalities, the university announced the three shortlisted municipalities in April.

Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham were slated to go through a more detailed review process in early May with York University’s preferred municipality announced later in June.

Sorbara told The Citizen he was committed to putting forward “strong arguments” for choosing Vaughan.

Sorbara, who stepped down as MPP in August 2012, has also been hard at work writing a memoir, which he expects to be released in September or October.

“It’s going really well,” he said. “A first draft is with the publisher and we’ll see how that goes.”