“University inventions have the potential to improve our health and safety, protect our environment, and make our businesses more productive and competitive,” said task force member Sana Halwani. “We are seriously underperforming and this problem must be addressed.”

The report presents 10 recommendations aimed at making technology transfer a priority, improving speed of innovation going to market, and ensuring proper investment in commercialization at Canadian Universities. The full report can be found at www.innovation-action.ca in both English and French.

In May 2007, the Government of Canada launched its Science and Technology Strategy, highlighting the importance of research and development to the economic growth of Canada. The Action Canada task force study urges Canadian policy-makers to take action before Canada slips further behind in the race to a knowledge economy.

Action Canada is a unique Canadian leadership development program created in 2002 by Vancouver businessman Sam Belzberg and Simon Fraser University president emeritus Jack Blaney. Their goal was to build leadership for Canada’s future by identifying young Canadians who had shown ability, initiative and commitment to Canada, and by developing their skills, enriching their understanding of the country and establishing a Fellows’ network for the future. Information may be found at the Action Canada website at www.actioncanada.ca

For further information, please contact:

David Kelton
Media Relations
Getting the Deal Done: Unlocking Innovation from Within Canadian Universities
(647) 403-0741

Seventeen exceptional Canadians are the new 2007/2008 Action Canada Fellows.

They include the Montreal co-founder of a genocide-intervention network, an Ottawa public policy specialist, a Toronto social entrepreneur, the Toronto founder of two successful software companies, a Vancouver emergency-room physician interested in public health policy and the executive director of Carcross/Tagish First Nation in the Yukon, the latest First Nation to achieve self-government.

Selected for their outstanding leadership initiative and commitment to Canada, each Fellow receives $20,000 and participates in Action Canada’s unique, 10-month program focused on leadership development and Canadian public policy issues. This year’s fellowship theme is Canada as a World Leader. Fellows will focus on ways to enhance Canada’s international leadership profile and its impact in world affairs.

The Fellows, all in their early career years, will take part in three, eight-day working conferences in Vancouver, Ottawa and Quebec. They will also work in task-force teams on issues related to the fellowship-year theme and then produce and present a report on their work at the final conference in Quebec City.

Throughout the program, Fellows learn from the guidance of mentors who are current leaders in government, business, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Fellows undertake their fellowship in conjunction with their studies or career activities.

A national organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Action Canada is building leadership for Canada’s future by creating a network of informed, emerging leaders. It is a partnership between the private sector and the federal government.

The organization was co-founded in 2002 by Vancouver businessman and philanthropist Samuel Belzberg and Simon Fraser University president emeritus Jack Blaney in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage, Department of Justice Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and Industry Canada.

Action Canada is affiliated with Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver, B.C.

Below is a complete list of Fellows. For more information and complete biographies please visit www.actioncanada.ca.

2007/2008 Action Canada Fellows

A lawyer specializing in biotechnology law, Melanie Bourassa Forcier is now completing doctoral studies in intellectual property law at McGill University, Montreal. She has a strong interest in developing public policy that will support innovation and access to new medical technologies.

Listed among New Brunswick’s 21 leaders for the 21st century, Tim Coates is completing a master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is the co-founder of 21inc., a non-profit organization working to increase capacity for change in New Brunswick through leadership, dialogue, networks and ideas.

An emergency physician at St. Paul’s hospital, Vancouver, Rebecca Comley has a keen interest in public health and health care which stems from her medical practice experience in Canada’s remote north. She holds a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University.

A Ganaxtedi clan member, Justin Ferbey is executive director of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation in the Yukon, which is the latest First Nation to achieve self-government. He chaired a federal/territorial committee to bring the final agreement on this to ratification and has been deeply involved in establishing fiscal architecture and governance for First Nations seeking self-government.

A first-year student of medicine at the University of Toronto, Benjamin Fine is the founder and executive director of STAND Canada, a national student organization with 20 university campus chapters dedicated to Darfur advocacy and activism.

An engineer from LaSalle, Quebec, Marc Fournier partnered with the Canadian Space Agency to research and write his master’s thesis on an inspection system for the International Space Station. He has since completed several work internships around the world and is now pursuing a doctorate in applied computing at the European University of Strasbourg.

Nicholas Gafuik, is the director of program development for the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, an organization that prepares people for principled political participation. He is also a founding director of the Alberta Environmental Stewardship Coalition and has served as an international election observer in the Ukraine and Cambodia. He currently resides in Ottawa.

