The Arctic: Four Leaders, Four Perspectives
Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2025
Time: Noon - 1:30 p.m. (Doors open 11:30 a.m.)
Venue: Chateau Laurier - Adam Room (1 Rideau St, Ottawa, ON)
The Arctic is where Canada’s future security, economic strength, and national resilience will be showcased and reinforced—both at home and abroad. Leaders from across the region are ready for partnership and growth, opening a new chapter in our Arctic future.
As international tensions rise and geopolitical competition sharpens, it is clear we must move beyond rhetoric and aspiration. Canada must take decisive action to strengthen its presence, infrastructure, and economy in the North. Without rapid progress, we risk growing vulnerability in a region that becomes more strategic by the day.
The runway ahead is critical. If all partners can work together—clearing obstacles, aligning priorities, and taking action—we have a unique opportunity to create lasting value and resiliency that will protect Canada and benefit generations to come in the Arctic, its communities, and across the country.
These Canadians have our backs and know how to get things done. Now more than ever, it’s time to get to work—together.
Join the Canadian Club of Ottawa for The Arctic: Four Leaders, Four Perspectives. This special event offers an unprecedented opportunity to hear directly from political, Indigenous, security, and industry leaders who represent front-line interests in this region of national pride, strategic importance, and urgent priority.
SPEAKERS:
The Honourable Ranj Pillai
Premier of the Yukon
Natan Obed
President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Lieutenant-General J.M.S. (Steve) Boivin, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD
Commander Canadian Joint Operations Command
Sean Boyd FCPA, FCA
Chair of the Board, Agnico Eagle Mines
Opening Remarks:
Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin
Chief Executive Officer, Nukik Corporation
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SPEAKER BIOS:
The Honourable Ranj Pillai
Ranj Pillai was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in 2016 and was elected for a second term in April 2021. Minister Pillai became Premier Pillai in January 2023, and currently serves as Minister of the Executive Council Office; Minister of Economic Development; and Minister responsible for Yukon Housing Corporation.
Pillai was recognized for this work as the recipient of the North Startup Canada 2019 Regional Award for Entrepreneur Promotion. Since 2016, the Yukon has been leading the country with the lowest unemployment rate, strong GDP growth and impressive investments in building construction.
Pillai is a trusted decision maker and tireless community advocate who has contributed to numerous Yukon businesses, governments, schools and not-for-profits.
He was previously the Executive Director of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations Government, has held senior roles with private sector businesses and Yukon University and is a former member of the Governor General’s Leadership Conference and Banff Forum.
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Natan Obed
Natan Obed is President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Interim President of Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, the primary governance bodies for Inuit nationally and internationally. Together, these organizations work to ensure that Inuit in Canada prosper through unity and self-determination. President Obed is originally from Nain, Nunatsiavut. A skilled negotiator and consensus builder, he is the architect of the Inuit Crown Partnership Committee, a collaborative leadership table devoted to addressing the most urgent policy challenges facing Inuit and creating conditions for Inuit to thrive.
He has devoted his career to working on behalf of Inuit. With Inuit Treaty Organizations in Canada, he led the development and implementation of national strategies intended to bring about transformational change in the areas of suicide prevention, research, food security and climate change, and is now forging a path to build an Inuit Nunangat University. He is a graduate of Tufts University and holds honorary degrees from Queen’s University and the University of Northern British Columbia.
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Lieutenant-General J.M.S. (Steve) Boivin, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD
LGen Steve Boivin joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1991 and attended the Collège Militaire Royal de St-Jean from 1991 to 1995 before being transferred to the Royal Military College of Canada for his final year.
Upon graduation in 1996, he was posted to the 3rd Battalion Royal 22nd Regiment (3R22eR) in Valcartier, Quebec. From May 1996 to June 2002, he served as a Platoon Commander, Company Second-in-Command and Deputy Operations Officer.
During this period of service, LGen Boivin deployed to Haïti, to East-Timor and to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
During the summer of 2002, LGen Boivin was posted to the Royal Military College of Canada and he attended the Land Force Technical Staff Programme (LFTSP). In 2003, he was transferred to the 1st Battalion Royal 22nd Regiment (1 R22eR) in Valcartier as Company Second-in-Command and Unit Technical Adjutant.
