speaker biographies
keynote speakers
Dr. Jayson Myers
President, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
Dr. Jayson Myers is the President of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, Canada’s largest industry and trade association. He is also the Chair of the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition, a coalition of over 30 industry associations that have come together to speak with a common voice on priority issues for Canada’s Manufacturing sector.
Dr. Myers is a well-known economic commentator, and is widely published in the fields of Canadian and international economics, technological and industrial change. As CME’s Chief Economist, he led the association’s Manufacturing 20/20 initiative, the largest cross-country consultation ever convened by Canada’s business community on the future of manufacturing in Canada. He has been recognized by consulting firm Watson Wyatt as the most accurate economic forecaster in Canada.
Dr. Myers sits on special advisory councils to the Minister for International Trade, the Minister of Industry, and the Canadian Border Services Agency. He is co-chair of the Work & Learning Knowledge Centre of the Canadian Council on Learning. He is Vice Chair of both the Ontario Manufacturing Council and the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council.
Dr. Myers studied at Queen’s University, Kingston and the University of British Columbia in Canada, and at the London School of Economics and Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He has held appointments as a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and a lecturer in international studies at Warwick University, also in the U.K. He is a consultant on Canadian and international business affairs for Oxford Analytica, an international consulting group based at Oxford University.
Robert S. MacIsaac
Metrolinx
As the first Chair of Metrolinx, Rob MacIsaac is responsible for leading a Board of Directors to plan, prioritize and integrate transportation systems across the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton.
During his term as Mayor of the City of Burlington, Mr. MacIsaac became well-known for his regional approach and progressive growth management ideas for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
As a member of the Ontario Smart Growth Panel, he led the effort to develop a vision and recommendations for a Smart Growth Strategy for Central Ontario. These elements remain fundamental tenets in the Province’s Places to Grow Plan.
Subsequent to this work, Mr. MacIsaac chaired a provincial task force that established the founding principles for a permanent Greenbelt for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The Greenbelt Plan preserves more than 1.8 million acres of forest, natural lands and farmlands in one of the most populous regions in the country. In May 2004, he accepted the Canadian Urban Institute’s Urban Leadership Award on behalf of the Task Force.
Committed to the economic development of the GTA, Mr. MacIsaac has led several trade missions on behalf of the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance (GTMA). In May 2002, he received a GTA Leadership Award from the GTMA.
First elected to Burlington municipal council in November 1991, Mr. MacIsaac served two terms as a councillor. In 1997, he was elected Mayor of Burlington and acclaimed for two more terms. In March 2006, he did not seek re-election. During his time as Mayor, he was honoured with a Paul Harris Fellowship for his work in establishing a hospice in Burlington, and an Honourary Doctorate for his outstanding community service from Australia’s Charles Sturt University.
Mr. MacIsaac completed his undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of Waterloo in 1984 and received a Law degree at the University of Western Ontario in 1987. He was called to the Bar in 1989. Born in 1962, Rob is a lifetime resident of Burlington. He is married to Anne and has two children, Sarah and Catherine.
- Memberships
- Honourary Chair, The Carpenter Hospice
- Canadian Urban Institute (CUI), Board of Directors
- Canadian Urban Transportation Association (CUTA), Board of Directors
- Toronto City Summit Alliance (TCSA), Steering Committee
panelists and moderators
Dan Bingeman
Assistant Vice President, CN Worldwide
Dan Bingeman, Assistant Vice President CN Worldwide is a Chemical Engineer with a Masters in Business Administration. He joined CN in 1995 bringing 15 years of logistics and transportation experience in the petroleum and chemicals industry.
He started with CN running their CargoFlo business and then moved on to head up the marketing support function with responsibility for CargoFlo, Industrial Development, Prevention & Claims, Pricing Services, EDI, Marketing Information Systems and Passenger Services. Dan was then responsible for the creation and operation of CN’s Supply Chain Logistics Group providing consulting and outsourced logistics management to North American companies in the automotive, chemicals, metals, forest products, consumer products goods and retail industries. This group is now part of CN’s subsidiary CN Worldwide.
Dan lives in Toronto and is married with two children.
Sandro Caccaro
Vice President & General Manager, Schneider National Inc. - Canada
Sandro Caccaro is the Vice President and General Manager – Canada for Schneider National, a premier provider of truckload, logistics and intermodal services serving more than two-thirds of the FORTUNE 500 companies. Schneider National – Canada offers the broadest portfolio of services in the industry. The company’s transportation and logistics solutions include One-Way, Intermodal, Trnasportation Management, Dedicated, Bulk, Supply Chain Management, Warehousing and International Logistics services. In this role he leads all of these businesses for the Canadian division of Schneider.
