Speaker Biographies

Mr. Wright began his federal government career as an economist with the Department of External Affairs. Over the next 12 years he held various positions at the National Energy Board, the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and the Department of Finance. In 1987, he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Priorities and Planning) at the Privy Council Office. Between 1989 and 2009, Mr. Wright held a number of positions at the Deputy Minister level, including:

• Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans);
• Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada;
• High Commissioner for Canada to New Zealand;
• Deputy Minister of Revenue Canada and the first Commissioner of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency;
• Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Deputy Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada;
• President and Chief Executive Officer of Export Development Canada; and
• Deputy Minister of Finance.

Mr. Wright retired from his position as Deputy Minister of Finance on July 8, 2009 – the 35th anniversary of his employment in the Public Service of Canada. Mr. Wright was born in 1951 in Northwestern Ontario. He has a BA in economics from the University of Western Ontario (1973) and an MA in economics from the University of Manitoba (1975).

Duncan Stewart is the Director of Deloitte Canada Research in the areas of Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT), Life Sciences and GreenTech. He is a member of Deloitte’s national TMT executive team, is a co-author of Deloitte Research’s annual Predictions report on trends in TMT, and is one of Canada’s leading futurists.

Duncan has two decades of experience in the TMT industry. As a portfolio manager, he has provided research or made investments in the entire Canadian technology and telecommunications sector. He has written research on names such as Nortel and Celestica, and been a venture capital investor in Research in Motion and OpenText, among others. Duncan was a co-founder of Tera Capital, Canada’s first high tech and biotech money manager, and was the Canadian Technology Fund Manager of the Year in 2003.

Duncan has a high profile media presence and is frequently interviewed on technology and biotechnology issues. He has also been a columnist for a national newspaper and radio network.

He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of British Columbia. But he has geek credibility too: at Banff NextMedia in 2010 he participated (and won) the iPad App demo contest with colleague Peter McNeill.

Hon. Dalmas Anyango Otieno, EGH, M.P., was appointed Kenya’s Minister of state for Public Service in April 2008. He has an illustrious career in public Service leadership including:
- Member Insurance Agency Management (1971-1982)
- Director of Kenya Commercial Bank (82-85)
- Treasurer of Kenyatta University Council (1983-1987)
- Member of Parliament(1988-1997)
- Minister for Industry (1988-1991)
- Minister for Transport and Communications (1991)
- Current Chair of the Pan African Conference of Ministers of Public Service
- Chairman of African Ministers for Transport and Communications (1993-1994)
- Member of Speakers Committee in Parliament (93-94)
- Chairman of Establishment of Committee in Parliament (1993-1994)
- Chairman of Establishment Committee of RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communication organization)
- Member of Parliament Sessional Committee (1993-1996)
- Member of Parliament Public Investment Committee PIC
- Chairman of Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) Committee on Legal and Constitutional Reforms (1997)
- Negotiations and Brokerage Services (Insurance/Finance) (1997- to-date)
- Board member of Electricity Regulatory Board (98-01)
- Chairman Tasley Consultants (2003 – to date)

Hon. Dalmas Anyango Otieno, EGH, MP, is a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, FCII, London 1979, Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, ACII, London 1977 and Chartered Insurance Practitioner (CIP).
He holds a BSc Applied Economics from Makerere University, Uganda and a Postgraduate Study Course in Management, Insurance and Finance. Due to his exemplary performance in Public Service and other Public Sectors, Hon. Dalmas Anyango Otieno, EGH, MP, has been awarded the Elder of the order of the Burning Spear of Kenya (EBS), Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (EGH).

P. Thomas Jenkins is Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer for Open Text™ Corporation of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. From 1994 to 2005, Mr. Jenkins was President, then Chief Executive Officer and then from 2005 to present, Chief Strategy Officer of Open Text.  Mr. Jenkins has served as a Director of Open Text since 1994 and as its Chairman since 1998. In addition to his Open Text responsibilities, Mr. Jenkins is the Chair of the federal centre of excellence Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN).  He is also an appointed member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), past appointed member of the Government of Canada’s Competition Policy Review Panel and past appointed member of the Province of Ontario’s Ontario Commercialization Network Review Committee (OCN).  Mr. Jenkins is also a member of the board of BMC Software, Inc. a software corporation based in Houston, Texas.  He is also a member of the University of Waterloo Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council, GRAND, the federal research centre of excellence for digital media, a director of the C.D. Howe Institute, a director of the Canadian International Council (CIC) and a director of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE). Mr. Jenkins received an M.B.A. in entrepreneurship & technology management from Schulich School of Business at York University, an M.A.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and a B.Eng. & Mgt. in Engineering Physics and Commerce from McMaster University.

