Arni C. Thorsteinson, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Arni Thorsteinson is president of Shelter Canadian Properties Limited. He is a director or trustee on a number of private and not-for-profit boards, including Huntingdon REIT, Lanesborough REIT, Temple REIT, ONEX Corporation, Bird Construction, and The Banff Centre. He served as chair of the Advisory Committee on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Mr. Thorsteinson received a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Manitoba and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Eric Hughes, Calgary, Alberta

Mr. Hughes has held a number of senior financial executive level positions over the past 15 years and currently works as Chief Financial Officer of Coral Hill Energy Ltd., a new junior oil and gas company. He also served as Chief Financial Officer of Wave Energy Ltd during its rapid growth and subsequent sale; Neteller PLC, a global leader in internet money transfer; and Burnco Rock Products, Canada's largest independent miner of aggregate products. Mr. Hughes graduated with a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Calgary and is a Designated Chartered Accountant with the Alberta Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Gail Asper, O.C., O.M., LL.D., Winnipeg, Manitoba

Gail Asper graduated with a B.A. and LL.B. from the University of Manitoba in 1981 and 1984, respectively. After receiving her call to the Bar of Nova Scotia in 1985, Ms. Asper practiced corporate and commercial law with Goldberg and Thompson. In 1989, she joined CanWest Global Communications Corporation as corporate secretary and legal counsel. She served on the Board of Directors from 1992 to 2010. She also acts as the president of the CanWest Global Foundation.

Ms. Asper is president of the Asper Foundation, a private charitable foundation. She has served on the boards of numerous not-for-profit groups, including acting as co-chair of the Manitoba Theatre Centre Endowment Campaign, vice-chair of the Council for Business and the Arts and past vice-chair of the Advisory Committee on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In 2007, Ms. Asper was awarded the Order of Manitoba and was recently made an Officer of the Order of Canada, in recognition of her work as an arts advocate, fundraiser, and business and community leader.

Bill Barkley, Victoria, British Columbia

Bill Barkley is currently working as an independent consultant, focusing on planning, management, and teaching for museums and related institutions. At the Royal British Columbia Museum, he served as assistant director from 1977 to 1984, then as chief executive officer from 1984 to 2001. In the latter capacity, he was responsible for the overall planning and direction of the Museum. Before that, he was employed by Environment Canada as the chief naturalist at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre. Mr. Barkley has served on a number of associations and boards, including the Advisory Committee on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Canadian Museums Association, the Virtual Museum of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums. He holds a Master of Arts in adult education and a Bachelor of Science (Honours Zoology) from the University of British Columbia.

Ronald Corey, O.C., Westmount, Quebec

As president and chief of operations of the Montréal Canadiens, Mr. Corey oversaw the construction of the team's new arena, The Molson Centre, and led the hockey team to win two Stanley Cup Championships. Prior to his experience with the Canadiens Hockey Club, Mr. Corey held senior management positions with a number of companies, including Carling O'Keefe, G. Lebeau Ltd., and Molson Brewery. As an active member of his community, Mr. Corey has organized successful fundraising campaigns for several organizations, including Concordia University, the United Way of the Greater Montréal Area and the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Foundation. He has been involved on the boards of a number of organizations, including the Banque Laurentienne, the Transamerica Life Insurance Company, and the Old Port of Montréal Corporation Inc., for which he acted as chairperson. In 1991, Mr. Corey became a member of the Order of Canada and received the Vanier Medal.

The Hon. Constance R. Glube, Halifax, Nova Scotia O.C., O.N.S., Q.C.

Constance Glube is a retired Chief Justice of Nova Scotia (Court of Appeal) and became the first woman to be appointed Chief Justice in Canada when, in 1982, she was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Before her appointment to the bench in 1977, she practised law with the firms Kitz, Matheson, then Fitzgerald and Glube, and later acted as a solicitor for the Legal Department of the City of Halifax. She served as city manager for the City of Halifax from 1974 to 1977.

Chief Justice Glube is a graduate of both McGill University and Dalhousie University and holds honorary doctorates in law from Dalhousie University, Mount Saint Vincent University, and St. Mary's University. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006 and was appointed to the Order of Nova Scotia in 2005. She has played an active role on the boards of a number of organizations and associations, including the Advisory Committee on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Senator Vim Kochhar, O.Ont, O.M.C., Toronto, Ontario

Vim Kochhar is president and founder of the Vimal Group of Companies in Toronto. Working for InterContinental Hotels and Howard Johnson Hotels, he was responsible for project management of major hotels around the world.

For the past 30 years, Mr. Kochhar has played an active role in community work by creating the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons. Through this foundation, Mr. Kochhar has created the annual Great Valentine Galas, the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, Rolling Rampage for elite wheelchair athletes, The Canadian Helen Keller Centre, Rotary Cheshire Homes for the Deaf-Blind, and the WhyNot Marathon for the Paralympics. He has served as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Canadian Museum for Human rights. Born in India, he received his engineering degree at the University of Texas and immigrated to Canada in 1967, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1974.

Yves Laberge, Ph.D., Quebec City, Quebec

Yves Laberge is a sociologist and film historian. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa, the Université de Provence in France, and the University of Iceland. During the last 15 years, Dr. Laberge worked as a consultant for museums and for UNESCO. His academic research focuses on American and Canadian studies, as well as the sociology of culture, media and film, and citizenship studies. He serves as the series editor for the book series L'espace public and Cinéma et société for the Presses de l'Université Laval, as well as a member of the editorial board of the journals Laval théologique et philosophique and Sociological Research Online. He currently acts as a member of the Canadian Association of Cultural Studies Advisory Board. Dr. Laberge graduated with a Ph.D. in sociology from Université Laval.

Dr. Wilton Littlechild, Hobbema, Alberta

For more than 30 years, Dr. Littlechild has worked to build bridges between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people through athletics, politics, and law. An accomplished lawyer, he is the first Indigenous person appointed to Queen's Council by the Alberta Law Society. He brought Native issues to public attention while serving as one of the first Aboriginal Members of Parliament. Dr. Littlechild has been active with a number of organizations both within Canada and abroad, including the Indigenous Parliament of the Americas, the United Nations, the National Indian Athletic Association, and the Canadian Council of International Law. He has given lectures on various occasions, including recently at the Human Rights Institute of the University of Hawaii.

For his participation in Aboriginal and athletic endeavours, Dr. Littlechild has been honoured with several awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award as an Aboriginal Role Model and the Order of Canada. He graduated from the University of Alberta with a Master's Degree in Physical Education, a Bachelor of Law Degree, and a Doctorate at Law.

Dr. Littlechild is serving as one of three Commissioners on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Lisa Pankratz, FCA, CFA, Vancouver, British Columbia

Ms. Pankratz is the President and Chief Compliance Officer of Mackenzie Cundill Investment Management. She also currently serves as a Director of CanWest Global Communications Corporation and as an advisor for the Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing. Ms. Pankratz is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Financial Analyst who holds a bachelor of arts in business administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business. She has been awarded with the Influential Women in Business Award from Business in Vancouver and with the Peak Award for Performance and Excellence from the Association of Women in Finance.