Media Advisory: Canadian Delegates to Accompany Governor General on State Visits to Ukraine and the Kingdom of Norway

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Apr 20 (MARKET WIRE) --
On the occasion of the State visits to Ukraine and the Kingdom of Norway,
Their Excellencies the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General
of Canada, and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond will be accompanied by nine
Canadian delegates who will play an active role in meetings with
Ukrainian and Norwegian civil society.

Engaged in the fields of diversity, governance, arts and culture, civic
engagement and youth, the delegates will share their experiences and
knowledge with their Ukrainian and Norwegian counterparts. They will also
contribute blogs to the Governor General's Web site at
www.citizenvoices.gg.ca.

Listed below are the delegates and their biographies:

Measha Brueggergosman (Norway only)

Soprano

Critically acclaimed by the international press as much for her innate
musicianship and voluptuous voice as for a sovereign stage presence far
beyond her years, Measha Brueggergosman has emerged as one of the most
magnificent performers and vibrant personalities of the day. During the
2008-09 season, Ms. Brueggergosman appears with the Minnesota Orchestra
and Osmo Vanska; l'Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montreal and Yannick
Nezet-Seguin; Ensemble Intercontemporain and David Robertson; London
Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding; l'Orchestre symphonique de
Montreal and Kent Nagano; and with the Cleveland Orchestra, under Franz
Welser-Most, in Cleveland, Miami, and at Carnegie Hall. Deeply committed
to the art of recital, last season Ms. Brueggergosman brought a program
inspired by her Juno Award-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording,
Surprise, to many of North America's major cultural centres, including
Boston, Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Washington D.C., as well as to
numerous cities in Brazil, Germany, Great Britain and Spain. Beyond the
great concert halls of the world, Ms. Brueggergosman lends her voice,
passion and energy to social and environmental causes, as a Canadian
goodwill ambassador for three international organizations: the African
Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF); Learning Through the Arts; and
the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Hank Bull

Executive Director, Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian
Art

Born in Calgary in 1949, Hank Bull took up painting and music at an early
age. He studied with Robert Markle and Nobuo Kubota at the New School of
Art. In 1973, he moved to Vancouver to join the Western Front, one of
Canada's first artist-run centres, where his practice expanded to include
performance, video, radio and telecommunications art. His work is
represented in the collections on display at the National Gallery of
Canada and the New York Museum of Modern Art, and was included in the
Venice Biennale, 1986, and in Dokumenta 9, 1987. He is interested in
networks of exchange and, to this end, has travelled widely and
collaborated with artists from all over the world. In 1999, he co-founded
the Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Centre A),
where he continues in the role of executive director.

Sylvia Cloutier

Performing artist

Sylvia Cloutier lives in her hometown of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, with her 11
year old son. Ms. Cloutier is a performing artist, well known for Inuit
throat singing and drum dancing; produces special events; and owns
Aqsarniit, a performance company. She has collaborated with artists all
over the world including Think of One, a band from Belgium; Tafelmusik, a
Toronto based baroque orchestra; and Montreal based DJ Madeskimo. Ms.
Cloutier has also been involved in a variety of production work,
producing music for documentary films, radio and television as well as
her first television series with ICSL (Inuit Communications Systems
Limited), "Inuit Piqqusingit", released in 2002. She has helped train
youth in video production, and has been involved in a theatre project
that encourages creative expression while addressing social issues and
promoting Inuit culture. In 2007, she visited schools across Nunavut to
promote health care careers to Inuit youth on behalf of Taking Pulse, a
National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation program. Ms. Cloutier is
presently the artistic director of Qaggiq Theatre and works for the
Northern Village in Kuujjuaq. She was recently named "Woman of the Year"
by Pauktutiit, a national Inuit women's organization.

Daniel Cross

President of EYESTEELFILM

Daniel Cross is president of EYESTEELFILM in Montreal, recently named by
RealScreen Magazine as one of the top 100 non-fiction production
companies in the world and a recipient of a Genie award for Up The
Yangtze. Mr. Cross has produced and directed a series of documentary
projects working with homeless Canadians: Danny Boy, The Street, SPIT:
SqueegeePunks in Traffic and www.homelessnation.org. Other credits
include Chairman George, Inuuvunga: I am Inuk I am Alive, Punk Le Vote
and RIP: A Remix Manifesto, now in theatrical distribution. Antoine is
screening at Thessalonika/Tribeca/HotDocs, and both Last Train Home and
Taqwacore are in post-production-check out www.eyesteelfilm.com. He is
also proud of the groundbreaking new media projects
www.homelessnation.org and www.opensourcecinema.org. His service to the
arts includes membership on the boards of the Documentary Organization of
Canada (DOC), Canadian Film and Television Production Association,
L'observatoire du documentaire, and Hot Docs Film Festival. He is an
assistant professor at The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia
University, and a founding member of The Concordia Documentary Centre. He
plays hockey, walks his dog and has two sons, Gabriel and Nathaniel.

