KEYNOTES
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President, Boeing Canada and Boeing Canada Operations Ltd.
Al Meinzinger
Al Meinzinger joined the Boeing Global team in June 2024 as president of Boeing Canada and Boeing Canada Operations Ltd.
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As the country leader for Canada, Meinzinger leads Boeing’s business interests across the country, which include nearly 2,000 full-time employees, 500+ Boeing suppliers, and all Boeing commercial airplanes and defence aircraft.
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Meinzinger also provides leadership oversight of Boeing Canada’s community sponsorships and company contributions programs. Meinzinger’s ongoing priorities include defence procurement, supplier discovery, sustainable aviation, and key innovation, research and development opportunities in Canadian industry and academia.
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Meinzinger is a former Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), most recently serving as its longest-serving Commander in the last 60 years. In this role, he was responsible for providing the Canadian government with effective air and space capabilities to meet national defence requirements and led one of the branch's largest modernization efforts.
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Prior to joining Boeing, Meinzinger held various RCAF leadership positions, including Director of Strategic Joint Staff and Deputy Commander, in addition to being Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada. He also served in the U.S. as a member of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command where he was instrumental in refreshing its national Arctic strategy, and in Afghanistan as Canada’s Air Wing Commander where he oversaw the delivery of air capabilities in theatre.
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Meinzinger is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen’s University.
DEFENCE SPEAKERS
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President, Canadian Global Affairs Institute
David Perry
Dr. David Perry is the President of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, host of the institute’s Defence Deconstructed Podcast and a co-director of the Triple Helix MINDs Collaborate Network. He is the author of multiple publications related to defence budgeting, transformation and procurement and a columnist for the Canadian Naval Review.
He received his PhD in political science from Carleton University where his dissertation examined the link between defence budgeting and defence procurement. He is an adjunct professor at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary and a research fellow of the Centre for the Study of Security and Development at Dalhousie University. He was previously the Senior Security and Defence Analyst of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute and Deputy Director of Dalhousie University’s Centre for Foreign Policy Studies. Embassy Magazine and The Hill Times has named him one of the "Top 100 Influencing Canadian Foreign Policy.”
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Head of VP/ITB (Offsets), SkyAlyne Canada Inc
Denean Tomlin
Denean Tomlin is the Head of VP/ITB (Offsets) for SkyAlyne Canada Inc. She is responsible for leading the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) strategy, acts as the primary ITB customer interface, and supports the successful fulfillment of the ITB obligation and reporting to Canada. Denean is responsible for leading the development of the company's Canadian Value Proposition (CVP) and Industrial & Technological Benefits (ITBs) program, strategies, and commitments.
Ms. Tomlin is from British Columbia and has made Calgary home since 1989. Her career spans 3 decades in the areas of business development, government relations, economic development and international trade and investment. Denean has been part of the Defence industry for over 17 years as an ITB Manager and prior to that as the President of the Western Canadian Defence Industries Association. She holds board positions with IPAC (Industrial Participation Association of Canada), the Aerial Evolution Association of Canada and was appointed to the SAAC (Strategic Aviation Advisory Council for Alberta). Denean has participated in numerous advisory roles for academia and government with regards to growth of the Aerospace, Defence and UAV sectors in Alberta.
When not at work, you will find Denean outdoors on her acreage, training Springer Spaniels in the field, hunting and competitive sport shooting across a variety of disciplines. She is also the co-host of the SHE SHOOTS Podcast, Canada’s only all female produced and hosted Podcast focused on Women in shooting and hunting sports.
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Head of Communications, Collaboration, and Stakeholder Relations, SkyAlyne
Harrison Ruess
Harrison is SkyAlyne’s Head of Communications, Collaboration, and Stakeholder Relations. Having spent the last 15+ years building communications and marketing campaigns of every size and shape, Harrison is an experienced storyteller and bridge-builder.
First cutting his teeth working in the newsroom and leading social media for a national television news network and newspaper chain, Harrison learned early in his career about the importance of weaving together persuasive writing, personal stories, compelling visuals, and keeping cool under pressure. Since then, Harrison has worked for a Prime Minister on strategic and digital communications, two Opposition Leaders as a senior advisor and head of digital communications, Canada’s largest business association as the campaign director, and before joining SkyAlyne, as a Senior Director at an Ottawa-based advertising agency.
Throughout it all, he has gained an appreciation for translating a wide variety of complex — often challenging — issues into compelling narratives to engage audiences of all types, including for elected officials, in the B2B space, for stakeholders, and the general public.
Harrison hails from Toronto, however with his wife and son have called Ottawa home for the last decade. Fun fact: Harrison is also a commercially licenced pilot and has worked as a flight instructor.
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Vice President, Canadian Operations
Jacques Comtois
As Vice President of Canadian Operations, Jacques is responsible for leading the company’s business operations and the strategic growth, and performance of the organization. He leads the strategic planning and initiatives to advance future business opportunities and partnerships, and scaling Arcfield’s Canadian operations.
Jacques brings more than 20 years’ experience in Canadian aerospace and defence. After serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, Jacques joined Rolls-Royce and Spar Aerospace. He held leadership positions at Bombardier Aerospace, including general manager of the Amsterdam Service Centre and vice-president and director of operations for the Military Aviation Training. He also served as vice president and general manager at the JFK Service Delivery Centre for Bombardier Transportation in New York City, L3 MAS in Montreal, and L3Harris WESCAM, before becoming a Senior Aerospace Associate at Samuel Associates.
Jacques started his career in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), where he served as a Commanding Officer, 3 Air Maintenance Squadron (3 AMS) in Bagotville, Québec, and managed preventive and corrective maintenance operations in support of the CF-18 fighter aircraft. During his military career, he also performed operational tours in Canada, Germany, and the Persian Gulf.
Jacques earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada and an executive MBA from Queen’s University.
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Site Director, Skunk Works® Canada, Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs
Michael Baker
Michael Baker was appointed Site Director for Skunk Works® Canada in 2022. He leads a commercial organization within Lockheed Martin Canada of 70 employees to develop solutions for the uncrewed systems industry including C2 and autonomy software. Michael has served in many roles during his 24-year career with Skunk Works® Canada including Business Development Manager, Program Manager for the VCSi software product and Lead Developer for the Common Unmanned Control System for the US Army’s Universal Ground Control Station. Mike is an active member of several NATO STANAG industry working groups focused on interoperability of uncrewed systems. Mike graduated from the University of Calgary with a bachelor's degree in Software Engineering.
HOST
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Colonel (Col) Turenne, born and raised in Edmonton, AB, joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1996 while studying Aviation at Mount Royal College. He received his Pilot Wings in 1999 and trained on the CF-18 at 4 Wing Cold Lake. He served as a fighter pilot at 425 and 409 Tactical Fighter Squadrons, including a deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan.
He later became an instructor and Deputy Commander at 410 Squadron, and in 2015 was appointed Commanding Officer of 425 Squadron. In 2022, he took command of 4 Wing and CFB Cold Lake.
Col Turenne has served in senior staff roles with the Next Generation Fighter Capability Office and NORAD/USNORTHCOM. He is currently Director of Strategic Plans and Modernization (A5) at 1 Canadian Air Division.
He holds an MBA, is a graduate of Canadian and U.S. military colleges, and has logged over 2,800 flight hours—2,100+ in the CF-18. He lives in Edmonton with his wife Stephanie and their three children.