Conference Agenda

Pre-Conference: Sunday, August 25, 2024

Pre-conference Optional Activities
Local tours

Sponsored by:

 

Welcome Reception and Opening Dinner & Entertainment: (5:00 PM - 9:30 PM)
 Opening of the conference and exhibitor hall.

Day One: Monday, August 26, 2024

Breakfast in the Exhibitor Hall (7:30 AM - 8:15 AM)

GPC Annual General Meeting (8:15 AM - 8:40 AM)

Opening Remark by Lynn Beauregard, President, GPC (8:50 AM - 9:00 AM)

Networking Break with Exhibitors (10:00 AM – 10:30 AM)

Networking Lunch in the Exhibitor Hall (12:00 PM - 01:15 PM)

Multiple Tracks (1:15 PM - 2:15 PM)

Track A: Effective Governance Professionals

Session 1A: Too Hot to Handle: Unraveling the Governance Questions No One Dares Ask

This session stands as an invitation to every governance professional who's ever bitten their tongue, wondering if their questions were too simplistic, too complex, or perhaps even too controversial.

With a panel of seasoned governance professionals, we’re dismantling the barriers to genuine understanding, one candid answer at a time. But what makes this session unique is you—yes, you. Every participant will be given the chance to anonymously submit the questions they've hesitated to ask.

Whether you’re wrestling with nuances of compliance, ethical dilemmas, or strategic decisions that align with the long-term vision of your company, our panel is here to address them. Beyond mere answers, this is about fostering an environment where every question is a building block towards greater understanding and insight.

Prepare to engage in a session that’s not just enlightening but unexpectedly fun. There's joy in the shared moment of “I've always wondered that too!” And who knows? The answer to your question might just be the insight that transforms your approach to governance.

Remember, the only dumb question is the one that remains unasked. And yes, Chatham House Rules do apply!

Speakers: Dottie Schindlinger, Executive Director, Diligent Institute, Co-host of The Corporate Director Podcast; Christine Thomas, Vice-President, Governance & Legal Counsel, Canadian Medical Association & Chair, Board of Governance Professionals of Canada; Aaron Friedenthal, VP Legal Services & Assistant Corporate Secretary, ATB Financial; Brigitte Catellier, Chief Governance Officer, The Co-operators Group Limited

Sponsored By:

Track C: Key Trends in Governance

Session 1C: The State of ESG: Regulation, Implementation, and Trends

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) principles have become mainstream expectations but what ESG means can vary in importance across different sectors. A rapid acceleration of ESG prominence in past years has shifted the baseline in terms of expectations from investors, creditors, consumers, government, employees, Indigenous rightsholders, environmental and other stakeholders.

As a tool, ESG is used to assess an organization’s behaviour and evaluate its performance based on risks and opportunities. This expert panel will provide an overview of the changing landscape in ESG amidst global and domestic risks, including a discussion on evolving corporate law and regulation, international trends, and potential blind spots in the ESG lens that governance professionals may want to ensure are priorities for their organization.

 

Speaker:  Christie Stephenson, Executive Director, Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics, UBC Sauder Business School;  Dr. Carol Liao, Associate Professor and UBC Sauder Distinguished Fellow, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia; Shona McGlashan, McGlashan Consulting Inc. (GPC Governance Professional of the Year); Geordie Hungerford, Indigenous Executive and Board Member

Track B: Effective Boards and Organizations

Session 1B: Breaking through the routine: balancing the Board’s need for both compliance and strategy discussions

Effective governance requires determining, preparing, and providing the right information and inputs for decision-making and results.

Most Boards spend their time and focus on backward-looking activities (as opposed to forward-looking discussions), for example reviewing quarterly financial results, receiving presentations on annual reports, internal audit reports, compliance reports, results of Board evaluations etc. This information ends up taking most if not all of the time set on Committee and Board agendas.

