Big ideas meet open dialogue in the birthplace of Canada.

Nora Young 

Nora is a tech journalist and broadcaster with CBC. 

Nora created and hosted Spark, a fun and informative look at new technology, exploring its impact on our relationships, our work, and our culture. She was the founding host of the CBC Radio show, Definitely not the Opera, where she often focused on new media and technology, as well as arts and popular culture. She has made documentaries and miniseries exploring a range of questions about being human in a rapidly changing world.

As a journalist, author, and speaker, Nora explores how new technology shapes the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. Her book, The Virtual Self, on the explosion of data about our behaviours, opinions, and actions, is published by McClelland and Stewart. Her favourite technology is her bicycle.

Drew Fagan 

Drew Fagan is a professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. He also is a senior advisor at McMillan Vantage, a public affairs firm affiliated with the national business law firm McMillan LLP.

Drew previously spent 12 years in leadership positions with the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada.

With Ontario, he was Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, with responsibility for Ontario’s long-term infrastructure plan. He was also Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, with responsibility for the 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games. In Ottawa, he was Assistant Deputy Minister for strategic policy and planning at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (now Global Affairs Canada).

Before becoming a public servant, he worked at The Globe and Mail, including as parliamentary bureau chief, editorial page editor, foreign editor, associate editor of Report on Business and Washington correspondent.

Dr. Paula Cashin

Dr. Paula Cashin is the first Indigenous radiologist and nuclear medicine physician in Canada. She is a Mi’kmaq physician from Newfoundland and Faculty Lead for Indigenous Health at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Dr. Cashin is a dual FRCPC certified physician with subspecialty training in nuclear medicine at the University of British Columbia and an interventional radiology fellowship at the University of Toronto. She completed a Master of Laws (LLM) at Osgoode Hall Law School 2021. Dr. Cashin serves in national physician leadership roles as vicechair of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Board of
Directors, chair of the CMA Appointments Committee, board director of the CMA Foundation and a board director at the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA).

Owais Lightwala 
Professor, artistic producer, and tech entrepreneur 

Owais Lightwala is an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, specializing in entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovation within the creative industries. He is the co-founder and CEO of Sai, a tech startup focused on transforming how creatives manage their finances, and the founding director of Chrysalis, a multidisciplinary hub at TMU. Previously, Owais was the managing director at Why Not Theatre, where he played a key role in groundbreaking projects like the RISER Project and The Mahabharata.  

A recognized leader in the Canadian arts community, Owais has been awarded the Business/Arts Arnold Edinborough Award for his contributions to arts leadership. He holds an MBA from Toronto Metropolitan University, completed the HBX CORe program at Harvard Business School, and was selected for the Impact Program for Arts Leaders at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Owais consults regularly for culture organizations including the National Arts Centre and Toronto Arts Council.  

Sabreena Delhon 

CEO, Samara Centre for Democracy 

Sabreena Delhon is the CEO of the Samara Centre for Democracy, a non-partisan registered charity with a mission to realize a resilient democracy with an engaged public and responsive institutions. For over a decade, she has directed multi-stakeholder research and outreach initiatives that have made an impact across justice, academic, and non-profit sectors.  

Sabreena has appeared as an expert witness before Parliamentary committees on matters relating to political participation and frequently provides commentary about democratic engagement for various media outlets such as The Globe & Mail, CBC, and the Toronto Star.  

She is the host of Humans of the House, an award winning podcast that explores the lived experience of former Members of Parliament. Sabreena is a Senior Fellow at Massey College and is a recipient of the Coronation Medal for service to Canada. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Alberta and an MA in Sociology from Dalhousie University. 

Anna Keenan
Climate advocate 

With degrees in physics, economics, and environmental studies, Anna Keenan worked as a professional campaigner on climate change and energy politics from 2007 to 2022. She worked for Greenpeace International in Europe for five years before moving to Canada, where she spent four years with the international climate-justice campaign group 350.org. On PEI, she has run as a candidate in 2 federal elections, and taken leadership roles in advocacy and campaigning for proportional representation, climate action, and bike-friendly communities.  

In 2023, she shifted into nonpartisan roles in municipal government, first with Victoria-by-the Sea, and later the City of Charlottetown as Sustainable Transportation Officer, to expand public transit and active transportation options. In PEI’s arts sector, Anna was a swing dance teacher with Downstreet Dance for five years, and served as the first board chair for the River Clyde Pageant. She is also regularly spotted on stilts, either in the Pageant  or community parades.  

Kim Griffin
Director of Sustainability & Corporate Affairs, Maritime Electric  

Kim Griffin has worked at Maritime Electric for over 15 years and led her team through many weather events. She has helped PEI through major storms including, most recently, Hurricane Fiona. She sees firsthand the impacts of climate change and the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. She also led Maritime Electric’s new climate adaptation strategy. An active community volunteer, she is currently a director with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation, and Greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce as past president. 

She was one of six Canadians in 2024 awarded the inaugural Electricity Canada Face of the Industry National Award for leadership. She has also been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for public service, and named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 25 Most Powerful Women. She holds a Bachelor of Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration with distinction. 

