The Case for Canada: Get to Know the Speakers
Featured Speaker: Chad Bown, Dawn Desjardins, André Loranger, Anil Arora, Trevor Tombe, Joanna Smith and Meredith Lilly
Marwa Abdou
Senior Research Director,
Business Data Lab, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Read Profile
With a career that spans more than 15 years, Marwa has worked with and within some of the world’s most renowned multilateral organizations, private sector organizations, and country governments. As she now leads the BDL’s Research Center of Excellence, she continues to purse the championship, advocacy and catalysis of impactful interventions for vulnerable groups and marginalized communities, especially SMEs, through rigorous data analysis, inventive research and storytelling. This is exemplified by her most recent publications “A Portrait of Small Business in Canada: Adaption, Agility, All At Once” and “Barely Breaking Ground: The Slow Stride of Progress for Women in. Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship”. Marwa received her master’s degree in international relations and international economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She received her bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Queen’s University Smith School of Business.
Anil Arora
Former Chief Statistician of Canada (2016-2024)
Read Profile
Anil Arora was appointed Chief Statistician of Canada in September 2016.
Mr. Arora has led significant transformational initiatives throughout his career, with experience and partnerships spanning all three levels of government, the private sector and international organizations, including the UN and the OECD. He has led projects on high-profile policy issues, legislative and regulatory reform, and overseen large national programs.
In 1988, Mr. Arora joined Statistics Canada where he served in several positions, including regional operations, corporate services and the redesign of the dissemination function. In 2000, he became Director of Census Management Office and subsequently the Director General responsible for all aspects of the 2006 Census. In this role, Mr. Arora led the most comprehensive redesign of the Program, including the introduction of an online questionnaire. Following the successful delivery of the 2006 Census he became the Assistant Chief Statistician of Social, Health and Labour Statistics from 2008 to 2010.
In 2009, Mr. Arora received the prestigious APEX Leadership Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership skills and management excellence.
In 2010, Mr. Arora joined Natural Resources Canada as Assistant Deputy Minister of the Minerals and Metals Sector, and in 2013 was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Science and Policy Integration. He moved to Health Canada in 2014, becoming Assistant Deputy Minister of Health Products and Food Branch and leading a complex organization overseeing regulation of food, drug and health products for Canada. He also served as chair of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities.
Mr. Arora attended the University of Alberta, where he earned a Bachelor of Science, followed by further education in computing science and management, including a graduate certificate in Advanced Public Sector Management at the University of Ottawa, and the Advanced Leadership Program at the Canada School of Public Service.
Jay Barber
Director of Internal Trade Privy Council Office, Government of Canada
Read Profile
Jay Barber is the Director for Internal Trade at the Privy Council Office (PCO) for the Government of Canada.
In this role, Jay Barber is responsible for advancing Canada’s commitments under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), defining and leading federal efforts to strengthen the domestic trade policy agenda and is the designated Internal Trade Representative (ITR) for the Government of Canada. Most notably, Mr. Barber leads the implementation of the Federal Action Plan to Strengthen Internal Trade, an ambitious plan that outlines a whole-of-government effort to eliminate barriers to trade and labour mobility across Canada.
Previously, as the Director of Strategic Issues at PCO-Intergovernmental Affairs, Jay Barber was responsible for coordinating strategic policy advice for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Deputy Prime Minister as well as leading key federal-provincial-territorial engagements, including several First Ministers’ Meetings. Jay Barber also worked as a Senior Advisor to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs on a wide range of strategic priorities including the economic, trade and environmental portfolios.
Before joining PCO, Jay Barber was a long-serving Policy Manager at the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada. In these roles, he was responsible for community-based programming, social policy, and health surveillance and led a multi-year Canada-US partnership project with the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Jay Barber holds a Master’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Western Ontario.
Chad Bown
Former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of State (2024-25), Current Reginald Jones Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Read Profile
Chad P. Bown joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics as a senior fellow in April 2016 and has been the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow since March 2018. He was on leave for public service as chief economist for the US Department of State in the Biden-Harris administration from January 2024 until January 2025. His research examines the political economy of international trade policy, industrial policy, economic security, supply chains, and trade agreements. He is the host of Trade Talks, a podcast about the economics of international trade and policy that he co-created with Soumaya Keynes in 2017 and which they cohosted through 2021.
Bown previously served as senior economist for international trade and investment in the White House on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2010 to 2011. He was also a lead economist at the World Bank, conducting research and advising developing country governments on international trade policy for seven years. Bown was a tenured professor of economics at Brandeis University, where he held a joint appointment in the Department of Economics and International Business School for 12 years. He has also spent a year in residence as a visiting scholar in economic research at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat in Geneva.
Bown is also currently a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Between 2011 and 2019 he codirected, with Petros C. Mavroidis of Columbia Law School, an annual program of scholars providing legal-economic assessments of WTO case law and jurisprudence that are published with Cambridge University Press. He currently serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals, including Economics & Politics, International Economics, Journal of International Economics, Journal of International Economic Law, Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, Journal of World Trade, Review of International Organizations, and World Trade Review.
