Hi, I am researcher from Simon Fraser University in the field of information visualization, emergency management information systems, and human-information interaction.

Director, Risk and Continuity Management Services.
An established Member of the BCI (MBCI) with over thirty years’ experience in leading the planning for and response to disruptive events. Responsibilities have included program development, resource management, training and operational deployments at the local, regional, national, and international levels for the federal government, Canadian Forces. For the past eleven years I’ve had the opportunity to be very active in Saskatchewan, working with and helping local, national and international organizations, government agencies and education institutes become better prepared for crisis events in their ever changing business environments. With this varied experience and education I’ve been able to bring unique perspectives to tasks and issues; equally comfortable working with executive management in a board room setting or front line workers in the field.

Risk and Continuity Management suite of services include: determination of risk management options; design, implementation and validation of emergency, continuity and crisis programs and plans; design and delivery of training for executives, individuals and teams. Recent engagements have focussed on the addressing the question “How do we expand current emergency response capabilities to meet evolving resiliency expectations and objectives?” Our practice is not to re-engineer the organization’s incident management processes, but to assist clients to understand and bridge the gaps between traditional emergency plans and emerging risk and continuity management best practices.

I am a recent graduate from the University of Guelph, majoring in Criminal Justice and Public Policy.
I just finished an internship for the Community Emergency Management Coordinator in Brantford, ON. In this position I updated the Social Services Emergency Manual for 2013 and initiated a research project to make 211Ontario relevant for Brantford citizens. I have also completed IMS*100 and IMS*200 training.

President, Disaster Recovery Information Exchange

Senior Associate - HZX Business Continuity Planning

Todd Bardes is a risk mitigation and business resilience professional. He draws on more that 35 years of banking experience and over 15 years of Incident Management, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Crisis Management and Emergency Response. These activities have been located in North America and the Caribbean. As a “Manager for National Coordination” and a “Business Continuity Management Advisor” to one of the major international financial institutions, he has work to develop resilient emergency recovery strategies and preparation for emergencies within extensive retail networks, call centre environments and major installations. He has also developed enterprise-wide emergency communication systems.

Mr. Bardes has been involved in numerous training, certification and profession development seminars and currently serves as the President of the Disaster Recovery Information Exchange (DRIE). He is also Co-chairs the Greater Toronto Incident Management Exchange (GTIME) established within DRIE to partner public and private organizations in management of a wide scale disaster in the Greater Toronto Area.

Mr. Bardes is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers and holds certification as a Certified Business Continuity Professional – International (CBCP) and the Certified Business Resilience Manager (CBRM) granted by the Business Resilience Certification Consortium International. Todd has also made presentations to the “World Conference on Disaster Management” and other national organizations on the topic of Emergency Planning and Business Continuity. Mr. Bardes has been involved in numerous training, certification and profession development seminars and is currently a member of the Steering Committee for the "Emergency Management and Public Safety Institute" at Centennial Collage.


Mr. Bardes is also a Director of the Bruce Trail Conservancy.

I provide communications, issues management and special project consulting to emergency services organizations in western Canada. I have worked the past ten years exclusively with emergency services agencies providing counsel and leadership in areas such as crisis and issues management, government relations, program and project development, strategic planning and research. Prior to that, I worked for several private and publicly traded international companies helping design communication and marketing strategies.

I have assisted police, fire, emergency medical services and public safety communication centres with preparing crisis communication plans, developing issues strategies that include both operational and communication considerations, analyzing program and service opportunities, identifying areas for operational improvements, and shaping internal, governmental and public expectations of safety and service. I work closely with management and operational personnel to identify the various stakeholders in both emergency and non-emergency scenarios, develop strategies for addressing these groups and their unique information needs and providing a transparent, honest process for communications and operational improvements.

I have worked in non profits in Ontario for a long time. It is one of my passions. I love my job and most days I feel there is something new I've learned. I love social media but find it very time zapping. I worked at the epicentre of SARS 2, as it was called and have strong opinions on crisis communications. I wish social media had been around when SARS came out. It would have been a different story.

I live in Toronto and hope to move to suburbia soon. I have a difficult yellow lab but I will never give up on him. And I love to read. Very boring I know. Below is my personal blog and my work Scoop It account for news on Ontario Social Services.

Linley currently serves as a Captain with the Calgary Fire Department. He received his masters in Disaster & Emergency Management from Royal Road University and is a certified Hazardous Materials Specialist, CBRNE Responder and Safety Codes Officer.
He is the Head of Delegation for Canada on the ISO 223 Societal Security Technical Committee, and chairs the Canadian Advisory Committee for the same standard. He is a working member of Canadian Standards Association Z1600 Emergency Management & Business Continuity Standard Technical Committee.
Linley’s background includes assisting Public Safety Canada with the initial design, implementation and delivery of the Government of Canada CBRNE First Responder Training Program. His past experience includes serving as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Calgary, as well as fire suppression, Haz Mat & CBRNE response, business continuity certification (Associate Business Continuity Professional through DRI Canada), and ISO 14001 implementation.

I began my emergency management career while I was still in the Canadian Army. From 1998-2002 I commanded the BC Domestic Operations Detachment in Victoria, BC, responsible for coordinating military support to civil authority in BC. In this role I worked closely with federal, provincial, municipal and commercial emergency managers across BC. As with many of us, I was seduced into the emergency management world, and once my military career of 32 years ended I became the Director, Office of Emergency Preparedness for the City of Edmonton. I filled this role for seven years and in 2009 left Edmonton to open my own consulting firm, Black Shield Preparedness Solutions Inc. This has been the most satisfying part of my emergency management career as not only does it provide a wide variety of challenges and flexibility to work to my own schedule (most of the time) but does allow me to work with my clients in a mentoring role, hopefully passing on to them the lessons I have learned during my career. A full outline of Black Shield can be found at www.blackshieldps.com.