Jim has been a meteorologist for 45 years. He is currently a Fellow and Past President of the Canadian Meteorological & Oceanographic Society. He is well known nationally and internationally; frequently invited as an expert speaker.

Jim started with Environment Canada at CFB Greenwood; then to Whitehorse; and on to Montreal as a severe weather meteorologist. Subsequently, Jim managed a variety weather, climate & water programs. His proudest accomplishment was starting the Canadian Hurricane Centre, which included several reconnaissance flights into hurricanes (he survived!).

Jim was awarded the Patterson Medal for Meteorology (2003) and the Queens Jubilee Medal (2013).

Lisa Benini is a practitioner in Business Continuity, Risk Management and Emergency Management since 1991. She is certified as Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP) from DRI International, Associated Fellow from Business Continuity Institute (AFBCI). Lisa has been certified as an ISO 22301 Implementer and she holds an Emergency Management Certificate from JIBC. Lisa is a certified instructor for DRI Canada since 2002. She has her own consulting company since 2000 and has worked with public, non-profits and private sectors mainly in BC. Lisa’s major achievements were developing the Business Continuity Management Program for the BC Government in the early 2000s. She has also created a guideline and template for small business and non-profits on building their business and service continuity plans. She is on the technical committee for CSA Z1600: Standard for Emergency and Continuity Management Program since 2005. Lisa is actively involved communities across BC by providing workshops to special interest groups, local government and associations.

I began my journey in business continuity while working for the Nova Scotia government. As a corporate IT professional, I was assigned to a special task team in the Emergency Management Office after Hurricane Juan. Our team’s goal was to create a provincial business continuity plan that included IT disaster recovery. I combined best practices from both fields to create a program that worked well with the overall Business Continuity Management program that we also developed. After that, I kept working in business continuity and IT disaster recovery with various Alberta public sector groups. Over time, my job grew to include Cyber Resilience, a program that combines the best practices of business continuity, IT continuity and disaster recovery, and cybersecurity. I am currently on the Board of Directors DRI Canada.

From Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, Mr. Pitcher is a Royal Roads Military College graduate who served seven years in the Canadian Armed Forces as an infantry officer. He then spent 24 years with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) before retiring in 2019 at the rank of Inspector and in that time, served with the Emergency Response Team and Critical Incident Command. Mr. Pitcher’s current role is as Chief Executive Officer for Commissionaires Nova Scotia, a 1300 strong not-for-profit security company employing veterans.

Ryan Collyer, a retired Advanced Care Paramedic from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has dedicated the past 15 years to Peer Support Advocacy, firmly believing in the concept of “in service of others” and living by the Latin phrase “acta non verba” (actions, not words). Ryan has previous experiences in Fire Suppression (Wildland and Structural), Emergency Medical Services as an Advanced Care Paramedic and is currently a Disaster Medical Specialist with Canada Task Force 2 in Calgary.

As a Peer Support Specialist trained in Group Crisis Intervention and Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Ryan aims to inspire others to embrace courageous authenticity and pursue meaningful change in self and others. Currently, he serves as the Before Operational Stress Lead and Clinical Liaison at Wayfound Mental Health Group, supporting proactive protection programs for Public Safety Personnel, Healthcare workers, Military members, and other frontline professionals who serve humanity.

Conrad is a public relations professional who excels in difficult and high-pressure work. He has worked in various industries, including natural resources, municipal utilities, dental services, construction, pet services, finance, and events.

Conrad has held leadership roles in emergency management, communications and post-disaster engagements in some of Canada’s largest emergencies. These include record-setting 2023 wildfires in BC’s Cariboo, Squamish-Lillooet and Columbia Shuswap regions, three record-setting British Columbia wildfire seasons from 2017 to 2021, health care and post-secondary education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2013 southern Alberta floods. His work in emergencies has been studied by academics worldwide and adopted in California, New Zealand and Australia.

He received the prestigious Shield of Public Service Award from the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) for his exemplary efforts during and after the 2017 wildfires and the Lamp of Service Award in 2022 for distinguished and dedicated volunteer service leading CPRS professional development nationally for nearly a decade. He is the host of the Wildfires, Floods and Chaos Communications Podcast.

Jennifer R. Davidson is a partner at Deeth Williams Wall (Toronto) and Co-Chair of the Technology Law Group, practicing in Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Technology law. Jennifer advises on the digital risk lifecycle, including incident preparedness, response, ransomware negotiations, mitigation, and regulatory compliance. Jennifer holds a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School and post-graduate diplomas in public relations and web development. Her experience and background offer clients an in-depth understanding of each of these three pillars of breach response. Jennifer is the past President and a current Director of the Canadian Technology Law Association (CAN-TECH), is the Vice Chair of the Data Protection Committee at the International Technology Law Association (iTechLaw) and the author of the chapter “Cybersecurity in Canada” in Cybersecurity: A Practical Guide to the Law of Cyber Risk, published by PLI (Practising Law Institute) in December 2024.

