A new board of directors for B.C.’s Industry Training Authority (ITA) was appointed today by Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour. The new board will be responsible for building stronger partnerships with industry and labour to deliver training and apprenticeships as part of B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint.

Effective immediately, the new ITA board will begin implementation of the 29 recommendations resulting from the independent review of the ITA conducted by Jessica McDonald, and will be accountable for outcomes that are evidence-based and demand driven. This means ensuring B.C.’s trades training system is ready to meet the labour market demand for workers throughout the province, including the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector and other growing resources industries.

Gwyn Morgan, founding CEO of EnCana Corporation and recognized as Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year and Canada’s Most Respected CEO, has accepted the position of chair of the ITA. Morgan has asked to waive the usual treasury board directives for remuneration for board members for himself, and instead will be paid $1/year for his service.

The Industry Training Authority (ITA) is the Crown Corporation responsible for leading B.C.’s trades training system, including developing and implementing training programs and services that respond to industry need, and issuing Red Seal and other trades credentials to qualified workers.

Quotes:

Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour -

“This board has been designed as a team of leaders - highly skilled and respected people with a track record of getting things done. We have set out a bold and ambitious goal to provide the highest level of training for our apprentices, and get students from study to the workplace more quickly. Appointing a new ITA board is an important first step in this direction.”

Gwyn Morgan, ITA Board Chair -

“I accepted this role because I strongly believe that increasing the supply of skilled trades is absolutely key to realizing the opportunities upon which our province’s economic future will be built. I know that the other board appointees announced today share this view. We look forward to working with educational institutions, apprenticeship partners, labour unions and other stakeholders in strengthening the ITA’s focus to deliver on our crucial mission.”

Learn More:

• For more information on B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint, visit: www.workbc.ca/skills
• To find out more about the ITA review, visit: www.jtst.gov.bc.ca/ITA_Review
• To find out more about the ITA, visit: www.itabc.ca

Media Contacts:

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 387-2799

BACKGROUNDER

New ITA board of directors appointed

The following individuals have been appointed as the new ITA board of directors:

Gwyn Morgan, Chair

Gwyn Morgan was the founding CEO of EnCana Corporation, Canada’s largest energy company, until the end of 2005. EnCana was Canada’s most valuable company with a stock market value of approximately $60 billion.

Mr. Morgan has been recognized as Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year and also as Canada’s Most Respected CEO. He has also written for the business section of the Global and Mail newspaper.

Previously, Mr. Morgan served on the Board of Directors of five global corporations. Additionally, he is a Trustee of the Fraser Institute, the Manning Centre for Building Democracy and the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.

Mr. Morgan is a retired Honorary Colonel of the Canadian Air Force and has received numerous awards including the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business Leader award, the University Of Victoria School Of Business Entrepreneur of the Year award and he is a member of the Alberta Business Hall of Fame.

Mr. Morgan holds four honorary degrees and as a Professional Engineer, he is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Notably, Mr. Morgan was recognized as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2010 by Governor General the Right Honourable David Johnston.

Andries (Andy) Calitz

Andy Calitz was educated as an Electrical Engineer at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, with further qualifications in Commerce, Management and Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in the United States and University of the Witwatersrand, University of South Africa and Insead.

He started his working career with Eskom, the South African electricity utility, filling a variety of managerial and executive roles in electricity production planning, pricing, marketing, sector restructuring, and electricity transmission. He joined Shell in 1996, working initially in the Power Group in India and on the Peruvian Camisea projects. Next he served as Shell International Gas's Head of Business Development for Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, where he was actively involved in the Shell-Gazprom alliance, as well as energy projects in Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Poland. Then followed an assignment on gas and power in Beijing on the strategic alliances between Shell and CNOOC and SINOPEC. He joined the Shell International Trading and Shipping Company in 2000 as general manager for Liquefied Natural Gas Shipping. That was followed by being the commercial director of Shell-Mitsubishi-Mitsui's Sakhalin Energy, responsible for LNG and crude oil marketing. He then served as the Shell project director for the Shell-Chevron-ExxonMobil Australian Gorgon project.  His most recent assignment before coming to Canada was vice-president New Business Development for Shell Upstream International.  Currently he is the CEO of LNG Canada, a Shell-PetroChina-Kogas-Mitsubishi joint venture.

He has lived in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Boston, London, Lima, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Sakhalin and Perth, The Hague and Vancouver. He has travelled to 85 countries on business and private visits.

Barj Dhahan

Barj Dhahan is the founder and chief executive officer of Sandhurst Group of Companies. He has over 30 years of successful experience in establishing and operating businesses in land development, construction, automotive centres and food services.

Mr. Dhahan is a founding donor and Board Member of the Canada-India Centre for Excellence at Carleton University in Ottawa, and founder of the Dhahan International Punjabi Literature Prize. He is also a member of the Royal Roads University Board of Governors, the University of British Columbia Nursing Advisory Council, and the RCMP’s Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee in British Columbia.

