Speakers
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Alan McCammon, Manager, Remediation Assurance, Site Remediation Program, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy Alan McCammon is member of the management team for British Columbia's Site Remediation Program in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. His primary responsibilities focus on regulation of high-risk contaminated sites under the Environmental Management Act. Alan has extensive experience as a statutory decision maker and regularly contributes to development of supporting policy and guidance for site remediation. Alan is a registered professional geoscientist specializing in contaminant hydrogeology.
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Andrew Macklin, Senior Advisor, Media and Public Affairs, WSP in Canada - Emcee |
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Chris DeSousa, Toronto Metropolitan University School of Urban and Regional Planning Christopher De Sousa is a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University. His research focuses on brownfield redevelopment in Canada and the United States. De Sousa is the past President of the Canadian Brownfields Network, a member of the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Brownfields/Land Reuse Health Initiative, jury chair for the Canadian Brownie Awards, and a member of TMU’s Center for Urban Research and Land Development. |
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Diana Saccone, Senior VP, Technology, ERIS Diana joined ERIS in 1999, when the company was still in its infancy, playing a key role in the company's entrance and growth in the Canadian and US environmental due diligence markets. She currently leads the Technology and Data teams and drives business growth through her leadership in the development of new and innovative products and SaaS. As a member of the senior management team, Diana is also involved in day-to-day business operations and long-term business planning including budgeting, marketing, strategic growth and partnerships, and acquisitions. |
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George Boire, Business Development Executive, Berkley Canada As part of the Environmental Team at Berkley Canada (a niche specialty insurance carrier), George focuses on finding risk transfer solutions for client’s environmental risks with a focus on real estate and M&A transactions. Prior to joining Berkley, George spent 20 years as the Environmental Team lead at a large multinational insurance brokerage. Prior to that George was part of the Environmental Risk Management team at two large financial institutions. George also spent 8 years as an environmental risk professional at two engineering companies. George started his career as an environmental officer with a provincial regulator. George’s areas of expertise include transactional due diligence, environmental liability assessment and risk transfer, and environmental management systems. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Earth Science from the University of Waterloo. |
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Hamish Corbett-Hains, Principal, Geosyntec Consultants Hamish is a Principal at Geosyntec with thirteen years’ experience in managing large-scale air quality engineering projects. Hamish has worked on numerous air quality permitting assessments across Canada, with a focus on industrial compliance, transportation design, land-use compatibility, and greenhouse gas assessments. Hamish’s industrial experience includes regulatory permitting assessments, feasibility studies, and design evaluations for clients in the steel, solid waste, wastewater, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing industries. Hamish has experience permitting and evaluating emissions from biogas and composting facilities. Hamish has significant land use compatibility experience, working with industrial clients, developers, and planning authorities to evaluate and promote compatibility in changing municipalities. Hamish previously served as the secretary of the Board the Ontario Section of the Air & Waste Management Association (AWMA) and is a member of the Core Practitioners Group who liaise with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks about matters relevant to air permitting. |
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Janet Bobechko, Partner, Certified Specialist in Environmental Law, By the Law Society of Ontario Janet Bobechko is a Certified Specialist in Environmental Law by the Law Society of Ontario and Partner at WeirFoulds LLP. Janet is a nationally recognized senior practitioner with over 30 years of experience in all aspects of environmental and natural resources law. Janet’s environmental law practice is broadly focused to include climate change and sustainability, Environment Social Governance (ESG), brownfield development, environmental dispute resolution and natural resource development. She routinely provides sophisticated and strategic advice on environmental compliance, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and portfolio acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, financings, and environmental management systems. She has significant experience in construction and infrastructure matters including linear infrastructure and renewable energy. Her dispute resolution work includes advice on environmental aspects in complex civil litigation for legacy contamination, migration of contamination, environmental inspections and investigations, defence of regulatory charges and administrative orders relating to federal and provincial Janet received a career achievement award from the Canadian Brownfields Network as a person who has had a profound impact on the brownfield industry in Canada. She is repeatedly recognized as leading lawyer for her expertise in Chambers Global Guide and Chambers Canada Guide, Legal L ‘Expert, Best Lawyers and Who’s Who Legal – Canada and International for environmental law & climate change. She has updated “Chapter 10, “Environmental issues Affecting the Mortgagee” in “Falconbridge on Mortgages” and wrote the environmental chapter in “Landlord’s Rights and Remedies in a Commercial Lease: A Practical Guide”. |
