Frank McKenna Awards 2024

An award-winning veteran journalist, Hannah Thibedeau has covered Parliament Hill for more than 20 years. She most recently served as National News Anchor of CBC News Live on Canada’s most-watched news network. Thibedeau and her team won the 2023 Canadian Screen Award (formerly the Gemini) for “Best Live News Special: Ottawa Occupation” for their coverage of the truck convoy in Ottawa in 2022.

Thibedeau has covered seven federal elections, four Prime Ministers, multiple leadership conventions, yearly Remembrance Day ceremonies, the first official National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Royal Visits, and the 2014 shootings on Parliament Hill, among many others. During her tenure, she also reported on important international events such as G7, NATO and APEC Summits and Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s visit to Afghanistan.

Hailing from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Thibedeau has always had an interest in politics, news coverage and storytelling. She attended Dalhousie University in Halifax where she earned a degree in Political Science. Following university, Hannah wanted to combine her love of politics and media and went to Algonquin College in Ottawa and completed her Television Broadcasting Diploma.

Her range of skills and experience throughout the industry is extensive, beginning her career behind the scenes as technical support for hockey and football at ESPN2, producing stories for CTV National News, and as a reporter for Global National then reporting locally, nationally and internationally at CBC for all mediums: TV; radio; online; and, social media. Hannah has also spent time working as a reporter in Washington, guest hosting the National as well as Power and Politics and most recently becoming the anchor of her program on CBC News Network.

Tim Houston is Nova Scotia’s 30th Premier.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Tim was raised in a military family and grew up on military bases in Summerside, PEI, Trenton, Ontario and Comox, British Columbia before the family ultimately returned to Nova Scotia for his father’s retirement posting to Shearwater.

First and foremost, Tim is a dad. He and his wife, Carol, have been married since 1995 and have two children, Paget and Zachary.

Tim attended Saint Mary’s University where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce. He then earned his Chartered Accountant designation in Halifax. After graduation, he and Carol moved to Bermuda where he worked with both Deloitte and in the reinsurance industry. In 2007, knowing that they wanted to raise their children closer to their extended family, Carol and Tim returned to Nova Scotia and have lived in Pictou County ever since.

On November 2, 2020, Tim was awarded his profession’s highest mark of distinction, the Fellow (FCPA) designation, by Chartered Professional Accountants of Nova Scotia.

Tim’s love of this province and its people — and discussions in hockey rinks — sparked his interest in politics. He successfully sought the Pictou East PC nomination in 2012 and was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2013 provincial election. He was re-elected in 2017 and again in 2021. In 2018, Tim was elected Leader of the PC Party of Nova Scotia.

Tim was sworn in as premier on August 31, 2021.
Premier Houston also serves as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Trade.

Born and raised in Corner Brook, the Honourable Gudie Hutchings is proud to call Newfoundland and Labrador home.

With over 30 years of experience as a small business owner in the Atlantic Canadian tourism industry, Minister Hutchings’ community ties have made her a strong advocate for rural families and workers.
In addition to serving as the Member of Parliament for Long Range Mountains, Minister Hutchings was Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Tourism, a role in which she engaged with tourism operators and advocates. She also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, and helped create a national action plan to end gender-based violence. Minister Hutchings was previously a member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

From 2021 to 2023, Minister Hutchings served as Minister of Rural Economic Development. In this role, she was focused on accelerating high-speed Internet access for all Canadians as well as improving rural housing, transit, and work opportunities.

Frank McKenna is one of Canada’s most respected political and business leaders.

He has been an executive with TD Bank Group since 2006 and joined TD Securities in January 2020. As Deputy Chair, he is focused on supporting the
continued expansion of TD Securities’ global footprint.

He is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University, Queen’s University and the University of New Brunswick Law School. He was awarded a prestigious Lord Beaverbrook Scholarship in Law and has practiced in courtrooms all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada. He achieved widespread acclaim for his
successful defence of Canadian boxing legend, Yvon Durelle.

He was elected Premier of New Brunswick in 1987 in a historic victory that left him with all 58 seats in the legislative assembly.

