Board of Directors

Board of Directors

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• Craig Neeser

  Chair

  

  Mr. Neeser recently retired from a career in the forest industry where he held the position of President at Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd. Previously he was Senior Vice President with Weyerhaeuser’s International Group. He began his career in the forest industry with MacMillan Bloedel on Vancouver Island in 1977, advancing through many divisions and levels within the company. He was Senior Vice-President, Solid Wood Group in 1998 when Weyerhaeuser acquired MacMillan Bloedel. Under Weyerhaeuser, Mr. Neeser served as Vice-President, British Columbia, and later as President, Canada. Mr. Neeser has served on the board of directors of the Council of Forest Industries of British Columbia, University of Alberta (Agriculture and Forestry), Global Forest Partners, Maynards, the Vancouver Aquarium, and Forest Products Association of Canada. He is the past Chair of Forest Industrial Relations and of the Coast Forest Lumber Association. Mr. Neeser holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry Management from the University of Alberta and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard.

• Marcella Szel

  Vice Chair

  

  Ms. Szel has significant experience in the transportation industry and business community. She was with Canadian Pacific Railway from 1977 to 2009 where she held a number in increasingly senior positions. As Senior Vice-President of Sales & Marketing, from 2006 to 2009, she had North American responsibility for customers, freight revenues, logistics, and intermodal terminals and auto compounds. In previous roles she was Vice President of various functions, including marketing, government affairs, corporate strategy, law and corporate secretary. She is currently a director of Global Transportation Hub (Saskatchewan) and a trustee of the Vancouver Police Foundation. She is a past board member of Export Development Canada and Consolidated Fastfrate (trucking). She has been extensively involved in the business community, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Chairman 1998-1999), Western Transportation Advisory Committee (Chairman 2007-2009), Coal Association of Canada, Canadian Unity Council, BC Business Council, Canada-US Law Institute, Alberta Economic Development Authority, University of Calgary Medicine Dean's Advisory Committee, and a member of a group that founded a Calgary chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors. Ms. Szel holds a law degree, LL.B (Honours), and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta. She is a Queen's Counsel (1998), was named one of Canada's Top 25 General Counsel (2003) and awarded a Queen's Jubilee medal for community service (2003).

• Anne Bancroft-Jones

  Director

  

  Ms. Bancroft-Jones earned a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Science degree in Business Administration, both in Urban Land Economics, from the University of British Columbia. She is a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional.  She began her career as a commercial appraiser and subsequently held several senior positions with the City of Vancouver including Manager of Real Estate and Assistant Major Projects Negotiator.   In addition, she has been a Senior Vice President Development and Senior Project Manager.  Presently, Ms. Bancroft-Jones is the Manager, Aboriginal Relations for Polygon Homes Ltd.

• Robert James (Bob) Carwell

  Director

  

  Mr. Carwell is currently President of Carwell Financial Corporation Inc. He also serves as Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority and Director and member of the Audit Committee of Alberta Blue Cross. He is past Chair of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation. He also served as Director of the Covenant Health Group, an organization responsible for the operation and planning for selected hospitals and other specific health care facilities in Alberta. Prior to this he served as Chair and CEO of the MTE Group of Companies, an integrated logistics company with operations throughout western Canada. He is also past Chair of the International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA) headquartered in Chicago, past Chair of the Canadian Association of Warehousing & Distribution Services, and past Director of the American Warehouse Association also headquartered in Chicago - the first to be elected outside of the United States in the association's history. Mr. Carwell also served for many years in various capacities with the Kidney Foundation of Canada. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has acted as a Commissioner for Oaths since 1975. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and a Certified Logistics Professional designation from the IWLA.

• Tim Chapman

  Director

  

  Mr. Chapman’s career spans 44 years in the waterfront industry. He began in 1967 as a traffic manager at the Port of New Westminster (Fraser Port) and was manager of Sales and Traffic at the Port of Squamish from 1972 to 1978.  From 1978 until recently, he held the positions of marketing manager, vice-president of Terminal Operations, executive vice-president, director and for the past twenty years as president at Western Stevedoring, a deep sea breakbulk stevedoring and terminal operator and off-dock integrated logistics provider.

• Eugene Kwan

  Director

  

  Mr. Kwan is the President and CEO of Agincourt Capital Corporation, a privately held investment company, and has extensive experience in advising offshore investors in making investments in Canada. He is senior counsel to Stikeman Elliott LLP, an international business law firm, where he is a member of the Corporate and Commercial Real Estate Groups in the firm’s Vancouver office. Previously, he was a partner of the firm and managed their Hong Kong office. He then left to join the Hutchison Whampoa Group as a senior executive responsible for M&A in the telecommunications industry, focusing on Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Mr. Kwan holds a law degree from the University of British Columbia. He is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, and Life Member of the Laurier Institution. He is director of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation Association. Mr. Kwan is also very active in the local wine industry, serving as president of the Fraser Valley Wineries Association, director of the British Columbia Estate Winery Association, as well as member of the British Columbia Wine Authority Wine Industry Advisory Committee.

