Might help to know who is on the current board:
2011/2012 NOMINEES:
Robert Blais, Yassemin Cohanim, John Ellis, Elizabeth Flavelle, Don Fergeron, Kent Kirkpatrick, Tom Knowlton, Sandra Montague, Robert Messervey, Beth Nelligan, Karen Torrie-Racine, Marie Vaillant, and Niranjan Vivekanandan
You see one of these who is a current vice-chair, according to the newsletter (proxy). He is not listed as such on the web site. There are 2 other proxies, one listed in the newsletter and also not listed on the web site, or as a nominee, Valerie Hussey. The other, Johh Clifford, is on the web list, but is not in the above list of nominees. It looks as if other current board members are not automatically nominated, but I don't know. Has the call for nominees had any other results, or is this it?
From Linda Lumsden's letter:
Clearly the topic of CCSVI has been one that has raised a spectrum of opinions. I offer the words of board member James Orr to provide perspective:
“I hope and believe that today’s annual general meeting shows that all of us impacted by MS have more similarities than differences. Anyone who has a loved one with a disease as difficult as MS would want nothing but the best for them. My wife Adriana progressed through various stages of MS and now requires the support of long term care, even though she is still young and competent. She has experienced many treatments and many disappointments. If the CCSVI procedure were available across the country as part of a trial, Adriana would want to try it as soon as possible, assuming she was cleared of any medical risks. We all want a life without MS or at least a life improved. I hope that we can all work together to make this happen.”
In this spirit, the national board of the MS Society will be convening a special CCSVI working group, chaired by a member of the board. The group will include persons with MS, members of the clinical and research community and members of the national board. The group will provide for continuing dialogue about the important issues of CCSVI research and treatment and will inform the work of the board.June 12, 2010
Message from Linda Lumsden, chair of the national board of directors
On behalf of the national board of directors of the MS Society of Canada, I am pleased to provide an update on our national annual general meeting which took place today in Toronto. I would like thank all our members for their extraordinary level of engagement and high participation in the elections, and for their dedication and commitment to ending MS. Members made their voices heard and exercised in large numbers their rights to elect a board of directors who they feel will best represent their voices. Hide details
I am pleased to announce the membership has elected the five members recommended by the governance committee to the national board of the MS Society. The new board includes experienced directors who have deep personal commitments to the MS cause and have served the Society for many years in a variety of capacities. Many of the directors either have MS or have loved ones living with MS. We welcome to the 2010/11 board: Jim Casey, Bob Decker, David Garton, Mark Whitmore and Dr. Sam Ludwin.
Clearly the topic of CCSVI has been one that has raised a spectrum of opinions. I offer the words of board member James Orr to provide perspective:
“I hope and believe that today’s annual general meeting shows that all of us impacted by MS have more similarities than differences. Anyone who has a loved one with a disease as difficult as MS would want nothing but the best for them. My wife Adriana progressed through various stages of MS and now requires the support of long term care, even though she is still young and competent. She has experienced many treatments and many disappointments. If the CCSVI procedure were available across the country as part of a trial, Adriana would want to try it as soon as possible, assuming she was cleared of any medical risks. We all want a life without MS or at least a life improved. I hope that we can all work together to make this happen.”
In this spirit, the national board of the MS Society will be convening a special CCSVI working group, chaired by a member of the board. The group will include persons with MS, members of the clinical and research community and members of the national board. The group will provide for continuing dialogue about the important issues of CCSVI research and treatment and will inform the work of the board.
As always, the MS Society is committed to pursuing avenues of research that will bring us closer to ending MS. Yesterday, the MS Society of Canada and the U.S. National MS Society announced that over $2.4 million has been committed to support seven new research projects focusing on chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and its relationship to MS. Four of these projects are based in Canada and are valued at $700,000. This research will move us forward significantly in understanding the nature of CCSVI and its meaning to MS.
Again, I thank all members for their participation in our annual general meeting. Your voices continue to guide our work. On behalf of the board, I look forward to working with all of our stakeholders in a spirit of unity and collaboration.
Best wishes,
Linda Lumsden
"
2010/2011 Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Ms. Linda Lumdsen, Chair, Brockville, Ontario
Linda Lumsden has been chair of the National Board of Directors since November 2009. She has held numerous leadership positions within the MSSociety since becoming a volunteer with the Ottawa Chapter where she served as vice-chair and then chair. She was then elected to the Ontario Division Board of Directors becoming first vice-chair and then chair in 2007.
