Meet Our
Panel Members
The Atlantic Economic Panel is chaired by Don Mills and brings together seven experienced business leaders from across Atlantic Canada who share a deep commitment to building a strong regional economy. Panel members contribute their expertise, networks, and leadership to guide the panel's recommendations and champion a bold vision for Atlantic Canada's future.
Cathy Bennett
Cathy Bennett is a seasoned board chair, director, investor, and business leader with more than three decades of experience across energy, mining, capital markets, technology, and public policy. Her governance work spans publicly traded companies, crown corporations, and privately held businesses, alongside active involvement in early-stage innovation and venture investment.
Over her career, she has held more than two dozen corporate, public sector, and non-profit directorships, including multiple chair roles. Her experience includes leadership in major resource projects, energy and utilities, telecommunications, industrial manufacturing, advanced technology, and entrepreneurship—reflecting a long-standing commitment to economic development, innovation, and sustainable growth across diverse sectors.
She brings deep experience in economic development across Atlantic Canada’s highest-potential sectors, including mining, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and innovation-driven technologies. Her work spans major resource developments, energy transition initiatives, dual-use and frontier technologies, and scale-up strategies that strengthen regional competitiveness. Recognized for navigating complex stakeholder environments and aligning industry, government, and community interests, she has consistently advanced productivity, investment attraction, and long-term growth
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Joyce Carter
Joyce Carter is President and CEO of Halifax International Airport Authority, a role she has held since 2014. Under her leadership, Halifax Stanfield’s economic output to Nova Scotia’s economy and its employment impact has doubled. Today, the airport supports over 24,000 jobs and generates more than $4 billion in annual economic activity—cementing its role as a cornerstone of Nova Scotia’s economy and a key enabler of Atlantic Canada’s connectivity to the world.
Carter helps drive national and international aviation governance and is active in several regional and community boards related to transportation, tourism, and financial services. She serves as Honorary Colonel of 12 Wing Shearwater, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary’s University where she recently received an honorary Doctor of Commerce. She is a Fellow CPA and earned her ICD.D designation in 2015.
Carter has received numerous honours and awards, including Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs, Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, and was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her work in transportation and commerce.
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Michael F. Cassidy
Following graduation in 1975 from Saint Mary’s University, Mike Cassidy worked in the corporate marketing department of a national oil company, received his chartered accountancy designation with a local PEI accounting firm, co-owned and operated a mid-size international trucking company, operated a diversified training and consulting practice through his companies Cassidy Associates and Focus Marketing Inc., and completed Charlottetown’s largest private heritage development project with the restoration of Great George Street “Inns on Great George” situated in historic Charlottetown.
His ownership in a regional motor coach group of companies has allowed him to lead the efforts in developing municipal and rural transit systems on PEI and a Maritime intercity line run service for passenger and same-day parcel delivery.
Mike is one of PEI’s most recognizable entrepreneurs with a wide range of industry experience. His business ownership interests over the past 40 years have crossed many business sectors including long haul trucking, waste management, retail automotive, tourism and hospitality, real estate development, business consulting, sales and marketing, bus transportation, climate-controlled greenhouse production and sustainable farming initiatives. Today, the current Group of Companies has close to 700 employees focusing on bus transportation, cruise ship shore excursions, sustainable agriculture, and real estate development.
For 25 years of his career Mike took his energy and business experience into the classrooms at UPEI where he was a member of the Business Faculty teaching Accounting and Entrepreneurship. In 2013 Mike was elected to the Fellowship in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of PEI, receiving this honour for his outstanding contribution to the CA profession as an educator, mentor, and role model.
During his business life Mike has been recognized as one of Atlantic Canada’s Leading Entrepreneurs during the 2017 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, inducted into the PEI Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in 2018, received the Transport Action Atlantic’s Public Transportation Award in 2019, honored with the 2019 Downtown Charlottetown President’s Award, acknowledged in 2020 as a leader in Grant Thornton’s “Faces of a Vibrant Community” program and chosen as the 2020 United Motorcoach Association’s Environmental Leadership Award recipient.
