Jesse McCormick is the senior vice president, research, innovation and legal affairs for the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, a non-political and business focused coalition of over 130 First Nations organizations working to strengthen First Nations participation in major project development. Jesse previously advised the minister of Environment and Climate Change and the minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. He studied at the University of Guelph, the University of Ottawa and the Harvard Law School. Jesse is a member of the Anishinabek Nation.

Carole Saab is the chief executive officer of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. An accomplished strategist with over a decade of experience in federal and municipal advocacy, Carole took on the role of CEO just three months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges of this volatile period, the organization was able to secure permanent public transit funding for municipalities, and has been instrumental in pushing the federal government to do more on housing and homelessness.

Michael Vandergrift is Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans) for the Privy Council Office. Prior to this, he held roles including Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs – Privy Council Office; Associate Deputy Minister – Public Services and Procurement Canada; Assistant Secretary, International Affairs, Security and Justice Sector – Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat; and Assistant Secretary, Regulatory Affairs – Treasury Board Secretariat.

Mike Gladstone is Director External Affairs Canada, Enbridge.

Coleen Volk has held senior positions in the Alberta and the federal public service. In Alberta, she served as deputy minister of Energy, deputy minister of Intergovernmental Relations and associate deputy minister of the Executive Council. In Ottawa, she served as associate deputy minister of Environment and Climate Change, and deputy secretary, senior personnel, in the Privy Council Office. She joined the federal public service in 2005 as an assistant deputy minister in Finance Canada, prior to which she held senior roles in Canadian financial institutions. She retired from the Alberta public service in 2022.

Charles Breton has been the Executive Director of the IRPP’s Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation since 2019. He was the research director at Vox Pop Labs, where he led the design of innovative public opinion research tools such as Vote Compass. His research interests include Canadian politics, comparative public policy and public opinion research. Before pursuing an academic career, he was a researcher and journalist for current affairs programs on Radio-Canada, and he is a frequent analyst and expert commentator on Canadian politics and public policy. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of British Columbia, did post-doctoral studies at Vanderbilt University, and has an MA in political science from the Université de Montréal.