Democracy Includes Women
…and these pre-vetted diverse sources have indicated a willingness to comment on election issues relating to their expertise. You can reach them directly through the contact buttons on their profiles.
**Bookmark this page and check back regularly as we update it through the campaign.**
Click on a topic below to jump to that section
DATA GOVERNANCE & PRIVACY PROTECTION
FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL-TERRITORIAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
Self-Government and Treaty Rights
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & TRADE
BUSINESS
Jenifer Bartman – Founder, Jenifer Bartman Business Advisory Services
- Business, family business, small business, business planning, growth strategies, business development, investor readiness, global business relationships
Mandy Brouse – Small business owner, Words Worth Books
- Small business, Entrepreneurship, marketing and advertising, publishing and promoting
Marcela Mandeville – CEO, Alberta Women Entrepreneurs
- Business and leadership, small business, strategic and business planning, international business development, global development
Vivian Kaye – e-Commerce Coach and Founder & CEO, Vivian Kaye Consulting
- Entrepreneurship, side hustle, e-commerce, small business
Susan St Amand – President, Sirius Financial Services
- Finance, family enterprises and businesses
ECONOMY
Sheila Block – Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- Economics, public finance
Lydia Miljan – Associate Professor, University of Windsor
- Economic policy
Anoush Terjanian – Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
- Economics, politics and economics, modern capitalism, inequality, democracy
Employment
Sheila Block – Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
-
- Labour market
Katherine Breward – Associate Professor, University of Winnipeg
-
- Workplace justice and equity, disability accommodations, diversity management, bias in recruitment
Sylvia Fuller – Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
-
- Precarious employment, inequality, gender and work, work-family, immigration
Morgan Rowe – Associate Lawyer, Ravenlaw
-
- Employment, labour and human rights law, disability rights law
Lisa Taylor – President, Challenge Factory
-
- Employment, future of work, workforce demographics
Housing
Emma Cameron – Researcher, Dalhousie University
-
- Inclusive housing, community living
Jacqueline Kennelly – Associate Professor, Carleton University
-
- Homelessness, housing, issues concerning young people
Samantha McAleese – PhD Candidate, Carleton University
-
- Homelessness
Elsbeth Mehrer – Chief External Relations Officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary
-
- Homelessness, youth homelessness, public policy, social policy
Geranda Notten – Associate professor, University of Ottawa
-
- Subsidized housing
Nancy Worth – Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo
-
- Housing, inaccessible housing market, insecure work
Unemployment
Sheila Block – Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
-
- Economics, inequality
Parisa Mahboubi – Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute
-
- Labour market policy
Geranda Notten – Associate professor, University of Ottawa
-
- Poverty, income support
Katherine Scott – Senior Researcher, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
-
- Income security, poverty, social policy
TRADE
Jenifer Bartman – Founder, Jenifer Bartman Business Advisory Services
- Tariffs, trade, current affairs
Anoush Terjanian – Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
- International trade
CANNABIS
Mimi Lam – CEO and Co-Founder, Superette Inc.
