Lydia is the chief executive officer and managing partner of Stewart McKelvey, being called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1992 and the Ontario Bar in 1994. After seven years as in-house counsel Lydia joined Stewart McKelvey in September 1999.

She is recognized in her profession, previously being named in the Top 40 Under 40 by LEXPERT Magazine, and over the years has been noted as a leading corporate-commercial practitioner in a number of legal publications.

Lydia gives her time as a member of the board of NetZero Atlantic and is vice-chair of Ovarian Cancer Canada. She sits on the UNB Law Dean’s Advisory Council and Co-Chairs the UNB Law Campaign Cabinet.

Lydia is a recipient of The Progress Club’s Women of Excellence award, was named one of the top leading women lawyers in Canada receiving a Lexpert Zenith award, and in 2022 was inducted into Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEOs Hall of Fame.

Vaughn MacLellan is a corporate lawyer with DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, a global business law firm and is the managing partner of its Toronto office.

Vaughn practises corporate and securities law with an emphasis on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions for a variety of clients, including public and private companies and investment dealers across various industries including the mining, real estate, cannabis, industrial and technology sectors.

He also advises clients on an array of securities and corporate law matters, including public company securities law compliance and corporate governance issues.

Vaughn is a member of the Local Advisory Committee (Ontario) of the TSX Venture Exchange, a past member of the Continuous Disclosure and Exempt Market Advisory Committees of the Ontario Securities Commission, past-Chair of the Association for Corporate Growth, Toronto Chapter and past-Chair of The Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Vaughn was a contributing author to Halsbury’s Law of Canada – Securities (2008 and 2013 and 2018 Reissues) and has been a part-time instructor on Corporate Transactions at the Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick.

Wayne Carson is President of Kilmer Infrastructure Developments Inc. where he leads Kilmer’s business platforms in public-private partnerships, real estate development and various concession related operating businesses and partnerships.

Wayne is also President of Host Kilmer Service Centres Inc. and an officer and member of the Board of Directors for the operating entities for ONroute, Pan Am Athletes Village and Quickload Logistics businesses.

Mr. Carson has 20 years of operating and management experience in the infrastructure, development and construction materials sectors serving all levels of government and segments of private industry.

He has a strong business operations background and significant experience in corporate/commercial transactions, privatization and design-build projects, mergers and acquisitions, employment and labour issues, construction law, contract negotiation, litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

Mr. Carson joined the Kilmer Group in 1994 as General Counsel & Assistant Secretary of The Warren Paving & Materials Group. From 1995 to 2000 Wayne held various operating positions of increasing responsibility and was Vice President & General Manager of Warren’s Central Ontario operations, leading that Group to significant growth prior to Warren’s merger with Lafarge in late 2000.

Post-merger he was responsible for the combined operations of Lafarge and Warren’s asphalt, construction and aggregate businesses in Central Ontario with annual revenues of $300 million.

In 2002 he was appointed Vice President & General Manager of Lafarge’s newly created Asphalt, Paving & Construction Division with operations in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes with annual sales in excess of $500 million and 1,500 employees.

In 2006 he was appointed Executive Vice President & General Counsel of Kilmer Van Nostrand Co. Limited.

Mr. Carson received a Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of New Brunswick and a Civil Engineering degree from UNB.

He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and a Registered Professional Engineer in Ontario and New Brunswick.

Simone Cole is responsible for leading Choice Properties’ legal team through leasing, transactional, operational and corporate governance matters.

She has spent more than a decade within the George Weston Group of Companies, including five years as vice-president, general counsel and head of compliance of its former North American food manufacturing division. Prior to joining Weston, Simone practiced corporate law on Bay Street at Torys LLP.

Simone graduated with a LLB with distinction from the University of New Brunswick in 2006 and was called to the bar in 2007. Simone also holds an honours bachelor’s degree and a bachelor of education degree with distinction.

Janet Hoyt has over 35 years of experience in the legal profession; first as a practicing lawyer, then as a developer of legal talent and, more recently, as an executive coach. She has counseled countless lawyers on career opportunities and career advancement.

Prior to establishing her own executive coaching and legal consulting practice, Ms. Hoyt spent 16 years at Torys LLP, a major Canadian law firm, in a senior talent management role. She is recognized as a strong people leader and a leading career coach within the legal sector.

For the past ten years, Ms. Hoyt has been retained on a part-time basis by McCarthy Tétrault LLP, another major Canadian law firm, to lead its Career Advancement Office. The Career Advancement Office provides independent and confidential coaching services to McCarthy Tétrault lawyers.

Using her significant career development and coaching experience, Ms. Hoyt encourages McCarthy Tétrault lawyers to explore their career aspirations in a proactive, thoughtful and focused manner.

Ms. Hoyt completed her BA at Acadia University and her LL.B. at the University of New Brunswick. She obtained her coaching credentials from Royal Roads University and is a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Ms. Hoyt is currently the Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors at the University of New Brunswick.

Lawson Hunter is one of Canada’s renowned regulatory and government relations counsel, drawing on a wide range of experience in business, government and private practice. He is a current director of Nexen Energy ULC. Lawson is also a frequent panellist at conferences on federal regulatory law.

Formerly Canada’s senior civil servant in charge of competition policy and enforcement, Lawson was primarily responsible for the drafting of the federal Competition Act. He recently returned to his role as counsel for the Competition and Foreign Investment Group.

Lawson advises a wide variety of Canadian and multinational corporations on all aspects of federal regulatory law and policy. He is particularly noted for his experience as an advisor on the regulatory aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

Lawson is a graduate of the Directors’ Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors and is highly experienced in matters of corporate governance. He has served as a director of major telecommunications and IT companies such as CGI Group and Bell Aliant and is a former chair and trustee of Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund.

