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MPs Karim Bardeesy and Melissa Lantsman at TMU

It Takes Two to Talk: MPs Karim Bardeesy and Melissa Lantsman at TMU

Amid polarized politics and coarse discourse, two up and coming MPs from two opposing political parties – Liberal Karim Bardeesy and Conservative Melissa Lantsman – will discuss why so many politicians talk past each other. At our next TMU Democracy Forum, hosted by TMU Senior Fellow Martin Regg Cohn, we’ll ask: Can Canadians do democracy differently?

DATE: Wednesday, November 12

TIME: 12-1 p.m. EST

LOCATION: Online, via Zoom

REGISTER

Speakers

Melissa Lantsman

Member of Parliament for Thornhill

Melissa Lantsman has been a Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Deputy Opposition Leader since 2022. She won election as the first LGBTQ+ Conservative MP in 2021 representing the riding of Thornhill, and served as the party’s transport critic. A longtime political aide in the federal and Ontario governments, she also worked as a public affairs consultant in the private sector. She has a B.A. from the University of Toronto and pursued graduate studies at the University of Ottawa and Rotman School of Management.

Karim Bardeesy

Member of Parliament for Taiaiako’n-Parkdale-High Park

Karim Bardeesy is Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry and has served as Liberal MP for Taiaiako’n-Parkdale-High Park since April, 2025. A co-founder of The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University, he was its Executive Director. He previously served as Deputy Principal Secretary and Executive Director of Policy for the Ontario Liberal government. Bardeesy has a background in journalism and education, holding degrees from McGill and Harvard.

Martin Regg Cohn

Political Columnist·Toronto Star

Martin Regg Cohn is a political columnist at the Toronto Star. Founder of the Democracy Forum at Toronto Metropolitan University, he is a Senior Fellow at the Dais. A foreign correspondent for 11 years in Asia and the Middle East, he was also Foreign Editor and a Parliamentary correspondent. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.