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Mark Asbell, Q.C. - Chair
Mark Asbell, Q.C. was appointed Chair effective September
1, 1999. A graduate of the University of Alberta
Law faculty, Mark previously served with
the Board as a Vice-Chair from 1991 through 1997. Prior to his
first tenure with the Board, and from 1997 to his most recent
appointment, he practiced labour law with the firm Ackroyd, Piasta,
Roth & Day. In addition to his Chair responsibilities, Mark
is an active volunteer and Board Director for a number of local and
national charity organizations. |
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Lyle Kanee - Vice-Chair
Mr. Kanee has worked in Toronto and Edmonton with union-side law firms. He has been a sessional instructor in labour law at the University of Alberta and has presented at a number of conferences. He has been involved in negotiating collective agreements, resolving workplace grievances, and presenting cases before the Board. His practice has included civil litigation, pension and benefit issues, disability insurance claims, class actions, and human rights matters, and he has represented clients' interests before human rights and professional tribunals, and all levels of the courts including the Supreme Court of Canada. |
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Gerald Lucas, Q.C. - Vice Chair
Gerald Lucas was appointed a full-time Vice-Chair effective March 1,
2004 after having served as a Vice-Chair on a part-time basis since
1984. Prior to his recent appointment he was senior partner in the law
firm of Lucas, Bowker & White (that subsequently merged with Davis
& Company) where he had an active labour relations practice. As
well, Gerry continues his practice as a labour arbitrator. |
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Nancy Schlesinger - Vice-Chair
Nancy
Schlesinger first worked for the Board in 1996, when she joined the
Board for a six-month secondment as legal counsel. She returned to the
Board in October 1999 to work as legal counsel and was appointed to the
position of Vice-Chair in January 2002.
Nancy
previously worked as legal
counsel at the Alberta Court of Appeal, where she assisted the appeal
justices with their work. She is a graduate of the University of
Alberta Law School and clerked with the Alberta Court of Appeal and
Court of Queen's Bench before completing her articles at the law firm
of Witten Binder. |
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James (Jim) Casey, Q.C. - Vice Chair
James Casey is a partner in the
Edmonton
law office of Field LLP. He practices in the areas of labour and
employment law, administrative law, and professional regulation. He is the editor of Remedies in
Labour, Employment and Human Rights Law and the author of The Regulation of Professions in Canada.
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Andrew Sims, Q.C. - Vice Chair
Andy Sims maintains a private law practice in Edmonton that includes labour arbitration, mediation and dispute resolution. He provides management and administrative law advice to tribunals. He served as the Board's Chair from 1985 to 1994 and as Chair of the Public Service Employee Relations Board from 1993 to 1994. He also served as a Vice Chair of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.
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Reg Basken
- Member
Reg Basken is currently retired after having served as National Vice-President of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. Throughout his career as labour leader, Reg has been involved in numerous public boards including literacy, public safety and social service agencies. Mr. Basken is the former Chair of the United Way campaign and has just received the Diamond Jubilee Medal. Basken.
