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2019 Constructing Safety Leadership Conference

Apr
2

The SCSA Constructing Safety Leadership Conference program is taking shape with two industry panels and a number of industry experts speaking on topics ranging from Construction Law, Financial Services, Labour Supply, to Safe Working Culture, Inclusion, and Productivity.

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

PANEL AND GUEST SPEAKER BIOS

Grant Ring
Vice President, Capital Projects and Procurement, SaskPower

Grant Ring was appointed Vice-President, Procurement and Supply Chain in June 2015. At SaskPower, Grant previously held the positions of Vice-President, Business Development; President and Chief Executive Officer of NorthPoint Energy Solutions; and acting Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to that, he spent 11 years in various positions at the company. Grant holds a Master of Business Administration from Queen’s University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA). He was named a Fellow of the Society of Management Accountants in 2008. In 2007, he completed a Certificate in Executive Coaching, and in 2011, achieved his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He is the Chairman of the Power Corporation Superannuation Plan, and a member of the Buffalo Pound Water Board of Directors. In the past, Grant has also held positions as Chair of Financial Executives International Canada and Vice-Chair of the Public Employees Pension Plan (PEPP), as well as serving on other non-profit boards.

 

Harlan Kennedy
Executive Director, Project Management and Delivery, Saskatchewan Ministry of Central Services

Harlan is a Professional Engineer, Certified by PMI as a Project Management Professional in 1999.  He has been managing projects and project managers for over 40 years in the public, private and non-profit sectors.  As the Executive Director for Project Management and Delivery in the Saskatchewan Ministry of Central Services, he supports the work of 14 project managers in facility design and construction, and oversees construction procurement for the Ministry.  He also facilitates courses in project management through the University of Regina.  Harlan and his wife of 42 years live in Regina and have two grown daughters and three grandchildren..

 

Amy Groothuis
Partner, Miller Thomson LLP

Amy Groothuis is a civil litigator with a focus on labour and employment law. She acts for public and private sector employers, and provides proactive, preventive employment advice to clients on their rights and obligations regarding employment standards, occupational health and safety, human rights, and workers’ compensation. She represents management in all manners of labour relation disputes and grievances. Prior to joining Miller Thomson, Amy spent eight years practicing law in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, both as General Counsel to the territorial workers’ compensation board, and in private practice, where she acted on behalf of management in a variety of settings and industries.

 

Aaron Yohnke
District Manager, PCL Construction Management Inc.

As district manager, Aaron is responsible for PCL Construction Management Inc. (Saskatoon) operations in Central and Northern Saskatchewan. For more than 15 years, Aaron has contributed to the success of construction teams and projects in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Ontario. He has experience in delivering traditional bid-build, design-build, P3, GMP, and CM-type agreements. Aaron brings a diversified background to his role, having previously held positions as estimator, project manager, special projects manager, construction manager, and operations manager. Aaron’s cross-sector experience covers such areas as health-care, commercial, institutional construction, civil infrastructure, pre-engineered buildings, retail, water treatment, interior renovation, and light industrial, and varies in scope from smaller, unique projects to mega developments. Aaron is Gold Seal certified in project management by the Canadian Construction Association. Born and raised in Saskatoon, Aaron is active in the community, participating in industry and charitable associations. Aaron is passionate about health, safety and the environment as well as generally augmenting the culture that exists across all projects and sites in Saskatchewan.  

 

Bill Chow
President, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL)

Born and raised in Prince Albert and worked with the Prince Albert Police Service for 29 years before retiring as the Administrative NCO. Bill was a scout in the Western Hockey League a number of years before accepting the president position with the SJHL in 2011.  He also served as the Hockey Canada Board -Chairman of Junior Hockey from 2013-2016. Bill is married with two adult children, three grandchildren.