In July 2004, after completion of his Special Operations Assaulter Course, LGen Boivin joined Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2) and served the majority of the next six years with the Unit, including multiple rotations to Afghanistan. In August 2010, LGen Boivin was posted to Toronto for the Joint Command and Staff Program (JCSP). Upon completion of the program, he returned to Ottawa and was seconded to the Privy Council Office with the Afghanistan Task Force. In the summer of 2012, LGen Boivin was assigned to the Chief of Force Development in the Directorate of Capability Integration.
LGen Boivin assumed command of JTF 2 in 2013 and commanded the unit until 2016. He then attended the National Security Program (NSP) in Toronto and was subsequently posted to the Chief of the Defence Staff’s Office as the Special Advisor. In May 2018, LGen Boivin became the Deputy-Commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command and he became the Commander of the Canadian Special Operations Command in May 2021. In July 2024, LGen Boivin assumed his current position as Commander Canadian Joint Operations Command.
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Sean Boyd FCPA, FCA
Mr. Boyd serves as the Chair of the Board of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited. Prior to this role, he was the Executive Chair of the Board from February 2022 until his retirement in December 2023, and Vice Chairman and the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from 1998 to 2022. Before his appointment as CEO, Mr. Boyd served as the Chief Financial Officer from 1990 to 1998 and Comptroller from 1985 to 1990.
During Mr. Boyd's tenure as CEO, Agnico Eagle grew from a small, single mine gold producer to a multi-mine international gold mining company. In December 2020, the Globe and Mail ROB Magazine recognized him as its Global Visionary of the Year CEO. He was recognized as The Northern Miner’s Mining Person of the Year in 2007 and 2017 and appeared on the list of The Best-Performing CEOs in the World in the Harvard Business Review in 2010, 2016 and 2017.
In 2019, Mr. Boyd was recognized by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario) as a Fellow, the highest honour bestowed upon a CPA within the accounting profession. In 2021, Mr. Boyd received the degree Doctor of Laws honoris causa, from St. Francis Xavier University (Nova Scotia).
Mr. Boyd served on the Board of Directors of The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (2013 – 2022). He has also served on the Boards of the World Gold Council and the St. Francis Xavier University Board of Governors.
Prior to joining Agnico Eagle in 1985, Mr. Boyd was a staff accountant with Clarkson Gordon (Ernst & Young). He is a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA, FCA) and a graduate of the University of Toronto (B.Comm.).
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Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin
Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin has been working in the natural resources sector for more than 15 years. In her current role as Chief Executive Officer with Nukik Corporation, she oversees a team of highly skilled professionals and is responsible for the successful development of the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link. She leads the approval and financial modelling for the project; a 230 kV, 1,200 kms first-of-its kind electric transmission system extending from Manitoba into the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, to deliver reliable renewable energy and broadband internet service to the region.
In her role, she is working on securing ground-breaking partnerships for this Inuit-led initiative, brokering support from multiple jurisdictions at the regional, provincial, and federal levels, and with a variety of stakeholders. This multi-billion dollar project is set to unlock tremendous economic and social opportunities for the region, while promoting reconciliation with the Inuit and contributing very significantly to Canada’s climate objectives.
Anne-Raphaëlle was with WaterPower Canada from 2014 to 2022, where she, as President and CEO, represented and was the national spokesperson for the largest electricity sector in Canada. During her tenure, she increased the organization’s revenue by more than 30%, brought in new members and introduced the industry’s first national conference and trade show which tremendously enhanced the organization’s reach.
Before WaterPower Canada, she worked for several years as an Environmental and Social Impacts Management Specialist for Hatch Ltd., an international engineering consulting firm.
A tireless champion for sustainable development, her career has been focused on advancing technologies and industries that help better Canada’s environmental profile while reinforcing the country’s leading role in major projects development. She works with stakeholders at the political, policy and community levels, is regularly quoted in national media and sits on several boards of directors.
In 2019, Anne-Raphaëlle was appointed by the Canadian federal government to serve on the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (Joint Public Advisory Committee), a trilateral organization comprised of Canada, the U.S.A. and Mexico, with the mission to promote continental cooperation in ecosystem protection and sustainable economic development. She was re-appointed for a 4-year term in 2022 by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault.
Anne-Raphaëlle has a degree in Political Science from the Université de Nantes (France), a Civil Law degree and a Common Law degree from the University of Ottawa. She also earned a Master’s degree in Environmental and Natural Resources Management from Dalhousie University. In 2021, Anne-Raphaëlle obtained an Executive Certificate from Yale School of Management in Corporate Sustainability. She speaks French, English and Spanish and is certified in Project Planning and Controls.