Member Biographies

Member Biographies

Skye Barbic

Dr. Skye Barbic is an Occupational Therapist registered in the province of British Columbia. In the last 14 years, she has practiced in three Canadian provinces (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia), with a particular passion for community mental health. Currently, Skye is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Research Lead at Foundry (foundrybc.ca). She holds an Associate Membership in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and an appointment as a Scientist in the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS).

Dr. Barbic’s training in health measurement and rating scale science has included a PhD from McGill, and post-doctoral fellowships at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health in Toronto and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. She is passionate about the role of patient engagement, modern psychometrics methods, and technology to inform evidence-based care in Canada's mental health system and beyond.

Judith Bartlett

Dr. Judith G. Bartlett CM, MD, MSc, CCFP is a Métis physician with decades of health sector experience; she was as a ‘northern flying doctor’, a health administrator in federal First Nations health program, an Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, and Director of a policy research unit.

Dr. Bartlett has done extensive research and has multiple academic publications and reports on First Nations, Métis, and international Indigenous population health. Her research focus is population health research and knowledge translation. She maintained part-time clinical practice throughout her career in family practice and addictions medicine.

Her life passion is creation and use of the holistic ‘Aboriginal Life Promotion Framework^© (1993)’ and Wellness Areas^© (1996)’ in programs, research and health policy planning. She has been an avid volunteer in more than fifty boards and committees, including five years on Canada’s Tri Council Panel on Research Ethics. This is her way of ‘giving back’ for the amazing opportunities she has had.

Dillon Black

Dillon Black, M.S.W. (they/them) is a gender-nonconforming feminist anti-violence advocate & LGBT2ISQ+ rights activist with a deep commitment to social justice, health equity and community development through an intersectional and trauma-informed approach. For the past 6 years, Dillon has been working with the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women where they are currently coordinating a ground-breaking project to improve institutional accountability in responses to gender-based violence and sexual violence to meet the needs of marginalized communities both locally and nationally.

Additionally, Dillon is currently pursuing their Ph.D. in Criminology & Surveillance Studies at the University of Ottawa under the supervision of Dr. Valerie Steeves, J.D., Ph.D. Dillon’s Ph.D. research hopes to look at the surveillance and resistance of marginalized communities in Canada through the intersections of privacy, social policy, technology and gender-based violence.

In 2018, Dillon was appointed by Prime Minister Trudeau to the Gender Equality Advisory Council for Canada’s G7 Presidency.

Julie Kathleen Campbell

Julie Kathleen Campbell has a degree in Psychology from the University of Sherbrooke and a Master’s degree in Community Psychology from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Before opening her private practice in psychological services, she founded the suicide prevention centre, le Faubourg, in the Laurentians (Quebec). Here she was the Executive Director and Clinical Supervisor for over 20 years. Ms. Campbell is also a Past President of the Quebec Suicide Prevention Association.

Ms. Campbell was a consultant in youth suicide prevention for the province of Ontario as part of a contract with the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health. She is a Suicide Prevention Consultant and a trainer, working amongst others, with Inuit communities in northern Quebec. In 2017, she became the Executive Director of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. She is also co-chair of the National Collaborative for Suicide Prevention as well as a member of the Quebec College of Psychologists.

Brooke Chambers

Brooke Chambers is a mental health advocate, who, in 1989 at the age of 19, was the youngest police officer ever hired by the Ontario Provincial Police and the only black female at the time. Ms. Chambers served in traffic enforcement, accident investigation, officer training, community engagement, strategic policy and planning and fraud investigation. After leaving policing to pursue a career as a Financial Advisor, she managed assets of over $60 million. However, after 8 years as an advisor, Ms. Chambers could no longer work due to her bipolar diagnosis.

Ms. Chambers has served on the Board of Directors of the Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Foundation. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Policing from the Ontario Police College and Professional Financial Planning Designation from the Canadian Securities Institute.

She has spent 15 years recovering from mental illness, has a self-proclaimed (PhD) in bipolar and is the author of the upcoming book, Calling in Sick: Living With Bipolar in Canada.

Manon Charbonneau

Dr. Manon Charbonneau is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Université de Montréal who is known for her mental health advocacy leadership, regionally, provincially and nationally. She has been a Board Director since 2013 for the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and is the First Inaugural Chair of the Public Policy Committee at the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA), where she leads the Association’s efforts to reduce the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness.

