Change starts here.
Change starts here.
As former premier of British Columbia, Mayor of Vancouver and City Councilor, Mike Harcourt helped British Columbia earn its reputation as one of the most livable, accessible and inclusive places in the world. His focus on conservation and sustainable development – and his resolve to contribute to the transformation of cities and communities around the world – has played a significant role in promoting quality of life for those in Canada and abroad.
After stepping down from politics, he was appointed by the Prime Minister to serve as a member of the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy, where he served on the Executive Committee and Chaired the Urban Sustainability Program. He was a Federally appointed B.C. Treaty Commissioner and was Chair of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee for Cities and Communities and co-chaired the National Advisory Committee on the UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum in Vancouver in 2006.
Mike Harcourt is Chair of University of British Columbia’s Regional Sustainability Council for sustainability initiatives, and is at the new (CIRS) Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability as well as Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainability Continuing Studies at U.B.C. In addition to acting as Chairman of Quality Urban Energy Systems for Tomorrow (QUEST) www.questcanada.org, he chairs the Canadian Electricity Association’s Sustainable Electricity Program Advisory Panel. He is a member of City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Team. He also was part of an advisory group that helped Whistler put together it’s Natural Step based on sustainable cities strategy. He is the lead faculty in United Way’s Public Policy Institute.
Harcourt’s exemplary career as Lawyer, Community Activist, and Politician has been honoured, with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service and the Canadian Urban Institute’s Jane Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the U.B.C. Alumni Achievement Award of Distinction for contributions to British Columbia, Canada and the global community in November 2008.
U.B.C. Law Deans Advisory Council - 2010. Honorary Fellowship – The College of Fellows-Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. In 2011 - Peter Lougheed Award in Public Policy.
In 1993 Al Gore applauded Premier Harcourt, for permanently preserving the jointly shared ecosystem of the Tatshenshini River and Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park in Northwest British Columbia.
He is the author of: A Measure of Defiance and co-author of Plan B: one Man’s Journey from Tragedy to Triumph and co-author of City Making in Paradise.
Mike Harcourt is a Speaker and Advisor internationally on sustainable cities.
Joining Harcourt to present the 2012 session:
Elizabeth Cull was elected to the Legislature in 1989 for the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head. Re-elected in 1991, she served as Minister of Health, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations. As Minister of Health, Elizabeth initiated a series of health care reforms known as “Closer to Home” intended to make health care more accessible and accountable to the public.
After leaving elected office, Elizabeth established her own consulting firm, assisting private and public sector organizations improve their communications with the provincial government. In 2001, she returned to political life as Chief of Staff to BC Premier Dosanjh.
Before entering provincial politics, Elizabeth was a community planner for the BC government, a school trustee and an elected member of the BC Government Employees’ Union. She has an MA in Community and Regional Planning from UBC and a BA in Urban Studies from York University.
In 2002, Elizabeth entered the entrepreneurial world and opened a retail business devoted to gardening. Discovering that the skills necessary for a successful political life are the same as those required to be a successful entrepreneur, Elizabeth bought the franchise rights to expand the business throughout Canada and now has five stores.
Elizabeth has taught part-time at Royal Roads University in the areas of leadership development, systems thinking, public policy and the political process. She is a member of several business organizations in Victoria, teaches political ethics at the Canadian Women Voters Congress Campaign School and is a regular commentator on CBC Vancouver Island’s political panel.
Brenda EatonBrenda Eaton is a corporate director serving on a variety of Boards. She chairs BC Housing which develops and manages subsidized housing for 93,000 households. She is a director of Fortis BC, Powertech and Transelec, as well as several not-for-profit organizations including chair of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.
Previously she served in a number of senior positions in the BC Government including Deputy Minister to the Premier and prior to that as Deputy Minister of Finance; Energy and Mines; and Social Services. For four years she was Chief Financial Officer at the (now) Vancouver Island Health Authority. In her earlier career she worked in international trade and treasury operations.
Brenda has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Economics. She has been awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and has three times been named in the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. She is a frequent speaker on governance, performance management and leadership.
Ida GoodreauIda Goodreau, MBA, is Adjunct Professor, Sauder School of Business and Director of Strategy for the Centre for Health Care Management.
Ida has extensive executive experience in both the public and private sectors. From 2002 to 2009, she was the Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Coastal Health, one of the largest health care organizations in the country, responsible for delivering health services to over 1.1 million people. She has also held senior positions in the forest sector (Fletcher Challenge, Norske Skog) and natural gas (Union Gas).
Ida sits on a number of corporate and non-profit boards including Vancouver Foundation, Genome BC, Canada West Foundation, Justice Institute Foundation, Women’s Leadership Circle, as well as Fortis Inc, and Terasen/Fortis BC. She is a former Director of the Vancouver Board of Trade and Shell Canada.
Ida has been selected as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women three times, has been chosen as the 2009 Consumer Choice Awards Vancouver Business Woman of the Year, and received a Business in Vancouver Influential Women in Business award in 2010.
Dr. Liz WhynotDr. Liz Whynot retired in November 2008 from her role as President of BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, a leadership position she held for 8 years. While at Women’s, she was responsible for both the patient services provided there and for developing a variety of provincial strategies to improve the health of women and of marginalized communities. She led the development of BC’s Provincial Women’s Health Strategy, the Women’s Health Research Institute, the Maternity Care Enhancement Project and the Aboriginal Maternity Strategy. As a member of the Executive Committee of the Provincial Health Services Authority, she was responsible for the successful development of its HIV/AIDS and Aboriginal Health Strategies. She also chaired the Advisory committee for the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s report “Maternity Care in Canada. Under her leadership, BC Women’s was awarded the 2007 Arthur Kroeger Public Affairs Award in the Management Category.
Liz has an MD from Queens University in 1972 and a Masters in Health Science from UBC in 1994. After graduating from Queen’s University Medical School she worked as a general practitioner and as a public health doctor in Vancouver before joining Women’s in 1998. Liz was the co-founder of the Vancouver Sexual Assault Service and the Sheway Program for Substance Using Women and their Children. In 2007, she received the Network of East Vancouver Community Organizations award for work on behalf the community and in 2009, the Kaiser Foundation National Award for Excellence in Leadership for developing harm reduction programs such as BC Women’s Fir Square Program. Dr. Whynot was also honoured in 1998 with a celebration of her contributions to BC’s aboriginal communities.
Currently, Liz is the Director of Whynot & Associates Consulting and continues to provide clinical care as a locum physician for the Vancouver Native Health Clinic.
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