2023 Royal College Council Elections
Elections to the Council of the Royal College will take place at the Annual Meeting of the Members (AMM).
How to register for the Annual Meeting of the Members and access advanced voting for the Council elections
Please use your Royal College single sign-on credentials to register. All Royal College Fellows and Resident Affiliates who register will receive by email a meeting link and instructions on how to join the meeting.
Only Fellows will receive access to the advanced online election ballot to vote to elect the Council member for Region 1, Division of Surgery. See additional details below.
How nominees were selected
The Royal College is committed to building a diverse and inclusive Council membership. During Fall 2022, all Fellows and residents who met the advertised criteria were encouraged to apply.
The Nominating Committee (NC) conducted interviews and assessed applicant qualifications against the needs of Council.
The nominees address the knowledge, skills and/or experience needed on Council in the areas of equity, diversity and inclusion, government relations, information technology and communications and marketing.
Region- and division-specific Council members
The NC nominated four new Councillors and nine incumbents to fill region- and division-specific positions on Council for the 2023-2027 term.
Royal College members were invited to review the nominees selected by the NC for these positions and add to the NC’s slate of nominations by self-nominating between December 1, 2022, and January 11, 2023.
Nominees for Region 1, Division of Surgery
An additional nomination was received to fill the Region 1, Division of Surgery position on Council. All Fellows, irrespective of division and region, may vote to elect the Fellow who will fill this position. ** Fellows may vote in advance.
All other region- and division-specific nominees
All other region- and division-specific nominees, who are the single nominee for a Council position, will be presented to the members for election at the AMM. ** Advanced voting is not available.
Division of Medicine
Division of Surgery
Public members, Fellows-at-large and resident member
Based on recommendations from the NC, Council nominated for election to Council one new resident member, one new and one incumbent Fellow-at-large and five incumbent public members for the 2023-2025 term. ** Advanced voting is not available.
Public Members
Fellows-at-Large
Resident Member
Council elections regulations
To elect the different categories of Council members, the following election regulations apply.
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Nominees for Region 1, Division of Surgery |
** Fellows may vote in advance, starting now and until February 22, or they may vote at the AMM on February 23 to elect the Council member for this region and division. Fellows can use the link provided in their AMM registration email to access the online voting platform. The nominee who receives the greatest number of votes will be elected. |
All other nominees
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** Advanced voting is not available to elect these Council members. Fellows need to attend the AMM on February 23 to vote to elect these Council members. Nominees who receive majority support of the Fellows in attendance at the AMM will be elected. |
Resources
- Royal College Council Composition Matrix (PDF)
- Council Member Position Description (PDF)
- Summary of Council nomination and election regulations (PDF)
- Names of current Royal College Council members
- Virtual meeting and voting instruction guide (PDF)
If you have any questions about the 2023 Council elections, please contact nominations@royalcollege.ca.
Ari Giligson, MD, FRCSC
NEW Delta, British Columbia
Ari Giligson immigrated to Canada from Lithuania as a child and completed all his schooling here. At UBC, he earned his BSc (91) and MD (95). He also spent significant time involved in student politics and campus clubs in his youth. He finished residency training in Ophthalmology in 2000 at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and completed qualifications for working in the US (American Boards, USMLE) as a backup, but luckily managed to establish a solo community Ophthalmology practice in North Delta, BC, around 2001. He is a full-time staff member at Delta Hospital and holds associate privileges at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) as well as Northern Health (visiting specialist clinic). He has a keen interest in teaching and spent 6 years as undergraduate coordinator and 7 years as residency program director for the Department of Ophthalmology UBC where he is a clinical professor and continues to teach both residents and medical students. As part of those duties, Dr. Giligson has had extensive exposure to and worked with the resident education arm of the College of Physicians (Specialty committee, Ophthalmology residency training committee, accreditation, etc.). He participated in the UBC medical school expansion when he sat on the Curriculum committee in the early 2000s. With respect to governance experience, his work on several investigations for the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons led to involvement with the Non-Hospital Medical and Surgical Facilities committee (accreditation and Q.I. for private clinics) for six years, including a strategic management year. He also sits as a member of the governing board for the Laurel Surgical Foundation, a Vancouver-based foundation that organizes medical/surgical education outreach in Mongolia. He has travelled to Mongolia on a number of occasions to help improve the residency training program in Ulaanbaatar. He considers himself proportionately more a community practitioner than an academic. He is certified as a NCCP coach (karate) and as a BJCP judge (beer).