John Gamble is a licensed professional engineer who is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert and spokesperson on engineering, business, and public policy. Mr. Gamble’s success is built upon combined experience in the public, private and not- for-profit sectors. Before joining the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies- Canada (ACEC) as president and CEO, he held management and executive positions in a number of professional and industry associations. Prior to that, Mr. Gamble served as a senior advisor to cabinet ministers in the Ontario provincial government. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Queen’s University and spent the first 10 years of his career practicing environmental engineering in a leading consulting firm serving both public and private sector clients. Throughout his career, John Gamble has promoted the importance of engineering to our social, economic, and environmental quality of life to a wide range of industry, government, academic and public organizations. In 2006, he became the first recipient of the ACEC Chair’s Award for his “exceptional contribution to the consulting engineering industry.” In 2019 he was recognized for his contribution to engineering excellence by the Queen’s University Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science as part of its 125th anniversary.

Louise Godard (she/her) is an independent contractor working in the area of violence against women and girls for over 20 years in various capacities including front line crisis work, community-based research, policy development and international work developing health policy for young girls trafficked and exploited in the sex trade. Over the past couple of years she has been working at the intersection of emergency management and gender-based violence, exploring barriers and opportunities for enhancing collaboration and coordination between anti-violence services and local and provincial emergency management authorities to improve the safety of women, children and youth experiencing, and at risk of, violence during and post emergencies.

Tracy Kempthorne is a Business Continuity Professional whose motto is “Solving Problems Before They Are Problems” bring over twenty-five years experience in various industries. Tracy is currently the Business Continuity and Crisis Officer at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and supports all aspects of business continuity planning and crisis management for the organization. Tracy has a strong background in governance and documentation and works closely with operations to ensure the governance and documentation for the organization can be implemented and used effectively in the field. During the COVID-19 pandemic Tracy was able to support finding innovative solutions to problems that the organization had not faced and supported the day-to-day operations. During a crisis Tracy’s systematic and deliberate approach to understand the situation and work to find effective solutions is paramount to ensuring success in the situation.

Nick has worn many hats in the cybersecurity world. While never having received any formal training, Nick’s enthusiasm for cybersecurity began at an early age. His career has spanned from consulting for tech startups and assisting them with developing cost-effective cybersecurity and privacy compliance programs, to a role as a cybersecurity executive for a multi-national corporate travel company. He has now settled into a role as in-house counsel to the City of Toronto’s Office of the CISO, where he negotiates complex technology agreements, advises other lawyers conducting technology procurements, guides the organization through cyber incident response procedures, and is responsible for the legal/compliance aspects of the City’s adoption of AI technology. Nick holds a BA in Bioethics from the University of Toronto, and a JD from the University of Western Ontario.

Mr. Pitcher deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and has also been a member of the Primary Army Reserve since 2010. He is currently a Colonel with the 5th Canadian Division in Halifax and has served as Operations Officer for the Maritime response to the COVID-19 pandemic under Operations LASER and VECTOR. Most recently, Mr. Pitcher was the Community Engagement and Event Lead for the federal government’s apology to the descendants of the No. 2 Construction Battalion for which he recently received the Meritorious Service Medal.

Barry is passionate about prioritizing people and culture in both the military and civilian workplace and recently completed a yearlong Equity, Diversity and Inclusion program at Dalhousie University.

As Director and co-owner of the boutique, WBE-certified consulting firm, CCEM Strategies, Diane leads a team of professionals who help clients identify and manage risk through development and implementation of robust emergency and continuity management programs.

With over 15 years’ experience leading, facilitating and overseeing business continuity and emergency management initiatives, Diane has designed and delivered innovative solutions for a diverse portfolio of clients, including local, provincial government and federal government, First Nations, and industry clients associated with energy delivery, supply chain, transportation and manufacturing.

Diane has held emergency and continuity management positions with FortisBC Energy Inc., the BC Provincial Health Services Authority, and the BC Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (formerly Emergency Management BC), and is a regional recipient of the Premier’s Award for Integrated Public Safety during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Diane now calls West Vancouver home and has been living on the west coast for over 20 years. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Royal Roads University, and is an accredited Associate Business Continuity Professional and ISO 22301 Lead Implementer.

Pascal brings with him over 35 years of experience and progressive leadership roles in public safety and emergency management; he is currently the Provincial Director of Emergency Preparedness for a provincial health authority in Canada. As a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) he is the Past President of the IAEM-Canada Atlantic Region.

