Ian Bacque is the President & Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI).

Ian is a lawyer and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1992. Prior to joining CIRI, Ian was the Director of Ontario Government Relations at TELUS, where he was responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive government relations’ plan, and supporting the company’s community investment program as a member of, and Secretary to, the TELUS Toronto Community Board.
Prior to this, he was the Director of Government Relations at the Canadian Institute of Public & Private Real Estate Companies (now REALPac), a senior national real estate association representing the country's largest publicly listed and private real estate companies.

Ian worked as a senior policy advisor at the Ontario Ministry of Finance, focusing on regulatory functions including the Ontario Securities Commission, as well as pension, insurance, and financial institution policy reforms. He began his career in law as a commercial litigator, and was in-house counsel at the Toronto Dominion Bank.

Ian is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick's Faculty of Law, and holds a B.A. (Honours) from Queen’s University. He earned his Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Certification for Not-for-Profits from the Rotman School of Business in 2006.

Ian is a former Chair of the Toronto Board of Trade Municipal Affairs Committee, and past Vice President and Director of the Public Affairs Association of Canada. He is a member of The Law Society of Upper Canada, Canadian Bar Association, Canadian Property Tax Association, Toronto Board of Trade, and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. He makes his home in Uxbridge, Ontario with his wife and children.

Doug Ballou is a partner in the Edmonton office of MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP.  He acts as counsel for a broad range of corporate and commercial clients in the natural resources, agribusiness and manufacturing sectors. While he acts for a number of large publicly trade corporations, many of his clients are entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized enterprises. As part of his business law practice Doug routinely advises clients on corporate governance and regulatory compliance matters.

Doug is an experienced securities lawyer who has acted as counsel to a number of large corporations across a broad spectrum of securities issues. He has acted for issuers and underwriters on a substantial number of initial public offerings and subsequent debt and equity offerings, including the drafting of prospectuses, offering memoranda, underwriting agreements, and related documentation. Doug not only has experience with the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange, but with the NYSE and NASDAQ through cross-border equity offerings by senior issuers and listing applications on all exchanges.

In January 2006 Andrea Bargetzi was installed as the first General Manager of Chorus Call Canada Corporation, responsible for operations of the new Canadian subsidiary of a global group of companies. Under her management, the Canadian team has quickly found its footing in the Canadian marketplace, making a valuable contribution to the IR community and providing high quality and consistent services to a broad spectrum of IR and Corporate Communication clients.

Andrea joined the Chorus Call Group in 2002, working as an Account Executive for Chorus Call in Lugano, Switzerland. Working throughout (the Germanic regions of) Europe, she was responsible for maintaining and developing a customer base primarily in the IR sector which included most of the blue chips listed on the SWX.

Prior to joining Chorus Call, Andrea worked as a Private Banker at Morgan Stanley and UBS for a total 6 years. There she gained an understanding of stock market dynamics, provided investment recommendations and managed customers’ portfolios.

Andrea is a member of CIRI and holds an Executive Bachelor of Business Administrations Degree from The GSBA School, Zurich, Switzerland.

Andy Burgess is a co-founder of Somerset Entertainment and has served as President since Somerset’s inception in 1994. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Burgess acted as Director of General Merchandise for Loblaws of Toronto. His experience also includes serving as Vice President, Strategic Planning for Joniff Corporation and as a business analyst with McKinsey and Company. Mr. Burgess received a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours from Princeton University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from INSEAD, Fontainebleau.

Prior to co-founding Rx Communications Group, Rhonda Chiger was the Senior Managing Director, Global Consulting for Thomson Financial Investor Relations where she managed the firm’s investor relations consulting practice. At Thomson, Rhonda oversaw a team of 65 consultants based in New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Rhonda was responsible for the strategic direction of the practice, including acquisitions related to the consulting business, as well as building infrastructure, new business development and acting as a senior counselor to a large client base.

Prior thereto, Rhonda was a Senior Vice President at Dewe Rogerson Inc., where she was head of the Dewe Rogerson Healthcare Group. In this capacity, she provided strategic counsel and oversaw all of the firm’s investor and media relations initiatives in the healthcare sector. Rhonda was also a member of Dewe Rogerson’s Executive Committee.

Rhonda joined Dewe Rogerson in 1996 from Noonan/Russo Communications, a New York based firm specializing in the healthcare industry. As Vice President, Rhonda headed up the firm’s life science practice and worked with an international client base providing strategic investor relations counsel. In addition, she was responsible for creating and implementing tailored financial public relations programs. In 1995, she launched the firm’s London office and served as its General Manager for the inaugural year.

Prior to her tenure with Noonan/Russo, Rhonda was a Manager, Investor Relations at the American Stock Exchange. In this capacity, she was responsible for devising and implementing investor relations services for Amex-listed companies.

Rhonda began her career in communications at Burson-Marsteller, where she was involved in numerous market research efforts.

An expert in investor relations and healthcare communications, Rhonda has been published in such publications as Research Magazine, Investor Relations Magazine, Biotechnology Focus and appeared in Canada on CBC’s World Business News. Rhonda frequently serves as an expert panelist and speaker at various conferences.

Tom Enright is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CNW Group, Canada's leader in the distribution of time-critical news and information.

