Pearl Strategic Counsel is led by two founding partners whose combined careers span senior national security command, counter-terrorism operations, legislative reform, and institutional strategy at the highest levels.
Ches W. Parsons brings over three-and-a-half decades of national security and senior command experience with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
He served as Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP and Commanding Officer of two RCMP Divisions: a full provincial command and National Division in Ottawa. The latter was responsible for protective operations and investigations sensitive to Canada’s national interests.
Prior to his divisional commands, he served as Director General of National Security, overseeing all domestic and international national security operations for the RCMP and negotiating policing agreements with nations in Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia.
His operational background includes seventeen years specializing in counter-terrorism and counter-espionage, both domestically and internationally. These roles placed him in command of numerous major investigations, with a primary focus on covert operations. The work required close collaboration with Canada’s security intelligence, border protection, and defence establishment, as well as the security and intelligence services of allied nations within and beyond the Five Eyes.
He has been recognized as an expert witness before the Federal Court of Canada and has received domestic and international honours for his distinguished service.
Sheryl Saperia is a lawyer by training and policy strategist, with a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics.
She was a principal drafter of the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (2012), Canada’s landmark legislation enabling civil lawsuits against state and non-state sponsors of terrorism, which she successfully lobbied through Parliament. The Act remains a defining achievement in Canada’s counter-terrorism legal framework.
Most recently, she served as Chief Executive Officer of Secure Canada, where she positioned the organization as an important voice on national security, terrorism, and extremism. She previously served as Director of Policy (Canada) for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where she advised parliamentarians and media on national security and foreign policy.
A prolific writer and sought-after public speaker, she has published frequently on extremism, terrorism, national security, and democratic resilience, and has provided expert testimony before parliamentary committees. She is a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
She is currently a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a major public policy think tank in Canada.
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