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Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, City Councillor for Scarborough-Rouge Park and Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. Dr. Jennifer McKelvie was elected in 2018 as the Toronto City Councillor for Scarborough–Rouge Park. After being elected to her second term of office in 2022, Jennifer was appointed Deputy Mayor, and in this capacity, assumed the responsibilities of the Office of the Mayor during its vacancy from February to July of 2023. Deputy Mayor McKelvie also serves as Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee tasked with advancing Toronto's climate action, ravine and vision zero strategies. |
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Jeremy Dunn, Commercial Vice President, HOPA Ports (Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority) Jeremy joined HOPA Ports in 2019 as Commercial Vice President. In his role he is responsible for business development, investments, and real estate in Hamilton, Oshawa, and Niagara. Over the last five years, Jeremy has focused on assisting existing partner businesses and new partners grow their businesses by creating solutions focused on transportation-served assets. Solutions include marine, rail, and road infrastructure investments in addition to partnering on land and building projects to grow HOPA’s network and facilitate trade. In addition, Jeremy serves as a board member for the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce and is an active advocate for sustainable supply chain resiliency to support Canadian industry.Prior to joining HOPA, Jeremy served in successive leadership roles in the transportation infrastructure industry including The Miller Group, one of Canada’s leading transportation construction and infrastructure maintenance companies and as ownership partner for The Dunn Group of companies. Jeremy earned his Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) at Queen’s University, and holds a Master’s Certificate in Project Management. |
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Joanna Vince, B.Sc. (Hons.), J.D., Partner, Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP, moderator. Joanna Vince, B.Sc. (Hons.), J.D., is a Partner and Certified Specialist in Environmental Law by the Law Society of Ontario at Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP. Joanna has significant expertise assisting clients with environmental approvals and permits for developments and industry. Joanna advises industry, conservation authorities, governments and crown corporations, Inuit groups, tribunals and land claims organizations on environmental law matters. Joanna advises on the environmental liabilities associated with contaminated lands and how to manage those liabilities for holding, redeveloping, buying and selling contaminated lands. Joanna helps clients navigate the environmental regulatory process. She advises clients about compliance obligations and represents them in managing regulatory inspections and investigations. Joanna has appeared before environmental tribunals and boards on behalf of clients to obtain, confirm or dispute environmental permits and approvals, including for certificates of property use, wastewater treatment systems, noise and air emissions, and water permits. Joanna is called to the Bars of Ontario, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon. |
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Kathryn Matheson, M.Env.Sc., P.Geo., QPRA, Team Lead, SLR Consulting (Canada) Limited​​ Kathryn leads the Ontario Risk Assessment and Toxicology team at SLR. As a Professional Geoscientist and Qualified Person in Risk Assessment, she brings nearly 15 years of experience in human health and ecological risk assessments, soil vapour assessments, indoor air quality assessments, environmental site assessments, background assessments, and remediation activities. Kathryn's technical knowledge also encompasses country food assessments for human health risk assessment, risk communication, and the development of risk management measures. Throughout her career, Kathryn has applied her expertise to a diverse range of projects across development, real estate, oil and gas, mining, industry, and government sectors, both within Ontario and across Canada. Kathryn specializes in helping clients navigate the regulatory landscapes of brownfield projects, and focuses on developing innovative and cost-effective solutions to complex environmental challenges that impact brownfield redevelopment. Kathryn is a member of QPCO, and the Risk Assessment QPCO working group. |
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Krista Barfoot, President Canadian Brownfields Network, Infrastructure Sector Leader, SLR Consulting - Emcee A Brownfield Redevelopment Specialist with SLR Consulting, Dr. Barfoot has over 25 years of industry experience and expertise in strategic site planning, risk assessment, vapour intrusion assessment, and risk management. Dr. Barfoot’s technical expertise additionally extends to excess soil management, emerging contaminants (including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS]), non-aqueous phase liquid, risk mitigation measures, and stakeholder communication. Dr. Barfoot is a qualified person for risk assessment (per Ontario Regulation 153/04), President of the Canadian Brownfields Network, chair of the Ontario Environmental Industry Association (ONEIA) PFAS Committee, and an ONEIA Excess Soils and Brownfields Committee member. She has actively led the development of the strategic approach for revitalizing a number of large, high-profile brownfield sites in Ontario, and is based in SLR Consulting's Guelph, Ontario office. |
