Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and The Canadian Coast Guard

Welcome Address

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc was first elected to the House of Commons in November 2000 and re-elected in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2015. He has served on the Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs and the Standing Committees on Fisheries and Oceans, Transport and Government Operations, National Defence and Veterans Affairs, Public Accounts, Procedures and House Affairs, International Trade, Justice and Human Rights, and Foreign Affairs. He has also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence.

On July 10, 2004, Dominic was sworn in as a Member of the Privy Council for Canada and appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Deputy Chief Government Whip. He has served as Opposition Critic for International Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs, Justice, Defence, and Foreign Affairs.

Mr. LeBlanc received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Toronto (Trinity College), a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New Brunswick, and a Masters of Law from Harvard Law School. Academic successes include the Dean’s List at the University of New Brunswick’s Faculty of Law, a scholarship from the New Brunswick Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, and the Graduating Average Prize from the University of Toronto (Trinity College).

Prior to his election to the House of Commons, Mr. LeBlanc was a barrister and solicitor with Clark Drummie in Shediac and Moncton, New Brunswick. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. LeBlanc was special advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien.

Andrew Pickersgill - Opening Keynote Speaker

Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

Winning in advantaged sectors — Canada and Aquaculture

Andrew Pickersgill is a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, and Managing Partner of McKinsey’s Toronto office. He currently works closely with the Economic Growth Council of Canada, and has spent 20 years serving clients on a range of corporate strategy, marketing and performance improvement topics.

Andrew has an honors BA in economics from Queen’s University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Terry O'Reilly - Luncheon Keynote Speaker

Marketer, Author, Radio Host

Putting Emotion in Marketing: Or Why It’s Better To Be Captain Kirk Than Mr. Spock

Terry began his career as Copy Chief for FM108 Radio in Burlington, Ontario, where he discovered that with meticulous planning and attention to detail, you can still fall flat on your face. With that learning, he went on to become an award-winning copywriter for Toronto advertising agencies Campbell-Ewald, Doyle Dane Bernbach and Chiat/Day. He created campaigns for many of the top brands in the country, including Labatt, Molson, Pepsi USA, Goodyear Tires, Tim Hortons, Volkswagen, Nissan and the Hudson's Bay Company. 

In 1990, Terry co-founded Pirate Radio & Television. A creative audio production company producing scripts, sound and music for radio and television commercials, Pirate grew to a staff of 50 with 8 recording studios in Toronto and New York City.

Terry has won a few hundred national and international awards for writing and has directed such notable actors as Alec Baldwin, Ellen DeGeneres, Kiefer Sutherland, Bob Newhart, Martin Short and Drew Carey. He even managed to create an advertising campaign for a group of nuns. (Good story there)

When he's not creating advertising, he's talking about it as the host of the award-winning CBC Radio One/Sirius Satellite/WBEZ Chicago radio show, Under The Influence, which is the follow-up to the hit series, The Age of Persuasion. The New York Radio Festivals awarded his show the Grand Prize as Best Radio Program in 2011 and 2012, and iTunes chose it as "Best New Podcast of 2011."

Terry has co-written a best-selling book called The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture, published in Canada by Knopf, and in the U.S. by Counterpoint Press in Berkeley. He is writing a new book tentatively entitled, Lessons From Under The Influence, to be published in Spring of 2017.

David Smith

Development Lead, Canadian Centre for Food Integrity

Embracing Transparency: what Canadians think about our food system and potential paths forward

Food industry veteran David Smith drives business growth profitably and responsibly, and is a catalyst for “radical collaboration” among food value chains to drive improvements in sustainability issues. He delivers results for all aspects of the “Triple Bottom Line”, having had P&L responsibility for growing a new division to $100 million in sales, expertise developing “green” products and brands and driving their sales, and leading the shift to “responsible sourcing” through environmental and social improvements in North American and global food supply chains.

David’s past leadership roles in retail and foodservice include VP/General Manager, VP Marketing, and VP Sustainability with Sobeys, McDonald’s, and A&W (Canada), Whole Foods Market (US), and KFC, Pizza Hut, and Subway (Middle East). He has extensive trade association sustainability committee experience in Canada, US, and globally, including The Consumer Goods Forum, The Global Social Compliance Program, and The Global Packaging Project, collaborating with Fortune 100 consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers.

As principal of Orion Global Business Sustainability Consultants David helps launch and responsibly growth businesses, consumer products, and collaborative initiatives. His recent engagements include helping lead the launch of The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, develop the Ontario Sustainable Farm & Food Plan, and create a business and biodiversity initiative in Peru. He has an undergraduate degree in environmental science and a MBA.

Rory McAlpine

Senior Vice President, Government and Industry Relations, Maple Leaf Foods

Embracing Transparency: what Canadians think about our food system and potential paths forward

Rory McAlpine is Senior Vice President, Government and Industry Relations with Maple Leaf Foods. In this role, Mr. McAlpine has overall responsibility for working with government and industry partners on matters of public policy, programs, regulatory affairs and trade.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. McAlpine served as Deputy Minister of the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries from 2002 to 2005. He also obtained significant experience with the Federal Government as Executive Director and Director General, International Trade Policy Directorate; Director Grains and Oilseeds Division; and Deputy Director Multilateral Trade with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Mr. McAlpine also held the position of Executive Director of the National Farm Products Council and was a Trade Commissioner with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, with postings in Kuwait, Bangkok, Brussels, Edmonton and Ottawa.

Matt Lally

Manager, Analytics & Insights, Neilson Perishables Group

US Fresh Seafood Successes, Challenges and Opportunities

Matt is a manager at Nielsen Perishables Group where he supports clients in determining the right consumer audience, product lines and pricing and promotional strategies to maximize sales and ROI.  His previous experience includes the management and execution of analyses across fresh food to deliver results that guide clients’ business decisions.  He recently took a year away from fresh food to join Nielsen’s global client service team, but he rejoined in 2015 with a focus on sharing uncommon insights at various fresh industry conferences and events where he has spoken.

Matt holds a marketing degree from Butler University where he built his passion for college basketball, curling and tennis.  In his spare time Matt sits on the board of two non-profits and runs a social enterprise project in Africa.