During his tenure as Minister of Finance, he erased a forty-two billion deficit in four years, subsequently recording five consecutive budget surpluses, while paying down the national debt and setting Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio on a steady downward track. He also introduced the largest tax cuts in Canadian history and the largest increases in the federal government’s support for education and research and development. In conjunction with his provincial counterparts, he restored the Canada Pension Plan, securing it for future generations. He also strengthened the regulations governing Canada’s financial institutions, with the result that Canada is now viewed as an international model for sound financial regulation. In September 1999, Mr. Martin was named the inaugural chair of the Finance Ministers’ G-20, an international group of finance ministers and central bank governors, composed of the G-7 and emerging market nations. He is respected internationally in large part for his innovative leadership in working to forge a new global financial order.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Martin’s many achievements include setting in place a ten year, forty-one billion dollar plan to improve health care and reduce wait times; signing agreements with the provinces and territories to establish a national early learning and child care program and creating a new financial deal for Canada’s municipalities. Under Mr. Martin’s leadership in November 2005, the Canadian Government reached an historic consensus with Canada's provinces, territories, First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders that would eliminate the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians in the areas of health, education, housing and economic opportunity. This agreement became known as the Kelowna Accord. Further, he introduced the Civil Marriage Act, which redefined the traditional definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

Since leaving office, Mr. Martin co-chaired a high level panel, responsible for submitting a report on a new strategic vision for the African Development Bank, following upon an earlier United Nations panel report on private sector investment in the Third World which he had co-chaired.

Currently Mr. Martin, along with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, co-chairs a two hundred million dollar British-Norwegian poverty alleviation and sustainable development fund for the ten-nation Congo Basin Rainforest. He also sits on the advisory council of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, an initiative that examines the critical issues facing the continent. It is sponsored by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank.

Domestically, he is leading two new initiatives. The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative which aims at reducing the Aboriginal youth dropout rate and at increasing the number of Aboriginal students attending post-secondary institutions. He also founded, along with his son David, the Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship Fund, whose investments seek to further a culture of economic independence, ownership and entrepreneurship amongst both on and off reserve Aboriginal peoples, through the creation and growth of successful businesses.

Prior to entering politics, he had a distinguished career in the private sector as a business executive at Power Corporation of Canada in Montreal and as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The CSL Group Inc, which manages one of the world’s most important fleets of self-unloading vessels, offshore transshippers and handy-size bulk carriers. Its acquisition by Mr. Martin in 1981 represented the largest leveraged buyout in Canada at that time.

Mr. Martin studied philosophy and history at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto before obtaining his LL.B. from the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1966.

He married Sheila Ann Cowan in 1965. They have three sons: Paul, Jamie and David and they are the proud grandparents of Ethan and Liam, children of David and his wife Laurence.

Keynote Title: The Martin Aboriginal Initiative
Abstract: The Right Honourable Paul Martin and his family have established non for profit corporation to identify issues impacting Canadian Aboriginals. To date, its focus has been on the education of Aboriginal students through the work of the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative [MAEI], and developing business expertise and mentoring in Aboriginal communities through the Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship [CAPE] fund. MAEI’s guiding vision is to empower Aboriginal students with the knowledge and confidence they need to complete secondary school and go on to post-secondary studies. CAPE Fund's mission is to further a culture of economic independence, ownership, entrepreneurship, and enterprise management among Aboriginal peoples, on or off reserve through the creation and growth of successful businesses.

Keynote Title: It's In The Box!
Abstract: Roxanne Jean will deliver a dynamic keynote address filled with useful tools that will help you develop your own goals and live your dream. Using her own awakening as an example, she will guide you to your own awakening. As you travel with her your own personal experiences will lead to self-discovery and to the development of your own wisdom…Her story will touch you deeply and hopefully you will learn to deeply appreciate your own life. Fun and laughter for one and all!

Jim Bright has run a thriving practice for over 10 years. He is the managing partner of Bright & Associates. He works with individuals and organizations, assisting both with transition processes and training. He has worked with many leading organizations around the world and he provides executive coaching and career transition services to many senior executives. He has an international reputation as a career development professional based on his award winning innovative career development research, best-selling career development books and his entertaining and informative speaking and training.

Jim writes the “Brightside” column every week for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age Newspapers.

He has published over 300 books, chapters, journal and newspaper articles, tests and reports. His research has been published in 8 languages, included in leading text books, and has presented by invitation in Switzerland, Singapore, USA, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, and Greece as well as in every State and Territory in Australia. In the recent past, he has presented keynote sessions to the Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA), Hobart, VET Network Conference, Darling Harbour, Group Training Association Conference, Cairns Convention CDAA Conference, Melbourne (and MC), National Career Development Association Conference, St Louis Missouri, USA, and the International Careers Conference, Wellington, New Zealand. He is a fellow of both the Australian Psychological Society and the Career Development Association of Australia and is a past national chairperson of the College of Organisational Psychologists.

He is a dynamic and entertaining keynote speaker who can skillfully combine evidence-based psychological insights into human behaviour with music and movies to convey a serious message in a fun way.

Keynote Title: Shifting from no change to know change: how I learned to love chaos
Abstract: Career landscapes are changing, work and the meaning of work is shifting. Change affects each of us differently and some are more vulnerable to the affects than others. Individual differences in susceptibility to change can arise from an infinite variety of factors, or combinations of those factors. The reality is that change happens to all of us and it is happening to you right now. Our tendency to overlook shift, or our attempts to control and predict shift can also influence our susceptibility to change. Historically, uncertainty and insecurity were a reality for most workers but in the recent past we became attached to the goals of predictability and stability in work and career. For the future we need to understand and capitalize on the reality that change and stability are both integral parts of work and careers. We are seeing shifts in world economic power, from developed economies to developing economies and from high wage economies to lower wage economies. Information is now being made available so quickly and both to and from all reaches of the world. Pressure from global workforces severely reduces our ability to make long range predictions about career paths, and drives work-related changes at unprecedented rates. Career professionals need to be innovative and creative in their thinking about change. In order to cope most effectively we need to continually monitor both the fast and the slow shifts and know what really matters to our clients. Come listen to what Dr. Jim Bright has to say about change when shift happens!