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National Board

Fair Vote Canada is governed by a democratically elected National Board of 15 persons. Five people are elected each year to a three-year term using the Single Transferable Vote (STV), a proportional voting system. The current members and officers of the FVC National Board, with term expiry dates, are listed below.

Thinking of volunteering on our board of directors? More information here.

Valerie Brooks, (2024)

Valerie Brooks, (2024)

Valerie lives in rural Saskatchewan and has been passionate about electoral reform since her first Political Science class in University. Even though she didn’t fully understand it at the time, years of teaching Social Studies, a master’s degree, and many professional development opportunities later, Valerie has come to realize that our Colonial legacy of Government in Canada has been flawed from the start; never truly representing the diversity of people living within it. She believes collaborative work, with people of diverse ways of knowing and being, will make for stronger policies and laws that stand the test of time. PR demands governing bodies work across party lines constructively for all constituents and Valerie believes this is a natural evolution in a healthy democracy.

Laura Callaghan, Member at Large on Executive, (2026)

Laura Callaghan, Member at Large on Executive, (2026)

Laura lives in Toronto and serves as the Manager of Government and Foundations at Jack.org, a national youth mental health charity. A longtime advocate of proportional representation, she firmly believes that electoral reform is crucial for ensuring that equity-deserving and historically silenced groups have a stronger voice in the political system. Laura values how proportional representation fosters collaboration and coalition-building, facilitating long-term planning and progressive policies that can address systemic issues effectively. With her background in nonprofit leadership, financial oversight, people management, strategic communications, and advocacy, Laura is eager to leverage her experience to further the mission of Fair Vote Canada.
Ryan Campbell (2024)

Ryan Campbell (2024)

Ryan also served on the National Board from 2012 to 2015 and has been a board member at Fair Vote Vancouver for the past few years. He has lobbied MPs, given presentations, volunteered on social media, knocked on doors for PR, produced advertising, coordinated volunteers, organized town halls and other events for PR, and worked diligently for the YES side in the BC referendum. Ryan has been a Liberal member for more than a decade and will continue to use that connection to advocate for PR.

Brad Chambers (2025)

Brad Chambers (2025)

A former educator and Director of Policy, Planning and Communications, Brad lives in Iqaluit Nunavut. Living in Canada’s largest riding, he always has in mind the interests and perspectives of the many and diverse non-urban areas of the country. Brad loves analysing and creative problem-solving and in particular loves finding win-win solutions to divisive issues. He has directed this passion to electoral reform over the past five years, looking to bring competing interests together. Brad also brings previous experience chairing two non-profits and holds a Master’s in Leadership.
Wilf Day, Secretary (2025)

Wilf Day, Secretary (2025)

Wilf has been a lawyer since 1971 (recently retired) in Port Hope, Ontario. Elected as a school board trustee for 12 years, Wilf joined FVC soon after it was formed and chairs its local action team in Northumberland—Peterborough South riding. He was elected to FVC National Council in 2004, and is National Secretary, as well as Secretary of the Fair Vote Ontario Committee. He served on the Ontario Bar Association Council and its Family Law Section Executive, on the Ontario Public School Boards Association provincial Policy Committee, chaired the local community legal clinic board, chaired the municipal Planning Board, and was a board member of the local community credit union.

Tom Hart (2024)

Tom is a highly motivated individual that excels at providing interesting and challenging education for adult students in a student centred environment. He has a Master of Education (Leadership and Management). From 2012 to present he has been heavily involved in Scouts Canada, St Michael’s Scout Group and is the lead instructor for their climbing school.

He is currently employed as an Adult Educator in the GED (General Educational Development). Soon to be the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC). The main job is to ensure that the students are motivated towards self-education and that they enjoy the experience of learning new things. Secondary to the main mission is to instil confidence in the student to be able to express ideas and concepts in normal day to day conversation. He feels that this is directly related to informing the public as to the necessity of transitioning from First Past The Post (FPTP) to a Proportional Representation (PR) form of Democracy.

Steve Hindle, Co-Chair (2026)

Steve Hindle, Co-Chair (2026)

Steve lives in Russell, Ontario and has lived close to the centre of our national politics for more that five decades.  While his partisan politics have changed over the years he has always believed that representative government was a decent form of democracy.  The unfortunate reality of our First Past The Post electoral system has made him realize that, in its current form, our democracy is not truly representative and that the introduction of Proportional Representation would go a long way towards curing that deficiency.

Alan Parish (2026)

Alan Parish (2026)

Michele Kading, Treasurer (2025)

Michele Kading, Treasurer (2025)

Michele is a prairie girl who has lived in Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Toronto, and Winnipeg. Her university studies – culminating in an M. Sc. in biogeography – prepared her for a career as an interpretive naturalist, program manager, and executive director of an environmental NGO. Michele never questioned Canada’s electoral system until she noticed that our governments (seat count) rarely reflects the will of the voters (popular vote). She believes that Canada’s electoral system is outdated, discriminatory, and contrary to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It leaves millions of voters without any political representation. This inequity impacts every aspect of Canadian life (environment, society, and the economy). Michele is a supporter of the Charter Challenge and believes that Fair Vote Canada will be instrumental in achieving Proportional Representation in Canada.

Mimi Lee (2025)

Mimi Lee (2025)

Mimi Lee is a multitasker – we also call it “slash”. She is a Social Influencer / Financial Advisor / Officiant / Human rights activist / Photographer / Mentor at TIREC / UX Designer / Author / Publisher. Mimi is an energetic person, when she got an objective, she can stay up for a long time, never stop until it’s completed. She is a passionate and persistent person. 

