Richard Westler is a retired public servant who worked with the Canadian federal government in the Departments of Transport and Public Works. As an economist with more than 30 years experience in government, he has dealt with many issues such as policy development and regulatory matters related to Canada's transport sector, most notably in strategic planning in the deregulation and commercialization of Canada's transport sector and in economic development issues where he worked on the rebuilding of the transport infrastructure of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After returning to Canada from his overseas work he accepted a position with the Department of Public Works dealing with governance and corporate planning issues.