Climate Change and Canadian Public Policy: Adaptation and Action
October 28-29, 2008, Toronto
Conference Speakers and Presentations
Climate change is happening. Cutting GHG emissions isn't the whole story - we also need to adapt to a climate that is changing. We need leadership, inter-governmental cooperation and pragmatic solutions - to adapt and to act. It takes years to respond to complex challenges. To deal with tomorrow's changes we need to build resilience today.
How will institutions adapt to climate change? What are the innovations ? What adaptation is most urgent? Canadian and international researchers, experts and government leaders will share their insights about effective public policy tools and networks: the focus will be on the issues that our communities need to address - infrastructure, health, food, water, insurance, risk and legal liabilities.
Program
The Honourable John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment's Speech
Globe & Mail Insert on Climate Change - October 27, 2008 (pdf)
Advice to Government Report - February 2009 (pdf)
Dr. Andrew Weaver
Author of Keeping our Cool
University of Victoria
One of the world's leading authorities on global warming and climate change, Andrew Weaver is the author of numerous articles on climate change and has served as a lead author on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. His recent book "Keeping our Cool" was published in September 2008.
Born and raised in British Columbia, Dr. Weaver is a professor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria and holds the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis. He serves as editor in chief of the Journal of Climate, the world's leading journal in the field. He tirelessly shares his knowledge in an effort to educate people about the science behind climate change.
A member of British Columbia's Climate Action Team, Dr. Weaver has played an important part in developing our province's leadership position in addressing climate change. He has played an active role in the creation and establishment of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, and the School Based Weather Station Network, which helps children at 100 BC schools learn about climate and weather. Dr. Weaver's exceptional research achievements, scholarly writing, and efforts to share his knowledge are truly remarkable and have been critically influential world-wide and at home.
No presentation available.
Eva Ligeti
Executive Director, Clean Air Partnership
Ontario's first Environmental Commissioner
Eva Ligeti is the Executive Director of the Clean Air Partnership, a non-profit organization with a mandate to make Toronto more environmentally sustainable and a world leader in clean air. A lawyer, she served as Ontario’s first Environmental Commissioner from 1994 to 1999. Ms. Ligeti serves on the Council of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund, is a member of the Province of Ontario’s Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation, and is a co-chair of the Green GTA Task Force. She teaches Environmental Law in the graduate program in Environmental Science at the University of Toronto.
No Regrets, Actions for Adaptation (pdf).
Dr Ron Dembo
Chief Executive Officer
ZeroFootPrint
Dr. Ron Dembo is Founder and CEO of ZeroFootprint, a Toronto, Ontario-based organization created to build a marketplace for people worldwide to engage in sustainable commerce.
Before founding ZeroFootprint, Dr. Dembo was President and CEO of Algorithmics Incorporated, an Enterprise Financial Risk Software Company. Prior to founding Algorithmics, he was a professor of Computer Science and Operations Research at Yale University.
Climate Change and What You Can Do About It (powerpoint).
Dr. Ian Burton
Co-chair of Ontario's Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation
Dr. Ian Burton is Emeritus Professor at the University of Toronto and a Scientist Emeritus with the Meteorological Service of Canada’s Impacts and Adaptation Research Group. He is a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th Assessment Report, Working Group II, and has recently served as a consultant with the World Bank and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Dr. Burton has authored and co-authored several books and over 150 professional papers. His main work now deals with the role of science in the policy process.
Dr. Burton has also served as senior advisor to the International Development Research Centre and as a consultant to UNESCO, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, US-AID and numerous Canadian government agencies and engineering firms. He has worked for the Ford Foundation in India, Sudan, and Nigeria and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the World Academy of Arts and Sciences.
International Experience on Adaptation: Progress and Prospects (powerpoint).
