Julia Abelson
Professor, McMaster University
Julia Abelson is a professor of health policy in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact at McMaster University where she also leads the Public and Patient Engagement Collaborative which supports the design, implementation and evaluation of public and patient engagement in health research and health systems. Over her 25 year career, she has held numerous research grants and awards from provincial and national funding agencies. She is a past recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator award, an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Career Scientist award and held a Harkness Fellowship in Healthcare Policy from the US-based Commonwealth Fund. Through her research and advisory activities, she works closely with policy makers, health systems managers, citizens and people with lived and living experience.
Bonnie Brossart
Former CEO, Saskatchewan Medical Association
Bonnie Brossart is a passionate health care system leader committed to large-scale health system improvement and transformation. For over 11 years she served as the CEO of the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA). She led the organization in achieving one of the largest compensation agreements for Saskatchewan physicians, including an innovative approach for compensating family-physician-led team-based care that will advance the transformation of primary care in Saskatchewan. She retired from this role in May 2026. Since 2002, she worked at the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council (HQC), serving as the CEO for seven years. During her time at the HQC, she was instrumental in fostering quality improvement capability across the province’s health system and leading the charge on numerous large-scale initiatives. Her early career as a health services researcher with the Health Services Utilization and Research Commission (HSURC) of Saskatchewan, a large tertiary hospital in Calgary, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health laid the foundation for her extensive knowledge and experience. Bonnie’s leadership, quality improvement, and research background are of considerable breadth. She has had the privilege of working with several international leaders in health system quality improvement.
Pierre-Gerlier Forest
Professor, University of Montreal
Pierre-Gerlier (PG) Forest is a professor of public health policy with the School of Public Health at University of Montreal. He was until recently the President and CEO of Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), an independent agency under the Quebec Government providing scientific analysis and advice in all domains of public health, from laboratories to policy. Prior to his appointment to INSPQ in 2022, he was Professor of Public Health Policy with the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine of the University of Calgary. From 2016 to 2021, he was also Director of the School of Public Policy and held an appointment as the Palmer Chair in public policy. Between 2013 and 2016, he was Director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at Johns Hopkins University and a professor with the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He previously served as the head or chief scientist of different Canadian agencies or federal departments, following academic appointments in health and social policy with universities in Canada and abroad. He is the author of more than a hundred and eighty scientific papers and books; notably: Changing Health Care in Canada (Toronto, 2004) and Paradigm Freeze (Toronto, 2013). He was elected to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2008.
Cynthia Johansen
Deputy Minister, BC Ministry of Health
Cynthia Johansen was appointed deputy minister in April 2025. Previously, she served as registrar and chief executive officer for the BC College of Nurses and Midwives, the largest health profession regulator in Western Canada. With a regulatory career beginning in 2003, she has played a pivotal role in bringing people and organizations together — including government, other regulators and the public — to improve and transform professional practice standards and regulation. Cynthia’s leadership was instrumental in advancing the amalgamation of the nursing regulatory colleges in BC, implementing a national nursing licensure database for Canada, and integrating Indigenous-specific anti-racism into professional standards for health professionals. She holds degrees in political science, leadership studies and information management.
Shachi Kurl
President, Angus Reid Institute
Shachi Kurl is President of the Angus Reid Institute, Canada’s non-profit foundation committed to independent research. She works with public opinion data to further public knowledge and enhance the national understanding of issues that matter to Canada and the world. Kurl is a regular contributor on CBC’s “Power and Politics”, and is often found offering analysis in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Globe and Mail. She spent the first part of her career as political reporter and holds a degree in Journalism and Political Science from Carleton University. In 2022 returned to Carleton’s J-School as an Adjunct Research Professor, and in 2026 was appointed a Senior Research Fellow at the University Ottawa’s School of Political Studies. Kurl is a seasoned election debate moderator, hosting the only televised leaders’ debates in the 2020 and 2024 provincial elections in BC, and the English language federal leaders’ debate in 2021. Kurl is a recipient of the prestigious Jack Webster Award for Best TV Reporting, and is currently the Chair of the Jack Webster Foundation. She is past National Co-Chair of the Canadian Cancer Society.
Terry Lake
Former BC Minister of Health
Terry Lake served as BC Health Minister from 2013 to 2017, responsible for overseeing an $18 billion dollar budget and serving a population of over five million British Columbians. He was awarded the Canadian Public Health Association Public Health Hero Award in 2017 for his groundbreaking work on the opioid overdose crisis, including opening overdose prevention sites across the province. Terry retired in 2025 as the CEO of the BC Care Providers Association, which represents operators of long term care services, retirement communities and home health. Terry trained and practiced as a veterinarian and taught animal health technology before entering public life as an elected representative. He served as councillor and then Mayor of the City of Kamloops and then was elected Member of the Legislature for the riding of Kamloops North Thompson in 2009. He served as Minister of the Environment from 2011-2013. He was awarded an Honoury Degree by Thompsons University in Kamloops, is a recipient of the University of Saskatchewan Alumni Achievement Award and the BC Veterinary Medical Association Award of Merit. Terry was VP of Corporate Social Responsibility for Hexo Corporation, one of Canada’s largest cannabis producers from 2017-2019. He is a board member of the Big Little Science Centre in Kamloops and the Supporting Team Excellence for Patients Society, a Community Health Centre.
Marcel Saulnier
Health Policy Consultant
Marcel Saulnier is an Ottawa-based health policy consultant and a senior advisor with Santis Health. He also serves as Executive Advisor for Federal Engagement with the Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges and as Associate with MP Advisory Group. He was previously Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Policy Branch at Health Canada. He has held other senior positions at Health Canada, including as Director General of Health Care Strategies, and Director General of Policy Coordination and Planning. He played a key role in advising the government on health care policy, leading the development of bilateral agreements on mental health and home care, as well as laying the foundation for national universal pharmacare. He was Executive Director of the Secretariat for the Advisory Panel on the Implementation of National Pharmacare chaired by Dr. Eric Hoskins (2018) and Executive Secretary of the secretariat support the Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation (2015) chaired by Dr. David Naylor. Marcel’s career has included policy leadership positions at the Canadian Medical Association, the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Canada, the National Forum on Health, and Health and Welfare Canada. He is a past member of the Boards of Directors of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, and a past member of the Institute Advisory Board of the CIHR Institute for Health Services and Policy Research and of the National Steering Committee for Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research.