Tom has over 30 years of experience in the electronic publishing and financial information services industries. Prior to joining CNW Group he held progressive positions at The Financial Post and spent 15 years with The Toronto Stock Exchange.

Tom serves on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Journalism Foundation and the Journalism Advisory Council at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario. Tom is also a founding member of the e-Content Institute and was the first Honourary Chair of the Mentorship Program at University of Toronto at Scarborough (UTSC). He was recipient of the University of Toronto Arbor Award in 2003 and the University of Toronto Scarborough Alumni Award in 2004. Tom is also an active member of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) and holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) degree from the University of Toronto.

Clement Gignac is Senior Vice President, Chief Economist and Strategist at National Bank Financial.

He began his career with the Quebec Department of Finance. In 1988, he joined National Bank of Canada as Senior Economic Advisor, where he often worked with the bank's brokerage subsidiary, Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion. In 1992, he became Chief Economist and Strategist of Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion, now National Bank Financial.

In 2002, while retaining his responsibilities at National Bank Financial, he assumed new responsibilities as Vice President and Chief Economist of National Bank. In this capacity he acts as sokesperson on economic matters for the National Bank group as a whole.

For three years running, the Brendan Wood survey of fund managers has ranked Mr. Gignac among the top five strategists and top three economists in Canada. In 2001 he was ranked first among economists.

Mr. Gignac holds an MA in Economics from Laval University.

Ms. Groves is Chief Governance Advisor and Assistant Secretary of Nexen, a Canadian-based senior international oil and gas company listed on the TSX and NYSE. In her 18+ year career at Nexen, she has worked on subsidiary and public company governance for Canada, the US and numerous international jurisdictions. She now manages the Governance Office, overseeing Nexen’s governance programs and related public disclosure and securities compliance.

In 2007, Nexen won with the Spencer Stuart National Award in Governance (private sector), received an Honourable Mention for the Governance Gavel Award for Director Disclosure from the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance and received an Honourable Mention for Excellence in Corporate Governance Disclosure from the Chartered Accountants of Canada. Nexen’s board was named first in Canadian Business magazine’s Top 25 Boards in Canada.

Sylvia regularly presents on governance and Nexen’s practices at various local, national and international events, including those of the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries (CSCS), the Canadian Investor Relations Institute, the Institute of Corporate Directors (Canada) and the National Directors’ Institute (US).

Her article, “Where the Rubber Meets the Road - Governance Practices and Insights from an Award Winning Company”, is published in the International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics.

Ms. Groves is President and a Director of CSCS, a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors (Canada) and a member of the Corporate Practices Committee of the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals (US).

She received her paralegal diploma in 1989.

Tim Herrod is Manager, Investor Relations at PotashCorp and, since March 2005, he worked with Betty-Ann Heggie, Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations. He is involved in planning and responsible for executing all aspects of this company's investor relations strategy and program, including the investor relations website.

Prior to joining PotashCorp, Mr. Herrod, worked for three years as a financial analyst for a private nitrogen fertilizer company. His responsibilities were for Canadian and U.S. financial reporting, project analysis and the internal audit function. Prior to this, he earned his Chartered Accountant designation at Ernst & Young LLP, and worked for KPMG LLP in Regina, as a manager in its assurance practice.

Mr. Herrod holds a BComm degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He has been involved as a facilitator and content developer for the Chartered Accountants School of Business (CASB) in Western Canada, since its inception in 2001.In 2005, he received the Kouri Berezan Heinrichs Outstanding Facilitator Award, which acknowledges the vital link between students' learning process and facilitators' performance excellence. Mr. Herrod participated as a CIRI judge in the 2005 CICA Corporate Reporting Awards process, and is currently a volunteer member of the CICA Annual Report Research Study team.

Louis-François Hogue specializes in the area of securities law and corporate mergers and acquisitions. He has also participated in the last years in numerous matters in the Information Technologies, Biotechnologies and Intellectual Property sectors as well as in the Entertainment industries. He has acted as legal advisor in several public offerings, including those of Lab Research Inc., Mediagrif Interactives Technologies Inc., Quebecor Printing Inc., Labopharm Inc., Cossette Communication Group, Genomics One Corporation, Æterna Laboratories, Groupe Grilli inc., Canam Manac inc., Gaz Métropolitain inc., Cascades inc., Société d'investissement Medvedent inc., Société d'investissement Lomedic inc., Theratechnologies Inc., Motion International Inc., and National Bank Financial group.

He has also represented the interests of other public companies in merger and acquisition transactions, including Elix Inc., Signalgene Inc., Behaviour Communications Inc., Nexxlink Technologies Inc. (now part of Bell / Business Solutions), Bennett Environmental Inc., Groupe Informission inc., Société en commandite TCPL, Noverco Inc., Sodisco-Howden Inc. and Unigesco inc. In addition, he is often asked to represent different brokerage firms in public financing matters, such as Merrill Lynch Inc., CIBC World Markets, RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and National Bank Financial Group.

He also acts regularly on behalf of different private companies in the arts and entertainment, information technology and biotechnology.

He sits on several boards of directors and strategic advisory committees such as Les Productions La Fête Inc., Toutenkartoon Inc., Danse Danse and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Québec. He has been a member of the Magnétothèque campaign, a non-profit organization for people with visual impairments. Mr. Hogue received the 2001 MS Leadership award given by the Multiple Sclerocis Society of Canada (Québec Division) in order to thank him for his involvement.

