Human Resources
Jacquie de Aguayo has been appointed acting chair of the BC Labour Relations Board and the Employment Standards Tribunal, as government begins a search to replace outgoing chair Brent Mullin.
Legal
Tara Amiri-Khaledi, Aneeka Sandher and Lisa Thorne have joined Gowling WLG’s Vancouver office as associates. Amiri-Khaledi practises corporate and securities law with emphasis on corporate finance for public and private companies, mergers and acquisitions, mining and investment funds. Sandher has joined the corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions group, and her practice is focused on corporate and securities law within the natural resources, technology and industrial sectors. Thorne practises in the Vancouver intellectual property and life sciences group and focuses on patent drafting and prosecution in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, materials science, nanotechnology and chemistry.
Jim Boyle and Patrick Thomson have joined Lawson Lundell LLP’s Vancouver office as associates in the labour and employment group and mining group, respectively.
Tajinder Rathor has joined McCullough O’Connor Irwin LLP as an associate of the firm. Rathor will be practising corporate and securities law.
Manufacturing
Aaron Hamer, previously CFO of Highline Produce Ltd., has been appointed CEO of the Leamington, Ontario-based company, succeeding Glenn Martin, who assumes the role of chair. Highline purchased B.C.-based All Seasons Mushrooms Inc. in September 2016. All Seasons’ three facilities in B.C. and one in Alberta grow approximately 19 million pounds of mushrooms annually.
Non-profit
Dawn McKenna has been appointed executive director of the Pacific Autism Family Network (PAFN), which oversees the GoodLife Fitness Family Autism Hub. McKenna previously served as executive director of the Down Syndrome Research Foundation for more than 17 years. PAFN’s GoodLife Fitness Family Autism Hub opened in November 2016, and has served hundreds on the autism spectrum and with related disorders.
Vilupti Lok Barrineau has been appointed vice-president, operations, at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, effective September 27. Barrineau is currently a senior director with the foundation. She has championed the causes of equality, malaria mitigation and micro-credit access for the United Nations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She was managing director of the Financial Access Initiative for Harvard, Yale and New York universities, and established and managed the Global Network for Banking Innovation in Microfinance for Women’s World Banking.
Resources
Yvon Pelletier, CEO, Fortress Paper Ltd., is retiring effective October 1, but will continue as a consultant for two years. Pelletier has 36 years in the forestry industry, including nearly five years at Fortress Paper. Chadwick Wasilenkoff will reassume the role of CEO and president and continue to serve as chairman of the board.
Salvador Garcia has been appointed chief operating officer at Starcore International Mines Ltd.; he will be responsible for operations at the company’s San Martin Mine in Queretaro, Mexico. Prior to joining Starcore, Garcia was country manager of Mexico at First Majestic Silver Corp., after serving as First Majestic’s chief operating officer from July 2014 to March 2017. Garcia has more than 39 years of experience in the mining industry in Mexico.
Technology
Alan Baratz has been appointed senior vice-president of software and applications at D-Wave Systems Inc. Baratz has more than 25 years of experience in software and product development at large technology companies, software startups and private equity firms. As the first president of JavaSoft at Sun Microsystems, he oversaw the growth and adoption of the Java platform. He has also held executive positions at Symphony, Avaya, Cisco and IBM; was CEO and president of Versata, Zaplet and NeoPath Networks; and served as managing director at E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co.
Matthew Anderson, CFO, VirtualArmour International Inc., will be stepping down from his role for personal reasons. Todd Kannegieter has been appointed interim CFO and will continue to serve in his capacity as CEO.
Francis Dupuis has been appointed president and CEO at PayByPhone, a company specializing in mobile parking payments. Kush Parikh, former president and CEO, has stepped down from the role.
Michael W. Sonnenfeldt has resigned as chair of the board of Carmanah Technologies Corp. Jim Meekison has been appointed the new chair.
Hats Off
RBC donated $10,500 to Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. These funds will help to fund a career camp pilot project to support at-risk girls and provide them with opportunities that could change their lives.
Mirage Screen Systems Inc. has donated $4,420 to the B.C. forest fire relief appeal at the Canadian Red Cross. During the month of July, $10 from every screen door the company sold in B.C. was directed to this fund.
John Hardie Mitchell Family Foundation and the Hamber Foundation donated $2,000 and $1,000, respectively, to the Down Syndrome Research Foundation. The funds will be directed to educational programs for individuals with Down syndrome, with the latter donation specifically directed to reading programs for learners with Down syndrome.
The Richmond Garden Club donated $2,000 in support of Richmond Hospital from the 2017 Garden Tour on June 17 in partnership with the City of Richmond. The tour offered more than 120 people visits to eight private and distinct gardens in the Richmond community. Proceeds from ticket sales were donated to Richmond Hospital Foundation in support of local health care. •
