Plenary and Keynote Speakers SAMPAA VI
Plenary Speaker
John Tanzer is currently an Executive Director at The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority based in Townsville.
He has responsibility for two of the Authority's key policy and management groups: Fisheries and Conservation, Heritage & Indigenous Partnerships. He also has responsibility for the Day to Day Management, Legal, Ministerial Liaison Office, international functions, Community Partnerships and Corporate Services Group of the Authority.
In recent times he has overseen the development of the rezoning of the Park, which has seen the highly protected area increased from 4.5% to around 33%.
Prior to joining the Authority, early in 1998, he was the Chair of the Queensland Fisheries Management Authority. He has worked in natural resource management and policy since graduating with an honours degree in Geography in 1980. He also has a Masters of Environmental Law degree from Australian National University. John has worked as a senior policy advisor to Primary Industries Ministers in both the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments.
Mr. Latourelle is the Chief Executive Officer of the Parks Canada Agency, a federal agency responsible for the protection and presentation of 41 National Parks, 195 National Historic Sites and two National Marine Conservation Areas across Canada.
Prior to his appointment in 2002, Mr. Latourelle was chief administrative officer for Parks Canada, and from 1997 to 1999 was based in Calgary as Parks Canada's director general for Western and Northern Canada. Previous to that, he spent 14 years working with different federal government departments and Crown Corporations.
Under his leadership, three new national parks were established in Canada and conservation efforts advanced in several areas of natural resources, including lakes and green spaces. Latourelle led the development of the Historic Places Initiatives (HPI), including introduction of the Canadian Register of Historical Places, the Commercial Heritage Properties Incentive Fund and a collaborative plan to promote conservation in all provinces and territories.
Latourelle holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Universite du Quebec in Hull, and a Master of Business Administration from Queen's University in Kingston. Currently, he is a director of La Société du Havre de Montréal and treasurer of the Gloucester Rangers Minor Hockey Association. He and his wife Josée live in Ottawa with their three children.