Norman Inkster is President of INKSTER Incorporated. He is a recognized expert in national and international law enforcement and forensic investigations, and has directly led or managed a large number of investigations worldwide.

Before forming INKSTER Incorporated in 2007, he was a Managing Director of Navigant Consulting. From 2003 to 2006 Norman was President of Inkster Group of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, which specialized in corporate investigations, fraud prevention, business intelligence, electronic evidence, and the safeguarding of assets and information. Previous to this he had a distinguished 36-year career in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He rose through the ranks to become the Commissioner where he managed all aspects of Canada’s largest police force and was responsible for the organization’s 21,000 employees and a budget of approximately $2 billion. Norman also served as President of INTERPOL from 1992-1994. Previously, Norman was the Global Managing Partner, responsible for the forensic practice of KPMG.

Norman’s business focuses on a broad range of investigations that include allegations of kick-backs, fraud, theft, extortion and embezzlement. He has directed efficiency reviews of major law enforcement agencies, as well as business recovery planning and security reviews for corporations and international organizations. Norman acted as a Special Advisor to the Auditor General of Canada, and following the events of September 11, 2001 he was appointed as a Special Advisor on matters of security to the Government of Ontario. He was recently appointed as Chair of Canada’s Advisory Council on National Security.

Pamela is the Founder of the Women’s Executive Network™, Canada’s national by-invitation network for women in managerial and executive positions. Since its founding in 1997, WXN has grown to 10,000 select women who attend the National Breakfast Series, professional development program Women’s Executive Forum and peer mentoring program WXNWisdom. In 2003, she founded Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100™, now Canada’s preiminent awards program for women. Initially based in Toronto, WXN has expanded to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Mississauga, Ottawa and Montréal.

She launched WXN after starting her professional services firm The Jeffery Group in 1994. Her firm provides government relations and communications strategy counsel, and, executive and board search services to corporate clients primarily in the mining, health care, entertainment and education sectors. She taught government relations strategy in the MBA and Executive MBA Programs at the Rotman School of Management from 1992-2001.

Prior to founding The Jeffery Group, Pamela served as a Political Advisor in the David Peterson government and continues to be actively involved at Queen's Park and in Ottawa as an advisor and fundraiser. She served as Ontario Communications Advisor to Prime Minister Martin in the 2004 federal election.

Pamela's commitment to community service is extensive. In addition to serving as Past President of The National Club, she serves as a Director of The Canadian Opera Company and a member of the Board of Governors of Trent University. She is also a member of the Telus Toronto Community Advisory Board

She is a past Director of the Ivey School of Business Alumni Association, Bloorview Kids Rehab Foundation, Casey House Foundation, Sick Kids Connection and The Donwood (now the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). She is a past member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Finance and Taxation Committee and the Governance Committees of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Toronto Board of Trade. In 2000, Pamela was appointed by Ontario Finance Minister Ernie Eves to the Ontario Business Tax Review Panel to develop recommendations on future corporate, property and personal income tax policy. In 2004, Pamela was appointed by Ontario Attorney-General Michael Bryant to the Democracy Renewal Advisory Committee.

Pamela holds an MBA and an HBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. She lives in Toronto with her partner Norman Inkster and is the mother of two teenage sons Stephen and Samuel.

Glenn G. Keeling is a Partner with Laurel Hill Advisory Group, an independent firm with offices in New York, Toronto, San Francisco, and Vancouver, offering client focused strategic solicitation and corporate governance consulting services. The firm specializes in complex shareholder communication issues and provides a range of tailored services including Proxy Solicitation, Information Agent, Shareholder Identification, and Shareholder Asset Recovery Programs.

Prior to leading Laurel Hill Advisory Group, Glenn was President and Chief Executive Officer of Georgeson Canada, a position he held for 9 years.

Glenn spent his early career working in senior management roles with notable firms including The Globe and Mail and The Financial Post in the electronic publishing and communications Services industries.

Viki Lazaris, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations joined BMO in 2001 as Director of Financial Performance Management. The following year, she assumed her first executive position with her promotion to Vice President of Financial Performance Management.

In 2003, Ms. Lazaris was appointed Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Personal & Commercial Canada, and then in 2006, she was promoted to her current position, Senior Vice-President, Investor Relations.

Prior to joining BMO, she held various senior finance positions at companies including Maxxcom Inc., Wyeth Canada Inc. and what is now Rogers Communications. Ms. Lazaris earned a BA from the University of Toronto and has a CA designation.

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $376.8 billion as at January 31, 2008, and more than 36,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions. BMO Financial Group serves clients across Canada through its Canadian retail arm, BMO Bank of Montreal, and through its wealth management firms BMO Nesbitt Burns, BMO InvestorLine and BMO Harris Private Banking. BMO Capital Markets, our North American investment and corporate banking division, provides a full suite of financial products and services to our North American and international clients. BMO also serves personal and commercial clients in the United States through Chicago-based Harris, an integrated financial services organization that provides more than one million personal and business clients with banking, lending, investing, financial planning, trust administration, portfolio management, family office and wealth transfer services.

