The dialogue will be focused on three issues: how inequality and poverty are jeopardizing our human capital, how to develop a creative workforce for tomorrow, and financing Canada’s low-carbon energy future.

The Fellows will host the public dialogue on Friday, Nov. 4, 7:30 am – 12:30 pm in Convocation Hall at the University of Winnipeg. This event is free. Registration is recommended. Please RSVP to TFwinnipeg2011@actioncanada.ca.

The dialogue will feature presentations from leaders in government, business and academia. They include John Curtis, Founding Chief Economist, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Professor, Queen’s University; Tom Rand ’07, Lead Advisor, Cleantech – MaRS Discovery District; Founder & Director, Vci Green Funds Inc.; and Alan Freeman, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Manitoba.

Action Canada is a national fellowship program for promising young Canadians. The program enhances Fellows’ leadership skills, broadens their understanding of Canada and its policy choices, and builds an exceptional network of leaders for our future.

Hailing from communities across Canada, the 16 Action Canada Fellows are visiting Winnipeg to learn more about Manitoba’s identity, economy and current cultural and political perspectives.

The Fellows are visiting Winnipeg from Nov. 3-6, 2011. For more information on the public dialogue, the Action Canada program and the Fellows’ biographies, visit www.actioncanada.ca.

For further information: Janet Webber
Director, Communications and Government Relations
Action Canada
Tel : 778-881-7961, email : janet_webber@actioncanada.ca

Some of Canada’s most inspiring young leaders, the Action Canada Fellows, will be in Goose Bay to learn about these issues and to discuss their findings with the community on Friday, 23 September 2011, noon – 3:30 pm at the Labrador Friendship Centre.

Action Canada is a national fellowship program for promising young Canadians. The program enhances Fellows’ leadership skills, broadens their understanding of Canada and its policy choices, and builds an exceptional network of leaders for our future.

The Fellows are visiting Labrador from Sept. 21-25.  For their biographies, visit www.actioncanada.ca/en/fellows/fellows/20112012-fellows.  To arrange a media interview, contact: Helen Augustin.

Interested in innovations in public policy? Action Canada will host a public dialogue on Saturday 18 June . This interactive event will be held at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue with special guest the Honourable Stockwell Day and Action Canada Fellows, and is open to the public. Together we will explore what public policies Canada needs to advance its economic and business interests in the areas of energy, finance and infrastructure.

Stockwell Day is the former Minister of International Trade and President of the Treasury Board of Canada. Mr. Day was elected to the Alberta legislature in 1986 and first selected to the House of Commons in 2000. He has been in political life for 25 years.

The session is moderated by Dr. Jack Blaney, a co-founder of Action Canada, and President Emeritus, Simon Fraser University.

Also featured as the respondent panel are Action Canada Alumni: Tiara Létourneau ’10, Commercial Banker, Aboriginal Markets; Jake McEwan ’06, Senior Development Manager, Intracorp Projects Ltd and Guillaume Lavoie ’05, Director, Mission Leadership Quebec.

Action Canada is a national fellowship program for promising young Canadians. The program enhances Fellows’ leadership skills, broadens their understanding of Canada and its policy choices, and builds an exceptional network of leaders for our future. Visit www.actioncanada.ca

Details:
Action Canada Public Dialogue
Saturday, 18 June 2011, 9:00 – 11:15 AM
SFU’s Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue 580 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
This event is free and open to the public however seating is limited and pre-registration is required.
http://acdialogue18june2011.eventbrite.com

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Each year the incoming cohort of Action Canada Fellows are asked to identify a policy issue of significance to Canada that is related to their fellowship year theme. Fellows then spend a major part of their fellowship year working to examine the issue, consult with Canadian and International authorities on the subject and develop policy recommendations for submission to the Federal Government. The 2010/2011 theme is Economic Transformations: what policies should Canada implement to succeed as a strong nation? This year’s presentations, which are open to the public, take place on Friday, February 25 in the Canadian room, Fairmont Chateau Laurier.

9:30 – 10:45 a.m. – Where in the World is Canada? Building a global network of Canadians abroad

Nearly three million Canadians live and work abroad. Many of them are highly educated, highly skilled, and highly connected. They are a vast untapped resource for trade promotion and export development. How can we, as a country, make better use of Canada’s talent abroad? This report will discuss how best to answer this question, and includes a proposal to create an international business network for Canada to connect successful well-placed Canadian expats with Canadian businesses for mutual benefit.

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Debt Crunch: Addressing Canada’s Record Level of Household Debt

Today, with Canada’s total household debt exceeding $1.5 trillion – three times the national debt – Canada faces unprecedented financial vulnerability, threatening both individual and national economic well-being. The Action Canada Task Force on Household Debt will propose two broad solutions that will influence Canadians to make better borrowing decisions.

12:30 – 1:45 p.m. Buffet Luncheon

1:45 – 3:00 p.m.- Global Gazelles: High Growth Entrepreneurship in Canada: Fueling our Economic Success

Canada produces lots of small businesses, many of which succeed, but few of which grow to become major enterprises. This Task Force addresses why and what can be done to encourage more to do so.

For more information please visit actioncanada.ca.

For further information contact: Janet Webber, Program Director, Action Canada, 778.881.7961.

Action Canada’s goal is to enhance Fellows’ leadership skills and their understanding of Canada and its policy choices, and build an exceptional network of leaders for our time.

Up to 20 nominees from across the country will be selected to participate in this 11-month program focused on leadership development. Fellows will attend six intensive, four to five-day working conferences around the country, and work together on public policy projects of significance to Canada. They’ll also join the vibrant Action Canada Network of Fellows.

This unique experience requires a substantial time commitment and Fellows must undertake the program in addition to their regular employment or other endeavours in which they are engaged.

The 2011/2012 theme is Advancing Canada’s national interests in economic and business policy.

A national organization based in Vancouver, B.C., 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 fellows, visit www.actioncanada.ca .

The nomination deadline is 5:00 pm PT, Tuesday, 15 February 2011.

For further information contact Janet Webber, program director 778.881.7961.

Action Canada will host a public forum on November 5th, 2010 in St. John’s, Newfoundland to examine the growing crisis brought on by historically low interest rates, easily available credit, relaxed Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation guidelines, and a relatively stable economy.

“Canadians now have the highest debt to assets ratios in the OECD,” said Derek Dunfield, an Action Canada Fellow hosting the public forum. “Cooling housing markets or modest increases in interest rates will make these debt levels unsustainable.  Experts predict that this could put Canada’s economy at a level of risk that could rival the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.”

The public forum, entitled “Debt Crunch: The Looming Crisis for Canadian Households“, will examine how Canada’s recovery from the recent economic recession and the financial well-being of Canadians is threatened by unsustainable levels of household debt. It will take place on Friday November 5, 2010, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM at the Suncor Energy Fluvarium in St. John’s. It is being held in co-operation with The Harris Centre at Memorial University and the Memorial University Students’ Union.

This free event will include an expert panel discussion moderated by Canadian broadcaster Mary Lou Finlay, former host of CBC Radio’s “As It Happens” radio program. The panel will include Dr. Wade Locke (Professor of Economics, Memorial University of Newfoundland), Al Antle (Executive Director, Credit and Debt Solutions), and Neil Mohindra (former Senior Economist, Fraser Institute).

The Action Canada Fellows organizing this forum will use its findings to develop policy recommendations to be presented to the Canadian Federal Government.

Action Canada is the only Canadian fellowship that offers both senior leadership development and cross-country conferences to enhance an understanding of Canada and public policy choices for our future. Fellows are chosen from all sectors, including business, science, government, academia and the professions.

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Action Canada Fellows and the panel experts will be available for interviews. For further details on the Public Forum, visitwww.debtcrunch.ca. For more information on the Action Canada fellowship, visitwww.actioncanada.ca.

The 17 Fellows, who include a federal policy analyst, a director of Engineers without Borders, a neuroscientist, a physicist and a political speech writer, will meet with Premier Floyd Roland, NWT Commissioner George Tuccaro, Leadership of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and other NWT leaders.

The Fellows will study three major policy issues:

1) economic transformations: renewable and non-renewable resource economies in the North
2) self-government, and
3) health care delivery in rural and remote communities
They’ll present their findings to the community during a free Public Dialogue on Friday, 24 September, 1:30 – 4:30 pm in the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly, Yellowknife.

Action Canada is the only Canadian fellowship that offers both senior leadership development and cross-country conferences to enhance an understanding of Canada and public policy choices for our future. Fellows are chosen from all sectors, including business, science, government, academia and the professions. The 2010/11 Action Canada Fellows will visit Yellowknife as part of their 11-month program.

For further details on Action Canada, visit www.actioncanada.ca.

Cathy Beehan, founding chief executive officer of Action Canada, and the 2010/11 Fellows will be available throughout the four-day conference to meet with interested members of the media. In addition, media are invited to attend the Public Dialogue on 24 September.

The Fellows represent the best of Canada’s emerging leaders. They include:

• Dr. Samir Sinha, the incoming chief of geriatrics at Mount Sinai and University Health Network Hospitals in Toronto
• Mark Podlasly, a Vancouver First Nations environmental consultant to large capital resource projects
• Shannon Wells, a research and policy analyst with Intergovernmental Affairs, Privy Council Office, Ottawa
• Derek Dunfield, a Portland, ON neuroscientist studying behavioural economics
• Scott Robertson, a chief nursing officer in the Northwest Territories
• Kyle Hill, a Yarmouth, NS physicist researching in the field of medical imaging

For all fellows’ bios: http://www.actioncanada.ca/en/fellows/fellows/20102011-fellows/

The Vancouver Conference

The Vancouver conference is the first of six to be held across Canada during the 11-month program as Fellows meet and learn from Canadians who are leaders in their field.

Featured presenters include John Furlong, former CEO, VANOC and new advisory board chair for Own the Podium; Cathy Priestner Allinger, VANOC’s former executive vice-president, sport and games operations; Tewanee Joseph, executive director and CEO, Four Host First Nations Society, as well as MP Andrew Saxton and former Canada Line CEO Jane Bird. In addition, Canadian journalists Jeffrey Simpson, Jacquie McNish, Andrew Cohen and Stephen Hume will teach Fellows the finer points of writing op-eds on policy issues of significance to Canada.

About Action Canada

Action Canada is a national fellowship program that enhances promising young Canadians’ leadership skills, enriches their understanding of Canada and creates a network of skilled leaders for our country’s future.

For more information: www.actioncanada.ca

- electronic photos available on request

We’ll accept up to 20 nominees who will learn leadership skills under the tutelage of some of Canada’s most respected leaders in government, industry and academia. Fellows work together on public policy projects and attend six three-day conferences in six Canadian regions. They’ll also join the vibrant Action Canada Network of Fellows.

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

This unique experience requires a substantial time commitment and Fellows must undertake the program in addition to their regular employment or other endeavours in which they are engaged.

The 2010/11 theme is “Economic Transformations: Challenges and Opportunities for Canada – what policies should Canada implement to succeed as a strong nation?”

A national organization based in Vancouver, B.C., 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 fellows, visit www.actioncanada.ca.

The nomination deadline is 5:00 pm PT Friday 26 February 2010.

For further information: To find out more about the program, contact: Cathy Beehan, CEO, Action Canada, (778) 233-6650