Christiane Fox was appointed Deputy Minister of National Defence, effective January 29, 2026.

Prior to joining the Department of National Defence (DND), Christiane Fox served as Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, as well as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Previous to that, Christiane held several deputy minister roles across the public service. She was the Deputy Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada from July 2022 to January 2024, the Deputy Minister of Indigenous Services Canada from September 2020 to July 2022, the Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs from November 2019 to September 2020, and the Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth from June 2017 to November 2019. She is also the Deputy Minister Champion of the Federal Youth Network.

Christiane has also held several positions at the Privy Council Office, including Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Communications and Consultations; Director of Operations, Policy, in the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Relations Secretariat; and Director General of Communications.

She started her career as a communications advisor at Industry Canada (now Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada), where she worked in communications and in science policy. She also spent a year with the Competition Policy Review Secretariat as Director of Communications and Consultations.

Christiane has a B.A. in Mass Communications and Psychology from Carleton University and is a graduate of the University of Ottawa’s Master’s Certificate Program in Public Administration.

Ian Hanomansing hosts CBC News’ flagship program THE NATIONAL from Vancouver on Fridays and Sundays, and is also the host of CROSS COUNTRY CHECKUP on CBC Radio and CBC News Network.

Born in Trinidad and raised in Sackville, New Brunswick, veteran host and reporter Ian Hanomansing began his broadcasting career at CKDH Radio in Amherst, Nova Scotia, working at radio stations in Moncton and Halifax before joining CBC in Halifax in 1986. His assignments took him to Toronto the following year and eventually to Vancouver, where he was a national reporter for fourteen years.

Among his major assignments: the Exxon Valdez oil spill and San Francisco earthquake (both in 1989), the Los Angeles riot (1992), Vancouver’s two Stanley Cup riots (1994 and 2011), the Hong Kong handover (1997) the Slave Lake Alberta wildfire (2011), the Humboldt bus crash (2018) and seven Olympic Games, the most recent in Sochi in 2014.

He has hosted a wide range of programs including: Pacific Rim Report (1995-1999), which focused on Canada’s connection to Asia; Times 7 (2005), a joint venture between CBC News and the New York Times; Canada Now (2000-2007), a national supper-hour newscast; Still Talking Hockey (2004), a sports-themed late night program on CBC British Columbia; Feeling the Heat (2007), a summer series about the environment on CBC Radio One and CBC News Network with Ian Hanomansing (2012-2017) which won a Canadian Journalism Award in 2014 and shared a Canadian Screen Award in 2015, both for breaking news coverage.

Hanomansing also developed and hosted a series of innovative live specials, including Downtown Drugs (1998), which explored the problems and potential solutions in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside from the streets of that troubled neighbourhood, and 2005’s Crime on the Streets, which may be the only national news show broadcast live from the cells of a Canadian federal institution, in this case Manitoba’s Stoney Mountain. That program won a Justicia Award from the Canadian Bar Association for Excellence in Legal Journalism. Other national awards include the 2008 Gemini for Best News Anchor and the 2016 Canadian Screen Award for Best National News Anchor.

He also co-hosted with Johanna Wagstaffe the CBC podcast UNCOVER: BOMB ON BOARD in 2018. It investigated one of the biggest unsolved mass murders on Canadian soil, Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 21. It crashed near 100 Mile House B.C. in 1965, killing all 52 passengers and crew.

Hanomansing was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and grew up in Sackville, New Brunswick. He graduated with an honours B.A. in political science and sociology from Mount Allison University in Sackville, where he was valedictorian; he also has a law degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax. While in university, Hanomansing won six national university debating and public speaking championships.

He is based in Vancouver.

Follow Ian Hanomansing on Twitter and Instagram.

Richard Shimooka is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a contributing columnist for thehub.ca. Formerly a senior fellow at the Defence Management Studies Programme at Queen’s University and research fellow at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, he writes on an array of topics, including Canadian and American foreign and defence policy, modern airpower, and defence procurement. He co-authored Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: The Influence of External Studies and Reports on National Defence Policy, has published multiple journal articles and chapters, and is a frequent writer in the media on security and defence issues.

Ms. Wendy Hadwen was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy-Industry) in October 2024.

Prior to assuming her current duties, she was Communications Security Establishment Canada’s Deputy Chief responsible for Strategic Policy, Planning and Partnerships.

Previously she held executive positions at NRCan, at Treasury Board Secretariat, Ernst & Young, and the Security and Intelligence Secretariat of the Privy Council Office.

Since starting in 1994 at Foreign Affairs working on rapid reaction capacity for international peacekeeping operations, she has spent her policy career almost entirely on peace and security issues including implementing the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, establishing the counterterrorism capacity building program, and promoting non-proliferation and nuclear security.