 

Jeffrey Nieuwenburg, (2024)

Jeffrey Nieuwenburg, (2024)

Jeff is committed to the accountability, strength and resilience of our democratic institutions. He has been an advocate for electoral reform since members of the BC Citizens’ Assembly attended his high school in 2004. His passion for democratic reform grew as he studied political science at the University of Victoria, and later attended law school in Australia. Jeff currently serves as the treasurer of Fair Vote Vancouver and is an active member of 123 Vancouver. He practices law in Vancouver, and also enjoys spending time in Kelowna.

Eric Perrin (2024)

Eric Perrin (2024)

Eric has worked in the private sector during his career in information technology.  He finds that a fundamental premise of an democratic electoral system is that the number of seats a party has in parliament should approximately match the percentage of people who voted for that party.  As a history buff and spending significant time understanding the causes and impacts of the last two world wars, he is deeply concerned about where Western society is headed.  A major course correction needs to be a system that provides cooperation, conciliation, and compromise, characteristics that our current electoral system doesn’t support.  Eric intends to use the lens of his private sector experience to bring different approaches to Fair Vote Canada to help achieve its goals.
Gisela Ruckert (2025)

Gisela Ruckert (2025)

An organized, driven person who never seems to pick the “easy” causes, Gisela works as a grassroots advocate for more resilient local communities, and firmly believe that proportional representation is a necessary stepping stone to achieving lasting progress on the critical issues of our time: climate change, income inequality, zenophobia… you name it. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science and has lived abroad several times, experiencing life in proportional countries firsthand. She has been active in the PR movement for a decade, both at the chapter level and as a board member (since 2019). She was a leader of the pro-PR side during BC’s 2018 referendum on electoral reform, and lived to tell the tale.

Tara Shushtarian (2026)

Tara Shushtarian (2026)

Ever since I came to Canada , twenty years ago I have been a strong advocate for climate, social justice, indigenous rights and electoral reform and have been a core team member with the many local ENGOs . I have worked on several campaigns like the BC Poverty Reduction Plan, which has been adopted into legislation; Climate Emergency Declaration in Municipalities and the Fossil Free Non- Proliferation Treaty in Burnaby; All On Board  Campaign  for accessible, affordable transit; and the referendum on electoral reform in BC. My involvement with Fair Vote Canada  has amplified the need for a Citizen’s Assembly advocating for proportional representation and PR  at the federal, provincial and  municipal level.

With the various crises the world faces, be it climate catastrophe, burgeoning inequalities, changing world orders and  the dire pandemic we are living through, we need urgent action and renewed  energetic trajectory changes. PR will offer us better governance and a better democracy.

Mike Smith (2024)

Mike Smith (2024)

Mike Smith, a Montreal native with a diverse background, has called the same political riding home for his entire life. With a foundation in marketing and communications, he transitioned from a challenging stint as a technology entrepreneur into a successful legal career and angel investing. Mike is a dual-bar member (Ontario/Quebec), serving clients both as a private practice and in-house attorney for over 15 years. He specializes in corporate/commercial law, particularly in technology and finance. Currently, he practices law at one of Canada’s largest credit unions.

Beyond his professional achievements, Mike dedicates his time to mentorship within educational charities focused on entrepreneurship. He also brings his expertise to an ethics research board, having just completed a three-year term. Furthermore, he actively participates in advisory roles for several start-up and scale up technology companies and mentors several entrepreneurs. In the past he has served on various committees of local chambers of commerce and a theater troupe.

Recently, Mike obtained the dual chartered director (C.Dir) /ASC designations from the University of Laval. He is a graduate of the John Molson School of Business (B.Comm) and McGill (LLB/BCL). He equally holds the CIPP/C designation from IAAP and has completed the Canadian Securities Course.

His motivation to join Fair Vote Canada stems from the frustration of his riding’s consistent voting patterns, despite his centrist political stance. As an advocate for alternative voting systems seen in Europe and other nations, Mike is committed to advancing the discourse on electoral reform in Canada.

National Advisory Group

The National Advisory Board is comprised of prominent Canadians from a wide variety of backgrounds and political viewpoints. Appointed by the National Board, the members of the Advisory Board provide advice, assist with strategy and contacts, and publicly support Fair Vote Canada. The members of the Advisory Board are:

  • Rick Anderson
  • Dr. Lloyd Axworthy
  • Dr. Patricia Baird
  • Maude Barlow
  • Dr. Sylvia Bashevkin
  • Alex Himelfarb
  • Robert Bateman
  • Dr. Marie Bountrogianni
  • Patrick Boyer
  • Nathalie Des Rosiers
  • Linda Silver Dranoff
  • Jim Harris
  • Robin Mathews
  • Audrey McLaughlin, PC, OC
  • Dr. Henry Milner
  • The Hon. Lorne Nystrom, PC
  • Stephen Owen, PC
  • Dr. Dennis Pilon
  • Bob Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC
  • Judy Rebick
  • Walter Robinson
  • Sen. Nancy Ruth, CM
  • Rick Salutin
  • David Suzuki, CC, OBC
  • Dr. John Trent
  • Ted White
  • The Very Rev., The Hon. Lois Wilson, CC, O.Ont
  • Patricia Lane
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