Douglas Porter has over 25 years of experience analyzing global economies and financial markets. As Chief Economist at BMO Financial Group, he oversees the macroeconomic and financial market forecasts and co-authors the firm’s weekly flagship publication, Focus. Mr. Porter manages the team that won the prestigious Lawrence Klein award for forecast accuracy of the U.S. economy, and was named by Bloomberg as top Canadian forecaster. As a respected commentator on economic and financial trends, he is regularly quoted in the…

Antoni Cimolino has been the artistic director of the Stratford Festival, since 2013 – a role that has been extended to the festival’s 70th season in 2022. From a $3.4 million deficit in 2012, Mr. Cimolino’s tenure to July of 2015 had seen an increase in attendance of 9 percent, and two years of operating surpluses totalling $2.5 million. The festival’s endowment has also grown – from $56 million to $71 million. A statement from the Board called Cimolino’s achievements…

Dr. Melanie Morin-Pelletier is the Historian, War and Society at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. She is the author of Briser les ailes de l’ange: Les infirmieres militaires canadiennes (1914-1918) and has published multiple articles on Canadian military nursing and on the impact of the war on the Canadian homefront. Since joining the Canadian War Museum in 2012, she has curated the major exhibitions: Fighting in Flanders. Gas. Mud. Memory(2014), and Vimy: Beyond the Battle (2017). Her current research…

Immigrant story to local success. Heeman’s has become a favourite destination for many local gardeners and berry fans but it had humble beginnings. Will Heeman, Chief Daymaker and third generation family member, will join us to talk about growing up in a family business and the journey Heeman’s has taken to become an award winning, experience focused business. There will be photos of mouthwatering strawberries, a Dutch joke or two, and he’ll also answer a question Heeman’s gets all the…

The Journey to Resiliency Ninja. Allison will share why she has made it her mission to help people become more resilient and pull back the curtain to expose the ups and downs (and risks) of being vulnerable in the public eye by writing a tell-all book. In this candid conversation, she’ll discuss her decision to complement her sales consulting work by talking about the collision between our personal and professional lives and how she hopes to influence how people deal…

More information will be posted in the near future.

Dave Levac was born and raised in the southwestern Ontario community of Brantford, where he continues to live with his wife, Rosemarie. They have three adult children. After teaching elementary and secondary school for 12 years, Dave became an elementary school principal in 1989. In his capacity as a principal, Dave developed conflict resolution programs for which, among other accomplishments, he received a Distinguished Teacher Award in 1994. In addition to his teaching career, Dave took an active leadership role…

We hope you’ll join us for our annual Tribute to our Public Defenders on November 13, 2017, with General (Ret’d) Tom Lawson, former Chief of Defence Staff, as be our guest speaker. General (Ret’d) Thomas J Lawson As a member of perhaps our nation’s only four-generation Royal Canadian Air Force family, General Lawson looks back on his 40-year military career with deep appreciation. Among many things, it taught him the critical importance of developing leadership qualities within organizations. He especially…