Members appointed to the Advisory Council on Science and Technology

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien today announced the names of twelve prominent Canadians who will make up the new Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACST).

The ACST is a cornerstone of the federal S&T strategy, Science and Technology for the New Century, which was announced by Industry Minister John Manley and Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development) Jon Gerrard on March 11, 1996. Its mandate is "to review the nation's performance in S&T, identify emerging issues and advise on a forward-looking agenda".

The ACST, reporting to the Prime Minister, will meet with and provide advice to the Economic Development Policy Committee of Cabinet (EDPC).

"We want to make sure that Canadians get maximum value from their science and technology investments," stated Prime Minister Chrétien. "The ACST brings together a unique team of Canadians from industry and the scientific community. Their advice will contribute to building an innovation system for Canada which will encourage economic growth and job creation."

The Prime Minister has asked the newly appointed Council to focus on two areas in its first year. These are the development of private sector leadership on innovation and establishment of new partnerships between government and private sector to address the innovation challenges facing Canadian industry.

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(List of Members and biographical notes attached)

The Honourable John Manley, Minister of Industry (Chair)

The Honourable Jon Gerrard, Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development) (Vice-Chair)

André Caillé, President and Chief Executive Officer, Gaz Métropolitain Inc.

Stefan Dupré, President-Designate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

Pierre Fortier, Chairman of the Board and Senior Partner of Innovitech Inc.

William McLean, Vice-President, Manufacturing, Development and Operations, IBM Canada Limited

Larry O'Brien, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Calian Technology Ltd.

Jane Pagel, Vice-President, Analytical Services and Corporate Development, Philip Environmental Inc.

Martha Piper, Vice-President (Research and External Affairs), University of Alberta

Gedas A. Sakus, President, Nortel Technologies

René Simard, Rector, University of Montréal

Michael Smith, Peter Wall Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology, University Killam Professor and Professor, Biochemistry, University of British Columbia

Susan Smith, Vice-President, Knowledge-Based Industries, Royal Bank of Canada

Jacquelyn Thayer Scott, President and Vice-Chancellor, University College of Cape Breton

ANDRÉ CAILLÉ

André Caillé is President and CEO of Gaz Métropolitain Inc. and Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Gas Association. Educated in bio-physics, his academic credentials include a B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. from l'Université de Montréal. Dr. Caillé's early career included public service positions with the Federal-Provincial Committee on the St. Lawrence River and the Environmental Protection Service, as well as serving as Deputy Minister of the Environment in 1980. He joined Gaz Métropolitain in 1982 as Senior Vice-President of Planning and Public Affairs, and served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer before becoming President and CEO in 1987. He holds several corporate directorships, including Abitibi Price, Boréal Assurances, Vermont Gas Systems, and Northern New England Gas Corporation. Dr. Caillé is a member of the American Gas Association .

STEFAN DUPRÉ

Stefan Dupré is the President-Designate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, succeeding Fraser Mustard on July 1, 1996. Dr. Dupré holds a Ph.D. in political economy and government from Harvard University, and has received numerous awards including the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal and the Faculty Award from the University of Toronto's Alumni Association. His career in academia has been based at the University of Toronto where he has been Professor of Political Science since 1963. Dr. Dupré also has extensive public service credits, including appointments to the National Research Council, the Ontario Council on University Affairs, and several royal commissions. His work in the public sector was recognized by the prestigious Vanier Medal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. Dr. Dupré was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1986, and is a member of the Order of Ontario.

PIERRE FORTIER

Pierre Fortier is Chairman of the Board and Senior Partner of Innovitech Inc. in Montreal. After graduating from l'Université de Montréal with a Bachelor of Applied Science, Mr. Fortier studied at the University of London's Imperial College of Science and Technology on an Athlone Scholarship from the British government, earning a diploma in nuclear engineering. His engineering career began in 1959 in the Montreal manufacturing industry, and he subsequently acquired extensive experience as an engineering consultant both nationally and internationally. Mr. Fortier spent almost ten years in the public sector at the provincial level, beginning with his election to the National Assembly in 1980, and has held, among others, the positions of Minister of Privatization and Financial Institutions. He left politics in 1989 to become President and Chief Operating Officer of Société financière des Caisses Desjardins Inc., and has held his current position since 1992. Mr. Fortier serves on several boards, including Notre-Dame Hospital and l'Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal.

