Mr. Bennett  has been President of McIntosh Properties Ltd., a real estate and investment holding company, since 1990. Mr. Bennett has served on a number of public and private company boards and is currently Chair of Quails’ Gate Winery, a director of BC Hydro and Power Authority, a director of Kal Tire Holdings Ltd.,  a director of Rackforce Networks Inc.  and a director of Exchange Income Corporation.

He also currently serves as Chair of Mitacs, a Director of the Premier’s Technology Council and is Vice-Chair of the Fraser Institute.  Past public service positions include Chair of University of British Columbia, Chair of Kelowna General Hospital Foundation, Co-Chaired the Central Okanagan Hospice Campaign and Chair of Rotary Centre for the Arts Building Committee.

Mr. Bennett received an honorary Alumni Award from the University of British Columbia in 2007, was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2010 and was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws from the University of British Columbia in 2011.

Jocelyne Côté-O'Hara is a Toronto-based consultant specializing in strategy, communications and executive coaching. She has served as Vice President, Government Relations of BC Tel, and was the founding President and CEO of Stentor Telecom Policy Inc. She has held several senior executive positions including executive assignment with PetroCanada International Assistance Corporation, financial analyst with the Treasury Board of Canada and senior staff member to the Prime Minister. She serves on a number of public and private corporations and agency boards including Xerox Canada, Manitoba Telecom Services, the B.E.S.T. Venture Fund, and the Canadian Space Agency. She is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and of the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School, and a recipient of a number of awards.

Dr. D. George Dixon is Vice-President, University Research and Professor of Biology at University of Waterloo. Dr. Dixon has received both the Award for Excellence in Research and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the university. He has over 25 years experience in aquatic toxicology and environmental risk assessment and management, principally but not exclusively, with respect to the environmental impacts associated with metals and mining activity.

At various times during his career he has served as an advisor on metal contamination issues to Environment Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Department of Justice (Canada), the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U. S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Justice (U. S.) and the World Health Organization, among others.

Dr. Dixon maintains an active research program, which at present is focused on development of methods for environmental effects monitoring, methods of assessing the environmental risks associated with exposure of aquatic organisms to metal mixtures, and on the aquatic environmental effects of oil sands extraction in northern Alberta.

He has supervised the research of over 60 M. Sc. and Ph. D. students and has authored or co-authored over 180 refereed journal articles. He has also developed and taught numerous courses in environmental toxicology and risk assessment. Dr. Dixon is Associate Editor of three scientific journals, including the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

Philippe Gervais currently heads the Montreal office of The Capital Hill Group, one of Canada’s premier government relations consulting firms where he has been working since 1995. He has served on the Board of H2O Innovation Inc. (TSX-V: HEO) since 2001, and was named Chairman of the Board in 2008, position he still holds today. Mr. Gervais is also the Vice-Chairman of the Board and Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of MUTEK, a leading electronic music festival. Prior to this, Mr Gervais worked from 1990 to 1993 for the Minister of National Revenue as Special Assistant responsible for the implementation of the GST. His government service continued with positions as Executive Assistant to the Federal Minister of Public Works and Government Services (1993) and finally as Political Attaché to the Deputy Premier and President of Treasury Board of Quebec. Mr. Gervais is an active member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and of the Greater Montreal Board of Trade. He is also pursuing a post graduate business degree at McGill University.

Nassif Ghoussoub obtained his Doctorat d'état in 1979 from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France and is currently a Professor of Mathematics, a Distinguished University Scholar, and a Governor at the University of British Columbia. His academic distinctions include the Coxeter-James Prize (1990), a UBC Killam Senior Research Fellowship (1992), the Jeffrey-Williams Prize (2007), and the UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for outstanding service and leadership (2007). He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1993, and was awarded in 2004 a Doctorat Honoris Causa from the Université Paris-Dauphine.

He was chair of NSERC's grant selection committee for mathematics in 1995-1996, and is currently serving on the Killam committee at the Canada Council for the Arts (2007-2010). He was vice-president of the Canadian Mathematical Society from 1994 to 1996, and editor-in- chief of the Canadian Journal of Mathematics from 1993 to 2002. He was the founding Director of the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) for 1996-2003, a co-founder of the MITACS Network of Centres of Excellence (Mathematics of Information Technology & Complex Systems) and is currently on its Board of Directors. He is currently the scientific director of the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) that he founded in 2003.

Ms. Diane Gray is the founding President and CEO of CentrePort Canada Inc. CentrePort is Canada’s first tri-modal inland port and Foreign Trade Zone and encompasses 20,000 acres in the North West quadrant of Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

Ms. Gray previously worked for the Province of Manitoba from 1995 to 2009 and simultaneously served as Deputy Minister of Finance, Deputy Minister of Federal-Provincial and International Relations, and Deputy Minister of Trade. In December 2010, she was awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Excellence in Public Administration for Manitoba. Ms. Gray currently serves on the boards of Biomedical Commercialization Canada, Manitoba Film and Music, and Manitoba’s International Trade Council. Ms. Gray is a graduate of the University of Manitoba's and University of Winnipeg's Joint Masters of Public Administration Program and has an undergraduate degree in political studies from the University of Manitoba. 

Dr. Arvind Gupta is the CEO & Scientific Director of Mitacs.

Through unique research and training programs, Mitacs is developing the next generation of innovators with vital scientific and business skills. In partnership with companies, government and academia, Mitacs is supporting a new economy using Canada’s most valuable resource – its people. Mitacs programs include Accelerate, Globalink, Elevate, Enterprise, Step and Outreach.

