Julia Dales is an associate at the international law firm, Dentons Canada LLP. Based in Dentons’ Ottawa office, Julia specializes in both commercial litigation and employment law. As employer-side counsel, she provides strategic advice with respect to all aspects of the employment relationship, including wages, work hours, leaves, and terminations. Julia also conducts workplace investigations and acts for clients in a wide-range of claims, including with respect to wrongful dismissal and human rights breaches.

Tiffany O’Hearn Davies practises in all areas of employment and labour law, including wrongful dismissal, human rights, pay equity, employment standards, labour and employee relations, grievance arbitration, and occupational health and safety matters. She has a particular focus on litigation and dispute resolution, and has appeared as counsel before the Ontario courts, the Federal Court of Appeal, and various administrative tribunals. Tiffany also provides legal and strategic advice to employers regarding workplace issues and labour relations.

Before joining us, Tiffany was an associate at a leading boutique litigation firm, where she had a broad civil litigation practice. She also completed a clerkship at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and articled at a full-service regional firm.

Education summary:

J.D., Dalhousie Schulich School of Law, 2013
M.A., University of Alberta, 2007
B.A.H., Queen’s University, 2006

Celine is a Partner at Emond Harnden, having joined the firm in 2008. She serves federal and provincial clients in the public, parapublic and private sectors.

Celine is a proud graduate of the French Common Law Program of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa.

Working in partnership with her clients, Celine provides legal and policy advice as well as representation in the context of union certification, collective bargaining, grievances, employment contracts and workplace policies, risk management strategies related to dismissals and restructuring, complaints of harassment and discrimination filed with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal as well as complaints or applications with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board and the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

Celine also regularly advises on workplace investigations into allegations of harassment, discrimination, bullying, violence, sexual violence, failure to accommodate, allegations of misconduct or policy violations, allegations of poisoned work environments. She also provides training to managers and human resources professionals on emerging issues and trends in human resources.

Before embarking on her legal career, Celine worked at the Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat and the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada as a Program Officer in the Employment Equity Division where she assisted various governmental departments and agencies in developing tools to attract and retain a more diverse workforce.

Celine is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the County of Carleton Law Association, l’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario and le Regroupement des gens d’affaires.

Dr. Monique Gignac is Scientific Co-Director and a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Work and Health and a Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Dr. Gignac’s research expertise is in the areas of health and social psychology. Her research examines psychosocial factors like stress, coping, and adaptation and their importance in understanding the impact of chronic conditions on the lives of adults across the life course. Of particular interest is research on workplace communication, privacy, support and accommodation needs among individuals living with chronic, episodic conditions. Dr. Gignac has a strong collaborative program of research and study designs in her research program span community health surveys, qualitative research, intervention studies, measurement design and evaluation, and analyses of population health datasets.

Nancy Gowan is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Disability Management Professional working in Stay at Work/Return to Work. As President of Gowan Consulting she has assisted employers with the development of disability management strategies. She has presented at forums on accommodation and disability management. She is also involved with and chairs various committees addressing work-health issues. Among her many publications, dating back to 1990, Nancy coauthored “Ergonomics in Disability Management” in Ergonomics for Therapists, 3rd edition, 2007. She has written “A Human Resource Managers Guide to Managing Disability in the Workplace” with Carswell, Thomson Reuter’s publications in 2010. The second edition of “Human Resource Guide to Managing Disability in the Workplace” with Carswell was published in 2016. Nancy provides training and support for employees in distress and is passionate about reducing the stigma around disability and particularly mental illness in the workplace.

Ludmilla Jarda is an associate lawyer with Nelligan Law, and a member of the Employment Law, Personal Injury and Litigation practice groups. Her employment law practice focuses on a variety of workplace issues including human rights issues, wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, disability insurance claims as well as negotiating employment contracts. She is fluently bilingual and represents her clients in both English and French.

Jill Lewis is a senior Employment Lawyer at Nelligan Law. Originally from cottage country, Jill moved to Ottawa to receive her J.D. from the University of Ottawa. She currently sits as Vice-Chair for the Ontario Bar Association – Young Lawyers Division. Jill has always been known as a people-person and she applies that approach to her practice. Jill works with both employers and employees to find fair and reasonable solutions to their employment concerns.

A highly motivated visionary and an expert at building partnerships, fostering stakeholder engagement, and aligning strategic objectives, Ed has led innovation and improvement in both health care and mental health for over two decades.

As Vice-President of Programs and Priorities at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Ed is dedicated to promoting mental health in Canada and changing the attitudes of Canadians toward mental health problems and illnesses.

Ed is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse, holds a Master of Science Administration degree, and is a Certified Health Executive.

With over 25 years of diverse experience in the areas of policy development, human resources, communications, and community development, Jeff is committed to the areas of social development and inclusion. He has served as a media advisor to CTV news on the subject matter of disability rights and accessibility for Ontario.  His professional work experience has been in the areas of employment, social services, health care, housing and human resources. He is also active in his community, and volunteers his time to serve on several boards and advisory committees.

As a consultant, Jeff was responsible for the City of Ottawa’s 2004/2005 Municipal Accessibility Policy Plan and was appointed to Ontario’s Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee to assist the Ministry of Community and Social Services to implement accessibility standards. In 2006, he received one of Ottawa’s Community Builder Awards for advancing accessibility for people with disabilities.  Following his career in municipal and provincial government, Jeff  joined the Federal Public Service in 2006 and has worked for different departments. Most recently he was responsible for leading the development and implementation of an accessibility strategy at Canada Post Corporation. Jeff has now joined the team at the Canadian Human Rights Commission at an historic time in Canada, in which we are seeing a transformational shift in approach to diversity, disability inclusion, accessibility, pay equity and gender equality. As the Commission’s first Director General of Proactive Compliance, Jeff will lead the implementation of their expanded mandate.