Linda Lumsden lives in Brockville, Ont. She retired from Bell after 31 years of service. Her career spanned a variety of executive management positions including customer service, labour negotiations, budget management and strategic planning. When she retired she was a vice-president specializing in government relations. She has provided leadership to a number of community boards of directors, including serving as chair of the George Brown College Board in Toronto and as president of the Bell Pensioners Group in Ontario and Quebec.Hide bio
Mr. James Casey, National Board Member, Edmonton, Alberta
Jim Casey has held a number of leadership positions within the MS Society of Canada. He is the Vice-Chair of the National Board and previously served as the Chair of the National Board's Governance Committee and Chair of the National Governance Review Task Force. Jim has served as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Alberta Division and has been active with direct fundraising with the Alberta Division.
Jim has served on many other boards and is currently a member of the Board of the Edmonton Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Jim is a lawyer practicing in the areas of administrative law, labour and employment, and professional regulatory law at Field LLP in Edmonton. Jim acts as the Managing Partner managing his Firm's three offices in Edmonton, Calgary, and Yellowknife. Jim also serves as a labour arbitrator and a part-time Vice-Chair of the Alberta Labour Relations Board.Hide bio
Mr. David Garton, National Board Member, Burlington, Ontario
David joined the National Board in 2007 and is currently its Treasurer. He is also Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee and amember of the Compensation Committee. A long time donor and fundraiser for the MS Society, he is very involved with the $60 million endMS Campaign, serving on the National endMS Campaign Cabinet and Chairing the Ontario Division endMS Campaign Cabinet.
David recently retired from Brink’s, Incorporated, where he held several senior executive positions during his career, including Chief Executive Officer of Brink’s Canada Limited, a national sponsor of the MS Society, and Managing Director of Brink’s Asia Pacific Region. Prior to joining Brink’s, David held numerous corporate finance and executive management positions in the Canadian banking industry, latterly as Senior Vice President and Head of the Ontario Division for National Bank of Canada.
He has also previously served as Chair of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital Foundation in Burlington, a Governor of Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital and a Member of the President’s Council of the Children’s Aid Society Foundation of Metropolitan Toronto.Hide bio
Mr. Robert Decker, National Board Member, Oakville, Ontario
Bob Decker has been Chair of Fundraising for the National Board for the past six years. He is also Chair of the National Investment Committee, amember of the MS Foundation Investment Committee and participant in various working task forces in the area of Fundraising for the Society. He was previously a member of the Ontario Division Board for the years 2002-2004.
He was the Founding Chairman of the inaugural MS Walk in his hometown of Oakville and has been the top Walk fundraiser nationally for the past seven years. Bob is Senior Vice –President and founding partner of Aurion Capital Management Inc., a Toronto based investment management firm that is partially owned by DundeeWealth Inc. He has an MBA from the Schulick School of Business and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute. He is married with two children and resides with his wife Pat in Oakville Ontario.Hide bio
DIRECTORS
Mr. John Clifford, Chair of Ontario Division, Toronto, Ontario
John Clifford is Chair of the Ontario Division Board of Directors. He was first elected to the Ontario Division Board in 2002. Prior to becomingChair of the Ontario Division Board, John served as Honourary Legal Counsel and Vice Chair, was an active participant on a number of Board committees and Chaired the Social Action and Government Relations Committee. Currently, John is Chair of the Government Relations Committee of the National Board of Directors.
John is a partner of the McMillan law firm in Toronto, where he has practiced for more than 20 years. His law practice is focused on merger and acquisition transactions and general business and antitrust/competition law matters. Within McMillan, John is an active contributor to the direction and management of the firm, having been the firm's Chief Marketing Partner and leader of the firm's student program and key client service and development initiatives. John also is the chair or past chair of a number of leading business and legal associations.Hide bio
Mr. Charles Ford, Chair of Atlantic Division, Bedford, Nova Scotia
Charles Ford has been active with the Atlantic Board as a director, volunteer, honorary legal counsel and fundraiser since 2001. He was electedto the Atlantic Board in November 2001 and he currently serves as Chair of the Atlantic Board of Directors. He has been a member of the National Board of Directors since November 2008. Charles is currently the Chair of the National Governance Committee.
Charles is a Partner at McInnes Cooper (Halifax Office). He maintains a broad litigation practice with a focus on insurance and business litigation. He has appeared as lead counsel before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on a number of occasions, as well as before several administrative boards and tribunals. He frequently lectures on issues relating to corporate governance, insurance law and trial advocacy. Charles also teaches trial advocacy at Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law.Hide bio
Ms. Marilyn Lenzen, Chair of British Columbia and Yukon Division, North Vancouver, British Columbia
Marilyn Lenzen was introduced to the MS Society in 2003, and soon began volunteering to plan an MS Walk. She continues to be involved inevent planning and fundraising. She now serves as chair of the BC & Yukon Division Board of Directors. She finds her involvement with the MS Society rewarding, as it provides her with an opportunity to help people with MS while still using her professional skills. She lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
In 2008, Marilyn Linzen was recognized for her five-year contribution to the MS Society. She is also the founder of the SUCCESS MS self-help group. The self-help group is a dynamic and supportive resource to those with MS living on the North Shore of Metro Vancouver. The group also forms an energetic MS Walk fundraising team that achieves top fundraising status each year as a friends and family TeamMS.Hide bio
Mr. Brian Lerner, Chair of Manitoba Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Brian Lerner has served as chair of the Board of the MS Society (Manitoba Division) and as a member of the national Board of Directors since2008. He also sits on the national Audit and Governance committees.