 

Errol Fisher
Vice President of Operations, North Ridge Development Corporation

Errol has an extensive history in the construction industry that started with a summer job working as a carpenter’s helper for a Saskatoon framing company.  In 1981, Errol was inspired to start his own framing company which operated in Saskatoon and surrounding areas, Western Canada, The North West Territories and Korea.  Errol also operated a wood wall panel prefabrication plant in Vancouver. In 1997, Errol accepted an offer to work for North Ridge as a Site Supervisor and oversaw the construction of single-family homes, apartment-style condos and commercial buildings. He was quickly transitioned to the VP of Construction and then to his current position as the VP of Operations. Errol sits on a number of national, provincial and local boards. At the national level he chairs CHBA’s Professional Development Committee, and is one of the founding members of the Net Zero Council. Errol is also heavily involved in the Saskatoon and Region Home Builders’ Association Builder Committee and is the past Chair for the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association. Most recently Errol was honoured as the CHBA 2017 Member of the Year due to his his long-standing contributions to CHBA through his dedication and outstanding service.

Thomas Benjoe
President & CEO for FHQ Developments

Thomas Benjoe is the President & CEO for FHQ Developments and is from the Muscowpetung First Nation. He has a First Nations Business, Economic Development and Governance background from First Nations University of Canada/University of Regina and is a Certified Professional Director.

Thomas is a founding Board of Director’s member for FHQ Developments and served 6 years on the Board. FHQ Developments is the Economic Development Corporation for the File Hill’s Qu’Appelle Tribal Council that manages Partnerships and new Business Ventures on behalf of its Limited Partners, the 11 First Nations of FHQTC. FHQ Developments also provides services to its Limited Partners through Nation Economic Development and Employment & Retention Services.

Thomas currently serves on a number of committees and boards including the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Innovation Saskatchewan, First Nations Power Authority, First Nations University of Canada Spring Celebration Powwow Committee, Member of Leaders Council at the Hill & Levene Schools of Business, University of Regina, Council for Entrepreneurship Growth (Economic Development Regina) and the FNUniv Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Camp Steering Committee.

Braydn Parisian
Founder & CEO, Mo’ Solar Company Ltd

Bradyn Parisian is a well-respected business and community leader that resides in Regina, SK with his wife and three young children. He is also the President and principal consultant for Vincent Developments Inc., a management consulting company that serves a diverse group of clients across Saskatchewan.

Mr. Parisian is the Past President & Chairman of the Board for Conexus Credit Union; the largest credit union in SK (6th largest in Canada) with nearly $8 billion in assets under management. While sitting on the Conexus board, he gained experience serving on the Audit & Conduct Review, Governance & HR, Compensation and Risk Committees.  Bradyn currently serves as a corporate director on the boards of Cowessess Ventures Ltd., Black Lake Ventures LP, Gabriel Housing Corporation and the First Nations Power Authority.

A proud U of R graduate, Bradyn possesses MBA and Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance) degrees, and is an ICD.D holder.  He has also completed a professional certificate in corporate innovation & entrepreneurship from Stanford University, in addition to executive education programs at Rotman, Queen’s University, the Disney Institute and the Schulich School of Business.

He also serves as a sessional instructor at the University of Regina, and currently teaches business courses at the Paul J. Hill School of Business and First Nations University of Canada.  Mr. Parisian has also established several post-secondary scholarships for Métis students - aimed at supporting future leaders in the fields of business and healthcare.  In his spare time, Bradyn has also devoted a considerable amount of his time towards mentoring youth and coaching minor sports.

 

Tom Holfeld
District Manager, Graham Construction and Engineering Inc.

Born and raised in Yorkton, Tom began working in the construction industry during high school for his father at Logan Stevens Construction.  He started with Graham Construction after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan in 1990 with a degree in civil engineering.  Since then he has worked in various roles and construction sectors throughout Saskatchewan.  Originally hired for the Husky Upgrader Project in Lloydminster, Tom has performed the duties of project coordinator, estimator, project manager, operations manager, and his current position as district manager for Graham’s Saskatoon Buildings division.  Tom’s diverse experience includes working within commercial, civil, water and wastewater treatment, and industrial sectors for over 30 years.  He has served as Director on the Saskatoon Construction Association Board since 2014 and participates actively in industry affairs.  Tom feels strongly about the need for effective health and safety programs and changing the culture of safety within his company, and the industry as a whole. In this role he is responsible for the overall management of Graham’s  commercial and institutional sector business in Central and Northern Saskatchewan.  

