Pierre Céré has worked for some 40 years to defend socioeconomic and political rights, both in Quebec and internationally. Co-ordinator of the Comité Chômage de Montréal since 1997 and spokesperson for the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses, he ran as a candidate for the Parti Québécois in Laurier-Dorion in the 2014 election and as leader of the party in 2015. He is the author of several essays, including Une gauche possible, published in 2010, Les pots cassés: une histoire de l’assurance-chômage, published in 2020, and La crise et le filet social: Pourquoi la droite n’aime pas la PCU, published in 2022.

Pierre Fortin is emeritus professor of economics at the Université du Québec à Montréal, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and past president of the Canadian Economics Association. He has published in the areas of economic growth and fluctuations, labour markets, and monetary, fiscal and social policies. He has been an adviser to ministers of finance of Canada and Quebec, and chief economic adviser to a Quebec premier. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Norma Kozhaya has been vice president of research and chief economist at the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ) since 2007. Originally from Lebanon, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics, she continued her studies at the master’s and doctoral levels at the Université de Montréal. Her areas of specialization include public finance, climate change, higher education and health care. Before joining the CPQ, she was an economist at the Montreal Economic Institute and a lecturer in the Department of Economics at U de M.

Pierre Laliberté was reappointed as the commissioner for workers at the Canada Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC) for a three-year term, effective October 9, 2020. He was first appointed to the CEIC in the fall of 2016 as the interim commissioner for workers. In 2017, he was appointed to the role of commissioner for three years. Mr. Laliberté has had a long career as an economist. He spent 20 years serving in trade union organizations such as the Canadian Labour Congress, the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec and the United Steelworkers. Prior to his appointment at the CEIC, he worked at the International Labour Office in Geneva as a research officer and as editor of the International Journal of Labour Research. Mr. Laliberté has been a member of many advisory boards and holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Massachusetts.

Christina Santini is a senior policy analyst for the national affairs team at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) in Ottawa. She is responsible for analyzing, commenting on and influencing public policy affecting small and medium-sized businesses in Canada. She lobbies the federal government and acts as a spokesperson in the media. Prior to joining CFIB in 2022, Christina worked in the federal public service. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from Simon Fraser University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from York University.

Jennifer is the President and CEO of the IRPP. She is a not-for-profit sector executive and seasoned communicator with 25 years of experience working to make complex public policy issues and politics better understood by Canadians. From 2016 to 2021, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the IRPP’s influential digital magazine, Policy Options. Prior to joining the IRPP, Jennifer spent two decades covering national and parliamentary affairs for The Canadian Press and for CBC Television.