Ms. Hadwen has an M.A. in War Studies from King’s College London and a BSc in Chemistry and History from the University of Toronto.

Brian Lenahan is founder and chair of the Quantum Strategy Institute, and author of six Amazon published books on quantum technologies and artificial intelligence. Brian was named a ‘Quantum Top Voice for 2022’ for his LinkedIn publishing activities. He is a former financial services industry executive with a focus on the strategic and practical applications of technology.

Lisa Lambert is Vice President, Global Strategy & Managing Director, Canada at IonQ, the world’s leading quantum platform company. She leads IonQ’s growth, market development, and strategic expansion efforts in Canada while helping advance the company’s global strategy, partnerships, and growth in key international markets.

Lisa’s career has focused on helping organizations anticipate and capitalize on technological change, turning breakthrough science and emerging technologies into commercial opportunity, business growth, and long-term competitive advantage.

Throughout her career, she has worked with organizations pursuing some of the world’s most ambitious scientific and technological challenges, including the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, TRIUMF, and Quantum Industry Canada. Her work has brought together leaders from business, research, government, defence, and investment communities to accelerate commercialization, strengthen collaboration, and create new opportunities for frontier technologies.

Prior to joining IonQ, Lisa served as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Quantum Industry Canada, where she worked with technology startups, multinational corporations, governments, and allied partners to strengthen Canada’s position in the global quantum industry.

She is a trusted advisor to organizations spanning industry, science, innovation, defence, national security, and public policy, and a frequent speaker on emerging technologies, economic competitiveness, technology strategy, and the role of frontier innovation in shaping prosperity, security, and resilience. Lisa is also co-author of The Future Is Trust, an internationally bestselling book exploring leadership and trust in an era of profound technological change.

Briony leads Photonic’s Global Government Affairs, drawing on her experience serving in the UK intelligence community at GCHQ for over 14 years.

Having joined the intelligence community as an Arabic linguist, she held a range of operational, policy, and engineering leadership roles before spending nearly four years posted to Ottawa leading on cyber security, quantum, AI and national security.

Before joining Photonic, Briony led Cyber and Physical Defence, Data Security, and Supply Chain at Lloyds Bank. She is known for her ability to build strong, inclusive teams that get accomplish exceptional things whilst having fun. She is the co-host of the leadership podcast, Lead the Room.

Briony is based in the UK but loves to travel to Canada.

Bridget Walshe is the Associate Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. Prior to this role, Bridget served the Director General of Operations, Security and Intelligence at the Privy Council Office for two years, where she was responsible for providing advice on key operational and policy issues in the Canadian Security and Intelligence community.

Bridget began her career at CSE in 2003 and has held various positions including Director General for the Secure Solutions and Services Directorate where she was responsible for applied research, architecture, engineering and development of secure cryptographic solutions. Bridget also worked as a mathematician, where she conducted applied research in cryptography and provided advice and guidance on the use of cryptographic algorithms by the Government of Canada. In subsequent roles she led teams of mathematicians and computer scientists in the development of complex, cryptologic solutions using both commodity and high-performance computing platforms.

Bridget holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Victoria.

Vina Nadjibulla is Co-Founder and CEO of the Centre for Strategic Statecraft, an independent, non-partisan policy institution focused on strengthening Canada’s capacity to think and act strategically in a more competitive and uncertain world. Previously, she served as Vice-President, Research & Strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, where she led the Foundation’s research, policy, and programmatic work on Canada’s engagement with Asia and the Indo-Pacific.

Vina brings more than two decades of experience in diplomacy, advocacy, and program management, with work spanning the United Nations, governments, think tanks, philanthropy, non-profit organizations, and social enterprises. She is a frequent media commentator on Canada’s foreign policy and geopolitics and has appeared on CNBC, Deutsche Welle, CBC, CNA, Al Jazeera, and other Canadian and international outlets.

Vina is a Balsillie Scholar at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, a Senior Research Fellow at the Soufan Center, a Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, and a contributing writer for Policy Magazine. She has taught at the University of British Columbia and holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University. Born in the Soviet Union, raised in Afghanistan, and educated in the United States, Vina is now a Canadian citizen.

Dr. James Boutilier was the Special Advisor in International Engagement at Canada’s Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) Headquarters in Esquimalt, British Columbia. During his time as Special Advisor he was responsible for advising the Commander of Maritime Forces Pacific on defence and foreign policy issues and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region. Prior to his appointment at MARPAC, Dr. Boutilier spent twenty-four years on staff at the Royal Roads Military College (RRMC) in Victoria as Head of the History Department, and then as Dean of Arts. While at RRMC, he was instrumental in establishing the military and strategic studies degree program, and taught courses on naval history, contemporary Asia, the history of the Pacific, and strategic issues.