With more than 19 years of transportation and logistics industry experience across multiple modes and verticals, Caccaro has experience building and directing major new business development, marketing and operational initiatives for international logistics organizations. Sandro held several senior roles with such industry leaders as Yellow Freight, Kelron Logistics and Consolidated Fastfrate Inc. prior to joining Schneider National as Vice President, Sales – Canada in March 2007, subsequently moving into the role of VP & GM – Canada in October of 2007.
Caccaro, a Toronto native, holds an Honours B.A. degree in Urban Development & Planning from Trent University. Sandro is an active member in various Milton, Ontario sports and children’s activities organizations.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger
Mayor, City of Hamilton
Fred Eisenberger was sworn in as the 3rd Mayor of the new City of Hamilton on December 6, 2006.
Mayor Fred was born in Amsterdam in 1952 and immigrated to Canada settling in Hamilton with his family when he was 8.
He attended St. Eugene’s grade school and Sir Winston Churchill high school in East Hamilton. Fred graduated with honours from Mohawk College in planning and community development, and has since taken courses towards his Bachelor of Environmental sciences at the University of Waterloo and political science at McMaster.
Mayor Fred was first elected to Hamilton City Council as the representative for Ward 5 in 1991. He was re-elected in 1994 and again in 1997.
In addition to local and regional council boards and commissions including the Hamilton Port Authority, Fred has also served on several charitable and corporate boards in recent years.
In August 2004, Fred created his own business development and consulting firm specializing in environmental and development projects in the Hamilton area. Fred has also been a licensed Realtor in the province of Ontario for more than 20 years.
As the Mayor of Hamilton, Fred has been a proponent of the Next Hamilton Vision which aims to make Hamilton a clean, green and prosperous society. He is a strong believer in the Community model of leadership which incorporates ideas from all stakeholders in the community in seeking solutions for the City’s common problems.
Fred and his wife Diane live in Hamilton with their two children, Brett, 24, and Alida, 20.
Neil Everson
Director Economic Development & Real Estate, City of Hamilton, Ontario
Neil is the Director of Economic Development & Real Estate for the City of Hamilton, Ontario (population 510,000). Neil joined the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth in 1988 and became Manager of Business Development in 1996. Prior to this position, Neil spent four years with the Ontario Ministry of Industry and Trade where he worked as a Business Consultant in Hamilton, St. Catharines, Toronto and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Neil began his career with the Bank of Montreal.
Neil holds a Master of Arts degree in Economics and undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Urban Geography. In addition, he is a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Certified Economic Developer program and received his Ed.D certification in 1991. Neil is a Past President of the Economic Development Association of Canada (EDAC) and still chairs two national committees. In 2006, he received the Economic Development Association of Canada’s President’s Award for his contribution to the profession and the national association. Then again in 2007, he shared the President’s Award with five other senior Economic Development professionals for the development of EDAC’s comprehensive guide to Economic Development.
In 2000, Neil was seconded by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to lead an expert panel conducting a review of the economic development operations of the City of Ostrava in the Czech Republic. In June 2003, Neil was the first Canadian economic development practitioner to participate as an “Expert Panel” member for the U.S. based International Economic Development Council’s Technical Assistance Program. And in July 2005, Neil participated with the University of Waterloo in a Canadian International Development Agency Project in Dahlian, China.
Neil is married to Peggy, who works part-time for a local management consulting firm. They have two sons – Mark 16 and Bill 13. Neil sits on the boards of several local charitable and not-for-profit organizations.
Joyce Hammock
Publisher and Editor, Canadian Sailings Transportation & Trade Logistics Magazine and Cruise North America Magazine
Joyce Hammock has been publisher and editor of Canadian Sailings and Cruise North America magazines since 1998. During her tenure, she has overseen many changes and additions to the editorial product as well as a graphic redesign of the magazine. Mrs. Hammock created Cruise North America magazine (a special publication of Canadian Sailings), upon realizing the need for a product to promote North American cruise destinations to the International Cruise Lines.
Prior to joining Canadian Sailings 10 years ago, Mrs. Hammock was founder, publisher, and managing editor of alla Fashion and Beauty magazine, which was distributed by major newspapers in Texas and Florida.
Prior to Calla magazine, she worked for 23 years for The Gazette newspaper in Montreal, Quebec. As retail advertising sales manager and manager of new product development, she was instrumental in creating and implementing new initiatives and products for the newspaper.
