Toronto, 26-Mar-2004:
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Penny Collenette Penny Collenette is both Senior Fellow at the Centre for Business and Government (Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University) and Excutive-in-Residence at University of Ottawa. Prior to her current appointments, Ms. Collenette was most recently Vice President, Chairmen's Office at George Weston Limited. During the four years Ms. Collenette worked for the Chairman, her responsibilities involved managing information both within the Canadian food processing company and externally on issues of policy, financial reports and the company's public face. Ms. Collenette's work also extended to Mr. Weston's private businesses, which includes leading specialty fashion retailers in Canada and Ireland. Prior to her position at George Weston Limited she served in Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Office as the Director of Order-in Council Appointments. In February 2002, Maclean's magazine named Ms. Collenette as one of The 50 Most Influential Canadians. Ms. Collenette, a lawyer, has had a career spanning the fields of human rights and law, political organization and government. While at Harvard, she conducts research on global and corporate governance. |
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Taylor Gunn Taylor Gunn, 26, is the Chief Election Officer of Student Vote 2004, an initiative aiming to inspire an educated understanding and appreciation of our democratic process within students under the voting age. The organization's first attempt occured in the recent Ontario provincial election engaging more than 825 schools into participting. For the past six months the team has traveled the country building relationships with educational organizations and others in preparation for the upcoming Federal election. Taylor is the dad of Soul, 3, and lives in Toronto. |
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Phillip Haid Phillip Haid is Senior Account Director and Director of Business Development at Manifest Communications, a social issue and cause marketing agency. Phillip is responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies and campaigns on a variety of social issues for clients in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Recent projects include a voter engagement strategy for Elections Canada, a citizen engagement strategy on climate change for Environment Canada, an awareness campaign for a veterans long-term care facility, and a corporate citizenship strategy for Labatt Breweries of Canada. Before joining Manifest Phillip was led the public sector practice at D-Code, a research and development firm that focuses on the 18-34 year old demographic. Phillip was responsible for leading a wide variety of consulting projects such as a voter participation campaign with MuchMusic and a web-based outreach strategy for elected officials to connect with young Canadians. Other work experiences include Program Manager at the Institute On Governance, where Phillip was responsible for its work on citizen engagement (including e-participation) and youth and governance; Policy Officer at the Canadian Council for International Co-operation; and Parliamentary Intern as part of the Parliamentary Internship Programme. Phillip holds a Master’s degree in international relations from
the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, a BA in political
science from the University of Manitoba and a Diploma of Arts from the
Université Paul Valery in Montpellier, France. |
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Tony Ianno Tony Ianno is the Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina and Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure. As an M.P., Tony has been a creative legislator, undertaking policy proposals such as An Alternative to the GST, Alternative Fuels-Ethanol and The Master Bond. His most recent policy initiative is a Private Member's Bill aimed at strengthening legal protection for children against abuse by reforming existing Criminal Code regulations and encouraging government to take a more pro-active approach to public education on the health, safety, and care of children. Tony also introduced a Private Member's Bill that called for the creation of a permanent voters list, an idea later adopted by the government. He was very effective in his work on the industry committee report Taking Care of Small Business and has been pushing the banks to meet his one-third ratio for corporate commercial loans to small- and medium- sized business. Tony is a member of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Government Operations, and also of the Improved Financial Reporting to Parliament Committee, a subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. Tony has also served as a member of the Standing Committee on Industry, and the National Liberal Caucus Committee on Economic Development. In December 1997, Tony was asked to head the National Liberal Caucus Task Force on Financial Services, studying amongst other things, the proposed bank merger. In 1996, he was appointed to the Prime Minister's Task Force on Ageing. In 1994-95, he served as Vice-Chair of the Canadian Heritage Committee studying the CBC in a Multi-Channel Universe. Tony earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto. A lifelong resident of Trinity-Spadina, he has been active in all aspects of his community, including ratepayers' associations, charities, and working with emotionally challenged children. |
