Mathieu Laberge holds a master’s degree in international economics and econometrics from the University of Nottingham and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Montreal. He works as a project manager at the Centre for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations (CIRANO) and as a lecturer at HEC Montréal. He previously was an economist at the Montreal Economic Institute, a professor of economics & statistics at Gérald-Godin College and he wrote a column in La Presse. His main research interests are the economics of social behaviour (terrorism, national security and crimes), public finance (public governance and best practices, public fixed assets management, education and fiscal policy) and mathematical modelling of economic phenomenons. (High resolution photography)

Julie Frappier is an health economist and a holder of a master’s degree in economics from the University of Montreal.

Éric Duhaime est titulaire d’une maîtrise en administration publique de l’ÉNAP et consultant en développement démocratique.

Since 2000, Dr. Léo-Paul Landry has been a management consultant and director of professional services at the Institut de réadaptation de Montréal. From 1986 to 1999 he served as secretary-general of the Canadian Medical Association, from 1994 to 1999 as general manager of CMA Holdings in Ottawa, and from 1981 to 1995 as associate professor at the McGill Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Landry is a very active member of the medical community. He specializes in internal medicine and pediatrics, and earned an MBA from Université Laval in 1972.

The productivity of our enterprises and our standard of living go hand in hand. But to improve their productivity, businesses must invest. What role must the federal government play to create an investment-friendly environment and a more competitive economy? Should Canada reconsider its fiscal laws in order to encourage innovation and risk-taking? What strategy should Canada implement to improve the private sector’s research and development capacity? The new Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development has ideas and strategies to propose. A rising star on the federal political scene, Maurizio Bevilacqua became Secretary of State with the last reshuffle of Jean Chrétien’s cabinet. First elected as a Member of Parliament in the 1988 election, he was re-elected in 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2000. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development (1993-95) and to the Minister of Labour (1993-94). He was also Chair of the powerful House of Commons Finance Committee from 1997 to 2002. In this position, he called for pro-growth fiscal measures such as the reduction and eventual elimination of capital taxes as well as tax cuts. Mr. Bevilacqua’s speech was followed by a question period open to the audience.

John Carpay holds a B.A. in Political Science from Laval University in Quebec City and earned his law degree at the University of Calgary. He was called to the Alberta Bar in 1999. He practiced civil litigation with Rooney Prentice in Calgary before joining the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) as the Director of the Alberta office in 2001. In 2005, John Carpay left the CTF to serve as the first Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF). The CCF intervenes in court cases in support of individual freedom, economic freedom, and equality before the law.

Victor Mennessier is Chairman of the board of the Clinique Vauban in France.