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3 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,January 9,2020 insidehalton.com • Great Wine List • 17 Beers on Tap • Great New Menu • Multiple TV's FAMILY RUN FOR YOUR FAMILY FUN! Check out our totally renovated restaurant with the Elvis Room, Ratpack Lounge and plenty of room for you and your family, friends or co-workers to relax, unwind and catch up. INFO@THESTOUTMONK.COM THESTOUTMONK.COMFollow us @thestoutmonk: 478 Dundas St. W., Oakville • (905) 257-4004 • www.thestoutmonk.com Now showing Premier League every Saturday and Sunday • WEEKLY FEATURES • Monday is Wing Night Tuesday is Ladies' Night Every Day Soup & Sandwich Combo Breakfast 9AM to Noon Saturday and Sunday Enjoy Bacon & Eggs, Egg Burgers or Steak and Eggs Live Music every Saturday night after the hockey game Football Sunday I was ready to speak to a broader audience to try to contribute to our Canadian society," she said. The mother of four discussed it with her husband and family and they agreed, "this may be the time." She won the contested nomination and then won the rid- ing in the Oct. 21 election, fending off a challenge by Conservative Terence Young, who had held the riding between 2008 and 2015. Anand says she went into the campaign acknowledging her lack of political experience, but hoping that voters would consid- er that her expertise in other ar- eas would be valuable in Ottawa. "They were so willing to think outside the box about electing somebody who would bring a dif- ferent skill set to the table. I'm soferent skill set to the table. I'm sof grateful they put their faith in me," she said. That skill set is impressive. Anand was most recently a pro- fessor of law at the University offessor of law at the University off Toronto, topping a resume that stretches for several pages. She holds four degrees and has held academic appointments at the University of Cambridge, the law schools at Yale, Queen's and Western. She has served as a vis- iting scholar at the Bank of Cana- da. She was the inaugural chair of the Ontario Securities Commis- sion Investor Advisory Panel and has sat on the boards of Oakville Hydro and the Oakville Hospital Foundation. In November, the Royal Soci- ety of Canada - an organization of scholars, artists and scientists - honoured Anand as one of the "world's leading scholars of cor- porate governance." Her re- search, the society said, has "sig- nificantly altered global thinking about best practices for boards of directors, including the impor- tance of diversity on boards." All that has set the stage for her next move. "It's a really good segue to move from the world of academia and interest and public policy to a complex government portfolio where governance is central to discharging the mandate," she said. Governance, she said, is evolv- ing and distinct for every organi- zation, but it hinges on the direc- tors around the table - their ex- pertise and their recognition of their responsibility. "I always go back, as I did as a board member on multiple orga- nizations, to what the legal man- date of the board is, which is to act with a view to the best interests of the organization," Anand said. "We must take into account not only a single stake holder but also the institution as a whole. That is our legal mandate ... It should inform every decision we make." Anand's talents could be tested though by the list of tasks laid out by Prime Minister Justin Tru- deau. Her mandate letter sets out an array of issues that, if fumbled, could cost taxpayers dearly and derail a political career. Among the priorities: modern- ize procurement practices to make them simpler and encour- age more competition; eliminate the outstanding pay issues for public servants and work on a re- placement payroll system; enter into a contract - finally - for a new fighter jet; look at options tofighter jet; look at options tof streamline tangled defence pro- curement; continue the renewal of the Navy fleet and revitalize the country's shipbuilding industry. The list goes on: implement a new vision for Canada Post so it can deliver service at a "reason- able" price; work toward the tar- get that at least five per cent of all federal contracts go to businessesfederal contracts go to businessesf led by Indigenous people; develop a strategy to power federal build- ings with 100 per cent clean ener- gy. Finally, the mandate letter re- veals that she's been given re- sponsibility for the National Cap- ital Commission, the Crown cor- poration that manages lands and property in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. That includes the official residences and the political hot potato that 24 Sussex Dr. has be- come. Prof. Michael Trebilcock, a faculty colleague at the Universi-faculty colleague at the Universi-f ty of Toronto, doesn't doubt that Anand is up to the task. He recalls meeting her more than two de- cades ago when she asked him to supervise her thesis for a master of laws degree. Her thesis was on the diversity of corporate boards, and Trebil- cock wasn't sure he was the best choice. "She insisted I was. I capitulat- ed. I supervised her thesis, which was a fabulous piece of work. It became something of a theme in her subsequent work," he said in an interview. "She's gone on to do a remark- able range of things ... she's been a whirlwind of activity, a very pro- lific scholar and an outstanding teacher." Trebilcock says that Anand's expertise on governance appears perfectly suited to her position in cabinet, dealing with issues such as how to structure the best pro- curement process and monitor- ing compliance. "I think having an intimate fa- miliarity with good governance practices is crucial to running a fair and transparent, crediblefair and transparent, crediblef government procurement re- gime," he said. "I can't think of a more ideal set of credentials for this portfolio and, I hope, perhaps down the road other portfolios." Continued from page 2 SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM NEWS