Tackling Toronto’s Congestion Crisis

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Speakers:

• Jan De Silva, President and CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade

Jan De Silva, President and CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade

Jan De Silva is President and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, one of the largest and most influential business organizations in North America. She is spearheading efforts to make Toronto one of the most competitive and sought-after business regions in the world.

Jan brings to the role more than 14 years of international CEO experience building ambitious, high-growth organizations. Anchored in her leadership is her belief in the power of economic development to lift communities.

Prior to joining the Board, she served as CEO of Sun Life Financial’s Hong Kong and Mainland China businesses and co-founded and later sold Retail China Limited. Jan also served as Dean of Ivey Asia for Ivey Business School of Western University.

Highly respected for her business advocacy and government engagement, Jan has been Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Chair of the Canada China Business Council in Beijing and served on the Board of the Asian Corporate Governance Association. In 2019, she was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to represent Canada on the APEC Business Advisory Council. Jan also sits on the board of Intact Financial Corporation, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Congestion is hindering business growth, competitiveness, talent attraction and retention, and the movement of people and goods in our region. This keynote will frame how the issue of congestion is making our city unlivable and is an impediment to economic prosperity.

Speaker:

• Jaime Watt, Executive Chairman, Navigator Ltd.

Jaime Watt, Executive Chairman, Navigator Ltd.

Jaime Watt is the Executive Chairman of Navigator and Founder of the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation. He specializes in complex public strategy issues, serving both domestic and international clients in the corporate, professional services, not-for-profit, and political leaders at all three levels of government across Canada.

Currently, Jaime is the Chancellor of OCAD University. He also serves on the board of the University Health Network, Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, CANFAR, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

He is a past president or chair of OCAD University, the Canadian Club of Toronto, the Albany Club, Casey House, Literary Review of Canada, Canadians for Equal Marriage, Canadian Human Rights Campaign and Canadian Human Rights Trust, among others. Additionally, he is a past director or governor of many organizations, including the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation.

He is an adjunct faculty member of the Directors Education Program, jointly developed and administered by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Deeply involved with efforts to promote equality and human rights issues, he was the inaugural recipient of Egale’s Lifetime Achievement Award and has been awarded the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals for service to the community.

A highly regarded speaker, Jaime often appears as a public affairs commentator in the media. He is a regular contributor to all CBC platforms across Canada and writes a weekly column for The Toronto Star.

His debut book, titled What I Wish I Said: Confessions of a Columnist can be purchased online at Amazon and Indigo, and is available in bookstores nationwide.

This session will dissect the implications of congestion on large employers and property owners and provide insights on how they are navigating this economic deterrent.

Speakers:

• Rob Strickland, President, Fidelity Investments
• Frank Attaie, General Manager, Technology, IBM Canada
• Sebastian Distefano, Regional Managing Partner, Greater Toronto Area, KPMG Canada

Moderator:

• Giles Gherson, Executive Vice-President and Chair, Economic Blueprint Institute, Toronto Region Board of Trade

Rob Strickland, President, Fidelity Investments

Frank Attaie, General Manager, Technology, IBM Canada

Frank Attaie is General Manager, Technology at IBM Canada, where he leads a team of technical, sales and delivery professionals that are passionate about client success and helping clients transform their businesses with innovative hybrid cloud and AI technologies.

Sebastian Distefano, Regional Managing Partner, Greater Toronto Area, KPMG Canada

Sebastian Distefano is the Regional Managing Partner for the Greater Toronto Area at KPMG in Canada, leading and driving growth for the firm’s largest practice since 2017.

Throughout his remarkable 25-year career, he has provided innovative and trusted audit and advisory services to some of Canada’s largest private and public companies across a wide variety of sectors, with extensive experience in consumer and industrial markets, real estate, mining, and construction.

Sebastian has a proven track record for being a dynamic business leader who delivers results, links strategy to execution to ensure profitable growth and for navigating his clients through changing landscapes to solve for their most complex challenges.

Demonstrating the importance of empowering positive change and leading by example, he previously served as one of two Canadian partners on KPMG’s Americas Board, was a member and former Chairman of KPMG in Canada’s Board of Directors and was an active member on the Board of Directors for the Toronto Region Board of Trade for many years.

Sebastian is also a strong champion for community impact and an advocate of diversity, inclusion, and equity in the workplace. He leads initiatives that encourage and mentor people to become forces of change to strengthen their communities to make a difference. He is a proud member of the United Way Greater Toronto Community Campaign Cabinet, working to address local poverty, affordable housing and the rising cost of basic needs.

Giles Gherson, EVP and Chair, Economic Blueprint Institute, Toronto Region Board of Trade

Giles Gherson is the Executive Vice President and Chair of the Economic Blueprint Institute at the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

A seasoned leader, Giles has 15 years of experience with the Province of Ontario where he has served under different parties and leaders. He’s held Deputy Minister roles in multiple portfolios, including; Cabinet Office Policy; Cabinet Office Communications; Economic Development, Trade and Investment; Infrastructure and Government Realty; Research Innovation and Science; Red Tape and Regulatory Burden Reduction; Small Business; and Consumer Services.

