Daiene Vernile to Step In as Moderator for An Evening with Margaret Atwood at Centre in the Square

Kitchener, ON –

On Thursday, May 30th Daiene Vernile will be taking over for Dave Bidini as host of THEMUSEUM’s Feature Speaker series, Margaret Atwood: From The Handmaid’s Tale to Art & Technology. In light of the recent loss of personal friend David Bookman, who passed on Monday, May 20th, Bidini will be unable to fulfill his moderating role. Our thoughts and condolences are with Dave and the friends and family of Dave Bookman at this time.

Daiene Vernile is a familiar face in our community. She anchored and produced the award-winning news and current affairs program Provincewide, on CTV Kitchener for 30 years.

From 2014 to 2018, Daiene served our community as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener Centre. During her tenure, as a rookie MPP, Daiene was appointed Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport. In that portfolio, Daiene was responsible for policy governing Ontario’s book publishing industry, film, television, digital media, a musical recording, public museums and libraries.

With this lived experience, Daiene has now transitioned to active community-building and non-partisan pursuits. Daiene’s experience will mesh well with Margaret Atwood’s literary themes of strong women in what promises to be an awe-inspiring evening of discussion.

This event is generously sponsored by TD Bank, Balzac’s Coffee Roasters, Centre in the Square, Gowling WLG, KPMG, The Waterloo Region Record and The New Quarterly.

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