Contributors
George Anderson
Former federal Deputy Minister, Natural Resources and Intergovernmental Affairs. Former President, Forum of Federations, and former member, Mediation Support Unit, United Nations. Has worked in some 30 countries, notably on post conflict and constitutional transitions. Educated at Queen’s, Oxford and École Nationale d’Administration, Paris. Past fellow in residence at Harvard and New York University. Author of Federalism: An Introduction (OUP, 2008) Fiscal Federalism: An Introduction (OUP, 2010), co-editor of Territory and Power (OUP, 2019) and of other books on federalism. Fellow, Centre on Democracy and Diversity, Queen’s University.
Janet Annesley
Janet Annesley is the CEO of Ti-Di, a strategy and public affairs consultancy in Calgary, Alberta. A nationally recognized expert on policy, sustainability, and strategy, Janet specializes in managing non-technical risks and leading mandates for business transformation and aggressive growth.
Janet has held executive posts at several Canadian energy companies and within government, developing innovative programs that create value and make a difference in people’s lives. She currently sits on the boards of the Transition Accelerator and Talent for Innovation Canada, and is a member of Export Development Canada’s Sustainability Advisory Council.
An award-winning communicator accredited through the International Association of Business Communicators, Janet received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2024 for her contributions to energy public policy. She holds an MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University.
Cathy Bennett
Cathy Bennett is a seasoned board chair, director, investor, and business leader with more than three decades of experience across energy, mining, capital markets, technology, and public policy. Her governance work spans publicly traded companies, crown corporations, and privately held businesses, alongside active involvement in early-stage innovation and venture investment.
Over her career, she has held more than two dozen corporate, public sector, and non-profit directorships, including multiple chair roles. Her experience includes leadership in major resource projects, energy and utilities, telecommunications, industrial manufacturing, advanced technology, and entrepreneurship—reflecting a long-standing commitment to economic development, innovation, and sustainable growth across diverse sectors.
She brings deep experience in economic development across Atlantic Canada’s highest-potential sectors, including mining, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and innovation-driven technologies. Her work spans major resource developments, energy transition initiatives, dual-use and frontier technologies, and scale-up strategies that strengthen regional competitiveness. Recognized for navigating complex stakeholder environments and aligning industry, government, and community interests, she has consistently advanced productivity, investment attraction, and long-term growth.
Her public service includes serving as Minister of Finance for Newfoundland and Labrador, where she oversaw multi-billion-dollar budgets and fiscal policy, while also serving as Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.
Dan Ciuriak
Dan Ciuriak is Director and Principal, Ciuriak Consulting Inc. (Ottawa), Fellow in Residence with the C.D. Howe Institute (Toronto), Senior Fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (Waterloo), Distinguished Fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (Vancouver), and Associate with BKP Development Research & Consulting GmbH (Munich). Professional interests include quantitative trade economics (with a particular emphasis on modelling the impacts of trade agreements), the trade and economic implications of the digital transformation, Canada’s Asia Pacific relations, and the economics of development. He has published widely as author and editor, within government and in a personal capacity; comments in the media; and speaks regularly at academic, business and official venues. He concluded a 31-year career with the federal public service in 2008 as Deputy Chief Economist at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). Prior positions include deputy to the Chair of the APEC Economic Committee (1994-1998), Finance Counsellor at Canada’s Embassy in Germany (1990-1994), and Chief, Financial Institutions, and Project Director, Financial Institutions Reform with Canada’s Finance Department (1982-1990).
Martin Coiteux
Martin Coiteux is an economist with more than 35 years of experience spanning academia, central banking, government, and pension fund investing, including roles at the Bank of Canada and as an economics and international business professor. From 2019 to 2023, he was Chief Economist and later Head of Economic Analysis and Global Strategy at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. He has also contributed to public policy debates as a podcaster at HEC Montréal and now does so independently as a blogger.
From 2014 to 2018, he was a Member of the Quebec National Assembly and served in the government of Premier Philippe Couillard, first as Chair of the Treasury Board and later as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Public Security, as well as Minister responsible for the Montréal region.