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Kyle Nicholls, Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety, Triovest Kyle Nicholls leads the environmental and health and safety program at Triovest. Triovest is a privately held integrated real estate investment management and development firm managing 33M sq.ft. of real estate assets on behalf of institutional and private investors throughout Canada. Collaborating with investments on acquisitions, financing and dispositions and working with leasing, asset and property management, Kyle’s primary responsibility is to evaluate and integrate the right resources and expertise from Triovest’s internal risk management group, 3rd party consultants, legal counsel, and insurance professionals to prevent, manage or mitigate Triovest’s operational EH&S risk. Kyle has over 23 years of experience in managing complex soil and groundwater remediations, environmental assessments, safety audits, hazardous building materials, IAQ issues, spills response, drafting of environmental language in leases and other agreements, and the placement and management of environmental liability insurance. Kyle received an honours degree in Environmental Resource Management from the University of Western Ontario, is a Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP), and holds both a Canadian Risk Management (CRM) designation from the University of Toronto and an Environmental Professional (EP) designation from ECO Canada.
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Leandro Santos, Research Planner, Applied Solutions Leandro firmly believes that for cities to prosper, they must be created by everybody, for everybody. At the Canadian Urban Institute, he has worked on a series of city-building projects addressing post-COVID urban recovery, housing, and community engagement processes. He has conducted research informing federal housing programs, highlighted best practices in Windsor, Victoria, and Halifax for Canadian city builders, and strives to meaningfully elevate the voices of communities marginalized by colonial systems, institutions, and urban planning processes. Leandro holds a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from Carleton University.
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Dr. Magdalena Krol, York University Magdalena Krol is an associate professor at the Lassonde School of Engineering, York University. Her area of expertise is contaminant hydrogeology specializing in numerical modelling of groundwater flow and contaminant transport. Her research activities include optimizing groundwater remediation technologies using renewable energies, simulation of subsurface gas movement at contaminated sites, as well as transport of corrosion compounds to assess the performance of used nuclear fuel canisters. Magdalena completed her doctoral studies in Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto and she holds M.E.Sc. and B.E.Sc. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Western Ontario (Western). Prior to her doctoral studies, Magdalena was a remediation engineer at a US consulting company, where she worked on a diverse set of contaminant remediation projects. She is a licensed professional engineer in the province of Ontario. Magdalena has received several distinguished awards, including: the Early Career Award from the International Association of Hydrogeologists, the Lassonde Excellence in Graduate Mentorship Award, the Lassonde Innovation Award and the NSERC Post Doctorate Fellowship (PDF). She has also co-established the innovative Water Technologies for Environmental Research (iWaTER) lab at York University, bringing together researchers from different water disciplines to collaborate on tackling pressing environmental problems. |
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Mark Richardson, Technical Lead, Housing Now! Mark J. Richardson is the Chief Technology Officer at Rich Analytics. He has 25+ Years of consulting experience with public-sector clients at all-levels of Government in Canada, and was part of the City of Toronto's Open Data Advisory Group which helped define the City's first official Open Data Master Plan in 2018, and was a citizen-member of the City of Toronto's Planning Review Panel (2015-2017). Mark is the Founder and Technical-Lead of the HousingNowTO.com affordable-housing tracking and transparency project since 2019. Using common tools such as Google maps, photographs, videos and data visualization, HousingNowTO.com removes industry jargon, thereby minimizing misinformation and enhancing transparency and opportunities for genuine civic engagement. The HousingNowTO.com project was given an Innovation Spotlight by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in 2021. He is an active ULI volunteer with the Terwilliger Center for Housing in Washington, DC – and a regular collaborator on urban affordable housing innovation projects with University of Toronto’s School of Cities, and Toronto Metropolitan Universities’ School of Urban and Regional Planning. |