- Cannabis, cannabis retail
Samantha McAleese – PhD Candidate, Carleton University
- Cannabis pardons/record suspensions, criminal justice
Amanda Siebert – Freelance author/writer/journalist
- Cannabis, cannabis in Canada, cannabis for health, cannabis news
CHILDCARE
Elena Merenda – Assistant Program Head, University of Guelph-Humber
- Early childhood education, leadership in early childhood studies, therapeutic play
Geranda Notten – Associate professor, University of Ottawa
- Parental leave
Susan Prentice – Professor, University of Manitoba
- Childcare policy
CLIMATE CHANGE
Angela Carter – Associate Professor, University of Waterloo
- Climate emergency, climate crisis, politics and policy of climate change, oil and gas, fossil fuels
Laura Coristine – Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Calgary
- Climate change solutions
Senator Rosa Galvez – Senate of Canada; Professor, Laval University
- Climate change, environmental engineering, pollution control, contamination, oil pollution
Sara Hastings-Simon – Research Fellow, Global Research Initiative, University of Calgary
- Climate change, innovation, clean tech, intersection of technology, business and policy
Deborah Harford – Director, Adapt to Climate Change, Simon Fraser University
- Climate change, climate policy, climate research, low carbon resilience, emission reduction
Kathryn Harrison – Professor, University of British Columbia
- Carbon pricing, carbon taxes, environmental, climate and energy policy, politics of carbon pricing
Courtney Howard – Emergency Physician and President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
- Planetary health, climate change, climate change and health, wildfires, ecological grief, northern health
Christine Leclerc – Climate Ambassador, Center for United Nations Constitutional Research
- Climate crisis, democratic solutions to climate crisis, emissions targets
Merran Smith – Executive Director, Clean Energy Canada
- Climate policy, climate change, conservation, climate solutions
Susan Uthayakumar – Country President, Schneider Electric Canada
- Climate change and sustainability
Stephanie Whitney – Associate Director, VERiS and Postdoctoral fellow, Wilfrid Laurier University
- Sustainability, climate change mitigation
Jennifer Winter – Assistant Professor, University of Calgary
- Climate policy, environmental policy, carbon pricing
Energy
Michelle Adams – Associate Professor, Dalhousie University
-
- Renewable energy, cleantech, sustainable industrial development, sustainable development goals applied to business and industry, resource efficiency
Senator Rosa Galvez – Senate of Canada; Professor, Laval University
-
- Energy policy, environmental engineering
Sara Hastings-Simon – Research Fellow, Global Research Initiative, University of Calgary
-
- Energy, energy transition, electricity, electricity markets, electricity policy
Kathryn Harrison – Professor, University of British Columbia
-
- Energy policy
Clara Kayser-Bril – Global Lead, Sustainable Energy, CPCS
-
- Renewable energy in Africa, solar power, hydropower, electrification
Terri-Lee Oleniuk – Partner, Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP
-
- Energy projects, resource development, renewable energy
Merran Smith – Executive Director, Clean Energy Canada
-
- Energy policy, clean energy
Susan Uthayakumar – Country President, Schneider Electric Canada
-
- Intersection of energy, technology and sustainability
Stephanie Whitney – Associate Director, VERiS and Postdoctoral fellow, Wilfrid Laurier University
-
- Energy, energy management, investment in high performance energy equipment, energy behaviours
Karen Ziegler – Country Advisor, Maersk Oil
-
- Energy infrastructure, energy markets, pipelines, petroleum, gas, oil
DATA GOVERNANCE & PRIVACY PROTECTION
Glendalynn Dixon – Change Management, Diversity & Leadership Consultant
- Data governance, data technology
Kathryn Hill – Executive Director, MediaSmarts/HabiloMédias
- Misinformation, media literacy, digital literacy, online safety, privacy, good digital citizenship
Paula Minnikin – Chief Technology Officer, Minnikin Resources Inc.
- Technology, internet security, cyber risk, regulated industries, governance
Lauren Reid – President, The Privacy Pro
- Privacy, data protection, data governance, data ethics, smart cities
Teresa Scassa – Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
- Privacy law, open data
Natasha Tusikov – Assistant Professor, York University
- Data governance, internet governance, smart cities
FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL-TERRITORIAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
Stéphanie Chouinard – Assistant Professor, Royal Military College/Queen’s University
- Federal-provincial-territorial intergovernmental relations
FOOD SECURITY
Nipa Banerjee – Senior fellow and adjunct professor, University of Ottawa
- Food security, international development, foreign aid, economic development
Steffi Hamann – Assistant Professor, University of Guelph
- Food security, global inequality, political economy, international development
Elaine Power – Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Studies, Queen’s University
