Bruce Campbell
Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Bruce Campbell is  Executive Director (since 1994) of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Beyond his administrative responsibilities, he has written widely on public policy issues and is a frequent media commentator. For many years he coordinated Centre's Alternative Federal Budget project. He is author, or editor, of four books including:  "Straight Through the Heart: How the Liberals Abandoned the Just Society  (1995)," published by Harpercollins, and "Living with Uncle: Canada-US  Relations in a Age of Empire (2006)" published by Lorimer. He is currently writing a book on North American integration.

He has worked as a researcher with the North South Institute; as a policy analyst and legislative assistant with the federal NDP caucus; and as a senior economist with the Canadian Labour Congress.

He holds an MA from the Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University

William (Bill) Lahey
Deputy Minister, Nova Scotia Ministry of Environment and Labour

William Lahey was appointed Deputy Minister of Environment and Labour, effective June 1, 2004. He is also a law professor at Dalhousie University (on leave) where he continues to teach and participate in research in the area of health system law and policy

A former clerk to the Supreme Court of Canada and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Mr. Lahey holds a bachelor of arts degree from Mount Allison University, a bachelor of law degree from Oxford and master’s degree in law from the University of Toronto. He also has seven years of previous experience working for the Government of Nova Scotia, including terms as Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, Director of Corporate Services with the former Department of Human Resources (now the Public Service Commission) and as a Solicitor in the Department of Justice.

One of Mr. Lahey’s responsibilities as Deputy Minister is to champion GoverNEXT, a new initiative within the Nova Scotia Public Service that will facilitate aims to ensure that young public servants have a voice in the future development and renewal of the Nova Scotia Public Service.

Laura Lee Langley
Assistant Deputy Minister, Nova Scotia Communications

Michelle Lucas (Session Moderator)
Communications Director, Nova Scotia Public Service Commission

Michelle Lucas is a Communications Director with Communications Nova Scotia, the provincial government's full service communications agency. With a Bachelor of Public Relations degree from Mount Saint Vincent University, Michelle began her career in the health sector. After three years at The Nova Scotia Hospital, Michelle joined the Communications Nova Scotia team in 2001. During this time, she has provided strategic communications support to the Departments of Agriculture and Fisheries and Health, and is currently assigned to the Nova Scotia Public Service Commission. Michelle has been a volunteer member of the GoverNEXT Steering Committee since 2005 and leads the GoverNEXT communications task team.

Margaret MacDonald
Assistant Deputy Minister, Nova Scotia Treasury and Policy Board

Margaret MacDonald is currently the Assistant Deputy Minister, Treasury and Policy Board. Margaret has been with Treasury and Policy Board since 2002. Prior to joining TPB, Margaret was a senior solicitor with the Department of Justice, and was legal advisor to a number of government departments, including the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Finance. Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Margaret practised for five years with a private law firm.

Margaret is a graduate of St. F. X. University,and Dalhousie Law School and a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and the Canadian Bar Association.

Ron McKerlie
Corporate Chief Information and Information Technology Officer & Chief Strategist Service Delivery, Office of the Corporate Chief Information Officer, Government of Ontario

Ron J. McKerlie joined the Ontario Public Service as Chief Information and Information Technology Officer and Chief Strategist Service Delivery effective October 11, 2005.  Ron's mandate is to facilitate modern government through the efficient and effective deployment of Information and Information Technology solutions and create and implement a first class service strategy for the provision of information, products and services to Ontarians.

Mr. McKerlie is uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between quality service delivery and information technology support having worked for Rogers Communications Inc. as Vice President e-Business where he was responsible for the end to end automation of sales and services via the web channel.  Prior to Rogers, Ron worked for twenty years for Bank of Montreal in a dozen roles including Vice President Electronic Banking, Vice President Smart Cards and most recently Senior Vice President eBusiness where he had responsibility for enterprise web based initiatives.

Ron holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Dalhousie University.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee for World Vision Canada.

Ron lives in Mississauga with his wife and two teenage sons.  In his spare time he loves to golf, travel, ski and read.

Nancy Vanstone
Assistant Deputy Minister, Nova Scotia Ministry of Environment and Labour

Ms. Vanstone was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of the Nova Scotia Department of Environment & Labour in November, 2004. During this period, Ms. Vanstone was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Competitiveness and Compliance Initiative to improve the quality of regulatory systems across the department. She also leads the province-wide regulatory reform initiative.

Ms. Vanstone was previously Executive Director of Registry and Information Management Services with the Department of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations. She was responsible for vital statistics, business, personal property and land registries across the province as well as geomatics and information management services for the department. During her career in public service, Ms. Vanstone has also worked with the Department of Municipal Affairs, the Council of Maritime Premiers, the Deputy Minister’s Land Use Secretariat, and the Department of Economic Development. She has been closely associated with several significant reform initiatives, including the modernization of Nova Scotia’s land registration system, and the establishment of a regional electronic personal property registry.

Ms. Vanstone has a strong commitment to the development of the public service. She values the lessons she has learned from colleagues and welcomes the opportunity to share her experience and knowledge with others. She was recently recognized as a mentor and source of inspiration to fellow public servants at the 2006 Atlantic Conference of Public Administration

Ms. Vanstone holds a Master of Science (Urban and Regional Planning), University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours Geography), University of Western Ontario.