National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo is a Hereditary Chief from the Ahousaht First Nation. In July 2009, A-in-chut was elected to a three-year mandate as National Chief to the Assembly of First Nations.

A-in-chut served two terms as Regional Chief of the BC AFN. In this time, he committed to the principles of working together through inclusion and respect. In March 2005, a historic Leadership Accord was signed, overcoming decades of discord among First Nations leadership in BC.

A-in-chut graduated in 2003 with a Masters of Education in Adult Learning and Global Change from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia (in partnership with University of British Columbia, University of the Western Cape South Africa, and University of Linkoping Sweden). In 2008, A-in-chut’s commitment to education was recognized in his appointment as Chancellor of Vancouver Island University, becoming BC’s first indigenous Chancellor.

A-in-chut is supported by and gains strength from his partner of 24 years Nancy and their two adult children, Tyson and Tara. Traditional teachings have guided A-in-chut to serve First Nations as a leader, facilitator, mediator, planner and teacher.

As President of IBM Canada, Bruce Ross is responsible for setting the strategic direction and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the IBM organization in Canada.  Mr. Ross is also a member of the IBM Integration and Values Team, a group of senior leaders from across the corporation integrating IBM on the basis of our values.

Previously, Mr. Ross was General Manager for IBM Global Technology Services (GTS) in the UK & Ireland and South Africa, where he was responsible for all aspects of business, including Strategic Outsourcing, Integrated Technology Services, and Technical Support Services and Maintenance. Bruce was a member of the Board of Directors of IBM UK Limited.

From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Ross was Vice President, Strategic Outsourcing, IBM Global Services Banking Industry. In this role, he had responsibility for the business development, sales and service contract delivery function of IBM’s business supporting the banking industry in North America. He was a member of the IBM Global Services Sales Executive Council.

From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Ross held executive positions in support of IBM’s Financial Services portfolio. His management responsibilities included Business Unit Executive for IBM’s Financial Services business in New England, and responsibility for IBM’s outsourcing engagements in the Financial Services Industry in North America. Mr. Ross joined IBM Canada in 1985 and has also held numerous technical, systems engineering, marketing and marketing management positions. He is a professional engineer and a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.

Stephen M. R. Covey is co-founder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide. A sought-after and compelling keynote speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, he speaks to audiences around the world. He is the author of "The SPEED of Trust", a groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book that challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demonstrates that trust is a hardedged,
economic driver—a learnable and measurable skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable, and relationships more energizing. He advocates that nothing is as fast as the speed of
trust and that the ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust with all stakeholders is the critical leadership competency of the new global economy.

He is the former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, which, under his stewardship, became the largest leadership development company in the world. Covey personally led the strategy that propelled his father’s book, Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", to one of the two most influential business books of the 20th Century, according to CEO Magazine. A Harvard MBA, he joined Covey Leadership Center as a Client Developer and later became National Sales Manager and then
President & CEO.

Over the years, Covey has gained considerable respect and influence with executives and leaders of Fortune 500 companies as well as with mid- and small-sized private sector and public sector organizations he’s consulted. Clients recognize his unique perspective on real-world organizational issues based on his practical experience as a former CEO. Covey currently serves on the board/advisory board of several entities, including the Human Performance Institute—the leader in energy management technology—where he serves as Advisory Board Chairman. Covey resides with his wife and children in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.

Jennifer Stoddart was appointed Canada's Privacy Commissioner by the Governor in Council, effective December 1, 2003, on unanimous resolutions adopted by both the House of Commons and the Senate, for a seven-year term.

Since taking on this role, Commissioner Stoddart has overseen a number of important investigations, including those concerning the privacy policies and practices of the popular social networking site Facebook and a massive data breach at U.S. retail giant TJX, which owns Winners and HomeSense stores in Canada. The Commissioner also led efforts to help private sector organizations understand their obligations under the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in the first years after the legislation came into force. She is working to promote online privacy for young people through the Office’s new website, www.youthprivacy.ca.

Given Canada’s international trade patterns, Commissioner Stoddart has become involved in global privacy issues through her work with international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which are examining ways to protect and enhance privacy rights on a global scale. In 2007, she hosted the 29th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, which brought together some of the world's foremost data protection experts.

Commissioner Stoddart was previously President of the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec, an organization responsible for both access to information and the protection of personal information. She has held several senior positions in public administration for the Governments of Québec and Canada, including at the Canadian and the Québec Human Rights Commissions. Commissioner Stoddart has been active in the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, and has also lectured on history and legal sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal and McGill University. She is a member of the Québec Bar.