Seizing Canada’s Clean Growth Opportunity

Canada has an opportunity to lead the energy transition by responsibly supplying the low carbon products and expertise the world needs. But seizing that opportunity requires us to act fast, and make bold decisions and critical investments today.

Join Canadian Club Toronto as a part of our 125th Season Signature Series when Don Lindsay, President and CEO of Teck, a leading Canadian resource company, and Chair of the Business Council of Canada, kicks off the event by highlighting the big choices that governments, companies and people need to make to realize the country’s potential.

The event continues with Nadia Theodore, Senior Vice President of Global Government and Industry Relations at Maple Leaf Foods, moderating a discussion with Don and executives of leading Canadian enterprises representing a range of sectors that each play a key role in the transition:

Karn Manhas, Founder and CEO, Terramera

Dave McKay, President and CEO, RBC

Susannah Pierce, President and Country Chair, Shell Canada

Donald R. Lindsay, President and Chief Executive Officer, Teck Resources Limited.

Don Lindsay is President and Chief Executive Officer of Teck Resources Limited. He is currently Chair of the Business Council of Canada and a Director of Manulife Financial Corporation. He recently completed a three year term as Chair of the International Council on Mining and Metals, and was previously Chair of the Board of Governors for Mining and Metals at the World Economic Forum. He also serves on the Board of Directors for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, Alpine Canada, York House School, and is an Honorary Governor of the Royal Ontario Museum. Prior to joining Teck, Mr. Lindsay was President of CIBC World Markets Inc.; led the bank’s Investment and Corporate Banking Division, the Asia Pacific Region; and was founder of CIBC’s Global Mining Group. He is a graduate of Queen’s University,B.Sc., Hons. and Harvard Business School, MBA.

Karn Manhas, Founder and CEO, Terramera

Terramera Founder and CEO, Karn Manhas, is an AgTech industry pioneer on a mission to transform how food is grown and the economics of agriculture. With Terramera’s revolutionary Actigate platform and a powerful suite of machine learning tools, the company is tackling audacious goals of reducing global synthetic pesticide loads 80%, increasing global farm productivity by 20%, and boosting organic soil carbon 100% by 2030. Founded in 2010, the Vancouver based company has earned international recognition for its technologies that protect human health and the environment to ensure an earth that thrives and provides for everyone. Recognitions include: The Global Cleantech 100 list, Nutrien Radicle Challenge Canada, winner; BDC and Business Council of Canada CLIC Challenge, winner; Fast Company World Changing Idea, finalist.

Terramera has raised over C$100M in capital from private and public sources. The company’s growth is fuelled by its ability to fuse science, nature, and artificial intelligence to support the transition to climate-smart regenerative agriculture practices that enable the natural sequestration and retention of soil organic carbon. Privately held, Terramera’s international IP portfolio has grown to more than 250 patents ,granted or pending.

Using game changing technology to improve the performance of active ingredients by up to 10x, Actigate remedies conventional farming practices that can result in 50 to 90% of applied farm chemicals washing away into the environment. The company is also in the process of commercializing scalable, accurate, low cost remote sensing technology, to reliably measure the carbon content in soil. This will provide a global standard for consistent soil carbon quantification, opening a new and stable market for nature based soil carbon credits and allowing farmers to be incentivized for the carbon they sequester.

Karn’s diverse background spans being the youngest Member of the Legislative Assembly elected in British Columbia to being a TEDx speaker and sought after thought leader on sustainability, clean food, and innovative organizations. He is a member of YPO, fellow at Unreasonable Group and was named one of Business in Vancouver’s top Forty Under 40 businesspeople. Karn holds a Juris Doctor in Law from the University of British Columbia and a B.Sc. in Biology and Biotechnology from McGill University.

Dave McKay, President and Chief Executive Officer, RBC

Dave McKay is President and CEO of RBC, Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization. He is reimagining the future of financial services to help RBC’s clients thrive and communities prosper.