Dr. Dave Pearson
Co-chair of Ontario’s Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation Laurentian University
Dr. David Pearson is Professor of Earth Sciences at Laurentian University and member of the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit at Laurentian University with an interest in Sudbury lakes, and Co-Director of the Laurentian University / Science North Graduate Diploma program in Science Communication. From 1980-84 Dr. Pearson was the Project Director for Science North, the science centre in Sudbury. He has also hosted two TV series: "Understanding the Earth" (TV Ontario) and "Down to Earth" (MidCanada TV); and was the scientist for CBC Northern Ontario's weekly “Radio Lab" program from 1981 to 1995. In 2000 he was awarded the Ward Neale Medal by the Geological Association of Canada for his contribution to public awareness of the geosciences in Canada. In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science by The Royal Society of Canada for extraordinary achievement in communication of science to students and the public.
No presentation available.
Hon. John Godfrey, PC
Sponsor of Canada’s Federal Sustainable Development Act, 2008
Former Minister of State for Infrastructure and Communities
Prior to entering politics, Godfrey was an economist, historian and journalist.
In the mid-1970s Godfrey was a history professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He served as president of University of King's College from 1977-87. From 1987 to 1991 he was editor of the Financial Post.
He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the Toronto area riding of Don Valley West in the 1993 election, and had been re-elected in each subsequent vote until his resignation. In 1996, he and fellow Liberal MP Peter Milliken introduced the Godfrey-Milliken Bill a parody of the American Helms-Burton Act. The gesture received extensive media coverage including in the United States, where Godfrey was featured on the CBS program '60 Minutes'. From 1996 to 2004, Godfrey served as a Parliamentary Secretary under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
Following the subsequent 2004 election, Godfrey, among other key allies to Paul Martin, was appointed to the Cabinet in the role of Minister of State for Infrastructure and Communities. In this role, he was primarily responsible for overseeing the "New Deal for Cities", Federation of Canadian Municipalities relationship, and other initiatives in Canadian federal-municipal relations. This role is considered a keystone of Martin's industrial strategy.
Godfrey announced in November, 2007, that he would be resigning his seat in parliament on July 1, 2008 in order to accept a position as headmaster of Toronto French School.
No presentation available.
Paul Kovacs
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
University of Western Ontario
Paul Kovacs’ training is in economics, and work experience includes 26 years of public policy formation. In 1977, he was an economic policy advisor to the Premier of Saskatchewan. In 1978, he joined the Economic Council of Canada, where he authored a number of publications identifying actions to reduce unemployment in Eastern Canada. In 1981, Paul joined the Canadian Manufacturers' Association where he was one of the leading spokesmen for the manufacturing community on issues like free trade and tax reform.
In 1986, Paul joined Burns Fry, Canada’s top rated economic research group, and was responsible for forecasting developments in Canada and the other major industrial nations. And for three years Paul worked with the Ontario government in the Ministry Finance and the Ministry of Community and Social Services providing advice on means to strengthen the linkages between economic and social policy.
In 1992, Paul joined the Insurance Bureau of Canada in the newly formed position of vice president, policy development and chief economist. In 1999, he was promoted to the position of senior vice president. He was responsible for co-ordinating the insurance industry's work on national public policy issues, including health care, effective regulation, earthquake preparedness and bank powers in insurance.
In 1997, Paul founded the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction and was named Executive Director. The Institute provides a forum for insurers and other interested allies to work together to reduce the loss of life and property caused by severe weather and earthquakes. Working with the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organisation, Paul was a lead author of the 2001 IPCC report on climate change. In 2002, he was appointed to the economics department at the University of Western Ontario as adjunct research professor. Paul was appointed President and CEO of the Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation in 2004.
For more than twenty-five years Paul has been a popular commentator on policy issues. Paul serves on a number of Boards including the Canadian Council for Social Development and the Meteorological Service of Canada. Residing in Toronto, Paul is the proud father of two, and he sports an impressive collection of bow ties.
No presentation available.
Rob MacIsaac
Chair, Metrolinx
First elected to Burlington municipal council in November 1991, MacIsaac served two terms representing Ward 1 at city and regional councils. In 1997, he was elected Mayor of Burlington and acclaimed for two more terms. In March 2006, he did not seek re-election.
