Since retiring from elected office in 2004, Mr. Collenette has acted as a strategic counsel for a number of organizations in the public affairs, transportation & infrastructure, defence & security and information technology sectors.

He currently serves as Senior Counsel, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Senior Advisor, Intergraph Corporation, a member of the Parsons Brinkerhoff Advisory Board, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (North America), Vice President, CILT International, and Director of Harbourfront Corporation. 

Mr. Collenette is also a member of the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs Advisory Committee at York University and the Toronto East General Hospital Foundation Campaign Executive Team. 


Donna Dasko is one of Canada’s best known pollsters. During her career as Senior Vice-President of Environics Research Group Ltd, she played a crucial role in building the firm into one of Canada’s leading research and consulting organizations, and took a leadership role in bringing opinion analysis to bear on some of this country’s most important public policy and communications issues. Working primarily with public-sector clients, she led major research studies in areas including federal and provincial budget priorities, the economy, national unity, Quebec sovereignty, political choice, health promotion, tobacco control, and many others.
She is a leader in developing election polling and media-sponsored polling. She worked with the Globe and Mail to develop the Globe-Environics Poll, and co-authored over 40 published articles in the Globe. She led the CBC- Environics polling program for federal elections and feature polling assignments from 1993 to 2008, and appeared regularly on CBC television and radio broadcasts, including on election night in 2004 and as a regular panelist on “Power and Politics” in the 2011 federal election.
She is co-founder and Past National Chair of Equal Voice, a non-partisan organization with chapters across the country, dedicated to electing more women to public office in Canada. She has served as director of several other non-profit organizations.

She often speaks publicly, including as a media commentator and to students and organizations on topics such as trends in public opinion, social change, political institutions, and women in politics.

She has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from the University of Toronto. She is a member of the Statistics Canada Advisory Committee on Social Conditions and provides ongoing advice to Stats Can on the Canadian census and all of its social surveys.

 


Born in Winnipeg in 1950, Jon Allen (LL.B., University of Western Ontario, 1976; LL.M., International Law, University of London School of Economics, 1977) joined the then Department of External Affairs in 1981.

In addition to postings abroad in Mexico City (1983-85), New Delhi (1989-92) and Washington (1997-2001), Mr. Allen spent his early career in the Legal Bureau where he represented Canada in disputes under the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and worked in the areas of human rights, humanitarian and environmental law.

Mr. Allen also held the positions of Director General, North America Bureau (2001-2004), Minister (Political Affairs) at the Embassy of Canada in Washington (2004-2006) and Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas (2010-2012).

From 2006 to 2010, he was Ambassador of Canada to Israel. From 2012 to 2016 he was Canada’s Ambassador to Spain and Andorra and was Chargé d’affaires a.i. to the Holy See from December 2012 to July 2014.


 

Willem Maas, Jean Monnet Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science, Public & International Affairs, Social & Political Thought, and Socio-Legal Studies, chairs the Political Science department and Faculty Council at York University’s Glendon College. Professor Maas co-edits the Politics of Citizenship and Migration book series, co-founded APSA’s Migration and Citizenship section, was recently Marie Skłodowska-Curie International Fellow at EUI, and writes on EU and multilevel citizenship, migration, and politics focusing on Europe and Canada; he is starting a project on Canadian citizenship and nationality law and policy.

 


The host of CBC News Networks’ The Investigators, Diana Swain is one of Canada’s leading investigative journalists and CBC News’ Senior Investigative journalist.In three decades of reporting on stories across Canada and around the globe, Diana has developed a reputation for compelling interviews and uncovering stories that Canadians care about. That work has garnered numerous awards from the leading journalism and professional associations in Canada.

Her recent work has included an examination of the way Canadian post-secondary institutions manage allegations of assault on campus. For that work, Diana and her team won awards in 2016 from the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Radio, Television and Digital News Association.Her ground-breaking investigation into Scouts Canada won the first-ever Canadian Hillman prize in 2012, as well the Prix Justica award from the Canadian Bar Association.Her look at the federal government’s handling of warning labels on Tobacco Products won the 2011 Excellence in Health reporting award from the Canadian Medical Association.

Canadians will also know Diana from her many years behind the anchor desk in Winnipeg and Toronto. She has won the Gemini for Best News Anchor three times, and was the first woman in Canada to win the award.

Diana Swain’s work has twice been included in winning submissions for the Michener award, recognizing meritorious public service journalism in Canada.

Her work is frequently seen on CBC’s leading news programs and she regularly fills in for Peter Mansbridge as anchor of The National.

An avowed sports fan, she has also served as an Olympic Host for CBC Sports in 2008 in Beijing and in 2012 in Sochi.

Diana was honoured with an Alumni of the Year Award from her alma mater BCIT in 2006, an honourary degree from Humber College in Toronto in 2010, and a doctorate from BCIT in 2017.

Diana lives in the Toronto area.