Dr. Julian Barling, PhD
Queen’s Research Chair

Dr. Julian Barling is Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology in the Queen’s School of Business, and Associate Dean with responsibility for the Ph.D, M.Sc and Research programs in the School of Business. Dr. Barling is the author of several books, including Employment, stress and family functioning (1990, Wiley & Sons), The union and its members: A psychological approach (with Clive Fullagar and Kevin Kelloway, 1992, Oxford University Press), and Changing employment relations: Behavioral and social perspectives (with Lois Tetrick, 1995, American Psychological Association), and Young workers (with Kevin Kelloway, 1999, American Psychological Association). Dr. Barling co-edited the The psychology of workplace safety, and is the editor of the Handbook of Work Stress (2005; Sage Publications), and the Handbook of Workplace Violence (2006; Sage Publications). He is currently editing the Handbook of Organizational Behavior, which will appear at the end of 2007. In addition, he is the author/editor of well over 125 research articles and book chapters. Dr. Barling was the editor of the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Occupational Health Psychology from 2000-2005. Dr. Barling serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, and Stress Medicine. Dr. Barling previously served as the consulting editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior. He was formerly chair of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Workplace Violence. From 1989-1991, Dr. Barling was the chairperson of the Advisory Council on Occupational Health and Safety to the Ontario Minister of Labour. In 2001, Dr. Barling received the National Post’s “Leaders in Business Education” award. In 2002, Dr. Barling was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and was named as one of Queen's University’s Queen’s Research Chairs. Dr. Barling’s has worked with different organizations on leadership development, and his current research focuses on how transformational leadership can enhance employee’s psychological and physical well-being .

Invited Lunchtime Address

Robert Waite

Robert Waite is Senior Vice-President, Stakeholder Relations and Brand for Canada Post. His areas of responsibility include brand management and corporate advertising, internal and external communications, government issues and advocacy, stamp design, sponsorship, donations and community relations.

Mr. Waite has more than 30 years experience running communications, marketing and government relations organizations in the public and private sectors. Employers included CIBC, CAE Inc., IBM Canada and Ford of Canada. He has been active promoting corporate wellness and mental health awareness for more than five years.

Plenary Panel Speakers

Dr. Ray Baker practiced family medicine and occupational medicine in Logan Lake BC from 1976 to 1988. He earned certification and then fellowships in both addiction medicine and family medicine. For the last twenty years or so his clinical practice has focused on management of people with complex disabilities: substance use disorders (including nicotine dependence), chronic pain syndromes, stress-related emotional and functional impairment and various process addictions such as pathological gambling. He designed and implemented (and won a national award for) the Addiction Medicine curriculum at the University of British Columbia medical school, directing the program for five years. He authored a chapter on Alcoholism for Conn’s Current Therapy, 2002 edition. His main vocational focus is in working with corporations and organizations to improve the early detection, intervention and rehabilitation of personnel whose attendance, performance, behaviour or safety has been impaired by substance use disorders or other invisible disabilities.

Grace Pulver

Grace Pulver is the Vice President of Human Resources at Vancity. She started her career in HR in Vancouver in 1985 and has 20 years experience as an HR manager, director, consultant and Vice President. During the course of her career she has led award winning workplace diversity and training programs, created and led national leadership programs and worked with companies to define their competitive advantage and strategic plans. Ms. Pulver loves to laugh and has taken stand-up comedy training and participated in shows.

She joined Vancity in 2003 and in her first year led the development of a new Strategic People Plan to build a sustainable employee experience. In 2004, she became a member of the Vancity Story Alignment Team and worked on the people aspects of the Vancity Story. She was promoted to the VP of Human Resources on May 9th, 2005. Most recently she has led her division in the creation of a new 5-year plan.

“What I love most about my work is the privilege of helping our amazing employees and managers crystallize and unleash their own unique potential.”

Margaret Tebbutt

Margaret Tebbutt is the Manager of the Mental Health Works (MHW) program for the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division. As a Certified Trainer, she delivers presentations to help employees become aware of mental health in the workplace, and workshops to help managers develop the knowledge and skills to more effectively discuss mental health issues with employees and create accommodation strategies that work.

As a volunteer, Ms. Tebutt participates on the Steering Committee for CMHA- BC’s annual Bottom Line Conference on mental illness in the workplace and is on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Institute for the Relief of Pain and Disability. Prior to joining CMHA, she held positions as Senior Advisor, Executive Development for the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business; Director, Client Service Delivery with Western Economic Diversification Canada; and in trade and immigration positions at Canadian embassies abroad.

Gina Fiorillo

Ms. Fiorillo is a partner in the Vancouver law firm Fiorillo Glavin Gordon. She was called to the BC Bar in 1989. Ms. Fiorillo's practice is concentrated primarily in the areas of administrative, labour and human rights law. She has appeared before a variety of administrative tribunals and at all levels of court in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. She has also appeared as counsel before the Federal Courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. Ms. Fiorillo is a former member of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board and executive member of the BC Branch, Canadian Bar Association, Labour Law Section (1999 to 2001).

Ms. Fiorillo is a member of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers. She is a frequent guest speaker and has published several articles on developments in labour and human rights law in the unionized workplace. The Canadian legal directory, Lexpert, has consistently recognized Ms. Fiorillo as a leading practitioner in the field of labour relations.

CIHR Panel Speakers

Dr. Alain Marchand

Dr. Alain Marchand has a PhD in Sociology. He is an assistant professor of methodology and occupational health and safety at the School of Industrial Relations and researcher at the Health and Prevention Social Research Group (GRASP), University of Montreal. His research interests focused on the understanding of the role of occupation and pathogenic work organizations on the occurrence of mental health problems, alcohol abuse and the taking of psychotropic drugs. He is the author of several articles published in scientific journals like Social Science & Medicine, Sociology of Health and Illness, Work, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Human Relations and Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

Dr. Marchand is the first recipient of the CIHR Emerging Team Grant: Mental Health in the Workplace (Delivering Evidence for Action). The purpose of his research program, Developing better diagnosis, interventions and policies in occupational mental health: A multi-disciplinary approach is to achieve better organisational diagnosis, interventions, and policies related to occupational stress and mental health. It addresses three research areas identified in the call for proposal: Prevention and promotion, diagnosis models, methods and tools and policy development. The research program is structured around two complementary phases: (1) The development of a more comprehensive explanatory model and early assessment tool in occupational mental health, based on a combination of psychosocial and physiological measures of variables and, (2) the experimentation, evaluation and diffusion of workplace preventive interventions.