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Rona AmbroseThe Honourable Rona Ambrose is a dynamic national leader, a champion for the rights of women and girls, former Leader of Canada’s Official Opposition in the House of Commons and former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Rona knows politics. She successfully rose to lead the largest political party in Canada. After her tenure as leader, the Conservative Party has the highest membership in its history and is viewed as competitive, more modern and inclusive. Rona is proud to be the first leader of the Party to march in a gay pride parade. Pundits say "Rona made it look effortless", accomplishing all of this while also being named the most civil parliamentarian. Rona knows policy. As a key member of the federal cabinet for a decade, Rona solved problems as a minister of the crown across nine government departments, including serving as Vice Chair of the Treasury Board for several years and chair of the cabinet committee for public safety, justice and aboriginal issues. As a self proclaimed 'policy geek', Rona is personally responsible for the development of several federal policies, ranging from industrial strategies in military procurement to health innovation to improvements to sexual assault laws. Rona is a determined public policy expert who understands that government actions can have a real impact on families and businesses across the country. As a proud Westerner, Rona is keenly aware of the domestic political, geopolitical and policy forces affecting the energy sector. As the former environment minister responsible for the GHG regulatory regime in place across several industrial sectors today, she understands the challenges facing the fossil fuel industry. She is a passionate advocate for women in Canada and around the world and led the global movement to create the “International Day of the Girl” at the United Nations. She has spent her life passionately fighting for disadvantaged women and girls. She is responsible for ensuring that aboriginal women in Canada were finally granted equal matrimonial rights. She successfully fought for the creation of a Canadian refugee program to bring Yazidi women and girls who have been sexually enslaved by ISIS to safety in Canada. When she’s not working (which is rare), Rona is usually found with hiking boots making her way up to the summit. In addition to serving as an independent corporate director, Rona is a Global Fellow at the Wilson Centre Canada Institute in Washington DC focusing on key Canada US bilateral trade and competitiveness issues. Rona has received many meaningful awards for her advocacy and public policy over the last decade. TOP OF PAGE |
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Jean CharestPartner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP As Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and Premier of Québec, Jean Charest is one of Canada’s best known political figures. As Minister of the Environment, he led his country’s delegation at the 1992 Earth Summit on the economy and the environment in Rio and was praised for his leadership role among G7 countries on climate change and biodiversity. The Charest government has been a world leader on the environment and climate change, and best known for a major initiative for the sustainable development of Northern Québec called “Plan Nord”. Under his leadership, Québec experienced a sustained period of economic prosperity with stronger economic growth from 2008 to 2012 than the US, Europe, Canada and Ontario, despite a global financial and economic crisis. For the International arena, his administration was the most active in the history of Québec. Thus, the Charest government initiated an unprecedented labour mobility agreement between France and Québec, and convinced Canada and the European Union to negotiate a broad economic partnership. Jean Charest is a Partner at McCarthy Tétrault. He provides invaluable expertise to the firm’s clients with his in-depth knowledge and experience with public policy, corporate Canada and international matters. As a strategic advisor with a unique perspective, he supports clients on complex transactions, projects and international mandates, as they navigate the global business environment. TOP OF PAGE |
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Laura DawsonLaura Dawson is the President of Dawson Strategic and provides advice to business on cross-border trade, market access and regulatory issues. Previously, she served as senior advisor on U.S.-Canada economic affairs at the United States Embassy in Ottawa. Dawson contributed to the launch of the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council, the Border Vision Strategy, and the bilateral Government Procurement Agreement. She is a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a member of the International Economic Council of the CD Howe Institute. Her client work focuses on advocacy and strategic planning in subjects including cross-border trade, investor-state dispute settlement, labor mobility, government procurement, technical barriers, energy, telecommunications, financial services, softwood lumber, foreign investment review and corporate-social responsibility in the extractive sector. From 1998 to 2008, she was a senior associate at the Centre for Trade Policy and Law advising governments in developing and transition economies on trade and investment issues. Dawson taught international trade, Canada-U.S. relations and policy analysis at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and holds a PhD in political science. Email: ldawson@dawsonstrat.com |
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Bruce DonaldsonVice-Admiral (Retired) Bruce Donaldson served for 36 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a Royal Canadian Naval Officer. During this busy career, he travelled over most of Canada, and much of the world, in a variety of operational and management roles. Bruce was the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from July 2010 until his retirement in September 2013. As VCDS, and second in command of the Canadian Armed Forces, he not only commanded the VCDS Group, with its varied and wide-ranging mandate, but was also responsive to the Deputy Minister and Chief of Defence Staff for corporate matters. During his time as VCDS, Bruce was directly involved in managing the full spectrum of the defence institution. He led the development and execution of the twenty-plus billion dollar Defence Services Programme, and the long range strategic and capability planning for the institution. He was central to the planning and implementation of several phases of defence renewal and transformation, working closely with leaders in DND and the CAF. He also directed and oversaw the security and policing functions in DND and the CAF, and worked at the highest levels across the institution and government in major procurement, personnel and financial management, and the resolution of conflict, problems and issues. Prior to his appointment as VCDS, Bruce commanded Canada Command in the crucial period during which were held the 2010 Vancouver Games and the G8/G20 summits. Previous to that, he had spent 18 months as Director of the Strategic Joint Staff - the operations manager for the CAF - and two years in command of the Canadian Pacific Fleet. His earlier command appointments include the frigate HMCS VANCOUVER, the Sea Training Staff on the West Coast, and the destroyer HMCS ATHABASKAN, while Bruce holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Carleton University in Ottawa, and a Masters of Arts in International Relations and Maritime Strategic Studies from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is a graduate of both the Command and Staff Course and the National Security Studies Course at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. He is also a member of the initial cadre of the Senior Leadership Programme run by the Canada School of Public Service. Since retiring from the CAF and relocating to Victoria BC, Bruce has worked with CFN Consultants, a leading consultancy firm specializing in defence and security issues. He is also one of two Board-appointed members of the Royal Roads University Board of Governors, and he chairs the Salvation Army Advisory Board in Greater Victoria. When he is not engaged in these pursuits, he spends time on the water in his sailboat, in the garden pulling out weeds, and on the golf links losing balls. He is a student of Tai Chi |