Mrs. Hammock takes particular pride in having initiated the development of new advertising revenues for The Gazette from the cosmetics industry through the creation of a high-end beauty and fashion magazine entitled CHIC, which was distributed by major newspapers in the three major markets in Canada: Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Mrs. Hammock has been a guest lecturer on newspaper advertising at Concordia University and the McGill Management Institute. She was featured in a six-part, educational television series entitled “Professor Rubinstein on Advertising”, and has been guest speaker at newspaper conferences in Canada and the U.S.
Outside her career, Mrs. Hammock’s major passion is classical music and opera. A voice major at the McGill Conservatory of Music, she was the recipient of many musical awards including a Ford Foundation Scholarship.
Bruce Hodgson
Director Market Development, The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation
Bruce Hodgson is the Director of Market Development for The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. In this position, he is responsible for advancing the work already underway to attract more traffic, including both traditional and new cargoes, into the Great Lakes / Seaway system and positioning Hwy H2O as a key component of the North American intermodal transportation system.
Mr. Hodgson has extensive marine industry experience in British Columbia. Prior to joining the Seaway, he ran his own company, and he previously held management and senior sales positions with Norasia Container Line Canada Ltd., Wheels Pacific Freights Systems Inc., Westwood Shipping Lines and International Sea-Land Shipping Service Ltd. Having worked for a variety of organizations, Mr. Hodgson has a wide knowledge of inter-modal shipping, both nationally and internationally.
Pavlos Kanaraglou
Acting Director, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University
Pavlos S. Kanaroglou is Professor of Geography at McMaster University and holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Spatial Analysis. His formal education includes degrees in Mathematics (B.Sc), Computer Science (M.Sc) and Geography (M.A, Ph.D). He combines several years of industrial experience with academic teaching and research.
Dr. Kanaroglou has held faculty positions at Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Aegean (Greece) and McMaster University. He is the founder and director of the Centre for Spatial Analysis (CSpA) at McMaster. His research, funded by Canadian councils (NSERC, SSHRC), as well as ministries and municipalities in Canada, focuses on sustainable transportation at the urban and regional level, on urban air quality and on the relationship between air quality and health. He has been the principal investigator and participated in several national and international projects.
He has published extensively on transportation issues and is a member of the editorial board for several transportation related journals. Recently, Dr. Kanaroglou spearheaded the establishment of the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL) that is designed to bring together the private and public sectors with academia for the development of relevant and high quality research in transportation and logistics.
Richard Koroscil
President & CEO, Hamilton International Airport
Richard Koroscil is President and Chief Executive Officer for the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (Canada). In June 2003 he joined the TradePort organization, a subsidiary of Vancouver Airport Services Ltd. (YVRAS), in the capacity of Vice-President of Operations and was appointed President & CEO in November 2003.
As President and CEO, Richard’s foresight, vision and strategic approach induced the first Airport Summit in concert with municipal, federal and provincial government; and changed the aviation landscape with the launch of an aggressive award-winning airport branding campaign. His influential management style advances existing air carrier partnerships (commercial and cargo); forges innovative corporate and community collaborations and is central to the success of a myriad of breakthrough programs.
Richard’s distinguished career in Airport Management spans over 32 years in both the public and private sectors throughout Canada and internationally.
His career portfolio includes Vice President of Operations for YVRAS and Vice President for YVRAS parent company, the Vancouver International Airport Authority. In these executive he was responsible for the privatization, transfer and operating performance of 15 airports in 6 countries including the integration of the YVRAS global family of airports and the branding of the YVRAS product and services.
Prior to joining Vancouver Airport, he held senior Airport Management positions at several other Canadian airports.
Richard was also the President and Director of a number of YVRAS subsidiary companies and former Vice-Chair of the ACI (Airports Council International), Pacific Region and member of the ACI World Facilitation Committee.
Richard sits on the board of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, McMaster Institute of Transportation and Logistics, SKAL International and is the founding Chairman of Southern Ontario Gateway Council.
Richard is a graduate of Durham University/College in Aviation Management, a Chartered Director from McMaster University/Conference Board of Canada Directors College and studied Business Administration at the University of Windsor in Ontario.
Henry J. Krupa
Counsel, Environmental, Energy and Government Relations, Feltmate Delibato Heagle LLP
Henry Krupa has fairly recently returned to the private practice of law following a lengthy and distinguished career in industry, academia and government, most recent as the Director of Legal Services to the Ontario Ministries of the Environment and Energy. As the top legal advisor for those ministries, he advised Premiers, Cabinet Ministers, Cabinet Committees, senior civil servants and senior executives of provincially owned commercial enterprises, crown corporations, agencies and administrative tribunals.
