Andrea Amico is one of the world’s foremost authorities on car privacy and cybersecurity, and founder of Privacy4Cars, the leading industrial B2B data deletion and fair disclosure privacy solution for the automotive industry, and the most-trusted consumer tool.
His mission with Privacy4Cars has always been to “Drive Privacy”, i.e. pragmatically and continuously improve protections for personal data across the automotive sector for consumers and businesses, alike. The vision is to make privacy a valuable attribute for vehicle users and an area of competition and innovation for businesses.
Given his unparalleled, global authority on the topic, Andrea is often tapped by top international media for interviews about vehicle privacy and cybersecurity. His interviews have been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, Consumer Reports, FOX News, and CNBC, to name just a few.
Joanna Baron is the Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, a national legal charity dedicated to defending constitutional freedoms in Canada through litigation and public advocacy. A passionate advocate for the rule of law, she has built a career at the intersection of law, policy, and individual rights.
Originally from Toronto, Joanna earned a Master’s degree in Classics from St. John’s College and civil and common law degrees from McGill University. After being called to the bar in Ontario in 2013, she gained diverse legal experience, including clerking at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, working as a Harold G. Fox Scholar in barristers’ chambers in London, UK, and practicing criminal defence law under the mentorship of the renowned Edward L. Greenspan. Before her current role, she served as the founding National Director of the Runnymede Society, a legal membership group focused on fostering debate about law and public policy.
Joanna is also a prolific writer and commentator, contributing regularly to outlets like The Hub and National Post. She is the co-author of the bestselling book Pandemic Panic, which critiques government responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
Dean Beeby is an investigative journalist and transparency advocate, expert in the use of freedom-of-information laws, and author of five non-fiction books including one about the RCMP, a focus of his investigative journalism.
Born in Halifax, he was Atlantic bureau chief for The Canadian Press news agency before his transfer to Ottawa, where he was deputy bureau chief for The Canadian Press and later worked in the Parliamentary bureau of the CBC.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University.
Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability with over 775 published peer-reviewed journal articles.
Dr. Charlebois is also an editor for the prestigious Trends in Food Science Technology journal. He co-hosts The Food Professor podcast, discussing issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries and which is the most listened Canadian management podcast in Canada. Every year since 2012, he has published the now highly anticipated Canadian Food Price Report, which provides an overview of food price trends for the coming year. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, nationally as well as internationally. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces and other countries.
Senator Colin Deacon was appointed to represent Nova Scotia in the Senate of Canada in June 2018. A former tech entrepreneur, he believes in harnessing innovation to foster economic empowerment, inclusivity, and positive social change. As an Independent Senator, he advocates for a collaborative government that acts as a catalyst for evidence-driven, market-based innovations to tackle pressing issues.
Senator Deacon’s recent focus includes digitizing government, enhancing Canada’s public and private sector competitiveness, enabling regulatory agility for emerging technologies, and developing Canada’s capacity to create and implement innovative market-driven solutions to climate change.
Dr. Pierre Desrochers is the Chief Privacy Officer at Statistics Canada. He has held various roles at the Privy Council Office, Indigenous Services Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Library and Archives Canada, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
As an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of Information Studies, Dr. Desrochers teaches information resource management and government information policy. He also lectures on public administration at the École nationale d’administration publique, and program evaluation at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration.
Dr. Desrochers has authored several papers and a book on AI regulation in Canada, public sector data governance, and privacy and statistical legislation in the Canadian public sector. He holds a Ph.D. in applied human sciences from the University of Montreal, with a focus on information sciences and public administration.
Philippe Dufresne was appointed Privacy Commissioner of Canada on June 27, 2022. A leading legal expert on human rights, administrative and constitutional law, he previously served as the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons. In this capacity, he was the chief legal officer of the House of Commons and led the office responsible for the provision of legal and legislative drafting services to the House of Commons, its Speaker, Members and committees, the Board of Internal Economy and the House Administration.
Prior to his appointment as Law Clerk of the House of Commons in 2015, he was the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s Senior General Counsel, responsible for legal services, litigation, investigations, mediations, employment equity and Access to Information and Privacy. During that time, he successfully represented the Commission before all levels of Canadian Courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, in a number of key human rights and constitutional cases over the last two decades. He has appeared before the Supreme Court on 15 occasions, on issues ranging from accessibility and equal pay for work of equal value, to the balancing of human rights and national security. As lead counsel for the Commission in the landmark parliamentary privilege case of House of Commons v. Vaid, he helped reinforce and clarify some of the country’s fundamental constitutional principles as they apply to the House of Commons and Parliament.
A member of the Bars of Quebec, Ontario, and Massachusetts, he has served his profession and community in several different capacities, including as president of the constitutional and human rights law section of the Canadian Bar Association (Quebec Branch) and as a member of the editorial board for the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association’s CCCA Magazine. In 2014, he served as president of the International Commission of Jurists, an organization devoted to the protection of the rule of law and judicial independence in Canada and internationally.
Commissioner Dufresne holds degrees in common and civil law from McGill University’s Faculty of Law, and has been a part-time professor with the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Common Law and Queen’s University’s Faculty of Law where he taught international criminal law, human rights and appellate advocacy. He regularly speaks on issues of human rights, administrative, constitutional and parliamentary law in Canada.
Solomon Friedman is a Partner and the Vice President, Compliance, with Equity Capital Partners, and a criminal lawyer and partner at Friedman Mansour LLP. In addition to his work as a trial and appellate lawyer, Solomon is also a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, where he teaches Evidence and Advanced Criminal Evidence.
Solomon has acted for clients at all levels of court in Canada, including the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. He has represented clients in jurisdictions across the country, including Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nunavut.
Solomon is also a member of Legal Aid Ontario’s Extremely Serious Criminal Matters (ESM) panel, and can accept Legal Aid certificates for the most serious cases, including murder, dangerous offender applications and terrorism charges. He believes that individuals charged with these offences require robust and vigorous representation, regardless of their ability to pay.
In addition to his legal practice, Solomon writes widely on topics related to criminal law and appears often in the media – print, television and radio – to discuss high-profile cases and new developments in the law. His opinion and feature articles have appeared in newspapers across the country, including the National Post, the Montreal Gazette and the Ottawa Citizen. He was a regular contributor to the Citizen’s bi-weekly column on legal rights and criminal law, entitled “Right to Know.” He is also the co-author of the Annotated Firearms Act and Related Legislationnorth_eastexternal link, now in its 4th edition, published by LexisNexis Canada.
Ottawa-based Privacy and Data Governance Advocate, Marc-Roger Gagné has nearly 30 years of experience shaping policy across governmental and corporate sectors. His expertise spans more than 45 departments and crown corporations within the Canadian government.
Since 2010, he has served on the board of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, while maintaining close ties with the Compliance, Governance and Oversight Council.
In 2011, Marc-Roger earned the profession’s highest designation as a Master Access and Privacy Professional, complemented by certifications in privacy, cybersecurity, and digital investigations. A regular contributor to Irish Tech News, he provides insight into emerging trends in data protection.
Bradley Gold is an internationally-focused business and technology attorney with nearly 20 years of experience counseling and representing businesses and business owners facing a wide variety of challenges. As a former University of Texas business law and accounting faculty member and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Red McCombs School of Business, Bradley draws from a deep and diverse knowledge base in both and law and business to help clients solve problems.
Bradley serves clients in AI and technology, manufacturing, education, regulatory compliance, aerospace, banking, nutrition, and advertising industries, as an Illinois since lawyer since 2006 and a Texas lawyer since 2014. Bradley also has a CIPP/US designation, is a technology expert with the Digital Governance Council of Canada, and serves as an ISO delegate and technology expert on behalf of Canada in the following ISO roles: ISO/IEC JTC 1 Technology Committee, Consumer Technology & Privacy Expert; ISO/IEC JTC 1/AG 22 World Economic Forum Liaison Committee, Consumer Technology Expert; ISO/COPOLCO/WG 22 Consumer Standards Action Group Delegate; ISO/PC 317 Vice Chair, Canada & Communications Group Expert; and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 44.
Anthony Hémond is a senior privacy counsel with Air Canada, advising on the protection and handling of personal information at the international level, supporting principally the compliance, procurement, and cyber security teams. He also advises on the development, and use of AI systems.
Prior to joining Air Canada he was counsel with Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG) in the Privacy and Protection of Personal Information team. He was senior legal counsel for one of Quebec’s leading telecommunications companies. He was responsible for the privacy management program participating in the meetings of the Executive Committee for privacy matters, also handling class action files with external firms.
Anthony holds an LL.M in IT Law from University of Montréal, and a D.E.A in immaterial creations from Montpellier University in France.
Patricia Kosseim is the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, and began her five-year term on July 1, 2020.
She has a wealth of experience and in-depth knowledge in access, privacy and health law, having worked in public, private, and health sectors, and across various jurisdictions. Prior to her role as Ontario’s commissioner, Patricia was counsel in Osler’s Privacy and Data Management Group where she provided strategic advice to clients on matters of privacy, data governance, and access law.
For more than a decade, Patricia served as senior general counsel and director general with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Patricia has also served in executive positions with Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research where she developed and implemented national strategies to address legal, ethical, and social issues issues related to health research and genomics technologies.
She has published and spoken extensively on matters of privacy law, health law, and ethics
Derek Lackey is a leading advocate for ethical marketing and consumer privacy. As a seasoned expert in data protection, compliance, and responsible marketing practices, he helps organizations navigate the complexities of privacy laws while fostering trust with their audiences.
As the Chair of the Response Marketing Association, he champions ethical, transparent marketing that prioritizes consumer rights and trust. Derek is also the Managing Director of Newport Thomson, specializing in guiding businesses toward compliance with privacy & data protection regulations such as the GDPR, CPPA, PIPEDA and other evolving frameworks.
Derek brings a pragmatic approach to privacy, emphasizing the balance between compliance and business growth. His insights help organizations move beyond mere legal obligations to embrace privacy as a core business value. Having 30+ years in strategic marketing, at one point 7 of his 9 largest clients were #1 in their market category.
Derek stands at the intersection of marketing and privacy, working with clients to implement client-centric privacy and data protection practices that work.
Andy Lulham is a thought leader in the field of AI and content moderation, and has 20 years’ experience in leadership roles across regulatory affairs and policy, compliance, marketing, commercial and international operations.
With extensive experience in developing and implementing AI-driven solutions, Andy is dedicated to advancing the safety and integrity of online platforms.
Now UK-based COO at leading safety tech provider Verifymy, Andy has led the company’s regulatory efforts with global media and data protection regulators and is an expert on international age and identity legislation.
Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne was appointed to the Senate in June 2018 after a successful career in the public service sector. She spent 25 years working as a reporter and foreign correspondent for Radio-Canada. In 2007, she became the first woman ombudsman of Radio-Canada. In 2011, she was named Chair of the Quebec government’s Conseil du statut de la femme.
Since her appointment, Senator Miville-Dechêne has introduced two Senate public bills: Bill S-211, a bill against forced labor and child labor in supply chains, which received Royal Assent on May 11 2023; and Bill S-210 that would require the implementation of age verification methods to protect minors from exposure to online pornography. She is also vice-chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications and Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group to End Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
With over a decade of experience, Dr. Saeid Molladavoudi is the Director of the Centre for AI Research and Excellence at Statistics Canada, driving transformative AI research projects and shaping responsible AI governance. As a dynamic and strategic leader, Saeid has a proven track record of driving innovation and technological transformation in AI, data science, and emerging technologies, including privacy enhancing technologies.
Saeid leads the agency’s responsible adoption of AI and Generative AI and plays a key role in enhancing its Framework for Responsible Machine Learning to ensure ethical AI practices and governance. With a proven track record of managing high-impact projects and fostering collaborations within the AI community, Saeid excels in aligning emerging technologies with organizational priorities and risk management frameworks. With expertise in leading complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives and building international partnerships, Saeid focuses on responsible innovation and delivering actionable insights for informed decision-making at senior leadership levels. He is also an award nominee, and serves as a journal area editor, and an advisory board member.
Marie-Ève Nadeau is Head of International Affairs at the 5Rights Foundation, leading global efforts to put children’s rights at the heart of digital policy.
With a background in international law and human rights, she is a dedicated advocate for AI governance, data protection and online safety to be designed with children in mind.
Based in Brussels, she has shaped policies and strengthened global frameworks, holding companies and governments to account in the EU, the African Union and 15 countries from Indonesia to Argentina.
Dr. Jocelyn Monsma Selby is a mental health professional with 44 years of clinical practice experience and not-for-profit directorship in the city of Calgary and globally. Jocelyn holds a PhD in clinical sexuality and is the Chair of “Connecting to Protect” a global working group to address the harms of children accessing sexually explicit material online.
Dr. Monsma Selby also holds a master’s degree in clinical social work and is a member of the special clinical registry within the Alberta College of Social Workers and The Association of Treatment for Sexual Abusers. She specializes in the treatment of individuals who meet the criteria for compulsive sexual behavior disorder facilitating forensic evaluations, for individuals who have exhibited inappropriate sexual conduct or accessed legal and illegal sexually explicit material on the internet. She is a board-certified Sex Therapist and a Certified Sexual and Multiple Addiction Therapist and Supervisor through the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals. Dr. Monsma Selby has attended as both a witness and expert witness in court proceedings regarding child protection and custody matters since 1983, in her capacity as a therapist in several positions and while serving on a specialized unit within the Calgary Police Service.
Dr. Monsma Selby served on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary for 14 years, offering guidance on all faculty activities across the Province of Alberta. In 2010 and 2017 she was honored by the Faculty of Social Work as a “Distinguished Graduate”. In 2015 Dr. Monsma Selby was nominated for the Lieutenant Governors “True leadership Award.” Since 1983 she has presented internationally on Addiction, Pornography, Crisis Intervention, and Workplace Wellness.