The director of sustainable markets at Environment Canada in Ottawa, Jane McDonald has extensive experience in sustainability issues and was formerly associate vice president of CO2e.com, the environmental brokerage arm of New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald. She currently sits on the advisory board for the Research Network for Business Sustainability at the Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario.

A chartered financial analyst and former principal with corporate finance firm Octavian Capital in Toronto, Oliver Madison is now president of Me to We Style Inc., a Toronto social enterprise committed to providing ethically manufactured, quality apparel for socially-conscious consumers.

Shauna Mullally is pursing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa. She is involved at the local and national levels with Engineers Without Borders, has worked at the Medical Research Council (U.K.) in the Gambia, West Africa and participated in the African Union Summit women’s forum on gender-responsive governance in post-conflict societies.

Taylor Owen, from Vancouver, is a Trudeau Scholar and doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, U.K. He has worked for a range of international research institutes and served in policy advisory roles for the UN, the Canadian and Norwegian governments, and numerous NGOs. He writes widely on the causes and consequences of conflict and peace-building, and on Canadian, American and European foreign policy.

A 2007 Sauvé Scholar, Emily Paddon has worked with the International Crisis Group, The Watson Institute for International Relations and World Affairs Television. She has also worked and volunteered in West and North Africa. Paddon is pursuing a doctorate in international relations at Oxford University but will continue her research this year in Montreal at McGill University under the Sauvé scholarship.

Named one of Canada’s “Best and Brightest” by Maclean’s magazine, Benjamin Perrin is a lawyer, a law professor at UBC, Vancouver and the founder of The Future Group, an NGO that combats human trafficking. He is interested in domestic and international criminal law, international humanitarian law, comparative constitutional law and human trafficking.

The founder of two software companies, Voice Courier Inc. (VCi), and Voice Courier Mobile Inc., Tom Rand sold both profitable companies in 2005 and founded VCi Green Funds to provide angel and venture capital to companies developing emission-reduction technologies. He is now vice president, environmental science at Canadian Hydrogen Energy Company in Toronto and is also pursuing a PhD in philosophy at the University of Toronto.

Gino Reeves is managing director of Place aux Jeunes du Quebec (PAJQ), an organization that helps young Quebeckers find employment or establish businesses in regional Quebec. Reeves, who is from the Gaspe and holds a master’s degree in regional development, is keenly interested in youth entrepreneurship.

Andrew Sniderman is the co-founder of the Washington-based Genocide Intervention Network (GI-NET), an organization working to prevent and stop genocide. He is also a Fellow in the Parliamentary Internship Programme and has worked as a political organizer and policy associate.

Named by Maclean’s magazine as one of Canada’s 50 Canadians under 30 to watch, Irvin Studin is a policy specialist who has held senior policy positions with the Canadian and Australian governments, advising on issues such as foreign policy, democratic governance and national security. A former Rhodes Scholar, he is the editor of What is a Canadian? Forty-Three Thought-Provoking Responses (Douglas Gibson Books, McClelland & Stewart, 2006). He lives in Ottawa.

Alberta’s top executives and veteran leaders to share their expertise with nation’s future leaders

What does an emerging Canadian leader need to know about business and enterprise in Alberta?

Fifteen aspiring young leaders from across the country will find out as they meet with some of Alberta’s premier business and political leaders in Calgary June 2-4, Fort McMurray June 5-6 and Banff June 8 for the Action Canada Working Conference.

These young Canadian leaders in their early career years have been selected as Fellows under Action Canada, a national leadership program created by a unique private sector/Government of Canada partnership.

Action Canada Fellows such as Toronto investment consultant and governance expert Jane Ambachtsheer, physician and entrepreneur David Kelton, and federal prosecutor Jason Mitschele will meet with some of Alberta’s leaders –including Preston Manning, Pierre Alvarez, President of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Mark Shaw, Vice-president, Suncor Energy Inc., Chief Jim Boucher, Fort McKay First Nation and President of the Athabasca Tribal Council, and Norbert Meier, Vice-president, The Banff Centre.

The Fellows will tour the Suncor oil sands facilities in Fort McMurray, explore agriculture and ranching issues at the OH Ranch and learn about tourism as a driver of enterprise in Banff.

Selected for their leadership qualities and commitment to Canada, each Action Canada Fellow receives a $20,000 fellowship to participate in this 10-month program. They join a growing network of inspiring young Action Canada alumni who all understand Canada’s public policy issues and have learned the skills to take action on these issues.

