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For the record, January 2, 2018

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Finance

Philippe Pagé has joined Mercer Canada as the office leader for its health business and will be based in Vancouver. Pagé joins Mercer with more than 15 years of group benefits consulting experience and has held senior-level roles in Western Canada.

Mark Blucher has been appointed president and CEO of Central 1 Credit Union, effective January 22. The role was previously held by Don Wright, now deputy minister of the executive council, cabinet secretary and head of the BC Public Service. Marilyn Mauritz, Central 1’s senior vice-president, general counsel and corporate secretary, is currently serving as interim president and CEO. Blucher has more than 20 years in executive leadership roles, most recently as CEO of the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia. He has also held senior positions at Suncorp Group, including over three years as group executive for Suncorp Retail Bank, the fifth-largest bank in Australia.

Legal

Donald Avison has been appointed executive director and chief executive officer at the Law Society of British Columbia. Avison has a wide-ranging background of legal, policy, regulatory and leadership experience, including 10 years as president and general counsel of the University Presidents’ Council of BC. As a lawyer, Avison has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, where he was counsel or co-counsel for the attorney general of Canada in cases involving interpretation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Gary J. Matson and Yuji Matson have joined Lindsay Kenney LLP. Gary Matson joins as associate counsel, practising corporate commercial law and with extensive experience in real estate transactions and wills and estate matters. Yuji Matson has joined the business and real estate practice group with a focus on immigration law. Both lawyers are fluent in Japanese and serve on the board of the Japan-Canada Chamber of Commerce.

Mike Weinczok has joined DLA Piper (Canada) LLP’s Vancouver office as a partner in its restructuring group. Weinczok’s practice encompasses all aspects of business restructuring, distress investing and commercial lending. He acts as counsel for creditors and financial institutions in international and cross-border reorganizations as well as represents capital market participants in undervalued or distress investments. He also regularly acts for indenture and collateral trustees in Canadian and cross-border reorganization and commercial transactions.

Non-Profit

Carlos Salas has been appointed executive vice-president and chief scientific officer at Geoscience BC, and will also be joining its board of directors in 2018. Salas has more than 30 years of technical and management experience in the natural resources sector. He joined Geoscience BC in 2012 and served as vice-president, energy.

Peter Ross has been appointed vice-president of research at Ocean Wise and executive director of the Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Ross has more than 30 years of experience in marine pollution research in government, university and non-governmental organizations and joined Ocean Wise (then the Vancouver Aquarium) in 2014 as founding director of the ocean pollution research program. Since its inception, the program has launched a number of scientific research projects on priority topics in ocean pollution, including oil spill science, marine mammals as sentinels of ocean pollution, clean seafood for coastal Aboriginal communities, and pollution monitoring. Ross’ research on microplastic pollution in the ocean is providing science and solutions to stakeholders and garnering worldwide acclaim.

The Professional Association of Managing Agents, a non-profit organization founded in 1970 to promote professional and ethical residential property management, has recognized the following five industry professionals: Bal Sohal, Gammon International, was awarded Rookie of the Year – Rising Star; Ann Benoit, Ascent Real Estate Management Corp., was awarded Strata Property Manager of the Year; Dali Janic, Maple Leaf Property Management, was awarded Rental Property Manager of the Year; Adam Lord, Associa BC, was awarded Industry Leader of the Year; and Kimberly Wallace, Design Roofing, was awarded Industry Contributor of the Year.

Resources

Roger Dall’Antonia has been appointed president and CEO of FortisBC Inc. and FortisBC Energy Inc. Dall’Antonia has more than 20 years of experience in the energy sector and joined FortisBC in 2004. Past senior financial roles include positions with Westcoast Energy and Versacold Income Fund.

Technology

John Wang has been appointed chief executive officer at Pu Neng, a privately held clean-technology innovator. Wang has held various executive positions with IBM, Deloitte Consulting and BearingPoint, all of which provided services to Chinese state-owned enterprises in the telecommunications, energy and manufacturing industries. He was most recently vice-president at Dell EMC and general manager for Dell Service. Wang joins Pu Neng following the company’s recently announced start of construction of a 12-megawatt-hour vanadium redox battery system in Hubei, China.

Paul Ellis has been appointed president of Syspro Canada, the global provider of industry-build enterprise resource planning software designed to simplify business complexity for manufacturers and distributors. Ellis has more than 30 years of experience in professional sales and strategy within the information technology industry and has held several key executive roles including vice-president, sales, for Solarsoft Business Systems and most recently as vice-president, sales, for Epicor Solutions Group.

Transportation

Melissa Leung has been appointed president of TransCold Distribution. Leung was vice-president prior to this appointment, and has been with the company since its inception in 2002. In 2010, she was named one of Business in Vancouver’s Forty under 40.

Hats Off

UPS donated $15,000 to Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland’s activities program. These funds will help the organization fund activities that strengthen the bonds for girls and their mentors.

Canada Post Community Foundation donated $15,000 to BC Women’s Hospital’s Oak Tree Clinic to fund the Positive Youth Project, in partnership with YouthCO. This support program engages HIV-positive youth across the province through positive social reinforcement and leadership opportunities.

The Mischa Weisz Foundation donated $15,000 to YWCA Crabtree Corner Community Resource Centre, supporting children, youth and single mothers in a trusted, safe space.

The 2018 Scotiabank Feast of Fortune fundraising campaign launched in early December 2017 with $90,000 in corporate and personal donations. The funds will go towards the purchase of a new digital mammography machine for Mount Saint Joseph Hospital.

Attendees of the Surrey Board of Trade’s annual Christmas Seasonal Sizzle business reception donated $1,800 and 500 pounds of food to the Surrey Food Bank. Over 500 people attended the event. •