David Dodge
David Dodge is one of Canada’s leading economists and public policy practitioners. During a distinguished public service career, he served as Governor of the Bank of Canada, Deputy Minister of Finance, and Deputy Minister of Health as well as holding senior posts at the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Anti-Inflation Board, and the Department of Employment and Immigration
Dodge holds a bachelor’s degree (honours) from Queen’s University, and a PhD in economics from Princeton. Earlier in nis career, he taught economics at Queen’s University; at the School of Advanced International Studies, at Johns Hopkins University; at the Faculty of Commerce at the University of British Columbia; and at Simon Fraser University. Dodge has been awarded honorary degrees from a number of Canadian universities and was Chancellor of Queen’s University. He also has experience in the private sector, where he was a member of the board of directors of Canadian Utilities Limited, ATCO Limited and the Bank of Nova Scotia. He recently retired as a Senior Advisor at Bennett Jones LLP one of Canada’s leading law firms. He also serves on the boards of Riskthinking.ai and Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and chair of the National Council of the C.D.Howe Institute.
Christopher Dornan
Christopher Dornan taught at Carleton University for 33 years, where he served for nine years as Director of the School of Journalism and Communication and six years as Director of the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs, where he oversaw the creation of the Master of Political Management program. He taught at Cornell University for three years before joining the faculty at Carleton.
He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University, an M.A. in the History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in science Communication from McGill University.
As a journalist, he has worked as a reporter for the Edmonton Journal, an editor and editorial writer for the Ottawa Citizen, and a columnist for the Globe and Mail and CBC national radio. He has been Erasmus Mundus visiting scholar at the Danish School of Journalism and the University of Århus, and he served for 13 years as Chair of the Board of Directors of Reader’s Digest Magazines Canada, Inc.
His academic work has appeared in the Research Reports of the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, the Media Studies Journal, Critical Studies in Communication, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Media Information Australia, and the Canadian Journal of Communication, among other venues.
He is the co-editor, with Jon Pammett, of The Canadian Federal Election of 2025 (McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming), along with eight previous volumes in this series.
Most recently, he has written papers on the news media and disinformation for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom, and the Public Policy Forum.
Dale Eisler
Dale Eisler has had a multi-faceted career spanning journalism, government and academia. Writing has been the common feature throughout his various roles. A former journalist based in Saskatchewan, he went on to spend 16 years with the federal government as an Assistant Deputy Minister, Assistant Secretary to Cabinet and Consul General in the U.S. Currently he is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy where he leads the School’s Policy Brief series. He is a Director with the Canada Energy Regulator.
He’s the author of four books, including From Left to Right: Saskatchewan’s Political and Economic Transformation which was shortlisted as 2023 political book of the year by the Writers’ Trust of Canada and won the Saskatchewan Book Award for scholarly writing. His 2010 historical novel Anton, a young boy, his friend and the Russian Revolution became the basis for the feature movie Anton shot on location in Ukraine, which is on Prime.
Martha Hall Findlay
Martha Hall Findlay is Director of the School of Public Policy and James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair in Public Policy at the University of Calgary. She has previously served as Chief Sustainability and Chief Climate Officer for Suncor Energy, CEO of the Canada West Foundation think tank and was elected twice as a Member of Parliament for Willowdale in Ontario. She served in the Official Opposition shadow cabinet for International Trade; Finance; Transport, Infrastructure and Communities; and Public Works and Government Services.
Before politics, Martha worked as a corporate lawyer and international trade expert, senior executive and successful entrepreneur, advising major multinationals as well as start-ups - primarily in wireless telecommunications and mobile payments. At Suncor, she played an instrumental role in the creation of the Pathways Alliance to Net Zero by 2050 initiative.
Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg is among Canada’s most recognized and respected researchers, strategists and social commentators. He has played a central role in dozens of campaigns over the last thirty years. His unique talent is to develop research-based strategies and then translate them into all aspects of campaign management – from policy and speeches to media relations; from communications and advertising to targeted grassroots campaigns. He developed his reputation first as a pioneer in political polling and began applying his skills to private sector clients, associations and agencies.