John Spooner
Senior Vice President, Aon Reed Stenhouse

John is a Senior Vice-President, Account Executive with Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc. He started his career with Aon Reed Stenhouse in 1985 in our Regina office and has been located in our Saskatoon office since 1990. John has been extensively involved with many of Aon’s key clients including construction industry clients for both insurance and contract bonding. He provides day-to-day servicing, account management and consulting to various successful Saskatchewan-based contractors including General Contractors and large trade contractors, and is the Construction Segment Leader for the Branch.

Along with his construction industry expertise, John is involved with Manufacturing risks and Aviation risks including Canadian Airports Council program for Tier II Airports; Saskatoon and Regina International Airport. He also brings mining/industrial risk experience from prior years of direct involvement with PCS Inc., Cameco Corp., Cigar Lake Mining Corp., Areva and Kalium Chemicals. John is the Canadian liaison for Aon’s global Mosaic Corp. account team handling risk management issues ranging from taxation to Worker’s Compensation to Project Builders Risk.

Jeremy Meinema
Finance & Land Sales Manager, Saskatoon Land

Jeremy is a Chartered Professional Accountant with experience in public accounting, the mining industry, and municipal government.  For the last 8 years he has been the Finance and Sales Manager of Saskatoon Land, the land development arm of the City of Saskatoon, overseeing the accounting as well as policy development around the land development and sales process.  The City of Saskatoon operates one of the largest self-financed municipal land development programs in Canada and continues to play an integral role in providing an adequate supply of serviced land which initiates creativity and innovation in urban design, generating profits for allocation to civic projects and programs, and influence urban growth.

Rawlco Radio Personalities

Jamie Nye The Sports Guy

Saskatchewan’s most listened to sports show, The Green Zone with Jamie Nye is an afternoon drive sports show featuring a team of superstars, who aren’t afraid to share their opinions, and create a great listening experience every afternoon.

Jamie Nye The Sports Guy grew up in Saskatchewan, and knows almost everything about every sport you could possibly imagine. This award winning host/writer bleeds green through and through, and has an unmatched knowledge of the team; earning him respect within the CFL. Speaking on behalf of the fans, his delivery and perspective on the team is unfiltered, unbiased, and always honest. Jamie directs the conversation each day with his team around all the biggest sports stories and non-sports stories of the day, while ensuring each drive home is full of laughs and good times! There’s no better place to hang out after a long day of work than with The Green Zone! And if that isn’t enough, you can head over to the CFL.ca where Jamie is a regular contributor.

Mark Loshack (Shack)

Shack has been with Rawlco Radio for 28 years, 18 of those doing the morning show on Rock 102 in Saskatoon along with mid days on JACK 94.5 in Regina for the past couple years. He and his wife Mona have a 17 year old daughter whose name is Emily. Shack keeps himself busy with cooking. He loves to cook, so much so, that he has his own cooking show on Shaw tv called Cooked with Shack. His other interests are playing music, building and fixing stuff around the house and camping. Oh yeah and taking naps whenever he can.

Drew Remenda

Former NHL assistant coach and celebrated television and radio analyst Drew Remenda joined the NHL on Sportsnet broadcast team as the game analyst for the Edmonton Oilers in August 2014. Prior to signing on with Sportsnet, Remenda spent seven seasons as the television colour analyst for the San Jose Sharks broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet California.

With over 24 years of experience in the NHL and broadcasting, Remenda began his coaching career in 1988 when he served as the assistant coach for the University of Calgary for two seasons and contributed to Canada’s National Team and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. In 1991, Remenda joined the San Jose Sharks organization as an assistant coach and would go on to spend four seasons with the team. After seven years with the Sharks, Remenda headed north and signed on with CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada as an analyst for the 2006-07 season. In addition to his work in television, Remenda also hosted “The Drew Remenda Show” on News Talk 650 CKOM in his hometown of Saskatoon.