• Paul Landry

  Director

  

  Mr. Landry is presently the Vice President Business Development, with GroupHEALTH Global Systems. From  1994 to 2011, he was president and CEO of the British Columbia Trucking Association, which represents over 800 trucking and bus companies on a wide variety of regulatory issues that affect the safety, productivity and profitability of its members. From 1987 until 1993, he was assistant vice-president, Traffic Safety Services, at Saskatchewan Government Insurance, where he developed a five-year seatbelt program that resulted in Saskatchewan setting a North American record for restraint use; this plan was adopted as a national model by the U.S. government in 1991. From 1974 until 1987, Mr. Landry worked at the Saskatchewan Highway Traffic Board, where he acted as a research officer, administrator, director and, subsequently, vice-chairman.

• Tom Longworth

  Director

  

  Mr. Longworth has 35 years of executive and board level experience in a range of industries including consumer and industrial products, distribution, third party logistics, building materials, information technology and telecommunications, as well as a range of geographic regions including North America, Asia, Australia and Europe. Mr. Longworth’s experience includes former Managing Director of JOS Synergy Limited in Hong Kong, member of the Jardine Matheson Group, Vice-President of Telus Enterprise Solutions Inc., Vice-President of ISMBC, Senior Vice-President of Canfor Corporation and President & Chief Executive Officer of CanWel Distribution Limited. Prior to relocating to Vancouver in 1989, Mr. Longworth held senior executive management positions in the food industry with RJR, Aylmer/DelMonte and RJR-Nabisco including Executive Vice-President, Nabisco Brands Ltd. Returning to Canada from Hong Kong in 2006, he started Longworth Advisory Services Ltd., an independent business advisor working with Board and Senior Executive Management, with clients such as Cerberus ,Oak Hill, Finning International, Intrawest, Kelowna Flightcraft, Teck Resources, Teekay Shipping and Transpacific Industries (Australia). He has served at the board level for Versacold, Jardine JOS Synergy Ltd (Hong Kong), Howe Sound Pulp and Paper, Day4 Energy and CanWel Distribution. Mr. Longworth holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, Bachelor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering degree and Masters of Science degree from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

• Penny Priddy

  Director

  
  

  Ms. Priddy has served in the public and private sector for more than 30 years and brings considerable expertise in board governance and extensive knowledge of Metro Vancouver and the municipalities that comprise the region. Ms. Priddy is the only woman in Canadian history to be elected to school board, city council, a provincial legislature and the House of Commons. Ms. Priddy is a member of the Canadian Women Voters. Ms. Priddy was originally educated as a nurse, and has since been CEO of a provincial not-for-profit organization, a faculty member at Douglas College, and an independent consultant. In 2001, Ms. Priddy was granted an honourary Doctorate of Laws from Kwantlen University College for her service to the people of British Columbia. Ms. Priddy was appointed by Metro Vancouver’s Port Cities Committee as the Board’s municipal representative.

• T. Richard Turner

  Director

  

  Since 1995, T. Richard Turner has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of TitanStar Investment Group Inc., a private company engaged in the provision of private equity capital to midmarket businesses and capital for real estate developments and acquisitions.

  His current board positions include Board Chair, President and CEO of TitanStar Properties Inc, a small cap TSX-V company engaged in the acquisition of undervalued real estate in the US. He is also Board Chair and Trustee of Pure Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust; Trustee of WesternOne Equity Income Fund and Board Chair and Director of its operating subsidiary; Board Chair; Director of Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and Chair of the Audit Committee; Director of Paragon Gaming BC, a company which owns and operates a casino property in Vancouver; and Director of Sora Group Wealth Advisors Inc. Mr. Turner is also a Director of the Organizing Committee of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and serves as Chair of the Audit Committee; he is a past Governor of the B.C. Business Council and a past Chair and Governor of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

  From 1988 to 2005, Mr. Turner served as a Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of the operating subsidiary of IAT Air Cargo Facilities Income Fund, a business which is involved in the development and management of real estate at airports. Mr. Turner also served as Board Chair and Director of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation from 2001 to 2005. He also served as Board Chair and Director of the Insurance Corporation of BC from 2003 to 2010; from 2002 until 2009, Mr. Turner served as Trustee of Sun Gro Horticultural Income Fund and from 2004 –2007 as Trustee of Sunrise Senior Living REIT. He also serves as the Honorary Consul for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Vancouver and is a Mentor with the Canada-Wide Women On Board Mentoring Program.

  In 2003, Mr. Turner received H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Award for public service in Canada. Mr. Turner holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of British Columbia and is a Member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.