Since 2015, she has proudly served as an Instructor in many First Nations communities, disseminating the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), an evidence-based training program of the MHCC.

Dr. Charbonneau is greatly involved in her community and participated in the RELAY for life for the Canadian Cancer Society in 2009 as a medical doctor and as a person with a lived experience of both depression and cancer.

Marion Cooper

Marion Cooper is the Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) for Manitoba and Winnipeg, and serves as the Executive Lead for Strategic Partnerships with the CMHA National Office supporting partnerships with Indigenous organizations and communities to advance population mental health. She is a registered clinical social worker as well as a mental health and addictions leader who has worked in the community sector in various positions since 1992. She was instrumental in establishing the mental health promotion delivery unit at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

From 2003 to 2014, Ms. Cooper held a variety of roles including the Program Manager for Mental Health Promotion, Illness Prevention and Early Intervention. She is the past president of the Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention and was also the co-chair of the Pan-Canadian Committee for Mental Health Promotion and Mental Illness Prevention. Ms. Cooper is passionate about recovery, system transformation and innovation to advance mental health for the entire population.

David Gardner

Dr. David Gardner is a Pharmacist and Professor with the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University with a joint appointment at the College of Pharmacy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the University of Toronto (1988), his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of British Columbia (1997), and his Master of Science in Community Health & Epidemiology from Dalhousie University (2003).

Dr. Gardner’s research focuses on the safe, effective, and rational use of psychotropic medications as well as capacity building in community mental health and addictions care and services. He is the co-lead and co-developer of the Bloom Program, the mental health and addictions community pharmacy partnership program of Nova Scotia. He also leads Sleepwell, a program that aims to decrease sleep medication use across Canada while increasing the utilization of cognitive-behavioural therapy. Dr. Gardner is an executive member of the Canadian Deprescribing Network and author of the book Antipsychotics and Their Side Effects.

Carol Hopkins

Carol Hopkins is the Executive Director of the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation (a division of the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation) and teaches in the School of Social Work at Western University’s Kings University College. Carol has spent over 20 years in the field of First Nations addictions and mental health. She holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto and a degree in sacred Indigenous Knowledge (equivalent to a PhD in western-based education systems). She is of the Lenape Nation at Moraviantown, ON. Carol has recently been named an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Ms. Hopkins has co-chaired several best practice and policy review initiatives and was instrumental in the development of the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, Honouring Our Strengths: A Renewed Framework to Address Substance Use Issues Among First Nations in Canada, the Indigenous Wellness Framework, best practice guidelines for culturally based inhalant abuse treatment, and the Native Wellness Assessment. She is a recipient of the Champions of Mental Health Award and the Health Canada Innovations Award.

Shaleen Jones

Shaleen Jones is the Executive Director for Eating Disorders Nova Scotia. Ms. Jones is an advocate, organizer, educator, and all-round rabble rouser in the field of mental health.

Over the past twenty years, Ms. Jones has worked with many community organizations, holding leadership positions with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Peer Support Canada, Laing House, and the British Columbia Eating Disorders Association.

As a person with both lived experience and family experience, Ms. Jones is passionate about recovery, the transformative power of peer support, and creating sustainable, systematic changes across the sector. She was one of the first people trained specifically to provide peer support for those with eating disorders in Canada, and earned her Peer Support Certification from Peer Support Canada in 2015. Ms. Jones was recognized with an Inspiring Lives Award from the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, and continues to advocate for mental health systems transformation as a member of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's Hallway Group.

Nick Kates

Dr. Nick Kates is a psychiatrist, professor, and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University with a cross appointment in the Department of Family Medicine. He is also an Associate Member of McMaster’s Department of Health, Aging and Society. For 12 years he was the Director of the Hamilton HSO / FHT Mental Health and Nutrition Program, which integrated mental health counsellors and dietitians into 170 family physicians’ offices and for 5 years he was the Provincial Lead for the Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership which promoted quality improvement amongst primary care practices.

Dr. Kates has consulted nationally and internationally on redesigning systems of care, linking mental health and primary care services, global mental health, using quality improvement methods to improve care, and building integrated service networks. He is a distinguished fellow of the American and Canadian Psychiatric Associations, an honorary member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Co-Chair of the CPA-CFPC Conjoint Working Group on Collaborative Mental Health Care.

