The Empire Club of Canada
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s (OCC) 2024 Ontario Economic Report Launch featuring Ontario’s President of the Treasury Board.
Panel featuring: The Honourable Caroline Mulroney, Ontario’s President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Francophone Affairs, David Lebeter, President and CEO, Hydro One, and Douglas Porter, Chief Economist and Managing Director, Economics, BMO.
Introducing the OCC’s new President and CEO Daniel Tisch. The Empire Club of Canada has joined forces with the OCC for an important event to launch their flagship 2024 Ontario Economic Report.
Ontario’s economy is facing major headwinds.
Last year, business confidence hit a record low in Ontario; is growth in the cards for businesses in 2024? Will labour shortages, inflation, and high interest rates continue to dampen Ontario’s economic outlook?
Be the first to hear new data and insights on regional economic projections, business confidence, and policy priorities. This year’s report will contain data and analysis on mental health, climate and energy, labour shortages, reconciliation, supply chains, and more.
In one of his first public appearances, the Empire Club will introduce the Chamber’s new President and CEO – Daniel Tisch.
Minister Mulroney will join a distinguished panel with David Lebeter, President and CEO, Hydro One, and Douglas Porter, Chief Economist and Managing Director, Economics, BMO to discuss Ontario’s productivity, economic outlook and business confidence.
The Ontario Economic Report is an evidence-based document rooted in the OCC’s annual Business Confidence Survey, offering unique perspectives on the experiences of businesses of all sizes across the province.
Please join us on February 7th and reserve your tickets now.
Minister Mulroney, was elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for York-Simcoe in 2018, and subsequently re-elected in June 2022.
In September 2023 Minister Mulroney was appointed President of the Treasury Board of Ontario where she is responsible for expenditure management for the government of Ontario. As President of the Treasury Board, Minister Mulroney is also responsible for Emergency Management Ontario and for modernizing public sector procurement.
In her previous role as Minister of Transportation, Minister Mulroney focused on creating a more safe and efficient transportation network across Ontario. This includes overseeing the largest transit expansion in Ontario’s history and ensuring that critical infrastructure is built to execute our government’s ambitious plan to build Ontario.
Also serving as Minister of Francophone Affairs, Minister Mulroney has worked to ensure the prosperity of our francophone communities, by continuously promoting Ontario’s Francophonie as an economic asset and focusing on training a strong bilingual workforce. She has paved the way to open l’Université de l’Ontario français and has modernized the French Language Services Act to ensure quality services are available for generations to come.
Minister Mulroney is a graduate of Harvard College and the NYU School of Law.
Daniel is a business, public policy, and community leader, having held executive roles in government and the corporate sector, and senior governance roles at public institutions and non-profit associations. He is known globally as an expert in corporate communications, public policy, community engagement, crisis and reputation management.
From 2003 to 2023, Daniel was the driving force in building Argyle Communications into Canada’s largest management-owned engagement, communication and reputation advisory firm growing to $38M in revenue, 155 employees and ten North American offices by 2023. Earlier in his career, Daniel held senior communications roles in the Canadian government, including serving as Senior Policy Advisor and Acting Chief of Staff to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the latter role, he was a member of the Canadian delegation to the G7 Economic Summit
Daniel has spoken to business audiences on every continent, lectured at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business since 1996, and contributed to leading public relations and marketing textbooks. He appears regularly in print and broadcast media, including weekly commentary on CBC Radio and Global News during the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections. In 2021, Daniel was named one of the world’s “top 100” social media influencers on public relations.
Born in Spain to a Latin American family and raised in Toronto, Daniel speaks English, French and Spanish. He holds two degrees from Queen’s University — a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and a Master of Business Administration. He is also a certified corporate director, with an ICD.D designation in corporate governance from the University of Toronto. Daniel has served as vice chair of the Queen’s University Board of Trustees, a leader in the international Scouting movement and a board member of Social Venture Partners International.
David Lebeter was appointed President and CEO of Hydro One in January 2023. Mr. Lebeter is a highly regarded leader with over 40 years’ experience in the utility and forestry sectors and a reputation for driving improved safety, employee engagement, productivity, customer centricity and successfully delivering capital investments.
Mr. Lebeter has 18 years of experience in all facets of the electricity sector and was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of Hydro One Networks Inc., a role he assumed in January 2020, with responsibility for transmission and distribution, including construction, maintenance, vegetation management as well as system operations, asset planning and engineering. Under Mr. Lebeter’s leadership, the company has improved safety, productivity, reliability and customer experience.
Before joining Hydro One, he held progressively senior positions in operations and safety at BC Hydro from 2005 to 2019, including leadership roles in generation, transmission, distribution and safety. During his tenure, he was responsible for improving safety, reliability, employee engagement and customer service, lowering costs and building trust with union leaders and Indigenous communities.
Mr. Lebeter spent 23 years in the forest industry prior to joining the utility sector, working in leadership positions responsible for operations.
He has previously served as an Executive Board Member for Smart Grid Northwest, as an Operations Board Member for Western Energy Institute, and as the Chairman of the Distribution Council with the Canadian Electricity Association. He holds his ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Mr. Lebeter holds a Bachelor’s degree in Forestry from the University of British Columbia, and is a registered professional forester. In addition, Mr. Lebeter holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.
Douglas Porter has over 30 years of experience analyzing global economies and financial markets. As Chief Economist at BMO and author of the popular Talking Points, he oversees the macroeconomic and financial market forecasts and co-writes the firm’s weekly flagship publication, Focus. Mr. Porter manages the team that has won numerous forecasting awards. Most recently, Douglas led the team to a #1 ranking for Top U.S. Forecaster among 60 global firms in the 2023 Focus Economics Survey, and #1 for Top Canadian Inflation Forecaster among 28 firms. Also, his team took the #1 spot in the StarMine Awards for Most Accurate Forecasters for Canada in 2022.
As a respected commentator on economic and financial trends, he is regularly quoted in the national press and often interviewed on radio and television.
Douglas’ career began at the Bank of Canada; then, before joining BMO, he held the positions of Economist and Country Risk Analyst with other Canadian financial institutions.
He has been a member of C.D. Howe’s Monetary Policy Council since 2008 and serves on the Investment Management Committees of the Bank of Montreal’s Canada Pension Plan and Western’s Endowment Fund.
Douglas Porter, CFA, earned a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.
Amber Kanwar is a financial journalist who has spent the last decade reporting on the markets and the global economy. She is currently an anchor at BNN Bloomberg. She has interviewed hundreds of newsmakers over the past decade including CEOs of major Canadian & international companies, entrepreneurs, fund managers, politicians, and thought leaders. Amber has Bachelor of Arts in Management & Organizational Studies from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters in Journalism from Ryerson University. She currently lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.