Chair
Craig McTaggart
Director, Broadband Policy
TELUS Communications Company
Vice-Chair
Suzanne Morin
Independent Consultant
Vice-Chair
Serge Carrier
Director, Business Development
Société de formation à distance des commissions scolaires du Québec (SOFAD)
Treasurer
Susan Bower
Vice-President, Business Operations
Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
Member-at-Large
Arlette Lefebvre, M.D.
Staff Psychiatrist, Division of Child Psychiatry
Toronto Hospital for Sick Children
Bill Abbott
Senior Counsel - Regulatory Law
Bell Canada
Warren Cable
Vice-President, Content Management and Merchandising
Kobo Inc.
Mary Cavanagh
Assistant, Professor, School of Information Studies
University of Ottawa
Rita Shelton Deverell
Independent Producer; Adjunct Professor
Mount Saint Vincent University
David Fowler
Director, Marketing and Communications
Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)
Joycelyn Fournier-Gawryluk
Past-President
Canadian Association of Principals
Michael Hoechsmann
Associate Professor and Chair of Education Programs
Lakehead University
Monique Lafontaine
Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs
ZoomerMedia Limited
Jean LaRose
President and CEO
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN)
Colin McKay
Global Public Policy
Google Inc.
Tom Perlmutter
Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson
National Film Board of Canada
Mark Sikstrom
Executive Producer
CTV News.ca and Editor, Journalistic Policy and Practices
CTV
Paul Taillefer
President
Canadian Teachers' Federation
Carolyn Wilson
Canadian Representative for MENTOR
International Media Education Association
Josie Brocca
A/Director, Digital Adoption Directorate
Industry Canada
Duncan Cass-Beggs
Director, Learning Policy Directorate
Strategic Policy and Research Branch
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Claude Doucet
Director, Legislative, Industry and Regulatory Policy
Broadcasting and Digital Communications Branch
Canadian Heritage
Nanao Kachi
Acting Director, Social and Consumer Policy
Policy Development and Research
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
William (Bill) Abbott (first elected to the Board in 2012)
Bill Abbott is a Senior Counsel – Regulatory Law and the Bell Privacy Ombudsman with Bell Canada. He is responsible for a number of social policy areas including privacy, child exploitation, lawful access to communications, accessibility for persons with disabilities and anti-spam/malware. Bill is a graduate of Queen’s University (B.A. Hons) and Dalhousie University (LL.B.). Prior to joining Bell Canada in 2000, Bill practised family law in Cobourg, Ontario. Bill resides in Ottawa with his wife and three increasingly bewildering tween children, where he is an avid rower and sailor.
Susan Bower (first elected to the Board in 2009)
Currently Vice President, Business Operations for Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, one of the country's leading children's charities, Susan brings more than 20 years experience as a business operations executive in a variety of fields. As a consulting C.M.A., Susan has been a strategic advisor to a range of industry leading organizations including Women in Film and Television Toronto, the Ontario Pharmacists Association and the United Church of Canada. She has also served in a number of vital strategic roles with Vision TV, holding various leadership positions including Executive Director, Strategic and Organizational Development, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Finance and Administration.
Josie Brocca (first appointed to the Board in 2012)
Josie Brocca has been with Industry Canada since 2001. She is currently A/Director, Digital Adoption responsible for policies, research, and programs related to the adoption of digital technologies by business and individuals. Her previous positions with the Department have also been focused on digital adoption and broader digital economy issues. Prior to joining the public service Josie was a recruiter and trainer at Nortel Networks. She has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Ottawa.
Warren Cable (first elected to the Board in 2007)
Warren joined CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. in 2005 and currently leads a number of teams with responsibility for FPinfomart and Licensing in the B2B realm, as well as Local Sales, Training, and Online Directories in the company's Interactive Division. Under Warren's leadership, this diverse portfolio of businesses has enjoyed significant success.
Warren joined CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. directly from Toys'R'Us, where he held the role of General Manager for toysrus.ca. He and his team were responsible for the development and successful launch of the site in 2004, as well as the e-commerce strategy of the company internationally. Warren was also Director of Shopping and E-Commerce with AOL Canada, responsible for the strategy and implementation of e-commerce and retail programs. He was also the General Manager of Chapters.ca and has held progressively senior positions with The Body Shop Canada and The Bank of Nova Scotia.
