Transitioning to a Low Carbon Economy

Daniel Gagnier
Senior Vice-president, Corporate and External Affairs
Alcan Inc.

Daniel Gagnier is Alcan Inc.’s senior vice president, Corporate and External Affairs. In this position, his responsibilities include corporate communications, government relations and environment, health and safety. Mr. Gagnier was appointed vice president, Corporate Affairs in December 1994 and in 1995 his responsibilities were expanded to include environment, occupational health and safety issues for Alcan on a worldwide basis. Mr. Gagnier assumed the added responsibilities of his current position in September 2000.

Prior to joining Alcan in 1994, Mr. Gagnier held a number of positions with the governments of Canada, Ontario and Saskatchewan. From 1972 to 1982, the Department of External Affairs posted him overseas to diplomatic assignments in Mexico, Yugoslavia and the United Kingdom, as well as to functions in Ottawa. Between 1982 and 1984, he was the executive director of the Canadian Unity Information Office, part of the federal Department of Justice, following which he was appointed by the Privy Council Office as assistant secretary to the Cabinet (Communications). In 1985, Mr. Gagnier joined the Saskatchewan government as deputy minister, economic development and trade, a position he held until 1987.

He returned to Ottawa in 1987 to become assistant secretary to the Cabinet responsible for economic policy and programs, at the Federal-Provincial Relations Office. From 1988 to 1990, he worked for the Ontario government in Toronto as deputy minister of energy; deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs; special adviser to the Cabinet; and chief of staff of the Premier’s Office. Following this period at Queen’s Park, Mr. Gagnier returned once again to Ottawa, where he served as deputy secretary to the Cabinet (Communications) and adviser at the Privy Council Office until 1992. From 1992 to 1994, he was president of the Brewers Association of Canada.

Mr. Gagnier is Chair of the International Organization for Standardization’s technical committee on Environmental Management (ISO/TC 207) and Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group on Social Responsibility for ISO. In 2004, Mr. Gagnier was named Chairman, Board of Directors, for the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and in 2005 Chairman for Canadian Standards Association, and Chairman for International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Mr. Gagnier is a graduate of Loyola College and McGill University, and a fellow of the Australian National University in Canberra. He was born in Montreal in 1946.

Professor Michael Grubb
Chief Economist
UK Carbon Trust

Michael is a leading international researcher on the economic dimensions of and policy responses to climate change and energy policy issues including renewable energy sources. He has been a lead author for several reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) addressing the economic, technological and social aspects of limiting greenhouse gas emissions and has advised a number of governments, companies and international studies on climate change policy. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Climate Policy and is on the editorial board of Energy Policy.

Michael was formerly Head of the Energy and Environmental Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, before becoming Professor of Climate Change and Energy Policy at Imperial College. He remains a Visiting Professor at Imperial College, and is also a Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Economics in Cambridge University. He gained his PhD in energy systems analysis from Cambridge.

Carolyn Cahill
Senior Policy Advisor
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy

Carolyn Cahill is Senior Policy Advisor at the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE). Employed by the NRTEE since May 1998, Carolyn is currently managing the NRTEE’s Energy and Climate Change Initiative. She has also managed the Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators (ESDI) Initiative. Prior to the NRTEE, Carolyn coordinated the City of Ottawa’s greenhouse gas reduction program.

Through her work at both the City of Ottawa and at the NRTEE, Carolyn has focussed on helping multistakeholder groups develop environmental programs and policies.

Carolyn Cahill graduated in 1990 from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Applied Science inMechanical Engineering. She then went on to receive her Master of Environmental Studies from York University in 1994.

NRTEE Chair
Glen Murray
Toronto, Ontario

Glen Murray, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is Research Associate for the Centre for Urban and Community Studies and a Visiting Scholar & Urban Policy Coordinator at the University of Toronto. He is former Mayor of Winnipeg, best known for his vision to build culturally dynamic urban centres.

His vision for a New Deal for Cities started with the formation of the C5 – a coalition of five Canadian cities. It was during that time that he became the first Chair of the Big City Mayors Caucus 2002.

Mr. Murray is a member of the Task Force on Creativity and the Public Service for the Government of Canada. Between 1989 and 1992, he was a partner in Envirofit Inc. an innovative environmental consulting firm. He is a business partner in the consulting firm The Glen Murray Group which works with clients in public and private sector with Canada’s art and culture community on urban strategies for Canadian cities.