Mr. Dhahan holds his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and History from the University of British Columbia and a Diploma in Theological Studies from Regent College.

Gordon Grant

Gordon Grant is the Communications Coordinator for the First Nations Employment Society.

Mr. Grant was previously the marketing manager with VanAsep Training Society in North Vancouver, and the manager of Longhouse Seafood Market in the Dunbar area of Vancouver. He regularly volunteers by co-ordinating and administrating community functions within Musqueam to promote “inclusiveness”, being active and above all - fun and pride.

Mr. Grant completed the Business Management and Entrepreneurship Program at the UBC Sauder School of Business.

Lindsay Langill

Lindsay Langill is currently a professor and the dean of School of Trades and Technology at Thompson Rivers University. Previously, he was the senior director of Program Standards for the Industry Training Authority, a secondary school apprenticeship co-ordinator for the Ministry of Education and has taught at UBC, Aldergrove Secondary School, South Okanagan Secondary, Skaha Lake Middle School and James Nash State High School in Queensland Australia. He has served on the board of directors for BCAMTA Skills Canada BC-Chapter and currently is the director of certification on the board for Kamloops Basketball Association.

Active in his community, Mr. Langill has been the president of the British Columbia Technology Education Association, the president of the Langley Technology Teacher's Association and a senior advisor for the British Columbia Technology Association. He holds three Red Seal trade certifications. Mr. Langill holds his Master of Arts, Math, Science and Technology, and his Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia; and his Certificate of Industrial Education from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Currently he is defending his PhD through the University of Calgary.

Rick Kasper

Rick Kasper is a retired bricklayer and stonemason who operated a small business for many years. He served as District of Sooke Councillor from 2005-2008, and was re-elected to Council in 2011.

Active in his community, Mr. Kasper was involved with the Glen Lake Ratepayers Association in the 1970s. He also served as the CRD director for Langford from 1981-1990, where he helped plan and worked to create the Galloping Goose Regional Trail, region-wide blue box recycling, Island Highway improvements, low-income housing and local beautification projects.

In 1991 Mr. Kasper was elected to the B.C. Legislature and served as MLA for Malahat-Juan de Fuca for 10 years. During this time he headed a review of legislation governing manufactured homes, worked to get three new schools built in Sooke, helped get funding for the SEAPARC Leisure Complex and Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, and fought to protect funding for the Sooke Women's Transition House.

Mr. Kasper completed his trade qualifications for bricklaying at the Pacific Vocational Institute, which is now the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

Tom Sigurdson

Tom Sigurdson is executive director for the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council. He was elected in the 1986 Alberta general election as a NDP candidate in the electoral district of Edmonton-Belmont. He defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Walter Szwender by a comfortable plurality. Mr. Swender and Mr. Sigurdson would face each other again in the 1989 Alberta general election, Mr. Sigurdson improved his popular vote total winning a decisive majority.

Edmonton-Belmont was abolished due to redistribution in 1993. Mr. Sigurdson ran for a third term in office in the new Edmonton Manning electoral district for the 1993 general election. He would end up being defeated by Liberal candidate Peter Sekulic.

After leaving politics, Mr. Sigurdson became the British Columbia and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council executive director. He worked as the training plan co-ordinator for Teamsters Local 213 in Vancouver, British Columbia. He returned as executive director for the BC and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council in 2011.

MJ Whitemarsh

MJ Whitemarsh is the former CEO of the Canadian Home Builders' Association British Columbia. Previously, she worked as a consultant for the Vancouver Division of Family Practice.

Active in her community, she is chair of the Advisory Committee for Conasys Inc., a private real estate company, as well as being a board member of the Technical Education Career Council, and a member of the Small Business Round Table.

Ms. Whitemarsh is also a former chair of the Residential Construction Industry Training Organization.

Jonathan Whitworth

Jonathan Whitworth is the chief executive officer of Seaspan. He assumed the role in 2009, bringing over 20 years of seagoing, shore side, strategic planning, management, and leadership experience to the organization.

After graduating from the Texas Maritime Academy, Mr. Whitworth sailed for six years as an officer aboard tankers and chemical carriers in the international market. He also still holds an unlimited chief mate’s license, and a 1600-ton captain’s license. After completing his MBA at the University of North Texas, Mr. Whitworth came ashore and held a number of management positions at ExxonMobil and Teekay Shipping. He later became CEO of Maritrans Inc., the largest publicly held tug/barge and tanker operator in the US Jones Act trade. Maritrans was sold to Overseas Shipholding Group of New York, in 2006, and he was retained as president to continue the strategic plan created at Maritrans.

As CEO of Seaspan, Mr. Whitworth is primarily responsible for carrying out the strategic plans and policies as established by the board of directors. This includes developing and implementing high-level strategies, making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of the company, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and corporate operations.

Media Contacts:

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 387-2799