During his term as Mayor of the City of Burlington, MacIsaac became well-known for his regional approach and progressive growth management ideas for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
As a member of the Ontario Smart Growth Panel, he led the effort to develop a vision and recommendations for a Smart Growth Strategy for Central Ontario. These elements remain fundamental tenets in the province's Places to Grow Plan.
Subsequent to this work, MacIsaac chaired a provincial task force that established the founding principles for a permanent Greenbelt for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
MacIsaac hosted the first ever GTA Smart Growth Summit that brought together community leaders from across the GTA to begin thinking about new ways to manage growth. He founded a Transit Caucus inviting the mayors of four other GTA municipalities to create a more coordinated and integrated approach in service, fare collection and financing of local transit systems. He also chaired a GTA Transit Summit that brought together leaders from all three levels of government.
MacIsaac completed his undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of Waterloo in 1984 and received a Law degree at the University of Western Ontario in 1987. He was called to the Bar in 1989. MacIsaac is Honorary Chair, Carpenter Hospice, and on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) and Canadian Urban Transportation Association (CUTA).
Born in 1962, Rob is a lifetime resident of Burlington. He is married to Anne and has two children, Sarah and Catherine.
No presentation available.
Judith Read Guernsey
Director, CIHR Atlantic RURAL Centre on Physical and Social Environments and Health
Associate Professor, Dalhousie University
Dr. Judith Read Guernsey is Director of the CIHR Atlantic RURAL Centre on Physical and Social Environments and Health and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. She is a member of the Environment Canada Atlantic Environmental Sciences Network, the Public Health Agency of Canada National Collaborating Centre on Environmental Health and the Canadian Population Health Initiative Council. She also serves as a member of the Ontario Expert Advisory Council on Climate Change Adaptation. Previously, she was on the US Institute of Medicine Scientific Advisory Panel on Damp Indoor Spaces and Health. Dr. Guernsey has written and co-authored several chapters and over 100 professional papers, technical reports and abstracts, including on issues pertinent to extreme weather events and health. She has been recognized for her work as Past Chair of the Occupational Epidemiology Committee for the American Industrial Hygiene Association and is listed in Who’s Who in Industrial Hygiene.
Climate Change and Health: A Case Study in Rural Atlantic Canada (powerpoint).
Prof Graham White
University of Toronto
Graham White graduated with a combined honours degree in Economics and Political Science at York University. He then went on to McMaster University for graduate work in Political Science. In 1979 he completed a PhD at McMaster; his thesis was on long-term voting patterns in Ontario.
In 1976, he became one of the first persons accepted into the Ontario Legislative Internship Programme, run jointly by the Legislature and the Canadian Political Science Association. In 1978 he returned to Queen's Park to work in the Clerk's Office. Over the next six years, he provided procedural advice and administrative support to a number of legislative committees including the Public Accounts Committee, the Procedural Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on the Ombudsman and the Select Committee on Pensions. He also spent some time serving at 'the table' in the legislative chamber.
In 1984, he accepted a position in the Political Science Department at the University of Toronto's Erindale College (now the University of Toronto Mississauga). He holds the rank of Full Professor. His teaching at Erindale and on the St George campus has primarily been in the area of Canadian politics, with special emphasis on provincial and territorial politics, and on institutions of governance such as cabinets, legislatures and bureaucracies. Since the late 1980s he has been visiting the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon regularly and writing about politics there. (The picture was taken in early September near Igloolik, Nunavut.)
In addition to numerous articles in academic journals, he has written or edited 11 books, including The Ontario Legislature: A Political Analysis; Inside the Pink Palace, The Government and Politics of Ontario, Northern Governments in Transition and several editions of Politics: Canada. His book with David Cameron, Cycling into Saigon: The Conservative Transition in Ontario, was shortlisted for the Donner Foundation's award for the best book in Canadian public policy in 2001. His most recent book is Cabinets and First Ministers.
