CIPMM REGIONAL WORKSHOP SPEAKERS BIOS
Opening Keynote: Procurement Modernization
Brenda Constantine, Senior Director, Strategic Policy Division, PSPC
Ms Constantine joined the Strategic Policy Sector of Acquisitions Branch, PWGSC in February 2015 and has been working on various procurement policy initiatives since that time. Brenda is responsible for providing strategic policy advance and guidance on a range of procurement issues including procurement modernization.
Prior to this, Ms Constantine led the work on two large transformation projects within PWGSC in different sectors and was Director of Program Delivery at the Canada Student Loans program at HRSDC for a number of years. Ms Constantine has over 25 years experience in the Public Service working in 5 different departments acquiring a broad range of experience in program administration, program policy development, strategic policy, operations and business transformation Ms Constantine has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Memorial University of NL and a Bachelor of laws from Dalhousie Law School.
After graduation, Ms Constantine moved to Ottawa where she articled with the law firm of Smith-Janigan and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988 and began her career in the public service shortly thereafter.
Session # 2 - Fairness Monitoring
Steve Johnston, Managing Director, RFP Solutions Inc.
Steve Johnston is the Managing Director of RFP Solutions Inc., specializing in providing procurement and fairness support to all levels of the public sector in Canada. Steve is a Fairness Specialist for Public Services and Procurement Canada’s Fairness Monitoring Program.
Prior to joining RFP solutions in 2010, Steve enjoyed a career in the Federal Public Service for more than 35 years.
Steve has over 30 years of experience in public sector procurement. In the last 5 years alone, he has provided Fairness Monitor and Advisory services to over 50 high profile public procurement projects, including a variety of infrastructure, capital equipment, complex services and solutions’ acquisitions, across a variety of sectors; collectively valued at over $12 Billion.
Steve is the former Corporate Secretary for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (now Indigenous and Northern Affairs). As a member of the department’s Senior Executive Committee, he was responsible for providing executive support and planning to the Minister’s and Deputy Minister’s offices, as well as for the corporate management of the department’s Access to Information and Privacy and Indian and Inuit Art Centre programs. Steve established the department’s Centre for Integrity, Values and Conflict Resolution and served as Senior Integrity Officer. In this role, Steve was the Departmental liaison to the Procurement Ombudsman on fairness, and was also responsible for conducting investigations and reviews into procurement and fairness issues.
Prior to his appointment as Corporate Secretary, Steve served as INAC’s Director of Administrative Services for nine years where he was responsible for a wide range of support services, including the management of the department’s $250 million plus annual procurement program and management of departmental assets and property. During this time, Steve was a very active member of the federal procurement and real property communities, serving on various interdepartmental fora. He was a member of CIPMM’s Board of Directors for many years and served both as President for three (3) terms and as past president. He was also a founding member of the Real Property Institute of Canada.
In 2012, Steve received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his contributions to the Federal Public Service.
Session # 3 - Client Relations
Caroline Landry, Regional Director, National Capital Region, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Caroline hails from Atlantic Canada and joined the federal public service in 2000 after a lengthy career in the regional economic development field. In 2008, she moved to Ottawa to join Public Works and Government Services Canada, Acquisitions Branch. Caroline is currently an Account Executive for the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises and Strategic Engagement.
Caroline holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Session # 4 - The Impact of Comprehensive Land Claim Agreements (CLCA's) on your process
Dennis Brunner, Senior Advisor, Treaties & Aboriginal Government, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
Dennis is a federal government employee with many years of experience in the fields of contracting, policy development, professional training and development, systems design, accounting and finance.
He is currently a senior advisor with the Implementation Branch at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. He provides advice and guidance to federal government contracting and project authorities when their contractual requirement is a deliverable of a good, service or construction in a Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement (CLCA) area.
He has built Aboriginal Benefits Plans to address CLCA contracting obligations for major projects such as the DND Alert Bay facility in Nunavut, the 5 Wing Goose Bay care and maintenance in Labrador, and the North Warning System.
Dennis has trained over 2,700 federal government employees on CLCA contracting obligations. In addition, he has provided contracting related awareness sessions to numerous CLCA signatories.
Dennis has an outstanding grasp of the complex constitutionally protected contracting obligations found in CLCAs.
Session # 5 – Build in Canada Innovation Program
Glenn Chamberlain, Acting Regional Director, Office of Small and Medium Enterprises
Glenn Chamberlain served in the Canadian Navy for 21 years, retiring in 2001 as the Senior Public Affairs Officer for Maritime Forces Atlantic. After starting his Public Service career that year in government communications, Glenn joined PWGSC Atlantic in 2009 as a Client Service Director, dealing with security clients including the RCMP, CBSA and DND. He has been the Acting Regional Director for the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises since August 2014.
His experiences as a communicator included roles such as service for six months as the senior spokesperson for the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1998-99. He was also the senior spokesperson for the Navy and the Rescue Coordination Centre in the immediate aftermath of the crash of SwissAir Flight 111 in September 1998. During his Public Service career, he has held senior regional communications positions with Justice Canada, Communications Canada, the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board (Secretariat).
