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Alla Drigola Birk is the Director of Global Government Affairs and Public Policy at Sun Life Financial. She brings over a decade of experience in government relations, politics and campaigns, and public relations to the Canadian Club of Ottawa.

Prior to joining Sun Life, Alla was the Senior Director of Parliamentary Affairs and SME Policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, where she led the organization’s advocacy on business support programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alla has also spent time running an MP’s office on Parliament Hill, as a government relations consultant across a wide range of industries, and has held several roles on political campaigns both federally and provincially. She has also appeared before numerous Parliamentary committees and in print, radio, and TV media.

Alla holds a Master of Political Management from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from Simon Fraser University.

Brian St. Louis brings over 15 years of experience at the center of Canadian government, politics, and business.  Currently a Director with Temple Scott Associates, his work has involved engagement with some of Canada’s foremost decision makers and delivering results for some of the world’s largest and most innovative companies. 

After completing an internship via the Conservative Party of Canada, Brian started his career working for a Canadian Senator supporting her work in the agri-food, forestry and science and technology sectors. After co-managing a successful campaign during the 2011 Federal Election in a British Columbia riding, Brian moved to the House of Commons where he led policy and communications for a Member of Parliament who served as Chair of the International Trade Committee and Congressional Liaison to the United States.

Brian then moved in to the private sector where he headed government affairs for a New York and Toronto Stock Exchange traded critical materials company that was at the forefront working with federal and provincial governments to develop Canada’s sector potential.

After a return foray into politics as a Candidate in the 2019 Federal Election in the Ottawa area, Brian went back to the private sector as a Director of Government Affairs for one of the world’s largest technology companies, and, most recently he led government relations for Canada’s largest commercial bakery and one of the country’s largest consumer packaged goods companies where he delivered major regulatory changes, investment, and strategic guidance to ameliorate the company’s serious labour challenges. He also represented the company on the boards of directors of several industry associations including as a board executive.

 Brian has a BA (Hons) in Political Studies, with minors in Public Administration and History, from Bishop’s University, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Public Policy and Program Evaluation, from Carleton University. He is bilingual and lives in Ottawa.

Shannon Lundquist is a Vice Chair and the Federal Account Leader with Deloitte Canada.

With over 30 years’ experience working in public sector transformation, she promotes a culture of pragmatic optimism and well-being within her teams. Shannon has worked with numerous public and private sector organizations to achieve success and deliver value in areas of program management, governance, business and technology sourcing, shared services, operations management, systems implementation and change leadership.

Prior to taking on her role at Deloitte, Shannon was a member of the Deloitte Canadian Executive Team, serving as the Chief of Staff for Anthony Viel, CEO. Shannon worked directly with the Executive Leadership Team’s to effect strategic and cultural change across the organization, and led the firm's pandemic crisis response.

In her previous role as Healthcare Consulting Leader for Canada and Chile, Shannon established Deloitte as the premier executive sponsor for the Coordinated Accessible National (CAN) Health Network, bringing innovation to healthcare delivery systems across Canada. Shannon worked with hospitals, home healthcare and academic organizations to refine and execute on their clinical delivery and innovations strategies including directly clinical services and capital planning at a number of Canada's leading health systems.

Shannon spent the first 14 years of her career with the Government of BC where she had several senior operations and transformation roles. She spent her final three years directing a complex $750m 10-year program including the design and implementation of an outsourced shared services agreement for revenue and health services. She chaired the program governance committee for the SAP implementation and directed cross-government business requirements and process alignment. Shannon also directed the labour and services transition, including all change management, communication, staff and vendor relationship management for the negotiation and transfer of 175 unionized staff. This project included the migration of core government systems.