James E. Lukaszewski advises, coaches, and counsels the men and women who lead and run very large corporations and organizations worldwide. He deals with the communications problems top executives and managers face that can only be resolved through superior personal leadership skills combined with positive, ethical, strategic communication. He is a well-known expert in managing and counteracting tough, touchy, sensitive corporate communications and reputation problems.

Jim is an internationally recognized speaker on crisis management, ethics, media relations, public affairs, and reputation preservation and restoration. Each year he is a keynote presenter to audiences as large as 1,000 people. He presents to a diverse array of audiences across the spectrum of business, government, military, non-profit, and trade associations. Jim is an active member and leader in the Public Relations Society of America and the International Association of Business Communicators, and hosts monthly teleseminars and Web-based teleseminars for members of these associations. He is recognized by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics as a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP). If it’s about leadership and solving problems, he talks and writes about it − continuously.

He is a prolific author, lecturer, trainer, counselor, and public speaker. He is quoted in publications such as the Baltimore Sun, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, and Harvard Business Review, as well as many public relations industry trade journals. He is a member of InfoCom’s Media Relations Insider editorial advisory board, frequent columnist and member of PR News’ editorial board, columnist for O’Dwyer’s PR Services Report, columnist for PRSA’s magazine, The Strategist, and Public Relations Tactics. His 1992 book, Influencing Public Attitudes: Strategies that Reduce the Media’s Power, remains a classic work in the field of direct communication. The Public Relations Society of America publishes his four-volume Executive Action© Crisis Communication Management System, the most recent book being published in 2005.

Jim’s clients and audiences call him a teacher, thinker, coach, and friend who has the unique ability to help them approach problems from a variety of new perspectives, think through and strategize in new ways and take appropriate, highly focused ethical action. His newest book, Why Should the Boss Listen to You, was published by Jossey-Bass in 2007.

Tracy Lutz provides strategic investor relations counsel to public companies. Her practice areas include IR planning and program development, corporate disclosure policies, corporate governance practices, IR websites, message development and writing (annual reports, MD&A, web, speech writing), presentation materials, project management and IR coaching. Her career includes more than two decades of corporate experience in the oil and gas industry. Most recently, she was manager, investor relations and corporate communications for a senior Canadian E&P company.

A former columnist for CIRI Newsline, Tracy has written more than 30 articles on the practice of investor relations. She is the author of "A Guide to Developing an Investor Relations Program" and led the initiative to update CIRI's "Standards and Guidance for Disclosure and Model Disclosure Policy". Tracy is a past chair of CIRI and past president of the Alberta Chapter. She is a recipient of the CIRI Award for Excellence in Investor Relations (1997), CIRI Alberta's Leadership and Innovation Award (2004), and CIRI Alberta's Lifetime Achievement Award (2007).

Marguerite Manshreck-Head is President of MMH Investor Relations Inc., an investor relations consulting business  that provides IR support to small cap resource companies.   

Prior to founding MMH, Ms. Manshreck-Head was Director, Investor Relations at Falconbridge Limited, where she was responsible for the company's investor relations strategy. She previously held the roles of Director, Cobalt Marketing & Sales at Falconbridge, with responsibilities including executing the Cobalt strategy and developing an understanding of the industry. As Director, Market Research, she was responsible for market research for nickel and cobalt.

She has also been Economist Long Term Planning at Kidd Creek Mines Ltd., Computer Programmer at Burns Fry Limited, Consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social Conference on Asia and the Pacific, and to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Ms. Manshreck-Head holds an Honours BA in Economics from Concordia University and a Masters Diploma from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. She is a past President of CIRI's Ontario Chapter.

Sharon Mathers is Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations at Canadian Tire Corporation. CTC is a growing integrated network of interrelated businesses with more than 1,060 general merchandise and apparel retail stores and gas bars as well as a major financial services provider and retail bank. Prior to joining Canadian Tire in 2008, Sharon was Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications for MDS Inc. a global life sciences company. Prior to joining MDS, she held a variety of senior marketing and business development roles with global healthcare companies in Canada. Ms. Mathers has a Bachelor of Administrative Studies degree from York University, an MBA from the Rotman School of Management and is the Chairman of CIRI's Board of Directors.

Dr. McCracken is an associate professor in accounting at the DeGroote School of Business. Susan’s research focuses on the decision making process of auditors. Her work focuses on decisions and approaches to negotiation in an audit context. Although her auditor negotiation work began in the audit litigation context, her most recent and most extensive work centers on the negotiations that take place between auditors and clients during the preparation and finalization of financial statements. This area of research has gained an increased importance given the recent accounting scandals, and thus, her work has been very useful in increasing understanding of the inner workings of the audit profession, and to suggest methods to improve the interpersonal aspects of the audit process. Dr. McCracken’s new line of research, which is in its early stages, stems directly from the high-profile corporate collapses (Enron, Worldcom) that have occurred over the past few years. This line of research will address calls from regulators and users to increase and improve the transparency of financial reporting such that the needs of financial statement users are met.

Dr. McCracken is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. Susan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Accounting from the University of Waterloo. She is a member of both the American Accounting Association and the Canadian Academic Accounting Association. Professor McCracken’s work has been published in Accounting, Organizations & Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory and Behavioral Research in Accounting.

