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Join the Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC) for a breakfast panel discussion on Wednesday, May 18th where our expert panelists will discuss the risks and opportunities related to climate change that may exist for your organization, as well as how it may shape future policy development by government on all levels. There will be an opportunity for questions from the audience, following the panel discussion.
Panelists:
Hon. John Godfrey, Special Advisor for Climate Change to the Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change
John Godfrey was first elected to the federal House of Commons as the member of parliament for Don Valley West in 1993. He was re-elected four times, holding the position until 2008. From 2003-04, Godfrey was the parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and from 2004-06, he served in cabinet as minister of state for Infrastructure and Communities. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing the distribution of $5.6 billion for strategic, municipal, rural and border infrastructure programs. Prior to being elected to Parliament, Godfrey served as vice-president of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He was also editor of the Financial Post for four years and spent 14 years in academia, holding various positions at the University of Kings College, including associate professor, president and vice-chancellor.
As Special Advisor to the Minister, Godfrey has been providing strategic advice and make recommendations to the Minister, including identifying opportunities to advance Ontario's leadership internationally and strengthen collaboration with other subnational jurisdictions, as well as chair the government's climate action group, which was appointed in 2015.
Toby Heaps, CEO and co-founder of Corporate Knights Inc. and publisher of Corporate Knights Magazine
Toby is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Corporate Knights and CK Capital. He spearheaded the first global ranking of the world’s 100 most sustainable corporations in 2005, and in 2007 coined the term “clean capitalism.” He sits on the Sustainability Accounting Standards Advisory Board and the University of Toronto’s Environment and Finance Committee. He also is a director at Ashoka Canada. Toby has been published in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and the Globe and Mail, and is a regular guest speaker on CBC.
Katie Sullivan, Director of North America and Climate Finance for IETA (International Emissions Trading Association).
Katie serves as IETA’s Director of North America and Climate Finance. On behalf of IETA’s global multi-sector business membership, Katie leads efforts to inform climate change policy and market design with government and non-government partners across North America. She also manages IETA’s growing international work on innovative instruments and mechanisms, capable of leveraging private capital into climate mitigation and resilience activities. Katie’s a member of the University of Toronto’s Environmental Finance Committee, Ontario Environment Commissioner’s Climate Change Advisory Panel, and the new Climate Advisory Group to Ontario’s Minister of Environment & Climate Change. Prior to joining IETA, Katie was a Senior Associate at ICF International, where she provided strategic climate and energy advisory services to corporate, government, NGO clients and UN agencies. Katie holds a Masters with Distinction in Environment, Development and Policy from the University of Sussex.
Tom Rand, Cleantech Investor, Advisor, Speaker, Author, Entrepreneur
Tom is currently Cleantech Lead at MaRS Discovery District, Canada’s pre-eminent innovation center. He is co-developer of Planet Traveler, North America’s greenest hotel right here in Toronto.
Tom has a strong entrepreneurial background, including the founding of Voice Courier Inc. in 1991 and leading its expansion to 100 employees in three countries. He founded VCi Green Funds, a private venture fund to provide angel and venture capital to companies developing emissionreduction technologies. This included taking hands-on leadership roles in cleantech companies ranging from geothermal to wind to green buildings to hydrogen. He has Board experience on leading Cleantech organizations and was the manager for the Green Bonds public policy team, a high profile initiative that was part of the Federal Liberal party’s platform in the last election. Recently Tom was appointed an Action Canada fellow and is in the final stages of writing a book called “Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Their World”, scheduled to be released this fall. Tom has a BASc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, a MSc from the University of London, and MA and PhD Degrees from the University of Toronto.
Moderator:
Tony Keller, Editorial Board Editor for the Globe and Mail.
Keller has been an editorial writer, columnist and editorial page editor for The Globe and Mail; a columnist for The Toronto Star; managing editor and consultant; and visiting fellow at The Mowat Centre.
A networking opportunity will follow the event.