This engaging session will discuss:

• How do you “break through the routine” and balance the Board’s responsibilities regarding compliance with the desire of Board members to be more involved in strategy and forward-looking discussions?
• How should directors handle new complex subject-matters and risks (i.e., COVID, AI) and the evolving reputational risks from the impact of social media?
• What have other corporate secretaries done in this regard over the past few years?
• Exploring meeting environments and restructuring meeting agendas.
• Reviewing and streamlining compliance-related materials prepared for meetings
• Looking at how new directors are onboarded and how longer-standing directors are reminded of past decisions

Speakers:  Matt Fullbrook; Corporate Governance Advisor, Researcher, and Educator; Frederic Duguay, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Canada Infrastructure Bank; Judith Athaide, Corporate Director

Credit: Tourism Whistler/Justa Jeskova

Networking Break with Exhibitors (2:15 PM - 2:30 PM)

Multiple Tracks (2:30 PM - 3:30 PM)

Track A: Effective Governance Professionals

Session 2A: Navigating Crisis – Case Studies, Lessons Learned, and How to Be Prepared

Few boards are prepared to navigate a crisis. Drawing upon real case studies from private and public entities and the personal experiences of the presenters, this presentation will outline key lessons and takeaways and things governance professionals can do ahead of time to be better prepared. It will also highlight the role of the corporate secretary and other governance professionals in planning for and navigating a crisis, should one occur.

The role of boards in overseeing culture and risk is becoming increasingly important. This session will touch on not only the structures and practices organizations must put in place to prepare for challenges (both known and unknown) but also the less tangible human elements that inform these efforts – from the board level, to the C-suite, to the front-line employee level.

Attendees will come away from the session with a better understanding of:

1. How to classify and frame issues around crisis management
2. The role of the governance professional in assisting boards and management teams with navigating complex issues
3. How to make the best use of a board’s limited time to ensure oversight of critical and cross-cutting issues, whether anticipated (climate change) or unexpected (Covid)

Speakers: Amy McCallion, Corporate Secretary, BC Hydro and President & CEO, Boardroom 44 Consulting Inc.; Paul Osbaldeston, Director, Legal Affairs, Alberta Innovates

 

Credit: Tourism Whistler/Justa Jeskova

Track B: Effective Boards and Organizations

Session 2B: Let’s Stop Calling Them Board Evaluations

In their current construct, most board evaluations fall short of capturing the true essence of understanding board performance and unlocking opportunities for improvement. Board evaluations, like any evaluation, are often met with feelings of discomfort and apprehension.

Nobody wants to be evaluated, assessed, or judged. Much less does “evaluation” create a setting where candor and problem solving can thrive.

This session will discuss reevaluating the terminology and shifting the focus of board evaluations, and how Boards can increase transparency, improve feedback, create a learning mindset, and ultimately improve the odds of the Board offering increased value and being a strategic asset.

Speakers: Camille Jovanovic, Principal, Hugessen; Ciara Wakita, Principal, Hugessen; Dextor John, Corporate Director, CEO, Morrow Sodali Canada; Mark Podlasly, Corporate Director at Hydro One & CIBC, Chief Sustainability Officer, First Nations Major Project Coalition. Trustee, Nlaka'pamux Nation Trust. Nlaka'pamux Nation Member

Sponsored by:

Track C:   Key Trends in Governance

Session 2C: Corporate Purpose in an Age of Uncertainty

Corporate governance continues to evolve. Organizations are now clarifying why they exist and their boards are taking on new responsibilities in purpose oversight as a result.

This session will explore this trend as revealed in the State of Purpose Governance in Canada report and three governance experts will share their views. The panel will dive deep into the imperative and practicalities of purpose governance and the role of the board and governance professional to advance it in Canadian boardrooms.

