Biography Ward Elcock spent more than 40 years in the Canadian public service. Most recently, he was Special Advisor on Human Smuggling and Illegal Migration in the Privy Council Office (2010-2016). Prior to that appointment, he was Federal Coordinator of Olympic and G8/G20 Security (2007-2010), Deputy Minister of National Defence (2004-2007), Director of the Canadian S...
More about Ward Elcock

Biography Louise Doyon worked for more than 20 years for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), after spending ten years at the Quebec Ministry for Intergovernmental Affairs as an analyst for Latin America and the United States. At CSIS, where she began her career as an analyst, Ms. Doyon worked various operational postings for the Quebec Region before becom...
More about Louise Doyon

Biography A doctor, educator and administrator, Paul Cappon served as President and CEO of the Canadian Council on Learning from 2004 to 2012. He previously held the post of Director General of Canada’s Council of Ministers of Education and served as Vice President, Academic at Laurentian University. He has also been a faculty member at several universities, including L...
More about Paul Cappon

Biography Margaret Bloodworth completed her distinguished public service career as National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, a post she held from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that she was Deputy Minister of Public Safety, Deputy Minister of National Defence and Deputy Minister of Transport. Currently she is a member of the boards ...
More about Margaret Bloodworth

Biography Chantal Bernier is currently Counsel in the Privacy and Security practice of Dentons Canada. Prior to that appointment, she was (interim) Privacy Commissioner of Canada (2013-2014), after spending five years as Assistant Commissioner. Chantal began her career in the Canadian federal government as a lawyer in the Department of Justice. She went on to hold a dir...
More about Chantal Bernier

Biography Lillian Thomsen retired from Canada’s public service in 2016 as Director General and Dean of the Canadian Foreign Service Institute. She served abroad in Warsaw (Poland), in Moscow and as Consul General of Canada in Saint Petersburg (Russia), at the Canadian delegation to the United Nations, and at the Canadian High Commission in London. In Ottawa, at Global A...
More about Lillian Thomsen

Biography Ambassador Theodore joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada in 2004 as a trade negotiator. During her time as a federal public servant she held progressively senior roles in economic, international and social policy, including at the Canada Revenue Agency and Public Safety Canada. She served at the permanent mission in Gene...
More about Nadia Theodore

Biography Nada Semaan had an illustrious career across a broad range of assignments at the highest levels of the Canadian federal government:  Director and Chief Executive Officer of FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada); Associate Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Executive Vice President of the Canada Border Ser...
More about Nada Semaan

Biography André Pratte was until recently Principal at Navigator, a Canadian public affairs firm. In 2016, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada as an independent Senator. Disappointed by the partisanship that still dominated the Senate, he resigned from this position in 2019. Prior to his Senate appointment, André was a journalist for nearly 40 years. Most of his ca...
More about André Pratte

Biography Alex Neve served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English Branch from 2000-2020. In that role, he led and been part of numerous human rights research and advocacy delegations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, Guantánamo Bay and First Nations communities across Canada. Alex is a lawyer, with an LLB from Dalhousie University and a mas...
More about Alex Neve