Expert economists and world leaders alike have declared a unanimous truth about the recession caused by COVID-19: its biggest victims are women. Dubbed “The Shecession”, women across the globe continue to struggle with unemployment, the difficult decision to return to work, and ever-changing plans for childcare and schooling. How could 1 billion dollars help to combat root causes of The Shecession?
Join Canadian Club Toronto on September 15 as our panelists Kathleen Wynne (Former Premier of Ontario and MPP, Don Valley West), Tina Lee (CEO, T&T Supermarkets), Ken Boessenkool (Partner, KTG Public Affairs Ltd.) and Dawn Desjardins (Deputy Chief Economist, RBC) discuss how they would each use $1 billion to support safe returns to school, increase the accessibility of childcare, institute tax rebates, and more in order to take care of women in this unprecedented financial crisis.
Please note: You will receive you personal webcast link the morning of the event.
Kathleen Wynne
Former Premier of Ontario and MPP, Don Valley West
Kathleen Wynne was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Don Valley West. She was Ontario’s 25th Premier and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party January, 2013 to June 2018.
Kathleen has dedicated her professional life to building a better province for the people of Ontario. She is guided by the values and principles that knit this province together: fairness, diversity, collaboration and creativity.
Kathleen has served as Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Education and Minister of Agriculture and Food. As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Kathleen finalized a new funding agreement with the federal government to improve access to affordable housing.
As the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Kathleen championed Ontario’s $34-billion agri-food industry and brought in the Local Food Act.
In her role as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Kathleen worked in partnership with First Nations communities to address issues such as mining development, First Nations land claims, and improving quality of life for aboriginals living off-reserve through affordable housing and recreation programs.
As Minister of Education, Kathleen led the government’s efforts to reduce class sizes, implement full-day kindergarten and provide more opportunities for high school students to reach their full potential.
During Kathleen’s tenure as the Minister of Transportation, she secured a new transit expansion plan for Toronto including the Eglinton-Scarborough LRT, and oversaw Ontario’s largest highway investments, including the Highway 407 East Extension and the Windsor-Essex Parkway.
Kathleen has three adult children, Chris, Jessie and Maggie, and three grandchildren, Olivia, Claire and Hugh. She and her partner Jane have lived in North Toronto for more than 25 years.
Tina Lee
CEO, T&T Supermarkets
Tina Lee is the CEO of T&T Supermarkets. Headquartered in Richmond, B.C., T&T has become Canada’s largest Asian food retailer with 26 stores across the country. She is an industry expert in the ethnic grocery space and is a passionate spokesperson on the topics of grocery retail, diversity and inclusion, women in leadership, and family business.
In 2018, Tina received the Executive of the Year Award by Ascend Canada and the RCC Grand Prix Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award by the Retail Council of Canada. In 2017, Tina was one of five Canadian female CEOs appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to join the Canada-United States Council for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders, and most recently, she has been appointed to the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Supply Council.
She completed her MBA from UCLA, and HBA from Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University.
Tina currently lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.
Ken Boessenkool
Partner, KTG Public Affairs Ltd.
Ken Boessenkool is one of Canada’s most successful conservative strategists. Colby Cosh described him as “an election strategist and policy chef who lurks around conservative parties everywhere in Canada.” The Edmonton Journal said he helps “ensure victory of conservative-minded candidates and policies…”
Ken was a founding partner of Kool Topp & Guy Public Affairs with Don Guy and Brian Topp. In the course of his career, he has served as Senior Counsel at GCI Canada, was Senior Vice President and National Practice Director for Public Affairs at Hill & Knowlton Canada, where he was also General Manager for Alberta and Manager of Business Development. Ken was a senior regulatory economist with two electricity firms. He once worked at a bank.
Ken has played senior strategic and policy roles in four national election campaigns for the Conservative Party of Canada under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He has been Chief of Staff to a Premier of British Columbia, a senior policy advisor to three national Conservative leaders, two Alberta Finance Ministers, and an Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader. He has played senior policy or campaign manager roles in three national leadership campaigns and three provincial leadership campaigns.
Ken is the Board Chair of Sonshine Community Foundation – a Calgary based women and children’s shelter. He has served on the following boards: The Canada-Israel Committee; The Cantos Music Foundation (now the National Music Centre); The Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, Civitas and the Forum of Federations.
Ken has published numerous policy and academic papers on a range of key national issues and is a frequent contributor to numerous online and print publications.
Ken has an undergraduate degree in business with majors in Finance and Philosophy from the University of Lethbridge and a graduate degree in economics from the University of Toronto. Ken and Tammy have a four daughters and three son-in-laws and a granddaughter and live in Chestermere, Alberta.
Dawn Desjardins
Deputy Chief Economist, RBC
Dawn Desjardins joined the Royal Bank Economics team in January 2006 as a senior economist. She is responsible for the macroeconomic and interest rate forecasts for Canada and the U.S. Previously, Dawn worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Financial News in Toronto covering the Canadian bond and currency markets. She was also the Canadian bond market strategist for a major U.S. bank for ten years.
