Wanda Costuros (Board Chair)
Nominated by the Province of British Columbia
Wanda Costuros is the Board Chair of the LTSA. She also serves as a Director of BC Hydro, Powerex Corp., and YWCA. In addition, Wanda serves as Chair of the Audit Committee of BC Hydro.
Wanda has held a series of Senior Financial positions, primarily in technology and forest industry sectors. She was formerly Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Xantrex Technology Inc, Chief Financial Officer of Aber Resources Ltd., Vice President of Finance for Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd. and Chief Financial Officer of TimberWest Forest Ltd.
Wanda is a Certified Management Accountant and holds a Master of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.
Richard J. Swift, QC (Board Vice Chair)
Nominated by the Law Society of British Columbia
A native of Burnaby, B. C., Richard J. Swift obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University, and in 1975, he received his LL.B degree from the University of British Columbia. He articled in Vancouver and practiced there briefly before moving to Courtenay in 1977. He is now Senior Partner in a nine-lawyer practice.
Richard's legal practice includes acting for land developers, homebuyers, and mortgage lenders. He has been active in professional associations, as a member of numerous committees and the Executive of the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. He has been a member of the Provincial Council of the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, President of the local Bar Association, a lecturer and course designer for the Continuing Legal Education Society (in the area of real property law), and a member of several Law Society and Canadian Bar Association committees.
Richard is a past President of the Courtenay Rotary Club and the Comox Valley Community Foundation. He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the LTSA Board of Directors, as Chair of the LTSA Governance Committee and as Chair of the Patient Care Quality Review Board for the Vancouver Island Health Authority. He previously served as Chair of the LTSA Human Resources Committee from 2005 through to 2008 as well as serving as a member of the Board of Governors of the BC Institute of Technology from 2002 to 2008, serving as Chair for the last two years.
Richard was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1989.
Brent Atkinson
Nominated by the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia
Brent Atkinson has been a Notary Public since 1974. He served as Director of the Society of Notaries Public of BC for 24 years (1984-2006 and 2007-2009) and was President of the Society of Notaries Public from 1990-1992. During that time, he participated on various committees, including Audit, Finance, Discipline; Information and Privacy; and Insurance (chaired). Among his many accomplishments, he led the establishment of the society's self-insurance facility and has negotiated to allow notaries public to draft and register mortgages on behalf of financial institutions. Brent has also served on the Board of Governors of the Notary Foundation for 10 years.
Brent graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor's degree in Commerce in 1966. He obtained his Fellowship in the Insurance Institute of Canada in 1971 and founded Atkinson & Terry Insurance Brokers that same year. Currently Atkinson & Terry Insurance Brokers has 19 branches in the Fraser Valley with approximately 150 employees. Brent was a Director of the Insurance Brokers Association of BC for eight years and President in 1980 as well as being Vice-President of the Canadian Federation of Insurance Brokers of Canada. As a representative of the Insurance Brokers Association of BC, Brent helped negotiate the first two five-year Accords between the Brokers in BC and ICBC, and acted as a consultant on the last negotiation rounds.
Brent is an active member of the community and has also served in the following capacities over the years:
- New Westminster School District (School Trustee 30 years and Chair 3 years);
- The Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation (Treasurer 4 years); and
- President of the Hyack Swim Club.
A Vancouver native, he has resided in New Westminster for over 50 years with his family which includes three children and six grandchildren.
Diane E. Friedman
Nominated by the BC Association of Professional Registry Agents
Diane E. Friedman is a Vice President with Wolrige Mahon Corporate Finance Ltd.
Diane is a business and finance advisor who works with private company entrepreneurs on Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and business improvement.
M&A related activities include working with entrepreneurs on acquisition targeting, succession planning, divestitures, management buyouts and transaction financing. This often involves a multi-disciplinary approach and collaboration with other professionals such as lawyers, bankers, investors, tax professionals and business valuators.
With respect to business improvement, Diane assists entrepreneurs to make their businesses more profitable and higher performing. This is achieved through strategic planning, financial management, business plans, business reviews and refinancings.
Diane also plays a leadership role in business development activities for Wolrige Mahon LLP.
Prior to joining Wolrige Mahon in 2006, Diane spent nearly 15 years in merchant banking and commercial financing, providing subordinated debt, mezzanine financing, term and operating loans to BC-based entrepreneurs to support growth and acquisitions.
