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Automakers and drivers in Canada continue to navigate tight vehicle inventory related to supply chain issues. Canada is also embarking on a mass transition from internal combustion engines to battery electric and other low-carbon powertrains. What do tech advancements, market developments and supply challenges mean for drivers, dealerships and automakers?
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Mitra Mirhassani
Co-Director, SHIELD Automotive Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence and Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Windsor
Jordan Chittley
Editor, Globe Drive, The Globe and Mail
Modern vehicles are essentially computers on wheels. From infotainment to navigation and eventually, fully autonomous driving, the amount of data created, shared, and analyzed will only rise. Hand-in-hand go considerations around cyberattacks, privacy and loss of consumer control over their own data. This panel will cover the opportunities and implications of connected vehicles and issues for automakers, cities and consumers.
Nations around the world are jockeying for position in the race to secure critical minerals needed for e-vehicle batteries. Resources such as lithium and cobalt are also the subject of scrutiny around ethical and responsible supply. Then there’s the question of what will happen to batteries at end-of-life. How are all these issues factoring into Canada’s e-vehicle battery conversation?
Since the introduction of the Prius in 1997, Toyota has led the auto industry’s electrification revolution. Globally, the company has sold more than 20 million electrified vehicles and is still the number one seller of electrified vehicles in Canada (with 38% of Canadian sales in 2021). Already offering a full range of carbon-reducing hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric options to meet the diverse needs of drivers, Toyota is investing a further $70 billion in electrified vehicles and plans to offer 70 different electrified models globally by 2025. This lineup aspires to include 15 zero-emission battery electric vehicles, starting with the bZ4X. Committed to overall carbon reduction, Toyota is also aggressively working toward making its North American plants carbon neutral by 2035.
Stephen Beatty is Vice President and Corporate Secretary of Toyota Canada Inc. He is responsible for Administration, Corporate Strategy and Product Planning, External Affairs, Human Resources, Information Services, and Legal.
Beatty began with Toyota Canada in 1998 as National Manager, Government and Public Relations.
Prior to joining Toyota Canada, Beatty worked for 10 years as Executive Director of the Canadian Apparel Manufacturers Institute and the Canadian Apparel Federation, the Ottawa-based national trade associations for the clothing industry in Canada. In those roles, Beatty led the industry’s efforts to transform into a modern, export-based business. He brought to that task extensive experience in strategic planning, policy development and media relations. He was a senior political advisor in Ottawa, including Chief of Staff to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
Beatty has been actively involved with a number of volunteer advisory boards and was most recently Chair of the Board of Directors of AUTO21, a network of centres of excellence focusing on Canadian research expertise to improve the global competitiveness of Canada’s automotive industry.
Beatty holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in political studies (University of Guelph) and sociology (Carleton University), and a Master's degree in public administration (Carleton University).
As President and CEO of AutoForecast Solutions LLC (AFS), Joe McCabe leverages his decades of industry experience and knowledge to provide production forecasting and advisory services to the global automotive community. Joe manages the automotive turnkey operations at AFS including the global light vehicle, powertrain, drivetrain, and alternative propulsion forecast as well as a suite of AFS proprietary opportunity and sales planning software. AFS supports all tiered suppliers, VMs, government agencies, financial institutions, and the academic community with data, planning solutions, and a personalized support to help identify new business opportunities while mitigating risk. Joe’s 25+ year career in automotive forecasting ranges from his tenure at AutoFacts, PwC, AutomotiveCompass, and now AutoForecast Solutions. Joe earned his Bachelor’s of Chemical Engineering at Villanova University and an MBA at Pennsylvania State University.
Ajay Kochhar is the President and CEO, co-founder of Li-Cycle.
Responsible for strategic oversight of Li-Cycle’s various functional business units, which includesCommercial, Technical (Health, Safety, Environment and Quality/HSEQ, Operations, Commercialization, Research and Development) and Shared Services. Additionally, Ajay supports the development ofinternational growth initiatives for the company in collaboration with Li-Cycle’s Corporate Development team.
