Reaching Out to Ontario: Niagara Region

EVENT DETAILS
Date: May 6, 2015
Registration: 9.00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Location: Brock University, 500 Glenridge Ave., Saint Catharines (Map) - Academic South Block, Rooms AS203 & AS204 (Campus Map)

This event may be televised by TVCOGECO.

There is no cost for the event, but we kindly ask that you RSVP. Please specify which session you would like to attend.

SPEAKERS

Brian Beamish first began his career at the office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) in 1999, as Director of Policy and Compliance. This was followed by his appointment to Assistant Commissioner in 2005, where he directed the Tribunal Services Division - investigating privacy complaints and resolving access to information appeals. In addition to overseeing Tribunal, Acting Commissioner Beamish also served as an executive policy advisor, playing a key role in executing the mandate of the IPC and supporting several initiatives in the best interests of the public, such as bringing universities and hospitals under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and ushering in the Personal Health Information Protection Act. Prior to joining the IPC, Brian held a number of positions within the Ontario Public Service, including with the Ministries of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services.

David Goodis is Assistant Commissioner (Policy & Corporate Services) with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. David is a graduate of Western University's law school, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988. David has represented the IPC in hearings before the Divisional Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. David recently co-authored the 2015 Annotated Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Acts, and teaches Canadian administrative law to foreign-trained lawyers at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law.

Sherry Liang is Assistant Commissioner with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. In that capacity she is responsible for the Tribunal Services Department which investigates privacy and health information complaints and resolves access to information appeals. Before her appointment to this position Ms. Liang served in various capacities at the IPC and held appointments as a Vice-Chair with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Grievance Settlement Board, and the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Ms. Liang has also been a Co-Chair of the University of Toronto Tribunal, practiced as an independent labour arbitrator and mediator, and was an Expert Advisor to Professor Harry Arthurs on the Federal Labour Standards Review Commission. Ms. Liang began her legal career in 1988 practising labour, administrative law and civil litigation at a Toronto law firm. She received a B.A. (Arts) from Queen's University, and her LL.B. and LL.M. (Administrative Law) from the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.

Manuela Di Re was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1998 and to the bar of the State of New York in 2000. Since her call to the bar of the Province of Ontario she has practised exclusively in the area of health law. She began her practice as associate counsel at McCarthy Tétrault providing advice and representation to physicians in claims for medical negligence, in complaints before the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and in matters before the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board and other administrative tribunals. She then continued her practice as senior legal counsel to a board of health, an ambulance service and two long-term care homes. In January 2005, she joined the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and is currently the Director of Legal Services and General Counsel.

Debra Grant is the Director of Health Policy at the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, the independent body that oversees the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and the Personal Health Information Protection Act. She graduated in 1991 with a Ph.D. in social psychology from York University and has a Master's Degree in Applied Social Psychology from the University of Guelph. Since graduating, she has worked for the IPC conducting research and developing policies on access and privacy issues in relation to a wide variety of topics. She currently specializes in privacy issues in relation to the Personal Health Information Protection Act.