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Jonathan Kay Jonathan Kay is the Editorials Editor of the National Post newspaper. He writes a regular column for the op-ed page and is Contributing Editor to the National Post Business Magazine. His freelance articles have appeared recently in Harper's, The New Yorker, Saturday Night, Salon.Com, The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, Commentary Magazine, the Washington Times and National Review Online. He appears regularly on current event television shows such as CBC's counterSpin, Global National, TVO's Studio 2 and PBS' The Editors. In April, 2002, he was awarded the National Newspaper Award for Critical Writing. Jonathan was born and raised in Montreal, Que. He graduated from McGill University in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in Metallurgincal Engineering, Economics and Japanese Language. Following short employment stints in Australia and Japan, Jonathan returned to McGill's Engineering Department as a computer programmer and postgraduate student, receiving a Master's Degree in Metallurgical Engineering in 1994. Jonathan then studied at Yale Law School, where he received his law degree in 1997. Before joining the National Post, Jonathan worked as a lawyer with the New York City office of Goodman Phillips Vineberg. During this time, his practice area consisted primarily of U.S. tax analysis of international corporate transactions. Jonathan became a member of the New York bar in 1998. |
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David Miller David Miller is the seventieth mayor of the City of Toronto, and its second since its amalgamation into a ‘megacity’. David Miller's vision for Toronto, is a revitalized city of strong, safe neighbourhoods, clean streets, effective public services, a vibrant waterfront and flourishing diversity -- a city his two young children and all Torontonians can once again be proud of. Since his 1994 entry into municipal politics, David has worked to make this vision a reality. His efforts were acknowledged in November, 2000, when Toronto Life magazine in its rating of City Councillors gave him an A+ and described him as “the best of the bunch, hands down.” David’s commitment to a livable Toronto starts with his belief that civic government must be open, accountable and free from the backroom deals of the past. But he also knows that clean streets, roads without potholes, effective garbage pick-up, well-tended parks and boulevards, good child care and strong public education are equally necessary to make a modern city great. As a resident of High Park, David supports strong neighbourhoods. That’s why he continues to fight against the Toronto Island airport expansion which will destroy our waterfront communities and any real chance to enhance our precious waterfront. Long before he became a TTC commissioner, David, who regularly takes the subway to work, knew that enhanced public transit is essential to make this city a great place to live and work. As mayor, he will be a powerful advocate for improved services and reduced costs for individual transit users. He will also continue to fight for GST exempt status for public transit. A graduate in economics from Harvard -- his thesis was on monetary policy -- David knows great cities need strong economies. Without vital and profitable businesses, there can be no job growth. Without an educated and motivated labour force and a committed civil service, businesses can’t thrive. Without new financial partnerships with the province and Ottawa, Toronto can’t continue to pay for essential public services and infrastructure. A city that doesn’t work economically cannot work socially. Having moved from England to Canada with his mother in 1967, David recognizes the contribution and energy that Toronto’s diverse ethnic groups make to the economic well-being of our city. As chair of the Immigration and Refugee Task Force, he learned firsthand the importance of developing a strategy to build on the skills and talents of immigrants thus promoting equity and reducing unemployment and underemployment for people of colour and immigrants. David graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and remains a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Before entering politics, he was a partner at the prominent Toronto law firm Aird & Berlis, where he specialized in employment and immigration law and shareholder rights. He lives in the High Park area with his wife and two young children. |
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Andrew Medd Andrew Medd is the Executive Director for Canada25, a non-profit organization that brings the voices and ideas of Canadians, aged 20-35, to our nation’s public policy discourse and takes action on issues of local and national significance. Over the past three years Canada25 has engaged over 1500 young Canadians living across the country and around the world and developed innovative solutions to some of Canada’s most important policy issues, including the attraction and retention of young talent and our the strengthening of the economic and social fabric of our nation’s cities. The organization is now focused on moving Canada from a middle to model power on the world stage. Prior to holding the Executive Director position, Andrew led Canada25’s Toronto Chapter, as well as the development of the organizational design and strategy. Prior to joining Canada25 on a fulltime basis, Andrew was a Senior Consultant in the Toronto office of Deloitte & Touche. As part of the Infrastructure, Development and Integration team, Andrew focused on helping clients understand, implement and manage their technology infrastructure in a variety of industries including insurance, travel, consumer products, fitness and finance. His engagement experience has allowed him to work in Canada, the United States and Great Britain. Andrew has an honours degree in commerce from Queen’s University
in Kingston, Ontario, where he was the chairperson for the Queen’s
Forum on Information Technology. |
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Jane Pitfield Jane Pitfield, is the Toronto City Councillor for Ward 26, Don Valley West. Jane is a graduate of Queen's University. Her business experience includes ten years with Procter & Gamble in sales and marketing. Jane wrote a book entitled "Leaside" about the rich history of her community. The first edition sold out and the second printing is now available. Jane has extensive experience with community related activities and was responsible for developing the first After Four program for children, which served five schools in the East York area. In 1994 Jane was elected as Trustee to the East York Board of Education. In 1998, Jane joined Toronto City Council after winning the East York by-election and was re-elected in the new Ward 26 on November 13, 2000. Jane is a long-time resident of Ward 26, is married and has four children. |
