Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray became Saint Mary's University's 34th President on July 1st, 2015.

Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Robert came to Canada in the 1980s receiving his Ph.D.n Geography from the University of Toronto.

 He has served in a number of senior academic roles, including the Dean of Social Sciences at Mount Allison University and as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Dalhousie University.

He is a respected educator, having received the Tucker Teaching Award, the AAU Distinguished Teacher Award and a 3M Fellowship. His research areas include historical geography, environmental history, industrial heritage, archives and narratives, GIS and cartography, the work of New Brunswick literary figure Charles G. D. Roberts, student mobility and internationalization.

I met Dr. Summerby-Murray through our mutual work on Nova Scotia's Business Education Council, a group organized to advance entrepreneurship in the education system. He continues to be very active in promoting business growth and innovation in Atlantic Canada

I met with Robert at his office at Saint Mary's to talk about his life, his thoughts on education, innovation, immigration and the future of Atlantic Canada.

I hope you enjoy my wide-ranging conversation with Robert Summerby-Murray

Lisa Coates is a driver. She was born in Los Angeles in 1964. Her mother was a white Scottish Cape Bretoner and her father a black musician and teacher.

Lisa moved back to Cape Breton with her mother and then on to Boston as a teenager to complete her education and begin work.

Being a mixed-race child in Nova Scotia in the 70s came exposed Lisa to racism from both sides of the cultural divide. The experience hardened her resolve.

She explored real estate in Massachusetts following 9/11 but eventually packed it in to return to Nova Scotia. Her experience with real estate provided a foundation for the creation of a contracting company.

She has built her business, Level Ten Landworks into a well-respected construction firm, doubling her revenues from year one to year two. It is truly an entrepreneur's story.

I hope you enjoy my wide-ranging candid conversation with the energetic and opinionated, Lisa Coates.

Steve Poltz is taking the world by donkey. Originally from Nova Scotia, Steve left with his family as a child to move to California.

He attended the University of San Diego, earning a degree in political science, where he met guitarist Robert Driscoll and formed the indie band The Rugburns.

He holds dual citizenship and regularly tours Canada playing folk festivals, music venues, and house concerts.

Steve is best known for a song he co-wrote with Alaskan born artist Jewel, You Were Meant for Me which achieved huge recognition ranking number 20 on Billboard’s All Time Top 100.

His one-man shows are a combination of storytelling and music, laying open his philosophy and satirical social commentary using simple yet innovative songs.

I met Steve 20 years ago when he first played the Economy Shoe Shop in Halifax while touring to support his album One Left Shoe.

He regularly appears at the Carleton Music Bar and Grill in Halifax, and has developed a strong local following along with a worldwide network of loyal fans. 

I hope you enjoy my wide-ranging candid conversation with the brilliantly creative and delightfully weird Steve Poltz.

Brookes Diamond has managed the careers of Rita MacNeil, The Rankin Family, singer-songwriter Bruce Guthro, Aselin Debison, comedian Bette MacDonald, Ryan's Fancy and children's entertainers Sharon Lois and Bram.With his wife and business partner Fiona, Brookes Diamond Productions has produced countless successful entertainment events including the G-7 Summit Ceilidh, the Tall Ships 2000 main stage shows, the Symphony Explosion with Symphony Nova Scotia, Remembering Stan Rogers, live shows, and television and radio specials. Brookes and Fiona also founded the Halifax Comedy Festival.They've produced shows all over the world including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Royal Albert Hall in London and the Palace Theater in Times Square New York.Brookes Diamond Production also created Drum! a show synthesizing the musical culture of Atlantic Canada's indigenous and European cultures, your hearing music from this production now.

More recently Brookes collaborated with filmmaker Saltwind Productions to create a film honouring Nova Scotia’s sailing Ambassador. Bluenose, the Legend Lives is screening in a seasonal production SeaDome on the Halifax waterfront using cutting-edge VR technology in a 360-degree projection dome.Today in part 2 of this 2 part series, I talk to Brookes about his experience managing one of Canada’s most well-known artists and Nova Scotia icon, Rita McNeil and the ground-breaking production Drum! I sat down to talk with Brookes about some of these experiences in his home in west end Halifax...

Brookes Diamond has managed the careers of Rita MacNeil, The Rankin Family, singer-songwriter Bruce Guthro, Aselin Debison, comedian Bette MacDonald, Ryan's Fancy and children's entertainers Sharon Lois and Bram.With his wife and business partner Fiona, Brookes Diamond Productions has produced countless successful entertainment events including the G-7 Summit Ceilidh, the Tall Ships 2000 main stage shows, the Symphony Explosion with Symphony Nova Scotia, Remembering Stan Rogers, live shows, and television and radio specials. Brookes and Fiona also founded the Halifax Comedy Festival.They've produced shows all over the world including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Royal Albert Hall in London and the Palace Theater in Times Square New York.Brookes Diamond Production also created Drum! a show synthesizing the musical culture of Atlantic Canada's indigenous and European cultures, your hearing music from this production now.

More recently Brookes collaborated with filmmaker Saltwind Productions to create a film honouring Nova Scotia’s sailing Ambassador. Bluenose, The Legend Lives is screening in a seasonal production, SeaDome, on the Halifax waterfront using cutting-edge VR technology in a 360-degree projection dome.Perhaps most famously, Brookes Diamond Productions was responsible for the creation of the 1970's Atlantic Folk Festival. The Folk Festival ran for seven years on Moxom's Farm in the Hardwood Lands of Nova Scotia. In many ways, it served as the birth of an organized music industry in Atlantic Canada.

Today in part 1 of this 2 part podcast, I talk to Brookes about growing up in Atlantic Canada and walk through a few amazing stories about the Atlantic Folk Festival. I sat down to talk with Brookes about some of these experiences in his home in west end Halifax...

