I'm currently reading Inspector Rebus novel 'Resurrection Men'.  I notice he uses the term high heid yins

This is a great phrase but very Scottish.  I was trying to think of an equivalent phrase that would be used in Canada but I couldn't.  My parents never used this phrase whilst I was growing up, they never said "Those high heid yins in Ottawa..."

High heid yins is defined as 'upper management' by The Scottish Vernacular dictionary.

Here is high heid yins used in context

"The experts are not the 'high heid yins' - the experts are the 'Teachers on the ground and in the classrooms'. They are the ones whose opinions should be sought in the debate about standards of education."