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John Reid John Reid is the Information Commissioner of Canada. Mr. Reid received a B.A. in 1959 and an M.A. (History) in 1961 from the University of Manitoba. He continued his studies in History at the University of Toronto from 1960 to 1963. In 1963 Mr. Reid became the Special Assistant to the Minister of Mines and Technical Affairs. In 1965 he was elected to the House of Commons as the youngest person elected in that Parliament, where he served from 1965 to 1984, through six elections. Among other duties, Mr. Reid served as Chairman of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Broadcasting, Film and Assistance to the Arts (1969 to 1972); Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Privy Council (1972 to 1975); Minister of Federal-Provincial Relations (1978 to 1979) and Chairman of the House of Commons Committee on Procedure and Organization. From 1981 to 1984 he was Co-chairman, Canadian Group, of the Canada - U.S. Parliamentary Association. As Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Reid was charged with improving the flow of requested information to MPs. This led him to join forces with Jedd Baldwin, M.P., to work for a general right of access to government-held records for all Canadians. Out of their efforts came a report on information and privacy of the Scandinavian countries, a series of Committee hearings, the first Access to Information Bill introduced by Walter Baker in 1979, culminating in the current Access to Information Act, introduced by Francis Fox in 1983. In 1984, he started John Reid Consulting, a public policy and government affairs consulting business. He also became the part-time Executive Director of the Forum for Young Canadians, a position he held for 5 years. From 1987 to 1990, he held the position of Founding Chairman for the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. Mr. Reid was the President of the Canadian Nuclear Association in Toronto from 1990 to 1995. In 1996, he represented Canada as a senior member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a member of the Provisional Election Commission with responsibility for the writing of an Election Act and its implementation. In 1997, he joined the United Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slovenia (Southern Croatia), where he was Political Advisor to the Chief Electoral Officer. On July 1, 1998, Mr. Reid began his seven-year term as Canada's Information Commissioner. |
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David Smith Appointed to the Senate by the Rt. Honourable Jean Chrétien, Senator David Smith represents the province of Ontario and the Senatorial Division of Ontario. He has served in the Senate of Canada since June 25, 2002. The Honourable David Smith is currently a member of the following committees: Legal and Constitutional Affairs; National Security and Defence; and, Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament. In addition to being a most able and respected lawyer, Mr. Smith has a distinguished record of public service. Mr. Smith earned a B.A. in Political Science from Carleton University in 1964 and an LL.B from Queen’s University in 1970. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1972. During a very distinguished career, Mr. Smith has become a foremost practitioner of municipal, administrative and regulatory law. At the time of this appointment, Mr. Smith was Chairman and Partner of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, one of Canada’s oldest and largest law firms. In 1998, with formation of Fraser Milner, Mr. Smith was named the firm’s first Chairman. Previously, Mr. Smith was Chairman of Fraser & Beatty. From 1980-84 Mr. Smith sat in the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for the riding of Don Valley East where he also served as Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism). In 1972, he was elected to Toronto City Council. After his re-election in 1974, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the City of Toronto and Metro Toronto Council. He was re-elected again in 1976 and was subsequently appointed President of Toronto City Council and Deputy Mayor of Toronto. Mr. Smith has lent his time to numerous voluntary and philanthropic organizations. He has sat on the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place, as well as on the boards of the Salvation Army, Toronto General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital and George Brown College. He has served as Chairman of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation and as Vice Chairman of the O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts. |
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Michael Thompson Michael Thompson, Councillor, Ward 37, Scarborough Centre, represents the ward in which he was raised. Today he lives there with his wife and family. Michael received a BA degree in Economics from Concordia University, after which he went to work in the financial services industry. Later, as an entrepreneur, he founded a successful business services company. Michael has solid knowledge and experience helping the community. From 1998 to 2001, he served as the Executive Assistant to the former City Councillor in Scarborough Centre. He has served as a member of 41 Division’s Community Police Liaison Committee. Michael created Scarborough's largest-ever job fairs in 1999 and 2000. He coordinated efforts to transfer Dorset Park hydro lands to the City for community use and worked tirelessly to advance the Hellenic Seniors Centre and turn this project into a reality. Michael founded, the Lawrence Avenue Reformation Group and has chaired efforts to create the Wexford Heights Business Improvement Area (BIA) - an organization of local businesses who are now working together with the community and the city to improve the commercial area on Lawrence Ave. between Birchmount Road and Victoria Park Avenue. He also conceived and led the development of the Wexford Heights Community Directory. Michael has volunteered for many organizations such as the Ontario March
of Dimes, Second Harvest
and the World Youth Day celebration, in an effort to help our City. |