The discussion will include:

• The benefits and challenges of purpose and purpose governance
• How to overcome the challenges
• Business benefits of purpose
• Best practices in purpose governance
• Challenges in purpose governance and how to overcome them
• The role of the board and governance professionals in purpose oversight

Speaker: Coro Strandberg, President, Strandberg Consulting and co-founder and Chair, Canadian Purpose Economy Project; Liz Watson, Founder and CEO, Watson Board Advisors; Barbara Stymiest, Corporate Director, George Weston Ltd., and former CEO of TMX Group and Group Executive of Royal Bank of Canada, Lead Author of Charting the Future of Canadian Corporate Governance; Suzanne Hathaway, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Communications and Corporate Secretary, Maple Leaf Foods

Networking Break with Exhibitors (3:30 PM - 4:00 PM)

Multiple Tracks (4:00 PM - 5:00 PM)

Track A: Effective Governance Professionals

Session 3A: Grounded Leadership in Turbulent Times: Strategies for Governance Professionals

This presentation is designed to provide the audience with valuable insights on maintaining resilience and staying true to oneself in times of stress and uncertainty.

Leveraging the speaker's unique expertise as a Governance Professional and Leadership/Executive Coach, the session will explore practical strategies for enhancing leadership skills, developing self-awareness, employing grounding tools, and mastering communication/conflict resolution skills for a more balanced and effective professional journey. The discussion topics will include:

• Understanding of how stress impacts work behaviors
• Self-awareness tools
• Grounding Tools/Practices
• Communication Skills
• Constructive Conflict resolution techniques

Speaker: Suzanne Anton, Founder, Suzanne Anton Leadership Coaching & Governance Consulting

Track B: Effective Boards and Organizations

Session 3B: Governance and reconciliation

This session will provide an elevated understanding of what reconciliation means for organizations and individuals in Canada. It will also discuss how to create more exposure to Indigenous perspectives on leadership and governance, and how to develop an appreciation of the importance of reconciliation for organizational legitimacy. The speakers will also outline models and frameworks for leadership and board actions that can be taken to support reconciliation.

Speakers: Shona McGlashan, Principal, McGlashan Consulting Inc (GPC Governance Professional of the Year);  Brandi Halls, Chief Impact Officer, Lush Cosmetics

Track C: Key Trends in Governance

Session 3C: Navigating the Future: Unleashing the Power of Generative AI with Responsible Governance

While many organizations do not yet have formal AI Governance, many employees are using free, web-based AI applications for work purposes, creating increasing data privacy, confidentiality and other risks for the organization. As AI regulations evolve globally, there's an urgent need to address this 'Wild West' era of AI technologies. The newness and complexity of generative AI does not absolve Boards of their fiduciary duty or duty of care. This session aims to empower Governance Professionals to assist Boards and Management in effectively overseeing AI implementations, ensuring responsible and compliant use of these transformative technologies.

This session will discuss:

• Understanding the latest AI Landscape
• What has changed since the AI discussion in 2023
• Opportunities/Benefits
• Regulatory and litigation update
• Board and Management’s Role in AI Governance
• AI – Risk Management Oversight
• Actions that Governance Professionals can take to better assist Boards

Speakers: Richard Barber, CEO, Mind Tech Group Inc. and Board Director, Governance Professionals of Canada; Shea Coulson, AI Canada Lead, DLA Piper; Dr. Jodie Lobana, Ph.D in Governance of AI, Author and Board Trainer

Free Night - Sponsor client events

Day Two: Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Networking Break with Exhibitors (10:15 AM - 10:45 PM)

Multiple Tracks (10:45 AM - 11:45 AM)

Track A: Effective Governance Professionals

Session 4A: Embedding ESG principles in decision-making and organizational governance

ATB has built out a program for ESG integration using organizational governance methodology that has been successful in rolling out and embedding ESG principles in decision-making throughout the company.

We will use this program as an example in how to build out an organization-wide, multi-division, program using governance principles and documentation.