Trevor Theman, MD, FRCSC
NEW Edmonton, Alberta
Dr. Trevor Theman’s medical career began with medical school (1970-1974) at the University of Alberta, culminating in the MD degree (cum laude). Following a rotating internship at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, BC (1974-1975), he began his general surgical training at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal (1975-1976), completing his residency (1976-1979) at the University of Alberta. He was successful in his Royal College exams and received the FRCSC designation. He was also successful in passing the American Board of General Surgery examination but let that qualification lapse. He practiced General Surgery in Edmonton from 1980 to 1998, providing a full spectrum of the specialty (breast, thyroid, parathyroid, gastrointestinal, hernias, hepatobiliary [gallbladder primarily]), teaching medical students and surgical residents throughout his clinical career. After being elected to the Council of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) for two terms and serving as president of the Council, he joined the CPSA as an assistant registrar, managing complaints about physician members for seven years. For a short period (6 months), he left the CPSA to work for Capital Health as medical director of quality and urban/suburban sites, before becoming registrar of the CPSA, a position he held from 2005 to 2017. Following retirement in July 2017, he completed the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Directors Education Program, and was appointed by government as chair of the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA), a position he held for 15 months. As registrar, he was a member of the Medical Council of Canada and served one year as president. He was also a member of the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada and served one year as president of that organization. He has served on several committees in Alberta, including the Committee on Academic Medicine (co-chaired by the deputy ministers of Health and Advanced Education) and on the governance of medical information in Alberta.
Paul Dagg, MD, FRCPC
INCUMBENT Kamloops, British Columbia
Dr. Paul Dagg has held a variety of leadership positions within mental health and substance use services, including recently working as the executive medical director for BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services. Previously he has served as the medical director for Mental Health and Substance Use Services for the Interior Health Authority of British Columbia, and prior to that the clinical director for the Royal Ottawa Hospital. He is currently associate head for the University of British Columbia’s Department of Psychiatry with responsibility for postgraduate and continuing medical education. He moved to B.C. in 2005 to establish the Tertiary Mental Health Services for Interior Health, which were being developed as a result of the regionalization of services from the Riverview Hospital. He opened the Hillside Centre in Kamloops, B.C., and led Tertiary Mental Health Services until 2016.
Dr. Dagg provides psychiatric and neuropsychiatric care for people with refractory illness who are admitted to Hillside Centre — a tertiary acute inpatient facility that provides services to clients from throughout B.C. He is also a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. In 2013, he was inducted as a member of the American College of Psychiatrists.
Dr. Dagg has been heavily involved in postgraduate training in medicine and Psychiatry. In 2016, he was awarded the Duncan Graham Award for Outstanding Contribution to Medical Education by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He was the first person whose professional work is outside of an urban university centre to receive this award. He previously served as chair of the Royal College’s Accreditation Committee. He also served as a member of the Committee on Specialty Education — the committee that oversees all educational activities of the Royal College. He previously served as chair of the Specialty Committee in Psychiatry (2010-2016) and on the Psychiatry Examination Board as a member (1994-2003) and as vice-chair (2001-2003). Until 2005, he was assistant dean of Postgraduate Medical Education for the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine. He was also an associate professor and vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry. In 1996, he and a colleague were awarded the American College of Psychiatrists’ Award for Creativity in Psychiatric Education.
In addition to his administrative and educational responsibilities, Dr. Dagg is on the editorial board for the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health and has written on this topic. He has an interest in service delivery models in mental health, cognition in schizophrenia, psychotherapy and the role of evidence in its practice, and in the treatment of adults with pervasive developmental disorders and Asperger’s syndrome. He has led the development of an alternative competency-based assessment system for psychiatrists trained outside of Canada. He has consulted on psychiatric service delivery in inpatient, outpatient and community settings in cities across Canada. He recently completed his term as chair of the Board of Governors of Thompson Rivers University and is a member of the board of the British Columbia Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission.
Tom McLaughlin, MD, FRCPC
INCUMBENT Vancouver, British Columbia
Dr. Tom McLaughlin is a pediatrician at the BC Children’s Hospital. He completed his residency at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where he served as chief resident, and completed a Master in Public Policy degree at the Harvard Kennedy School, with a focus on health policy and quality improvement.
Dr. McLaughlin brings with him a breadth of experience in medical education and health policy. In medical education, he volunteered extensively with provincial and national medical organizations as a medical student and resident, including serving as the president of Resident Doctors of Canada. He has recently served on his program's admissions and competency committees, and currently serves as medical director of the inpatient pediatrics ward at BC Children's Hospital. He is currently a board member at the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS), where he chairs the Governance Committee. He has presented at local, national and international conferences on competency-based medical education, health human resources, quality improvement and health policy.
