Government appoints eight to Council

Ontario Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy has appointed eight people to fill vacant positions for public representatives on the College Council. All are appointed for two years from June 10.

Historian Gabrielle Blais is a senior manager in the federal public service, where she has been a senior official since joining in 1982. Blais, who has three children, has been active in many community and professional organizations in Ottawa and has also taken part in a number of curriculum development initiatives through the Ministry of Education. In 2004 Blais was appointed by Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy to chair the Parent Voice in Education Project, with a mandate to offer advice on how to establish an independent body that would be representative of and accountable to parents. Blais was also vice-president of Parents partenaires en éducation, the provincial organization of francophone parents, and has been involved in school councils in the public francophone system since they were first established.

Blais serves on the Discipline and Fitness to Practise committees.

Bowmanville born and raised, Garry Humphreys has been the medical officer of health for the Peterborough County-City Health Unit since 1991. He served with the Canadian Armed Forces for 23 years as a medical officer, retiring as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1984. Humphreys worked five years in Ottawa's Surgeon-General's Office in the Directorate of Preventive Medicine, responsible for communicable disease control. He also worked for Connaught Laboratories as medical and clinical director and later assistant vice-president, clinical and medical affairs. In addition to having taught biology at Trent University, Humphreys is a past president of Peterborough's Rotary Club, past chair of the United Ways' Professional Group, a past board member with the city's YMCA and chairman of the Peterborough St. John's Ambulance.

Humphreys serves on the Investigation and Standards of Practice and Education committees.

Lifelong Thunder Bay resident Andrew Kane is the manager of financial aid at Confederation College, where he has served in several administrative positions over 14 years. Kane has also been active in many community and non-profit organizations including Leadership Thunder Bay and the United Way.

Kane serves on the Investigation and Finance committees and the Editorial Board.

Lynne Mastin conducts market research and recruits for Excor-Zerust Canada Corporation and is president of her own management and consulting company, Mastin's Manitoulin Limited. She has volunteered in the Sudbury area as a tutor in an adult literacy program and in assisting disabled students one on one. As an active parent volunteer in her sons' public, private and Native reserve schools, she gained a broad understanding of Ontario's education system. Mastin's son Reynolds, who is a College member, was co-winner of the 2003 As Prime Minister Award, sponsored by the Magna for Canada Scholarship Fund.

Mastin serves on the Discipline, Fitness to Practise and Human Resources committees.

Lawyer Timothy Price has been practising law since 1982 and is a member of the London law firm Little, Inglis & Price. Price has been a trustee of the London and Middlesex Roman Catholic Separate School Board on two separate occasions, in the late 1980s and again in the mid 90s. He was vice-chair of the board in 1990-91 and chaired the board's Program and Business Finance committees. Price is a former instructor of the bar admission course on professional responsibility for the Law Society of Upper Canada, the regulatory body for the legal profession in Ontario.

Price serves on the Standards of Practice and Education, the Accreditation Appeals and the Human Resources committees.

Amin Saab is a consulting mechanical engineer based in London. Saab was owner and designer of industrial complexes in the Middle East. He is active in the field of research in environmental conservation and is developing an economical process for eliminating residential, commercial and industrial waste. Saab has engineering degrees from the University of Houston, Texas and the London College of Applied Science in London, England.

Saab serves on the Discipline and the Quality Assurance committees.

Pauline Smart and her husband have owned and operated Smart's Marina in Cloyne near Kingston for the past 15 years. The Smarts have two children in the Catholic public school system. Smart has been involved in school councils for many years, acting in various capacities including treasurer, secretary and chair. This interest has kept her in touch with the changing curriculum and school events. She is currently active in the school councils of the St. Carthagh's Catholic School in Tweed, from which her son will graduate this year, and the Holy Cross Secondary School in Kingston, which her daughter attends. Smart is also active in the Catholic School Council Association Forums.

Smart serves on the Registration Appeals Committee.

Hamilton resident Eileen Walker is a social worker with the Halton Regional Police Service. Walker has 20 years of experience in the criminal justice system, community involvement in Halton and Hamilton and expertise in policy development. She is a board member of the Hamilton Mountain Provincial Liberal Association and a member of the First Strike Coalition, linking human violence and animal abuse. Walker has also served in an advisory capacity with the Milton Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee and with Victim Services Hamilton Inc.

Walker serves on the Discipline and Accreditation committees.

Principal/Vice-Principal

Howard Ramcharan, a veteran educator of 16 years who is vice-principal at Toronto's Parkdale Public School, has been appointed by Council to replace Brian Rivait as the elected representative in the principal/vice-principal category. Ramcharan has taught primary and junior students throughout Toronto, including at several inner-city schools. His own experiences as a newcomer to Canada at 16 allowed him to better understand and address his students' needs. As a vice-principal Ramcharan has been responsible for implementing programs and curriculum directives, co-ordinating professional development and conducting teacher evaluations. The appointment took effect June 3.

Brian Rivait resigned from Council to accept a Ministry of Education secondment.