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Board of Directors

Honourary Patron - Beverley McLachlin

Honourary Patron - Beverley McLachlin

The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin served as Chief Justice of Canada from 2000 to mid-December 2017. In the summer of 2018, Ms. McLachlin became a Member Arbitrator at Arbitration Place.

Ms. McLachlin works as an arbitrator and mediator in Canada and internationally. She brings to those forms of dispute resolution her broad and deep experience for over 35 years in deciding a wide range of business law and public law disputes, in both common law and civil law; her ability to work in both English and French; and her experience and skill in leading and consensus-building for many years as the head of a diverse nine-member court.

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Arthritis Research Canada’s Board of Directors is composed of members whose expertise guides the organization’s pursuit of a “A World Without Arthritis”. To this end the Board functions to advise, assist and aid in our efforts to be a world leading arthritis research organisation.

Jordan Langlois

Jordan Langlois

Chair

Jordan is a partner with Kornfeld LLP, where his practice is primarily focused on corporate and commercial matters, with an emphasis on real estate related transactions. He regularly provides legal advice to clients engaging in real property financing, acquisitions and sales, development, leasing, property taxation and related general corporate matters. Jordan’s practice also covers general corporate commercial law with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, corporate governance and financing, banking and insolvency law and public utilities law.

Jordan joined Kornfeld LLP as an associate in June 2011 after completing his articles with the firm, and was admitted to the partnership in July 2016. He has an LLB with First Class Honours from The City Law School at City University in London (UK) and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University in Montreal.

Born in eastern Ontario, Jordan has lived in Montréal, Zug (Switzerland), Sydney (Australia) and London (UK), and he is now proud to call Vancouver his home.

Jordan is honoured to be a member of the board team and to offer his skills and experience to further the excellent work of Arthritis Research Canada/Arthrite recherche Canada.

Don Elkington

Don Elkington

Past Chair

Don Elkington; retired CEO and Founder of Manufacturing and Global Distribution Companies is known as a leader in the design and innovation of luxury consumer goods products since 1990; a recipient of Platinum status as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies.

Mr Elkington is President and founder of DERT Holdings Inc. with investments in the Commercial real estate sector.

Elkington’s involvement with Arthritis Research Canada dates back to the organization’s very beginning in 1999. He was instrumental in visioning the creation of an arthritis research center to conduct innovative research by finding new and practical solutions to save and improve the lives of those with arthritis.

As a successful business leader, Elkington’s business acumen has been an invaluable asset to Arthritis Research Canada. Serving nearly 20 years in varying volunteer capacities Elkington’s leadership, commitment and philanthropic support has been integral to Arthritis Research Canada’s growth and evolution.

Elkington has continually challenged the status quo and inspired the Arthritis Research Canada team to be their best and then do better. His influence and impact is evident in the world-class arthritis research facility that exists today.

“In one way or another, arthritis touches us all. Yet, arthritis continues to be an invisible disease and, in some cases, a silent killer,” says Elkington. “Every day the world-class team of scientists at Arthritis Research Canada works on research that matters to you and me — finding answers and saving lives. I’m honored to help make arthritis research a priority.”

Rodrigue Lussier

Rodrigue Lussier

Finance Chair

Rodrigue Lussier was welcomed to the Board in 2016 and is our first board member located in the province of Quebec. Rodrigue joined Fiera Capital in 2010 as Associate Chief Investment Officer, Private Wealth, where his responsibilities included the establishment and review of clients’ investment policy statements. He is currently an Investment Counsellor and oversees the management of Private Wealth client portfolios.

Mr. Lussier’s career in the investment industry spans over 25 years. He started his career as an Asset Consultant and Actuary at Towers Perrin. In 1994, Mr. Lussier joined TAL Global Asset Management as Vice President, Investment Management and moved on to Chief Investment Officer of TAL Private Management Ltd. He also held management positions at a major public institutional investor before joining Fiera Capital.

Mr. Lussier has a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science from Université Laval, Québec and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA) as well as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He is a past President of CFA Montreal.

Jim Dales

Jim Dales

Director

Jim Dales has been involved in the mining and civil contracting industries since 1970, including ownership and management of two large mining construction-contracting companies. Jim is a founder of Procon and remains a principal shareholder. Holding dual degrees in Civil and Mining Engineering from the University of Alberta, he guides the corporate governance of the company and oversees the overall strategic direction and operation of the company.

Rahim Esmail

Rahim Esmail

Director

Rahim is a lawyer at TELUS where he assists internal stakeholders negotiate complex, high value agreements for the procurement of strategic information technology assets. Prior to TELUS, Rahim worked at a prominent national law firm where he advised clients on a broad scope of commercial legal matters. Rahim has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University (SFU).

Rahim’s past charitable work includes coordinating over 70 lawyers from the firm he worked at to promote literacy on a weekly basis at elementary schools in underprivileged areas of East Vancouver, engaging with children living with life-threatening medical conditions in the lead up to their wish grant from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and providing support on various communications initiatives for the Aga Khan Ismaili Council for Canada.

Pauline Hadley-Beauregard

Pauline Hadley-Beauregard

Director

Pauline’s career has been a unique blend of strategy, brand building, marketing, advertising, digital and finance. As Partner, Strategic Clarity at Crux, she helps organizations achieve clarity and alignment starting from their distinctive purpose, value proposition, brand and/or vision through to culture and strategic direction. Her passion is to help clients get to the crux of the matter, seek alignment and mobilize to move forward. Prior to co-founding Crux, she worked in advertising for many years where she provided strategic leadership for agency clients. Previously, she created and ran a successful digital marketing and web development company for multinational advertising agency BBDO. Pauline’s first career was in investment banking.