In his policy work, he focuses on Canadian pediatric drug policy, including work on children's drug coverage, and more recently on drug shortages. He serves on the Canadian Paediatric Society's Drugs and Therapeutics Committee, as well as the CPS's advocacy committee, where he has worked to support children's drug policy developments in Canada. He also serves on the Doctors of BC Council on Health Economics and Policy.
At the Royal College, Dr. McLaughlin previously volunteered as a resident member of the Health and Public Policy Committee and the Residency Accreditation Committee. He co-led the College's Fatigue Risk Management Task Force. He currently serves on the Financial Reporting and Risk Oversight Committee, as well as the Health and Public Policy Committee.
As a highly-experienced early career physician, Dr. McLaughlin hopes to enhance the voice of early career physicians on the Royal College Council and to help demonstrate the value of Fellowship to the next generation of Canadian specialist physicians.
Salvatore Spadafora, MD, FRCPC
INCUMBENT Toronto, Ontario
Professor Salvatore (Sal) Spadafora is currently on sabbatical after completing his recent appointments as the Senior Advisor to the Dean in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and University of Toronto Special Advisor to the President and Provost on COVID19.
Since 2010, when he was recruited to be Vice Dean of Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) at the University of Toronto, he has held several leadership roles in Medicine. He has recently served as the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, in addition to serving since 2015 as the Vice Dean, Post MD Education overseeing PGME, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and most recently Vice Dean Strategy and Operations at the University of Toronto. Under his guidance, the Faculty's Post MD activities has excelled in the areas of academic oversight, program governance, and the financial management including clinical fellowships and training agreements.
He is a Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto and an anesthesiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He previously served as Associate Dean, PGME at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University, in addition to many other educational leadership roles provincially and nationally. Dr. Spadafora received his MD from the University of Toronto, followed by Royal College FRCPC Anesthesiology Specialty training at Western University. He also completed his master’s degree in Health Professions Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Spadafora has distinguished himself as a leader in medical education as a past Program Director for the Western University's Royal College Anesthesiology and CFPC Family Medicine-Anesthesia residency programs; and, nationally as a member of important leadership committees of the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada where he currently Chairs the Accrediation Committee and is a Member of Royal College Council.
Dr. Spadafora has advocated effectively and tirelessly for medical education to benefit Canadian patient populations with respect to fiscal and human resources, education methodology and technology, and the social mission of medical education including developing strategies to integrate education in urban and small community sites. He has developed models of inter-professional education and assessment and integration of international medical graduates provincially.
Matthieu Touchette, MD, FRCPC
INCUMBENT Sherbrooke, Québec
Dr. Touchette obtained his medical degree from the Université de Sherbrooke and subsequently completed internal medicine training at the same institution, earning his Royal College certification in 2003. He then completed additional training in perioperative medicine at the Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris, before returning to the Université de Sherbrooke Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences as an assistant professor. He was appointed associate professor in 2010, and full professor in 2016. He is among the first cohort of general internal medicine specialists at the Royal College, having passed the general internal medicine exam in 2014.
Early in his career, Dr. Touchette was involved in undergraduate teaching, coordinating pre-clinical training years until 2010, and then moved on to postgraduate medical education, serving as director of the university’s core internal medicine and dermatology programs until 2016. He was then appointed Associate Dean for Postgraduate Medical Education, a position he holds to this day. In 2021, he also became chair of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s Postgraduate Medical Education Committee.
He has actively participated in several accreditation surveys at the Royal College and has served on its Credentials Committee since 2017. He has also been an active member of the Royal College Internal Medicine Examination Board since 2009.
Dr. Touchette has several publications to his credit and has remained active as a clinician, in teaching, in continuing medical education, and at the Collège des Médecins du Québec. He spent four years as a board member for the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine and 11 years on the board of directors of the Association des spécialistes en médecine interne du Québec, where he helped develop the speciality.
Lind Grant-Oyeye, MD, FRCPC
INCUMBENT Campbellton, New Brunswick
Dr. Lind Grant-Oyeye received her medical degree from the University of Benin, Nigeria. Upon graduation, she pursued further training internationally, obtaining the Royal College of psychiatrists of the United Kingdom membership, the fellowship in general psychiatry, and sub-specialty certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. She is an alum of the Harvard University Safety Quality Informatics and Leadership program (SQIL) and holds a master’s degree in health management, with a public health systems concentration from the Uninettuno university. She is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the province of New Brunswick. In addition to an extensive clinical experience, over time, she has acquired leadership experience serving in various capacities with local, provincial, national, and international collaborative organizations such as the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (RCPSC), provincial steering committees, and planning advisory groups, and a grant application assessor for the RCPSC IDAC program. Dr. Grant-Oyeye is a member of the following associations: the International Leadership Association (ILA) and the Institute of Corporate Directors of Canada (I.C.D.).