Dr. Boutilier was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and attended Dalhousie University (B.A. History: 1960), McMaster University (M.A. History: 1962), and the University of London (Ph.D. History: 1969). Dr. Boutilier served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Reserve from 1956-64 as a navigating officer, and in the same capacity in the Royal Navy (RN) Reserve from 1964 -69. After completing his time with the RN, Dr. Boutilier taught at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, from 1969-71.

Dr. Boutilier’s field of expertise is Asia-Pacific defence and security, with a focus on maritime issues. He has published widely on international defence and security issues, including RCN in Retrospect (1982), and articles in professional monographs as well as the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter and Canadian Institute of International Affairs journals. Dr. Boutilier lectures regularly at the NATO Defense College, the Canadian Forces College, the Australian Defence College, the National Defense University of the Philippines, and Bharia University in Karachi. Dr. Boutilier participates on a regular basis in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition (IMDEX), the ASEAN Regional Forum Conference on National Defence Colleges, the Asia-Pacific Roundtable meetings of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Shangri-La Dialogue, and the Royal Australian Navy Seapower conference.

In recognition of his efforts to advance maritime affairs in Canada, Dr. Boutilier is the recipient of the Vimy Award (2016) and the Admirals’ Medal (2016).

Sami Khoury is a retired Government of Canada senior national security executive whose career focused on safeguarding Canada’s digital infrastructure and advancing national security interests. He most recently served as the Government of Canada Senior Official for Cyber Security, providing expert advice and guidance to deputy ministers and senior officials on cyber security risks, priorities, and resilience.

Sami joined the Communications Security Establishment in 1992 and held a wide range of operational and executive leadership roles over the course of his career. From 2021 to 2024, he was Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre). He also served as CSE’s Chief Information Officer and led the organization’s research program as well as its 24/7 Operations Centre.

Sami holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, a Master of Applied Science from Concordia University in Montréal, and a certificate in Public Sector Leadership from the University of Ottawa. He is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the APEX Award of Excellence for Innovation.

Jennifer Irish is Principal, Pendulum Geopolitical Advisory Group and leads its information integrity practice. She is also an Associate at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer Centre for Executive Leadership, serving as Program Director of its security and intelligence leadership programming. She is the founding director of the University’s Information Integrity Lab, created to advance the understanding of information distortion activities, including disinformation. She brings to these positions 35 years of prior leadership experience as an accomplished diplomat and senior executive in the Canadian government in national security, geostrategic analysis, trade policy and international affairs.

Senator Baltej Dhillon is a retired career police officer, a community leader, and a lifelong advocate for diversity and inclusion.

Emigrating from Malaysia in 1983, Senator Dhillon made history in 1991 as the first Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer to wear a turban, advocating for the right to practice his faith while serving Canada. He went on to have a successful 30 year career with the RCMP as an accomplished major crime investigator, police interrogator, polygraph examiner, intelligence officer, and emergency planner. He played a key role in several high-profile investigations, including the Air India Flight 182 tragedy and the Robert Pickton case. Senator Dhillon also held various leadership roles, including overseeing the British Columbia RCMP Divisional Emergency Operations Centre and the federal Serious and Organized Crime’s Intelligence section, also in British Columbia, as well as establishing and managing intelligence operations at the Provincial Intelligence Centre of British Columbia (now the Real-Time Operations Centre of British Columbia), the first of its kind in Canada.

In 2013, Senator Dhillon led the Sikh Leadership and Police Committee on Gang Violence to support youth prevention strategies within the Sikh Community. Since retiring from the RCMP in 2019, he has worked as Program Manager for the Crime Guns Intelligence and Investigations Group with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia, the province’s anti-gang agency.

Senator Dhillon is also deeply involved in community service. He serves on various committees and has led youth camps. He has received numerous distinctions and awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Times of Canada, the King’s Coronation Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, and a host of other community accolades celebrating his service and leadership.

In addition to his extensive police education and training, Senator Dhillon is the recipient of honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from McMaster University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

He and his wife, Suroj, are proud parents to two daughters, Onkar and Rasna, son-in-law Ryan, and grandparents to their beloved grandson, Jovin Singh.

Deputy Chief Mike Procyk currently holds the position of officer in charge of Investigative Services at the Surrey Police Service.

DCC Procyk joined SPS in 2021 as one of SPS’s first Superintendents after a 24-year career with the RCMP. The balance of his career has been focussed on investigating homicides, major crimes, and organized crime across the Lower Mainland and other regions of British Columbia. In 2005 and 2006, DCC Procyk represented Canada as part of an international mission to Jordan where he trained the Iraq National Police. Over the span of his 29-year policing career, DCC Procyk has demonstrated a commitment to integration in policing and has led several multi-agency teams as part of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, the Provincial Unsolved Homicide Unit and Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia.