His work has been published in journals such as American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Literature, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of International Economics, and Journal of Development Economics. Bown is author of the book Self-Enforcing Trade: Developing Countries and WTO Dispute Settlement (Brookings Institution Press, 2009), and coeditor, with Joost Pauwelyn, of The Law, Economics, and Politics of Retaliation in WTO Dispute Settlement (Cambridge University Press, 2010). His volume on the global economic crisis, The Great Recession and Import Protection: The Role of Temporary Trade Barriers (CEPR and World Bank, 2011), was built from a trade policy transparency project that he initiated at the World Bank in 2004. The project resulted in the freely available, internet-based Global Antidumping Database, which he managed through 2016 as part of the World Bank’s Temporary Trade Barriers Database.
Bown received a BA magna cum laude in economics and international relations from Bucknell University and a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sueling Ching
CEO, Ottawa Board of Trade
Read Profile
Sueling Ching is the President and CEO of the Ottawa Board of Trade, dedicated to advocating for business success and community prosperity. Her connection to the Ottawa business community began in 2016 as she assumed the role of CEO at the West Ottawa Board of Trade, where she played a critical role in the consolidation of three local chambers of commerce to create a unified, influential voice for businesses in Ottawa.
Sueling has spent over thirty years working in a variety of business and community leadership roles, including as the CEO of the YMCA of Brockville and Area and as the CEO of the Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce. She is a former board member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. And she currently serves on the Ottawa Senators Foundation board of directors.
A strong community advocate, Sueling has been involved in many volunteer and charitable causes including 100 Women Who Care, Make-A-Wish, Rotary International and The Royal Ottawa Foundation. She continues to pursue a variety of initiatives focused on gender equality, community wealth building, and wellness.
Andrew DiCapua
Senior Economist,
Business Data Lab, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Read Profile
Andrew has spent his career as an economic storyteller, distilling signal from the noise. At the Chamber, he’s focused on helping businesses navigate changing economic conditions. Andrew is responsible for developing the Chamber’s economics and forecasting capabilities. He contributes to the Chamber’s economic outlook and regularly conducts economic analysis on developments impacting Canadian business. Andrew has led many engagements to support the business community in shaping policy discussions to drive economic growth.
Before joining the Chamber, Andrew worked at Export Development Canada (EDC), where he forecasted the Canadian economy and Bank of Canada’s monetary policy. He also oversaw the planning of EDC’s economic publications. Andrew’s career began in Ottawa as a trade consultant, where he advised international companies on trade regulations and represented clients in trade disputes before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal.
Andrew holds a Bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Economics from Queen’s University, where he was an active member of the campus community.
Dawn Desjardins
Chief Economist, Deloitte
Read Profile
Dawn Desjardins is an economist and executive with experience in researching economic and policy issues. Over her career she has communicated complex issues to clients, decision-makers and media audiences. She was RBC’s Deputy Chief Economist, a reporter for Bloomberg Financial News in Canada and a bond strategist at JP Morgan Canada. At RBC, Dawn managed a team of economists who were responsible for the economic and financial market forecasts for Canada and the US. A passionate advocate of women’s labour market engagement, in recent years, Dawn used her research to start conversations, drive policy discussions and effect change.
Eyob Fissuh
Acting Chief, Centre for Special Business Projects, Statistics Canada
Read Profile
Eyob Fissuh is currently the Acting Chief of the Trade and Business Data Lab at the Centre for Special Business Projects, Statistics Canada. With over 15 years of experience in research and academia, his research work spans peace and conflict studies, labour market dynamics, and interprovincial trade in Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and an M.Com. in Economics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Patrick Gill
Sr. Operations Director,
Business Data Lab, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Read Profile
As a career-long innovator and intrapreneur, Patrick has founded five national projects designed to help Canadian businesses compete and prosper globally. Among these projects, Patrick co-founded the Canadian Chamber’s Business Data Lab (BDL) to democratize data for decision-making and to advance the country’s understanding of Canadian business conditions and trends. Patrick’s experience has firmly established him as a thought leader often featured in media and think tank publications. Most recently, Patrick authored a study for the BDL on business adoption of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) called “Prompting Productivity.” Patrick holds a master’s in public policy and an advanced certificate in public administration and governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Mahamat Hamit-Haggar
Acting Assistant Director, Centre for Special Business Projects, Statistics Canada
Read Profile
Mahamat Hamit-Haggar is Acting Assistant Director at the Centre for Special Business Projects, Statistics Canada. He has been with the Centre since 2012, managing numerous data development and research projects. His work focuses on improving local statistics, advancing rural data initiatives, developing local business conditions indices, and conducting economic impact studies. Mahamat earned a Master’s degree with a specialization in Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Ottawa (Canada). He also holds a PhD in Economics, specializing in environmental and development economics, from Auvergne University (France).
Candace Laing
President & CEO, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Read Profile
Candace Laing is an executive leader with progressive leadership experience in multiple sectors, including mining, manufacturing, agriculture, education, and healthcare.