Kara Laing, MD, FRCPC
INCUMBENT St. John’s, Newfoundland
Dr. Kara Laing has more than 20 years of experience as a clinician, leader, educator and researcher. She is a Medical Oncologist within the Cancer Care Program, Eastern Health, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Professor and Chair, Discipline of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University.
She received her MD from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1993, completed Internal Medicine Residency at Memorial in 1996, and Medical Oncology subspecialty training at the University of British Columbia in 1998. She then completed a Research Fellowship with the National Cancer Institute of Canada, Clinical Trials Group, prior to returning home to practice in 1999.
Dr. Laing cares for patients with breast cancer and CNS malignancies. She is an active clinical trials researcher. Her other research interests include Choosing Wisely, Psychosocial Oncology, and the Terry Fox Research Institute, Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network.
She is involved with teaching along the continuum including undergraduate medical education, postgraduate medical education, and continuing professional development. She is recognized as a mentor for learners and colleagues.
She had an integral role in the establishment of the Medical Oncology Subspecialty Training Program at Memorial, which is now a fully accredited program by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She completed a Certificate of Medical Education from Memorial in 2012, and is currently completing a Masters in Medical Education at the University of Dundee, Scotland.
In 2019, Dr. Laing received the Canadian Certified Physician Executive (CCPE) designation from the Canadian Society of Physician Leaders. She has held many significant leadership roles. Prior to becoming the academic head of Oncology, she was the Clinical Chief of the Cancer Care Program from 2006 to 2013, and the Director of Medical Oncology from 2002 to 2006. She was the Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee and Credentials Committee for Eastern Health, and ex-officio member of the Eastern Health Board of Trustees from 2014 to 2020.
Dr. Laing is a Past President of the Canadian Association of Medical Oncologists (CAMO) and a member of their Educational Subcommittee. She is involved with several other committees, locally, provincially, and nationally, related to cancer care and education.
Randolph Guzman, MD, FRCSC
INCUMBENT Winnipeg, Manitoba
Dr. Randy Guzman graduated with his Medical Doctorate in 1983. He then completed a residency in General Surgery in 1990, followed by a fellowship program in Vascular Surgery at the University of Manitoba. He completed his training in 1991.
Dr. Guzman has been in clinical practice for over 25 years. Currently, he is head of the Vascular Surgery Training Program at the University of Manitoba. He is also regional lead of Vascular Surgery for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the site medical manager of the Department of Surgery at St. Boniface Hospital.
Dr. Guzman was program director for the Vascular Surgery Residency Program at the University of Manitoba from 1994 to 2007. He is active in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as the current chair of the Specialty Committee in Vascular Surgery. He previously served as chief examiner in Vascular Surgery from 2008 to 2012. He has also served in various positions for the Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery, including as past president.
Dr. Guzman has extensive experience in clinical research and currently serves as the director of the Vascular Clinical Research Program at St. Boniface Hospital, a position he has held since 1999. He also served as the director of the Asper Clinical Research Institute from 2007 to 2013. His research focus in vascular disease has included over 60 research projects with 40 as the principal investigator.
Cliff Yaffe, MD, FRCSC
INCUMBENT Winnipeg, Manitoba
Dr. Cliff Yaffe completed his General Surgery residency at the University of Manitoba in 1981, followed by a Gastroenterology (GI) fellowship at McGill University.
As an active and busy academic general surgeon, Dr. Yaffe’s clinical practice is focused on general and colorectal surgery and endoscopy. He retired from active clinical practice in September 2022 but continues to provide surgical assistance and teach.
He first joined the Department of Surgery, Section of General Surgery, at the University of Manitoba in 1983 as an assistant professor of Surgery. He was program director for the General Surgery Residency Program from 1996 to 2008 and the director of Surgical Foundations from 2003 to 2012. He also served as deputy head of the Section of General Surgery at St. Boniface Hospital from 1998 to 2014. From 2009 to 2014, he was the regional lead of General Surgery for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Surgery Program.
Dr. Yaffe’s involvement with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) began in 1996. He currently serves as an on-site Royal College surveyor. Previously, he served as an examiner in General Surgery (2005-2016) and as a member of the General Surgery Examination Board (1997-2006) and Test Committee in General Surgery (1997-2001). In addition, he served as an examiner in Colorectal Surgery (2010-2013) and as a member of the Specialty Committee in Colorectal Surgery (1997-2002, 2008-2013), Colorectal Surgery Examination Board (2008-2013) and the Surgical Foundations Advisory Committee (2008-2014). He has been a member of the RCPSC International Program Review Accreditation Committee (IPR-AC) since 2019.
Dr. Yaffe held the position of associate dean, Postgraduate Medical Education, in the Max Rady College of medicine at the University of Manitoba (2011-2022). During his term as postgraduate dean, he was a member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada Residency Accreditation Committee (RAC). He officially retired from that position in December 2022. Dr. Yaffe continues to provide support and consultation in the realm of postgraduate matters such as accreditation and competency-based medical education.
Dr. Yaffe has been involved with many professional societies including the Royal College, the Canadian Association of General Surgeons and the Canadian Society of Colorectal Surgeons, where he was president from 2008 to 2010. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (1986).
Dr. Yaffe is married with three children and six grandchildren. He and his wife Heather reside in Winnipeg.
Roy Kirkpatrick, MD, FRCSC
INCUMBENT Huntsville, Ontario
Dr. Roy Kirkpatrick graduated from Queen’s University in 1977 followed by a one year internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Manitoba. He subsequently completed a residency in General Surgery at the University of Ottawa in 1983.
After completing postgraduate training, he enjoyed an eclectic career. This included work as a doctor on a drilling ship in the North Atlantic, surgical locums in a number of small communities, and as an emergency room physician at The Ottawa Hospital’s General Campus.
In 1984, Dr. Kirkpatrick and his wife spent two years in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. There, he provided General Surgery service as a volunteer for Cuso International to an estimated 750,000 people and supervised numerous surgical registrars from the University of Papua New Guinea. He worked as a “true general surgeon,” performing operations from craniotomy to club foot, and everything in between.
Dr. Kirkpatrick is an active staff member at the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital where he works as a general surgeon, a position he has held since 1987. He has provided regular locum coverage for surgery in Nunavut since 2004. He is a current member of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières and, in 2015, provided foreign service in Pakistan. He previously provided service in 2010 for the Red Cross in Haiti.
Dr. Kirkpatrick has been an associate professor of surgery at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) since 2013. He is currently the lead physician on the Huntsville Physicians Local Education Group, and was recently appointed section chair of surgery in 2018. Huntsville hosts medical learners at all levels from the NOSM. Dr. Kirkpatrick is actively involved in the teaching of physician assistant students, NOSM undergraduates and General Surgery residents. He sits on the school’s Resident Wellness Committee, Postgraduate Education Committee and Surgical Foundations Competency Committee.
Dr. Kirkpatrick is involved with many professional societies. He is a member of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS) and serves as a member of the Rural Surgery Committee, Global Surgery Committee and Division Chiefs Committee. He represents CAGS on the Rural Maternity Task Force — a joint initiative with the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC), of which he is also a member. Dr. Kirkpatrick serves as the specialist representative on the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada’s Rural Road Map Implementation Committee. He is a member of the Canadian Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is the current chair of the Royal College’s Regional Advisory Committee 3 and is a member of the Committee on Specialty Education.
Dr. Kirkpatrick’s current memberships also include the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and the Ontario Association of General Surgeons (OAGS). He was nominated by the OMA Section on General Surgery and OAGS, and in 2018 was awarded the OMA Section Service Award for General Surgery.
Laura Drudi, MDCM, FRCSC
NEW Montréal, Québec
Dr. Laura Drudi completed a Diploma of Space Studies at the International Space University while pursuing clinical research with the Canadian Space Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She subsequently completed her medical degree at McGill University and went on to pursue postgraduate medical training in Vascular Surgery at McGill. During her surgical training there, her passion for clinical research led her to pursue and complete a Master of Science in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health. Under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan Afilalo, she designed and directed a prospective study evaluating frailty in Vascular Surgery. Following the completion of her residency, she completed her fellowship training in complex peripheral Endovascular Surgery for limb salvage in Dendermonde, Belgium, and brought this expertise back to Montreal. She is currently pursuing a Diploma of Implementation Science at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to develop the skills and knowledge to implement an amputation prevention program across Quebec. She has 40 peer-reviewed publications, numerous conference abstracts, invited lectures, contributions to grants, correspondences with the media, as well as prestigious local, national, and international awards. Her goal is to continue to build a platform for frailty research at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) and become a national and world-renowned clinician scientist.
Gillian MacMullin, MD, FRCSC
NEW Westmount, Nova Scotia
Gillian MacMullin was born and raised on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. Upon completing her Bachelor of Science with Honours in Biology at Acadia University, she attended Dalhousie University for medical school. A love of surgery and a passion for women’s rights and health led her to complete her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Dalhousie. In 2019, she returned home to Cape Breton to take a full-time staff position as an OB/GYN. Since opening her practice, she has pursued a special interest in vulvar dermatology by opening a Gynecologic Dermatology clinic with Dr. Stacy Northgrave (Dermatology), as well as practicing General Obstetrics/Gynecology. She has an enthusiasm for public education, holding free lectures for women on issues pertaining to menopause and appearing as a guest on podcasts to talk about women’s health. In her spare time, she is a runner and an avid crafter.
Geoff Porter, MD, FRCSC
NEW Halifax, Nova Scotia
Dr. Geoff Porter obtained his MD in 1992 from Queen's University. After a rotating internship at the Grey Nuns Hospital, he attended the University of Alberta where he received a Master in Medical Sciences (Epidemiology) in 1996 while completing a five-year residency in General Surgery in 1998. Dr. Porter completed a two-year fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, before assuming a position at Dalhousie University in Halifax in 2000.
Dr. Porter is currently a professor in the Department of Surgery, as well as in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, at Dalhousie and holds the Gibran and Jamile Ramia Chair in Surgical Oncology Research. He serves as director of the Cancer Outcomes Research Unit in Halifax, where he has maintained an active research program broadly categorized as cancer health services research with a specific focus on cancer surgery. Dr. Porter has published more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals and made over 150 peer-reviewed and invited scientific presentations, in addition to contributing chapters to several textbooks related to cancer.
Dr. Porter has held many administrative and leadership roles. He has led both the Cancer Care Program and the Division of General Surgery in Halifax. Nationally, he has worked to advance cancer control in Canada via his positions with the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, and through roles at the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Cancer Research. Internationally, he has been the chair of Surgical Quality Control for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and is a Program Board member of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership. At the Royal College, Dr. Porter has been a member of the General Surgery Exam Committee, as well as vice-chair of the Specialty Committee in Surgical Oncology.
Throughout his career, Dr. Porter has maintained an active clinical practice in Surgical Oncology with an emphasis on breast and advanced gastrointestinal malignancies and participates in General Surgery call. Finally, he is a stay-at-home hockey defenseman with deteriorating skills still hoping for his big break.
Meena Ballantyne, MHA, ICD.D
INCUMBENT Renfrew, Ontario
Ms. Meena Ballantyne retired from the Public Service of Canada as deputy minister of Status of Women Canada in 2017 after over 30 years of experience in senior executive positions, predominantly in Health Canada, the Privy Council Office and Canadian Heritage. Meena was the Assistant Secretary of Social Development Policy at the Privy Council Office where she provided advice to the Prime Minister and the Clerk of the Privy Council on a range of social policy issues, including health care.
Ms. Ballantyne was also assistant deputy minister of Health Products and Food Branch, which regulates prescription medicines, medical devices, biologics and natural health products, and it was in this position that she managed issues such as the approval of the H1N1 vaccine, response to the medical isotopes shortage and listeriosis. Previous to that, as director general of Health Care Policy at Health Canada, Ms. Ballantyne was involved in a number of federal/provincial/territorial accords on health care and worked with a variety of health professionals to establish key national health care organizations such as the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.
Ms. Ballantyne holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa, as well as director designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. In her government capacity, she served on the Boards of Infoway Canada and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. Ms. Ballantyne is chair of the World Wildlife Fund of Canada and she also serves on the boards and various board committees of the Renfrew Victoria Hospital and AdMare BioInnovations.
Meena’s deep knowledge of the machinery of the federal government, her experience in leading organizations and her policy/governance will bring a unique perspective to advance the work of the Royal College Council in the coming years.
Major General J. Jean-Robert S. Bernier (retd), OMM, CD, QHP, MD, MPH, DEH, RMC, KM, DSc (Hon), FRCPSC (Hon)
INCUMBENT Manotick, Ontario
Major General (retd) Jean-Robert Bernier served Canada for over 40 years in Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Canadian and US defence intelligence, and the Royal Canadian Medical Service. Among other appointments, he has commanded a military hospital, led the military public health agency, chaired several international medical security bodies including NATO's Health, Medicine, and Protection research committee, and was responsible for the health services supporting Canada's military and humanitarian operations. This included the hospital in Kandahar for which Canada received NATO's highest medical honour, the graduate medical education and allied health professional Training Mission in Afghanistan (with the support of the Royal College), and the Ebola treatment mission in Sierra Leone.
In 2012, he was appointed as the 38th Canadian surgeon general, honorary physician to Her Majesty the Queen, head of the Royal Canadian Medical Service, and commander of the fully integrated Military Health System. In 2015, the Surgeons General of NATO nations unanimously elected him chair of the committee of Chiefs of Medical Services in NATO (COMEDS) and chief medical adviser to the North Atlantic Alliance.
Major General Bernier has also served on the NATO Science and Technology Board, the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and its executive committee, the Council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the board of the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research.
A recipient of many Canadian, US and international academic, health professional, and military honours, Major General Bernier is currently a director on the Board of Ontario Health and an adjunct professor of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).
Rose M. Carter, QC
INCUMBENT Edmonton, Alberta
Ms. Rose Carter has 30 years of extensive experience in the field of health law. She is an authority on pressing issues for members of the medical community including, but not limited to, initiatives such as Non-Hospital Surgical Facilities (NHSFs), long-term care facilities and entering medical practice from foreign jurisdictions. She also has expertise on regulatory matters and governance issues facing medical professionals.
Ms. Carter has represented clients at all levels of court in Alberta, as well as served on tribunals, various administrative panels and professional regulatory bodies.
To complement her practice, Ms. Carter is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta. She has received wide recognition as a frequent lecturer to health care providers on topics such as physician regulation, administrative law, navigating the requirements of medical assistance in dying, the establishment of NHSFs, privacy concerns, dealings with provincial/territorial medical regulatory authorities, various aspects of health policy, licensing and bioethical issues, and medical negligence.
Ms. Carter has been recommended by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for over a decade and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada 10 times as one of Canada’s leading personal injury litigation lawyers. During her six-year term as a ”Bencher” of the Law Society of Alberta, she was very involved in administrative law, discipline proceedings and general administration and governance matters.
Ms. Carter is a member at large for the Medical Council of Canada where she serves on its executive board. She also chairs its appeals committee and is vice chair of its finance committee. In addition, she is a member of the Stem Cell Research Committee for the Aga Khan Foundation. Ms. Carter has also been a reviewer for the peer-reviewed McGill Journal of Law and Health.
Susan Harley, MBA
INCUMBENT Rothesay, New Brunswick
Ms. Susan Harley is from Saint John, New Brunswick, and she comes to the Royal College with over 35 years of senior leadership/executive experience with three of the largest companies in Canada. She brings experience in marketing, finance, operations, labour relations/contract negotiations, corporate governance and business development. She has led teams both in Atlantic Canada and nationally, providing marketing and business development leadership. She currently provides these services, as well as business strategy to companies in Atlantic Canada as the owner/principal of her own consulting company.
Ms. Harley holds both a bachelor and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of New Brunswick. She has been a lifelong volunteer in both her local community and in Atlantic Canada.
Ms. Harley currently sits on the Saint John Airport’s Board of Directors as vice chair, as well as serving on its finance and human resources committees. She is vice chair of the New Brunswick Health Council where she chairs its public participation committee and serves as a member of its executive committee. At the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), she also serves as a board director/public member and serves on the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.
At the New Brunswick College of Pharmacists, she serves as a public member of its council, chairs its membership development committee and also sits on its registration and complaints committees. She is a member of the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation Board, as well as its development committee. Ms. Harley also served as a public member for a term of three years on the Council of the Law Society of New Brunswick. She recently served on the Board of Economic Development Greater Saint John and is a past Board chair of Uptown Saint John.
Ms. Harley will bring to the Royal College her business and board experience along with her high energy level and commitment.
Shafique Shamji, P. Eng., CPHIMS
INCUMBENT Ottawa, Ontario
Shafique Shamji is currently the president and CEO of the Ontario Clinical Imaging Network (OCINet). OCINet is an independent, not-for-profit corporation sponsored by Ontario Health in April 2022 with the merger of three diagnostic imaging repositories (i.e., HDIRS, NEODIN, SWODIN). OCINet enables the secure storage and retrieval of millions of image records across multiple repositories, supports hundreds of hospitals and independent health facilities and connects thousands of physicians and specialists province-wide.
Mr. Shamji has over 25 years of experience in technology, business, health care, software development, telecommunications and information services. Mr. Shamji was previously the executive vice-president and chief information officer at The Ottawa Hospital; chief operating officer at Macadamian Technologies headquartered in Québec with offices in Toronto, California, Armenia and Romania; president of Privasoft Corporation, headquartered in Ottawa with offices in Virginia and Brentford, UK; and president of Time iCR in Ottawa, which was acquired by Rogers Communications where Mr. Shamji served as the vice-president of Professional Services. Mr. Shamji has also spent several years in the United States where he was chief operating officer of TeleHub Network Services in Chicago; president of LD Exchange in California; and vice-president of Network Services for Fidelity in California. Prior to that, Mr. Shamji held several senior level positions in Toronto with AT&T Canada, Unitel Communications and Nortel.