Lawson has been heavily involved in various community and charitable endeavours; in 2017, he was invested with the Order of Ottawa for his various notable contributions to the city of Ottawa.

Most recently, Lawson was awarded the Order of Canada for his distinguished career in government, business and private practice as one of the country's leading competition and antitrust lawyers. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Chambers Canada Lifetime Achievement award.

Lawson was appointed by C.D. Howe Institute as a Senior Fellow specializing in regulatory and competition policy, and has been appointed to their National Council which advises the Institute’s research program.

He was honoured with Lexpert’s Zenith Award: Celebrating Leadership Through Change, recognizing lawyers who have been change-agents in their profession for 40 or more years.

A nationally recognized authority in Aboriginal law, Thomas Isaac advises business and government clients across Canada on Aboriginal legal matters and related regulatory, environmental assessment, negotiations and constitutional issues.

Thomas’ litigation practice is national in scope and focuses on representing clients in Aboriginal-related matters before courts and tribunals across Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Canada.

Thomas is a former chief treaty negotiator for the Government of British Columbia and former assistant deputy minister responsible for establishing Nunavut for the Government of the Northwest Territories. He also served in a senior capacity with the Government of Saskatchewan dealing with Aboriginal issues.

Thomas has extensive national experience advising energy, oil, gas, pipeline, mining, forestry, real estate and transportation companies, and federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments and agencies on Aboriginal, regulatory and constitutional matters.

He regularly negotiates on behalf of industry and governments concerning impact, benefit, economic development, replacement tenure, and access agreements with Aboriginal groups, and advises on Aboriginal consultation and accommodation processes and agreements.

Tom has published extensively in Aboriginal law, including 16 books, most notably Aboriginal Law, 6th Ed.

Former premier of Prince Edward Island, H. Wade MacLauchlan is UNB’s seventh modern-day chancellor. A well-known Canadian legal expert, academic, university administrator, politician and community leader, Chancellor MacLauchlan has long held ties to UNB.

He holds a bachelor of law from UNB and returned to serve as Dean of Law from 1991 to 1996, during which time the law school celebrated its centenary and created the Heritage Fund. He was also founding director of the UNB Centre for Property Studies.

Wade is president emeritus of UPEI, where he was president from 1999 to 2011. During his time as premier, he also served as PEI’s attorney general and was minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Intergovernmental Affairs, Justice and Public Safety, and Finance.

He has served on two occasions as chair of the Independent Advisory Board for nominations to the Supreme Court of Canada, and in 2008 he received the Order of Canada.

In addition to his bachelor of law degree, Chancellor MacLauchlan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Prince Edward Island and a master of laws from Yale University. He lives in West Covehead, PEI, with his partner, Duncan McIntosh.

Patrick McNally is a partner in Stikeman Elliott’s Corporate Group. His practice focuses on general corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities predominantly in the energy and infrastructure sectors.

He acts for numerous private and public companies, and offers advice regarding corporate finance, asset and share transactions, joint ventures, reorganizations and recapitalizations. Patrick also advises public entities with respect to corporate governance and compliance matters.

Noted by many leading industry publications, Patrick is recognized by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, IFLR1000 and Best Lawyers in Canada for his legal expertise. He was honoured with Lexpert’s Rising Stars Award, Leading Lawyers Under 40 in 2024.

A francophone from Moncton, NB, Patrick earned degrees at Acadia University (BBA’07), University of New Brunswick (LLB’11) and the University of Oxford (masters of law and finance, 2012). He currently resides in Calgary, AB, with his wife and their three children.

David is the retired Vice-president and Group Treasurer of McCain Foods Limited, a leading Canadian business with a presence in over 160 countries and a global team of over 20,000. David received two undergraduate degrees from UNB (BBA’71, LLB’73) and a Master of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of British Columbia in 1974.

A highly respected lawyer and business leader, he served as President of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association and as a Director of the Canadian Bar Association. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002.

David has lent his considerable experience and wisdom to the development of UNB. For over 25 years, he served on the UNB Board of Governors, since 2007 as Governor Emeritus. He has contributed significantly to UNB Law’s strategic vision through the Dean’s Advisory Council.

David continues to shape the future of legal education as a valued member of the UNB Law Campaign Cabinet. David’s unwavering commitment to UNB Law was recently acknowledged with the 2022 Ilsa Greenblatt Shore Distinguished Graduate Award.

Michael is the managing partner of Sherrard Kuzz LLP. He is recognized as one of Canada’s leading employment and labour lawyers by Chambers Global, Who’s Who Legal (Global Elite Thought Leader & Most Highly Regarded), Legal 500, Best Lawyers and Lexpert, and a Five Star Safety Lawyer by Canadian Occupational Safety.

Michael is also a fellow of the prestigious College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and holds the designation of King’s Counsel.

Michael is the chair of Skilled Trades Ontario (a provincial Crown agency under the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development) and sits on the board of directors of Skills Canada (Ontario) and Support Ontario Youth.

He is former chair of the National Labour and Employment Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, the Labour and Employment Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association, and the Yves Landry Foundation, and Corporate Chair of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada – Light The Night.

Michael is the recipient the Construction Institute of Canada’s Chancellor’s Award of Excellence, Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) Hard Hat Award of Excellence, University of New Brunswick Alumni Award of Distinction, USports Lester B. Pearson Award, Canadian Franchise Association Volunteer Leadership Excellence Award and Canadian Franchise Association Distinguished Franchise Support Service Award.