Before founding Li-Cycle, Ajay gained extensive technology and project development experiencethrough progressive roles with Hatch’s industrial cleantech and advisory practices. While working in thatspace, he garnered in-depth engineering and project management experience through clean technology development in the lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, gold, lead, zinc, molybdenum, and rare earth metals industries. His technical expertise spans the entire project lifecycle, from conceptual and pre-feasibility studies to construction and commissioning.
Born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, Ajay comes from entrepreneurial roots, having gained experience from a young age via a family business. An ardent music enthusiast, he is a classical guitarist who maintains the hobby even now for enjoyment.
Ajay is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Chemical Engineering.
Mitra Mirhassani is an associate professor at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Windsor. Her research interests include hardware security, Trojan detection, and quantum-safe encryption.
She and her team are investigating a range of hardware security issues such as detecting malicious Trojan Hardware, Efficient implementation of Post-Quantum Algorithms, and implementation of Public Unclonable Functions. Mitra Mirhassani is a senior member of IEEE and is serving as the Associate Editor for IEEE Access Journal and Guest Associate Editor of IEEE Transaction on Computer-Aided Design. She is the advisor to the WiCyS (Women in Cybersecurity) Windsor chapter. She was recognized as one of the Top Women in Cybersecurity by IT World Canada in 2020. and won the 2020 Outstanding Achievement award from the APMA Cybersecurity Institute. She is co-founder and the co-director of the SHIELD- Automotive Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence.
Petrina Gentile is a contributing writer for The Globe and Mail. She is an award-winning automotive journalist - one of the few women who cover cars in Canada. Her life revolves around wheels. She has been writing for the Drive section since 2004. Besides auto reviews, she also interviews celebrities like Norman Jewison, Patrick Dempsey, Rick Hansen, Dean McDermott, Russell Peters, and Ron MacLean for her My Car column.
In her spare time, she produces the national TV show Car/Business with Jeremy Cato and Michael Vaughan, broadcast weekly on CTV and BNN. She also appears regularly covering the automotive beat for CTV’s Canada AM, CTV News Channel, The Marilyn Denis Show, The Pattie Lovett-Reid Show, and BNN.
She has written several non-fiction books for kids including “Big Trucks, Big Wheels,” “Dirt Movers,” and “The Ballet School.” She’s still involved in the publishing world, acting as a consultant on the Superstar Cars series for Crabtree Publishing. Before focusing on cars, she was a news writer at CTV and a producer at BNN. She has a Masters Degree in Journalism from Carleton University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English Rhetoric and Professional Writing (co-op) from the University of Waterloo.
Thierry Spiess is the Deputy Director for the On-Road Transportation Programs at Natural Resources Canada, responsible for the decarbonization of freight operations, zero- and low- emission vehicle awareness, behavioural Science, the fuel consumption guide and EnerGuide labels for vehicles. In addition he oversees the greening government operations fleet program that supports federal departments in their transition to electrify their fleets. Thierry was previously responsible for light-duty vehicle policy for the department. Prior to joining the Government, Thierry worked at the Centre for Urban Energy in Toronto, studying grid resilience strategies. He holds a Ph.D in Environmental Science from Ryerson University and a Master in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Zurich.
Adam Radwanski is a columnist and feature writer for The Globe and Mail, focusing on the politics and policy of climate change.
Prior to beginning his new beat in November 2019, he specialized in profiles of public figures and backroom players, in-depth examinations of political phenomena, and leading coverage of election campaigns in Canada and the United States.
A National Newspaper Award winner, Adam previously served as The Globe and Mail's Ontario columnist, and before that was a member of the Globe's editorial board. He made his start in journalism as the founder of Canada's first online political magazine, was a columnist and editor at the National Post, and was managing editor for online services at Maclean's.
Carla Bailo is the President and CEO of ECOS Consulting LLC and past President and CEO of the Center for
Automotive Research (CAR), and is a leader in engineering and vehicle program management with 42 years of experience in the automotive industry. In addition to her role at CAR, Ms. Bailo is currently an Independent Director on the corporate boards for SM Energy (SM) and Advance Auto Parts (AAP). Prior to joining CAR, she was most recently the assistant vice president for mobility research and business development at The Ohio State University. She also has 25 years of experience at Nissan North America, Inc., where she served as senior vice president of research and development. Ms. Bailo also spent 10 years at General Motors.
