Mr. Begin holds degrees in Business Management with a focus in economics and human resources development and a Law Degree with a focus in environmental regulation. He has held a variety of management positions over the past 30 years in the aerospace and airline industries, most recently as the Managing Director for Safety and Environment at the corporate level of Northwest Airlines. Mr. Begin has extensive experience with all facets of the environmental field including active involvement in the issues of climate change, local air quality and aircraft noise. He has managed industrial safety programs, has expertise in munitions and explosives Safety, is an experienced facility security officer dealing with military classified programs, and has several years of experience as an analytical chemist in an environmental laboratory. He was a lead author of the IPCC Special Report on Aviation and the Environment. He has participated on behalf of IATA in the ICAO CAEP Forecasting and Economic subgroup, co-authoring many papers on forecasting and economic analysis. He was appointed to his current post of Deputy Director, Air transport Bureau effective 6 January 2006.