Speakers:  Aaron Friedenthal, VP Legal Services & Assistant Corporate Secretary, ATB Financial; Barb Sundquist, VP ESG, ATB Financial

Track B: Effective Boards and Organizations

Session 4B: Get ready for out of the ordinary: the fundamentals of effectively working with special committees

A special committee is an important way for a board to appropriately and nimbly manage an out of the ordinary challenge. But because special situations do not arise every day and yet can involve time-sensitive crises, knowing beforehand the fundamentals of working with a special committee is key preparation for governance professionals and boards in any organization.

This session will provide participants with a guide to special committees and the tools for working with them:

1. When and why a special committee should be formed, for example to manage investigations, transactions and crisis responses;
2. Who should form the special committee, including issues of independence;
3. How a special committee should operate such as its mandate, responsibilities, and engagement with the full board; and
4. What support and resources a special committee may need, including external counsel and advisors.

The session will provide an overview of key principles and practical tips, and analysis of case studies to illustrate these principles and tips in action.

Speakers:  Eric Morgan, Partner, Kushneryk Morgan LLP; Paul Gryglewicz, Managing Partner, Global Governance Advisors

Sponsored By:

Track C:   Key Trends in Governance

Session 4C: Aligning executive compensation with stakeholder expectations

The right compensation plan can attract and retain executives who will boost profits and gives the street confidence in the company. However, with the increased complexity of and the demand for improved transparency around executive compensation paramount, getting the balance between different stakeholder needs and expectations is an increasingly difficult task. This GPC session will explore how to approach, structure, and communicate compensation plans in 2024 and beyond, specifically focusing on:

1. How the expectations around compensation are evolving on both sides of the table
2. A discussion regarding which metrics are most meaningful for shareholders
3. Understanding different compensation structures and considerations around risks and rewards for management retention
4. Learning how to communicate compensation with all stakeholders.

Speakers: Glenn G Keeling, Executive Chair, Alliance Advisors Canada; Michael Vogele, Managing Director, Global Advisory Group, Alliance Advisors LLP; Annie Laurenson, Director, Governance and Corporate Secretary, Lundin Mining Corporation; Amanda Voegeli, President & Managing Partner, Southlea Group

Sponsored by:

Credit: Tourism Whistler/Justa Jeskova

Multiple Tracks (11:50 AM - 12:50 PM)

Track A: Effective Governance Professionals

Session 5A: Implementing Fiercely Practical Governance

This fast-paced and interactive session explores how directors and governance professionals can implement Fiercely Practical Governance in their organizations.

Fiercely Practical Governance focuses on:

1. Ensuring organizational fit
2. Enhancing board effectiveness, and
3. Create legacy governance

The session explores key principles of Fiercely Practical Governance and how to implement them to add value for the organization today and for years to come. The heart of the presentation will set out the most valuable and timely projects that organizations can take on to truly improve governance. PLUS key considerations to get started on each of the projects and a tool to help prioritize what to take on first.

Speakers: Sylvia Groves, President, Governance Studio Inc.; Paola Wilford, Corporate Secretary & Governance, Stabilization Central Credit Union

Track B: Effective Boards and Organizations

Session 5B: Racism at board and committee tables: How to create safe spaces

BCCNM worked with a First Nation consulting company and 8 other health regulatory colleges in BC to conduct research to answer the question:

• “What is required to address Indigenous-specific racism and ensure cultural safety within regulatory boards and committees?
• ” We recognized that our boards and committees’ work was not always safe for Indigenous members but were not sure how or why.

This presentation will share our findings where brave Indigenous board and committee members shared their experiences of unsafety; college staff engaged in learning around how racism and white privilege and supremacy are currently hardwired into regulatory governance structures, policies, practices, norms, and values; and an audit was conducted of the nine colleges governance polices. The presentation will share the experiences of participants, the learnings obtained throughout the series, Indigenous teachings that were gifted during the research, examples of racist behaviours or triggering incidents that occurred during the sessions, a summary of the policy audit, as well as the six expectations for action which are articulated in the final deliverable: Playbook to Eliminate Indigenous-Specific Racism & White Supremacy in BC Health College Governance.