He is currently at work on three books: one is on the regulatory and wildlife management boards established under the settled comprehensive land claims settlements in the North; another looks at the decentralization of the Nunavut Government; and one on provincial and territorial cabinet decision-making processes since the 1970s.
Climate Action in British Columbia (powerpoint).
Dr Günther Bachmann
Director, German Council for Sustainable Development
German chancellor Angela Merkel pays a lot of attention to the views of the German Council for Sustainable Development. The council's high profile reflects Günther's emphasis on "creative ways to communicate our common challenge", and he lists making the council's recommendations publicly heard as one of his key achievements.
Günther was appointed head of the council when it was established in 2001. It is an independent body of 17 representatives from environmental NGOs, the economy, consumer groups, churches, trade unions, local communities and science that champion sustainability at all levels of government and in the private sector.
Günther originally studied landscape planning in Berlin and, after working as a university researcher, completed his PhD on environmental policies and soil devastation in Germany. In 1992 he became head of section for soil ecology with the German Federal Environmental Agency.
Carbon Mitigation Action and Adaptation to Climate Change: The German Perspective (pdf).
Philip A. de Waal
Head Economic and Commercial Affairs
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Philip A. de Waal is a career diplomat with the Netherlands Foreign Service since 1977. His career has mainly evolved around economic and trade related activities. Currently stationed at the Netherlands Embassy in Ottawa as Head Economic and Commercial Affairs. Prior to his arrival in Ottawa he held postings in Paris (Netherlands Delegation to the OECD); the Netherlands Embassies in Washington and Madrid; the Commissariat for Military Production and Civil Preparedness, Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Hague; the Bureau for Military Production and Civil Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague; the Netherlands Embassies in Brasilia and Khartoum, and the Directorate for Press Affairs and Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague. Between 1974 and 1977 he worked as a consultant in Madrid. He attended the The King’s School, Ely, Cambridgeshire, and holds a degree from Leiden University in the Netherlands. He is married and has four children.
Adaptation: The Dutch Perspective on Climate Change (powerpoint).
Dr. Donald Lemmen
Science Manager, Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Directorate
Natural Resources Canada
Don Lemmen is the science manager in the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Directorate at Natural Resources Canada. For the past three years he has coordinated the development of a national-scale scientific assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation in Canada, serving as lead science editor and lead author of the assessment synthesis. Don is also a negotiator and technical expert on adaptation as part of Canadian delegations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has been heavily involved in the UNFCCC’s Nairobi Work Program, developed to assist countries in making informed decisions on practical adaptation on a sound, scientific, technical and socio-economic basis.
Dr. Lemmen has made invited presentations on climate change adaptation to a wide variety of decision-makers across Canada, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, Canadian Standards Association, the Conference Board of Canada and the Inuit Leaders Forum He is a member of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy’s Adaptation Policy Advisory Committee.
Adapting to a Changing Climate: Innovation Through Collaboration and Capacity Building (pdf).
Wendy Potomski
Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Wendy Potomski is a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto and is a Charter Financial Analyst with its Sustainable Business Solutions Practice.
For almost a decade she has helped businesses develop plans and management strategies in response to the regulatory changes and developments within the electricity marketplace.
Ms. Potomski assists both private and public-sector clients in identifying existing and potential risks - and opportunities - within a carbon constrained environment. She is now assisting multinational organizations to compile and calculate their greenhouse gas emissions, and by identifying and developing carbon and energy management strategies, helping them to become more sustainable.
She has conducted a review for a provincial government agency of the conservation and demand management programs of over 80 utilities across the province, and helped the agency to communicate program changes to participants. She has also been a advisor to one of the largest municipalities in Canada, helping to develop its overall energy plan and sector-specific programs.
Private Sector: Insurance, Legal Issues and Risk Analysis (pdf).