- Food insecurity, poverty and food, income and food, hunger in Canada, food banks
Natalie Riediger – Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba
- Food and nutrition policy, food security
Tammara Soma – Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University and Research Director, Food Systems Lab
- Food security, food policy, food waste
Valerie Tarasuk – Professor, University of Toronto
- Food insecurity, food banks, food policy
HEALTH
Ivy Bourgeault – Professor, University of Ottawa
- Healthcare policy, health workforce
Jocelyn Downie – Professor, Dalhousie University
- Health law, health care ethics, end of life law, women’s health
Tara Kiran – Family Physician; Vice Chair Quality and Innovation, St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team; University of Toronto
- Health policy, healthcare quality
Mélanie Perroux – General Coordinator, Regroupement des Aidants Naturels du Québec (RANQ)
- Healthcare system
Amélie Quesnel-Vallé – Associate Professor, McGill University
- Healthcare, health services research, social inequalities in health
Natalie Riediger – Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba
- Health equity, Indigenous health
Helen Scott – Executive Director, Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH)
- Health policy, healthcare delivery
Farah Shroff – Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia
- Public health, integrative health care, social determinants of health
Yola Ventresca – Partner, Lerners LLP
- Health law, professional regulation, medical regulation and malpractice
Abortion
Shannon Dea – Professor, University of Waterloo
-
- Abortion rights
Jessica Shaw – Assistant Professor, University of Calgary
-
- Abortion, self-managed abortion, birth
Ellen Wiebe – Clinical Professor, University of Columbia
-
- Abortion, gynecology
Mental Health
Ivy Bourgeault – Professor, University of Ottawa
-
- Workplace mental health
Bukola Oladunni Salami – Associate Professor, University of Alberta
-
- Immigrants’ mental health, African immigrant health, temporary workers health
Esther Rhee – National Program Director, Autism Speaks
-
- Children’s mental health, children trauma and grief, family support
Suzanne Tough – Professor, University of Calgary
-
- Mental health, chronic conditions
Pharmacare
Cheryl Camillo – MHA Program Director & Assistant Professor, University of Regina
-
- National pharmacare, health system reform, health administration
Catherine Carstairs – Professor, University of Guelph
-
- History of absence of pharmacare and denticare in Canada’s medicare system, public health, health and body
Jamie Daw – Assistant Professor, Columbia University
-
- Pharmaceutical policy, pharmacare, health insurance, health policy
IMMIGRATION & REGUFEES
Sharry Aiken – Associate Professor, Queen’s University
- Immigration and refugee policy
Amira Elghawaby – Journalist & Human Rights Advocate
- Immigration, racism, marginalized communities, white supremacy
Paula Ethans – Legal Fellow, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights
- Immigration and refugee law
Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui – PhD Candidate, Sociologist and Researcher, McMaster University/Senior Communications Executive, Canadian Council of Muslim Women
- Immigration, immigrant and refugee integration
Petra Molnar – Acting Director, International Human Rights Program, University of Toronto Faculty of Law
- Refugee and migration issues, migration and immigration, international law of human rights
Bukola Oladunni Salami – Associate Professor, University of Alberta
- Immigrants and health policy, African/Black immigrants, migration and health
Louisa Taylor – Director, Refugee 613
- Immigration, refugee resettlement, migration, human rights
Lori Wilkinson – Professor of Sociology, University of Manitoba
- Immigration and ethnicity, refugees and resettlement, integration
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Lori Campbell – Director, Waterloo Indigenous Education Centre
- Indigenous issues, education and feminism, adoption, Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, reconciliation
Julie Nagam – Associate Professor, University of Winnipeg
- Aboriginal and Indigenous issues, Indigenous and cultural theory
Naomi Sayers – Indigenous lawyer and political influencer
- Indigenous law
Kim Stanton – Associate, Goldblatt Partners LLP
- Indigenous rights law, Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, truth and reconciliation commissions
Self-Government and Treaty Rights
Jodi Bruhn – Director, Stratejuste
-
- Indigenous affairs, Aboriginal justice
Kathryn Labelle – Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan
-
- Aboriginal history, settler colonialism, Indigenous identity
Julie Nagam – Associate Professor, University of Winnipeg
-
- Aboriginal issues, Indigenous issues, Indigenous and cultural theory
JUSTICE
Kathryn Campbell – Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
- Young offenders, miscarriages of justice, youth justice
Lisa Jørgensen – Partner, Cooper Jorgensen
- Access to justice, criminal law, criminal defence