Edward Greenspon
Edward Greenspon is a Canadian journalist, think tank leader and public commentator whose work touches on politics and policy; business and economics; and international relations. As co-chair of Deloitte’s Future of Canada Centre (FCC) and an executive advisor, Ed offers thought leadership on key issues affecting the lives of Canadians and the future of our country.
Ed is best-known for his career at The Globe and Mail, where he was variously Editor-in-Chief, Ottawa bureau chief, founding editor of globeandmail.com, managing editor of the Report on Business and a foreign correspondent based in Europe. His journalism career began in western Canada at the Lloydminster Times and Regina Leader-Post and as Prairie bureau chief for the Financial Post. He also worked at Bloomberg News as Editor-at-large for Canada and global managing editor of Energy, Environment and Commodities.
Ed served fas President & CEO of the Public Policy Forum think tank, where he wrote or oversaw policy reports on Canada-U.S. relations, China, the future of news media, disinformation and polarization, health security and Atlantic Canadian momentum and a supply-side rebuild. In the energy space, he led PPF’s Energy Future Forum and wrote or oversaw reports on the enormity of electrification expansion, Canada’s gas and LNG advantage, the need to aggressively decarbonize existing energy systems, and the Indigenous ownership opportunity.
He is a graduate of Carleton University and the London School of Economics and is the author of two books on Canadian policy, politics, and public opinion.Edward Greenspon has been a political and current affairs geek since he watched his first leadership convention at 10. He’s been blessed to live out his fantasies as a newspaper reporter on the Prairies, a foreign correspondent in Europe, and as Ottawa Bureau Chief and Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail. In more recent years, he has participated in national policy discussions as President & CEO of the Public Policy Forum and co-Chair of the Future of Canada Centre.
Peter Harder
Peter Harder’s career has been focused on public policy and the politics of public policy. He began as a foreign service officer in 1977 and has served as a political staffer to Flora MacDonald (foreign minister), Joe Clark (Leader of the Opposition) and Erik Nielsen (Deputy Prime Minister). In 1987 he was appointed as founding Executive Director on the Immigration and Refugee Board and in 1991 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Immigration. Over the next 16 years he served as Deputy Minister to five Prime Ministers and twelve ministers in a variety of departments including Treasury Board, Industry and Foreign Affairs (where he also served as the Personal Representative of the Prime Minister to the G-8). On leaving the public service he served on a number of corporate boards, charitable organizations and as a consultant to a law firm. He also served as President of the Canada China Business Council. In 2015 he led the transition for the newly elected government of Justin Trudeau. The following year he was summoned to the Senate of Canada, where he served as the first independent Representative of the Government in the Senate (2016-2020). He continues to serve as a senator.
Michael Keenan
Michael served as a Deputy Minister in the Government of Canada for ten years, until he retired in January 2023 after a career spanning 35 years and seven departments.
Michael served as the Deputy Minister of Transport and, before that, the Associate Deputy Minister at Natural Resources Canada. He worked at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canada School of Public Service, the Privy Council Office and Finance Canada.
Michael has extensive experience in organizational leadership, digital transformation, regulatory modernization, Indigenous engagement, emergency management, international relations, and policy development in multiple disciplines, including economic, social, environment, safety and security.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Saint Francis Xavier University and a Master’s degree in Economics from Queen’s University.
Kirk LaPointe
Kirk LaPointe is a columnist for The Hub and Business in Vancouver, host of the SMB Report weekly business/political podcast, and teaches media law at University of British Columbia, where he has been an adjunct professor since 2004. He has an extensive media executive career. He has run CTV News, Southam News and The Hamilton Spectator, helped start National Post as its founding executive editor, been a day-one host on CBC Newsworld and later the network’s ombudsman and executive director of the worldwide Organization of News Ombudsmen, been the Ottawa bureau chief of The Canadian Press, managing editor of the Vancouver Sun, and most recently the publisher and editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver, where he was also Glacier Media’s vice president, editorial. He ran for Vancouver mayor in 2014.
Marta Morgan
Marta is a highly experienced policy leader with deep expertise in foreign policy, economic and trade policy. She brings a nuanced understanding of the evolving geopolitical context, Canada–U.S. relations, and the intersection of national security and economic policy. With insight into the federal government’s shifting policy priorities and decision-making processes, Marta advises clients on how to develop effective, impactful strategies to advance their objectives in a rapidly changing environment.
Marta previously served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Minister of Immigration, and held senior roles at Industry Canada and Finance Canada. She worked closely with the natural resources sector as Vice President of the Forest Products Association of Canada, and has engaged with the telecommunications, manufacturing, and life sciences industries throughout her career.
She is currently Co-Chair of the International Economic Policy Council at the C.D. Howe Institute, a Fellow at the Public Policy Forum, and serves on several not-for-profit boards.
Marta holds a BA in Economics (Honours) from McGill University and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Peter J. M. Nicholson
Peter Nicholson, a native of Halifax, was educated in physics (BSc, MSc, Dalhousie University) and mathematics (PhD, Stanford). He has served in numerous posts in government, business, science, higher education, and voluntary service. His public service career included positions as Deputy Chief of Staff, Policy in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada and as Special Advisor to the Secretary-general of the OECD in Paris. Dr. Nicholson’s business career has included senior executive positions with Scotiabank in Toronto and telecom holding company, BCE Inc. in Montreal. He retired in 2010 as founding president of the Council of Canadian Academies, an organization that conducts expert panel studies of scientific issues related to public policy. He is currently the Chair of the Board of the Canadian Climate Institute. Dr. Nicholson is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia and is the recipient of six Honorary Degrees. He splits his time between Austin Texas and his hometown, Annapolis Royal, NS.
Christopher Ragan
Chris Ragan is a policy-interested macroeconomist and has been a long-time McGill University professor. He has taken two tours of duty in Ottawa as a policy advisor, first as Special Advisor at the Bank of Canada and then as the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist at the Department of Finance. He was also the Chair of Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission (on pollution pricing) and was a member of the Finance Minister’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth. He was the founding Director of McGill’s Max Bell School of Public Policy and has for thirty years been a co-author (and now the sole author) of the country’s leading economics textbook. Over the years, he has written many columns on economic issues for several Canadian newspapers.
Andrei Sulzenko
When he was young, Andrei wanted to become an architect for work and a rally-car driver for fun. Dreams turned into reality, and his metier became the architecture of ideas, a.k.a. public policy, working for thirty-two years in the federal government, which culminated in a seven-year stint as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy in the industry department. In that capacity, he was awarded the Head of the Public Service Award for Excellence in Policy. On retirement, he worked as a freelance consultant for fifteen years. More recently, he has been a regular gadfly opinion contributor to The Globe and Mail during the reigns of Trump one and two.
Andrei’s focus over the years has been on trade and industrial policy and on Canada’s chronic productivity malaise. When not puzzling through these issues, he enjoys designing and building projects to accommodate three generations at his family’s country place and driving his sports car (at the speed limit of course) along Prince Edward County’s back roads.
Jody Thomas
Jody brings more than 35 years of leadership experience in national security, defence, and intelligence, having served in some of Canada’s most senior roles. Most recently, she was National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister until 2024. Her distinguished career also includes serving as Deputy Minister of National Defence, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, Chief Operating Officer at Passport Canada, and 11 years in the Royal Canadian Navy.
Jody continues to share her expertise as a Senior Advisor at Counsel Public Affairs. She is a member of the Prime Minister’s Canada-US Advisory Council, the Board of Governors of Royal Roads University, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa, and member of the the Board of Directors of Electra Battery Materials.