Dr. Monsma Selby led the Connecting to Protect – Stronger Together Global Summit in 2022, bringing together experts from 21 countries to address the harm children face from accessing online pornography. This initiative, guided by a global steering committee of policymakers, mental health professionals, neuroscientists, educators, legal experts, and technology specialists, included stakeholders from diverse jurisdictions. The summit’s findings emphasized the need for a coordinated multisectoral public health approach—involving child protection advocates, regulators, neuroscientists, and leaders in the adult industry_to develop regulations that effectively safeguard children. As an outgrowth of the Global Summit Dr. Monsma Selby has published numerous briefs for the Government of Canada and provided expert testimony for the Senate of Canada studying Bill S 210 on the “harms to children from accessing online pornography”; the Heritage Committee investigating “Illegal Sexually Explicit Material” and the Justice and Human Rights Committee investigating Bill C 63 and the Online Harms Act. Additionally she participated in the writing of an Amicus Brief submitted to the State of Texas in 2024 and is a member of Technical Committee 18 – writing the Proposed National Standard of Canada for internet regulation. A “Global Review” from the summit in 2022 will be published in conjunction with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary in the second quarter of 2025.
Luke Neilson is Director of Communications at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Luke has applied his prior academic research, which focused on theories of historical explanation and ancient philosophy, to examine the impacts of technology and policy on the enjoyment of freedom.
Jean-Michel Polit is Chief Business Officer with Needemand Technology (France). He holds an engineering degree as well as an MBA, and brings insights from over 30 years of experience in France and North America as an international sales and marketing executive in several start-ups, medium sized businesses, and with Dell Computers.
Jean-Michel also founded and was general manager of an innovative high-tech business.
oline Twiss provides strategic leadership and advises on matters of law, policy, finance and organizational governance as Deputy Commissioner at the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) and as Deputy Registrar at the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists (ORL) in BC, Canada. She heads the alternative dispute resolution processes at OIPC which includes early resolution, investigations and mediation, and oversees the key mandates of the Registrar at the ORL including policy and education, registry maintenance, and investigations and enforcement. Access to justice and good governance are core to the Deputy’s daily work and she continuously develops productive and cooperative relationships across national and international networks to better serve the BC public.
Prior to joining the BC OIPC, Deputy Twiss held positions at the House of Commons of Canada doing law and policy work on digital issues (including privacy and copyright), international trade, immigration, and indigenous matters, and at the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa where she completed her law articles. She has worked on public interest issues internationally in the areas of environmental law and poverty reduction.
Deputy Twiss holds civil and common law degrees from McGill University and a Masters in Environmental Studies from York University. She was called to the bar in Ontario in 2011 and is now a member of the Law Society of British Columbia. She is a Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP) with the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and holds certifications in privacy for Canada (CIPP/C) and Europe (CIPP/E) as well as in privacy management (CIPM).
Michelle Wronski is a digital researcher with a focus on AI policy, digital governance, and emerging technology regulation.
Michelle holds an MSc in Media and Communications Governance from the London School of Economics, where her research examined the tech policy landscape in North America and Europe. Her dissertation explored how small and medium-sized enterprises apply responsibility frameworks to AI tools at the intersection of business development and policy in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.
An alumna of the University of Ottawa, while concurrently completing her bachelor’s degree, Michelle held several research and project roles within the Canadian federal government, including the Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Privy Council Office. She has a background in communications, with experience in policy research and public sector digital strategy.
She currently works as a Research Assistant at University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose in the UK.
Dr. Leanne Wu is an Associate Professor (Teaching) in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary, where she is also Co-Director, Undergraduate Programs in Data Science, and sits on the University’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee.
Dr. Wu’s research through her PhD focuses on the privacy of post-secondary students through the lens of contextual integrity, where she combines theoretical and philosophical approaches to privacy with her own deeply practical experience with learning technologies, as an educator, and previously working with technical support, faculty leadership, and academic staff across campus to select and integrate a wide range of such tools into different teaching and learning environments.
Pierce White-Joncas is part of the vanguard of privacy professionals. For the past 15 years, he has worked in public sector and not-for-profit organizations, across education, healthcare and manufacturing industries. He is fluent in privacy governance, impact assessments, regulatory compliance, auditing, access to information operations, anti-spam compliance, and Canada’s official languages.
Pierce holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada (CIPP/C) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) certifications and is an active member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
As a way to give back to the privacy community that has supported him, Pierce volunteers as the Vice-Chair, Technical Committee 9: Privacy and participates as a member with Technical Committee 1: Data Governance with the CIO Strategy Council. You can find Pierce speaking at privacy and data ogvernenace events across Canada. He also takes on pro bono cases for people that hit a wall trying to access their information, from private and public organizations alike.