Serge Carrier (first elected to the Board in 1997)
Serge is SOFAD's Director of business development. From 2005 to 2007, he was COO of FacePrint Global Solutions, a biometrics solution provider in California. Until 2005, he was the vice president, Strategic Development, at CogniScience, one of Canada's foremost e- learning publishers. As CEO, from 1987 to 2002, Serge was responsible for developing Micro-Intel's educational software, in collaboration with ministries of education across Canada. Before starting Micro- Intel, Serge developed educational software and taught science and computer science at the high school and college levels.
Mary Cavanagh (first elected to the Board in 2012)
Having completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto in 2009, Mary Cavanagh is now an Assistant Professor with the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa. Her teaching and research focus on the future of public libraries, knowledge management and organizational learning, information ethics in the public domain and open access. Mary worked as a librarian and manager in both Ontario and Saskatchewan for 18 years. Between 2003 and 2009, she was coordinator of the SmartLibrary consortium in the National Capital Region. A number of Canadian public library organizations have engaged Mary as a consultant and researcher on projects related to library services for aboriginal people, libraries and the digital divide and professional practice.
Rita Shelton Deverell, C.M., Ed.D. (first elected to the Board in 2005)
Rita is an Independent Producer/Director/Writer/Performer of television and theatre for RJ Deverell Productions. Her drama series "Solo Flight International" debuts on OMNI, versioned in three languages, in 2007-08. In 2005 she completed her term as the Director of News and Current Affairs, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, where she mentored her Aboriginal successor. Deverell's career in journalism has been one of pioneering innovation and creativity. With an unceasing drive for social justice, she is one of the first Black women in Canada to be a television host and a network executive. A founder of Vision TV, the world's first multi-faith and multicultural network, she held several senior positions there as well as the network anchor job. In 2006 she was appointed the first CanWest Global Fellow in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario. An inspiring mentor and teacher, Rita Deverell serves as a role model for young journalists and audiences alike. Rita is an adjunct professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.
Claude Doucet (first appointed to the Board in 2010)
Claude Doucet is Director, Legislative, Industry and Regulatory Policy in the Broadcasting and Digital Communications Branch at the Department of Canadian Heritage. Claude has been at Canadian Heritage since 2005. His current responsibilities include providing policy advice on broadcasting issues with respect to the CRTC and its mandate, Private Members' bills, jurisdictional issues including litigation, official languages, 3rd languages, media awareness and media literacy.
Claude worked at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission from 1996 to 2005. During that time, he held various positions of increasing responsibility and participated in the development of a wide range of broadcasting policies, from radio to distribution, including the transition to digital TV.
Joycelyn Fournier-Gawryluk (first elected to the Board in May 2011)
Joycelyn has been an educator for over 30 years in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her classroom experiences were at the Middle Years and High School. She has been a school leader for 19 of these years. From 1999 until 2008, she served on the provincial school principals' organization. The Manitoba Association of Principals evolved to being the Council of School Leaders (COSL) of the Manitoba Teachers' Society. She served on the executive of this board and was a volunteer chairperson for two years. In 2006, she was elected as the first seconded Chairperson of COSL, and served in this capacity for two years. During this time, she became the representative from Manitoba on the Canadian Association of Principals (CAP). She has served as Provincial Director and most recently has been on the CAP Executive. Joycelyn is currently Past-President of CAP.
David Fowler (first elected to the Board in 2012)
David Fowler is the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), the organization that manages .CA, Canada’s Internet domain. Reporting to the President, he is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s marketing and communications strategies. This includes providing executive leadership for all corporate communications/advertising programs, managing the .CA product and channel relationships.
David joined CIRA at a time of organizational transition. As a rapidly-evolving organization with a new CEO, the time was ripe for a strategic leader to bring focus to and sharpen CIRA’s communications and marketing activities. David restructured the department, developed a new strategic direction and executed for results. Today, .CA is one of the fastest growing domains globally and within Canada is gaining market presence and share.
