The board of directors of the Consumers Council of Canada re-elected Don Mercer as its president following the Council’s June annual general meeting, at which a new board of directors, including five new and returning members, was elected.
The Council also accepted and released the 2010-11 annual report of its activities.
“Active board members and individual members have worked with passion, enthusiasm, high competence and diligence to ensure, in conjunction with staff, that we have continued to be the ‘go-to’ consumer organization in Canada,” said Mercer.
Members of the newly elected 2011-2012 board of directors are:
Gail Campbell is an Orangeville, Ontario, Town Councillor with a background in health (nursing) and active involvement with community boards.
Howard Dean is the owner of Acme Metric Company Ltd., a Greater Toronto Area based consultancy in social media, web analytics, knowledge management, and search engine optimization. He is a Chartered Accountant with more than 30 years of experience, most of it with KPMG, where he was the Chief Knowledge Officer of the Canadian firm.
Dolly Gerrior is a project manager for the non-profit industry, and, over the past few years, her work has centred on youth focused issues. Dolly is an active consumer representative as a member of the Consumers Advisory Council for the Technical Standards and Safety Authority and has served as a public representative on the Children’s Advisory Committee for Advertising Standards Canada.
Joan Huzar was a founding member of the Consumers Council of Canada in 1994. She served her first term as Council president in 1995. Recently she has chaired the Council’s Energy Committee. She is a board member of the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance. She sits on the Canadian Building and Fire Code Commission, its Executive Committee and several Task Groups. Joan has also served as a member of the Management Advisory Board of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy since 2003, and is its Chair.
Aubrey LeBlanc, who was elected Vice President of the Council, is currently president of Audrey LeBlanc Consulting Incorporated. He is a former president and registrar of the Ontario New Home Warranty Program. He also served as Director of the Building Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Housing.
Anne McConnell has extensive experience in the consumer packaged goods industry. She began her career with Procter & Gamble Canada, and moved through progressive roles in research and development, regulatory affairs, and external relations.
Don Mercer has served as President of the Consumers Council of Canada since 2009. He retired in April 2007 after a long career in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver with Competition Bureau Canada, which administers the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textiles Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act.
Heather Nicolson-Morrison is executive director of the Toronto Central Palliative Care Network and prior to that was chief executive officer of the Ontario Home Respiratory Service Association (OHRSA). She has also held the position of executive director to the Ontario Funeral Services Association (OFSA) and was the executive director of the Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA). She has served as senior policy advisor and acting executive administrator to two Ontario cabinet ministers.
Elizabeth Nielsen holds a Doctorate in Chemical and Material Sciences. As a Canadian government scientist, regulator, policy analyst and senior executive, she was responsible for investigating and testing consumer products and radiation emitting devices for compliance with safety regulations and standards. She held various executive positions in Health Canada’s Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch and the Health Products and Food Branch. She formerly served as Director-General of the Office of Regulatory and International Affairs for Health Canada’s Health Products and Food Branch. Dr. Nielsen is a member of the Standards Council of Canada’s Consumer and Public Interest Committee, and the Canadian National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). She is an expert member of the Canadian Advisory Committee to the ISO and IEC Technical Committees on Nanotechnology.
Agni Shah has been a professor teaching package development and pharmaceuticals quality assurance at Seneca College and at Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. He has extensive experience with quality assurance in food and pharmaceutical products. He represents the Council on the Board of the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board and is a member of the Consumer Advisory Committee of Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO). He has volunteered with United Way, Canada Revenue Agency in the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, Leadership Peel and a number of Social Agencies. He has held local positions with Halton-Peel District Health Council and Community Care Access Center.
Venkat Subramanian Somasundaram is a recent MBA graduate from the Schulich School of Business, York University with a focus in Strategy, Sustainability & Marketing. Drawing upon mechanical engineering, business and diverse industry experiences, he is currently an independent consultant with businesses and not-for-profits, assisting them to integrate sustainable practices into their business.