Canadian Journalist, Anna Maria Tremonti will discuss her recent book about intimate partner violence and pushing through the glass ceiling in Canadian Broadcasting.
For 17 years, Anna Maria Tremonti hosted CBC Radio One’s The Current, where her mix of hard-edged journalism and hard-won empathy helped build the show into Canada’s most listened-to radio program. She is currently the host of Welcome to Paradise on CBC Podcasts. Her recognizable voice, thoughtful questions, and her approach to finding the humanity in the people you meet, draws listeners in.

Mia Kirshner is best known for her pivotal series regular role as ‘Jenny Schecter’ in Showtime’s “The L-Word,” for which the show creator, Chaiken, is quoted by the New York Times as having said, “There are no boundaries to what Ms. Kirshner can do as an actor.. I see her having such a great range. I do see her as a leading lady”.

She can next be seen with the creators/co-author of I Live here published by Pantheon. Mia headlined for the Lifetime movie The College Admissions Scandal and has received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Elizabeth Short, alongside Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank, in the Brian De Palma Feature, The Black Dahlia. Her other credits include significant roles in “24,” “Defiance,” Atom Egoyan’s Exotica, and more recently, Milton’s Secret, alongside Donald Sutherland.

Most recently, Mia can be seen portraying the heavily recurring ‘Amanda Grayson’ in CBS’s “Star Trek: Discovery.” 

In 1977, Bonnie Robichaud accepted a job at the Department of Defence military base in North Bay, Ontario. After a string of dead-end jobs, with five young children at home, Robichaud was ecstatic to have found a unionized job with steady pay, benefits, and vacation time.

After her supervisor began to sexually harass and intimidate her, her story could have followed the same course as countless women before her: endure, stay silent, and eventually quit. Instead, Robichaud filed a complaint after her probation period was up. When a high-ranking officer said she was the only one who had ever complained, Robichaud said, “Good. Then it should be easy to fix.”

This timely and revelatory memoir follows her gruelling eleven-year fight for justice, which was won in the Supreme Court of Canada. The unanimous decision set a historic legal precedent that employers are responsible for maintaining a respectful and harassment-free workplace. Robichaud’s story is a landmark piece of Canadian labour history—one that is more relevant today than ever.

Lindsey Dahl is CPHR with over 14 years of professional HR experience. Her current role is a HR Business Partner with the Public Service Commission in Saskatoon.

On the side of her role, she is contracted part time with the Enough Already project which aims to provide education and support to end workplace sexual harassment. In 2014, Lindsey completed a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Analysis and Management through Royal Roads University.

She has a strong interest in dispute resolution and empowering workplaces to embrace and manage conflict as it arises in order to create a healthy workplace culture.

Keir Vallance
Keir, a labour and employment lawyer with Bainbridge Jodouin Cheecham Barristers & Solicitors, advises Unions and employees in labour and employment law matters, including human rights matters. He has represented clients in labour arbitrations and court, and before the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. Keir has also served since 2014 as an Assistant Professor at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, where he has taught Property Law, Tort Law, and Labour and Employment Law.

Lorie Johb

Johb became a vice-president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour in 2005, representing her union – SEIU-West. In 2010, Johb was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the SFL, a position she has held until she was first elected SFL president in 2018. She lives in Leroy, and is a proud healthcare worker. Johb is a passionate workplace health and safety advocate, a trained education facilitator, and has been active on issues such as women’s rights, supports for survivors of domestic violence, empowering young workers, and reconciliation within the Labour Movement.

Brad Blaisdell, Managing Director – Respect in the Workplace
Brad has over thirty years of Senior Leadership experience increasing productivity, loyalty, employee engagement, satisfaction and retention in industries ranging from Publishing and Commercial Printing, Telecommunications, Environmental Solutions, Information and Professional Services Consulting and eLearning.

Brad has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario and is a seasoned corporate consultant and advisor aligning people and teams within organizations to excel.

With a career path that focuses on organizational effectiveness and achieving high performance Brad has embraced the opportunity as Managing Director of the Respect in the Workplace Program at Respect Group Inc. for the last eleven years. Brad stands for and creates working environments that are driven by Respect that consistently deliver on and exceed expectations.

LISA LINFORD has over 15 years of professional HR experience. Her current role is a Senior Labour Relations Consultant with the Public Service Commission, Government of Saskatchewan in Regina. She is currently leading the Anti-Harassment Policy Review for executive government. Prior to her 8 years with the Provincial Government, she worked as a Human Resources Consultant with Health Canada. Lisa completed her Bachelor of Business Administration Degree at the University of Regina in 2002, majoring in Human Resources. She also holds a Certificate in Labour Relations from Queen’s University.

