Member Programmes » Canada

LEAD Canada 2005 Highlights

The LEAD Canada Member Program is operated by LEAD Canada Inc., a federally incorporated not-for-profit organization with its registered head office in Chelsea, Quebec, Canada.

Action Projects:

The major activity undertaken by LEAD Canada during 2005 was to launch initial projects, namely:

  • The Green Infrastructure Project, focused on the long-term goal of advancing investment in and application of green infrastructure within Canadian municipalities; and
  • The Millennium Development Goals Project, focused on advancing Canadian engagement in the MDGs agenda.

The latter project has resulted in collaboration with LEAD Southern Africa and LEAD Francophone Africa. LEAD Canada supported the attendance of 12 Fellows from Africa (and three from Canada) at a conference in November 2005 in Dakar, Senegal, focused on the theme of the “social economy.” This in turn resulted in the formation of new working relationships among several of the Fellows and follow-up activity between some African and Canadian Fellows working on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the prospect of a major twinning initiative involving LEAD Canada and Malawian Fellows from LEAD Southern Africa, as well as other individuals and organizations.

In September 2005 (with funding from LEAD International), LEAD Canada also began work to help the LEAD network prepare for the WUF3 in Vancouver, Canada 2006. This included recruiting Fellows to participate in an Internet-based preparatory event held December 1-3, 2005, hosted by the WUF3 secretariat.

Fellows Achievements:

Several LEAD Fellows hold very prominent positions within their sectors and/or communities, for example:

  • David McKeown (C3) who is the Chief Medical Officer for Health for the City of Toronto, thereby presiding over the single largest municipal public health organization in Canada;
  • Peter Clarkson (C6), mayor of the important Arctic community of Inuvik; and
  • Yuen Pau Woo (C5), Co-CEO of the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

We can say with confidence that Fellows such as these are very influential within the constituencies in which they operate, and continue to apply the values encouraged by the LEAD experience and the knowledge and experience they attained through LEAD training.

Many of our Fellows changed jobs either within or across organizations in 2005. Notable mentions include:

  • the appointment of Adam White (C4) to the position of President of the Association of Major Power Consumers of Ontario, and
  • the movement of Laurie Stretch (C4) to the position of Senior Manager, Communications and Investor Relations for the Calgary-based company, Provident Energy.