Toronto’s Tribute Dinner

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Ritz-Carlton Hotel
181 Wellington Street West, Toronto
Ritz-Carlton Ballroom

6:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception • 7:00 p.m. Dinner

Tribute 2013

Please join us at the 2013 Toronto’s Tribute Dinner as we proudly celebrate and recognize the outstanding leadership and community service of the Honourable James M. Flaherty, P.C., M.P., Minister of Finance, and Michael Nobrega, President and CEO of OMERS.

Over the past eight years Easter Seals has recognized distinguished individuals who have demonstrated leadership in their industries, in their communities and for their continued support of children and youth with physical disabilities including, The Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Joseph Mancinelli, International Vice President of the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LiUna) (2012) and The Honourable John P. Manley, President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and Brian Burke, President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs (2011).

Funds raised at the Tribute Dinner helps families of children with physical disabilities offset the cost of expensive mobility equipment and communication devices such as wheelchairs, walkers and computers, in addition to providing opportunities for these children to attend fully accessible Easter Seals camps and participate in other recreational and independence-building programs.

James M. Flaherty

James M. Flaherty is a third-term Member of Parliament for Whitby–Oshawa (Ontario). He serves as Canada’s Minister of Finance and Minister Responsible for the Greater Toronto Area. He is a Governor of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. As Minister of Finance he is an ex-officio member of all Cabinet Committees.

Minister Flaherty was recently awarded Euromoney Magazine’s Finance Minister of the Year award. Euromoney credited him with enhancing Canada’s reputation for sound fiscal policy while taking full account of social justice and overseeing a strong regulatory regime that has kept the financial sector out of chaos. He has also been described as a pillar in both the G-7 and the G-20.

In 2010, Minister Flaherty was chair of the G-7 Finance Ministers and chair of the annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting.

Previously, for more than 10 years, he served as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby–Ajax (Ontario). He served as Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance, Attorney General and Minister of Labour.

He graduated from Princeton University cum laude and then graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the Bar in Ontario with honours and practised law for more than 20 years before being elected to public office.

He is married to Christine Elliott, who serves as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby–Oshawa. They live in Whitby with their triplet sons.

Michael Nobrega

Michael Nobrega was appointed President and CEO of OMERS on March 7, 2007. He also served as OMERS Chief Investment Officer from March 7, 2007 to December 31, 2009. From 1998 to the date of his promotion as OMERS CEO, Mr. Nobrega was President and CEO of Borealis Infrastructure, the wholly-owned infrastructure investment entity of OMERS.

Mr. Nobrega holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto and a chartered accountancy designation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is a former partner of Arthur Andersen, where he practiced tax law in mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganizations.

In 2012, Mr. Nobrega was appointed Chair of Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE). A champion of leading edge technologies, OCE drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research across key market sectors to build the economy of tomorrow. Mr. Nobrega is also a board member of the Global Risk Institute which was recently established to address issues related to systemic risk in the financial sector.

Mr. Nobrega is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, Canada – the highest designation the institute confers and which recognizes outstanding career achievements, as well as excellence in service to the community and the profession. Mr. Nobrega also received the Arbor Award from the University of Toronto for outstanding community service.

For more information on the Tribute Dinner or to sponsor the 2013 event, contact Danielle Rea at drea@easterseals.org.