Three new members have joined EDC’s Advisory Council on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The council is a core component of EDC’s stakeholder engagement strategy.

The membership comprises accomplished Canadians with diverse backgrounds representing the private sector, academia and civil society. Their role is to offer advice and guidance on best practices in CSR.
The new members are:

  • Daniel Gagnier is the senior vice-president of corporate and external affairs for Alcan. Gagnier has been with Alcan since 1994 and is the chairman of the board of directors for the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
    In addition, he is the chair of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) technical committee on environmental management as well as past chair of the Strategic Advisory Group on Social Responsibility.
    Before joining Alcan, he held a number of senior positions with the governments of Canada, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
  • Maureen O ‘Neil is president of International Development Research Centre. O ‘Neil is also a member of the international board of governors of the Centre for International Governance Innovation and has been chair of the board of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, chair of the board of governors of Carleton University and president of The North-South Institute.
  • David Zussman is the first recipient of the Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management at the University of Ottawa. Zussman is the former president of the Public Policy Forum and a former dean of the University of Ottawa School of Management.
    In June 2004, he was confirmed as a part-time commissioner for the Public Service Commission of Canada. He has held various senior positions in the federal government.

Since its inception in 2001, the Advisory Council has met eight times and has provided advice to EDC on such issues as EDC’s environmental review and disclosure practices, CSR and developing markets, and support for environmental technologies.

EDC has thanked retiring members Nancy Hughes Anthony, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Huguette Labelle, chancellor of the University of Ottawa, for their “exceptional contribution, advice and counsel provided to EDC over the past five years”.

Current Advisory Council members are: Dezs Horvth, dean of the Schulich School of Business at York University and the Tanna H Schulich chair in strategic management; Jean-Marie Toulouse, director of the cole des Hautes tudes Commerciales (HEC) and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; Elizabeth Dowdeswell, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme; and Wesley Cragg, the chair and former president of Transparency International Canada.