Jacques Gérin, Eng., MRP
Consultant
Jacques Gérin, a civil engineer with a master’s degree in Regional Planning, is a consultant on Sustainable Development strategies and the Environment.
He has been a manager and a consultant in the fields of natural resources management, economic development and the environment in both the public and private sectors, in Canada and internationally.
Formerly with the Government of Canada, he was Vice President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Deputy Minister of Environment Canada and Associate Deputy Minister of Northern Development.
He is a former President of Hatch & Associés Inc. and was responsible for the Environment for the Hatch group of companies.
He is Chairman of the Board of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
In 1999 he chaired the Panel on Ecological Integrity of Canada’s National Parks. He was a member (1994-1999) and Chair (1995) of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC) and a Governor (1994-2002) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
In 1997 he received the Richard Beatty Mellon Award from the Air and Waste Management Association.
He is currently the Executive Secretary of an Independent Panel established by the World Bank to oversee a major oilfield development project in Chad and Cameroon.
Laurier L. LaPierre, O.C.
Senator
Laurier LaPierre is widely-known and respected across Canada for his extraordinary achievements as an author, journalist, commentator and educator.
Senator LaPierre holds a B.A., M.A., and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Toronto, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Prince Edward Island and a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from Brock University. From 1959-78, he served on the faculties of the University of Western Ontario, Loyola College and McGill University. In 1993-94, he was the Max Bell Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Regina.
He earned national acclaim for his work with the CBC between 1962 and 1978 as host and writer for such programs as This Hour Has Seven Days, Inquiry and Midnight. Over the years, he has also been a much sought-after host and commentator on television and radio. Up to the time of this appointment he was Chair of Telefilm Canada. He is currently the honorary Chair for the Historica Foundation’s Heritage Fairs Program.
A foremost authority on Canadian history and public affairs, Senator LaPierre has authored or edited numerous books and publications, including: Quebec: A Tale of Love; Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Romance of Canada; 1759: The Battle for Canada; Québec Hier et Aujourd’hui; and, The Apprenticeship of Canada, 1876-1914. He has written articles for, among others, The Financial Post, International Review, Canadian Forum and Encyclopaedia Britannica. In the late 1970s he was on the Commission of Inquiry into the Education of the Young Child and from 1990-91, he was Host of the Electronic Town Hall Meetings held in connection with The Citizens Forum on Canada’s Future. From 1997 to 2000 he was a member of the Minister’s Monitoring Committee on Change in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces.
He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1994.
Senate Responsibilities:
Member of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights
Member of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications
Member of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
Bruce Amos
Regional Vice Chair IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)
Over the past 30 years, Bruce Amos has held a variety of policy and management positions with Parks Canada and has retired from the position of Director-General of National Parks. He was responsible for the planning and negotiations, which resulted in the establishment of many new national parks and marine conservation areas across Canada.
Mr. Amos is North American Vice-Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. He has served as Chair of the Canada/MAB Working Group on Biosphere Reserves, and as a member of the UNESCO International Advisory Committee on Biosphere Reserves. He is also on the Board of Governors of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society and the Board of Directors of Wildlife Habitat Canada.
Mr. Amos holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University, and a Master’s degree in Management Studies from the University of Oxford, England.
Phyllis E. LeBlanc
Full Professor, Université de Moncton
Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, Phyllis E. LeBlanc obtained her first two degrees in history from the Université de Moncton (1976 and 1978) and her Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa (1989). Ms. LeBlanc worked as an analyst for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1984-88) and was professor of history at the University of Winnipeg (1988-90). She has been full professor of history at the Université de Moncton since 1994, specializing in Canadian social and economic history. Her most recent publications deal with the issues of ethnicity and language in the political and religious history of the Catholic Church in the Maritimes and in Louisiana, and with the history of Acadian women.
Member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada since 1998, Ms. LeBlanc is also member of the Macdonald Committee of the Canadian Historical Association (2002-2004) and president of the O’Brien Foundation Committee.
Bill Oppen
Public Policy Consultant
Bill Oppen has over thirty years of experience in environmental and natural resource policy. Most recently, Mr. Oppen was a member of the National Task Force on the Conservation of Canada’s Natural Heritage. This Task Force was created by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, and was charged with making recommendations to the Prime Minister on new approaches to conservation in Canada. The Task Force membership included many of the most senior officials from Canada’s largest conservation organizations along with industry, community and Aboriginal representatives.
For many years Mr. Oppen was the Deputy Minister of Renewable Resources for the Yukon Government. In this capacity he was responsible for fish and wildlife, parks and protected areas, environmental protection and agriculture. During this period he was active at the national level with the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. Prior to becoming Deputy Minister of Renewable Resources, he was Yukon’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development.
Mr. Oppen has also held senior positions with the Alberta Department of Environmental Protection and with the Alberta Department of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs as Director, Natural Resource Policy. In this role he was responsible for Alberta’s intergovernmental affairs in such areas as environment, energy, agriculture and national parks.
He has recently been appointed by the Premier of British Columbia to the Board of Directors of the Provincial Capital Commission.
Mr. Oppen holds an Honours degree in Canadian history from the University of Alberta. For the first five years of his career he was an historian and archivist with the National Archives of Canada. Mr. Oppen has authored a book on the Riel Rebellions and has published articles on a variety of historical and natural resource topics over the years. He has also been a newspaper columnist and radio commentator.
Mr. Oppen currently lives in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and works as a public policy consultant, when not struggling with the intricacies of the fly rod and three iron.
Sandra White
Sandra White & Associates
Sandra White has been active in Aboriginal tourism throughout Canada for the past 15 years. Her experience includes research, training, human resource planning, business planning, strategic planning and policy development in tourism.
For many years she managed FirstHost, a unique, one-day hospitality, customer service and tourism sustainability workshop for Aboriginal people in the tourism industry. Ms. White also provides consulting services to firms and organizations.
Ms. White has served on many boards and committees, namely as Chair of Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada (1999 to 2001), President of the Aboriginal Tourism Association of B.C. (1998 to 2000), Member, Historic Places Initiative, First Peoples Advisory Committee, Department of Canadian Heritage (2001-present). In July of 2002, Ms. White was appointed to the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) Board of Directors for a term of three years. Ms. White also joined the CESO (Canadian Executive Services Organization) Board of Directors in September 2002.