David is a leader who has extensive experience across a broad spectrum of sectors in both profit-driven and not-for-profit organizations. David holds a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, and Diploma in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. He has also received ICD.D accreditation in Governance Essentials for Not-for-Profit Organizations.
Dr. Michael Hoechsmann (first elected to the Board in 2012)
Dr. Michael Hoechsmann is an Associate Professor and Chair of Education Programs at the Orillia campus of Lakehead University. He is the coauthor of Media Literacies: A Critical Introduction (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) and Reading Youth Writing: “New” Literacies, Cultural Studies and Education (Peter Lang, 2008). From 1998-2002, Michael was the Director of Education of Young People’s Press, a national news service for youth, 14-24. His research and teaching is situated in media education, new and digital literacies, and cultural studies.
Monique Lafontaine (first elected to the Board in May 2011)
Monique Lafontaine is Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs for ZoomerMedia Limited - Television Division. She oversees all regulatory and policy matters for the organization, including preparing applications and interventions to the CRTC, and attending CRTC public hearings. Monique has worked in the area of Communications Law and Policy for over twelve years. She holds an LL.B. from the University of Ottawa and Masters of Laws in Communications Law from Osgoode Hall Law School. Her work experience includes a position as Counsel at McCarthy Tétrault, General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Affairs at the Directors Guild of Canada, and as a senior broadcast policy analyst at the CRTC. Monique has written extensively in the area of broadcast regulation, and is co-author of the Broadcast Regulatory Guide and Broadcast Regulatory Handbook.
Jean LaRose (first elected to the Board in May 2011)
Jean LaRose is a First Nations citizen from the Abenakis First Nation of Odanak. He was raised in Ottawa where he studied Journalism at Algonquin College and obtained his B.A. in Social Communication at the University of Ottawa. He later began study for his Masters in Public Administration at L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration Publique (ENAP). He was named Chief Executive Officer of APTN in November 2002. Since his appointment, he has brought the network from a deficit position of more than $5.5 million dollars to a surplus position. The network has moved to a digital, high-definition platform and now employs over 130 people. APTN was one of the host broadcasters for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games and carried over 10 hours per day of Olympic events in English, French and in eight (8) Aboriginal languages.
Mr. LaRose sits on the Board of Directors of the National Screen Institute, the Board of Directors of On-Screen Manitoba and the Nisga'a Commercial Group. He also served on the National Capital Commission Advisory Committee on its mandate review to provide Aboriginal perspective as it pertains to the future plans of the National Capital Commission (NCC), and the Advisory Committee on Indigenous Property and Authenticity Rights that was established by Heritage Canada. He has been a panelist and public speaker on a variety of forums, speaking to the issues and matters that pertain to the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada.
Arlette Lefebvre (first elected to the Board in 2002)
A child psychiatrist at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, Arlette specializes in working with children with disabilities. She is also a professor of Child Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Arlette has been involved in media education for many years: she pioneered the use of the Internet to help to connect disabled children to their mentors, friends, and the broad community. She was the founding president of Ability OnLine, and also wrote Taking Your Kids Online: How and When to Introduce Children to the Internet. Her career has earned her many awards - the most recent being the 2002 Dr. Richard Ten Cate Professional Community Award, the Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre's Circle of Honour Award, the Order of Ontario, and the Order of Canada.
Colin McKay (first elected to the Board in 2012)
Colin is on Google's global public policy team, where he tries to keep the internet brimming with discovery and delight.
In addition to privacy and data protection, Colin worked on innovation agendas, launched science and technology strategies, planned for copyright reform and encouraged the development of intelligent transportation systems over a 15 year career in the Canadian public service.
In recent years with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, his team researched the impact of the digital economy on personal privacy, and then built tools to help individuals understand their privacy rights.
Colin is also a member of the Government of Canada Advisory Panel on Open Government.
Always fascinated by information networks and new technology, he blogs and tweets more than he probably should. As a pre-teen, he preferred his Star Wars digital watch to the Casio calculator watch.
Colin has an M.A in international relations from the University of Toronto, although his understanding of politics was largely shaped by Monty Python.