Pauline also serves on the Board of Directors of Ballet BC and United Way British Columbia. Previously she was Chair of The Polygon Gallery, a Director of the BC Wine Institute and a Trustee of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Pauline has an MBA from McGill University, a BA in Economics (Honours) from the University of Victoria and diplomas in French language and business from the Sorbonne.

Joy MacPhail

Joy MacPhail

Director

Joy MacPhail was born in Hamilton, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a B.A. in Economics and then attended the London School of Economics in England. She graduated from the LSE in 1978 with a Diploma in Trade Union/Industrial Relations Studies.

For the next 13 years, Joy worked as an economist and negotiator in the union movement in Ontario and British Columbia.

In 1991 Ms. MacPhail was successful in her first attempt at electoral politics when she was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Hastings in British Columbia. She was re-elected in 1996 and 2001, before retiring from politics in 2005.
During her political career she held many significant portfolios: Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Health, Minister of Education, Government House Leader, and Leader of the Opposition, among others.

Joy MacPhail is an owner (with her husband) of OUTtv, the world’s longest airing and most successful Gay and Lesbian TV network.
She was appointed as Vice Chair of the Independent Commission on Mobility Pricing in May of 2017.

She was appointed as Chair of the Insurance Corporation of BC in July of 2017.

In September of 2019, the Governments of Canada and British Columbia appointed Ms MacPhail as Chair of The Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability.The Expert Panel will complete their work and provide a report to the Ministers of Finance of BC and Canada by the end of 2020.

MacPhail is Chair of the Grant Selection Committee of Face the World Charitable Foundation and is Chair of the Board of Trustees of Adler University in Chicago. She is a director on the board of Covenant House Vancouver.

She completed her terms as director of Delta Hotels Ltd.and Silverbirch Hotels and Resorts Ltd. in September 2014

She is a public speaker, both nationally and internationally.

Samantha Rogers

Samantha Rogers

Director

Diagnosed with arthritis at 11, Samantha has been living, and often thriving, with the chronic disease for much of her life.
Joining the Arthritis Patient Advisory Board in 2019, Samantha draws on her personal experience navigating pediatric, youth and adult health care, as well as her professional experience working in the charitable sector, to advance the mission of Arthritis Research Canada from the patient perspective.

Samantha graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration with Distinction from Capilano University in 2013, where she was honoured with the Dean’s Award for her graduating class. She is currently completing a Master of Business and Environment degree at the University of Waterloo, while also acting as Executive Director for the Elements Society, a non-profit dedicated to delivering action-oriented environmental education programs.

Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz

Director

Stephen Schwartz is a partner with Burns Fitzpatrick LLP and has been practicing law since 1986.

He has been representing clients in the areas of personal injury, insurance litigation, commercial litigation and wrongful dismissal for more than 30 years both at trial and appellate levels. He represents individuals, partnerships, corporations and insurers, including ICBC, in a variety of disputes.

Stephen has extensive experience and expertise in shareholder and partnership disputes, real estate litigation and serious personal injury claims, including advising on claims in excess of available coverage.

He has lectured occasionally at Continuing Legal Education seminars on topics within his practice area.

He has been associated with Burns Fitzpatrick since 1988 and a partner of the firm since 1996.

Anna Shojania

Anna Shojania

Director

Anna is an executive search professional and strategic Human Resources leader whose clients include numerous technology, health care, and not-for-profit organizations. For more than 25 years as a partner and trusted advisor, she has worked closely with senior executives and board members to develop and execute on recruitment programs, retention initiatives, and HR development plans. She has also served in fractional HR executive leadership roles within a number of early stage organizations.

Anna holds a Master of Business Administration as well as a Bachelor of Arts from UBC. She has attained the Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) designation and the Society for Human Resources Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). She has also completed the Institute of Corporate Directors Governance Essentials Program (ICD-GEP) from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto which is focused on governance best practices for not-for-profit boards.

A patron of Arthritis Research Canada throughout its years of development and evolution, Anna has also provided support to the organization as an Advisor to leadership. Prior to that, she served two terms on the Board of  The Arthritis Society (BC & Yukon). She is deeply committed to the mission of supporting and improving the lives of people living with arthritis through practical research.

Jatinder Sidhu

Jatinder Sidhu

Director

Jatinder (JT) Sidhu is the Chief Operating Officer with the Keith Scott Group, where he is responsible for Beachcomber Hot Tubs Group, EMC Business Solutions LLP, and Stawamus Chief Development with emphasis on operating business as well as the real estate of both industrial and commercial lands portfolios.

As a business builder, JT Sidhu has over 25 years of diverse international business-building experience across industries, including technology, consumer products manufacturing, retail, distribution, marketing and advertising, financial services, capital lending, intellectual property, and industrial and commercial real estate. During this time, JT has worked for both private and corporate businesses, holding C-level executive positions. He holds a Master of Business Administration in Technology Management, as well as an undergraduate degree in Electronics Technology and Automation Robotics.

JT also has the distinct honor of receiving the 2018 Professional Fellowship Award for Teaching, Research, and Service from the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals (USA, the first and the only Canadian to receive the recognition). His public business assignments included speaking with the House of Commons of Canada’s Standing Committee on Economic, Skills, and Social Development. He has also represented the Hot Tubs and Spas Industry in Canada, the USA, and the European Union as the Top Technical Advisor, advocating for high standards of consumer safety. JT had the rare distinction of meeting two former US Presidents, Bill Clinton, and George Bush, at a corporate business engagement event in 2011.

After one of his close family members was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, he was inspired to give back to the advancement of the greater cause of Arthritis Research in Canada. He is passionate about Arthritis Research Canada’s mission and believes that his experience and skills can be of great value to the organization. He is confident that he can bring a fresh perspective to the board and help the organization to achieve its goals.