Bruce Lourie

Bruce Lourie is one of Canada's most influential leaders and thinkers in the environment sector. As the President of The Ivey Foundation, a private charitable foundation focusing on environmental policy change, Lourie's 20-year career is built on creating collaborative solutions to challenges facing non-profits, government and the private sector. He is a Director of the Ontario Power Authority, a Director of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and a Chair of the Board of Environmental Defence Canada. Lourie has expertise in toxic substances, green energy, forest conservation and environmental philanthropy. His work is characterized by introducing new angles to environmental work including one of the country's early leaders in making environment a public health issue.

Lourie is known best for his ability to identify gaps in the environmental sector and creating vibrant and effective organizations to fill those gaps. He is a founder of a number of for profit and non-profit organizations including Summerhill Group, a prominent market transformation consultancy in Toronto specializing in energy conservation and renewable energy; the Sustainability Network, Enerquality Corporation, and the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers' Network. Lourie was the founding Executive Director of the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance and the founding President of the Clean Air Foundation. Many of the organizations he helped create are now regarded as models in their field.

Along with co-author Rick Smith, Lourie's groundbreaking book, Slow Death By Rubber Duck, was published in May 2009. Based upon personal and professional research on environmental and household toxins, the book landed at #1 on the Amazon.ca best-selling list, and has also been recognized as a Globe and Mail best seller.

Lourie is exceptionally active as an advisor to governments, industry and non-profits on a range of issues. He is proud of the fact that he has received political appointments from both Conservative and Liberal governments and has been appointed to international, federal, provincial and municipal bodies. Lourie is also one of Canada's leading experts on mercury pollution but secretly loves tuna.

Bruce Lourie's Blog Entries:

Living Toxic Free in a Modern World

• Environmental Contaminants and Toxic Pollution

• Forest Conservation

• Environmental Entrepreneurship

• Philanthropic and Non-profit Leadership, Funding with Impact

• Climate and Energy: Pathways Forward

• The Role of Science in Policy

• At the 2009 Green Living Show, Bruce Lourie's presentation on his new book, Slow Death By Rubber Duck, was an absolute standout. It drew one of the largest crowds to our mainstage because Bruce offered tremendous credibility on a subject that is of huge concern to the general public—and has a national bestseller to back it up. He managed to make a potentially dire subject, i.e., the consequences of daily exposure to harmful environmental toxins, highly engaging and even funny. He had the audience swept up in his cavalier tale of self-experimentation and was able to provide grounded, easy-to-understand and actionable advice on what consumers can do to protect themselves from the chemical cocktail that surrounds them. Anyone concerned about the state of our environment needs to hear more voices like Bruce's.
  Green Living

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  May 2009

  Slow Death By Rubber Duck

  BRUCE LOURIE Slow Death By Rubber Duck Funny, thought-provoking, and incredibly disturbing, Slow Death by Rubber Duck reveals that just the living of daily life creates a chemical soup inside each of us. Pollution is no longer just about belching smokestacks and ugly sewer pipes – now, it’s personal. The most dangerous pollution has always come from commonplace items in our homes and workplaces. Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie ingested and inhaled a host of things that surround all of us all the time, exposing us to truth about what is poisoning us every day of our lives. Ultimately hopeful, the book empowers readers with some simple ideas for protecting themselves and their families, and changing things for the better.