Henry played a leading role in every major environmental and energy issue in the province and in developing virtually every provincial policy and law that will govern these sectors for years to come. His experience runs the gamut from developing Ontario’s Brownfields regime, to a wide variety of environmental compliance, enforcement, approvals and assessments matters, to the O’Connor Commission of Inquiry in the Contamination of Water at Walkerton, to the restructuring of Ontario’s energy market.
Henry received his legal education in Canada, England and Scotland. He has taught law in England, the United States and in Canada and has written extensively on environmental law topics of significant interest to the private sector.
Ruth Liebersbach
President Elect, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce
Ruth Liebersbach BA, FCMA, C.Dir, is the CFO of National Logistics Services (2006) Inc (NLS), Canada’s leading Retail Fashion Logistics Provider, located in Mississauga, Ontario. NLS is a part of a group of companies which include a National Transportation LTL carrier and Transportation Logistic Service companies under the Banner of (Andlauer Management Group). Michael Andlauer is the majority owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Club and Ruth also oversees this organization in the strategic role of CFO of the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Ruth is President Elect of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and has sat on and Chaired the Transportation Committee of the HCC for over 10 years. She is a graduate of McMaster University, is a Chartered Director (C.Dir) from the DeGroote School of Business, and was awarded a Fellowship to her CMA designation in 2007.
Gord McNeil
Director Business Development, Melford International Terminal Inc.
Gord McNeil has been involved in the Canadian Transportation industry for the past 30 years and has held various key management positions with leading companies, including ownership in a regional transportation company.
Recent experiences in logistics, warehousing and freight forwarding have brought a more global view of the industry and the challenges that face it in the coming years. Being a believer in the Multi Modal approach to solving logistical problems, Gord had a vital role in the market development of several short sea shipping initiatives that are currently being explored. He has been a facilitator to Port Authorities in Canada and the United States and has brought many new business opportunities forward.
In 2002 Gord McNeil joined the Board of Director’s of the Toronto Transportation Club and in November 2007 became its 94th President. The TTC was founded in 1913 and is one of the oldest Transportation Clubs in Canada. A strong believer in supporting the community, Gord has been an active member in the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and is presently the Chairman of the Transportation Committee in Hamilton. He is also the Chambers’ representative on the Southern Ontario Gateway Council.
Gord and his wife Karen enjoy recreational boating, travel and motorcycling in their spare time.
Jamie Porteous
Executive Vice President, Sales & Service, Cargojet
Mr. Porteous has over 20 years of Air Cargo experience including Senior and Executive Management positions at Air Canada, CanAir Cargo Ltd., and Royal Cargo Inc.
Mr. Porteous is a founding partner in the investment group that purchased the assets of Royal Cargo Inc., in August of 2001 to form Canada 3000 Cargo Inc., which was later transformed into Cargojet. After several years of profitable growth and establishing itself as Canada’s Cargo Airline, Mr. Porteous and his partners Ajay Virmani and Dan Mills successfully completed an IPO (Initial Public Offering) in June 2005 and took the company public as the Cargojet Income Fund. Mr. Porteous continues as a shareholder and holds the position of Executive Vice President Sales & Service of the Fund.
He is also currently a Director of the Canadian Courier & Logistics Association (CCLA).
Mr. Porteous was born and educated in Quebec and also attended INSEAD European Business School, in Fontainebleau, France.
Mr. Porteous and his wife Tami, together with their two children Tyler and Jason, reside in Burlington, ON.
Jim Ramsay
Vice President, Air and Ocean Freight, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Canada
Jim Ramsay was appointed to his current role, Vice-President of Air and Ocean Freight for UPS Supply Chain Solutions in January of 2005. He has overall responsibility for the international Air and Ocean Freight business across Canada.
Prior to his current assignment, Jim has held various roles in business development, marketing, and operations. He has been involved in the integration of various acquisitions including Fritz Starber and Menlo.
Jim received his M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business, and his B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Western Ontario.
Ruth Snowden
Executive Director, Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA)
Ms. Snowden brings a diverse background of leadership, industry and association experience to her position as Executive Director at CIFFA. During her long and varied career in freight forwarding she has filled several senior sales, management, and executive positions - always with CIFFA member companies. Following her last corporate role as a vice president at UPS SCS, Ms. Snowden became a principal in her own company, where for four years she was committed to, “leading individuals and organizations to success”. She has been actively engaged with CIFFA for many years, first as a volunteer Director of Education for the Central Region and more recently in a consulting capacity. Ms. Snowden has taught hundreds of adult learners and is a frequent guest speaker at industry events.