Chuck is a senior consultant with more than 17 years experience in financial services communication and investor relations. He is former Director, Investor Relations Services, for The R-M Trust Company; a regular contributor to the National Post; a judge for the CICA/National Post annual report awards; and a member of the Editorial Committee of Professional Administrator, the quarterly magazine of the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries and the Institute for Corporate Secretaries and Administrators.

Chuck is also the author of two books:

• How to Start and Run an Investment Club, an investment club primer published by the Canadian Securities Institute in October, 1998.
• What Every Canadian Should Know about Family Finance, a financial planning guide published by the Canadian Securities Institute in April, 1999.

Eddy Miller is the Past-President of the CIRI Quebec Chapter and Director of Investor Relations for Adaltis Inc., an emerging, Toronto Stock Exchanged listed, in-vitro diagnostic company. Mr. Miller has been a member of CIRI since 2002 and a member of the Quebec Board of Directors since 2003. Most recently he has served as Vice President and Chair of the membership committee. Mr. Miller has raised millions in charitable donations for several Montreal charities including the Missing Children's Network Canada, The Action Center, Muscular Dystrophy, Toy Tea for battered women shelters and the MUHC.

Mr. Miller holds a B.Comm. in Marketing from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. Additionally, Mr. Miller graduated with honors from Marianopolis College where he was the recipient of the Richter, Usher & Vineberg Scholarship in Commerce. Mr. Miller was also the recipient of the Gordon Robertson Citizenship Award for community, school involvement and academic excellence.

Since 1990, Pam Murphy has directed the corporate communications and investor relations programs for several emerging biopharmaceutical companies which, given their early stage of development and lack of product revenues, rely heavily on the capital markets and strategic partnerships for funding. She is currently vice president, investor relations and corporate communications at Incyte Corporation, a drug discovery and development company in Wilmington, Delaware. Prior to working in the biotech sector, she was the publisher of several regional newsweekly publications in Texas and Louisiana. Prior to this, she worked in marketing and sales for Time Inc., at Sports Illustrated, and in media at Young & Rubicam in New York.

She is an active member of NIRI and the Biotechnology Industry Organization, having recently completed a four-year term on the NIRI Board of Directors. She serves as co-chair of NIRI’s Roundtable for Strategic Communications and is a founding steering committee member of the BioPharma Industry Roundtable. She is also a founding member of the Houston Technology Center, the largest technology business incubator in Texas and the center for technology entrepreneurship in Houston.

Michael Murray is Director, Investor Relations at The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc.

Prior to joining Jean Coutu, Mr. Murray was Vice President, Planning and Investor Relations at Laurentian Bank of Canada, where his duties included the investor relations function, strategic planning, and acquisition analysis.

Prior to joining the Bank, he was Assistant Controller at Power Corporation of Canada, an international holding and management company.

Mr. Murray graduated from Concordia University with a BA in Economics. He became a Chartered Accountant after articling with PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG, and received an Executive MBA from Queen's University in 1996. He is a 2006 CIRI Conference Co-Chair and sits on CIRI's Board of Directors.

Naomi Nemeth is currently Vice President, Investor Relations for Homeland Energy Group Ltd. Prior to joining Homeland Energy, Naomi was VP IR for African Copper PLC, Wolfden Resources, Sanatana Diamonds and Desert Sun Mining. Naomi has also held senior investor relations and communications roles in the pharmaceutical and financial services industries. Naomi began her career as a field exploration geologist in the Yukon and northern Ontario. Naomi has an Honours BSc in Geology and Biology at Brock University and a Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario. Naomi serves as an independent director on the Board of MetalCORP Ltd (TSX.V: MTC) and has been on the Board of Directors for CIRI Ontario since 2002, currently serving as Past President.

Thomas C. Newkirk is a partner in Jenner & Block’s Washington, DC office. He is a Co-Chair of the Firm’s Securities Litigation Practice and a member of its Corporate, White Collar Criminal Defense and Counseling, and Securities Practices. In March 2008 Mr. Newkirk was chosen by LegalTimes as one of seven "Leading Lawyers" in the area of Internal Investigation/Corporate Governance.

Mr. Newkirk focuses on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Self-Regulatory Organization enforcement matters and related internal investigations and counseling. In connection with these matters, he represents public companies, investment advisors, investment companies, broker-dealers, accounting firms and officers, directors and others associated with these businesses.

Previously, Mr. Newkirk was a senior official with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for nineteen years. For the last eleven years, he was an Associate Director of the Division of Enforcement, and led the investigations of some of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s most significant cases.

During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Mr. Newkirk was the Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy, where he helped secure two of the largest judgments ever collected by the government in U.S. v. Exxon, $2 billion and In re Dept. of Energy Stripper Well Litigation, $1 billion. Previously he was a Senior Attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, an Assistant Counsel for the U.S. Senate’s Securities Industry Study, and an associate in a major “Wall Street” law firm.

He writes and lectures frequently on SEC enforcement matters.

Mr. Newkirk received numerous awards during his government service including two Presidential Meritorious Executive Awards, the SEC Chairman’s Award for Excellence, the SEC’s Law and Policy Award, the SEC’s Capital Markets Award, the SEC’s Distinguished Service Award, the Commission’s highest honor, the Secretary of Energy’s Outstanding Service Award and the Secretary of Energy’s Exceptional Service Award.