Speakers: Louise Aerts, Chief Officer, Strategy, Governance and Reconciliation, BC College of Nurses and Midwives; Joe Gallagher, Principal, Qoqoq Consulting, from Tla'amin Nation;  Rhianna Millman, Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility Consultant, BCCNM

Track C: Key Trends in Governance

Session 5C: Navigating human rights issues in your organization and value chain: How to build and adopt a Human Rights program for success?

More than ever, companies across sectors are facing scrutiny on their human rights performance. Given regulatory, legal, and stakeholder pressures, human rights risks and impacts are increasingly becoming material to the bottom line and require proactive, forward-looking approaches and governance structures to navigate them effectively. This interactive session aims to equip companies and their leadership—wherever they are in their sustainability journey—with an understanding of why human rights are important to the business and guidance to identify and address human rights risks and impacts in their own operations and value chains.

Topics include:

1. What business needs to know about human rights: The rising tide of regulatory, legal, and stakeholder demands related to human rights
2. How to effectively manage human rights in a shifting landscape: Lessons and practical guidance from RBC
3. Plan for resilience: Using a human rights-based approach to preparing for emerging human rights risks (e.g., AI and new technologies, the just transition and climate/biodiversity impacts, litigation and board liability, etc.)

Speakers: Sara Gelgor, Director, Human Rights, Enterprise ESG Strategy, RBC Royal Bank; Paloma Muñoz Quick, Director, Human Rights Standards; Kindra Mohr, Esq., Associate Director and Lead, Financial Services and Human Rights, BSR

Credit: Tourism Whistler/Justa Jeskova

Lunch, Joyce Borden Reed Award and GPC.D Graduation (12:50 PM - 2:00 PM)

Multiple Tracks (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM)

Track A: Effective Governance Professionals 

Session 6A: Keeping Boards Current – The role of governance professionals in keeping Boards on top of emerging risks and threats

With increasing challenges faced by companies in a complex time, the role of the governance professional as evolved to be much more strategic, more collaborative and more solutions-based.

It's not just the role of recorder of information, it's about bringing the right information forward and contributing to excellent conversations. This impacts presentation quality, time dedicated to certain topics, communication skills, etc.

Speakers: Karen Uehara, Former Vice President, Corporate & Corporate Secretary, Enbridge Inc.

Track B: Effective Boards and Organizations

Session 6B: Social Purpose in Action: How Governance, Risk and Internal Audit Operate in Social Purpose Companies

This session will examine how the governance, risk and internal audit functions can become equipped to operationalize an organization’s social purpose. It also provides key recommendations for senior leadership, governance professionals, internal auditors, and risk managers seeking to embed a lens for social purpose into their policies and procedures.

‘Social Purpose in Action’ leverages the real-life experiences of governance, risk and audit professionals at B.C. Lottery Corporation, as well as the results of a collaborative study between Deloitte and BCLC titled “How Risk and Audit Operate in Social Purpose Companies”  

Audience participants at this panel will learn how to:

• Embed purpose into decision-making frameworks
• Elevate the advisory role of governance, risk and internal audit
• Focus the governance, risk and internal audit teams on stakeholder value creation

Speakers:  Christine Carter, Corporate Secretary & Director of Governance, B.C. Lottery Corporation; Rao Wandawasi, Director of Audit Services, BCLC

Track C: Key Trends in Governance

Session 6C: Deliberate Board Diversity Project

In an era where Directors are bombarded with conflicting diversity reports and the call for transparent regulated practices, a practical path forward is needed.

This fireside chat session will present the key findings of the Deliberate Board Diversity Project, a collaborative activation project by BIG, WGOB and irlabs as a commitment to higher standards in Canadian corporate governance.

Based on the insights gleaned from over 160 reports and contributions from 140 directors and governance professionals, we will discuss the foundations and designs to activate the call to action for enabling deliberate board diversity.

