France St-Hilaire is vice-president of research, having joined the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) as a research director in 1992. She currently oversees the Institute’s research agenda and coordinates ongoing projects in economic and social policy.

France is the author of a number of monographs and articles on public finance, social policy and fiscal federalism, as well as co-editor of several volumes published by the IRPP, including the most recent Art of the State volume Northern Exposure: Peoples, Powers and Prospects in Canada’s North (2009), A Canadian Priorities Agenda: Policy Choices to Improve Economic and Social Well-Being (2007) and Money, Politics and Health Care: Reconstructing the Federal-Provincial Partnership (2004).

She holds a graduate degree in economics from the Université de Montréal, and has worked as a researcher at the Institute for Policy Analysis at the University of Toronto and in the Department of Economics at the University of Western Ontario.

Jean Charest is a Partner in the Montréal office of McCarthy Tétrault. With a public service career spanning almost 30 years, Jean Charest is one of Canada’s best known political figures. Mr. Charest was first elected to the House of Commons in 1984 and, at age 28, became Canada’s youngest cabinet minister as Minister of State for Youth.

In 1992, as Minister of the Environment he led Canada’s delegation to the Rio Earth Summit on the economy and the environment. Mr. Charest has also served as Minister of Industry and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. In 1994, Jean Charest became Leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party, becoming the party’s first French Canadian leader. In 1998 he became the Leader of the Québec Liberal Party. He then broke a 50-year provincial record, winning three consecutive election campaigns in 2003, 2007 and 2008.

Under his leadership, Québec experienced stronger economic growth than the US, Europe and Canada, during the global financial crisis. Charest’s government was a world leader on climate change, bringing forward the first carbon levy in North America.

Mr. Charest has received the many distinguished awards and honours, including being member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, June 1986 (Canada); Commandeur of the Légion d’honneur, February 2009 (France); The Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, October 2011 (United-States).

Mr. Charest has been a lecturer in political science at Concordia University. He obtained his law degree from the University of Sherbrooke in 1980 and was admitted to the Québec bar in 1981.

Luc Godbout, is the Director of the Département de fiscalité at the Université de
Sherbrooke and principal investigator in public finances of the Research Chair in Taxation and
Public Finance. His recent research has focused on the tax structure and the consequences of the
ageing of the population on public finances and funding for public pension plans.

Tasha is a writer and broadcaster based in the Greater Toronto Area. A former editorial board member of the National Post, her column appears every Thursday. On television, she provides weekly political analysis in English for CBC News Network’s The National and in French for RDI’s Le Téléjournal. She also comments on radio programs including Grands Lacs Café, Charles Adler, and National Post Radio with Matt Gurney. Tasha is the co-author, with Adam Daifallah, of the 2005 bestseller, Rescuing Canada’s Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution.

A Montreal native and law graduate of McGill University, Tasha was involved in federal politics with the Progressive Conservative Party for over a decade, before moving into television journalism with CBC Newsworld in 1998 and then CPAC in 2000. Her work earned her the Justicia Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2003.

From 2004 to 2009 Tasha moved into public policy, serving as Ontario director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, vice-president of the Montreal Economic Institute, and director for Quebec of the Fraser Institute, and lecturing on conservative politics at her alma mater, McGill University.

In 2010 she returned to journalism and in 2012, was awarded the Economic Education Prize from the Montreal Economic Institute for her writing on economic issues and co-hosting of CTV NewsChannel’s National Affairs.

Apart from politics, Tasha is also passionate about children’s issues, including child care, education, and supporting kids with special needs. Mother of one first-grader and step-mother of two teenagers, she is a volunteer board member with Resources for Exceptional Children and Youth, serving families and children with autism and mental health challenges in Durham region.

Marie-Hélène Labrie joined Enerkem in May 2008. Prior to that, she worked in communications, business strategy, and market analysis as Director of Marketing and Strategic Planning at CAE, and as a consultant for numerous organizations, such as Oliver Wyman Delta Organization & Leadership and Desjardins Financial Security.

She is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Écotech Québec, a cleantech cluster, and she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, the Conseil des entreprises en technologies environnementales du Québec, and the Mississippi Biomass and Renewable Energy Council. She represents the company at the Advanced Ethanol Council in Washington and the Canadian Cleantech Coalition in Ottawa.

Ms. Labrie began her career at the Government of Canada, in the Department of National Defense, and pursued it at Industry Canada and the Privy Council Office.

Marie-Hélène Labrie holds a Masters in International Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Université Laval in Québec.
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