Symposium Speakers

The ​Hon. Jody Wilson Raybould

The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, PC, OBC, KC, was raised to be a leader. The daughter of a hereditary chief and Indigenous leader, she always knew that she would seek leadership roles and responsibilities. As a lawyer, an advocate, and a leader among Canada’s Indigenous Peoples, she’s built a strong reputation as a bridge builder and champion of good governance and accountability. She shares her unique perspective as both a community and political leader on topics such as Indigenous rights and reconciliation, democracy and governance, leadership, and justice.

Wilson-Raybould was first elected as a Member of Parliament for the new constituency of Vancouver Granville in 2015. She was then appointed the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada making her the first Indigenous person to serve in this portfolio. In January 2019, she was appointed the Minister of Veterans Affairs of Canada and Associate Minister of National Defence, positions she held until her resignation from cabinet in February 2019.

During the 2019 election, Wilson-Raybould was re-elected as an Independent Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville, making her Canada’s first ever female Independent MP elected and the only elected Independent in the 43rd Parliament. Prior to politics, Wilson-Raybould was a provincial crown prosecutor in Vancouver and served three terms as an elected Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission. She was also elected BC Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in 2009, where she devoted herself to the advancement of First Nations governance, fair access to land and resources, as well as improved education and health care services. She served until 2015, holding responsibilities for governance and Nation building on the Assembly of First Nations Executive.

Wilson-Raybould is a descendant of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk and Laich-Kwil-Tach peoples, which are part of the Kwakwaka’wakw and also known as the Kwak’wala speaking peoples. She is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation with her traditional name, Puglaas, meaning “woman born to noble people.” She served two terms as an elected councillor for her Nation and was also a director and chair of the First Nations Finance Authority and a director of the First Nations Lands Advisory Board.

Wilson-Raybould is the bestselling author of three books, the political memoir “Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power, which was a finalist for The Writers’ Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing; From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada; and True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change. She is also the co-author of, Reconciling History: A Story of Canada, named one of Toronto Star’s “25 books to read this season”, amongst other accolades.

Michael McMillan, President & CEO,HEABC

Michael McMillan is the President & CEO of HEABC. He has extensive health care operational experience and knowledge of the BC health care system, which he gained through increasingly senior health care administration roles to his leadership role at HEABC.

Michael was Chief Operating Officer, Northern Interior Heath Service Delivery Area for Northern Health, where he was responsible for the delivery of high-quality health care services in Northern Health’s most populous health service delivery area. Before spending 18 years in the North, Michael held leadership roles at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock and Vancouver General Hospital.

Michael has led HEABC in the preparation and execution of a bargaining strategy to renew the health sector collective agreements and the BC Physician Master Agreement, focusing on collaboration and a shared commitment to improving both the working environment for health care professionals and the health care services that BC residence rely on. In total, the agreements cover approximately 130,000 employees and physicians with an annual cost of approximately $15 billion.

Michael has a B.Sc. in pharmaceutical sciences and an MBA, both from the University of BC.

Lynn Bueckert, Secretary Business Manager, HEU

Lynn Bueckert is the Secretary Business Manager of the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) and an occupational health and safety leader. Lynn has been long-time advocate of worker health and wellbeing. Prior to joining the HEU, Lynn was the BC Federation of Labour’s director of occupational health and safety.

Lynn represents the Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA) on the SWITCH BC Board of Directors. The FBA covers approximately 42,000 health care support workers in B.C with members of the HEU, BCGEU, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Internati​onal Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). Health care aide is the largest job classification in the FBA. The diverse bargaining unit also includes food service workers, cleaners, lab assistants and nursing unit assistants.

Alissa Demerse, Partner, Roper Greyell LLP

Alissa Demerse is a partner at Roper Greyell LLP where she provides practical and strategic advice to employers in all areas of employment and labour law. As RG’s Workplace Safety Practice Lead, Alissa also maintains a specialized practice in occupational health and safety prevention matters, workers’ compensation claims, and human rights law including return to work issues and harassment claims.

Alissa’s approach is to be proactively involved with her clients in resolving disputes and grievances. She represents clients within unionized and non-unionized workplaces. She is a tenacious and dedicated team member who searches for the smart result for her clients and this approach makes her an invaluable advisor to many public and private sector employers in British Columbia.

Alissa is well known to provide empathic leadership in times of crisis and is focused on keeping her clients informed, organized, and prepared to avoid unnecessary litigation and disputes. She has extensive experience assisting clients with workplace investigations including bullying and harassment complaints and investigations, discipline investigations, and WorkSafeBC serious injury and fatality investigations. She regularly advises employers on collective agreement interpretation and grievances, drafting employment contracts and workplace policies, employee discipline and termination decisions, managing medical leaves and accommodation requests, occupational health and safety prevention matters and appeals, and critical incident management.

As a trusted advocate who represents employers in complex hearings, Alissa holds an unparalleled ability to distill the facts and focus on the relevant details for each case and client. She appears as counsel at labour arbitrations, the Labour Relations Board, the Workers’ Compensation Review Board, and Appeal Tribunal, the Employment Standards Branch and Tribunal, the Human Rights Tribunal, Coroner’s Inquests, and the courts.