Mr. Newkirk graduated in 1966 from Cornell Law School, Order of the Coif, Phi Kappa Phi and with distinction. He was a member of the Cornell Law Review’s Board of Editors. He received his B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell University, in 1964.

Mr. Newkirk is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York.

Michael Nowlan brings more than 25 years of experience in communications, sales management, financial services and technological innovation to Marketwire. Michael started his professional career with Price Waterhouse in Toronto and spent two years with the company in Copenhagen, Denmark. After Price Waterhouse, he served as a founding partner in a Toronto-based accounting and consulting firm, and he also served as CFO of a TSX-listed company. After joining Marketwire (then CCNMatthews) in June 1999 as CFO, he soon took on operational responsibilities and was named CEO in 2000. His status of President and Chief Executive Officer was assumed shortly following the merging of CCNMatthews and Market Wire in April of 2006. Michael earned his Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) degree from Queen's University in 1982 and holds a Chartered Accountant (CA) designation.

The Honorable Michael G. Oxley was appointed Vice Chairman of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. in March 2007. In this capacity, Mr. Oxley serves the NASDAQ executive management team and Board with his expertise in public policy, corporate counseling, financial services and capital markets. He also interfaces with NASDAQ listed companies to increase visibility of the exchange’s market excellence, business and policy issues. Mr. Oxley reports directly to NASDAQ’s President and CEO, Robert Greifeld and will serve as a strategic advisor. He is co-based in New York and Washington D.C.

Formerly, Mr. Oxley served for 25 years as U.S. Representative of Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District. He was appointed Chairman of the House of Financial Services Committee in 2001. During his tenure as Chairman, he co-authored the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed in 2002 in the wake of several large-scale accounting and corporate governance scandals. In 2007, he joined the Baker Hostetler LLP as a member of its Government Policy Group. During his time as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2001 through 2006, Mr. Oxley was recognized for consolidating the jurisdiction of all financial services industries in one panel for the first time in the history of the House. The Committee’s scope includes banking, insurance, securities and exchanges, and monetary policy. In his new role at NASDAQ, Mr. Oxley will remain a champion for efficient capital market formation. He was a key advocate for the implementation of decimalization in the US equities markets, which took place in 2002.

During his term as Congressman, Mr. Oxley helped shape legislative policy across a wide array of issues. A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 1983 to 2001, he is well-known for his knowledge of federal telecommunications and energy policy. Mr. Oxley is a proponent for ethical business competition, free-trade agreements, and international business engagement. He has consistently backed the nation’s law enforcement and intelligence communities in their fights against drugs, crime, and terrorism. Prior to his election to Congress in 1981, Mr. Oxley was a special agent of the FBI and a member of the Ohio General Assembly. Previously, he practiced law with the firm Oxley, Malone, Fitzgerald, and Hollister.

Michael G. Oxley received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1966 and a law degree from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio in 1969

Paul Renaud is President and CEO of OMERS Capital Partners. Mr. Renaud was born in 1954 in Windsor, Ontario and obtained an Honours Business degree from the University of Windsor in 1977.

Mr. Renaud began his career at Ernst & Young (formerly Clarkson Gordon) in 1977. During a six-year period with the firm, he obtained his Chartered Accountant designation and was an Audit Manager when he left the firm in 1983. In May 1983, Mr. Renaud joined Carling O’Keefe Breweries of Canada (“Carling”) as Manager, General Accounting. Mr. Renaud’s career progressed with Carlings for approximately 5 years, holding a number of financial management positions before leaving in 1987, as Vice President Comptroller, to join Southam Inc. In November 1987, Mr. Renaud joined Southam Inc. as their Controller. In 1991 Mr. Renaud was promoted to Vice President Finance, Southam Newspaper Group, Southam’s largest operation. In October 1991, Mr. Renaud accepted the position of Vice President Finance for CAE. In 1993, Mr. Renaud was promoted to Chief Financial Officer, and in 2000 his title was changed to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

In November 2004, Mr. Renaud accepted the position of Sr. Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of OMERS and in May 2006 was appointed to the position of President & CEO, OMERS Capital Partners. In February 2005, Mr. Renaud was appointed to the Board of Directors and to the Chair of the Audit Committee of Sleeman Breweries Ltd. A role he maintained until the company was acquired in October 2006. In February 2008, Mr. Renaud successfully completed The Chartered Directors Program at The Directors College earning the designation, Chartered Director.

Mr. Renaud is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

John joined BMO Capital Markets in 1997. He covers the life insurance and diversified financials sector, and previously covered the printing and publishing sector. Prior to joining the company, John was a fixed income analyst for four years at Great-West Life’s U.S. operations, covering the communications and media, cable and telecommunications industries.

The 2006 Brendan Wood International survey again ranked John as an all-star analyst in diversified financials (first place) and insurance (second place).

John was also named as a top stock picker by industry, and a top earnings estimator by industry, by the 2005 Financial Post / StarMine Top Analyst Awards.

John holds a BA in economics from Queen’s University (1991) and an MA in economics from McGill University (1993).

Larry Ritchie was appointed as a Vice-Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) on February 21, 2007. As a Commissioner and member of the Executive Management Committee, Mr. Ritchie participates in overseeing Commission operations, setting priorities and sponsoring policy initiatives.