Alain Bourque
Director Impacts and Adaptation
OURANOS
Mr. Bourque has a BSc in meteorology from McGill (1989) and a master in atmospheric science from UQAM (1996). He began has a meteorologist with Environment Canada in 1989 to then become climatologist for the Quebec region. He was involved in the analyses of the 1996 Saguenay flooding, the 1998 Ice Storm and many other activities linked to the impacts of extreme weather and climate change. He established and is coordinating the impacts and adaptation program of the Ouranos Consortium on regional climatology and adaptation to climate change since 2001. He is the main author of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Governement assessment "From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a changing climate" (2008) and was involved in the Quebec chapter of the "Canada Country Study" in 1997
M. Bourque a obtenu un baccalauréat en météorologie de l'université McGill en 1989 et une maîtrise en science de l'atmosphère de l'UQAM en 1996. Il devient climatologue à Environnement Canada en 1989 puis climatologue pour le Québec. C'est à ce moment qu'il s’implique dans l'analyse climatique du déluge du Saguenay de 1996 et la tempête de verglas de 1998 en plus de participer à plusieurs projets liés aux impacts des extrêmes et des changements climatiques. Il a établi et coordonne actuellement le programme Impacts et Adaptation à Ouranos, consortium sur la climatologie régionale et l’adaptation aux changements climatiques. Il est l’auteur principal du chapitre Québec de l’évaluation du gouvernement canadien « Vivre avec les changements climatiques au Canada, édition 2007 » et a été impliqué dans le chapitre Québec de l’évaluation pancanadienne en 1997.
Creating Initiatives that Meet the Numerous Challenges Around Adaptation (powerpoint).
Marcel Gaucher
Since 2006, Mr. Marcel Gaucher has been the Director of the Bureau des changements climatiques (BCC) in Québec’s Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks. The BCC, or Climate Change Office, was set up specifically to develop an action plan on climate change for the Québec government, and to coordinate its responses to the challenges of putting the plan into effect.
Mr. Gaucher has has held various management positions in the Government of Québec throughout his career. Since 1984 his areas of responsibility have included environmental concerns such as contaminated lands, hazardous substances, and pesticides, and aboriginal and intergovernmental relations. Mr. Gaucher has a Masters in Water Sciences from l’Institut national de la recherche scientifique.
Détenteur d’un baccalauréat en biologie de l’Université du Québec et d’une maîtrise en sciences de l’eau de l’Institut national de la recherche scientifique, M. Gaucher œuvre au Gouvernement du Québec depuis 1984.
Durant ces années, il a occupé diverses fonctions dans les secteurs de la gestion des terrains contaminés, des substances dangereuses, des pesticides ainsi que dans le domaine des relations autochtones et intergouvernementales.
Depuis 2006, il dirige le Bureau des changements climatiques (BCC) au Ministère du développement durable, de l’environnement et des parcs. Le BCC est notamment chargé de la coordination de l’action gouvernementale en matière de lutte aux changements climatiques et de la mise en œuvre du plan d’action québécois sur les changements climatiques.
Climate Change Adaptation Initiatives in Quebec (powerpoint).
Ian Church
Senior Science Advisor
Executive Council Office, Yukon Government
Chairman, Canadian International Polar Year National Committee
Since 2004 Mr. Ian Church has been engaged in the International Polar Year, a study focusing on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009. Canadian and international scientists and researchers are endeavouring to understand what effect climate change is having on our atmosphere, lands and oceans.
By impacting on Earth’s polar regions, human-forced climate change is affecting global systems. Mr. Church is now looking at climate change and biodiversity. He believes that international awareness and the involvement of the peoples of the North in developing solutions is key to our future.
Prior to his involvement with the IPY, Mr. Church was the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development’s Director of Environment for the Yukon since 1993, responsible primarily for environmental assessment, continuing to manage the environmental assessment unit with the new Yukon Government until 2005.
Earlier in his career Mr. Church was a Naturalist, Interpreter, Resource Management Specialist, section head and Park Superintendent, in British Columbia, Manitoba, Atlantic Canada, and the Northwest Territories.
Northern Communities in a Changing Climate Regime (powerpoint).