Diane presently serves as the Chair of both the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Vancouver and the Jewish Family Service Agency. She has been on both boards since 2002. Past board work includes the Victorian Order of Nurses (BC), the Association of Women in Finance, and the Women's Technology Financing Network, the latter of which Diane was a founder. In 2006, Diane received the Young Leadership Award from the Jewish Federation of Vancouver.
Diane has a Commerce Degree from the UBC Sauder School of Business (1992) with a major in Urban Land Economics. In 2009, she completed the Certificate in Family Business Advising through the Sauder Business Family Centre. Diane lives in Vancouver with her husband and their son.
Gordon (Bert) Hol
Nominated by the Association of British Columbia Land Surveyors
Gordon (Bert) Hol, BC Land Surveyor, Canada Land Surveyor is the Branch Manager of the Surveying Branch of McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd. (MCSL) (Surrey, BC office) managing a team of about 30 professional and technical staff. MCSL is an employee-owned consulting services company with over 400 employees in 14 offices providing engineering, planning, and surveying services in western Canada. He also sits on the Board of Directors of MCSL where he has chaired the Tactical Planning Group.
Bert has served on the board of the Association of British Columbia Land Surveyors (ABCLS) from 1997 to 2002, serving as President in 2001. He is the past Chair of the ABCLS Practice Advisory Panel, which is responsible for the Association's peer review department policies, budget, and staff. Bert was also on the Board of the Canadian Council of Land Surveyors from 1998 to 2000 and 2003 to 2009, serving as President from 2005 to 2007.
Bert is currently enrolled in the Chartered Director training program at The Directors College, founded by the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and the Conference Board of Canada. Working and living in the City of Surrey has provided opportunity for Bert to be involved on the Surrey Heritage Advisory Commission and the Heritage Services - Community Advisory Board since 2009.
Jeannie Kanakos
Nominated by the Province of British Columbia
Jeannie Kanakos has a Master's Degree in Canadian and BC History specializing in Aboriginal land history in BC and Canada. She has worked for the past 20 years on aboriginal issues in BC in a range of senior positions. Jeannie earned a Certificate in Negotiation and has represented the government of Canada and other parties in negotiations with First Nations. She is currently with Golder Associates as a Senior Consultation Specialist focusing on First Nations Consultations. She has first hand knowledge of and appreciation for the historic land records relating to the early history of British Columbia maintained by the Land Title and Survey Authority.
As an elected Councillor in Delta, Jeannie served on numerous Committees and Commissions. Jeannie chaired the Delta Traffic and Safety Committee and was Vice Chair on the Delta Community Planning Committee. She also represented Delta as a Director on the Fraser Valley Library Association. As a Councillor, she contributed to the strategic direction and decision-making for the community. She also has served on several Boards in the community including the Delta Hospice Board and Burns Bog Conservation Society Board. She brings extensive knowledge and experience regarding board governance. Jeannie's professional affiliations include the following organizations:
Jeannie and her husband reside in Delta and enjoy four grown children and one grandchild.
Victoria Kuhl
Nominated by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities
Victoria Kuhl is Principal of Kuhl Consulting, a strategic communications and government relations practice that provides business counsel to corporate, provincial and local government clients on regulatory matters, strategic communications, community consultation and property development. Her knowledge of UBCM, local and regional government issues stems from her province-wide consulting practice as well as two terms each as a Victoria School Trustee, Saanich Councillor and Director of the Capital Regional District (CRD).
For the past three years she was a member of the design and engineering team completing plans for a mixed use community on a 10-acre National Heritage rail yard site in the Songhees in Victoria.
In 2009, Victoria completed two terms as a Victoria Airport Authority Director. She currently serves a founding member of the Health Professions Review Board as a mediator and tribunal member, on the Victoria Foundation Board of Honorary Governors, on the Grant Committee of the Arts Sustainability Board of Victoria and is a member of the Royal Roads University Fellows Council.
Experience as a regulator came during her six-year tenure as the Vice-Chair and a founding member of the former BC Gaming Commission.
Victoria attended UBC prior to completing her training as a Registered Nurse.
Geoff Plant, QC
Nominated by the Law Society of British Columbia
Geoff Plant, Partner in the national law firm Heenan Blaikie LLP, has a broad legal practice including aboriginal, administrative, and constitutional law, as well as policy consulting, mediation and arbitration experience. From 2001 to 2005, Geoff was the Attorney General of BC and Minister responsible for Treaty Negotiations. As Attorney General, Geoff chaired the Legislative Review Committee and was the Minister responsible for the creation and oversight of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.