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Dennis Bennett - Member
Dennis Bennett has over 32 years of experience in all areas of labour relations. He is a Labour Relations Consultant-Appeals and Arbitrations with the Health Sciences Association of Alberta. Dennis has been with HSAA for the past 12 years. He has been active in the trade union movement since 1974, was previously employed by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees for 20 years and is a graduate of the Labour College of Canada. He is a former Correctional Officer for the Province of Alberta and a former Commissioned Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. Dennis has acted as Union Counsel in rights and interest arbitrations, before the Alberta Relations Board and numerous Professional Health Colleges. In addition Dennis plays a very active role in mentoring and the continuing education of HSAA Labour Relations Officers. |
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Bruce Berg - Member
Bruce Berg has over 30 years of experience providing Labour Relations leadership and coaching to business operations across Canada and within the United States. He has been a Vice President in both the construction and aerospace industries and over his career has worked with union/management teams in multiple industries: retail/wholesale, packaged goods, aerospace, construction, forestry, mining, marine, pipeline and transportation. He is a member of the Program Advisory Committee for the Bachelor of Technology, Technology Management Program at the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. Bruce was appointed to the Board in January 2013. |
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Brent Bish - Member
Brent Bish has been an executive member of United Mine Workers Local 1656 for the past 20 years and is currently the President and full time officer. Brent has served on numerous municipal boards, two terms as Town Council and served two terms on the Alberta Apprenticeship and Industrial Training Board. He attended college in Prince George in the business program. |
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Ron Butler - Member
Ron Butler has over 30 years of extensive human resources experience. Most recently, he was the Vice President, Corporate Resources with Husky Energy and prior to that was Vice President, Human Resources for BP Canada Energy. Ron holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Queen’s University, an M.B.A. from York University in Toronto and is a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP). He is currently a part time faculty member at the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Calgary Zoo.
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Gary Carew - Member
Gary Carew was the Director of Business Development with Aluma Systems Inc. and has over 20 years experience in Management. Mr. Carew managed the largest Aluma Business Unit with the highest profitability in a multi-faceted multi-million dollar corporation, prior to his appointment as Director. Mr. Carew was the Chairman of Construction Labour Relations, an Alberta Association, in 2001 and has participated on their Board for more than a decade. |
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Rick Eichel - Member
Rick Eichel has been a Teamster member since 1976 and has been the President of the Teamsters, Local 362 since 1996. Mr. Eichel is responsible for assisting in the administration of the Local as well as negotiating and servicing the membership in all aspects. This Local has over 6,000 members working under 100 different collective agreements of which Mr. Eichel has negotiated approximately 200 collective agreements. He is also a Joint Council 90 President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees covering two pension and two health and welfare plans for the prairie provinces. |
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Warren Fraleigh - Member
Warren Fraleigh is the General Manager of Labour Relations for
Transfield Asset Management Services (TAMSIL). In his previous
career Mr. Fraleigh served as the Business Manager for the
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 146. Mr. Fraleigh
has worked with a number of different union and management positions
within the industrial construction and maintenance sectors and with
him brings over 30 years of related industry experience.
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Niels Frederiksen - Member
Niels has over 40 years of experience in Industrial, Commercial and Marine Construction. He was Vice-President of Operations of Jacobs Industrial Services Ltd. from 1994 – 2012 and prior to that, held a number of positions with Jacobs and Delta Catalytic Constructors Ltd., focusing on Industrial Contract Maintenance. From 1987 to 1994 he was responsible for the total management of the Prairie Division of Delta Catalytic Constructors Ltd. He has managed multiple construction projects throughout western Canada.
Niels also served for 24 years on the Construction Labour Relations Association (CLRa), including serving as the Chair for two terms. He was also Chair of the Mechanical Trade Division, negotiating numerous agreements with the Pipefitters. |
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Carol Graham - Member
Carol Graham was most recently the Acting Associate General Counsel, Legal & Privacy with Alberta Health Services. Prior to that she had worked at various senior level positions in Employee Relations in the health care industry. She is currently semi-retired and providing consultation services in the area of employee relations. |
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David Harrigan - Member
David Harrigan is the Director of Labour Relations at the United Nurses of Alberta, a position he has held since 1990. Prior to that, he held other positions with UNA, including Local President, Provincial Vice President, and Labour Relations Officer. As the senior staff member at UNA, which represents over 24,000 Nurses throughout province, Harrigan has over-all responsibility for all labour relation activities, including organizing, education, membership services, negotiations, grievances and arbitrations. He has appeared in numerous arbitrations and labour relations board hearings, and acts as chief negotiator of the union. Prior to joining UNA, David was a Registered Psychiatric Nurse.