DCC Procyk currently sits on Executive board for the BC Association of Chiefs of Police. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Simon Fraser University, is an Accredited Team Commander, Certified Polygraph Examiner, and is recognized as an International Police Trainer by the Jordan International Police Training Centre.

Since joining the ranks of SPS, DCC Procyk held central roles in the planning, development and operationalization of the Surrey Police Service. In early 2025, he was promoted to Deputy Chief and from that post, he continues to work with RCMP, City of Surrey, Ministry of Public Safety and other partners to navigate the Surrey policing transition.

DCC Procyk’s commitment to service has earned him a variety of formal recognition including four commendations from the RCMP, three Meritorious Service Awards from the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia and the Jordan International Training medal form the King of Jordan. In 2021, Supt. Procyk was inducted into the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

Brad West was first elected Mayor in 2018, receiving the most votes ever by a municipal candidate in the city’s history. In 2022, Brad was the first Mayor in Port Coquitlam to be acclaimed to another term in office.

Prior to his time as Mayor, Brad served three terms as a City Councillor. He is widely recognized for his strong, common sense leadership, his focus on what matters to Port Coquitlam families, and his ability to get things done.

Under Brad’s leadership, Port Coquitlam has been making significant improvements to the quality of life of its residents. With a focus on delivering the core responsibilities of the city, there has been tremendous progress on the community’s priorities while carefully and responsibly managing taxpayer dollars. Port Coquitlam is being widely recognized as one of the best cities to live in the province.

Brad is a life-long resident of Port Coquitlam and, along with his wife Blaire, is proud to be raising his two young sons in our community. The West family keeps busy with soccer, hockey, lacrosse and enjoying time in our beautiful parks and trails.

Brad is a graduate of the University of Victoria, St. Francis Xavier University and completed a program in Leadership at Harvard University.

Christian Leuprecht (Ph.D, Queen’s) is Class of 1965 Professor in Leadership, Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College, Director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University the inaugural Fulbright Chair in Canada-US Relations at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC and Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College in Rome. He is Adjunct Research Professor, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt University as well as the Centre for Crime Policy and Research, Flinders University. A recipient of RMC’s Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research and an elected member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada, he is also Munk Senior Fellow in Security and Defence at the Macdonald Laurier Institute. An expert in security and defence, political demography, and comparative federalism and multilevel governance, he has held visiting positions in North America, Europe, and Australia, and is regularly called as an expert witness to testify before committees of Parliament. He holds appointments to the board of the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies, the Police Services Board of the City of Kingston, and the Polar Research & Policy Initiative.

His publications have appeared in English, German, French, and Spanish and include 12 books and scores of articles that have appeared, inter alia, in the Florida State University Law Review (2019), Electoral Studies (2016), Government Information Quarterly (2016), Armed Forces and Society (2015), Global Crime (2015, 2013), the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (2014, Maureen Molot Prize for Best Article), Canadian Public Administration (2014), the Canadian Journal of Political Science (2012, 2003), Regional and Federal Studies (2012), and Terrorism and Political Violence (2019, 2018, 2017, 2011). His editorials appear regularly across Canada’s national newspapers and he is a frequent commentator in domestic and international media.

Leuprecht has been Matthew Flinders Fellow at the Flinders University of South Australia (2017-2018), held a senior and visiting fellowships at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study (2016), the Helmut-Schmidt-University of the Bundeswehr (2016), Université Pierre-Mendès France (2015), the University of Augsburg in Germany (2011), the Swedish National Defence College (recurring) and the European Academy (recurring), and as the Bicentennial Visiting Associate Professor in Canadian Studies at Yale University (2009-2010). He is a research affiliate at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (since 2005), the Network for Terrorism, Security, and Society (since 2012), l’Université de Montréal’s International Centre for Comparative Criminology (since 2014), the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les relations internationales du Canada et du Québec (since 2015), l’Observatoire sur la radicalization et l’extrémisme violent (since 2015), the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (since 2010), the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College (2003), the World Population Program at the International Institute for Advanced Systems Analysis in Vienna, Austria (2002), and held doctoral (2001-2003) and postdoctoral (2003-2005) fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He holds a Ph.D. from Queen’s University (2003), and graduate degrees in Political Science (1998) and French (1999) from the University of Toronto as well as the Institut d’Études Politiques at the Université Pierre-Mendès France in Grenoble (1997).