This year’s Action Canada Fellows come from across the nation and represent a wealth of fascinating experiences – and potential news and feature ideas. Here is a snapshot:

Jane Ambachtsheer was recognized by Global Proxy Watch as one of the top 10 global “architects of governance” in 2005. She is a principal of Mercer Investment Consulting in Toronto and a member of the International Corporate Governance Network. She sits on the board of the Canadian Social Investment Organization, is Canadian advisor to the Carbon Disclosure Project and also volunteers with Oxfam Canada

David Kelton is a Toronto physician who is dedicated to improving health with new technologies that have a patient-centered philosophy. He started ClinLink.com, a website which enables patients to participate in medical research.

Jason Mitschele, a federal prosecutor for the department of justice in Toronto, is committed to equality and social justice for all Canadians. An advocate for equality for persons with disabilities, Mitschele sits on the International Development Committee of the Counsel of Canadians with Disabilities and recently participated in this organization’s advisory group on the negotiation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

Visit www.actioncanada.ca for further information about the program and the Fellows.

To arrange an interview with the Action Canada Fellows, please contact:

Cathy Beehan, CEO
Action Canada
cell: 778-233-6650

Janet Webber, Program and Conference Manager
Action Canada
604-268-7961

Up to 20 nominees will receive a $20,000 Action Canada fellowship to participate in a 10-month program focused on leadership development. Fellows will work together on public policy projects of significance to Canada and attend week-long, working conferences in Vancouver, Ottawa and a third Canadian location. Fellows are expected to undertake their fellowship in conjunction with their studies or other work in which they are already engaged.

The 2007/08 fellowship year theme is Canada as a World Leader, focusing particularly on enhancing our leadership roles and profile, developing partnerships to increase our impact in world affairs, and strengthening our global relations from political and trade perspectives.

A national organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Action Canada is a partnership between the private sector and the federal government that is committed to building leadership for Canada’s future.

For nomination information or to learn more about Action Canada and our current and previous fellows, visit www.actioncanada.ca or contact 604-268-7890. The nomination deadline is January 26, 2007.

For further information: or to speak to current Action Canada Fellows about their experiences in the program, contact: Cathy Beehan, CEO, Action Canada, (604) 268-7890

Morgan, who established one of Canada’s largest companies, is in town to lead Action Canada Fellows in a dialogue session on Enterprise in Canada at the Action Canada Vancouver working conference.

At the Board of Trade luncheon, Morgan will speak about Freedom of enterprise, ethical values and leadership: Reflections on the pursuit of business as a calling.

Action Canada co-founder Sam Belzberg will introduce Morgan and speak about Action Canada’s national fellowship program – a public/private partnership that is building leadership for Canada’s future. The Vancouver conference marks the start of Action Canada’s fourth fellowship year. Fifteen Fellows from across Canada, who have been awarded a $20,000 fellowship, will spend the next 10 months learning about leadership, business and Canada’s public policy issues.

They include Ottawa lawyer Benjamin Shinewald, Toronto federal prosecutor Jason Mitschele, Toronto physician David Kelton, Montreal composer Darren Fung, Toronto investment consultant Jane Ambachtsheer, Ottawa Supreme Court clerk Sana Halwani and Rick Nielsen, a Whitehorse entrepreneur who is chief of staff to the Yukon Premier.

Selected for their outstanding leadership initiative and commitment to Canada, each Fellow receives $20,000 and participates in Action Canada’s unique, 10-month program focused on leadership development and Canadian public policy issues. This year’s fellowship theme is Enterprise in Canada which includes a focus on economic and business development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Fellows, all in their early career years, will take part in three, eight-day working conferences in Vancouver, Ottawa and Alberta. They will also work in groups on issues related to the fellowship year theme and then produce and present a report on their work at the final conference in Calgary.

Throughout the program, Fellows learn from the guidance of mentors who are current leaders in government, business, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Fellows undertake their fellowship in conjunction with their studies or career activities.

A national organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Action Canada is building leadership for Canada’s future by creating a network of informed, emerging leaders. It is a partnership between the private sector and the federal government.

The organization was co-founded in 2002 by Vancouver businessman and philanthropist Samuel Belzberg and Simon Fraser University president emeritus Jack Blaney in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage, Department of Justice Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

Action Canada is affiliated with Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver, B.C.

Below is a complete list of Fellows. For more information and complete biographies please visit www.actioncanada.ca.

2006/2007 Action Canada Fellows

Jane Ambachtsheer is a principal of Mercer Investment Consulting in Toronto. She sits on the board of the Canadian Social Investment Organization, is Canadian advisor to the Carbon Disclosure Project and also volunteers with Oxfam Canada. A member of the International Corporate Governance Network, Ambachsteer was recognized by Global Proxy Watch as one of the global top 10 “Architects of Governance 2005”.