Ilona Dougherty

Executive Director and Co-Founder, Apathy is Boring

Ilona Dougherty was an activist and artist from an early age; her diverse
experiences range from serving as a Canadian delegate to the United
Nations at 17 years old to producing major concerts across Canada. Along
the way, she gained extensive and hands-on experience in band and artist
management, workshop facilitation and organizational strategic planning.
In January 2004, Ms. Dougherty co-founded Apathy is Boring
(www.apathyisboring.com), a national, non-partisan organization that uses
art and technology to re-engage youth in the democratic process. She is
currently the organization's executive director. Ms. Dougherty's interest
has always been in fusing art and social change, which she continues to
make a primary focus. She has won numerous awards, including the Vince
Sirois Prize and the Yukon Women's Award, and was featured in the book,
Notes from Canada's Young Activists. Melding her backgrounds in the music
industry with social engagement, Ms. Dougherty has worked with many
high-profile artists and well-known Canadians on such events as the Grey
Cup and the Juno Awards. She continues to speak around the country about
innovative ways to reach 18- to 35-year-old Canadians. Ms. Dougherty was
raised by socially engaged parents in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and
Whitehorse, Yukon, and currently lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Paul Grod (Ukraine only)

National President, Ukrainian Canadian Congress

Paul Grod is President & CEO of Rodan Energy, a leading Canadian energy
solutions company. Prior to founding Rodan, Mr. Grod was a corporate and
investment banker with CIBC World Markets, and most recently practiced
corporate finance and M&A law with Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, one of

Canada's largest national law firms. In a volunteer capacity, Paul is
national president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and is the
vice president of the Ukrainian World Congress. UCC coordinates and
represents the interests of the 1.2-million strong Ukrainian-Canadian
community. As the son of immigrant parents from Ukraine, Mr. Grod has a
strong connection to his ancestral homeland. He has travelled there on
numerous occasions, first as a student organizer, working with the
Students Union of Ukraine to encourage young Ukrainians to vote and
become involved in the political process, and later as a coordinator of a
group of international experts working for the Council of Advisors to the
Parliament of Ukraine. Most recently, he organized and led 500-person,
and later 150-person, missions to observe the presidential and
Parliamentary elections in Ukraine. He is a member of the Law Society of
Upper Canada and holds a Bachelor of Political Science degree, a Bachelor
of Law degree and a Master of Business Administration degree.

Naki Osutei

Project Manager, Toronto City Summit Alliance

Naki Osutei is a sociologist who thrives on bringing research to life.
Her academic research has considered a range of issues including youth,
multiculturalism and cities. She most recently presented a paper dealing
with the paradox of sharing and preserving culture in Canada at Oxford
University, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the
Governor General's Academic Medal. Ms. Osutei's work at the Toronto City
Summit Alliance (TCSA) has afforded her opportunities to apply her
academic background. She has worked with senior leaders from all sectors
on initiatives that address challenges to the Toronto region's social,
economic and environmental future. In addition, Ms. Osutei supports the
development of rising civic leaders through the TCSA's Emerging Leaders
Network (ELN) and DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project.
She is an avid supporter of arts and education and serves on councils for
the Canadian Stage Company and The Learning Partnership. She is currently
a member of the board of directors for St. Christopher House, a
multi-service agency that works in partnership with the community to
promote personal and social change in order to achieve a safe, healthy
and accepting society for all. Jonathan Verreault (Norway only)

Research scientist

Dr. Jonathan Verreault is a research scientist at the National Wildlife
Research Centre at Carleton University in environmental toxicology and
chemistry and a sessional lecturer in biology at the University of
Ottawa. He received his MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Tromso
in Norway, the world's northernmost university. During those years he was
also affiliated with the Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway's central
institution for research, environmental monitoring and mapping of the
Norwegian polar regions. His research interests focus around the fate of
environmental pollutants in the Arctic and their biological effects in
wildlife species, mainly seabirds and polar bears. Dr. Verreault has
demonstrated exceptional scientific research productivity at this early
stage of his career. He has published in high-ranking scientific
journals, presented at international conferences and workshops and
mentored several graduate students. He is a member of the international
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Wildlife Effect Experts
Group. His past and current research activities involve strong
collaboration with Canadian, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, French and
Scottish scientists.

Kathryn White

Executive Director, United Nations Association in Canada

Kathryn White became the executive director of the United Nations
Association in Canada in 2003. For the previous 25 years, she was
president of Black & White Inc., an Ottawa-based international
consultancy specializing in risk management, policy research and
development, and citizen engagement on foreign, social and security
policy. She has been recognized nationally and internationally for her
innovative work on a broad range of issues, including youth engagement,
gender equity, human rights, multiculturalism, climate change, disaster
and crisis response and mitigation, corporate social responsibility,
international peacebuilding, and conflict resolution. Ms. White's
mobilizing of civil society, government and the private sector in the
peace community in Cyprus was a catalyst for the Annan Accord. She has
also published on the role of protests in building democracy, using
research on protesters to the Canadian G8 Summit and on Senator George
Mitchell's review of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. She
continues to provide subject matter expertise to the National Strategic
Studies Course-the prestigious and senior course for the Canadian Forces.
Ms. White has worked as a journalist and news manager for The Globe &
Mail, The New York Times and the New Scientist, and as Managing Editor of
the Canadian Review magazine. She developed the first Canadian national
emergency public information course for first responders and elected
officials, as well as programs for journalists on disaster response and
on identifying community sources reflecting Canada's diversity. She also
created and delivered training programs to media about their integral
role in peacekeeping partnership theory. Among her numerous voluntary
sector commitments, Ms. White served as the national president of UNIFEM
Canada for eight years. She is married to Robert Miller and has two
daughters and a son.

The State visit to Ukraine will take place from April 23 to 26. The State
visit to the Kingdom of Norway will take place from April 28 to 30.

The public can follow the State visits through the speeches, photos and
videos available daily at www.gg.ca.

Contacts:
Rideau Hall Press Office
Marie-Eve LA-A?A 1/2tourneau
613-998-0287
www.gg.ca
www.citizenvoices.gg.ca

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