A climate advisory firm with global reach. 

As Canada’s second-longest serving Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine was a lead negotiator of the Paris Agreement, including Article 6 on carbon markets. She led the development of Canada’s first comprehensive climate plan, which included a national coal phase-out with a just transition strategy, cross-country methane regulations, and a price on carbon pollution — a policy upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada. She introduced Canada’s Impact Assessment Act, strengthening environmental protections, advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and enabling faster, more predictable project reviews. She doubled the amount of land and oceans protected in Canada in partnership with Indigenous communities, including negotiating with the Government of Nunavut and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association to protect Tallurutiup Imanga — the largest marine conservation area in Canadian history — alongside major investments in a deep-sea port in Qikiqtarjuaq and two new small craft harbours. She also launched the Indigenous Guardians Program.

Internationally, Catherine led Canada’s climate and environmental diplomacy. She helped establish the Powering Past Coal Alliance, the Ministerial on Climate Action, and the Nature Champions Summit. She served as Chair of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, Co-Chair of the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Working Group on the Environment and Natural Resources, and Vice-Chair of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED).

As Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Catherine oversaw more than $100 billion in infrastructure investments across Canada. She helped design and implement Canada’s post-COVID “Build Back Better” plan, delivering historic investments to restart the economy. She negotiated the largest transit deal in Canadian history — $12 billion in federal funding for Greater Toronto subway expansions and the Hamilton LRT. She restructured the $35 billion Canada Infrastructure Bank to better leverage private investment and expanded its Indigenous investment mandate to $1 billion. She oversaw major national infrastructure projects including the Gordie Howe International Bridge, the Champlain Bridge, and Waterfront Toronto, and led work that advanced the development of high-speed rail between Ontario and Quebec. She launched Canada’s first National Infrastructure Assessment to establish a long-term vision for the country’s infrastructure needs including how to fund and finance it. She worked directly with Indigenous communities to close the infrastructure gap and directed that a minimum of 10% of all new Infrastructure Canada program funding be invested in partnership with them.

Prior to entering politics, Catherine practiced corporate, trade, and competition law at leading firms in Canada and Indonesia. She served as lead negotiator on the Timor Sea Treaty with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in East Timor. She founded Canadian Lawyers Abroad (now Level Justice) and taught in the Master of Global Affairs program at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She studied at the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics, and McGill University Faculty of Law, and is called to the Bars of Ontario and New York.