Mike lives in Charlottetown with his wife Mary Jane and has four adult children: Matthew (Cheryl), Stephen (Mary Kate), Christine (Nelson) and Ryan, with a third generation developing including grandsons, Keefe, Cole and Ollie and granddaughters, Molly and Gerri.
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J. Scott McCain
Scott McCain is Chairman of the Board of McCain Foods Limited. He is also President of JSM Capital Corporation (a private investment holding corporation).
In 2014, Mr. McCain retired as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Agribusiness Group at Maple Leaf Foods Inc., a role he held since 1999. From 1995 to 1999, he was Executive Vice President at Maple Leaf Foods.
Prior to joining Maple Leaf Foods, Mr. McCain was Vice-President of Production, McCain Foods Limited in Canada. Mr. McCain joined McCain Foods in 1978 where he held progressively senior positions in manufacturing and operations.
Mr. McCain holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mount Allison University (1978).
He is a director of SeaFort Capital Inc., Saint John Major Junior Hockey Club Limited, the Fraser Institute and Chair of the Board of the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation Inc.
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Don Mills - Chair
Don is the President of Crane Cove Holdings Limited, his family investment firm, and a partner and Director with CABCO Communications, an IT infrastructure company in Canada. He is a co-founder and partner with Total Marketing & Communications (TMC) in Bermuda and its affiliate Narrative Research Bermuda. He currently serves as Senior Counsel to TMC. He is the co-founder and former owner and CEO of Corporate Research Associates (now Narrative Research), which has an on-going and long-term relationship with TMC. Don sold his company to his senior management team in late 2018 and remained Chair of the Board and Senior Counsel of Narrative Research until early 2023. He is a regular columnist with the MacDonald Report, as well as being a frequent media commentator on public affair issues. He is also the Co-host of the Insights Podcast on the Acadia Broadcasting Network and recently co-authored a book with David Campbell, “Toward Prosperity: The Transformation of Atlantic Canada’s Economy”. He continues to be active as a consultant in marketing and strategy.
Don has been active as a business leader and community activist, serving on more than two dozen boards over his career including among others as a founding board member of the Halifax International Airport Authority, as a member of the boards of Dalhousie University, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, the Halifax Partnership, the IWK Foundation, the Atlantic Institute of Market Studies, the YMCA, the Arthritis Society, and United Way. He was a founding Board member and a past Vice-Chair of the Canadian Research Insights Council. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the YMCA, and on the boards of the New Scotland Clothing/ Brewing Companies and 100 Seeds.
He is recognized as a public opinion expert by various judicial bodies and is a Certified Research Insights Professional. He was recognized as a Fellow in the market research industry in Canada in 2008 by the national association, the only Atlantic Canadian to be so recognized. He was chosen as Business Person of the Year in 2001 and as a runner up in 2007 by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. He was inducted into the Top 100 CEOs Hall of Fame in its inaugural year in 2005 by Atlantic Business Magazine and received a Merit Award from his alma mater, Bishop’s University in 2009. He was also an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2017. In 2022, he inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. He continues to be passionate about Atlantic Canada and an advocate for change in the region.
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Chief Terry Richardson
Chief Terry Richardson was elected Chief of Pabineau First Nation in April 2020, after serving as a councillor for eight years. He previously worked as Mi’kmaq benefits manager for Trevali Mining, where he provided guidance in the development of underground mining programs. Additionally, Chief Richardson served 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), working within the construction engineering field in administration, finance, and contracting.
He has also been an active community member sitting on the boards for Vitalité Health and the University of Moncton.
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Anne Whelan
Anne Whelan is the principal shareholder and Chief Executive Officer of Seafair, a group of companies with investments in community and behavioural health, wellness, and safety. Over 25 years, Ms. Whelan founded Brightisle, a provider of health and community care in Newfoundland and Labrador, and went on to build Branch Innovations, a portfolio of digital healthcare solutions, Headway, a personal protective equipment supplier, and to develop joint ventures and strategic investments in high-growth companies like NovaLeap Health.