Born in Kitimat, B.C., raised on Vancouver Island, and with strong New Zealand roots, Alissa holds a passion for the outdoors. She enjoys leading an active lifestyle, including skiing, cycling, and travelling with her family and friends.

Tina Strehlke, CEO, Minerva

Tina Strehlke is the CEO of Minerva BC, a Vancouver-based charity dedicated to advancing economic and leadership opportunities for women and girls. Tina is an experienced senior leader with 20 years of experience in the social impact sector. She has knowledge and expertise in gender equality, inclusive leadership, career development, and creating equitable workplaces. Tina has a BA in International Relations from UBC and an MA in Communications from Royal Roads University. She recently completed the Certified Leadership Coach program at Essential Impact. Tina has lived and worked in Germany, Costa Rica, Guyana, and Taiwan. She currently volunteers with Young Women in Business UBC and is a member of the Prosperity Project’s Rosie Initiative Advisory Group.

Dr. Marie-Hélène Pelletier

Dr. Marie-Hélène Pelletier is an award-winning workplace mental health expert, psychologist, executive coach and speaker. She’s one of only a handful of work psychologists holding both a PHD and MBA.

Marie-Hélène brings a signature mix of business and clinical expertise to the groups she works with. She translates psychology research (about health, resiliency, leadership and even the impacts of Artificial Intelligence/AI) into strategies professionals, business leaders and their teams need to thrive.

Provides expertise for boosting performance. Marie-Hélène shares what psychologists know but other professionals and business people may not. She has a robust understanding of the intersection between business success and strong workplace mental health. She held executive leadership roles, including at a major Fortune 500 corporation.

Builds leadership and organizational resilience. Through her speaking engagements, Marie-Hélène provides professionals and business leaders with concrete steps to prevent fatigue and burnout – and gain energy, even in tough times. She can help your leaders and their team members shift perspectives and regain and retain their passion.

Helps your organization manage change. Marie-Hélène provides business leaders and their team members with the psychological tools needed to adapt to, and embrace, transformational change. She equips them to respond quickly, make good decisions, and maintain stamina for ongoing productivity.

Combines style with substance. Marie-Hélène is a dynamic speaker. She has an engaging style, exhilarating energy, and a warm sense of humour. With this relatable approach, she brings the latest research and proven best practices to her talks, inspiring participants to take action and get results.

In her presentations, Dr.Pelletier draws from what clients call a “clear mastery of the subject matter.” She speaks with authority to engage and inspire participants with passion, knowledge, expertise, and joy. And she shares this expertise in many ways, from keynote speeches, to panel moderator roles, to more informal fireside chats.

Thought Leadership and Industry Awards
Over the course of her career, she has participated on the boards of the Canadian Psychological Association and the International Association of Applied Psychology. She has also been an active member of the Global Clinical Practice Network of the World Health Organization, a role that she continues to this day.

Matissa Hollister, McGill University

Matissa Hollister is an assistant professor of Organizational Behavior at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University. Professor Hollister’s research examines how employer-employee relationships have evolved over the past five decades in North America. She is also an expert on the use of artificial intelligence in human resources and the impact of AI on the future of work. In 2019-2021, she designed and led an initiative with the World Economic Forum on the responsible use of AI in HR. She is co-chair of the Responsible AI Institute’s Automated Employment Working Group on responsible AI certification standards, has consulted with numerous private, government, and non-profit organizations on responsible AI use, and is a frequent speaker on AI ethics and policy.

She is also studying the growing use of machine learning in recruitment and hiring processes and teaches a related course in People Analytics. Professor Hollister earned a Master of City Planning from MIT followed by a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy at Harvard University. She is currently serving as a Fellow at the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco in the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Platform.

Sandra Guarascio – Partner, Roper Greyell LLP

Sandra is a partner* at Roper Greyell and is a member of its management committee. She practices in all areas of employment and labour law, with a focus in human rights and respectful workplace issues.

Sandra is focused on the needs of her clients and works with public and private sector employers providing proactive and practical advice for unionized and non-unionized environments. Her particular interests include management-side representation, respectful workplace issues, investigations, hiring and termination issues, accommodation and disability management, collective agreement administration and disputes, workplace policy development and training.

A strong advocate for her clients, Sandra offers a balanced approach to their workplace issues through creative problem solving and strategic intervention. Her methodology to client challenges enables her to find strong and thoughtful solutions. She provides strategic advice to employers in handling complaints and addressing respectful workplace issues including workplace and employment discrimination, harassment, bullying and workplace conflict. She is a skilled investigator who has conducted numerous workplace investigations including those in highly sensitive circumstances and in complex environments. She also designs and conducts workplace audits for employers and handles formal complaints provincially and federally.

Sandra is an experienced facilitator and speaker, an instructor with the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Services, and a guest lecturer at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She is also a volunteer with the BC Law Society and Continuing Legal Education, serving as co-chair of the award winning annual CLE Human Rights Conference.

Outside the office, Sandra recharges by connecting with nature. She can usually be found meandering on beaches and trails with her family and their three much loved Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

*Law corporation​

Andrew Carricato – Associate Counsel, Roper Greyell LLP/strong>