As a Commissioner, Mr. Ritchie serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the OSC. He is also a member of the Commission’s Adjudicative Committee, which is responsible for the review and establishment of adjudicative policy, process and procedure. He is a member of adjudicative panels that hear and decide enforcement proceedings, regulatory policy matters and appeals of decisions of recognized self-regulatory organizations and Commission staff decisions.

Prior to his appointment to the Commission, Mr. Ritchie was a Partner in Osler Hoskin & Harcourt’s Litigation Department and was also cross-appointed to the firm’s Pensions & Benefits Department. While at Osler Hoskin, his practice included a range of corporate governance and securities, pensions and competition-related litigation. In addition to this experience, he has acted as counsel in a variety of general corporate and commercial civil litigation matters including those relating to competition and international trade, employment, contracts, franchises, insolvency, constitutional and product liability issues, both in the courts and before administrative tribunals. He also has experience in numerous alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings.

Mr. Ritchie participated in a secondment to the Enforcement Branch of the OSC in 1993, where he served as enforcement counsel. Upon returning to his law firm, Mr. Ritchie acted for OSC enforcement staff, as well as securities dealers, brokers, promoters, public issuers, officers and directors, and other securities market participants, including banks, in a wide range of securities-related proceedings, appearing both before the OSC and the Ontario courts. In addition to his securities regulatory practice, he acted in numerous private securities disputes and proceedings, including those relating to shareholder rights and remedies, private company disputes and corporate governance issues before the Courts and in ADR forums.

As a litigator, Mr. Ritchie also acted for defendants in numerous class actions, including those involving claims against public companies, corporate officers and directors, government, financial institutions and pension plan administrators and trustees. These matters have involved allegations of corporate financial impropriety, breaches of the Securities Act, breach of trust, conspiracy, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation and breaches of various other common law duties of care.

Mr. Ritchie had also been involved in a number of pension-related dispute matters at every court level in Ontario, as well as before the Financial Services Tribunal (and its predecessor the Pension Commission of Ontario), providing counsel to plan sponsors and administrators, as well as pension plan trustees.

Mr. Ritchie was educated at the University of Western Ontario (BA), Osgoode Hall Law School (LLB) and the London School of Economics (LLM).

Michael E. Roach was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CGI in 2006. He is responsible for over seeing the company’s worldwide operations, as well as managing all global corporate functions including finance, technology, corporate services, marketing and business engineering.

From 2002 to 2006, Michael Roach was President and Chief Operating Officer of CGI. In 2004, under his leadership, CGI completed its largest acquisition – acquiring American Management Systems (AMS) for CDN$1.1 billion dollars – successfully integrating 4,800 professionals worldwide into its operations.

In 1998, Michael Roach spearheaded the merger of Bell Sygma into CGI doubling the size of CGI. On joining CGI, he assumed the role of Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Telecommunications Information Systems and Services.

Michael Roach’s earlier career with Bell Canada spanned 25 years. In 1998 he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Sygma Inc., a Bell Canada subsidiary formed to provide services to Canada's full-service telecommunications companies. Prior to this, he held a variety of leadership positions with Bell Canada.

Mr. Roach sits on the board of directors of CGI, the Conference Board of Canada, The Conference Board, Inc. (U.S.) and Innovapost. He is a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Laurentian University’s President’s Council. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science, as well as an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario.

Mr. Rosenfeld has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Crescendo Partners, L.P., a New York based investment firm, since its formation in November 1998. Prior to forming Crescendo Partners, he held the position of Managing Director at CIBC Oppenheimer and its predecessor company Oppenheimer & Co., Inc for fourteen years. He was Chairman of the Board of Spar Aerospace Limited from 1999 through 2001.

Mr. Rosenfeld is chairman of the board and chairman of the strategic planning committee of CPI Aerostructures Inc., an American Stock Exchange-listed company engaged in the contract production of structural aircraft parts principally for the United States Air Force and other branches of the U.S. armed forces. He is chairman of the board of Computer Horizons Corp., a Nasdaq listed IT services company. He is also chairman of the board and CEO of Rhapsody Acquisition Corporation. In addition, Mr. Rosenfeld is a director of Hill International, a Nasdaq listed construction management firm that went public by merging with Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation, a blank check company of which Mr. Rosenfeld was chairman, president and CEO. He is also a director of Matrikon Inc, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed company that is a provider of industrial intelligence solutions and a director of DALSA Corp., a Toronto Stock Exchange listed digital imaging and semiconductor firm.

Mr. Rosenfeld was a director of Emergis Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed electronic commerce company until its recent acquisition by Telus. He was a director of Sierra Systems Group Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed information technology, management consulting and systems integration firm until it was acquired in early 2007. He recently served as a director of the Geac Computer Corporation Limited, a Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq listed enterprise software company until it was sold in 2006. Mr. Rosenfeld served as a director and head of the special committee of Pivotal Corporation, a Vancouver based customer relations management software company. Until its sale in 2004 to Kronos Incorporated, he was also a director of AD OPT Technologies, Inc., a company based in Montreal that provides advanced workforce planning, scheduling and management solutions. Mr. Rosenfeld is a regular guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and he is a faculty member at the Directors College. He has served on numerous panels at Queen’s University Business Law School Symposia, McGill Law School, the World Presidents’ Organization , the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association Conference and the Canadian Foundation for Investor Education. He has also been a regular guest host on CNBC. Mr. Rosenfeld received an MBA from Harvard University and an AB degree in economics from Brown University.