Prior to his role in government, Giles held positions within the Canadian media landscape, including as editor-in-chief of the Toronto Star, political editor of the National Post and editor of the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

What are the primary root causes of congestion in the City of Toronto? These debaters will dissect the barriers that are preventing our city from:

a) Having transit we can depend on: Reliability disruptions and safety incidents are keeping commuters off transit; TTC volumes remain more than 30% down from pre-Pandemic levels. This is the key pain point for return to office and attending sporting and cultural attractions.

b) Getting the most out of our roads: Accelerate the deployment of sophisticated traffic management technologies; better construction project planning; re-assessment of some bike lane routes; and consideration of trucks-only lanes.

c) Moving across the city faster: The one-hour challenge: identify short-term solutions to boost the speed and consistency of commuting, and a long-term goal of one-hour maximum transit travel times within the city.

Debaters:

• Josh Colle, Senior Vice-President, EY

• Denzil Minnan-Wong, Former Deputy Mayor of Toronto and City Councillor, Don Valley East

• Teresa Di Felice, AVP, Government and Community Relations, CAA Club Group

Moderator:

• Colin D’Mello, Queens Park Bureau Chief, Global News Toronto

Josh Colle, Senior Vice-President, EY

Josh Colle is a leader in EY’s Government and Public Sector practice and advises clients and supports them in finding public transit, infrastructure, and service delivery solutions. This work has seen Josh working with public sector clients across North America with their efforts to review and improve services, find efficiencies and save costs, enhance operating and governance models, and navigate complex issues and stakeholder environments. Much of this work has been focused on supporting municipalities and transit agencies. Josh sits on the Board of the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) and previously served as Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and as a Toronto City Councillor.

Josh works with senior leaders at municipalities and transit providers in Canada and the US to address their most pressing challenges and opportunities. Over the course of his career in the transportation and infrastructure industry he has spoken regularly to public audiences and the media. Josh has spoken on public transit issues across North America at American Association of Public Transit (APTA), Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA), Urban Transit Infrastructure, Railway Age, and many other events and sessions.

Josh received a B.A. from McGill University in Montreal and is a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors Director designation and currently serves as the Vice Chair of Integrated Mobility on the Board of CUTA.

Teresa Di Felice, AVP, Government and Community Relations, CAA Club Group

Teresa is the AVP of Government & Community Relations for the CAA Club Group of companies, Canada's largest CAA club. She has been with CAA since 2005. She is responsible for the overall direction and execution of the organization’s advocacy strategies and programs. She also oversees CCG’s corporate contributions programs.

Teresa’s breadth and range of knowledge on infrastructure, transportation, road safety, automotive and industry issues related to CAA’s work has resulted in many contributions to the development and execution of sound public policy. These include input into the province’s cycling strategy, being a member of the Premier’s panel on the Transit Investment Strategy, tow industry reform and other road safety initiatives.

Denzil Minnan-Wong, Former Deputy Mayor of Toronto and City Councillor, Don Valley East

Colin D’Mello, Queens Park Bureau Chief, Global News Toronto

This showcase will feature short presentations on technological solutions and innovations that can enable better traffic management in the City of Toronto.

Presenters:

• Kurtis McBride, Co-Founder and CEO, Miovision

• Maciej Podoski, Technical Solutions Architect - Smart Cities and Transportation, Cisco

• Shadi Hagag, Founder and CEO, Trans-Plan

Kurtis McBride, CEO, Miovision

Understanding traffic is fundamental to managing the evolution of our cities. But, when Kurtis McBride looked at how cities were measuring traffic, he saw methods that hadn’t changed in decades – people with clipboards counting cars. He co-founded Miovision in 2005, a fast-growing Kitchener-based company using computer vision, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to help cities modernize their approach to managing traffic to make roads more efficient and safer.  

Kurtis is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, where he received his Bachelor of Engineering in Systems Design in 2004, and Master of Engineering in Systems Design in 2007.

Maciej Podoski, Technical Solutions Architect - Smart Cities and Transportation, Cisco

Maciej is a Technical Solutions Architect for Cisco Canada Industry Solutions which he joined in 2019. He currently focuses on transforming Smart Cities and Transportation network architectures and the innovation made possible by connecting everything over secure, scalable and simple to operate networks. He also serves as an advisor and technical lead for Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program which aims to power an inclusive future by unlocking the value of digitization. Previously, Maciej held various roles in Cisco’s Service Provider organization which he joined in 2000 shortly after graduating from University of Waterloo with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Maciej is an active CCIE #16509 and an Ontario Professional Engineer.

Shadi Hagag, Founder and CEO, Trans-Plan

Speaker:

• Jan De Silva, President and CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade