About Us

Board of Directors

Amy Bryson

A member of the CAA South Central Ontario Board of Directors since May 8, 2008, Amy Bryson is a practicing lawyer who has specialized in corporate/commercial law since 1998 in the London, Ontario area. Her experience in financings and mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry is an invaluable asset to the organization.

She is deeply committed to her community and sits on a number of committees, including Director and Past President of the MainStreet London Revitalization Organization, and Better Business Bureau Charitable Review Committee and Member.

William (Bill) Carter, C.A.

A member of CAA South Central Ontario's Board of Directors since 2004, Bill Carter has enjoyed a distinguished career in the accounting industry from 1970 - 2001 when he held a number of senior positions, including office managing partner of the accounting firm Clarkson Gordon/ Ernst & Young in Windsor.

In 2001 he accepted the position of President and CEO of Windsor Raceway Inc., and in 2004 accepted the position of President K Scrap Resources Ltd in Windsor.

His varied experience and accomplishments in industry have enabled him to provide valuable insight as a member of our Board of Directors. Additional professional milestones include:

• Vice Chair, Audit committee for the City of Windsor
• Director and Treasurer- United Way / Centraide, Windsor Essex County; serving on the finance, investment, membership and executive committees
• Chair of Business Advisory Committee, St. Clair College
• Past Director - Ontario Horseracing Industry Association and served on the BioSecurity and Finance committees as well as the committee responsible for negotiating ORC fees and levies
• Past President Essex Kent Chartered Accountants Association; worked with schools to assist in recruiting students for the CA program.
• Past Chairman and Treasurer of the Willistead Classic & Antique Car Show; served on this board for nine years assisting in raising funds for the restoration of Willistead Manor.
• Past Vice President and Treasurer of Willistead Manor Inc.

Mervin ("Merv") A.C. Daub, B.Comm (Hon.), MBA, Ph.D

A member of the CAA South Central Ontario Board of Directors since 2004, Merv Daub has enjoyed a successful career of over 30 years as an academic economist in the Queen's School of Business. During that period he was a member or chair of virtually every committee in the School and served on numerous university-wide committees as well. He has also presented at numerous conferences and seminars, and been a guest lecturer, in various universities around the world.

Merv has published three books and over 60 articles on subjects ranging from economic forecasting to business, sport, history and energy matters. He has been a member of the Canadian Economic Association, the American Economic Association, the International Institute of Forecasters and various other professional associations.

His professional accomplishments also include being a Senior Policy Analyst with the Government of Canada and a member of the Ontario Energy Board (where he chaired an Ontario Hydro Rate case hearing).

Currently retired, and an Emeritus Professor at Queen's, he has also served, or is presently serving, on several other boards including the board of the Kingston General Hospital, that of the Community Foundation of Kingston and the Area, and the Board of Trustees of Queen's university where he is Chair of the Audit Committee.

William Graham, MBA (with Distinction); B.Sc. (Eng), P.Eng. (ret'd)

A member of the CAA South Central Ontario Board of Directors since 2003, Bill Graham is President and Chief Executive Officer of Quartham International and Quartham Investment Group Limited, located in Toronto. He is also Executive-in-Residence, International MBA Program at the Schulich School of Business, York University.

His career highlights include being President & CEO, member of the Board of Proponix (Canada) Inc., Proponix Pty Limited, Proponix (Australia) Pty Limited and affiliates. Asia Pacific Region Head, Financial Institutions, Citibank N.A., Singapore; Managing Director, Citibank Canada; Vice President, Marketing and Partner, Kenwood Appliances Limited; Senior Project Manager, Hanscomb-Roy Associates; Project Manager, Widdicome Hill Developments Ltd. and Project Engineer, Kodak Canada Limited. He is a Member of the Board of Directors, York University Alumni Association and a Member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Janet Lafortune, B.A., AICB, C.DIR

A member of the CAA South Central Ontario Board of Directors since 2009, Janet Lafortune is a partner in Lafortune & Associates, located in Peterborough, Ontario, consulting in the areas of marketing and strategic planning.

Her career highlights include 21 years with Quaker Oats Company of Canada where she held positions including Vice President Marketing, Director Information Services, and Manufacturing Services Manager. Janet previously held progressive management positions with CIBC.

Janet is Board Chair, Peterborough Utilities Inc., and is a Director and member of the Audit Committee with City of Peterborough Holdings Co. Inc. She is also a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, having completed the director education program through The Directors College of University of McMaster's DeGroote School of Business.

An active volunteer, Janet currently sits on the Board of United Way of Canada - Centraide Canada, the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees of Lakefield College School and has past associations with Showplace Peterborough Performance Centre, Hospice Peterborough and Performers for Literacy (Toronto).

Art Leitch, P.Eng., MBA, M.Eng., BaSc

A member of the Board of Directors of CAA South Central Ontario since 2000, and currently the Chair of the Board, Art Leitch is a former Director and President /CEO of Hamilton Utilities Corporation. He holds a Professional Directors Designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors, a Master of Environmental Engineering from University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from York University.

Art was previously General Manager of Public Works for the City of Hamilton and a Commissioner with the former Hamilton Hydro Commission. He has served as General Manager of Sarnia Hydro, Senior Vice-President of United Utilities International PLC and as Commissioner of Planning and Public Works in the Region of Halton.

He also serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of Link-Line Group of Companies, Vice-Chair of the Ontario Clean Water Agency Board and is former Chairman of the Board of the Ontario Energy Association.

Linda Matthews, B.A., FIIC

Linda has been a member of CAA South Central Ontario's Board of Directors since 2001.

She began her distinguished insurance career with Royal and SunAlliance in 1975 holding a number of increasing senior positions including Regional Vice President for Ontario Personal Insurance (1992) and Vice President of Personal Insurance (1994).

Ms. Matthews was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Royal and SunAlliance Canada in March 1998. She retired from the company in October 2000.

Dina Palozzi, BA, MBA, ICD.D

Dina was appointed to the Board of Directors of CAA South Central Ontario in 2002 and is currently Vice Chair of the Board. She has recently established her own consulting firm, and is President of Paladina Management Consulting, Inc. Dina retired in 2007 from BMO Financial Group where she was Chief Privacy Officer and Executive Vice President of Client Relations. She brings a unique blend of private and public sector experience to the Board.

Prior to her work with BMO, Dina spent thirty years in a public service career with the Ontario Government where she held numerous portfolios as Deputy Minister, including Revenue and Correctional Services. When she retired from the public service in 2001, Dina was CEO and Superintendent of Financial Services for the Province of Ontario.

Her external Directorships include serving on the Boards of the Vaughan Healthcare Foundation, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, the Recycling Council of Ontario and the Toronto Centre for Financial Services Supervisory Training.

Dina holds a BA from the University of Toronto and an MBA from York University.

John Prno, MPA

A member of CAA South Central Ontario's Board of Directors since 2004, John Prno has also been the Director of Emergency Medical Services for the Region of Waterloo since 1999. Prior to that, he was the Operations Manager with the predecessor Kitchener-Waterloo Regional Ambulance Service, and has held various clinical, management and consulting roles in Ontario EMS since 1975.

His community involvement includes the following memberships:

• Member of the Board of Directors and Vice-Chair for Heartwood Place
• Member of the Board of Directors for the Kitchener-Waterloo Branch of St. John Ambulance
• Member of the Board of Directors for FOSCIA - Families of Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan (since 2006), a local family support group
• Member of the 78th Fraser Highlanders (since 2006), a national military history preservation and philanthropic organization.
• Leadership Giving Representative (since 2007) for United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo.
• Medical Care Committee Chair, 2008 Memorial Cup Host Committee

Susan Waywell, C.A.

A member of CAA South Central Ontario's Board of Directors since 2003, Susan has also been a Partner at Collins Blay & Co. Chartered Accountants in Kingston since 1990.

She is currently a member of the Investment Committee - Community Foundation of Greater Kingston and a member of the audit committee of Queen's University.

Her professional highlights include the following:

Past treasurer of the Community Foundation of Greater Kingston, Chair Accounting Division - United Way Campaign, President of the Board of Directors of the Estate Planning Council of Eastern Ontario, President of the Queen's Business Club, Kingston Branch, Director of Kingston and District Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Membership Committee, Member of the Finance Committee, Treasurer of Church Athletic League of Kingston, Vice-Chair and Treasurer of the Stanton Yellowknife Hospital Board

Susan has also been a member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, past chair of the Applications Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Ontario and past President of the Eastern Ontario Chartered Accountants Association.

Robert C. Wong, B.Sc., MBA

A member of CAA South Central Ontario Board of Directors since 1994, Bob Wong is currently Vice Chair of Leon Frazer & Associates inc., an Investment Counsel Portfolio Management firm located in Toronto.

Bob is a Director of the Canadian Automobile Association and is immediate Past Chair of the Board of CAA South Central Ontario.

Mr. Wong's career covers a wealth of experience in business and government and he was elected to the Ontario Legislature and served as Minister of Energy and later Minister of Citizenship in the Ontario Government. He previously served as a founding director of Multilingual Television Channel 47, now known as OMNI and as a director of the Confederation Trust Company. Bob's active involvement in community service includes The Toronto Board of Trade, Toronto Community Foundation, St. John's Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, St. Stephen's Community House and the Renaissance ROM Campaign Cabinet. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Regents of Victoria University within the University of Toronto, and the Schulich International Advisory Council.

Connie Woo, MSc. Eng., B.Sc. Applied Math/Computer Science, ICD.D

A member of CAA South Central Ontario's Board of Directors since 2000, Connie Woo was Vice-President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Toronto Hydro Corporation from 1998 to 2005. She previously served on the board of Spi Group Inc., jointly owned by Ontario Power Generation and Toronto Hydro, from 2000 to 2005.

She currently sits on the board of Chinese Family Services of Ontario as well as the board of Asian Business Network Association.

Connie Woo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and a Master of Science degree in Engineering and has been awarded the ICD.D designation by the Institute of Corporate Directors. She completed the Director Education Program with the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto in 2007.

Her community involvement includes volunteering for the Etobicoke Junior Badminton Club and fundraising for various organizations such as Fu Hui Canada Foundation and Carefirst.