Christopher Lalonde

Dr. Christopher Lalonde is a developmental psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Victoria. He is Vice-Chair of the Human Research Ethics Board at the University of Victoria. He is currently collaborating with First Nations in British Columbia and with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs in a research program that aims to better understand how the promotion of First Nations cultures and the pursuit of self-determination are associated with decreased youth suicide and injury rates.

Laurence Martin-Caron

Laurence Martin-Caron holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Université Laval, with a specialization in territorial social capital and collective entrepreneurship.

He is currently a project lead for the Association québécoise pour la réadaptation psychosociale (AQRP), a leader in mental health recovery and rehabilitation, primarily in Quebec but increasingly in the rest of Canada and overseas.

Mr. Martin-Caron is consulted by individuals and organizations on issues around disclosure, employment integration, recovery and stigmatization. Other clients include community and public organizations (professionals and managers), mental health stakeholders in Quebec, the New Brunswick health care network, and other Canadian provinces, and federal partners Health Infoway, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) via the Hallway Group, the eHealth in Mental Health Collaborative and the Headstrong program, which holds youth mental health summits.

Emma McCann

Emma McCann is a passionate advocate for youth well-being and patient engagement in mental health systems. She is a Youth Engagement Facilitator at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. In this role, she has acted as a special advisor to the Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) initiative. Emma is the co-chair of the Frayme Advisory on Youth Matters and a member of the Frayme Knowledge Mobilization Committee.

Ms. McCann firmly believes in the importance of engaging youth and families in system design and service provision as experts in their own health care. In her seven years in the mental health field, she has advised and led projects at the community, national, and international level. Ms. McCann studies at the University of Toronto.

Jack Saddleback

Jack Saddleback is a Cree, Two-Spirit, transgender, gay man from the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, Alberta. As the Cultural & Projects Coordinator with OUTSaskatoon, he works closely within the Queer community and the Indigenous community to address reconciliation and decolonization work that incorporates an intersectional lens.

Mr. Saddleback has sat on the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Youth Council as the Saskatchewan representative, a role he held for six years. Along with his fellow council members, Mr. Saddleback has lobbied political figures, policy makers, and community members alike to bring youth mental health to the forefront. On top of his mental health activism, he advocates for Indigenous engagement, gender and sexual diversity issues, Two-Spirit issues, sexual health, and HIV & AIDS awareness.

As the former President for the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union (USSU), Mr. Saddleback was the third Aboriginal person and first transgender person to hold the role.

Vicky Stergiopoulos

Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos is a Clinician Scientist and the Physician-in-Chief at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She is the Vice-Chair, Clinical and Innovation and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Her clinical and research activities focus on the development and evaluation of interventions to address the needs of people who are homeless and of those who are frequent users of mental health services.

Dr. Stergiopoulos has a keen interest in mental health policy, community development and the redesign of our system of mental health care for the purpose of system improvement.

Petrea Taylor

Dr. Petrea Taylor is a Registered Nurse and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of New Brunswick where she earned her PhD in Interdisciplinary studies. Her research interests include feminist analyses of mental health, suicide, and violence against women. Since 2006, Dr. Taylor has practiced as a clinical nurse specialist in Addictions and Mental Health with the Horizon Health Network in Moncton, New Brunswick. She has several published presentations on suicide and has created education programs for acute care and community-based clinicians.

Dr. Taylor has an expertise in suicide prevention, and is a leader in moving systems provision toward a ‘recovery’ approach. She values engaging people with lived experience to work as partners in helping others. Her personal lived experience through recovery from sexual trauma, depression, and an eating disorder strengthens her practice.

Nicholas van den Berg

Nicholas van den Berg graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Mr. van den Berg became involved with Jack.Org, a national network aimed at empowering youth to advocate for mental health as well as normalize mental health conversation through various initiatives. This has led to his participation as a Network Representative for Jack.Org, where he engaged in mental health advocacy on the national level.

Upon his graduation from Bishop’s University, Mr. van den Berg became a part of the Advisory for Youth matters committee for Frayme, a knowledge translation platform for international youth mental health organizations. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa in Experimental Psychology.

As someone who has navigated the mental health care setting from lived experience, Mr. van den Berg is an individual that can provide insight based on his background in mental health advocacy and advisory for policy change from a research perspective.