WILLIAM McLEAN

William McLean is Vice-President of Manufacturing, Development and Operations for IBM Canada Ltd. His career at IBM began following his graduation from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering, punctuated by a leave of absence to complete a Masters of Business Administration in 1965. He has a series of executive management positions with IBM, including Director of the IBM Canada Software Lab and Manager of the Toronto plant. In addition to his responsibilities on several internal executive councils of IBM, Mr. McLean is also a member of ORTECH International's Board of Governors, Ryerson University's Advisory Board for the Centre for Advanced Technology Education, and the Ontario Safety League. He is a member of the Canadian Microelectronics Group, Industrial Accident Prevention Association, and serves as Chair of the Manufacturing Research Corporation of Ontario and Vice-Chair of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association.

LARRY O'BRIEN

Larry O'Brien is Chair and CEO of Calian Technology Ltd., a company he founded as a one-man consulting firm in 1982. A graduate in physics of the Algonquin College School of Technology, Mr. O'Brien worked as an engineering technologist for Northern Telecom and the Department of Communications in the area of semi-conductor design and secure communications before founding Calian. Calian designs, manufactures and markets satellite communications systems, provides related technical outsourcing services and develops communication terminal products for mobile satellite applications and employs over 400 people. Mr. O'Brien is currently Co-Chair of the Regional Economic Diversification Opportunities committee in the National Capital Region, and is a Director of CompAS Electronics and several other privately-held companies. In 1994, Mr. O'Brien was elected Chair of the Canadian Advanced Technology Association.

JANE PAGEL

Jane Pagel is Vice-President, Analytical Services and Director, Corporate Development of Philip Environmental Inc., a company recognized as one of Canada's largest environmental companies, focused on developing and applying leading edge recycling technologies. In addition to undergraduate degrees in bacteriology and microbiology, Dr. Pagel holds a Masters degree in Bacteriology (Numerical Taxonomy) from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Management from the School of Administration and Management, Columbia Pacific University. The first part of her career was spent in the public sector as the Director of Research and Technology with the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Director of Research Support and International Activities, Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities before moving to Ontario Hydro as Manager of the Environmental Sciences Department. She joined Zenon as Vice-President of Technology Relations in November of 1993, and became President of Zenon Environmental Laboratories in January, 1994. In February, 1996, this business was acquired by Philip Environmental Inc. Dr. Pagel is a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Environmental Industry Association (Ontario Chapter), is currently Chair of the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement, and board member of the Canadian Council for Human Resources in the Environment Industry. She is also a competitive equestrienne.

MARTHA PIPER

Martha Piper received her B.Sc. Degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Michigan, her M.A. degree in Child Development from the University of Connecticut, and her Ph.D. degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University. She served as Director of the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, from 1979-1985, and from 1985-1992 was Dean of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta. She assumed the position of Vice-President (Research), at the University of Alberta, effective January 1, 1993. In July, 1995, her position was expanded to Vice-President (Research and External Affairs). Dr. Piper's teaching and research interests are directed towards the developmentally delayed infant, with a particular focus on early identification of infants with development delays, and assessing the efficacy of specific interventions commonly employed in the treatment of physically and/or mentally handicapped children. She is currently engaged in research projects evaluating the neuromotor development of preterm infants, and developing a measure of infant motor maturation. She has received research funding from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, National Health Research and Development Program, Health and Welfare Canada, National Institute of Mental Retardation, MSI Foundation, Northern Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, and the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation. She currently serves as a Board Member of: TR Labs; Centre for Engineering Research; Alberta Research Council; Economic Development Edmonton; and the Canada Israel Industrial Research Foundation. In August 1994, Dr. Piper was appointed, by Prime Minister Chrétien, to the National Advisory Board on Science and Technology (NABST) and chaired a sub-committee on Quality of Life. Dr. Piper sits as a member of the University Advisory Board, Industry Canada, as of April 1996.