Melissa Peter-Paul 
Award-winning quill artist, Abegweit First Nation

Melissa is a Mi’kmaw woman from Abegweit First Nation, located on Epekwitk (PEI). Growing up, she was immersed in cultural teachings and was surrounded by a family of basket makers. Melissa began her artistic expression at a young age, making regalia and beadwork, and is skilled in both traditional and contemporary styles. Her exposure to other Mi’kmaq artforms led her to quillwork, a traditional skill in which the ancestors of her maternal grandfather excelled.   

Melissa was accepted into an apprenticeship with Mi’kmaq Quill Art in 2015. Her training was grounded in the traditional insertion technique and utilized the study of both cultural teachings and formal material culture resources that were available through historic publications and museums.   

Quillwork is created by inserting porcupine quills, either dyed or kept natural, into birchbark. The pieces are then edged with quills, sweetgrass or spruce root. Over the course of her apprenticeship, Melissa learned techniques and protocols related to harvesting raw materials, as well as the complex geometry of traditional design work. Upon completion of her apprenticeship, Melissa has been integral in establishing a community of skilled quill workers. This community of quillers seeks to expand awareness of the artform and recently began working on collaborative projects.   

Melissa launched her professional career as a Mi’kmaq quill artist with her first solo exhibit at Receiver Coffee presented by This Town is Small in Charlottetown in 2019. She is heavily influenced by 20th century Mi’kmaw quillwork, and she is supported in her harvesting efforts by her family. Melissa is proud to be passing the art on to her two sons and the broader community.  

Stephanie Arnold 
PEI Climate Specialist, CLIMAtlantic

Stephanie Arnold works alongside communities, organizations, sectors, and governments on using adaptation pathways, building accountability in adaptation, and bringing together different perspectives to address climate, environmental, and social challenges. Born in Hong Kong when it was an active British colony and currently living uninvited on unceded and unsurrendered Mi’kmaw Homelands in Epekwitk, they strive to center reconciliation, community-building, and systems change in their work.  

Centering disruptive kindness has given meaning and purpose to their chemical engineering degree, MBA, and ongoing PhD studies. L’nuey awarded Stephanie the Reconciliation Recognition Award in 2024 for their work in challenging climate change funders, collaborators, experts, and practitioners to scrutinize whether their efforts reinforce settler-colonial power imbalances or support Treaty Rights, Truth, and Reconciliation.  

Dr. Eberhard Renner  

Former head of the liver transplant program at Toronto General Hospital, retired professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba, artist 

After completing medical school and training in internal medicine and gastroenterology / hepatology, Dr. Renner worked as a clinician-researcher and gradually moved into academic and health system leadership positions, initially in his home country (Switzerland), interrupted by a couple of years in the U.S. (UCSF), and since 2004 in Canada, where he served as director GI transplantation at UHN Toronto (2007-2016), then, until his retirement in 2024, as the H.E. Sellers Professor, Head Department of Medicine at UofM, and provincial specialty lead – internal medicine with Shared Health, MB’s provincial health agency.  

Dr. Renner has published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and held numerous national grants. He served in various roles in multiple professional organizations in Switzerland, Canada, and internationally. He was an associate editor of the high impact journal Transplantation (2015-2024), is a corresponding member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, and recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL).  

Dr. Renner had started painting at a young age and took art classes during his high school years. The arts took second place during most of his career as academic physician. In 2011, he resumed painting more regularly, initially as a balance to his professional life, more full-time since his retirement from medicine. Using mostly acrylics, he explores dynamic visual interactions between colors and abstract shapes. He is represented by Soul Gallery Inc., Winnipeg, MB; works can be found in private collections in Canada, the US, and Europe.  

Dr. Jillian Horton
Award-winning medical educator, writer, musician, and podcaster 

Dr. Jillian Horton is an associate professor of internal medicine at the Health Sciences Centre and the University of Manitoba. She directs the Alan Klass Health Humanities Program, is an associate chair in the Department of Medicine, and is a former associate dean of undergraduate student affairs. Dr. Horton has completed a longitudinal internship in teaching mindful practice (at the University of Rochester) and chief wellness officer training at Stanford University.  

Her writing about medicine and medical culture appears regularly in the LA Times, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Maclean’s, and a variety of American news outlets by syndication. She is also a contributor to CBC’s Ideas. She is a sought-after speaker and thought leader on the subject of physician health, both nationally and internationally. Her award-winning first full-length book, We Are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine and Healing was released by HarperCollins Canada in 2021 to critical acclaim and is a national bestseller. It is currently being adapted for television by a major network. She was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by Wilfred Laurier University for her work translating the experience of health care workers for the public.

Dr. Megan Miller

Palliative care and MAiD physician, former chief physician recruiter for P.E.I.

Dr. Megan Miller is palliative care physician who has been involved with the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Program in PEI since it became a legal option in Canada in 2016. Megan has also worked in the role of chief physician recruiter for the Medical Society of PEI. In both her clinical and leadership roles, she has witnessed how important the arts are in creating cultural richness in our communities, in enhancing resilience and humanity in the practice of medicine, and the incredible impact of the arts when we are facing our most challenging life circumstances. When not at work, Megan is happiest spending time with her husband and five children (three humans and two dogs).