Ms. Snowden has a BA from the University of Toronto’s prestigious Trinity College and has also earned certification as a Professional Logistician (P. Log) from the Logistics Institute. In her community, Ms. Snowden took a leadership role on the task force to launch the Women in Logistics initiative where she continues to serve as a Director. She heads up the Marketing Committee for Brass in the Grass – a destination music festival in Toronto’s Lakeshore district and volunteers with the Lakeshore Out of the Cold program.
The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association, CIFFA represents approximately 220 small, medium and large freight forwarding companies in Canada, many of which are part of larger corporations having offices in many countries around the world. Please visit www.ciffa.com for details on CIFFA’s robust Education Programs and professional training on Canada’s new Air Cargo Security Initiative and Dangerous Goods – all of which are available to importers, exporters and third party service providers.
Claude St-Denis
Director, Program Development, Canada Border Services Agency
Claude St-Denis graduated from the University of Ottawa having earned an honours degree in Political Science, with concentrations in Public Policy and Public Management. He currently holds the position of Executive Director, Program Development within the Enforcement Branch at the Canada Border Services Agency where he is responsible for the development of Enforcement related initiatives including the Partners in Protection Program. Previously, he held senior management positions at Immigration and Citizenship Canada and management responsibilities at Elections Canada. Claude has an extensive background in project management, policy development, and training, and has successfully led major system development projects and national implementations.
Demetrius Tsafaridis
President, Carego Holdings Inc.
Demetrius is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business at York University (B.B.A.) and has spent 12 years in various roles with Dofasco Inc. (Canada’s largest flat-rolled steel producer), including Commercial, Capacity Management and Corporate Strategy. In his various roles at Dofasco, Demetrius managed a department in excess of 86 people, was responsible for a $110 million annual budget, negotiated supplier contracts, searched for acquisition targets and participated on Dofasco’s 10-year Strategic Plan.
Having left Dofasco in mid-1996, Demetrius held the position of Vice President Ferrous Product Sales at Thomson Metals and Disposal. It was in this capacity that he co-founded T&T Warehousing into his position as President and co-founder of Steelcare Inc. in February of 1999. In the past seven years he has opened and operated as many as 19 facilities in Hamilton, Markham, Cooksville, Cambridge, Aberfoyle, Mississauga, Delhi and Stoney Creek. In November 2003, Demetrius started Railcare Inc. a rail car repair shop and in November 2004, Transcare Logistics Corp. a trucking company. In 2005, he launched Careport Warehousing Inc., specializing in cross-dock operations, stuffing and de-stuffing containers and in 2006 added CareLynx Corp. a technology solutions provider to the family. The five companies were then restructured under a parent company CaregoHoldings Inc.
In late 2007, the latest addition to the group was Green Age Design an engineering consulting firm specializing in LEED accreditation of industrial buildings.
Demetrius lives in Burlington, Ontario and has four children.
Gary Vince
District Manager Toronto, DHL Global Forwarding (Canada) Inc.
Mr. Vince is currently the District Manager for DHL Global Forwarding.
Mr. Vince is a member of several professional associations currently serving on the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association’s National Board of Directors and sits as the Chair for CIFFA air freight and air cargo security committees. Gary has attained his Masters of Business Administration along with his P.Log accreditation.
Mr. Vince has more than 30 years of extensive logistics experience with several multi-national logistics providers where he has held a number of senior management positions. He has diversified expertise in the areas of air and ocean freight, project cargo, customs brokerage, warehousing and distribution, and North American Transportation.
Anne Waldes
Founder, Trade Link International Ltd.
Anne Waldes has been actively involved in the international intermodal transportation arena since 1977. She opened Trade Link International Ltd in 1993, and international freight forwarding company handling ocean, air and RORO shipments to and from over 70 countries around the world. Prior to that she spent 16 years in various different capacities with a steamship line. Trade Link is located in Hamilton and are active members of the WCA, CGLN, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, Transportation Committee.
Bruce Wood
President & CEO, Hamilton Port Authority
Bruce Wood is a graduate of Acadia University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He received his Certification in Board Governance (C.DIR) from McMaster University in 2005. For the past three years, Bruce operated his own consulting company (Fivewood management and Associates) with a particular focus on strategy development and governance consulting.
Prior to running his own firm, Bruce was the President and CEO of CAA South Central Ontario, headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario, from 1998 to early 2005. His career path followed senior marketing and business development functions in the Telecommunication and Financial Services sectors with Fonorola and Canadian Tire.