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Tom Hesse - Member
Tom has been active in labour relations for almost 28 years. Tom's most
recent position is executive assistant to the President of Local 401 of
the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Previous
positions he has held in the organization include: service
representative, director of advocacy, negotiator and director of
education and communications. Tom has his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in
Economics and Social Psychology. Tom was appointed to the Board in May
2002. |
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Pamela M. Kirkwood - Member
Pamela M. Kirkwood is the Director, Labour Relations for the City of Edmonton. Previously she worked for the Alberta Union of
Provincial Employees for 24 years, two central labour bodies (the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Labour Council of Metropolitan Toronto) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Pamela has over 30 years labour relations experience primarily in the areas of negotiations, grievance and arbitration advocacy, contract administration and education. She was appointed to
the Board in May 2002. |
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Alan Konkin - Member
Alan Konkin is currently employed with PTI Group Inc. as the Vice-President of Human Resources. Mr. Konkin is a certified human resources professional with over 25 years of in-depth business experience and has recently been elected to the Alberta Carpenters Pension and Health & Welfare Trusts Board as a management trustee. |
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Mike Kozielec - Member
Mike Kozielec possesses over 30 years experience in all key aspects of labour relations acquired through advisory and leadership roles in public sector organizations across several jurisdictions (Alberta, Federal, Ontario). Mike was an Alberta Labour Relations Board officer and later continued his labour relations career with Canada Post in its head office, City of Ottawa, City of Calgary, and the University of Calgary. His work experience includes collective bargaining, rights & interest arbitration, developing and applying strategies to enhance positive workplace relationships. Mike is currently a director of consulting firm K. Gerbasi Research Inc., and also teaches labour relations and human resources development courses at SAIT. He also serves as a member of Parks Canada - Development Advisory Board. |
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Peter Marsden - Member
Peter Marsden has over 25 years of labour relations experience in the municipal and electrical power industry. Mr. Marsden is currently the President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 38 which represents 5,000 members with the City of Calgary and ENMAX. Peter has also served on the Provincial board of CUPE and as President of his community association. |
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Kurt Moench - Member
Kurt Moench has been a staff officer in the Member Services program area of the Alberta Teachers’ Association in the Southern Alberta Regional Office (SARO) since 2001. Kurt has been a classroom teacher for over 25 years in both elementary and senior high schools. Throughout his career, Kurt has been actively involved in his profession, serving locally as president of the Calgary Public Teachers and as a district representative for Calgary city. Kurt has Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of Calgary as well as a Master of Arts in Language Studies from Lancaster University in the UK and a certificate in conflict resolution from Mount Royal College. |
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Bruce Moffatt – Member
Bruce is currently the Business Manager and CEO of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 955. Mr. Moffat has twenty-one years of experience in as a union representative placing particular emphasis on alternative dispute resolution processes. Bruce was previously in human resource management with a large mining company and was responsible for negotiating collective agreements from an employer perspective ensuring appropriate policy, goals and compensation for employees.
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Wayne Olmstead - Member
Wayne Olmstead is a Senior Human Resources executive with extensive Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining knowledge and has experience in a broad range of industries, including mining, construction, manufacturing and oil & gas. Wayne has served on several industry Boards and Committees and is currently employed with NuVista Energy Ltd. in Calgary. Wayne holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Industrial Relations from Queen’s University.
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Cal Ploof – Member
Cal is currently the Director of Marketing, Senior Special Representative for the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, local Union 488. Mr. Ploof has been involved in Organized Labour for 28 years obtaining experience in collective bargaining, grievance proceedings, unfair labour practice complaints, duty of fair representation complaints as well as numerous certifications and revocations.
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Rod Schenk - Member
Rod has over eighteen years experience in progressive Labour Relations and is currently the Director of Industrial Relations with JV Driver Projects Inc. a position he has held since 2005. Previously, Mr. Schenk was the Executive Director of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada and also held the position of Provincial Representative with Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC).
