Expert Advisory Committee - Biographies

The committee's members occupy diverse senior positions or are experts in their field in the public, private and academic sectors. The initial members are as follows.

George Da Pont, Chair

Mr. Da Pont has held senior positions in various federal government organizations for over 30 years. Mr. Da Pont was appointed President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on June 11, 2011 after having served as the Agency's Executive Vice-President since June 2010. Before joining the CFIA, Mr. Da Pont was the Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard for almost five years, where he was primarily responsible for delivering Coast Guard operations such as search and rescue, navigation services, icebreaking, marine communications and traffic, and support for security activities.

John L. Bragg

Mr. Bragg is the founder, chairman, president and co-chief executive officer of Oxford Frozen Foods Ltd., an international supplier of frozen wild blueberries, carrots, cranberries, battered vegetable and cheese products, and other edible goods. Mr. Bragg also founded Bragg Communications Inc., which operates under the EastLink brand and is Canada's fifth-largest cable television provider. Mr. Bragg is a former chancellor of Mount Allison University, an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Dr. Conrad G. Brunk

Dr. Brunk is a professor of philosophy and environmental studies at the University of Victoria. He regularly advises the Government of Canada on various environmental, health risk management and biotechnology issues. He is a founding member of the International Forum for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) and Food Safety. Among his many publications, is a book he co-authored, titled Value Assumptions in Risk Assessment, which explores how moral and political values influence scientific judgments about technological risks. He holds a doctorate degree in philosophy from Northwestern University.

Dr. Bonnie Buntain

Dr. Buntain teaches at the University of Calgary and is also Assistant Dean of the Government and International Relations Committee within the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where she was the Founding Interim Department Head of Ecosystem and Public Health. Dr. Buntain is a past Chief Public Health Veterinarian for the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. She obtained her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Colorado State University.

Claude Carrière

Claude Carrière is the Associate Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Previously, he served as a foreign and defence policy advisor to the Prime Minister and also Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet within the Privy Council Office. Mr. Carrière also held several posts at Natural Resources Canada and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. He holds a master's degree in economics and a bachelor degree in social sciences from the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois

Dr. Charlebois is Associate Dean and Professor in the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph. Dr. Charlebois is the author of "Pas dans mon assiette: Manger est-il devenu risqué?" which is an essay on food security and safety, and is co-author of Real People, Real Decisions. He is currently writing another book on global food safety systems.

Dr. Brian Evans (ex-officio)

Dr. Evans is currently a special advisor to the President at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), as well as the delegate of the Government of Canada to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Dr. Evans was appointed as Canada's Chief Veterinary Officer in 1997 and Chief Food Safety Officer in 2010 and served in these roles until September 2012. Dr. Evans also served as Executive Vice-President of the CFIA. Before the creation of the CFIA, Dr. Evans held senior-level positions within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and spent several years in private practice, focusing on reproductive herd health.

Dr. Daniel Krewski

Dr. Krewski is a professor and director of the R. Samuel McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment at the University of Ottawa where he is involved in a number of activities in public health assessment. He has published many articles and books, and is widely known for his research on environmental determinants of health. Dr. Krewski holds a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Chair in risk science and is a Lifetime National Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He holds a doctorate degree in statistics from Carleton University.

Catherine MacLeod

Catherine MacLeod was appointed Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of the Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) at Health Canada in April 2010. In this role, she provides leadership for the regulation of food and veterinary drugs, as well managing nutrition promotion and the HPFB inspectorate.

Previously, she was the Senior Director General of the Programs Directorate, Regions and Program Branch. Ms MacLeod has also held executive positions at the Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Justice.

She holds a B.A. Honours from Queens= University and a Masters of Philosophy in Politics from Exeter University in the UK.

Dr. N. Ole Nielsen

Dr. Nielsen is a professor emeritus in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph. He is a past dean of both the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and the Ontario Veterinary College. His research interests include comparative medicine, diseases associated with E. coli, mercury toxicology and wildlife diseases. Dr. Nielson holds doctorate degrees in veterinary medicine and veterinary pathology from the University of Toronto and the University of Minnesota respectively.

Krista Outhwaite

Krista Outhwaite is the Associate Deputy Minister and Chief Operating Officer of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Previously she was the Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet within the Privy Council Office and Assistant Deputy Minister, Market and Industry Services Branch at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Mrs. Outhwaite also held posts within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Mrs. Outhwaite holds a master's degree in science from the University of Manitoba.

Dr. W. Ronald Usborne

Dr. Usborne is a former chair of the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph, a Vice-President of Food Safety, Quality, and Technical Services at Caravelle Foods, and chair of the Technical Committee for the Canadian Meat Council. He retired from Caravelle Foods in 2004 and now advises the food industry in the areas of food safety and quality issues, as well as government relations. Dr. Usborne obtained his doctorate degree in meat science from the University of Kentucky.