From 2015-2018 he held a Governor-in-Council appointment to the governing Council of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada where he also served on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Committee on Discovery Research. He is also immediate past-president (2014-2018) of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee 01: Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution. Since joining RMCC in 2005, he has served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Deputy Head of the Department of Political Science and Economics. He has twice received the RMCC Commandant’s Commendation for Excellence in Service. A long-time proponent of experiential learning, Leuprecht has also been a finalist for RMCC’s Teaching Excellence Award and has received honourable mention for the Queen’s University Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award (2017). He is a member of the editorial boards of Armed Forces & Society, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, Current Sociology’s Manuscript Series, and the Springer book series in Advances in Science and Technologies for Security Applications. Previously, he was associate editor of the Queen’s Policy Studies series published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

H.E. Hanne Ulrichsen became Ambassador of Norway to Canada in the fall of 2025. She has previously been Director for the Section for Middle East and North and was before that posted to Amman, Jordan. She has served as a Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellow (TDF) U.S. Department of State and has served at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. (2009-2011). Other assignments include the Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of the Norwegian Director of Intelligence, and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Specialized in security policy, she holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Oslo and a Master’s Degree in European Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium). She graduated from NATO’s Senior Leadership Course at the NATO Defence College in Rome (Italy) with high distinction in 2015.

Jason has been architecting, designing, and deploying security technologies that secure the most complex computing environments for almost 2 decades. His understanding of operational and informational technologies, people, and processes enable him to deliver effective, comprehensive security solutions that align to an organization’s security goals and strategic imperatives. Jason is adept at addressing a range of risk profiles across multiple industry verticals; skills he has cultivated as an end-user security practitioner, partner/integrator, and now manufacturer as the FIELD CTO, focused on Cybersecurity for Cisco Systems. Jason is also active in the direct community speaking at BC Aware, Vancouver International Privacy and Security Summit, Cisco Live achieving distinguished speaker, and has delivered multiple sessions at BSides. Jason also holds over 75+ designations across a variety of products and technologies including the CCIE designation.

Christian Leuprecht (Ph.D, Queen’s) is Class of 1965 Professor in Leadership, Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College, Director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University the inaugural Fulbright Chair in Canada-US Relations at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC and Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College in Rome. He is Adjunct Research Professor, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt University as well as the Centre for Crime Policy and Research, Flinders University. A recipient of RMC’s Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research and an elected member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada, he is also Munk Senior Fellow in Security and Defence at the Macdonald Laurier Institute. An expert in security and defence, political demography, and comparative federalism and multilevel governance, he has held visiting positions in North America, Europe, and Australia, and is regularly called as an expert witness to testify before committees of Parliament. He holds appointments to the board of the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies, the Police Services Board of the City of Kingston, and the Polar Research & Policy Initiative.

His publications have appeared in English, German, French, and Spanish and include 12 books and scores of articles that have appeared, inter alia, in the Florida State University Law Review (2019), Electoral Studies (2016), Government Information Quarterly (2016), Armed Forces and Society (2015), Global Crime (2015, 2013), the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (2014, Maureen Molot Prize for Best Article), Canadian Public Administration (2014), the Canadian Journal of Political Science (2012, 2003), Regional and Federal Studies (2012), and Terrorism and Political Violence (2019, 2018, 2017, 2011). His editorials appear regularly across Canada’s national newspapers and he is a frequent commentator in domestic and international media.

Leuprecht has been Matthew Flinders Fellow at the Flinders University of South Australia (2017-2018), held a senior and visiting fellowships at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study (2016), the Helmut-Schmidt-University of the Bundeswehr (2016), Université Pierre-Mendès France (2015), the University of Augsburg in Germany (2011), the Swedish National Defence College (recurring) and the European Academy (recurring), and as the Bicentennial Visiting Associate Professor in Canadian Studies at Yale University (2009-2010). He is a research affiliate at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (since 2005), the Network for Terrorism, Security, and Society (since 2012), l’Université de Montréal’s International Centre for Comparative Criminology (since 2014), the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les relations internationales du Canada et du Québec (since 2015), l’Observatoire sur la radicalization et l’extrémisme violent (since 2015), the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (since 2010), the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College (2003), the World Population Program at the International Institute for Advanced Systems Analysis in Vienna, Austria (2002), and held doctoral (2001-2003) and postdoctoral (2003-2005) fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He holds a Ph.D. from Queen’s University (2003), and graduate degrees in Political Science (1998) and French (1999) from the University of Toronto as well as the Institut d’Études Politiques at the Université Pierre-Mendès France in Grenoble (1997).

From 2015-2018 he held a Governor-in-Council appointment to the governing Council of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada where he also served on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Committee on Discovery Research. He is also immediate past-president (2014-2018) of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee 01: Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution. Since joining RMCC in 2005, he has served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Deputy Head of the Department of Political Science and Economics. He has twice received the RMCC Commandant’s Commendation for Excellence in Service. A long-time proponent of experiential learning, Leuprecht has also been a finalist for RMCC’s Teaching Excellence Award and has received honourable mention for the Queen’s University Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award (2017). He is a member of the editorial boards of Armed Forces & Society, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, Current Sociology’s Manuscript Series, and the Springer book series in Advances in Science and Technologies for Security Applications. Previously, he was associate editor of the Queen’s Policy Studies series published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Robert W. (Bob) Gordon is the executive director of the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX). Over his career, Bob has worked for four federal national security agencies—the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Communications Security Establishment, and Public Safety Canada—as well as in the private sector at CGI. While serving in these roles, Bob has been a senior assistant deputy minister, led the national counterterrorism program, overseen broad technology and internal security initiatives (including personnel, IT, and physical security), and designed Canada’s first Cyber Security Strategy. At the CCTX, Bob oversees information sharing and collaboration programs designed to create an open threat data exchange between the public and private sectors.