His time as a Premier was marked with widespread acclaim for balanced budgets and unprecedented job creation. He was the only politician in Canadian history to ever be named as Economic Developer of the Year and was inducted into the Canadian Technology Hall of Fame.

He retired ten years ago to the day of his original election, keeping his promise to the people of New Brunswick that he would only serve ten years.

Since leaving public life, he was in widespread demand as a Corporate Director and acted as Counsel to two national law firms. He was named by Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien to the Security Intelligence Review Committee. He was also inducted into the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame and the Canadian
Business Hall of Fame.

In 2005 he accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Paul Martin to become Canadian Ambassador to the United States of America.

Upon completing his time as Ambassador, he resumed his corporate career with TD Bank Group, one of North America’s largest banks. He also became the Chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, a global asset manager with $500 billion in assets. Additionally, he became a Director of Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL), Canada’s largest oil and gas producer.

Mr. McKenna has a School of Public Policy named in his honor at St. Thomas University and the Frank McKenna Leadership Centre at St. Francis Xavier
University. Also bearing his name are the Frank McKenna School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mount Allison University and the Frank McKenna
Leadership Centre – L’alUMni at Université de Moncton. In 2021, Mr. McKenna established The McKenna Institute at University of New Brunswick.

His charitable work, particularly in Haiti, was rewarded with the Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year award. Mr. McKenna is a King’s Counsel, Member of the King’s Privy Counsel, a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors, a Member of the Order of New Brunswick and a Member of the Order of Canada.

He is the recipient of 15 Honorary Degrees.

He and his wife, Julie have three grown children.

Carole Lee has enjoyed an extensive career in executive leadership and management. Her expertise in organizational development, strategy and financial management powered her leadership on major policy initiatives in the spheres of investment, innovation, immigration, policing and productivity. During her 30-year career in the public sector, she produced over 1,000 policies, 300 business plans and over 100 strategic plans through collaborative processes.

Most recently, she has been leading and implementing strategies to help member-based organizations improve performance. Former roles include: President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Canada Aerospace and Defence Association; Vice President, Canadian Manufactures and Exporters Nova Scotia; and Chief Executive Officer, South Shore Regional Enterprise Network. She brings considerable knowledge of regional economic development and well-established networks in Atlantic Canada to her role at PPF.

Carole Lee holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and a Chartered Professional Accountant designation.

Edward Greenspon has worked at the intersection of journalism and public policy for more than 30 years. Before becoming President & CEO of the Public Policy Forum, Ed was a journalist with The Globe and Mail, Bloomberg News and newspapers in Western Canada. He is also the author of two books on Canadian politics, policy and public opinion.

At the Globe, Ed specialized in politics, economics, foreign affairs and business while serving as Editor-in-Chief, Ottawa bureau chief, European correspondent and managing editor of the Report on Business. He was an early proponent of digital transformation as founding editor of globeandmail.com.

At Bloomberg News, he was Editor-at-Large for Canada and global managing editor for energy, environment and commodities, a group situated in 22 countries on six continents.

Ed is the author of Double Vision: The Inside Story of the Liberals in Power, which won the 1996 Douglas Purvis Award for best public policy book, and of Searching for Certainty: Inside the New Canadian Mindset. He was a winner of PPF’s Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism. In 2010, he chaired a 13-person panel for the Canadian International Council that produced a bold international policy strategy called Open Canada: A Global Positioning Strategy for a Networked Age.

Ed holds a combined honours degree in journalism and political science from Carleton University and was a Commonwealth Scholar at the London School of Economics, earning an M.Sc. (Econ.) with distinction.

Newfoundland poet Maggie Burton is a multi-genre writer, professional violinist, and municipal politician. Burton holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Memorial University and has spent much of her career teaching with the Suzuki Talent Education Program and playing with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Chores was awarded the 2024 Griffin Canadian First Book Prize, received a silver medal in poetry from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Burton writes and lives on the Avalon Peninsula, where she is raising her four young children.