Craig McTaggart (first elected to the Board in 2008)
Craig McTaggart has been a member of TELUS Communications Company’s regulatory team since 2004. He is currently Director, Broadband Policy with responsibility for Internet policy matters including copyright, child safety, and consumer policy. Craig earned his doctorate in law under the supervision of Professors Hudson Janisch and Michael Trebilcock at the University of Toronto in 2004. An Ontario lawyer since 1997, Craig holds a B.A.(Hons.) in history from Queen’s University, an LL.B. from The University of Western Ontario, and an LL.M. and S.J.D. from the University of Toronto. He currently serves as Chair of the board of directors of MediaSmarts/HabiloMédias. An avid swimmer, cyclist, runner, and Ironman triathlete, he lives in Ottawa with his wife and two daughters.
Suzanne Morin (first elected to the Board in 2008)
Suzanne Morin received her law degree from the University of Ottawa. After clerking at the Federal Court of Canada, she was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1992. She completed the Regulatory Best Practices Certificate program offered by the School of Policy Studies from Queen's University in 1997.
Since her call to the bar, Suzanne has been working in the areas of privacy, copyright, telecommunications and electronic commerce generally, including spam, network neutrality, child exploitation and offensive content. After almost 19 years in the telecommunications industry including Bell Canada, Suzanne joined Research In Motion Limited in June 2011 to head up privacy globally. Suzanne remains involved with many associations including the Canadian Coalition Against Internet Child Exploitation (CCAICE), the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), the CTIA-Wireless Association, and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA). Suzanne is currently a board member of the Standards Council of Canada.
Suzanne speaks frequently at Canadian and international conferences on various issues and submits the occasional article to various legal publications.
Tom Perlmutter (first elected to the Board in 2007)
Throughout his career as a filmmaker, writer and producer, Tom Perlmutter has been a fervent advocate of groundbreaking and socially engaged independent cinema. Before joining the NFB in 2001 as Director General, English Program, Mr. Perlmutter enjoyed a prestigious career in the Canadian film industry as the founding head of documentaries at Barna-Alper Productions, and partner in Primitive Entertainment. Mr. Perlmutter previously partnered with one of Canada's most noted documentarists, John Walker, on several award-winning documentaries. Prior to this, he was director of creative development for CineNova Productions and executive director of Alliance for Children and Television from 1993 to 1995. He has also worked as a writer and reporter, with a number of articles and publications to his credit.
Mark Sikstrom (first elected to the Board in 2001)
Mark is Executive Producer of CTV News Syndication and CTV.ca. Previously, he was director of Regional News and New Ventures for CTV Inc., responsible for the network's online news services, such as CTVNews.com and 21c.ca. Before that, Mark was a national and foreign correspondent, reporting from Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina and Washington, D.C.
Paul Taillefer (first elected to the Board in May 2011)
Paul Taillefer, a native of Sudbury, Ontario, holds a bachelor's degree from Laurentian University and a bachelor of education degree from the University of Western Ontario. In 1977, Paul began his teaching career at the École catholique secondaire Thériault in Timmins, in northern Ontario.
Involved in the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) for over 25 years, Paul has served as President of his local, Vice-President of the provincial board and served two consecutive terms as President of the provincial association.
Paul, a strong advocate for Francophone education in minority settings, has been a member of the Canadian Teachers' Federation Board of Directors since 2004, and during that time has chaired its Committee on French as a First Language twice and served as trustee of the CTF International Trust Fund. Since 2007, Paul has been Executive Vice-President and in 2010, was elected as President-designate. Paul came into his presidential functions in Ottawa in July 2011.
Carolyn Wilson (first elected to the Board in 2008)
Carolyn is the President of the Association for Media Literacy in Ontario, Canada and has received the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence for her work in media studies and global education. The award committee recognized Carolyn as a "tireless pioneer and advocate for media literacy and global education on the national and international levels".
Co-author of the best selling textbook, Mass Media and Popular Culture, Version 2, Carolyn has been invited to speak at conferences across Canada and around the world, hosted by such organizations as UNESCO and UNICEF. She has written numerous study guides for CHUM Television and CTVglobemedia, as well as curriculum documents and resources for the Ministry of Education in Ontario.
Carolyn is an instructor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Links:
[1] http://mediasmarts.ca/print/about-us/board-directors
[2] http://mediasmarts.ca/about-us/board-alumni