Caroline Charest , of Montreal, is a political aide with the Quebec Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Exports. Prior to this she was an economic and management analyst at SECOR Consulting. She is active with the Jeune Chambre de Commerce de Montréal, working on a committee whose goal is to raise the Montreal business community’s awareness of sustainable development.

Darren Fung is a Montrealentrepreneur who owns Stinky Rice Studios in Montreal. An accomplished Canadian composer whose works have been performed across Canada and at major international film festivals, he was awarded the PowerPost Award for Excellence in Music Composition at the 2005 Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax. An advocate for emerging composers, he is currently the youngest member of the board of directors for the Guild of Canadian Film Composers.

Sana Halwani , a University of Toronto law school graduate, has earned numerous academic accolades and also holds a master’s degree in biotechnological law and ethics. She is interested in health law and currently clerks for Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella in Ottawa.

Bart Kasowski , a Ph.D. student in the department of philosophy at the University of Montreal, plans a career as a professor of business ethics. He also works with Quebec real estate firm Aeroterm on new business development and public-private partnership projects.

Toronto physician David Kelton is dedicated to improving health with new technologies that have a patient-centred philosophy. He started ClinLink.com, a website which enables patients to participate in medical research. He is currently specializing in radiology at the University of Toronto.

Jake McEwan has a wealth of experience in managing the political and public dimensions that surround land planning and development. He is a managing partner with the First Principles Group of Companies Ltd., a Vancouver-based development and consulting company. McEwan has held a variety of government posts including chief political assistant to the B.C. Minister of Agriculture and Lands.

Jason Mitschele is a federal prosecutor for the department of justice in Toronto and is committed to equality and social justice for all Canadians. An advocate for equality for persons with disabilities, Mitschele sits on the International Development Committee of the Counsel of Canadians with Disabilities and recently participated in this organization’s advisory group on the negotiation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

Whitehorse entrepreneur Rick Nielsen is currently the chief of staff to the Premier of the Yukon. A staunch advocate of trades training, he is a founding member of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum and past chair of the Yukon Apprenticeship Advisory Board and the Inter-provincial Alliance of Apprenticeship Board Chairs.

Aaron Pereira is strongly dedicated to social activism. He has recently been working to develop the Community Bank, a new financial institution focused on financing Canadian social sector organizations. He is a co-founder and now a director of CanadaHelps and a former member of both the Washington-based e-Philanthropy Foundation’s ethics committee and of the federal government’s National Roundtable on the Social Economy. He lives in Toronto.

Emmanuelle Richez is a doctoral student in political science at McGill University in Montreal, where she is researching the impact of Supreme Court judgements on Canadian citizenship. She has worked as an aide to Quebec’s minister of intergovernmental affairs and democratic reform; as a page at the House of Commons and as a legislative assistant.

Benjamin Shinewald is currently participating in an Executive Interchange, serving as a senior analyst in the Economic and Regional Development Secretariat of the Privy Office in Ottawa. A Bay Street lawyer, he previously served as a law clerk in the Supreme Court of Israel and interned for the Hon. Martin Lee, chair of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong.

Alexis Wise is an entrepreneur and co-founder of LifeSpeak Inc., a national company providing work-life integration solutions to leading Canadian organizations. She also works as an independent consultant in the health care field. Wise previously worked as a consultant with the international management consulting firm Monitor Group. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Stéphanie Yates is pursuing a Ph.D. in political science at Laval University in Quebec City. Her professional career has included public relations and marketing for a multinational environmental firm, a one-year internship at the National Assembly of Quebec, work as a political attachée for the office of the Premier of Quebec and press attachée and vice-chief of office for the Minister of e-government in Quebec.

Rebekah Young was recently recruited by the federal Recruitment of Policy Leaders Programme to work on strategic policy in Ottawa with the Canadian International Development Agency. With an MBA from INSEAD, and a master’s degree in environmental assessment and evaluation, she has also worked for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and for Hatch, an international consulting company.

Jack Anawak, Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs, Elisapee Sheutiapik, Mayor of Iqaluit, Jose Kusugak, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), and Mary Simon, former Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs will be among those who participate in briefing sessions and a Nunavut Leaders Dialogue Dinner during Action Canada’s week-long Nunavut working conference on arctic sovereignty.

Action Canada builds leadership for Canada’s future through a national program that is creating a network of emerging leaders who have a passion for Canada and its stature among nations. It is a partnership between the private sector and four federal government departments: Canadian Heritage, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Human Resources and Social Development, and Justice Canada.

