About Barry

Barry enjoyed a 32-year career with the Public Service of Canada. He joined Agriculture Canada as a veterinarian in 1974 and later held executive positions with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Privy Council Office and Environment Canada. From 2000-2006 he led programs to prevent and reduce pollution across Canada as the Assistant Deputy Minister for the Environmental Protection Service of Environment Canada

After leaving the Public Service of Canada Barry served as a Senior Fellow with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and as an expert consultant to many organizations including the World Organization for Animal Health (Paris). In 2011 he was the International Co-Chair for a study to advise China’s State Council on the control of mercury pollution – an issue of concern to all Arctic communities.

Barry and his wife Charlotte Rigby donated 250 acres of land to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to create the Litchfield Lake Wetlands Reserve in Pontiac County, and commissioned an energy efficient (R-2000) home on the Ottawa River near Portage du Fort, Quebec.

Barry supports a number of environmental organizations as a donor and volunteer. He enjoys all forms of skiing, fly-fishing and cycling.

He has returned to photography in recent years, specializing in wildlife and conservation. His photos of The Fishing Bears of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest and humpback whales of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have been exhibited at Art Brulant in Shawville, Quebec (April 2014) and at The Table Restaurant in Ottawa (October 2014).

Barry was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals for his contributions to Canada.