GEDAS A. SAKUS

Gedas Sakus is president of Nortel Technology and Chairman of Bell Northern Research Ltd (BNR). Since joining Northern Telecom in 1962, Mr. Sakus has held a wide range of senior management positions, including president of Bell-Northern Research. He has also served as president of Northern Telecom Canada. Mr. Sakus is a member of the board of directors of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). He is a member of the Dean's Advisory Board of the University of Toronto. Mr. Sakus holds a bachelor of applied sciences (B.A.Sc.) in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, and honorary doctorates from the University of Ottawa and the Technical University of Nova Scotia.

RENÉ SIMARD

René Simard is Rector of l'Université de Montréal. A graduate of that university's medical school, Dr. Simard completed his residency in Pathology at New York's Mount Sinai Medical School, and earned a Doctorat d'État from l'Université de Paris. He has been a Professor at Université de Montréal since 1975, and served as Vice-Rector, Academic and Research for eight years before becoming Rector in 1993. In addition to his research, teaching and university administration career, Dr. Simard has sat on the executive of a variety of public and private research and advisory bodies. He has chaired the National Advisory Council of Pharmaceutical Research, the Medical Research Council of Canada, the Conseil de recherches en santé du Québec, and the Montreal Cancer Institute, among others. He is the recipient of a number of distinguished awards, including honorary doctorates from the universities of Toulouse, Sherbrooke and St-Étienne. Dr. Simard received the Order of Canada in 1989.

MICHAEL SMITH

Michael Smith is concurrently Peter Wall Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology, University Killam Professor and Professor of Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia. Born in England, Dr. Smith earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester. Following post-doctoral work in British Columbia, Dr. Smith joined the faculty of the University of British Columbia in 1966 as Associate Professor, and became full Professor in 1971. He has been Visiting Scientist at Rockfeller University, the Medical Research Council's Lab of Molecular Biology in the UK, and Yale University, as well as Founding Scientist of ZymoGenetics Inc. in the United States. Dr. Smith was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize for his work in DNA-based chemistry.

SUSAN SMITH

Susan Smith is Vice-President, Knowledge-Based Industries, for Royal Bank of Canada. A graduate of Dalhousie University, Ms. Smith joined Royal Bank in Vancouver in 1977 and has worked in personal, business, corporate and agricultural banking as well as human resources. She served as manager of investment industry banking and has held her current position since completing the University of Western Ontario's executive MBA program in 1993. Her professional and community service includes positions as Board Member, Innovations Foundation of the University of Toronto; The Manufacturing Research Corporation of Ontario; Sustainable Forestry Management, University of Alberta and Insect Biotech Canada Inc. She is also honorary Board Member of Technology Launch Initiative. In 1995, she was appointed by the Federal Minister of Industry to the National Biotechnology Advisory Committee.

JACQUELYN THAYER SCOTT

Jacquelyn Thayer Scott is President and Vice-Chancellor of the University College of Cape Breton. With an MBA from the University of Manitoba and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Dr. Scott has a strong background in university administration. After working in journalism as an editor, Dr. Scott held a series of positions in Management Studies and Continuing Education with the University of Manitoba and the University of Toronto. Appointed to her current position in 1993, Dr. Scott also serves as Chair of the National Education Organizations Committee, Vice-Chair of the Nova Scotia Management Consortium on Environmental Technologies, and Board Member of the Cape Breton County Economic Development Authority. She is the author of many articles on the management of volunteers, including "Improving Boardsmanship Skills", "Financial Management for Small, All-Volunteer Organizations", and co-author of "Making a Difference: A Manual for VON Board Members".


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