Jenny Fraser
Jenny Fraser has advised government with respect to climate change adaptation since 2001, when she joined the British Columbia Ministry of Environment.
Ms. Fraser’s current work with the Ministry contributes to the development of overall provincial capacity to prepare effectively for climate change. She works to bridge the gap between impact assessment and adaptation, and to facilitate and enhance the exchange of adaptation knowledge among researchers, professionals, and decision-makers within and outside of government.
Ms. Fraser was an advisor to the recent national report From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate, and is Co-Chair of the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment committee that promotes adaptation within the context of environmental management.
Before joining the Government of British Columbia in 1993, Ms. Fraser was an advisor to the Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy, and a science and environment communicator.
Climate Change Adaptation: Ministry of the Environment British Columbia (doc).
Lawson Oates
Since early 2007, when he became the Director of the Toronto Environment Office, Lawson Oates’ key focus has been the development and establishment of a climate change action plan for the Toronto urban area.
The product of that effort, “Change is in the Air,” was unanimously approved by Toronto City Council in July 2007. Mr. Oates and the Toronto Environment Office are currently implementing the action plan, which now also includes a climate change adaptation strategy.
Among Mr. Lawson’s achievements is the successful class environmental assessment of the deep lake water cooling project to cool office buildings in Toronto’s downtown core. He participated in the City’s Task Force 2010, which established community and Council support for the successful Green Bin curbside organics management program. He has several published articles and papers on solid waste management and environmental subjects.
Mr. Lawson has been the Acting Director of Policy and Planning with the City’s Solid Waste Management Services and has worked for the City of Toronto and with the former Metro Toronto.
Adaptation Change Strategy (powerpoint).
Graham Whitmarsh
Graham Whitmarsh joined the BC Public Service as Chief Advisor for Carbon Trading in April of 2007. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed the Head of the Climate Action Secretariat following an extensive public competition. An innovative, forward thinking leader, Graham has a wide range of international business experience, including six years as a CEO in the software industry. Graham has lived and worked in Europe, the United States and Canada, offering an international perspective to addressing the global challenge of climate change.
After graduating from the University of Leeds with BSc Honours in Engineering, Graham pursued a career in the Royal Navy as a warfare Officer in Nuclear Submarines. During his time in the Royal Navy, he continued his education at Dartmouth Royal Naval College and the Greenwich Naval College. His 17 year international business career included senior executive positions at Harmony Airways, Sabre Airline Solutions, Mercury Scheduling Systems, and British Aerospace Inc., where he gained experience guiding teams through large projects and new initiatives.
As Head of the Climate Action Secretariat, Graham’s responsibilities are critical to achieving the Province’s aggressive targets of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 33 percent by 2020 and making the government of British Columbia carbon neutral by 2010. Graham has built a world-class team of professionals from business, government and the environmental movement to help meet these ambitious goals.
Graham will consult with the public, industry, First Nations, environmental groups, other levels of government and BC government employees to bring new and innovative ideas forward to help British Columbia meet the challenge of tackling climate change.
No presentation available.
Dr. Pierre Gosselin
l’Institut national de santé publique,
Montreal Health and Environmental Group
Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ)
Dr. Pierre Gosselin has been active in Quebec's public health network for 20 years. Dr. Gosselin chaired the Quebec Environmental Health Committee at CHUQ from 1988 to 1998, and has been president of the Quebec Union for Nature Conservation (Union québécoise pour la conservation de la nature or UQCN) and ÉcoSommet.
Dr. Gosselin has written a number of books and articles both for scientific audiences and the general public, and coauthored The Canadian Guide to Health and the Environment (University of Alberta Press, 1999).
His research focuses primarily on geomatics and health issues under the Canadian GEOIDE Network of Centers of Excellence and on gastroenteritis monitoring. His research interests and professional endeavors have sought to link public health and environmental issues - especially from an environmental monitoring perspective - with a view to sustainable development.