Bob Stenhouse, founder of Veritas Solutions, first made his mark as a highly decorated and nationally recognized serious and organized crime investigator with the RCMP. A pioneer and innovator, Bob was a leader on an elite team of undercover investigators who changed the way cold case homicide investigations were conducted. The techniques developed in the early 1990’s were internationally groundbreaking and have come to be known as “Mr. Big” investigations.  Bob’s got some stories! 

On his retirement from the RCMP, Bob brought the same level of determination, innovation, keen insight, and emotional intelligence to his role conducting workplace investigations and corporate training as a consultant.

As a corporate investigations consultant and Alberta Human Rights investigator in the early 2000’s, Bob provided service excellence to many government agencies, First Nations, and corporations in the resolution and mitigation of complex human resource risks. 

Bob is passionate and highly informed in his areas of expertise. He is considered by adjudicators, lawyers, peers and clients as a subject matter expert in harassment, bullying, sexual harassment, human rights, and violence investigations. Investigations, under Bob’s oversight and quality assurance, have withstood the legal scrutiny of arbitrators, the courts, ombudsman and regulatory bodies.

Alanna Carlson, BA, JD
Alanna is a Saskatoon lawyer, baker, and artist. When she practiced civil and family law, she was a roster lawyer for Legal Aid, Child Protection, Pro Bono, and the LISTEN Project. She has worked at the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission since 2019, as an investigator and legal counsel. She is now a member of the Systemic Initiatives Team.

Maria Soonias Ali has worked with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission since 2020, starting as an Intake Coordinator and now as a member of the Systemic Initiatives Team. She has previously worked with Indigenous and health promoting organizations, and with Indigenous communities in Saskatoon and throughout the province. She loves to travel, and has interned and studied in India, Costa Rica and Australia. Maria has 2 young children and loves spending as much quality time with her family as possible. In her free time, she volunteers on various committees and boards related to promoting interculturalism, diversity and equity within Saskatchewan.

Vanessa Owen started homebrewing in 2011 when she couldn’t find the styles of beer she liked in Saskatchewan. She loved the balance between the technical aspects of brewing and the creativity of experimenting with different ingredients, eventually becoming a certified beer judge in competitions.

She joined Rebellion Brewing Co in 2014 as the Assistant Brewer and has worked hard over the years to become Rebellion’s Brewery Manager & Brewmaster.  She shapes recipes and finished products and fosters a culture of excellence that’s led to multiple gold medal beers and international recognition.

Vanessa truly believes that happy people make the best beer and is focused on creating safe, inclusive spaces in her workplace and beyond. Her goal is to show that craft beer can make a difference in the community.

Jay Lamont
Senior Human Resources Consultant,City of Regina

Jay Lamont has been consulting in the rehabilitation and wellness industry for the past 25 years and joined the City of Regina, Workplace Health and Safety team in January, 2016.  Jay has spent his career as an exercise therapist, rehabilitation and workplace health consultant providing disability case management, employee accommodation, and organizational health design.  In addition to an undergraduate degree in health studies, he recently completed a Master’s of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University.

In addition to advising organizations on the development of comprehensive workplace health strategies, Jay engages management and employees through presentations in Ergonomics, Respectful Workplace, Bullying and Harassment; and Work-Life Balance and Stress. A certified Instructor of both Road to Mental Readiness for First Responders and Mental Health First Aid, Jay has formed a focus the past ten years of his career consulting to employers on the development of programs, initiatives, and supportive frameworks in psychological safety and mental health in the workplace.  Most recently, Jay developed a Corporate Mental Health Strategy for the City of Regina that includes implementation of the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.

Mark Heise, Founder Rebellion Brewery
He studied business and economics but dropped out of university as soon as he got a full-time job in accounting. After a few years, he switched to IT, doing all sorts of high-level technical IT work, eventually moving into project management, technical architecture, and finally as an account executive managing tens of millions of annual IT spending, and advising CEOs and government officials on strategic IT investment in alignment with high level business needs. Mark may have worn a suit and had his own office, but he was still a punk rocker underneath, and most of the time he was daydreaming about beer and opening his own brewery.

This dream became a reality in 2014 when Rebellion Brewing opened. Rebellion quickly became the biggest craft brewery in Saskatchewan, and built a reputation for being honest, passionate, and outspoken about making really good beer, while promoting everything great about Regina and Saskatchewan, and being a huge community supporter, engager and collaborator.

Mark Heise was “born a rebel,” always marching to the beat of his own drum and always looking for something new, interesting, or different. This eventually led him down a rabbit hole of punk rock and homebrewing, where he further explored his DIY hard working ethos and pursuit of excellence to become one of the best homebrewers in the world.

Michelle King, Enough Already
Michelle is the Outreach and Education Consultant for Enough Already. She also works part-time as the Program Director for Leadership Saskatoon. Michelle has twelve years of program management experience across a variety of sectors and institutions including S.I.I.T, Dumont Technical Institute and the University of Saskatchewan. She is also the Mayor of Clavet. Michelle is passionate about helping others achieve their goals both personally and professionally.