Lisa Ducharme is an Associate with the University of Ottawa’s Telfer Executive Programs. She also teaches intelligence tradecraft through uOttawa’s Professional Development Institute and provides consultation services for national security and intelligence professionals through Human Potential Consultants, Inc.

Previously, Lisa spent nearly 37 years with the federal government in a career that spanned the defence, intelligence, public safety, law enforcement, and national security domains. She served in the military before joining the public service, accepting senior leadership and executive positions with the Communications Security Establishment, the Department of National Defence, Public Safety Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Her most recent government roles were as Acting Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet and Director of Operations for the Privy Council Office’s Intelligence Assessment Secretariat. There, she led teams responsible for providing strategic intelligence assessments to the most senior levels of government, which included the Prime Minister, the Clerk of the Privy Council, the National Security and Intelligence Advisor, and the National Security Council.

Katie is an experienced leader with an extensive background working with domestic and international stakeholders building collaborative networks to address a range of security issues. These include financial crime, Canada-United States security cooperation, cyber security, and, critical infrastructure protection.

Katie joined the Bank of Canada in 2012 as part of the Corporate Security Leadership Team and is currently the Justice System Specialist in the Currency Department.

Prior to joining the Bank, Katie spent over twenty years working within national security and public safety environments. This includes 14 years with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and two assignments in Washington D.C. Katie was seconded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1999-2002) to work on Canada-US interdependencies related to Critical Infrastructure Protection, and, was assigned to the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C (2006-2012) as Counsellor, Public Safety and Border Security.

Katie holds a Master of Arts in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, and, a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Psychology from Carleton University.

Taleeb Noormohamed is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation.

Taleeb Noormohamed brings a rare combination of technology, policy, and public service experience to the most consequential AI governance conversations in Canada today. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, he sits at the intersection of Canada’s emerging technology agenda and its implementation.

Before entering federal politics, Taleeb built and led global technology companies, advised startups, and created hundreds of jobs in the technology sector across Canada and internationally. He served as Vice-President of Strategy and Partnerships for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and has served on the boards of the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and Covenant House Vancouver – bringing direct experience in both healthcare governance and community service.

MICHAEL HARVEY was appointed to a six-year term as BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner by unanimous motion of the Legislative Assembly in May 2024.

From 2019 until to his appointment, Michael served as the Information and Privacy Commissioner for Newfoundland and Labrador. In early 2015, he led the implementation of the new Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015. Then as Assistant Deputy Minister of Policy, Planning and Performance Management in the Department of Health and Community Services in August 2015, he was responsible for the ongoing statutory review of the Personal Health Information Act.

Michael served as co-chair of Canada Health Infoway’s Privacy Forum and was appointed by the federal government to the Expert Advisory Group on a pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy. He holds an International Baccalaureate from the United World College – USA, a BA (Hons) in Political Science from Memorial University, a MA in Political Studies from Queen’s University and an Executive Certificate in Conflict Management from the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law/Stitt Feld Handy Group.

Dr. Heather Exner-Pirot is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Natural Resources, Energy and Environment program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a Special Advisor to the Business Council of Canada. She is the Managing Editor of the Arctic Yearbook and a Network Coordinator for the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN).

Karen Ogen is the CEO of the First Nations Natural Gas Alliance, a society of First Nations in support of responsible LNG and Natural Gas development in Canada – with a priority on the environment, and on First Nations consultation and engagement.

Karen brings extensive experience to her role, having served as elected chief of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation for six years, 2010-2016. She was also a council member for the Nation 1987-1990 and again 2019-2022.

She is familiar with the needs of Indigenous communities throughout B.C. and seeks to increase economic opportunities for First Nations through providing information and education regarding responsible resource development.

While Karen recognizes that not all projects will be appropriate for all nations, she hopes to help inspire more First Nations to consider and engage in discussions with industry and government around the possibility of resource opportunities.
Karen’s academic background is in social work. She achieved her master’s degree from the University of Northern British Columbia in 2007, and graduated from the Indigenous Governance Certificate Program from the University of Victoria in 2010. In August 2022, she successfully completed the Masters in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University in the Indigenous Business Leadership program. She is the first in her family and community to attain two master’s degrees.