Miville Tremblay
Miville Tremblay is a seasoned corporate director with 35 years’ experience in economics and finance. He has, among other things, chaired the Accounting Standards Oversight Council and CFA Montréal and served as a director of Groupe communautaire L’Itinéraire.
A regular contributor to the editorial and opinion section of the newspaper La Presse since 2020, Mr. Tremblay acted as a strategic advisor as part of a CPA Canada strategic initiative to attract a centre of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to Montréal. Since 2018, he has been an Invited Fellow of CIRANO in Montréal.
Mr. Tremblay worked at the Bank of Canada, as Senior Director and Regional Representative at the Montréal office (Financial Markets) for close to 17 years. For three years prior to that, he was Director of Strategic Intelligence for the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. He began his career as an economics and financial reporter for Radio-Canada, The Canadian Press and La Presse.
A graduate in political science from McGill University, Mr. Tremblay also holds a master’s degree in policy analysis from Université Laval, an executive MBA from School of Management of the Université du Québec à Montréal (ESG UQAM) and a certificate in sustainable investment from the CFA Institute. He earned his CFA designation in 2003 and obtained his ICD.D designation in 2017.
Mr. Tremblay was appointed to the AMF’s board of directors for a four-year term on June 22, 2022. He is a member of the Governance and Ethics Committee of the Board, of which he has been Chair since January 2026.
Ilse Treurnicht
Ilse’s career spans research and commercialization, venture and impact investing, public policy, and the development of health and cleantech firms. She is managing partner of TwinRiver Capital (an impact investment firm), a general partner at North South Ventures (a health impact fund) and recently chaired the Council of Canadian Academies' expert panel on the State of Science, Technology, and Innovation in Canada.
Ilse was CEO of MaRS Discovery District in Toronto from 2005-2017 as it developed from a nascent organization into a leading urban innovation hub. She joined MaRS from her role as CEO of Primaxis Technology Ventures, a seed stage venture capital firm (1999-2005). She is also past chair of the Board of the Public Policy Forum and a director of the Equality Fund and Zentek.
She was chair of the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance (2010). She served on the Government of Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation Council (2014-2016), Canada’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth (2016-2019), and the Advisory Committee on Open Banking (2018-2021). She currently serves on the Council of Expert Advisors, Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences. She has been a board member and advisor to technology firms, universities, non-profits, and international organizations.
Ilse holds a doctorate in chemistry from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Peter Wallace
Peter Wallace was a public servant for a long time. After a lengthy apprenticeship in various policy, operations and financial functions Peter joined the Ontario deputy minister ranks in 2004. He collected various titles along the way, including the policy deputy and associate secretary to cabinet, deputy minister of energy, deputy of finance and secretary to treasury board and finally clerk of the executive council and head of the public service. Peter retired from Ontario in 2014, quickly became bored and rejoined public service as the City Manager of Toronto in 2015. Peter moved in 2018 to Government of Canada as the secretary to treasury board. He really retired at the end 2021 and so far seems to be only person silly enough to work at the most senior levels at each order of government.
Peter is the 2024 recipient of the Vanier Award for excellence in public service and currently serves as an independent trustee for the University Health Network, executive in residence for the Ivey Senior Public Sector Leader Program and is a fellow at both CD Howe Institute and at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs.
Carolyn Wilkins
Carolyn Wilkins was the Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada. She has also held roles at the Department of Finance and the Privy Council. Before her appointment as Senior Deputy Governor, Wilkins was Advisor to the Governor, with a focus on the Canadian economy, its interaction with the financial system, and monetary policy.
Wilkins currently teaches at Princeton University and serves on the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee.
Don Wright
Don Wright’s career has spanned the academic, government and private sectors. He has served at the Deputy Minister level in the Saskatchewan and British Columbia governments. Before “semi-retirement” he was the Head of the Public Service in British Columbia. He has also held positions as President and CEO of Central 1 Credit Union and President of the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He remains active in public policy discussions, and is a Fellow with the Public Policy Forum, a Senior Fellow with the C.D. Howe Institute, and Senior Counsel with Global Public Affairs.