Biographies of Speakers
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Cynthia Fraser
Cynthia Fraser addresses how technology impacts safety, accessibility, privacy and human rights for abuse victims. Between 2003-2011 at NNEDV’s Safety Net Project, she trained 11,000 professionals to use technology to support victims, hold offenders accountable, and prevent violence. She helped found the Global Network of Women’s Shelters and brings two decades of experience to Safety Net Canada.
Linda Girard
Linda Girard is the executive director of the Association sur l’accès et la protection de l’information (AAPI), an access and privacy association in Quebec. After working for the Laurentian Insurance Company as assistant to the secretary and vice-president for legal affairs, she held various para-legal positions in law firms for nearly 18 years. From 1999 to 2008, Ms. Girard was elected three times as a municipal councillor in the municipality of Lac-Beauport, Quebec.
Sara M. Grimes
Dr. Sara M. Grimes is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, with expertise in the areas of children’s digital culture, game and play studies, and critical theories of technology. Her published work includes investigations of the commercialization of children's virtual worlds, as well as discussions of the legal, ethical and policy dimensions of marketing to children online. Her current research examines emerging ethical and policy issues relating to user-generated content in digital games and kids’ cultural participation online.
Daphne Guerrero
Daphne Guerrero is head of outreach at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) where she leads a number of education and outreach activities aimed at encouraging people to think and talk about digital privacy. Specifically, she leads the development of the Office’s youth education and social media strategies. Some examples of the initiatives Daphne has spearheaded at the OPC include a national student video competition, “train-the-trainer” packages to help educators teach their students about online privacy, and a series of armchair discussions. Daphne’s work in digital issues started at the non-profit Media Awareness Network, where she created and promoted resources designed to foster kids' media literacy. She joined the federal public service in 2001, and, prior to joining the OPC, worked at Health Canada, Industry Canada, and in several ministers’ offices.
Claire Harvey
Claire Harvey is a journalist by training and has been working for Option Consommateurs since 2000, where she has been Editor in Chief of the News Agency since 2005. She has coordinated the production of a number of publications at Option Consommateurs, notably Lumière sur le dossier de crédit, Prévenir le vol d’identité and Coup d’œil sur la consommation. She has also worked on a number of investigations and articles herself, in addition to managing the activities of Option Consommateur’s News Agency.
Lesley Jacobs
Lesley Jacobs is Professor of Law & Society and Political Science and Director of the York Centre for Public Policy and Law at York University in Toronto, Canada, as well as the Academic Director of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, Canada's leading independent think tank focused on civil justice reform and access to justice. Mr. Jacobs was also the inaugural director of the York Centre for Public Policy and Law.
Michael Jenkin
Michael Jenkin has been Director General, Office of Consumer Affairs since 1999. He is also currently the Chair of the OECD Committee on Consumer Policy. Dr. Jenkin has held a number of senior positions in Industry Canada and other federal departments. Dr. Jenkin obtained his BA from Trent University and an MA (Econ.) and PhD in government from the University of Manchester.
Ian Kerr
Ian Kerr holds the Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law & Technology at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, with cross appointments in Medicine, Philosophy and Information Studies. Dr. Kerr’s research lies at the intersection of ethics, law and technology and is currently focused on two broad themes: (i) Privacy and Surveillance; and (ii) Human-Machine Mergers.
Patricia Kosseim
Patricia Kosseim is Senior General Counsel of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) since January 2005. She oversees the Legal Services, Policy and Research Branch that provides strategic legal and policy advice on a broad range of complex privacy issues, represents the Privacy Commissioner before courts and Parliamentary Committees, and promotes research on the privacy implications of new and emerging information technologies. Called to the Québec Bar in 1993, Patricia holds degrees in Business (B.Com ’87) and Laws (B.C.L. / LL.B. ‘92) from McGill University, and a Master’s Degree in Medical Law and Ethics (M.A.’94) from King’s College, University of London (U.K.).
John Lawford
John Lawford is Counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a national non-profit organization that provides legal and research services on behalf of consumer interests, and, in particular, vulnerable consumer interests, concerning the provision of important public services. John is active in the areas of telecommunications, e-commerce, privacy and financial services from a consumer perspective.
David Lyon
David Lyon is the Principal Investigator of The New Transparency Project and Director of the Surveillance Studies Centre. He is also Queen's Research Chair in Surveillance Studies. He held a Killam Research Fellowship 2008-2010 for work on the globalization of ID systems. His most recent books are Identifying Citizens: ID Cards as Surveillance (Polity 2009), and Playing the Identity Card (co-edited with Colin J. Bennett, Routledge, 2008).
Mirjana Mandaric
Mirjana Mandaric holds an M.A. in Immigration and Settlement Studies and a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Languages. She speaks, reads and writes five languages, enjoys public policy research and has conducted immigration policy-related research for both the Provincial and Municipal governments in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where she currently resides and works.
Tonia Mori
Tonia Mori is the executive director of CHOQ-FM and the GrandToronto.ca portal, two Francophone media outlets run by the Coopérative radiophonique de Toronto. She and her team have carried out numerous multiplatform campaigns (radio/web/press/television) in French in the province to raise awareness among Franco-Ontarians. In 2009, Tonia Mori received the Ordre de la Pléiade, an award of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie.
Sue O’Sullivan
Sue O’Sullivan is a 30 year law enforcement veteran and former Deputy Chief of Police for the Ottawa Police Services. She began her term as Canada’s Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime August 16, 2010. Throughout her law‐enforcement career, Ms. O’Sullivan has served in Patrol, Criminal Investigative Services and Operations Support. She has been a member of the Leadership in Counter Terrorism Alumni Association and has acted as an advisor to the Auditor General of Canada on National Security in Canada –The 2001 Anti‐Terrorism Initiative Audit. Ms. O’Sullivan holds a B.A. in Law and Sociology with a subtitle in Criminology and Corrections from Carleton University and is a graduate of the Police Leadership Program (Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and the University of Toronto).
James Roots
James Roots is Executive Director of the Canadian Association of the Deaf and author of several publications on deafness. Adopting two children with intellectual and literacy disabilities inspired him to develop the “simple language” approach towards rendering information accessible to everyone.
Valerie Steeves
Valerie Steeves B.A., J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. Her main area of research is in human rights and technology issues. Her current research focuses on children’s use of networked technologies, and emerging legal conceptions of health information privacy.
Jane Tallim
Jane Tallim is Co-Executive Director of Media Awareness Network (MNet). An internationally recognized expert in media education and digital literacy, Jane has been involved in MNet’s ongoing research on Young Canadians in a Wired World since 2000 and has developed award-winning resources to help children and young people become thoughtful and engaged media consumers.
Jens H. Weber
Jens H. Weber is a Professor and the Director of Software Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He is an Adjunct Professor in the University's School of Health Information Science. His research interests include technical and legal issues related to health information security and privacy.
Gisèle Yasmeen
Gisèle Yasmeen is Vice-President of Research at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She has worked in research and higher education for 20 years, has undertaken and managed numerous research and related activities for non-governmental organizations and government, and has published widely on this work as well as provided regular media commentary. Her work over the years has taken her all over Canada, to South and Southeast Asia, and other parts of the world.
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