»ÆÉ«Ö±²¥

My move to Halifax was the first time I had been on an airplane. In fact, I had limited travel outside of Ontario, outside Toronto more specifically, with my entire family all living in the Greater Toronto Area (aka the Six). When I graduated from the University of Toronto with my Bachelor of Commerce in 1995, I yearned to continue my studies and broaden my horizons. »ÆÉ«Ö±²¥ introduced me to the rest of Canada and taught me to seize opportunities when they present themselves.  

I came to Halifax in September 1995, eager to begin my Master in Development Economics (MDE). The small class sizes and close relationships with my professors were a stark contrast to the anonymity of the University of Toronto.  I became close friends with most of my classmates; especially Ryan, Janice and Glenn. In the summer between the two years of the program, I joined the Baltic Economic Management Training Program, where Ryan and I travelled through the Baltic states gathering research for our master’s theses. It was such a momentous time, with so many new opportunities. My thesis advisor, Talan Iscan, pushed me to undertake a level of quantitative analysis I never would have thought I was capable of, ultimately producing work good enough to be published in an academic journal, the Open Economies Review.  

When I graduated, the job market was rather bleak, and there was little hiring taking place in Ottawa. I also missed my life back in Toronto. On one of my trips back home, I walked the bank towers on Bay Street leaving over 200 résumés in my path. From that effort, I landed a temporary job in the Trade Finance department of the Bank of Montreal. When that ended a few months later, an opportunity emerged in a small consulting shop focussed on Trade Finance. I was building experience in a field that I had previously no idea even existed. When an opportunity to work in subnational finance and economic development in Slovakia and Hungary came up….I couldn't resist. 

I then worked for several years on overseas projects sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency and the World Bank, first with the Canadian Urban Institute and later with KPMG Consulting. All of these positions had a common thread: they were rooted in finance and economics; areas in which my training at »ÆÉ«Ö±²¥ prepared me well. You may have gathered that I was always a bit restless, continually looking for the next challenge. And that is also where I feel my MDE trained me well: always look ahead to the next challenge.   

When I wanted to start a family, and travel a bit less, I joined the Ontario government, which introduced me to the power sector. I had not studied energy economics in school, but the field fascinated me; the complexity, the impact of the sector on our climate, and just how critical energy is in our daily lives. Since 2012 I have been with the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). The IESO is responsible for managing the Ontario electricity system, by operating an electricity market and making sure we have enough supply to meet demand whether 5 minutes from now or 25 years from now. The challenges are immense; we run a competitive market to buy and sell a commodity that can only be produced by significant capital investments. How do you ensure competitiveness while also providing investors with the confidence that developers will be able to repay the debt needed to build these assets? How do you ensure fair access to this market for a variety of different technologies that each have their own unique operating characteristics? How do we prepare for a future of growth in demand from new technologies like artificial intelligence that we have only limited historical data on? Working in the group responsible for the market rules, I interact daily with lawyers, engineers, and other economists as we grapple with these questions.

When I arrived in Halifax in 1995, it was my first airplane trip and my first real step outside the world I knew. Looking back, that decision changed the course of my life. »ÆÉ«Ö±²¥ has given me the confidence to embrace the unknown and pursue new challenges with optimism. It opened doors to international work, lifelong friendships, and a career I never could have imagined. For that, I will always be grateful to Dal and my time in Halifax.