Glenn has experience in client relationship management and stakeholder engagement, developing productive and positive relationships with challenging security-oriented clients. He is a trained facilitator, and teaches and coaches employees in public speaking and interview techniques.
In his current role as the Director of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (part of Public Service and Procurement Canada), Glenn leads a small team which assists private sector suppliers in taking advantage of government procurement opportunities, and promotes the Build in Canada Innovation Program, which buys and tests innovative products in government departments.
Glenn hails from St. Catharines, Ontario, and was educated at the Royal Military College of Canada, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts in Honours History.
Government wide Procurement Modernization
Sarah Paquet, ADM Procurement Modernization Integration Team, TBS and PSPC
On August 2, 2016, Sarah Paquet was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Modernization Integration Team. She reports to the Deputy Minister and to the Secretary of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS).
The mandate of the Procurement Modernization Integration Team is to make it easier for federal government organizations to buy from suppliers, and for suppliers to sell to the Government of Canada. Ms. Paquet will be responsible for aligning and mobilizing the work of PSPC, TBS and all federal organizations involved in procurement, in order to identify and support key improvements in the federal procurement regime.
Prior to assuming this role, Ms. Paquet served as Assistant Deputy Minister of the Integrated Services Branch, where she led the Client Service Strategy and was responsible for the implementation of major information technology-enabled business solutions, such as GCDOCS, My GCHR, the Shared Case Management System and Shared Travel Services, across more than 100 government departments and agencies.
Before joining the Department, Ms. Paquet worked for the Department of Justice Canada as Executive Director and General Counsel for Public Works and Government Services Canada, as well as for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Legal Services. Prior to this, Ms. Paquet occupied various positions in Health Canada's Legal Services, as well as in its Civil Code Section. She also worked at a general legal practice in Gatineau, which focused on civil, commercial and family law.
Ms. Paquet holds two law degrees from the University of Ottawa: civil law (1993) and common law (2001). She has been a member of the Barreau du Québec since 1994.
Session # 6 - Supplier Engagement
Kalvinder Brar, Manager, Supplier Engagement, Office of Small and Medium Enterprises and Stakeholder Engagement (OSME-SE)
Kalvinder Brar is an experienced engagement and consulting professional with a well-balanced portfolio of solutions and services to government clients in such diverse areas as business process improvements, strategic management and governance as well as procurement policies, tools, and contracting. She has over 12 years' experience with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC); for the last five years, has been with the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) focusing on supplier barrier analysis and reduction and providing supplier engagement and consulting services. In this position, she has consulted with hundreds of suppliers to better understand their barriers to participating in federal government and advocated on their behalf to influence procurement policy, process and practice reform. Currently Kalvinder is consulting with suppliers across Canada on various up and coming PSPC procurement initiatives.
Session # 7 - Assets Management
Blair Hurd, Assets Manager, Materiel and Assets Management Division, Health Canada
Blair Hurd is Assets Manager, Materiel and Assets Management Division, Health Canada andhas over 15 years experience in the Materials Management field. Blair started his career at Industry Canada in 1998 in the warehouse at the Communications Research Centre and has gained his experience in the field of procurement and assets management over the years. Blair has worked in various modules in SAP, such as the Materials Management Module, the Plant Maintenance Module and the Assets Accounting Module of SAP and is a strong promoter of the systems capabilities.
Session # 8 - Whistleblowing regime in the federal public sector
Edith Lachapelle, Manager – Communications – Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada
Edith Lachapelle joined the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner in January 2011 as the Head of Communications. As spokesperson for the Office, Edith is responsible for the Outreach Strategy and is working with her team to raise awareness of the whistleblowing regime available to federal public sector employees. She is also responsible for Public Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs and the PSIC web presence. Before joining the Office, she occupied various roles in communications at Health Canada for 8 years.
Session # 9 - Essential Transformation: A Vision for the Procurement Group in the Government of Canada
Jessica Sultan, Director, Strategic Procurement and Material Management Division, CBSA
Jessica Sultan joined the Public Service in 2002 and since then has been recognized in many forums as a change agent and visionary. She has worked for several major organizations and is presently the functional lead for procurement planning, contracting, materiel and asset management for the CBSA.
She has published articles dealing with strategic resourcing in the public sector more specifically for purchasing group specialists. Most recently, Jessica co-authored an article on the subject of Strategic Procurement in the Age of Deliverology, focused on a novel Strategic Procurement Delivery Model, currently being implemented at the CBSA. A speaker at national conferences for functional experts and management, Jessica is a respected, dedicated leader in the Public Sector. Jessica has delivered presentations to key assemblies such as the Government of Canada’s CFO Council, the Assistant Deputy Minister Procurement Advisory Committee, the Canadian Institute for Procurement and Material Management, and the Canadian Public Procurement Council.
