Finance Canada has released the list of 22 Canadians – primarily CEOs – who will spend two days with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty this week at a closed-door policy retreat to discuss what Ottawa should do to give the economy a boost.
In past sessions, the participants were each asked to outline what they would do if they were finance minister for a day.
In advance of the retreat, which will once again take place at the Wakefield Inn in Wakefield, Quebec, north of Ottawa, the minister explained how he determines the invite list.
"We do ensure that there are representatives from all walks of Canadian life there, including from the academic community, economists," he said. "Lots of CEOs because we need private action. There's a lot of capital sitting out there that needs to get engaged in the economy and these are the people who are influential in that regard. We also invite some other people from other walks of life, from some of the non-profit organizations and from organized labour, all of whom will be represented at the table."
This year's list includes:
1. André Bisson, Chair of the Board, Centre for Interuniversity Research and Analysis of Organizations
2. Robert Blakely, Director of Canadian Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
3. John Brace, President and Chief Executive Officer, Northland Power
4. Deborah Brown, President and Managing Director, EMD Serono, Canada
5. Bob Cartmel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Eastern Canada, Lafarge Canada Inc.
6. Connie Clerici, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Closing The Gap Healthcare Group
7. Paul Douglas, President and Chief Executive Officer, PCL
8. Dawn Farrell, President and Chief Executive Officer, TransAlta Corporation
9. Bruce Flatt, Senior Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Brookfield Management
10. Linda Hasenfratz, Chief Executive Officer, Linamar Corporation
11. Roberta Jamieson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Indspire
12. Darby Kreitz, Chief Executive Officer, Allnorth Consultants Limited
13. James Lopez, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tembec
14. L. Ian MacDonald, Outgoing Editor, Policy Options Magazine
15. Calvin McDonald, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sears Canada Inc.
16. Francis P. McGuire , President and Chief Executive Officer, Major Drilling Group International Inc.
17. Marcus New, President, Stockhouse Publishing Ltd.
18. Paul Romer, Professor of Economics, Leonard N. Stern School of Business
19. Reza Satchu, Managing Partner, Alignvest Capital Management
20. Barbara Stymiest, Chair of the Board, Research in Motion Limited
21. William Watson, Associate Professor and Chairman, Economics Department, McGill University
22. Zoe Yujnovich, President and Chief Executive Officer, Iron Ore Company of Canada