Brian is a partner with Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP, and is also the co-chair of the Aikins Business Law department. He specializes in mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance law.
Brian became a bencher of the Law Society of Manitoba in 2009. He currently sits on the Complaints Investigation Committee, the Practice and Ethics Committee and as chair of the Investment Committee for the Law Society.
Among his other community activities, Brian is particularly proud of his past involvement with Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg, including a term as its President. Brian also currently sits on the Board of the Manitoba Moose Yearling Foundation, the charitable arm of the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose hockey team.Hide bio
Dr. Samuel Ludwin, National Board Member, Kingston, Ontario
Dr. Ludwin is professor emeritus, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, at Queens University, where he also served a term asassociate dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, and vice-president of Research at the Kingston Hospitals.
In addition to his clinical work as a neuropathologist, Dr. Ludwin has been a researcher in multiple sclerosis for the last 35 years. He has published extensively on studies of the pathology of clinical multiple sclerosis, and his experimental studies have mainly focused on the mechanisms of demyelination and the capacity for remyelination (repair) in animal and tissue culture models of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Ludwin has served on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly journals, and has held numerous administrative academic positions. Currently, Dr. Ludwin is the chair of the Federal Panel in Research Ethics of the three federal granting agencies.Hide bio
Mr. James Orr, Chair of Alberta and North West Territories Division,
Edmonton, Alberta
James Orr is chair of the Board, Alberta and Northwest Territories Division, MS Society of Canada, and chair of National Client Services, MS Societyof Canada. He joined the MS Society Alberta Division in 2006 as a member of the Government Relations Committee.
He has been a civil servant with the Government of Alberta for 10 years and currently director, Safety Codes & Standards, which includes responsibility for accessibility under the Alberta Building Code.Hide bio
Mr. François Coupal, Chair, Quebec Division Mont-Royal, Quebec
Mr. François Coupal is a Partner in the Montréal Office of the global IT services firm Accenture. He is Chair of the Québec Division Board.
Mr. Coupal has served on the National Board for the past seven years, including the last year as Secretary and a member of the National Executive Committee. He has been active in various committees and task forces at both the divisional and national levels most notably, he served as a member of the Strategic Planning Task Force that culminated in the approval of Momentum 2015 and in the Governance Review Task Force and its successor Governance Committee which have been providing the leadership to a significant modernization of the Society’s governance.Hide bio
Ms. Shelly Nicolle-Phillips, Chair of Saskatchewan Division, Regina, Saskatchewan
Shelly Nicolle-Phillips has been involved in the Saskatchewan Division divisional board since 2003 as member at large and vice-chair.
Currently she is the Chair of the Saskatchewan Division and a member of the National Board of Directors. Ms. Nicole-Philips is employed as a Strategic Planner with the Government of Saskatchewan, Ministry of Environment.Hide bio
Mr. Mark Whitmore, National Board Member, Toronto, Ontario
Mark Whitmore has been on the National Board of Directors since November, 2007. He is currently on the Audit Committee and the liason to theMedical Advisory Committee.
Mark is the Managing Partner for Deloitte in Toronto. He has 25 years of experience in the Consulting industry, primarily focused on Financial Services. He has held a number of senior positions in the firm, both market-facing and operations. In addition to MS Society, Mark provides leadership to a number of other community organizations, including Ivey (Alumni Association board member) and Sick Kids (leadership campaign cabinet member).Hide bio
Mr. Daniel Larouche, Past Chair (ex-officio), La Prairie, Québec
Daniel Larouche is past chair of the National Board of Directors since November 2009. He is a director and the Secretary of the MS Foundation of Canada.
Daniel has held numerous volunteer positions with the MS Society since 1990, when he entered his first MS bike tour. He was then invited to join the Board of directors of the Quebec Division of the Society, where he served as chair from 1995 to 2003. Daniel then became a member of the national executive Committee.Hide bio
President and Chief Executive Officer & President, Ontario Division
Mr. Yves Savoie
The MS Foundation seems interesting too. I will post another topic on this.