Candace’s career spans over two decades, encompassing roles in both private and public sector organizations. She also has a strong entrepreneurial background with a focus on strategic business initiatives that foster long-term value and high-performance cultures. Most notably, Candace worked for more than ten years with Nutrien, leading both the Sustainability and Human Resources functions and serving as a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She played a pivotal role in launching Nutrien’s environment, social, and governance (ESG) efforts and, through her most recent role as the organization’s Chief Human Resources Officer, focused on ensuring people strategies and inclusion initiatives were aligned with business strategy.
She first joined the Canadian Chamber’s Board of Directors in 2019 and served as Vice-Chair from 2021 to 2022, assuming the role of Chair of the Board of Directors in 2022. She was on the Board when the Chamber developed its Chamber 2025 Strategic Plan—a transformational mandate to create a reimagined and renewed Canadian Chamber.
Candace is passionate about ensuring healthy organizations support a strong economy that can serve societal needs. She is proud to have grown up in Saskatchewan, where her family maintains a longstanding farming operation.
Candace is a Fellow of Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (FCPHR). She holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction and a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Saskatchewan. Additionally, she has a Graduate Certificate in Corporate Sustainability and Innovation from Harvard University and a Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University.
André Loranger
Chief Statistician of Canada
Read Profile
André Loranger is an experienced senior public official, having worked at Statistics Canada for 26 years, leading large and complex statistical programs covering all aspects of the Canadian economy. He has previously served in various senior leadership positions in the Agency including Assistant Chief Statistician for Economic Statistics and Assistant Chief Statistician for Strategic Data Management, Methods and Analysis. In that capacity, Mr. Loranger was also Statistics Canada’s Chief Data Officer responsible for the overall stewardship of the organization’s information data holdings.
Mr. Loranger represents Statistics Canada on various international expert groups pertaining to economic statistics. He is currently the chair of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians and the chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting. He is also a board member of the Canadian Association for Business Economics and the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth.
Mr. Loranger holds an M.A. (Economics) degree and a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Economics) from the University of Ottawa.
Meredith Lilly
Professor, Carleton University
Read Profile
Meredith Lilly, Ph.D., is a full Professor and Simon Reisman Chair in International Economic Policy at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. Her research focuses on North American trade relations, Canada’s trade diversification strategy, economic sanctions, and the use of research evidence in policy making. Prior to her appointment at Carleton, she served as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She was previously appointed at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, and has worked in policy roles in several Canadian government departments. She engages regularly with foreign governments and diplomats, and is a frequent media commentator on North American trade issues.
She is a member of CD Howe Institute’s International Economic Policy Council, a non-resident scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, an Advisory Board member for the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, and serves as the Academic Partner for Canada’s delegation to the North American Forum.
Ryan Macdonald
Director of the Economic Analysis Division, Statistics Canada
Read Profile
Ryan Macdonald is the Director of the Economic Analysis Division at Statistics Canada. He has 20 years of experience in economic analysis and research. His interests cover business dynamics, productivity, and economic performance. Ryan has published more than 60 articles, chapters in international handbooks and contributions to conference proceedings. In addition to the published articles, his work extended the historical scope, frequency and granularity of available data series. He holds an MA Economics from the University of Victoria, Canada.
Joanna Smith
Reporter, The Logic
Read Profile
Joanna Smith is a reporter in the Ottawa bureau of The Logic, where she covers international trade with a particular focus on the Canada-U.S. relationship. She is an award-winning political journalist who has covered Parliament Hill since 2008, including as a reporter for the Toronto Star and The Canadian Press, where she was also Ottawa news editor and then bureau chief. She was editor-in-chief at Kathari News, an online media startup focused on the global energy transition. Originally from the Island of Montreal, Joanna has also taught journalism at Carleton University and is on the board of directors at World Press Freedom Canada.
Stephen Tapp
Chief Economist, Business Data Lab, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Read Profile
Stephen is a key member of the Chamber’s executive leadership team, responsible for the operations of the Business Data Lab as well as economic analysis and research.
Stephen is also the President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics and a member of the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council.
He has over 20 years of experience at many of Canada’s top economic organizations including at: Export Development Canada as the Deputy Chief Economist, the Bank of Canada, Parliamentary Budget Office, Finance Canada, think tanks as well as academia.
Stephen’s research was awarded the Purvis prize for Canadian economic policy. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Queen’s University.
Trevor Tombe
Department of Economics and The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary
Read Profile
Trevor Tombe is a Professor at the University of Calgary’s Department of Economics and the Director of Fiscal and Economic Policy at The School of Public Policy. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Toronto and undergraduate degree in finance from Simon Fraser University. His research explores a broad set of topics, including, international trade, public finances, and fiscal federalism. He has published in top economics journals, is co-author of the textbook Public Finance in Canada, co-author of a forthcoming textbook Macroeconomics, coeditor of the recent volume Fiscal Federalism in Canada, is co-director of Finances of the Nation, and a Public Policy Forum Fellow.
Other Events
Canadian Business Leader Awards
U.S. Missions