Prior to his election to the Legislature, Geoff practiced as a litigation lawyer with a particular emphasis on aboriginal and public law.
Since 2005, Geoff has been appointed as a senior advisor to the BC government in land and resource negotiations with the Council of Haida Nation, and has provided strategic advice to a BC Crown corporation in relation to its power acquisition processes. He has also advised private sector businesses on establishing effective relations with First Nations.
In 2006, Geoff was appointed as Special Advisor to the Premier and Minister of Advanced Education to undertake the first comprehensive review of post-secondary education in BC in over 40 years. In May 2007, he was appointed Vancouver's Civil City Commissioner.
Geoff obtained his undergraduate education at Harvard University and has law degrees from Dalhousie University, the University of Southampton, and Cambridge University.
Michael Waberski
Nominated by the Association of British Columbia Land Surveyors
Michael Waberski is a British Columbia Land Surveyor with 30 years experience as a professional land surveyor, spending most of his career in Fort St John, BC.
Michael was involved in the Oil and Gas Industry in northeastern British Columbia for 25 years. In 1982, he founded Waberski Darrow Survey Group Ltd and in 2000 became the President of EBA Waberski Darrow, a new joint venture company formed with EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd. offering environmental and land management services for the Oil and Gas sector. Mike retired from active practice in 2004 and now lives in Coldstream B.C.
Michael has successfully participated in a broad spectrum of Oil and Gas Industry projects and numerous cadastral surveying projects. He has also been involved in various regulatory review initiatives and was active in the Oil and Gas Commission Practice Advisory Group. In addition to serving as the Chair of the Oil and Gas Commission Advisory Committee for the last four years, he was appointed by Order-in-Council to the Council of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC in September 2008.
Michael previously served as the Chair of the LTSA Audit and Finance Committee from 2005 through 2008.
Robert Wallace
Nominated by the British Columbia Real Estate Association
Robert Wallace is Chief Executive Officer of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Canada's second largest real estate board. The Board represents more than 9,600 realtors.
Robert was instrumental, along with the Executive Officers of the Fraser Valley and Chilliwack real estate boards, in establishing a joint initiative between the three Lower Mainland real estate boards which resulted in a regional Multiple Listing Service(R) technology system. It stands as a model for cooperation among real estate boards in Canada.
In 1977, prior to joining the Real Estate Board, Robert was employed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC. He served as Director of Education for a number of years, and was Director of Operations from 1989 to 1995.
Originally from Saskatchewan, Robert received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Fellow with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC. He has been a Director and Past President of the Life Line Society, Director of the Pacific Forum for Ethics in Business, and a Research Associate for the Centre for Applied Ethics at the University of British Columbia. He has also been a member of the Executive Directors and Registrars of Professional Organizations of BC, an instructor with the CA Professional Development Program, and a participant in the Mediation and Negotiation Program at the Justice Institute of BC.
Robert has served as a director of public companies in the oil and gas industry, and in the forest products industry. He currently serves as Chair of the LTSA Audit and Finance Committee.
Daniel Watts
Nominated by the First Nations Summit
Daniel Watts is a citizen of the Hupacasath First Nation and served as Chief Councillor for that First Nation in Port Alberni for 14 years.
Recently and up until this year, Mr. Watts was the principal of his own consulting firm where he provided project management for major capital projects for First Nations on Vancouver Island.
Mr. Watts was Manager of Capital Programs for the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council from 1979 to 1993. He provided engineering services and training to 14 First Nations in the formulation of overall capital programs including housing, community and educational buildings, water supply systems, roads, bridges and all other related infrastructures.
His other previous positions included Technical Advisor and Executive Director of the West Coast District Council of Indian Chiefs, and Housing Coordinator for BC Remote Housing, a joint federal/provincial housing authority.
Mr. Watts was first elected as Co-Chair, the two member administrative executive of the First Nations Summit (FNS), in 1993. He was re-elected in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and again in June 2006.
As Co-Chair, he dealt with the administrative issues of the First Nations Summit and worked with the First Nations Summit Task Group (FNS political executive) who were authorized by the FNS to carry out specifically mandated tasks on issues related to treaty negotiations in BC. The First Nations Summit represents the majority of First Nations in BC on treaty related issues and other issues of common concern to First Nations.