In addition to her role with Seafair, Ms. Whelan serves as the chair of the Audit Committee for the Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada, and as a Director with CSA Group and Nova Leap Health. Previously she was a director with the Business Development Bank of Canada board and the Newfoundland and Labrador Oil & Gas Industry Association, as well as Chair of the Board of Directors of Newfoundland Power, and Regional Vice-Chair of the Atlantic Economic Council.
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Expert Advisory Group
Sector Specific Expertise.
Impactful Recommendations.
The panel is supported by an Expert Advisory group of sector-specific experts who provide specialized insights and guidance in key areas of opportunity. These advisors bring deep knowledge and experience that helps the panel make informed, impactful recommendations.
Purpose
The Expert Advisory group is established to support the Atlantic Economic Panel in its mandate to define a new path forward for the Atlantic Canadian economy. The group's role is to provide strategic advice and expert insight into the panel’s work. Advisors should champion a pan-Atlantic perspective by promoting solutions that benefit the entire region. They should help the panel understand and earn public trust, ensuring recommendations and actions are broadly supported. Advisors should also help the panel reflect the region’s diversity, including Indigenous participation and perspectives, recognizing their central role in Atlantic Canada’s future. It is proposed that approximately 10 advisors be selected (TBD).
Responsibilities
- Identify and Define Opportunities: Advisors will help identify economic opportunities with the potential to drive transformation across Atlantic Canada, as well as barriers that may hinder the realization of these opportunities.
- Facilitate Strategic Connections: Advisors will leverage their networks to connect the panel with key individuals and groups, amplifying the panel’s reach and impact.
- Advise on Findings and Recommendations: Advisors will review and provide input on the panel’s draft findings and recommendations.
- Support Outreach and Communications: Advisors will lend their voice to outreach and communications efforts undertaken to promote the panel’s work and recommendations.
Selection Criteria
The attributes required for advisors to effectively support the panel’s mandate include:
- Expertise: Advisors must possess subject-matter expertise and a track record of leadership, adding credibility to the panel’s work. Examples include industry experts, business or community leaders, or academic researchers.
- Diversity: Advisors should reflect the geographic, cultural and linguistic diversity of Atlantic Canada, with representation from Atlantic provinces, key sectors and communities.
- Strong Connections: Advisors should have extensive networks and the ability to facilitate connections across sectors and regions.
OUR MANDATE
Independent, Business-Led, Action-Oriented
The Atlantic Economic Panel was established under the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) Act by Minister Sean Fraser, but operates with complete independence. We report to Atlantic Canadians - not to the government.
Why this Matters
Atlantic Canada at a Defining Moment
Rapid changes in global trade, climate imperatives, and technology mean the choices we make now will echo for decades. This isn't about managing decline or accepting incremental change - it's about seizing unprecedented opportunities that are emerging right now in our region.
Atlantic Canada has fundamental advantages that position us to be a major contributor to national prosperity:
• Strategic geographic position for North American and European markets
• Abundant clean energy potential
• Critical mineral resources essential for the green economy
• Deep water ports and naval capabilities vital to national defense
• World-leading ocean technology and research
• Growing technology and AI sectors
The Challenge:
Mindset and Ambition
But potential alone isn't enough. Realizing these opportunities requires honest conversations about what's holding us back - including our own attitudes toward risk, ambition, and growth. It requires rethinking 'how we do things here' and being willing to challenge assumptions that may have served us in the past but limit us today.
This is why the Atlantic Economic Panel exists: to help catalyze the bold thinking and strategic action needed to power prosperity across Atlantic Canada. Not just for today, but for generations to come.
Fill Out Our Questionnaire.
We Want To Hear From You.
Atlantic Canadians can complete our questionnaire to help inform the Atlantic Economic Panel about what really matters to the public.
Share Your Ideas With Us.
We Want To Hear From You.
We invite sector associations & councils, and organizations that support business growth across Atlantic Canada to contribute written submissions