2011 CanaData Conference Speakers

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: AMANDA LANG

Gemini-award winning business journalist Amanda Lang is CBC’s senior business correspondent, reporting for its flagship nightly news program, The National. She is also co-host of The Lang & O’Leary Exchange, a daily business program airing on CBC News Network.

Lang studied Architecture at the University of Manitoba, before becoming a journalist. Her first job in journalism was for the Globe and Mail, and subsequently Lang joined the Financial Post newspaper, where she became the paper’s New York correspondent. In New York she made the leap to television, when she became part of the team that launched BNN in 1999 and before long moved to CNN as reporter and anchor. She returned to Canada in 2002 to re-join BNN and CTV.

Lang regularly covers topics as diverse as Israeli politics and music copyright infringement, and is equally at home talking to ambassadors as she is talking to movie actors. She has acquired her Canadian Securities Course certificate, and speaks often about business and economic trends. In addition to her work as a speaker, Lang is also a great MC and loves doing it. Her engaging and witty style can be attributed to many years stick-handling the vagaries of live television!

DEREK BURLETON, Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist (Canada), TD Bank Financial Group

Derek Burleton received his Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Recently, Derek was promoted to Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist for TD Bank Financial Group. In his current position, he heads a team that provides leading Canadian economic and financial analysis. Derek has also authored a number of reports that have generated considerable attention across the country, including: “A New Normal: Canada’s Potential Growth During Recovery and Beyond,” “The Coming Era of Fiscal Restraint” and “Charting a Course for Sustainable Health Care in Ontario.” He is frequently called upon to speak to the media on economic issues and he gives numerous presentations to various groups within and outside TD.

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.

MARK CASALETTO, Vice President and General Manager, Reed Construction Data

Mark Casaletto has over 15 years leadership experience in the industry. Mark is an active speaker at industry events, providing insight and intelligence on economics and the state of the Canadian construction industry.

Prior to joining Reed Construction Data, Mark served as director of sales and marketing for Embanet Corporation, where he was responsible for an annual budget of $20 million and expansion into the U.S. and global markets. He also held a position as the Canadian director for sales and marketing with McGraw-Hill Construction in Canada where he was the leading force in relaunching and repositioning several key products in the Canadian market.

Since joining Reed Construction Data Canada in 2005, Mark has enhanced its web presence as a respected and popular Canadian source for construction news, project data, and building product information. Mark’s goal to reach out to the industry resulted in several key partnerships within the professional design and trade organizations. These partnerships ensure that Reed Construction Data Canada’s products and services continue to meet the highest standards of excellence and that Reed reaches the key decision makers in every sector of the industry.

WARREN JESTIN, Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist, Scotiabank Group

Dr. Jestin is Scotiabank’s Chief Economist and has been with the bank since 1979. He also has worked at the Bank of Canada and taught at several Canadian universities. Warren is on advisory boards for the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph and the Sobey School of Business at St. Mary’s University. He has served on the C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council and has been involved with policy committees of the Canadian and Ontario Chambers of Commerce and the Toronto Board of Trade. As Chair of Scotiabank’s Sponsorship and Donations Committee, Warren works closely with a wide variety of charitable institutions.

MIKE KUJAWSKI, VP, Strategic Marketing & Digital Engagement, CEPSM.ca

Mike Kujawski is a passionate consultant, trainer and speaker on the topic of strategic marketing and digital engagement. His specific niche and personal mission is to help governments, non-profits and associations excel in the modern social media landscape through careful, strategic planning. In 2005, Mike helped launch the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing (CEPSM), where he currently leads a team of strategists responsible for all major digital client initiatives in Canada and abroad.

Mike’s recent consulting clients include the Office of the Auditor General, Canada Health Infoway, Baycrest, the Government of Tanzania, Ontario 211, the Canadian Department of National Defence and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.

Over and above his consulting work, Mike is a distinguished international speaker, engaging blogger and highly sought-out trainer in his field. He created Canada’s first national workshop and comprehensive workbook on how to develop a social media engagement strategy in a public sector setting. He has trained public servants and non-profit workers in numerous countries spanning across four continents.

Mike is frequently quoted by the media and has been invited to speak at hundreds of public sector and non-profit conferences, panels and events all around the globe on the topics of new marketing, modern communications, social media, government 2.0 and the importance of developing a strategy before executing tactics. He has been asked to provide strategic digital engagement advice to central government agencies in Canada, such as the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privy Council Office and the Senate.

In addition to his work with CEPSM clients, Mike is part of the faculty of the Professional Certificate in Public Sector Marketing Program at Carleton University and occasionally lectures at Ottawa University in the B.Com program.

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.