He has been active with the Health Professionals Task Force of the International Joint Commission (Canada/United States), the Scientific Advisory Committee on Environmental Monitoring of NAFTA's Environmental Cooperation Commission (Canada/United States/Mexico), as well as environmental monitoring initiatives in the Amazon basin.
Dr. Gosselin is a clinical assistant professor at Laval University's Faculty of Medicine.
No presentation available.
Keith Neuman, Ph.D.
Group Vice President – Public Affairs
Environics Research Group Ltd.
Keith Neuman is Group Vice President – Public Affairs with the Environics Research Group, Canada’s leading public opinion and social research firm. In this role he leads the company’s Public Affairs and Environment-Energy research practice areas, which provide leading-edge public opinion research for public, private and non-profit sector clients in such areas as energy and environment, natural resources, health care, municipal services, justice, transportation and social policy.
Keith has spent the past 20 years in senior level roles with leading public opinion research organizations in Canada, with a particular focus on the social dimensions of environmental, energy and resource issues. He has conducted close to 200 public opinion studies on such topics as air quality, water quality, waste management, climate change, environmental assessment, social impact assessment, energy conservation, and consumer behaviour. In 1987, he co-founded The Environmental Monitor, Canada’s first ongoing syndicated public opinion survey on environmental issues. In 2007, he founded and currently directs The Canadian Environmental Barometer, a monthly national service which provides clients with ongoing public opinion intelligence on climate change and the environment.
Keith holds a Ph.D. in Social Ecology from the University of California, and holds the credential of Certified Marketing Research Professional (CMRP). He is a frequent media commentator on social trends and public opinion, including a regular guest column in the Canadian publication Green Business.
The Climate Change Challenge: What Canadians Expect from their Governments (powerpoint).
Dr. Dianne Saxe
Dr. Dianne Saxe is one of Canada’s leading environmental lawyers. She is listed as one of the three top environmental practitioners in the Greater Toronto area by Lexpert, and among the world’s leading environmental lawyers by International Who's Who; Practical Law Company; and International Corporate Law. Euromoney’s Best of the Best 2008 has named her among the top 25 environmental lawyers in the world.
Dianne is a Certified Specialist in Environmental Law, and holds one of Canada’s only Doctorates of Jurisprudence in environmental law. She is a member of the Advocate's Society and is also an experienced mediator.
Dianne drafted part of Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act and its Water Resources Act. She has written the standard environmental law reference for Ontario, Ontario Environmental Protection Act Annotated, as well as many texts, chapters and articles. Her columns appear regularly in Municipal World and Hazmat Magazine.
With 30 years of practical experience with civil, criminal and administrative environmental litigation, and as a former senior prosecutor, Ministry of the Environment, Dianne is consulted by governments, business, individuals and environmental groups. Her areas of expertise include government relations, enforcement, administrative penalties, due diligence, groundwater protection, emissions trading, and climate change.
Adaptation and the Law (pdf).
Rob de Loë PhD
Rob de Loë received his PhD in 1995 from the University of Waterloo. He currently holds the University Research Chair in Water Policy and Governance at the University of Waterloo, and is Director of the Water Policy and Group. His research focuses on water governance at scales ranging from local to national and international. He is especially interested in governance relating to water security, with a focus on drinking water source protection, water allocation and climate change adaptation. In addition to being principal investigator on numerous academic research projects, he has been a consultant to many federal and provincial government agencies, and to various NGOs.
Rob recently completed a national overview of water security in Canada, funded by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, and developed a background report and strategy for the Canadian Water Resources Association focused on developing a Canadian National Water Strategy. In January, 2008 he was named Chair of the Advisory Panel for the Blue Water project, a $50 million, 10-year charitable grant program to support fresh water conservation, protection and accessibility.
No presentation available.
Quentin Chiotti
Impacts and Adaptation: Two National Assesment Reports (powerpoints)
David Greenall
Weathering the Storm of Climate Change: Towards Climate Risk Intelligence in the Public Sector (powerpoint)
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