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Maurice LeBlanc, Commercial Portfolio Manager, Environmental and Property Solutions, Imperial Oil Maurice is the Commercial contact for Imperial’s Downstream surplus properties in Eastern Ontario and Atlantic Canada. Maurice coordinates with Imperial’s environmental team, consultants and brokers for the assessment, risk management, remediation, and divestment of locations within his portfolio. He has recently launched a project to open the dialogue with key municipalities across Canada on the potential for brownfield redevelopments on properties where Imperial has had historical operations. |
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Meggen Janes, P.Eng. CBN Executive Director, moderator Meggen Janes is a Principal Environmental Engineer based in Ontario with more than 25 years of environmental consulting experience focused on forensic analysis, risk assessment, soil and sediment management, permitting, remediation, and the brownfield sector. Prior to joining Geosyntec in 2021, she was the Director of Soil and Groundwater Management and Brownfield Approvals at Waterfront Toronto. She spent six years on the Board of Directors of CBN prior to being named executive director. She served the Board in a number of roles, including the past four years as the co-chair of the conference committee. |
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Monique Punt, P.Eng., M.Sc. - Principal Consultant, MPunt Environmental Consulting Monique is a professional engineer with over 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors |
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Nima Kia, RPP Director, Development and Housing Now Nima Kia is `an urban planner with a passion for city building. Currently employed as the Director, Development and Housing Now at CreateTO, Nima has held several progressive, professional roles in the real estate and development industry since 2008. Nima has delivered affordable housing projects throughout the Greater Toronto Area, with a focus on development due diligence, planning entitlements and business execution. Graduating in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Toronto Metropolitan University, Nima is a Registered Professional Planner with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute where he has remained an active member of the professional planning community in Ontario.
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Paul Bowen Paul graduated from The University of Toronto with a degree in Geological Engineering. He practised for several years with a geotechnical consulting firm, and then attended University of Waterloo to obtain a postgraduate degree, focussing on Hydrogeology. Paul was a founding Principal of Terraprobe in 1984, an Ontario-based geoscience consulting firm. He practised in the fields of Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering until his retirement in 2018. He continues to provide strategic consulting services to selected clients. As a Professional Engineer, Professional GeoScientist, and QPRA, Paul has been involved in many major brownfield redevelopment and waste management projects in Ontario, including: - Collingwood Shipyards - Liberty Village - West Don Lands - Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena) - Ripley's Aquarium - Port Hope Area Initiative for management of low level radioactive waste Beginning in the early 1980's Paul has been part of the significant growth and changes in regulations relating to soil and groundwater quality, excess materials management, risk assessment, and site remediation. |
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Scott Thompson, Manager, Regional Operations, Risk Assessment, Environmental Services and Contaminated Sites, Ontario Region, Public Services and Procurement Canada / Government of Canada Scott Thompson holds a bachelor of Environmental Science Degree from the University of Manitoba and has 18 years experience in the Contaminated Sites, Greening and Sustainability and Client Service business lines. Scott manages the Risk Assessment Project Delivery Team at Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), Environmental Services and Contaminated Sites (ESCS) Directorate in Ontario Region and is the national co-chair of PSPC’s Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) Expert Support Team. Scott has successfully managed Remediation Projects in urban and remote locations, including projects in the Yukon, NWT, the Prairie Provinces, and Ontario. Scott has experience as a Client Service Director for the “Science Cluster” and managed the Greening and Sustainability team at PSPC, implementing the Greening Government Strategy in Ontario. Growing up in Western Canada as an avid outdoorsman, Scott values environmental quality, sustainable practices, and stewardship. Scott enjoys playing sports (baseball, beach volleyball, golf, snowboarding), fishing and hunting in his spare time. |
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Soren Brothers, Ph.D., Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change, Royal Ontario Museum Dr. Soren Brothers is the Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. He is also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Soren’s research examines the effects of climate change on lakes, and how changes in aquatic systems can influence their greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. More broadly, he is interested in understanding how feedback loops and the transdisciplinary study of lakes can help us better understand and predict global tipping points that may accelerate anthropogenic climate change. Born in Mississauga and raised in Toronto, Soren has worked on lakes in a diverse array of environments around the world, including the Nunavut tundra, Quebec’s boreal forests, and the Great Lakes. He is also passionate about science communication and community outreach. Before beginning at the ROM in 2021 he was an Assistant Professor of Limnology at Utah State University, and a CREATE program manager and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph, focusing on multiple stressors and cumulative effects in the Great Lakes. |