Karen was named one of the “35 Most Influential Women in BC: The power to disrupt” in March 2016, by BC Business Magazine. And she was elected in four years, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, and 2026 as one of the Business in Vancouver BC 500: The most influential business leaders in British Columbia, in the Resources: Oil and Gas sector.

Susanna Zagar is an accomplished executive, industry advisor and governance professional who has shaped the Canadian energy landscape through her regulatory expertise, public policy advocacy and commitment to consumer protection. Currently, the President & CEO of the Canadian Gas Association (CGA), Susanna, is focused on aligning strategy with execution, strengthening organizational impact, and building partnerships that advance the Canadian energy advantage.

Prior to joining the CGA, Susanna spent five years at the helm of the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), the largest independent economic energy regulator in North America, where she had oversight of the generation, transmission and distribution of both electricity and natural gas. As OEB CEO, Susanna was recognized as a new class of energy regulator, with a clear vision for delivering public value through a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework.

Named as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Susanna has a BA from Simon Fraser University, completed executive programs at Harvard Business School and Stanford School of Business and holds governance designations from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) and Competent Boards, ESG (GCB.D).

Bridgitte Anderson is the President and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade – Western Canada’s most active and influential business association.

Bridgitte is the first woman to lead the Board of Trade in its 139-year history. Her focus is on building a more competitive and sustainable economy through better public policy that increases prosperity, productivity, and investment in our region.

For two years, Bridgitte served as the Chair of the Canadian Global Cities Council (CGCC), representing Canada’s largest urban Chambers and Boards of Trade. She also sits on the Invest Vancouver Management Board.

Prior to Bridgitte’s current role, she was the Vancouver General Manager for Edelman, a global public relations firm. She also served as Press Secretary to BC Premier Gordon Campbell, leading communications during the 2010 Winter Olympics, following a 20-year career in journalism.

Recognized for her impactful leadership, she has received numerous awards, including BIV’s Most Influential Women in Business Award, the King Charles III Coronation Medal, the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, and Vanmag’s Power50.

Matt Malone is a writer, lawyer, and academic whose work explores the intersection of law and secrecy. Matt holds degrees from the University of Toronto, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and McGill University, and is currently a fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo.

Christian Leuprecht (Ph.D, Queen’s) is Class of 1965 Professor in Leadership, Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College, Director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University the inaugural Fulbright Chair in Canada-US Relations at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC and Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College in Rome. He is Adjunct Research Professor, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt University as well as the Centre for Crime Policy and Research, Flinders University. A recipient of RMC’s Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research and an elected member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada, he is also Munk Senior Fellow in Security and Defence at the Macdonald Laurier Institute. An expert in security and defence, political demography, and comparative federalism and multilevel governance, he has held visiting positions in North America, Europe, and Australia, and is regularly called as an expert witness to testify before committees of Parliament. He holds appointments to the board of the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies, the Police Services Board of the City of Kingston, and the Polar Research & Policy Initiative.

His publications have appeared in English, German, French, and Spanish and include 12 books and scores of articles that have appeared, inter alia, in the Florida State University Law Review (2019), Electoral Studies (2016), Government Information Quarterly (2016), Armed Forces and Society (2015), Global Crime (2015, 2013), the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (2014, Maureen Molot Prize for Best Article), Canadian Public Administration (2014), the Canadian Journal of Political Science (2012, 2003), Regional and Federal Studies (2012), and Terrorism and Political Violence (2019, 2018, 2017, 2011). His editorials appear regularly across Canada’s national newspapers and he is a frequent commentator in domestic and international media.

Leuprecht has been Matthew Flinders Fellow at the Flinders University of South Australia (2017-2018), held a senior and visiting fellowships at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study (2016), the Helmut-Schmidt-University of the Bundeswehr (2016), Université Pierre-Mendès France (2015), the University of Augsburg in Germany (2011), the Swedish National Defence College (recurring) and the European Academy (recurring), and as the Bicentennial Visiting Associate Professor in Canadian Studies at Yale University (2009-2010). He is a research affiliate at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (since 2005), the Network for Terrorism, Security, and Society (since 2012), l’Université de Montréal’s International Centre for Comparative Criminology (since 2014), the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les relations internationales du Canada et du Québec (since 2015), l’Observatoire sur la radicalization et l’extrémisme violent (since 2015), the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (since 2010), the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College (2003), the World Population Program at the International Institute for Advanced Systems Analysis in Vienna, Austria (2002), and held doctoral (2001-2003) and postdoctoral (2003-2005) fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He holds a Ph.D. from Queen’s University (2003), and graduate degrees in Political Science (1998) and French (1999) from the University of Toronto as well as the Institut d’Études Politiques at the Université Pierre-Mendès France in Grenoble (1997).