Mr. Shamji is an associate professor at the Telfer School of Business, , a former board member for FOCUS Canada (provides global humanitarian assistance) and an active member of the Aga Khan Volunteer Corps of Ottawa. He has also served on many boards, including TeleHub Network Services, Time iCR, Privasoft and The Ottawa Hospital. Mr. Shamji has a computer engineering degree from McMaster University in Hamilton and received his professional engineering designation in 1991.
Brian Cummings, CPA, CA, MD, FRCPC, FCAP, FASCP
INCUMBENT Waterloo, Ontario
Dr. Brian Cummings is both an anatomical pathologist and a chartered accountant. He has a full-time practice at Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario. While completing all prerequisites for admission to medical school, he attained his chartered accountant designation in 1986 and taught taxation as well as managerial accounting at the University of Prince Edward Island from 1989 to 1991. Dr. Cummings graduated from medical school in 1995 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 2002.
Since starting medical school in 1991, Dr. Cummings has been intimately involved in advocating for accounting, tax and the financial well-being of medical students, residents and practising physicians in Canada. In 2002, he joined Practice Solutions (subsequently Joule) as a physician consultant responsible for the development, implementation and delivery of practice management curriculum to specialty residents across Canada.
In addition, he has been a frequent guest speaker for many specialty societies on various facets of management of a physician’s practice, including financial and insurance planning topics. Dr. Cummings has developed a number of tools, including the guide “Tax Tips for Physicians and Physicians in Training,” which is available on the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) website. In 2015, he became a co-presenter for the course “Dollars and sense” for the Physician Leadership Institute.
Dr. Cummings’ volunteer activities include serving as a council member of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Section on Laboratory Medicine, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Association of Pathologists, and as a board member of the Ontario Association of Pathologists. He is currently a member of the Royal College’s Financial Reporting and Risk Oversight Committee (FRROC) and served on the Investment Oversight Committee. In August 2019, he joined the CMA Audit and Finance Committee and subsequently chaired the CMA Pension Plan Sub-Committee.
Dr. Cummings hopes to use his varied background and skills to provide insight to Council, particularly with regard to financial issues.
Lisa Richardson, MD, FRCPC
NEW Toronto, Ontario
Lisa Richardson (Anishinaabe/Mixed Settler) is a clinician-educator in the University of Toronto's Division of General Internal Medicine and practices at the University Health Network. Her academic background is diverse and includes an undergraduate degree from McGill University with Majors in English Literature and Biology, a Medical Degree from the University of Calgary, followed by residency training in General Internal Medicine at the University of Toronto and a graduate degree in the field of Science and Technology Studies. Dr. Richardson is a Centre Researcher at the Wilson Centre with a scholarly focus on the integration of Indigenous and critical feminist perspectives into medical education. She is associate dean of Inclusion and Diversity in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine where she oversees the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, the Office of Indigenous Health and the Office of Access and Outreach. She is the strategic lead in Indigenous Health for Women's College Hospital, where she founded the Centre for Wise Practices. She is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine. She chairs several provincial andvictor-do.jpg national committees to advance Indigenous medical education and is a member of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada. Her work as an advocate and educator has been recognized through numerous local, national and international awards.
Victor Do, MD
NEW Toronto, Ontario
I am currently a PGY-3 Pediatrics and incoming chief resident at the University of Toronto/The Hospital for Sick Children. I am concurrently pursuing a MSc at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. I graduated medical school from the University of Alberta in 2020. I have an extensive background and interest in medical education and governance, previously serving as president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) in 2019-2020 and as a board member of the Canadian Medical Association. During my term as CFMS president, I co-chaired the national virtual interviews and program promotion subcommittee, which developed policies and procedures around the transition to virtual interviews for residency selection, and developed the CANPREPP (Canada's Portal for Residency Program Promotion) tool. I have significant experience in learner and physician wellness work, including as a researcher. I currently serve on the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) Culture in Academic Medicine executive committee as we work to support faculties in implementing the Okanagan Charter for Health Promoting Universities framework. My experience with the Royal College includes being a resident accreditation surveyor and serving on a CanMED Leader Role resource development working group. I am highly involved in my program, serving as a resident representative on our Resident Program Committee, Wellness Committee, and several working groups. For the last four years, I have also worked with faculty members on advancing equity, diversity and inclusivity through academic scholarship, workshops and mentorship, and I am a member of the EqHS lab founded by Dr. Jerry Mainate. I have received grants supporting my research in child health equity and medical education. My diverse interests in medical education and my governance experience ensure I will effectively contribute. I would be humbled for the opportunity to serve on the Royal College Council and look forward to getting to know more of you.