An unwavering champion of innovation, big ideas, and creativity, Dave is a leading force behind RBC’s investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning to help unlock the insights and power of data for clients. In his home market, he is a passionate advocate for Canada’s future prosperity and preparing youth for the future of work through the support and development of RBC Future Launch, a 10 year, $500 million commitment to help young people build the skills required to succeed in a changing world.

Dave joined RBC in 1983 as a co op student in computer programming before moving to the organization’s retail banking arm. He then held progressively senior roles in retail and business banking, group risk management, and corporate banking. He became Group Head of Canadian Banking in 2008. During his tenure leading the division, Dave helped reinvent the bank’s retail operations, introducing new technology that has enabled RBC to adapt and evolve to rapidly changing consumer demands.

Shortly after being appointed President and CEO in 2014, he led the acquisition of City National Corporation, creating a platform for growth with institutional, corporate and high net worth clients in the U.S.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Mathematics and an honorary Doctor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo. He also holds an MBA and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and an honorary degree from Ryerson University. He is both a member and a Board of Director at the Business Council of Canada and a member of the U.S. Business Council. Dave also serves on the Catalyst Canada Advisory Board and is the chair of the Business or Higher Education Roundtable, which brings together Canada’s top businesses, universities and colleges to find ways to better link workplaces and classrooms.

Susannah Pierce, Shell Canada Country Chair

Susannah has held senior positions in the energy and technology sectors in Canada, the United States and Europe, most recently as Director of Corporate Affairs for LNG Canada.

She joined LNG Canada in 2013 as a Shell secondee and has been responsible for the project’s federal and provincial regulatory approvals, Indigenous relations, government relations, media relations and community communications. Under her leadership, the project achieved federal and provincial environmental approvals on schedule and received unprecedented support from First Nations, communities and governments.

Prior to joining LNG Canada, Susannah served as Vice President, Value Chain Integration, Shell Canada. In this capacity, she was responsible for identifying new business opportunities across Shell’s multiple businesses in Canada. Prior to this position, Susannah was Vice President, Communications, Upstream International based in The Hague.

Susannah was previously Head, Government Relations for Shell Canada, where she established the government relations practice to support Shell Canada’s Upstream, Downstream, and manufacturing businesses.

Prior to joining Shell in 2009, Susannah was Director, Government Affairs for TransCanada Pipelines based in the United States, where she was responsible for driving government policy at federal and state levels in support of TransCanada’s existing power and pipeline interests, as well as new business development activities.

Susannah was named one of Vancouver magazine’s Power 50 in 2019 and on B.C. Business’s 2015 Most Influential Women in Business list. She was also recognized as a 2019 Most Influential Woman in Business by Business in Vancouver magazine.

Susannah is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, SAIS, and The George Washington University, and speaks English, Spanish and French. She lives in Vancouver with her two children, Robert and Gabriela.

Nadia Theodore, Senior Vice President, Global Government and Industry Relations of Maple Leaf Foods

Nadia is Senior Vice President, Global Government and Industry Relations with Maple Leaf Foods. In this role, Nadia leads Maple Leaf Foods’ global government relations and public policy functions, collaborating across the organization in developing and implementing the company’s government and industry relations strategy.

Prior to joining Maple Leaf Foods, Nadia spent over 20 years in the Canadian federal public service where she built a reputation for forging strong partnerships with government and business leaders, managing complex, priority trade files and leading multi disciplinary teams. She has held senior leadership roles on several international trade negotiations and directly prior to joining Maple Leaf Foods, served as Canada’s Consul General to the Southeast USA, based in Atlanta.

Nadia is a proud contributor to organizations committed to empowering people and culture. She has served as a Carleton University Alumni Mentor, as a Global Advisor with Girls20 and on the Carter Center Advisory Board.

Nadia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Master of Arts in Political Science, both from Carleton University, and a Bachelor of Laws from University of London.