From 2015-2018 he held a Governor-in-Council appointment to the governing Council of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada where he also served on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Committee on Discovery Research. He is also immediate past-president (2014-2018) of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee 01: Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution. Since joining RMCC in 2005, he has served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Deputy Head of the Department of Political Science and Economics. He has twice received the RMCC Commandant’s Commendation for Excellence in Service. A long-time proponent of experiential learning, Leuprecht has also been a finalist for RMCC’s Teaching Excellence Award and has received honourable mention for the Queen’s University Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award (2017). He is a member of the editorial boards of Armed Forces & Society, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, Current Sociology’s Manuscript Series, and the Springer book series in Advances in Science and Technologies for Security Applications. Previously, he was associate editor of the Queen’s Policy Studies series published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Stefanie Beck was Deputy Minister of National Defence June 2024 – January 2026. She had previously been Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and earlier, Associate Deputy Minister for DND.

Ms Beck served as Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Alternate Representative to the International Maritime Organization 2020 – 2022. Prior to that, she was the Assistant Secretary to Cabinet, Priorities and Planning during two transitions and the first months of the pandemic. Beck has also held senior corporate and policy leadership roles at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Global Affairs Canada.

Beck joined the Department of External Affairs in 1990. In addition to multiple roles at headquarters, she served in Senegal and Australia, and was Canada’s Ambassador to Cambodia and later Croatia.

In her role as Deputy Minister of National Defence, Ms. Beck led the development of policies and programmes to deliver historic increases in the defence budget for Canada, as well as the integration of the Coast Guard, resulting in an organization of close to 40,000 civilians. At AAFC, she oversaw the implementation of a new federal / provincial/ territorial agreement on programming to support farmers and ranchers, and an increase in production leading to 100 billion$ worth of food exports.

She is known as a leader in policy development and resource management, both in lean times and in good ones. Her diplomatic skills have served her in good stead in building teams and advocating for solutions on complex, sensitive files.

Ms. Beck is fluently bilingual in English and French. She is a graduate of McGill University, with a degree in Modern Languages (German and Italian). Born in Guyana to New Zealander parents, she grew up in Jamaica, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Guinea, before joining the then-Department of External Affairs.

Mr. Richard B. Fadden was the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister from January 19, 2015 to March 31, 2016. Previously he was the Deputy Minister of National Defence starting in May 2013, he served as the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service from 2009 until 2013. He has also served as the Deputy Minister for Citizenship and Immigration Canada from 2006 to 2009, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada from 2005 to 2006, President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from 2002 to 2005, and Deputy Clerk and Counsel in the Privy Council Office from 2000 to 2002. In early 2001, he took on the additional position of Security and Intelligence Coordinator.

In the course of his career, Mr. Fadden worked in a variety of different positions across the Government of Canada including in the Department of External Affairs, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Mr. Fadden holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from the University of Ottawa, a Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Montréal, and a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from McGill University. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Currently, he serves on a number of boards, is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Robert Fife recently stepped down as The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa Bureau Chief. He has broken numerous stories over a 48 year career covering national politics. Recently, he and colleague Steven Chase, led the way into an investigation into Chinese foreign interference in Canadian elections and domestic affairs. Based on top secret and secret information from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Mr. Fife’s reporting contributed to the establishment of a judicial inquiry and legislation that resulted in the establishment of a foreign agent registry and changes to the Criminal Code to make foreign interference a criminal offence. His reporting on Canadian universities cooperating with Chinese military institutions led the federal government to ban such research cooperation.

In 2018, Mr. Fife broke the SNC-Lavalin affairs that led to resignations of two senior cabinet ministers, a top lieutenant to the prime minister and the Clerk of the Privy Council – the country’s top civil servant.

In 2016 he and his Globe and Mail colleague Steven Chase wrote a series of stories about Liberal Party cash-for-access fundraisers that resulted in Prime Minister Trudeau modifying all party fundraising. Mr. Fife uncovered the Senate expense scandal that cost Nigel Wright his job, setting the course for an RCMP investigation, audits and reform of Senate expense rules.

As CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief, Mr. Fife set the political agenda in 2014 when he uncovered the Senate expense scandal that resulted in the resignation of the prime minister’s chief of staff and significant reform of Senate expenses. In 2012, he exposed the E. coli contamination of some XL Foods products, forcing the company to recall 1500 tainted meat products. The government subsequently moved food inspections from agriculture to the health department.

He is the former Ottawa Bureau Chief of the National Post and CTV National News and host of CTV’s Question Period. He worked as a senior political reporter for United Press International (Canada), The Canadian Press and was Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Sun Media chain. Mr. Fife, who has won many awards for his journalism, is also the author of several books: A Capital Scandal: Politics, Patronage and Payoff; Why Parliament Must Be Reformed; and Kim Campbell: The Making of a Politician