From 2010 to 2011, Dr. Gupta sat on the six-member Research & Development Review Expert Panel struck by the Government of Canada to conduct a comprehensive review of all existing federal support for business R&D to see how this support could be enhanced to make sure federal investments are effective and delivering maximum results for Canadians.

Prior to joining Mitacs, he helped to found the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences and the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto in 1991 and is currently a Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Gupta is the editor of two book series on industrial mathematics and is the President of the 2011 International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics which will bring over 3,000 delegates to Vancouver.

Jim is currently the Managing Director and CFO of Bedlam Games Inc., a developer of PS3 and XBox360 video games in Toronto. He is a veteran finance executive with ten years of experience on Bay Street; prior to Bedlam Games, Jim was Vice President, Investments with Covington Capital and a managing partner with New Millennium Venture Partners. He managed a high-tech focused labour-sponsored venture funds and has made a number of investments in private companies in Canada. Additionally, Jim has held the position of institutional equity analyst with HSBC Securities and Gordon Capital. He holds a CFA designation and is a member of the Toronto Society of Financial Analysts and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Laws degree.

Ms. Oliver is a highly-motivated senior contributor with over 20 years experience in government relations, public affairs, telecommunications regulation and operational management. Her expertise includes skills in leadership, change management and relationship building. For the past 6 years she has been closely aligned with the key issues affecting the ICT industry in Canada.

The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) is the voice of the Canadian information and communications technology (ICT) industry in all sectors including telecommunications and Internet services, ICT consulting services, hardware, microelectronics, software and electronic content. ITAC's network of companies accounts for more than 70 per cent of the 589,000 jobs, $137.6 billion in revenue, $5.2 billion in R&D investment, $22.6 billion in exports and $11.5 billion in capital expenditures that the industry contributes annually to the Canadian economy.

Ms Oliver has served as President /Chair of the Better Business Bureau of Nova Scotia, Halifax Business Association, Management Committee of the Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia Advisory Council of the Status of Women, and Mount Saint Vincent University Alumni Association. And as Director of community groups such as: Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the Board of Trade, St. Joseph’s Children’s Center.

She has also participated as a panelist on CBC TV and radio political panels and debates.

Gerry Pond has 43 years of experience in the Information & Communications Technology sector. He is currently the Chairman of Mariner Partners Inc., a company he co-founded in 2003. Mariner, with a staff of over 120 professionals, provides consulting and professional IT services from offices in Saint John (HQ), Moncton, Fredericton, Halifax, Regina and Calgary.

As the former CEO of telecom services provider NBTel (now part of Bell Aliant) and the former CEO of software start-up ImagicTV Inc. (acquired by Alcatel in 2003), Gerry has always had a passion for innovation. The Canadian Information Productivity Association named him Innovator of the Year in 1997 and inducted him in their Hall of Fame (www.cipa.com). Gerry has co-founded 10 technology start-up companies in the past 10 years.

He is a Director of Assumption Life, and Chairs the Boards of Mariner Partners Inc, Brovada Technologies Inc., Radian6 Technologies Inc., and Shift Energy Inc.

A graduate of the University of New Brunswick (BA’66), he received an honorary Doctor of Letters from UNB (SJ) in 2005.

Very active in community affairs, he is a Director of Enterprise Saint John, Propel ICT, Atlantic Cancer Research Institute, the NB Business Council, and is a co-chair of New Brunswick’s Economic and Social Inclusion Corp. He is a fellow of the Wallace McCain Institute and a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.

He is a past Chairman of the NB Business Council, a past Vice-Chairman of the Board of Governors of UNB and a past Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. In 2007, he was inducted in the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame.

He resides in Rothesay N.B. with his wife Anne. They have 2 children; Suzanne and Gregory, both graduates of UNB’s Engineering Faculty.

Marie Rajic was born and raised in Calgary. She has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in political science from the University of Calgary, a Master of Arts (MA) in political studies and a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Manitoba. Marie has spent the last three years as the Harper government's senior political staffer in Alberta. As the Executive Director, Regional Affairs, Marie was the senior government spokesperson for the region and oversaw coordination of policies, programs and communications in Alberta.

Marie is currently Director, Western Region, TransCanada Corp., in Calgary. She works with TransCanada's pipeline, power, engineering and operating units to provide strategic advice and assistance on provincial and territorial government legislation, regulations and policies.

Professor Stephen J. Toope is the 12th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. His five-year term began in July 2006. An International Law scholar who represented Western Europe and North America on the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances from 2002-2007, Prof. Toope’s academic interests include public international law, legal theory, human rights, international dispute resolution, and family law.

Prof. Toope is active on many associations, currently Chair, World University Services Canada (WUSC), Director of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), Member of the Research Council of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR), and Chair, Research University Council of British Columbia.

Prior to joining UBC, Professor Toope was President of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, a position he held since 2002. The Foundation is an independent, private, and non-partisan organization created to promote outstanding research and interaction between researchers in the social sciences and humanities. From 1994-1999, Prof. Toope served as the youngest dean in the history McGill University’s Faculty of Law. Previously, he served as Law Clerk to the Rt. Hon. Chief Justice Dickson of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1986-1987. He continues to conduct research and teach on many aspects of international law and is currently working on issues of human rights and culture, and international human rights law.

A Canadian citizen, Professor Toope earned his PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge, England (1987), his undergraduate degree in common law (LLB) and civil law (BCL) with honours from McGill University (1983), and graduated magna cum laude with his AB in History and Literature from Harvard University (1979). Stephen Toope is married to Paula Rosen and they have three children.