Michael is an Assistant Professor in the Management Communications Area Group. He received his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Western Ontario in 1993, and spent two years (1994-1996) as a SSHRC post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote a book on the poetry of John Keats. In 1996, Michael came back to U.W.O. to recreate the University's Effective Writing Program. He acted as program administrator until joining Ivey in July, 2002.

Michael has taught literature, writing and public speaking at the University of Western Ontario, and has worked as a writing workshop instructor at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Academically Talented Youth. He has also developed a small consulting business in business writing seminars and corporate writing services, and worked as a business writing seminar leader for the Western Centre for Continuing Studies' professional development program. His clients have included supervisors, managers, and employees from Ford, 3M, GM, Purina, and local hospitals. He has also worked as an intercultural communications consultant for the Asahi Fund Bangladesh, a Japanese non-profit organization.

Neil Stewart is executive editor of IR magazine. As the New York-based editorial director for Cross Border, a publishing and events company with  headquarters in London, Neil also oversees IR magazine's sister publication, Corporate Secretary, and the research behind the IR Magazine Awards in the US and Canada. Neil has chaired IR magazine conferences and other events on six continents during his twelve years of association with Cross Border. Originally from Montreal, he has been featured on CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia, CNBC Australia, ROB-TV and TheStreet.com TV.

In January 2007, Bob Tait was appointed Vice-President for First Uranium, a TSX-listed South African uranium and gold mining company. Bob was President and CEO of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute from July 2005 to January 2007. Prior to this, he was Director, Investor Relations at Canadian Tire Corporation Limited in Toronto.
He has also been Vice President of Investor Relations at Eldorado Gold in Vancouver and Manager, Investor Relations at Abitibi-Consolidated in Toronto. Since 1987, Mr. Tait has focused his career on investor relations and was very involved in the national and chapter CIRI Boards. Before focusing on IR, Mr. Tait worked in information technology, finance and sales in a variety of sectors. Mr. Tait completed CIRI's Strategic Management of Investor Relations program at the Richard Ivey School of Business. He was a member of the Ontario Securities Commission's Continuous Disclosure Advisory Committee from 2002 through 2006. He is a also a past member of the NIRI Board in the United States.

Karen Taylor is Manager, Investor Relations and Corporate Secretary of Freehold Royalty Trust. She joined Rife (Calgary) in February 1997 as Manager, Corporate Communications. Her appointment as Corporate Secretary was effective February 27, 2008. Ms. Taylor is an active member of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) and the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries (CSCS).

Beverly Topping is President and CEO of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) www.icd.ca. Under her leadership, the ICD has mobilized its membership base and launched the ICD Directors Education Program, in partnership with Rotman School of Management and other leading universities across Canada. In her position, Beverly has made every effort to advance the profession of director and to raise the profile of women on boards. She has been published in The Globe and Mail and spoken at events held by Women’s Executive Network, The Sheldon Chumir Foundation, Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries, Yale University, Taiwan’s Financial Sector Reforms and the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards just to name a few.

Beverly is a business entrepreneur and experienced corporate director. She is the founder of Today’s Parent Magazine, and developed a multi-media company, which she sold to Rogers Media in 2000.

As a corporate director, Beverly has served on several boards. From 1994 until its privatization in 2004, Beverly acted as a director at Cara Foods, at the time, the largest food service company in Canada. During that same time period, Beverly also served as a board member of CT Financial Services. Beverly was also a director on the Toronto International Film Festival Group board from 2001 to 2007 and the Women’s College Hospital Foundation board from 1995 to 2006. Today, Beverly serves as a Director for the Institute of Child Study and the Ontario Lottery & Gaming. In her spare time, Beverly is an avid traveler.

Education/Professional

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, Trudeau 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. He is now pursuing a Master's degree in Environmental Geography at McGill University.

Trudeau has been actively involved with Katimavik, Canada’s leading national youth volunteer-service program. He has worked to increase the engagement of Canada’s youth towards their country, their communities and their environment.

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.

Trudeau is constantly being quoted in the media across the country on his views concerning the future of Canada. His work with a large number of diverse organizations and levels of government keeps him travelling extensively to help ensure that Canada is prepared to meet the challenges and responsibilities its future holds. Most recently, his highly anticipated entry into Canadian politics has been secured with his Liberal Party nomination. He will be representing the Liberal party in the next federal election in the Montreal riding of Papineau. The combination of Trudeau’s electric charisma and inspirational message leaves audiences educated, entertained and ready to make a difference.

Gilles is responsible for marketing interest rate swap, credit default swaps and cross currency derivatives to Governments, Corporations and financial institutions in the Québec marketplace. Gilles also develops structured solutions for BMO’s client across Canada. Gilles joined the Financial Products Group in 1997. Previously, Gilles worked at Credit Lyonnais Montréal as Vice-President, Capital Markets and with the Ministère des Finances du Québec (in Québec City) as a Derivative Portfolio Manager.

Gilles holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Economic, and an M.B.A. in Finance from Université Laval.