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Derek Schreiber - Member
Derek has considerable experience in all aspects of Labour Relations including the interpretation and application of all applicable legislation that impact the workplace, including the Labour Relations Code. Mr. Schreiber is currently the Senior Field Representative for Alberta with the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), Edmonton a position he has held since 1998.
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Al Schuster - Member
Prior to his recent retirement, Al Schuster was the Vice President, Human Resources at Lehigh Inland Cement Limited. Among his accomplishments at Lehigh, Mr. Schuster administered 29 collective agreements and negotiated 20 of these agreements in his first year at Inland. Mr. Schuster has had experience in the Oil Industry, having spent nine years in Ft. McMurray with Suncor Inc. He has also worked in the Industrial Construction Sector and dealt with the Building Trades in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. |
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Carl Soderstrom - Member
Carl Soderstrom is the Director of Labour Relations for the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, Alberta's largest union with a membership approaching 80,000. He directs, coordinates, and advises the union regarding high level strategy and tactics integrating all aspects of labour relations including oversight of AUPE's internal Labour Relations Board application and complaint processes. He has presented numerous cases before the Labour Relations Board, arbitration panels and professional licensing boards and has negotiated and been involved in a broad spectrum of collective bargaining disputes. Carl has also served as a Vice Chair and Trustee to the Local Authorities Pension Plan and as a member of the Public Service Pension Plan.
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Jay Spark - Member
Jay Spark is Vice-Provost of Faculty Relations at the University of Alberta. He has over 30 years of professional experience as a labour relations specialist, senior manager, facilitator, mediator, trainer and consultant. From 1995 to 2010, Jay was principal consultant for Spark Consulting Services, providing labour relations and conflict resolution services to a range of union and non-union clients. He served as a member of the Government of Alberta's roster of Designated Mediators between 2003 and 2006. From 1979 to 1995, Jay was employed in progressively responsible managerial positions for the City of Edmonton and City of Calgary. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and MBA from the University of Alberta. |
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Grace Thostenson - Member
Grace Thostenson has over 20 years of labour relations experience in the telecommunications and electrical power industries under provincial and federal labour jurisdictions. Grace is currently the Business Manager for the United Utility Workers' Association of Canada (UUWA). She holds a certificate from the University of Wisconsin and is a graduate of the Labour College of Canada. Grace was appointed to the Board in May 2002. |
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Harry Tostowaryk - Member
Harry Tostowaryk is the Business Manager for the Ironworkers Local 720, is the Trustee for Alberta Ironworkers Pension Fund, is a member of the Alberta Government Financial Hardship Committee and a member of the Provincial Apprenticeship Committee. Mr. Tostowaryk has extensive experience interpreting and applying legislation and policies. |
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Richard Wassill - Member
Richard Wassill moved to Alberta in 1979 and acquired his Alberta Journeyman Plasterer Certification while working in the construction industry. In 1991 he became the Business Manager and Financial Secretary of Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association Local 222 and represented union members across the prairies in that position until 2012. In 2008 he was appointed to the position of Deputy International Union Representative. As the principal officer of the Union he chaired the Local Union executive board and was responsible for collective bargaining in three provinces. During this tenure he served in various other positions including, Chairman of the Alberta Building Trades Council, Interim Executive Director of the Alberta Building Trades Council, Pension Plan Trustee, Health and Welfare Plan Trustee, Manitoba Hydro Council Executive Board, Alberta Provincial Apprenticeship Committee member and sat as a Director of the Building Trades of Alberta Charitable Foundation. |
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Dianne Wyntjes - Member
Dianne was elected as a member of Red Deer City Council, October 2010. Until this time Dianne was the Alberta Regional Director for the Canadian Union of Public Employees and has held that position since 1996. Prior to this position, Ms. Wyntjes was a National Representative for CUPE from 1992 to 1996. She served as a member of the Employment Insurance Board of Referees in Red Deer for 20 years. She is familiar with the deliberation of fair and reasoned decision making. |