Samantha McAleese – PhD Candidate, Carleton University
- Criminal justice, pardons, record suspensions, cannabis pardons/record suspensions
LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION
Elizabeth Dubois – Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
- Political communication
Lydia Miljan – Associate Professor, University of Windsor
- Political communication, politics, elections
Sarah Neville – Director, Open Line Communications
- Public speaking, speaker coaching, presentation skills
Shari Graydon – Founder and Catalyst, Informed Opinions
- Effective communication, speech writing, performance training, presentation skills
Katherine Sullivan – PhD Candidate, Université de Montreal
- Political communication, Canadian politics
MISINFORMATION
Elizabeth Dubois – Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
- Disinformation, political bots, artificial intelligence
Kathryn Hill – Executive Director, MediaSmarts/HabiloMédias
- Misinformation, media literacy, digital literacy, online safety, privacy, good digital citizenship
MONEY LAUNDERING
Vanessa lafolla – Lecturer, University of Waterloo
- Money laundering, fraud, financial crime
NATIONAL DEFENCE
Andrea Charron – Director, Centre for Defence and Security Studies
- International relations, Canadian defence policy, conflict analysis, Canada – U.S. defence relations
Colleen Bell – Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan
- Security, war, military intervention, counterinsurgency
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
Stéphanie Chouinard – Assistant Professor, Royal Military College/Queen’s University
- Official languages, language rights, relationship between Francophones and Anglophones
POLITICS
Sylvia Bashevkin – Professor, University of Toronto
- Canadian politics, comparative politics, women in politics
Amanda Bittner – Associate Professor, Memorial University
- Political parties, elections, political psychology, public opinion and voting
Stéphanie Chouinard – Assistant Professor, Royal Military College/Queen’s University
- Federalism, judicial politics, law and politics
Penny Collenette – Adjunct Professor, University of Ottawa
- Canadian politics, women in politics, liberalism
Katie Davey – Founder, Femme Wonk
- Provincial and federal politics, social and public policy, youth engagement
Elizabeth Dubois – Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
- Politics, elections
Dana Gold – PhD candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Western Ontario
- Politics, Arab-Israeli conflict, foreign policy
Kate Graham – Political Scientist, Western University
- Young people and politics, democracy, local government, diversity, women
Kathryn Harrison – Professor, University of British Columbia
- Political science, Canadian politics, comparative politics, federalism, politics of carbon pricing
Amanda Kingsley Malo – Founder, PoliticsNOW
- Women in politics, community organizing
Lydia Miljan – Associate Professor, University of Windsor
- Canadian politics, elections, electoral politics, behavioural politics, federal elections, provincial elections, municipal politics
Velma Morgan – Teacher and Chair, Operation Black Vote Canada
- Women in politics, black community in civic engagement, cultural and gender inclusion in government
Arezoo Najibzadeh – Women in politics advocate, Young Women’s Leadership Network
- Women in politics, politics and public policy, Canadian politics
Jasmine Pickel – Interim Ontario Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation
- Politics, government, tax, federal taxation issues
Stéphanie Plante – Elections expert and advisor, International Commission of Jurists, Canada
- Elections, Electoral integrity, Leadership contests, Small scale democracy, Referendums, Voter turnout, Barriers to minorities in politics, Election systems and administration
Leah Sarson – Assistant professor, Dalhousie University
- Gender and politics, Indigenous global politics, Canadian foreign policy, international relations
Naomi Sayers – Indigenous lawyer and political influencer
- Canadian politics, Indigenous women in politics
Katherine Sullivan – PhD Candidate, Université de Montreal
- Canadian politics, women in politics, political communication, social media
Melanee Thomas – Professor of Political Science, University of Calgary
- Canadian politics, gender and politics, elections, voter behaviour, political engagement, public opinion and policy
Erin Tolley – Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto
- Women in politics, race, gender and diversity in Canadian politics
RETIREMENT & SENIORS
Amy Friesen – CEO and Founder, Tea & Toast
- Senior’s industry, retirement residence, living options
Lisa Taylor – President, Challenge Factory
- Retirement, multi-generations, boomers, aging
SECURITY
Sharry Aiken – Associate Professor, Queen’s University
- Security issues
Colleen Bell – Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan
- Security, war, military intervention, counterinsurgency
Stéphanie Martel – Assistant Professor, Queen’s University
- International relations, security
Laura Tribe – Executive Director, OpenMedia
- Internet policy, security, censorship, access