Formerly an executive in the Canadian brokerage industry, Paul Bates is Dean and Industry Professor in Financial Management Services at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.  

John De Goey CFP
Senior Financial Advisor, Burgeonvest Securities Limited

Author, media resource, keynote speaker and award winner, John DeGoey has built his practice (over the last 13 years) through professionalism and integrity. He holds a Masters in Public Administration and is a Certified Investment Manager (CIM), Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI), Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP). John is the author of 'The Professional Financial Advisor II' and a regular columnist for The National Post, Canadian Money Saver and Advisor's Edge Report. He speaks to companies on matters of professionalism and process and is Past President, Canadian Association of Financial Planners, Toronto Chapter. He also is the recipient of the national Multi-Media Award in 2001 from the Canadian Association of Financial Planners. An energetic and articulate national authority on matters of financial advice, compensation transparency, ethics and the appropriateness of investment products and strategies, John is among the leaders challenging a sales-cultured industry to evolve into a bonafide profession.

Jocelyne Houle-LeSarge
Executive Director, Institut québécois de planification financière (IQPF)

Jocelyne Houle-LeSarge is Executive director of the Institut québécois de planification financière (IQPF) since 2002. She sits on the executive committee.

Ms. Houle-LeSarge has been a member of the Ordre des CGA du Québec since 1983, and chaired the organization in 1999-2000. She was named a member for life and made a Fellow in 1997 in recognition for her commitment and initiative. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of CGA-Canada and was active in a number of its committees. In 2005, she was granted the Québec Interprofessional Council's Mérite Award for her contribution to the advancement of her profession and Québec's professional system.

Ms. Houle-LeSarge has several years of experience in operational and financial management at financial institutions and in the service industry. In 1997, she participated in the first women's trade mission to Washington, organized by the Canadian government. Her expertise in finance led the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to nominate her to the Sectoral Advisory Group on International Trade, for the service sector.

Ms. Houle-LeSarge is often called upon to host or speak at various industry events and conferences, and is also a regular contributor to "Votre argent", a financial program broadcasted on TVA's news channel LCN-A.

Since January 2006, Ms. Houle-LeSarge is Vice-chair of the Caisse Desjardins de l'Île-des-Sœurs' Board of Directors.

In 2003, Ms. Houle-LeSarge was elected Chair of Question Retraite, a public-private group that promotes financial security in retirement. She still holds this position to this day.

Donald Johnston
Past President and CEO, Financial Planners Standards Council

Donald Johnston founded FPSC in 1995 with a vision and unrelenting passion to create the foundation for a profession through the development of a made-in-Canada certification based on uniform, rigorous requirements in education, examination, ethics and experience. Johnston, rallied support for his mandate from key influential organizations in the industry, and, in 1996, secured the rights for FPSC to be sole licensor of the internationally recognized CFP® professional certification marks in Canada.

Under Johnston’s leadership, FPSC has continued to ensure the ongoing relevance, integrity and rigour of the CFP standards. A few examples: the CFP® Financial Planning Practice Standards; the ongoing refinement of the certification process, including the national CFP® Examination and the recently completed financial planning competency analysis; and an ongoing and powerful public awareness effort that has contributed to an increase in public understanding and appreciation of financial planning and the value of hiring a CFP professional.

Johnston was the 2006 recipient of the award that bears his name. He retired at the end of June 2006.

Alastair Rickard, a financial services veteran with more than 30 years in the industry and currently AVP, Government & Industry Relations for Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, has held various roles with Clarica, now Sun Life, that included directing the operations of a national network of regional offices staffed by salaried financial planners and extensive involvement with distribution and regulatory matters. Additionally, he has served on various financial services industry task forces and regulatory committees for over 20 years. He has been Chair of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association's Committee on Distribution and Intermediaries since 1992, and was a founding member of the Joint Industry Group, a multi-stakeholder alliance of financial services associations. He has also served on the federal government's Canadian Advisory Committee on Personal Financial Planning relating to the work of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Rickard was invited to join the Board of FPSC in 2002, served as its Vice Chair in 2003, Chair in 2004 and Past Chair in 2005.

In 1978, Mr. Rickard founded The Canadian Journal of Life Insurance and Financial Services. In addition to editing the journal, he has written articles for various newspapers and magazines in Canada including The Globe and Mail and The Financial Post, was a columnist for Canadian Underwriter and for Insurance Digest and has contributed articles to U.S. magazines such as Best's Review.

Rickard was the 2007 recipient of the Donald J. Johnston Award.

Ellen Roseman
Personal Finance and Consumer Affairs Columnist, Toronto Star

Ellen Roseman is a personal finance and consumer affairs columnist with the Toronto Star's business section. Her columns appear Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. She was the Star's business editor before moving to full-time columnist in 1999. She previously spent two decades at the Globe and Mail as a columnist on consumer affairs, personal finance and mutual funds, and associate managing editor of the Report on Business.

Her recent books, Money 101: Every Canadian's Guide to Personal Finance, and Money 201: More Personal Finance Advice for Every Canadian, are based on a series she did in the Sunday Star. The columns, which have now progressed to Money 401, are an easy-to-understand introduction to personal finance for those of us who are short of time and money.

She's the author of four other books, Ellen Roseman's Money Guide for Modern Families, Canadian Parent's Sourcebook, Canadian Consumers' Survival Book, and Consumer, Beware!

Ellen teaches investing courses at the University of Toronto's school of continuing studies, writes a column for CARP 50Plus magazine and does commentaries every second Thursday morning on CBC radio's Business Network. She's a current board member of Starnews Credit union and a former member of the Ontario Security Commission's investor advisory committee. She's also past president of the Credit Counselling Service of Toronto. 

Check out her blog at www.ellenroseman.com.

David Wild
Chair, Saskatchewan Financial Securities Commission

Dave Wild was appointed as Chair of the Securities Commission in August, 2001. He was appointed as Chair of the Financial Services Commission on February 1, 2003. He is also the Superintendent of Pensions and responsible for the administration of The Pension Benefits Act in Saskatchewan. He is an active member of the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities and the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators. Mr. Wild has significant experience as a pension plan administrator in the public sector in Saskatchewan. He has also worked as an asset management consultant providing investment advice to pension plans, and was involved in the establishment of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan.