Board of Directors

Compassion, Commitment, Leadership

VON Canada’s Board brings together leaders in the fields of health care, nursing, management, finance, law, human resources and information technology. With decades of volunteer service in communities across Canada, they understand the health and social concerns facing Canadians today. Throughout their careers, many have actively advocated for a stronger health care system in our country. And they all share a passion for helping others and making a difference.

We rely on their guidance for moving VON Canada forward in its mission of building a healthier society for all Canadians.

Malcolm Mercer

Chair, Board of Directors

Malcolm Mercer is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Litigation Group with nearly thirty-five years in practice. He has acted as McCarthy Tétrault’s General Counsel and is a former co-leader of the firm’s National Litigation Practice.

Gary Ursell

Past Chair

Driven by his belief in giving back, Gary Ursell has supported many charitable causes as a volunteer and philanthropist throughout his career. As a Board Director and Board Chair, he has guided non-profit organizations through periods of significant change. In addition to serving on the VON Canada Board since 2012, Gary was a member of the Board and chaired the VON Toronto-York Community Corporation Board from 2007 to 2012. In the past, he also contributed his time and expertise to the Toronto City Mission and Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, among others.

Dafna Carr

Dafna brings more than 20 years of success in driving high-profile, high-impact change initiatives to her role at VON. Currently, she is the ‎Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Children, Youth and Social Services Information and Information Technology (I&IT) Cluster at the Ontario Public Service. As CIO, she leads the delivery of I&IT services, policies and practices to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) and the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS), supporting more than 6,000 staff across the two ministries and several provincial agencies.

Peter Currie

Peter Currie has more than 40 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods, technology, financial services and nuclear energy industries. He currently serves as a Commissioner with the Ontari...read more

Cyndy De Giusti

Cyndy De Giusti brings extensive leadership expertise in health care, marketing and communications as well as wide-ranging board experience to VON Canada. Most recently, she provided senior communications counsel to the Ontario Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, University Health Network, CAMH Foundation, Toronto East General Hospital, Canadian Hearing Society and Toronto Centre Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

Annette Elliott Rose, PhD, RN

Annette Elliott Rose is the IWK’s Vice President, Clinical Care & Chief Nurse Executive. Annette holds a Master of Nursing and PhD in Nursing from Dalhousie University and is an adjunct f...read more

Estelle Jacquemard

Estelle is a bilingual executive with an extensive experience in leading global corporate services in Canada and in Europe.

She's currently the Director, Operations Management at Shopify...read more

Pete Larocque

Pete Larocque is Managing Partner for CoreTracks, a management consulting firm that provides consulting services to the Federal Government across Canada. Pete is responsible for business development, sales, recruiting, and administration.

Amy K. Lee

Amy Lee is a Certified Health Executive, a Canadian Certified Risk Manager and a Risk Fellow, with extensive expertise in project management, change management, quality improvement, and care delivery models. Currently, Amy is Director, Administration and Operations for Youth Opportunities Unlimited, where she leads agency-wide operations and the adoption of best practices for administration and operations.

Marilyn Macdonald

Dr. Marilyn Macdonald is a Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Nursing (SoN) at Dalhousie University. Her background is in clinical nursing and includes general su...read more

Alison McKay

Alison McKay is CEO of the Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees’ Pension Plan (SHEPP), the largest defined benefit pension plan in Saskatchewan, serving 61 employers and more than 54,000 healthcare employees. She is responsible for the effective operation of the plan and works with the SHEPP Board to establish its strategic direction.

Jim Merkley

Jim Merkley recently retired as the Interim CEO of the Cape Breton District Health Authority, where he also served as Vice President, Operations for ten years. In this role, he oversaw finance and human resources for this $250 million integrated health care organization and was active in the provincial restructuring of all health districts in Nova Scotia. Prior to this, Jim served as a senior executive in health organizations in Manitoba, British Columbia and Ontario, including as President and CEO of the Brockville General Hospital.

John Peddle

John Peddle is Principal Consultant and owner of AMP Associates (88) Ltd., which provides consulting services in industrial relations, human resources and other areas. Prior to this, John served as Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Health Boards Association (NLHBA) for more than 13 years and as the association’s Director of Labour Relations for nearly 20 years. In these roles, John provided advice to the Boards of the Regional Health Authorities (members of the Association) and served as an advisor to the Department of Health and Community Services.

Darrel I. Pink

Darrel I. Pink has devoted his career to the advancement of professional accountability, ethics and regulation in the legal sector across Canada and internationally. After 28 years, he recently retired as Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, where he carried out the Society's Strategic Framework and lead an initiative that transformed the regulation and governance of the legal profession in Nova Scotia.

In addition, Darrel regularly lectured on professional responsibility at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University and frequently presented to law societies in Canada and other countries. He is a member of the Model Code of Conduct Committee and the National Admission Standards Steering Committee of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. He also co-edited a book, Why Good Lawyers Matter, with the Hon. Justice Thomas A. Cromwell, Supreme Court of Canada, and David L. Blaikie, Assistant Professor, Schulich School of Law. Internationally, as a consultant and a Canadian Bar Association member, Darrel worked with the law societies in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia to strengthen governance, enhance regulation and improve access to justice in Eastern Africa’s legal sector.

To honour his achievements, Canadian Lawyer magazine selected Darrel as one of Canada's Top 25 Most Influential lawyers and judges. He also received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Association of Legal Ethics (CALE).

Deeply committed to volunteerism, Darrel has served as a director and chair on the national board for Volunteer Canada, on the board of the Metro United Way (Halifax), and on the founding Board of CanLII. In recognition of his exemplary contributions, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, was featured as a "Visionary Volunteer” in the Canadian Race Relations Foundation “150 Stories” series and was chosen by the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) as its first "Access to Justice All-Star” from Nova Scotia.

Darrel earned his BA at Acadia University, his LLB at Dalhousie University, and his Master of Laws in public and comparative law at the University of London/London School of Economics. He was called to the Bar in 1979.

Monique Porlier

Monique Porlier has more than 20 years of strategic and operational leadership experience in finance, pension and group benefits, human resources, information technology (IT) and risk management. Currently, Monique is Vice-President, Corporate Services for Headwaters Health Care Centre, responsible for operations including Human Resources, Organizational Development, Finance, Facilities, Health Records and Decision Support, Information Management and Technology, Patient Experience, Communications and Strategy, Maintenance/Facilities/Biomedical Engineering, Food Services, Materials Management and Security.

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Board of Directors

Compassion, Commitment, Leadership

Malcolm Mercer

Gary Ursell

Dafna Carr

Peter Currie

Cyndy De Giusti

Annette Elliott Rose, PhD, RN

Estelle Jacquemard

Pete Larocque

Amy K. Lee

Marilyn Macdonald

Alison McKay

Jim Merkley

John Peddle

Darrel I. Pink

Monique Porlier

Accreditation

VON Canada

VON Durham