Events

Kevin Page is the founding President and CEO of IFSD and is recognized as a national authority on Canada’s budgetary system and its intersection with cabinet and parliament. Kevin sets IFSD strategy and is the last word on product quality control.

For 27 years, Kevin was a dedicated member of the federal public service at three central agencies responsible for fiscal matters, including the Department of Finance, the Treasury Board Secretariat, and the Privy Council Office of Canada. His work in the departments of Agriculture and Agri-food, Fisheries and Oceans, and Human Resources and Social Development gave him an important perspective on the challenges faced by line ministries in the expenditure management system. As Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Macroeconomic Policy, Kevin advised the Prime Minister on economic and fiscal matters.

Kevin was named Canada’s first Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) in 2008, serving Parliament. As the founding officer Kevin’s work set standards for fiscal transparency and accountability and led to the organization being considered an international benchmark. Following his time on Parliament Hill, Kevin held the Jean Luc Pepin Research Chair at the University of Ottawa (2013-16) where he taught public finance and economics and encouraged youth participation in public policy discourse. Currently, he teaches a public policy seminar course at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University in Montreal.

Kevin has provided expert support to leading international organizations like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank to support the development of public finance capacity in different parts of the world. He has participated on advisory boards including the Slovak Republic Fiscal Council (CBR) and the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). In Canada, he has volunteered in advisory positions on social issues at both a national level (Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness) and a local level (Serenity House – support for people with addictions to drugs and alcohol).

In 2015, Kevin co-authored Unaccountable: Truth and Lies on Parliament Hill, which is a unique insider’s look at the PBO, federal government and parliament.

Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, he has undergraduate degrees from Lakehead University and Simon Fraser University and holds a Master of Economics from Queen’s University. Kevin has also received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Lakehead University and an honorary doctorate from the University of York (UK). He has had the good fortune of receiving many accolades for his work, domestically and abroad, and from across the political spectrum.

Simon Gaudreault is the Chief Economist and Vice-President, Research for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). He is also a national spokesperson for CFIB and in this role frequently shares with the media his comments on the latest developments linked to SMEs and the economy. Simon holds an Honours BA in Economics from the University of Ottawa and an MSc in Economics from l’Université du Québec à Montréal.
Simon joined CFIB in April 2011 as an economist with the Quebec team. He assumed direction of national research in 2018 and was appointed to his current position in 2022. In this current capacity he is responsible for overseeing and conducting research and lobbying on a variety of economic, commercial, political and social issues affecting SMEs across Canada.
Previously, Simon has worked as a research and studies advisor in the Office of the Manager of the City of Laval, as counsellor for the local economic development office of Manicouagan Regional Municipality, and he was also a municipal finance and tax analyst.