Canadian Municipal Water Consortium — Fall 2021 Leaders Roundtable

October 19 – 20 from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT (virtual)

The Canadian Municipal Water Consortium Leaders Roundtable will convene on Tuesday, October 19 (12:00 to 4:00 p.m.) and Wednesday, October 20 (12:00 to 4:00 p.m.).

The purpose of this meeting is to connect with your peers and continue the conversations we began at the Spring Roundtable on affordability and equity.

For the Fall Roundtable, we will build on our earlier discussions and engage in dialogues exploring elements contributing to the sustainability of water services in Canada. Specifically, we will focus on evolving practices around utility governance and financial sustainability and their role in achieving broader community goals.

CWN is bringing together a mix of breakout sessions, keynote speakers and panel “At-Issue” style discussions.  We welcome your input, and if you have a great suggestion and perspective that you feel can provide, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

For periodic updates regarding the Roundtable, please check out the event webpage.

For questions or interest in contributing to the discussions, please get in touch with Sandra Cooke

Please use your organization’s email address when signing into REMO. The password is cwnCLG if you have attended a CWN event in the past. If you are new to REMO, your password is cwnCLG2021.

Leaders Roundtable Speakers

Dhesigen Naidoo

President of Human Right 2 Water

Dhesigen Naidoo is a leader, a scientist and an activist for positive social change. He is currently a member of the Presidential Climate Change Commission, President of the global NGO Human Right 2 Water and a Founding Member of the Water Policy Group. In addition, he is a Senior Research Associate at the ISS. For ten years, he has led the Water Research Commission, South Africa’s dedicated national Water and Sanitation Innovation, Research and Development Agency.

Cheryl Nelms

General Manager, Project Delivery, Metro Vancouver

Cheryl Nelms is the General Manager of Project Delivery for Metro Vancouver, overseeing a portfolio of major infrastructure projects worth over $6 billion. She is a professional engineer with more than 20 years of experience and has worked with industry, academia and government to negotiate complex agreements. Cheryl is also an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia.

Francois Bouchart

Acting Director of Water Resources, City of Calgary

Francois has over 30 years of experience in the water sector as an academic, a consultant and a public servant. Francois joined the City of Calgary in 2007. Since then, he has advanced through the water utility from a Senior Planning Engineer to his current role as Acting Director of Water Resources.

Jimmy Zammar

Director of Urban Watersheds, Sewers & Drainage, City of Vancouver

Jimmy Zammar is Director of Urban Watersheds, Sewers & Drainage at the City of Vancouver. In his role, Jimmy leads six business units that together undertake the planning, design, delivery and operations of the city’s network of sewers and drainage infrastructure which is comprised of over 2,000 kilometres of sewer mains and a growing portfolio of green infrastructure.

Cathie O’Toole

General Manager, Halifax Water

Cathie O’Toole is the General Manager of Halifax Water and was previously Director of Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer. Her career has spanned 20 years and included many senior leadership positions, including CFO and Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management at the City of Halifax. She currently serves on the AWWA Finance Committee.

Dave Szeptycki

Director, Strategy and Innovation, Environmental Services, York Region

David Szeptycki is the Director of Strategy and Innovation for Environmental Services at York Region. He leads cross-functional teams that focus on regulatory compliance, continuous improvement, policy, energy conservation and innovation projects on data analytics and water reuse. In addition, he engages with the Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks, neighbouring regional governments and local municipalities to advance municipal government priorities.

Bu Lam

Director of Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities, City of Kitchener

Bu Lam is the Director of Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities at the City of Kitchener. In this role, he oversees the development and implementation of policy, capital planning, and operations and maintenance for the City’s wastewater collection and stormwater management systems.

Michael Latimer

Corporate Asset Management Policy, Research and Initiatives Advisor, Region of York

Michael is the Corporate Asset Management Policy, Research and Initiatives Advisor at the Region of York. He is responsible for advising the organization on best asset management global practices and providing guidance and mechanisms to help the Region mature according to its asset management policy and operating and strategic contexts.

Shannon Abbott

Manager of Customer and Strategic Services, City of Calgary

Shannon Abbott is the Manager of Customer and Strategic Services at the City of Calgary’s water utility. She currently oversees strategic business planning, customer experience improvement, including the levels of service program, business continuity and emergency management, and learning and employee development support for the utility. She is also a key contributor to advancing innovation, strategic workforce planning and improving the employee experience at her agency.

Sara Alvarado

Executive Director, Institute for Sustainable Finance

Sara M. Alvarado joined the Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF) as Executive Director in April 2021. The ISF, hosted by the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Canada, brings together academia, the private sector and government to shape Canada’s innovations in sustainable finance. She is former Head of Risk & CAMLO at the Canada Infrastructure Bank in Toronto, where she built the inaugural enterprise risk management function.

Adam Spence

CEO and Director, Social Venture Connexion Canada

Adam Spence is the co-founder and CEO of Social Venture Connexion (SVX). Adam helped start up VERGE Capital, the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, B Lab Canada, the MaRS Catalyst Fund (now Amplify Capital) and the School for Social Entrepreneurs – Ontario. In addition, he was the Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks and led several higher education and training organizations.

Randy LeClair

Director, Capital Markets at the City of Toronto

Randy LeClair has been working in institutional money management for over 30 years. He has managed or advised on Canadian fixed-income portfolios for mutual funds, an insurance company, and two Ontario municipalities for most of his career. He has won several awards while managing mutual funds and being a commentator on the Business News Network (BNN).