He has a breadth of experiences in leading teams on several very large-scale incidents. He has also held command positions for large-scale civic events (including the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics). Pascal was the Director of EMO in Quispamsis NB during the 2018 Freshet Floods. He was directly involved with healthcare leadership in planning and responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Pascal’s professional credentials include, Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) with IAEM, a Certified Healthcare Executive (CHE) with the Canadian College of Healthcare Leaders, a Situation Awareness Specialist (SAS) with the Arcuri Group as well as a Professional Continuity Practitioner (PCP) with FEMA. He holds a Master of Arts in leadership (Health), from Royal Roads University, certifications from the Emergency Management and Emergency Exercise Design Programs at the Justice Institute of British Columbia as well as an extensive education in public safety and emergency management including multiple certificates, including Basic and HSEEP Instructor Certificates, from FEMA. He is currently a Lead Instructor in the Incident Command System in Canada.

His many honours and awards include, being promoted to Officer of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, presented with the Governor General’s Emergency Medical Services Exemplary Service Medal, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Governor General’s Emergency Medical Services Exemplary Service Medal 30 Year Bar, receiving the Order of St. John Priory of Canada Provincial Council Chair’s Commendation, the Service Medal of the Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (NS), as well as the King Charles III’s Coronation Medal.

An SME on leadership and responder interoperability, Pascal’s successes have included implementation of legacy projects within public safety agencies, governments, communities and organizations across Canada. He has been instrumental in initiating and championing interoperability for responders since 2002 and is a founding associate of CITIG; he co-authored the Communications Interoperability Strategy for Canada as well as the Communications Interoperability Action Plan. Pascal was one of the original Co-Chairs of the Tri-Services Chiefs Special Purpose Committee 700 MHz Broadband Project.

He has been a presenter, facilitator and an Emcee at many public events, courses, workshops and national and international conferences.

Landon Shepherd is currently the Vegetation and Fire Specialist for Parks Canada in Jasper National Park. He has worked in fire management since 1992 and for Parks Canada since 1995 in fire management, human-wildlife conflict, visitor safety/mountain rescue and environmental restoration. For the last six years, he has been focused on leading a team working on projects that have included fire management, forest fuels harvesting, reforestation, and land reclamation. Landon has also worked on National Fire Incident Management teams managing both wild and prescribed fires in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Northwest Territories and he is currently an incident commander for one of five Parks Canada national incident management teams. He was the Planning Section Chief and Ignition Specialist on the Lytton fire complex in 2021 in B.C, the Ignition Specialist and Strategic Planning specialist on the 2023 NWT Wood Buffalo wildfire and was an Incident Commander for the Jasper Wildfire Complex this past summer. While currently filling the Incident Commander role, over his 33 year fire career, Landon has been a Rappattack crewleader/spotter, a Yukon Smokejumper, a Safety Officer, an Operations Section Chief, a Planning Section Chief, a Fire Behaviour Forecaster/Analyst, and an Ignition Specialist. He holds a B.Sc. in Natural Resource Science from Thompson Rivers University and a M.Sc. from the University of Alberta in Conservation Biology. When he isn’t working for Parks Canada, Landon is a proud husband and father, an avid mountain recreationalist, and an ACMG winter ski guide.

Fred is a 32-year IT Operations veteran, Business Continuity (BCP), Disaster Recovery (DR) and Cyber Resilience consultant.
In his 12 years as Manager of IT Contingency Planning with Canadian Pacific Railway, Fred shifted DR planning from a part time, back-room activity to a fully funded, ITIL-guided, integral Service Delivery function.

For the last 14 years, as a consultant Fred has developed Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Plans in many fields including Banking, Education, Government, Health Care, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Transportation, and Utilities.
With more than 150 Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity and Cyber Incident Response Plan exercises to his credit, Fred believes effective exercises do not just happen, they have clear goals and objectives, are designed to meet the client’s needs and to identify areas for improvement in the plan being tested. Great exercises are plausible, engage the participants and push them and their plans to the limit.

In his role as Senior Research Associate with the Conference Board of Canada, Jesse leads research in areas related to disaster recovery, urban sustainability, and infrastructure.

He received a PhD in Public Policy from Carleton University.

Tara is a passionate business resilience professional and recognized leader in the industry. Tara develops strong relationships with her clients and becoming a trusted partner that understands their concerns, risks, and business environments. She tailors her services to what each client truly needs rather than providing standard templates and materials. She has experience across multiple industries including municipalities, post-secondary education, health care, oil and gas, manufacturing and technology. She provides fit for purpose consulting services to companies wanting to become more resilient including:

• Business continuity program design.
• Risk assessment – hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA).
• Business impact analysis (BIA).
• Plan and strategy development – business continuity, crisis management, pandemic.
• Training and exercise development and facilitation.
• Assessment or audit of existing programs or plans.