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Biographies
Maria Barrados, President
Ms. Maria Barrados was confirmed as President of the Public Service Commission of Canada effective May 21, 2004. She had served as interim President since November 2003. From December 1993 to that date, she was Assistant Auditor General, Audit Operations, at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.
Educated as a sociologist, Ms. Barrados has a wealth of knowledge of and a solid background in audit, evaluation and statistical analysis. In 1975, she began her career as a Lecturer and later as a Research Project Supervisor at Carleton University. In March 1985, she joined the Office of the Auditor General, where she held positions of increasing responsibility in the Audit Operations Branch. She chaired executive committees on value-for-money and professional practices, representing the Office of the Auditor General at parliamentary hearings and at meetings with ministers and senior officials. She was responsible for many financial and value-for-money audits, including audit work related to results measurement, accountability, human resources management and public service renewal.
Ms. Barrados is a member and former Chair of the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ottawa Grace Manor and the Ottawa Hospital. She is also on the nominating committee of the Community Foundation of Ottawa.
Ms. Barrados obtained a B.A. with high honours in Sociology from the University of Saskatchewan in 1966. She also has an M.A. in Sociology from McGill University (1970) and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Carleton University (1978).
She is a recipient of the Confederation Medal (1992).
Ms. Barrados is married and has one daughter. She was born in the Netherlands, is a Canadian citizen and lives in Ottawa.
Manon Vennat, Commissioner
Effective June 10, 2004, Mrs. Manon Vennat was confirmed as a part-time Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of Canada, for a term of seven years.
Manon Vennat attended both McGill University, graduating in Civil Law, and the University of Ottawa, where she obtained a postgraduate degree in Public Law. Born in Montréal, she is a member of the Bar of Quebec.
Mrs. Vennat joined the Company of Young Canadians in 1966 as Director of Legal Affairs and Executive Assistant to the Director General. Later, she was Language Programs Officer for the Federal Citizenship Department.
She founded Le Centre de linguistique de l'entreprise, serving as its Executive Director until 1980. This organization enabled private sector corporations to manage changing linguistic priorities in Quebec.
Mrs. Vennat was Chairman of Spencer Stuart in Montréal until 2005. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart in 1986, Mrs. Vennat was Vice-President, Administration, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors of AES Data. She has now established her own consulting firm, Manon Vennat & Associates.
Throughout her career, Mrs. Vennat has been very active professionally as well as in the community. She is a past President of the Montreal Board of Trade, the first woman to hold this position, and is currently a director of the Historica Dominion Institute and the immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of the McCord Museum of Canadian History.
Mrs. Vennat has served on the boards of the Public Policy Forum and the Institute for Research on Public Policy. She has also contributed as a member of the Board of Visitors of Duke University, the Board of Directors of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and the board of the U.S.-Canada Fulbright Program. She has served on the Board of Governors of both Concordia University and McGill University, where she remains active as an Emeritus Governor. She is also a former chair of the board of Frontier College and a past member of its Foundation.
Mrs. Vennat has acted as a director of several corporations, including Canada Packers, Provigo, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, Empire Life and National Trust. A former member of the Board of Governors of the Montreal Stock Exchange, she is presently a director of McGraw-Hill Ryerson and Greiche & Scaff.
Over the years, she has participated in a number of task forces and advisory groups for the Quebec and federal governments.
In 2001, the Public Policy Forum honored her at a testimonial dinner in recognition of her contribution to public sector management and public policy in Canada.
Mrs. Vennat holds a Ph.D. honoris causa from the University of Ottawa and is a Member of the Order of Canada.
David Zussman, Commissioner
On June 10, 2004, Mr. David Zussman was confirmed as a part-time Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of Canada to hold office for a term of seven years.
Mr. Zussman has had a varied career in government, the private sector and in academia and is a recognized authority on public sector management, public administration and public policy. He has been closely involved in some of the most exciting developments in Canada in public sector governance and alternative service delivery over the past 15 years.
In August 2005, Mr. Zussman joined the University of Ottawa as the first recipient of the Stephen Jarislowsky Chair for Public Sector Management. In this capacity, he focuses on research, teaching and public programs in public management, governance and accountability.
Mr. Zussman has served in a number of positions at the University of Ottawa, including Assistant and Associate Dean of Graduate Programs (School of Management) and Dean of the School of Management from 1988 to 1992. During that time he was a Professor of Public Policy and Management and taught in the Executive MBA Program until 2004. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Canberra (Australia).
From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Zussman was Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at EKOS Research Associates Inc.
In 1995, Mr. Zussman joined the Public Policy Forum, an organization committed to bridging the gap between government, business, labour and the voluntary sector. He was appointed President in 1996, and remained in that position until 2003.
In 1994, he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Program Review and Machinery of Government, to help the government implement its commitment to a fundamental review of federal spending. In 1993, Mr. Zussman was responsible for the transition of the newly elected government.
Mr. Zussman has published articles and books on public management and policy making in Canada, and is the author and co-author of many publications, including Alternate Service Delivery: Sharing Governance in Canada and The Vertical Solitude: Managing in the Public Service. He writes a monthly public policy column for the Ottawa Citizen.
He sits on numerous public and private sector advisory boards and boards of directors. In 2003, he was awarded the Public Service Citation Award by the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX).