Being dependable and capable of solving hard problems

Professional and Corporate
Written By Stuart McNish

Guest: Kim Haakstad (CEO of forestry manufacturing organization)

Kim Haakstad’s job takes her all over the place. As CEO of the BC Council of Forest Industries, she represents the interests of British Columbia’s forestry product providers. Every day is different, especially with the timing of issues like US tariffs – all her life, people have depended on her to solve hard problems, which made her ideal for the role.

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Helping Canada’s dentists deal with challenges and trends
Helping Canada’s dentists deal with challenges and trends

What is the current and future state of dentistry in Canada? To Bruce Ward, this might be the biggest issue in his industry today. Does the dentistry field have enough dentists? What about assistants? After all, dentists need them to function. Do we have enough qualified workers domestically, or do we need to reach out internationally? As the president of the Canadian Dental Association, Bruce’s job is a mixture of making sure dentists in Canada can deal with industry realities, economics, and even immigration.

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Providing advocacy, assistance, and resources to restaurants
Providing advocacy, assistance, and resources to restaurants

How do you deal with over 15,000 restaurants and their issues? That is Ian Tostenson’s job at the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association. Most of British Columbia’s restaurants are small businesses, which might not have the resources and connections to solve their many issues – Ian and his team help that. As he puts it: “When I hear the industry’s not doing well, I take it personally.”

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Importance of authenticity in an advisory role
Importance of authenticity in an advisory role

Is Diana MacKay a thinker? A change maker? Or an advisor? To her, there might never be a way to classify her career with a single role. Currently, she is working as a health journalist – something that was unplanned, initially to help her father but the role morphed into something more. Unlike her father, she is not a doctor, which forces her to pivot her role into more of a health advisor instead of medical expert. This allows her to topic issues such as the impact of housing on health, which may not neatly or formally fit into the world of medicine.

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Maximizing transparency to the public around mining
Maximizing transparency to the public around mining

Vicky Yehl lives for mining. In her job at the British Columbia Securities Commission, she helps mining companies include information that they are required to share with the public, ensuring maximum transparency. She knows what she’s talking about as well – her background as a geologist gives her a wealth of knowledge to draw from. “It’s a bit of a dream job,” as she says. “I get to read geology all day [and] every day and someone pays me to do it.”

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Stuart McNish
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Representing France’s diplomatic interests in Canada
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Overseeing the utilities and energy industry