Speaker: Ivy Lumia, CEO and Founder, BIG; Deborah Rosati, Founder & CEO, Women Get On Board inc; Alyssa Barry, Investor Relations, irlabs

Sponsored By: 

Credit: Tourism Whistler/Mike Crane

Mini-Networking Break in the Exhibitor Hall (3:00 PM - 3:30 PM)

Multiple Tracks  (3:30 PM - 4:30 PM)

Track A: Effective Governance Professionals

Session 7A: Board Ethics, Philosophy and Obligation in the Use of Big Data

Canadian organizations hold increasingly larger amounts of data and emerging tools are opening a world of possibilities for its use. While the collection, analysis and use of data has historically been viewed as operational, larger and more interconnected datasets have upped the ante and the level of materiality and impact. Boards have provided strategic guidance for years regarding the risks of data and privacy breaches, but what about a board's obligation to ensure more active, sophisticated and impactful utilization of data? We all know what happens when boards are overly restrictive with deployment of capital, but what about their data?

If novel new uses of existing data will help an organization increase its impact, should it? If an organization will diminish its long-term relevance, competitive advantage or shareholder value by sitting on its data, should the board of directors care? In this session, we will discuss real world examples and assist participants to consider their own organizational implications:

• If a company benefit plan could use its existing confidential data and predictive analytics to understand likely future health outcomes of its employees, should it? Even if data and privacy risks will increase, is the organization obliged to act? In fact, should that organization take a more paternalistic view in the intervention and prevention of diseases for its employees, or should that board take a stance that is less interventionalist and less risky?
• If a regulator could use sophisticated modelling of existing registrant data to decrease the future likelihood of public harm, should they? Does the board have an obligation to guide management to act? Does the board have an obligation to guide management to not act?

These are real questions being faced by boards today and at the very least, directors have an obligation to understand their philosophy and appetite for their use and protection of their data and to provide guidance for its future collection and analysis. In this session, Planning Group President, Peter Wright will challenge participants to consider material data related decisions in their own organizations and formulate an approach to assist their board of directors.

Speakers: Peter Wright, The Planning Group

Track B: Effective Boards and Organizations 

Session 7B: The Soft Things are the Hard Things: Effective Board Meeting Tips

Board meetings can be either cumbersome slow-moving vehicles where members can’t wait until the meeting is over… or they can be agile and strategic events where board members can effectively provide foresight to an organization, while maintaining an objective perspective with all board members having something to contribute to the table.

This session provides perspectives from seasoned board members from various sectors to share what best practices work well in their respective environments.

Attendees will learn:

• Effective strategies to improve board members’ fiduciary duties
• Strategies regarding efficiency to improve quality of board meetings
• How to identify strategies that works best in different board environments

Speakers: Ruby Philip-Katyal, Senior Legal Counsel, Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario) ; Marilyn Spink, Independent Director & Advisor, GS Group; James A. Grange, Senior Legal Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary, First West Credit Union; John Hankinson, Executive Vice President - Board Portal Solutions, Computershare

Track C: Key Trends in Governance

Session 7C:  Challenges and Trends in Non-Profit Governance

Some of the questions the panelists will answer will be:

• How does non-profit governance differ from for-profit companies?
• What are the current trends in Canadian charities and NGOs?
• What are some unique challenges in non-profit governance?
• A challenge for non-profits is recruiting talent to the board and management. How can governance professionals help overcome that?
• Also, board members can be less strategic, thinking that their mere presence on a charitable board is good enough. Governance professionals have a unique role in addressing those kinds of issues. Board engagement, succession planning, not holding EDs accountable, etc. would be other challenges that will be discussed.

Speakers:  Graeme Esau, Advisor, Governance and Planning | Green Municipal Fund, Federation of Canadian Municipalities; John Bieker, Chief Governance Officer, Métis Nation British Columbia; Denise Prindiville, Chair, North York Family Health Team; Secretary, ICF Toronto; Royal Roads University ; Christine Thomas, Vice-President, Governance & Legal Counsel, Canadian Medical Association & Chair, Board of Governance Professionals of Canada

End of Conference!