2020 Chamber Business Services Town Hall

Bios of our Speakers 

Chad Vickers is the Director of Employer Services in Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Immigration and Career Training.  He helps employers out with labour issues such as hiring and training staff.  

Gerald Christiansen Team leader Citizen Services Branch Service Canada. He manages  two northern offices of Service Canada, La Ronge and Buffalo Narrows. La Ronge is where he has lived his entire life. He has been a conservation officer, teacher, small business owner and general manager of a group of businesses owned by the Lac La Ronge First Nation. 

Deanne Belisle Strategic Initiatives Manager, Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD for short) is a career public servant who works mainly on programs to diversify the Saskatchewan economy and create and maintain jobs.  After starting her career in Regina, she is now based out of Saskatoon.  Deanne is an avid fan of the sport of curling and of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.     

Susan Sunde is an Outreach Officer with Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). She began her career with IRCC in 2008 and has had several roles within the operations sector. Originally from and currently based in Regina after living in Ottawa for 16 years, Susan is happy to be back living in the prairies.

Brent Young, Director of Programs and Policy, with the Employment Standards Division of Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety of the Government of Saskatchewan.  Our work is primarily on the setting, promotion and enforcement of minimum standards to achieve fair and productive workplaces.  My Unit includes public education about Part 2 of The Saskatchewan Employment Act and Regulations, including recent legislative changes made to support workplaces through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kirk Westgard is responsible for leading the Government of Saskatchewan’s Business Response Team, a single window service designed to support business in the province facing challenges that emerge as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also the Assistant Deputy Minister of Economic Development for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Trade and Export Development.  The Economic Development Division is responsible for the advancement of a competitive business environment, as well as activities to encourage economic growth in key sectors.