Ray Ivany professional career has been distinguished by his interest in two things: post-secondary education and public policy. Ray graduated from University College of Cape Breton and East Tennessee State University, followed by a research fellowship at Harvard.

He worked in Nova Scotia's college and university system for more than 35 years.

At the University College of Cape Breton, Ray led the development of the university's first strategic plan. As President and CEO, Ray reinvented the Nova Scotia Community College (NSSC) spearheading a $123-million campus modernization.

As President of Acadia University, he reconnected the university with the values and culture that has made it one of Canada's best for nearly 180 years.

Ray's extensive experience with private and public sector boards and organizations led to an appointment by the premier of Nova Scotia to chair a landmark economic commission.

The resulting report issued in 2014, Now or Never: An Urgent Call to Action for Nova Scotians, has become the economic development blueprint for the province.

Ray has received numerous awards and distinctions, including:

Maclean's Honour Roll of Ten Canadians Who Made a Difference in 2004Atlantic Business Magazine's Top 50 CEO Hall of Fame in 2011Halifax Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year in 2015 and 2016Canada's Public Policy Forum Leadership AwardCanada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures CEO of Broader Public Sector

I met Ray in the Library of the beautiful K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre at Acadia University...

Today...a conversation with internationally-renowned expert in the area of adolescent mental health…Dr. Stan KutcherA national and international leader in mental health research, advocacy, training, policy, and services innovation, Dr. Stan Kutcher holds the Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health.He works to advance adolescent mental health, education, research and training locally, nationally and internationally. H

e currently directs the World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Mental Health at Dalhousie and has served as Department Head of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for International Health at Dalhousie University.

Dr. Kutcher's work has received numerous awards and honours locally, nationally and internationally including: Best Doctor in Canada; Doctors Nova Scotia Health Promotion Award; Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacolgy Gold Medal; Lifetime Achievement Award of the Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation.

He is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and the author/co-author of numerous medical textbooks.

One of his current projects is leading the development of a national child and youth mental health framework for Canada.

I spoke with Stan Kutcher at his office in downtown Halifax...

Danny Graham is best known as the former leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party and MLA for Halifax Citadel. He is now serving as the Chief Engagement Officer of Engage Nova Scotia.

Over the past three decades, Danny has held senior positions in business, law, government, and politics.

He is currently Counsel to McInnes Cooper – advising on business matters, Collective Social Responsibility and Aboriginal Law.

He has been lead counsel in cases at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

He acted as an advisor to Justice Canada and the United Nations, and consultant to the governments of Thailand, Jamaica, Tanzania, and Ukraine.

In Nova Scotia, he was the province’s Chief Negotiator on Aboriginal rights between 2006 and 2014 in the Made in Nova Scotia Process. 

Danny helped author We Choose Now: A Playbook for Nova Scotians, a ten-year plan examining the economic future of the province.

He was the chair of the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Program, the Smart Justice Network of Canada and Envision Halifax.

He also sat on the board of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and St. Francis Xavier University. 

Danny leads an active life beyond his work as a husband and father. He is the co-founder of a wilderness retreat focused on personal development.

I spoke with Danny Graham at my office in downtown Halifax and our conversation covered how he became involved in politics, his passion for restorative justice, his decision to leave to care for his wife during her cancer treatment and his views on the current state of political discourse...

Dan O'Connor is Nova Scotia's most senior and best known NDP politico. His political activity stretches back to when he graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1974 and was Dal's first full-time student president. He went on to serve as the Executive Secretary of the National Union of Students.

His NDP involvement began as a researcher for Manitoba NDP MP David Orlikow in the late 70s. For the next few years, Dan played several roles for the NDP in Manitoba at both the federal and provincial levels. Drawn by an offer from Alexa McDonough, Dan welcomed an opportunity to return to Nova Scotia in the mid-80s where he served as Chief of Staff and Communications Director for a decade.When Alexa became federal NDP leader, Dan served 2 years as the Principal Secretary of Canada's NDP and a special advisor to the federal caucus. Returning to Nova Scotia in 1998, Dan went on to guide the party as Chief of Staff under leaders Robert Chisholm, Helen MacDonald and eventually Darrell Dexter.I met with Dan to talk about his career at his home overlooking the public gardens in downtown Halifax.

John Edward MacDonell is the longest serving Chief of Staff for a Minister of National Defence in Canadian history. Over seven years he was the right hand of the Hon. Peter MacKay during the Stephen Harper government, six of those at DND.

 

Defence saw its share of heavy lifting in his tenure, the height of the prosecution of the war in Afghanistan.

 

John began his career getting his Law degree from Dalhousie University in 1994. He articled Stewart McKelvey and went on to become a Partner in 2001. He is currently a partner at Spiteri & Ursulak working out of their Ottawa office.

 

MacDonell is well known in Nova Scotia through his connection with the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia.  He served as president and is also known as one of 12 original petitioners to establish the Conservative Party of Canada.

 

In 2006, MacDonell took leave of absence from his partnership at Stewart McKelvey to become Peter MacKay's Chief of Staff serving in the portfolios of Foreign Affairs, National Defence, and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.  

 

In 2012, MacDonell was inducted into the Order of St. George as a Knight Commander and was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant-governor of Québec.

 

One of John's proudest accomplishments with Minister Mackay was the establishment of the Halifax International Security Forum, an annual gathering of the some of the world's top security, military and political minds.

 

I met him at the annual event held at the Westin in Halifax. In our conversation we talk about his  Antigonish roots, his role as Chief of Staff to Minister MacKay and he offers some thoughts on the leadership race of the departure of Jamie Baillie as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.