2010 CanaData Conference Speakers

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: JUSTIN P.J. TRUDEAU

The education and empowerment of youth are priorities that have dominated Justin Trudeau’s professional and personal life. Shortly after completing a degree at McGill University, Justin moved to Vancouver to earn a bachelor’s of education degree from the University of British Columbia. For the next four years, he devoted himself to teaching children of all ages. Returning home to Montreal, Justin was actively involved with Katimavik, Canada's leading national youth volunteer-service program, where he worked to increase the engagements of Canada’s youth towards their country and their communities. In addition to Katimavik, Trudeau has also been involved with the Canadian Avalanche Foundation, promoting intelligent risk-taking and safety awareness; and wilderness groups such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

For the past few years, Justin has been speaking out across the country on education, environment and youth issues, while encouraging all Canadians to make a more active role in shaping the future of their world. As a result, he has stepped up his own involvement, entering active politics with the Liberal Party of Canada. He is extremely proud to be the new Member of Parliament for the urban, multi-ethnic riding of Papineau, in Montreal, where the challenges faced by young people, families, and seniors are a reflection of the challenges faced across the country. The combination of Trudeau’s electric charisma and inspirational message leaves audiences educated, entertained and ready to make a difference.

ALEX CARRICK, Chief Economist, CanaData

Alex Carrick carried out his undergraduate work at the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario, Canada), then completed an M.A. in Economics and the first year towards a Doctorate at the University of Toronto. The pull of the job market was too great and Alex went to work for the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) in 1972. The CISC is a trade association representing structural steel fabricators in Canada. Mr. Carrick eventually became the Secretary-treasurer as well as the Economist for the CISC.

Since 1985, Mr. Carrick has held the position of Chief Economist with CanaData, a product line of Reed Construction Data, where he has acquired an in-depth knowledge of the Canadian construction industry.

Each fall, Mr. Carrick oversees CanaData’s Annual Construction Forecast publication and updates the information throughout the year in the CanaData Forecaster newsletter (monthly). He is often quoted in the media, especially in the two construction newspapers, The Daily Commercial News and the Journal of Commerce. In the last several years, his work has become more international in scope and he has delivered presentations throughout North America on the Canadian, United States and world construction outlooks.

CanaData is the leading supplier of statistics and forecasting information for the Canadian construction industry. CanaData’s extensive line of products includes CanaData Construction Starts Statistics; Architect and Engineer Activity Reports; Custom Reports; Annual Forecast; CanaData Forecaster Newsletter; Construction Cost Index; and Annual Construction Forecasts Conference. Reed Construction Data is a division of the global publishing firm, Reed Elsevier.

DAVID DALY, Manager of Fiscal Policy, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers

David Daly has over 20 years experience in the oil and gas industry – 13 years with a major integrated oil company and 10 years with CAPP. As Manager of Fiscal Policy, David works directly with federal and provincial governments to ensure competitive royalty and tax structures for the upstream oil and gas industry. Before joining CAPP in 1999, David held senior positions in Corporate Finance, Business Development, and Economic Analysis at Petro-Canada for over 13 years. He holds a Masters degree in economics from McMaster University and an MBA from McGill University.

WARREN JESTIN, Chief Economist, Scotiabank

Dr. Jestin is Scotiabank’s Chief Economist and has been with the Bank since 1979. Before joining Scotiabank, Warren worked in the Bank of Canada’s Research Department and taught economics at several Canadian universities. He is on the Board of The University of Guelph Heritage Fund and is chair of that University’s College of Management and Economics Advisory Committee. He is also on the Board of Advisors of the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. Warren earned an MA in Economics at the University of Guelph in 1971 and was awarded his doctorate from the University of Toronto in 1977.

Warren is a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council and has been involved with economic policy committees of the Canadian and Ontario Chambers of Commerce and the Toronto Board of Trade. He is also on the Board of the Markham-Stouffville Hospital. In his role as Chair of Scotiabank’s Sponsorship and Donations Committee, Warren works closely with a wide variety of Canadian charitable institutions.

PATRICIA MOHR, Vice-President, Economics, Scotiabank

Patricia Mohr is Vice-President, Economics, at Scotiabank’s Executive Offices in Toronto. She is responsible for industry and commodity market research in Scotia Economics and works closely with Scotia Capital’s Corporate and Investment Banking groups, with Global Risk Management and with Global Trading. Scotiabank is Canada’s most international bank.

Ms. Mohr developed the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index, which measures price trends for Canadian commodities in export markets, and maintains a close interest in national and international economic and financial market developments.

Ms. Mohr holds an Honours BA Degree and a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia and originally comes from Vancouver.

Before joining Scotiabank, Ms Mohr spent a number of years with Alberta Energy Co Ltd (now EnCana) in Calgary and with CP Ships and Canadian Pacific Bermuda in London, England as Corporate Economist. Patricia began her career with Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa.

PAUL MORSE, Sr. VP & Gen. Mgr. & National Practice Director, Cushman & Wakefield LePage

Paul Morse is a valued and experienced member of Toronto’s Office Leasing Division. He is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of a group that includes 80 office-leasing professionals, negotiating 800 transactions and representing over seven million square feet of tenancies per year.

Mr. Morse joined Royal LePage Commercial (now Cushman & Wakefield LePage) in 1981 and worked for nine years representing both landlords and tenants, becoming a top sales agent. In 1990 he moved to an affiliate of Royal LePage, Brookfield Development, as VP of Leasing for the Ontario Region, for five years. Responsible for the leasing of BCE Place, a 2.5 million square foot office development in Toronto?s financial core, he and his team leased 1.8 million square feet, managed over 225,000 square feet of lease-takeover space and executed over 200 leases. Mr. Morse returned to Royal LePage in 1998.

He is past President for the Greater Toronto Area Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). He was also Chair of the Real Estate Division and a Cabinet Member for the United Way, and is a Board member of the Aspbergers Society of Toronto. Mr Morse graduated from Loyola College at the University of Montreal with an Honours degree in Economics.

PETER NORMAN, Senior Director and General Manager, Altus Group Economic Consulting

Peter is a well-known professional land economist and forecaster and is Senior Director, Economic Consulting, at Altus Group. Widely quoted in the Canadian media, Mr. Norman is a frequent expert witness on economic matters and consults for private and public sector organizations across Canada, providing economic intelligence and strategic advice.

Mr. Norman earned a BA at Trent University and an MA at the University of Guelph, sits on the Executive Committee of the Toronto Association of Business and Economics, the Economic Research Committeee of the Canadian Home Builders’s Association and is a member of the Association of Ontario Land Economists.

PETER WELTMAN, Senior Advisor – Analyst, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer

Peter Weltman is a financial advisor-analyst on the expenditure and revenue analysis team at the Library of Parliament. He has over 20 years’ experience in business management and investment analysis. Within the government he has held positions with Industry Canada, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada; Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC); and the Treasury Board Secretariat. Weltman came to the Library of Parliament from HRSDC, where he assisted in the development and implementation of an investment management process to undertake due diligence on large departmental investments. Prior to that he worked with an analytical team at the Treasury Board Secretariat, engaged in the due diligence and oversight of major government-wide projects and fiscal pressures. Prior to joining the federal government, Weltman worked as an investment analyst and financial advisor.

Mr. Weltman has extensive experience in small business management, having held a variety of positions with a locally owned food retailer. Weltman has an honours bachelor degree in political science from the University of Western Ontario, and an MBA from the University of Ottawa.