Benoît Pelletier (LL.D.) is avocat émérite (Bar of Quebec) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Ottawa. He served as a member of the National Assembly of Quebec, representing the seat of Chapleau for ten years. He also served as a Minister in the Quebec Government for close to six years. In this capacity, he served as Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of the Canadian Francophonie, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Minister responsible for the reform of democratic institutions. In 2016, he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada.

Dr. Jocelyn Maclure (DPhil, Southhampton; M.A., Victoria; B.A., Laval) is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University.

Dr. Maclure’s research is primarily in ethics and political philosophy. His book, Secularism and Freedom of Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2011), co-authored with Charles Taylor, has been translated into 9 languages. He has also conducted research on artificial intelligence and on end-of-life issues.

As a public philosopher, he served as an expert-analyst for the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on cultural and religious accommodations, co-chaired the group of experts on medical assistance in dying (MAID), and participated in numerous public debates. He is the president of the Quebec Ethics in Science and Technology Commission.

Dr. Céline Castets-Renard is the Research Chair on Accountable Artificial Intelligence in a Global Context and a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Castets-Renard’s research focuses on digital law and regulation in various areas of private law, ranging from the impact of technology on contracts and civil liability to intellectual property, personal data protection, and cybersecurity.

In 2015, Dr. Castets-Renard was appointed as a junior member of the prestigious Institut Universitaire de France. This five-year appointment allowed her to focus on her research on digital regulation, and to complete a research residency at Fordham Law School, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.

Patrick Déry is deputy editor (French) of Policy Options. Before joining the IRPP in January 2022, he was a retail business owner for 9 years. He then turned to journalism, and he has worked, among others, for Le Trent and La Presse, where he was editorial page editor for two years. More recently, he has worked as an editor and public policy analyst, and for the first half of 2021 he was a consultant for the Official Opposition at the Quebec National Assembly. He is interested in public policy around health, and he has written several articles on the response of Quebec’s public authorities to COVID-19.