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Suvish Melanta, Grounded Engineering, moderator Ms. Suvish Melanta is an Associate at Grounded Engineering with over a decade of experience in environmental engineering services. As a licensed Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario, she has managed numerous greenfield and brownfield development projects involving risk assessments, remedial excavations, soil management activities, environmental compliance monitoring. Suvish has worked on York’s vivaNEXT project and currently works with many leading provincial developers, providing strategic guidance on environmental and hydrogeological aspects for high-rise developments, and the application of Ontario regulations and regional development policies. Suvish holds undergraduate degree in biological engineering from the University of Arkansas and a graduate degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Maryland. |
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Tammy Lomas-Jylha, President, Lomas-Jylha Consulting Tammy has over 30 years of experience in brownfields and contaminated sites across Canada with clients including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities-Green Municipal Fund, Canadian Brownfields Network (CBN), Provinces and Federal Government (Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan). She is recognized as a dynamic and adaptable leader with the ability to coordinate complex multi-partner initiatives and interact effectively with private and public stakeholders. As an executive-level consultant, her work focuses on co-creating visions, strategies, implementation plans, performance measurement tools, and knowledge mobilization approaches to guide decision-making and actions of government and the private sector. Some highlights: Tammy sat on the Green Municipal Fund Council (The Federation of Canadian Municipalities) from 2005 - 2011 as the brownfield and contaminated site sector representative providing strategic direction and encouraging municipalities to initiate sustainable projects with significant environmental benefits; She is the recipient of the 2009 Canadian Urban Institute’s Brownie Award for Individual Achievement and 2019 HUB (Heroes Underpinning Brownfields) Award from the CBN. Tammy is one of the founding members of the CBN and has been involved in the organization in various ways since its inception. |
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Tom Li, P.Eng., M.A.Sc., M.B.A., Ontario Business Operations and Development Manager-Environment and Energy, Parsons Mr. Tom Li is a Principal Environmental Engineer and the Operations Lead for Parsons’ Environment and Energy team in Ontario. He is a Qualified Person (ESAs) Under Ontario Regulation 153/04. He is an experienced remediation engineer having managed 100s of environmental site assessment and remediation projects for various private and public sector clients. He has 20+ years of experience studying, designing, managing and contract administering various remediation solutions that meets the client’s technical and business objectives. Over the past few years Tom has worked on many local infrastructure projects that involve excess soil planning, property acquisitions and land conveyances; while still working on brownfields for various commercial and industrial clients that has portfolio of sites across the country and globally. He is a co-chair for ONEIA’s Brownfield sub-committee and a council member of QPCO. |
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Tunde Paczai, Urban and Planning Practice Lead, AECOM Tünde is an architect and urban designer with over 22 years of experience, having graduated in 2001 from the Architecture and Planning University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Her interest, deep fascination, and understanding of urban systems and their effects and relationships with the natural environment have led her to work on projects that involved such synergies. She is a natural leader, advocating for collaborative planning and context-sensitive design. Tünde’s area of expertise includes urban design and community design, having worked on various neighbourhood planning studies, infill studies, residential developments, first-nation community designs and improvement plans, intensification studies, and land use planning. Additionally, her expertise includes project management on a variety of transit and mobility projects, streetscape designs, active transportation and connectivity studies, detailed design, construction, and implementation plans on Canadian and international projects. She also excels in master planning, having experience both locally and worldwide, from large-scale secondary plans to transit-related planning studies, waterfront master plans, institutional campus plans, or community plans in rural, urban, and industrial settings, resettlement action plans and worker housing for the extractive industry, design and construction implementation strategies for residential homes and institutional buildings, as well as regional tourism master plans and campus master plans in various countries. Tünde has recently joined AECOM as the Urbanism and Planning Practice Lead. Prior to this, she worked at the City of Toronto as a Senior Project Manager for the Transit Expansion Division, overseeing the Smart Track Program in general, while also managing the East Harbour Transit Hub station delivery with Metrolinx’s Project Delivery and Sponsor’s Office Teams. |
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