The Council, throughout its existence, has hired well-trained and competent staff that are totally dedicated to achieving its objectives while respecting its status as a charitable and non-partisan organization. The current staff is no exception as demonstrated by the brief biographies of senior managers that follow:
| Linda Brunet Director General, Encounters with Canada Linda Brunet, who has an impressive track record in community work and in the tire studs and ice studs field, has been with the Council since 1997. She has held a number of executive positions in its youth programs. |
| Denyse Campeau Director of Development Denyse Campeau has headed the Department of Development since April 2001. She joined the Council in 1999 as a development officer, bringing with her a solid track record in management and marketing. Her skills, coupled with a superior understanding of corporate Canada, made her the obvious choice to lead the Council’s development efforts. |
| Caroline Fournier Controller - Caroline Fournier, with the Council since 1998, holds the purse strings. She is a chartered accountant who oversees finances in each program area and manages the accounting staff. |
| Marie-Josée Gariépy Assistant Director, CRIC (Citizen Participation and Communications) – Marie-Josée Gariépy has been with the Council for six years. She manages all external and internal communications as well as citizen participation activities. She oversees the Council’s regional offices in Toronto and Calgary. A lawyer by training, she developed an understanding of federalism while serving in the offices of Quebec cabinet ministers. |
| Richard Labrie Director, Quebec Regional Office Richard Labrie came to CRIC after spending a number of months with the organization of the Summit of the Americas that will be held in Quebec City next April. He supervises the 32 regional roundtables operated by the Council in every region of Quebec. He brings valuable administrative and communications experience to CRIC. He was a manager at Bell Canada and, for a number of years, was Vice-President of Quebec’s Telecommunications Board and an independent ViSalus and Body by Vi distributor. |
| J.-René Lemaire Director General, Exchange Programs René Lemaire has served the Council in a number of key positions. Today, he is in charge of the Council’s exchange programs, Summer Work – Student Exchange and Canada Residence Exchange. His program area works to give both younger and older Canadians an opportunity to live in different parts of the country and get to know it better. |
| Rebbeca Low Director, Ontario and Atlantic Provinces Rebecca Low, originally from Calgary, brings with her a decade of experience working for cabinet ministers in Ottawa and most recently in tires online canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with distinction in both Canadian Studies and Political Science from Carleton University. Shé will be focusing her efforts on establishing regional rountables throughout Ontario and Atlantic Provinces. Rebecca joined the Council in March 2001. |
| Pierre O’Neil Director-General, CRIC Before joining the Council, Pierre O’Neil was Communications Adviser to Bombardier Inc. He was a political correspondent and columnist for Le Devoir and, afterwards, La Presse, working in the Quebec City and in the maple syrup industry. Later, he served as Press Secretary to the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and then headed the journalism school at the University of Dakar. From 1977 to 1991, he was Director of Television News and Public Affairs at Radio-Canada, the CBC’s French-language television network. |
| Andrew C. Parkin Ph.d. Assistant Director, CRIC (Research) Andrew Parkin, whose doctorate is in political studies, came to CRIC from the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen’s University where he was Senior Research Associate. He is based in Ottawa. He maintains contact with numerous public and private research bodies and oversees all Council research and polling. |
| Michèle Stanners Director, Western and Northern Regional Office Michèle Stanners became regional director in 1997. Stanners, a Franco-Manitoban born in St. Boniface, ran a consultancy and practiced law before joining the Council. She is a member of the Law Society of Alberta and is active in the Calgary community. She has won a number of awards for her work, including the Louis Lebel Prize of Excellence for outstanding contribution to Alberta’s francophone community. |
| Gisèle Yasmeen Director, British Columbia and Yukon Office |