Edward Tamagno: Policy Associate, Caledon Institute of Social Policy

Prior to his affiliation with Caledon, Ed was a senior official in Departments of National Health and Welfare, Human Resources Development, and Social Development. For more than 20 years, he was responsible for the negotiation of social security agreements on behalf of the Government of Canada. These agreements coordinate Canada's public pension system - the Old Age Security program and Canada Pension Plan - with the pension programs of other countries. Under Ed's leadership, Canada concluded 46 bilateral social security agreements. This work provided him with the opportunity to study different models of social protection programs in countries around the world.

Ed held a number of other positions in the Government of Canada, including those of Policy Advisor to the Minister of National Health and Welfare and Director of the National Council of Welfare.

During has career in government, Ed had a long association with the International Social Security Association (ISSA), an international organization that brings together government departments, agencies and institutions administering social security programs in more than 140 countries around the world. From 1998 to 2004 he served as the elected Treasurer of the ISSA. Ed has presented papers at numerous ISSA meetings, as well as at meetings of other international organizations such as the Inter-American Conference on Social Security, at which he was the Canadian representative for almost 15 years. He also represented Canada in international forums on social security organized by the Council of Europe.