During the conference, the Fellows will visit Iqaluit, Canadian Forces Station Alert, and Pangnirtung, as they explore the arctic sovereignty perspectives of the Nunavut territorial government, the federal government, Canadian military, business and economic development interests, the national Inuit organization ITK, and the Nunavut land claims body, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

For more information, please contact Action Canada CEO Cathy Beehan, 604-268-7890, cell: 778-233-6650 or visit www.actioncanada.ca

The DreamCatcher Yukon program, created by a group of Action Canada Fellows and piloted last year at Carcross Community School in Carcross, proved so successful that this year it is receiving funding from both the Yukon Department of Education and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

“Our purpose is to address the high drop-out rates from high school,” explains Action Canada alumnus Josh Silvertown, who helped introduce the program last year and helped expand the program this year. “We want to empower kids to understand the value of staying in school.”

The program matches students and their career interests with Canadian mentors in similar fields. During class time, students log on to the DreamCatcher Internet chat room to leave messages for their mentors, following a curriculum that details discussion goals and milestones. The five-week program culminates in a day-long job shadow at a workplace relevant to the students’ career choices.

Last year’s pilot involved 14 students in grades seven to nine. A survey at the end of the program found that 11 of the 14 were interested in staying in school and that all of those eligible to move on to high school did so, says Silvertown.

Action Canada alumni Beverly Sembsmoen and Josh Silvertown have since formed a registered society, the DreamCatcher Yukon Mentoring Society, and work together as co-directors. “We’re volunteering our time,” says Silvertown, who is now a post-doctoral fellow at the Ontario Cancer Institute. “We have a board of directors comprised of individuals in the Yukon who have the skills to see this through successfully.”

For next year, Sembsmoen and Silvertown are currently planning an intensive strategy to register all Yukon schools offering grade nine. “We plan to implement this across the north,” says Sembsmoen, a Dakl’aweidí clan member of Tagish and Tlingit heritage. “We’re working to include all levels of community and government in our program.”

Action Canada builds leadership for Canada’s future through a 10-month national program that is creating a network of emerging leaders who have a passion for Canada and its stature among nations. Fellows participating in the program must pursue a public policy project of value to Canada. The DreamCatcher Yukon program was one of last year’s projects and uses many Action Canada alumni from across Canada as mentors.

These young adults are Action Canada Fellows – Canada’s next generation of leaders. They’re in the midst of learning about the requirements and responsibilities of leadership in public service, elected office and executive positions in non-governmental organizations and the private sector as they participate in Action Canada’s 10-month leadership program.

In Nunavut, the Fellows will gather for a week of briefings with local leaders and experts, workshops, tours and special events designed to improve their understanding of the issues surrounding arctic sovereignty. Activities include a Nunavut Leaders Dialogue Dinner in Iqaluit, a day visiting Canadian Forces Station Alert, and meetings with territorial representatives and Inuit organizations in Iqaluit and Pangnirtung. The Fellows’ visit includes a series of workshops about Nunavut issues with local invited guests on Tuesday, May 30 and Thursday June 1 in Iqaluit.

Action Canada builds leadership for Canada’s future through a national program that is creating a network of emerging leaders who have a passion for Canada and its stature among nations. It is a partnership between the private sector and four federal government departments: Canadian Heritage, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Human Resources and Social Development, and Justice Canada.

For more information, please contact Cathy Beehan, 604-268-7890, cell: 778 233-6650 or visit www.actioncanada.ca

Joyal, a lawyer, was selected for her work with Free the Children International, a group striving to eliminate child exploitation around the world. Joyal has been working and spearheading initiatives with this group since its inception and is a founding staff member. She also works with Leaders Today as the lead facilitator and development manager for the Leaders Today Kenya School of the Savanah.

Caputo, a medical doctor candidate at the University of Toronto, led an investigation into the factors affecting the transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) during the 2003 outbreak. Based on the investigation results, she developed a risk management framework that can be used to prevent future outbreaks of infectious diseases. She was invited to present the results of her work to the Ontario Government’s Campbell Commission on SARS. Prior to entering medicine, Caputo graduated in engineering from the University of Toronto and worked in management consulting at McKinsey & Company, focusing on the healthcare sector.

The Women’s Executive Network (WXN)™ is Canada’s leading organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of executive-minded women in the workplace. This is the first time that the awards list has included a future leaders category recognizing younger women who are blazing trails and making a significant impact on their communities.