The Niagara Escarpment - Commission Members

Don was appointed as Chair of the Niagara Escarpment Commission in July 1997. He is Principal of Cuesta Planning Consultants which was established in 1992. Don was Director of Planning and Economic Development Department for Bruce County from 1979-1992. He was Chairman of the Municipal Advisory Committee to the Niagara Escarpment Commission during the comprehensive Five Year Review of the Niagara Escarpment Plan from 1990-1994. Don lives in Wiarton, Ontario on the Bruce Peninsula.

Don Alexander is a TV-video producer, writer and cameraperson. Programmes have included a variety of subjects: eco-tourism, agriculture, water-quality, art videos and biography. He has lived and worked in both the Niagara and Bruce Peninsula areas. In the 1970s he was a member of the Niagara Region planning and development committee at a time when the Niagara Escarpment Commission was formed and when urban boundaries were established. Don was accredited by the Canadian Public Relations Society and has been an information officer with the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority in the Niagara Peninsula. He has also been programme manager of an Ontario television station.

DAVID BALDWIN (Dufferin County):

A teacher, principal, professor and system administrator for almost 35 years, David Baldwin was Director of Education for the Dufferin County Board of Education from 1985-1996. Elected in 1996 for the first of two terms on the Town of Mono Council, he is now serving a third term as Deputy Mayor. David has been a Councillor on the County of Dufferin Council since February, 2003. He is also a member of the Rosemont District Fire Services Board and the Mono Police Services Board, and has served as Chair for both organizations since 2001. In addition to his extensive municipal public service, David serves on the Board of Directors of the Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association.

GEORGINA BEATTIE (Public-at-Large):

Georgina Beattie taught elementary school in Wentworth County and spent many years in the fruit farm supply business in Winona. She is a former City of Stoney Creek Councillor, a former member of the Stoney Creek Committee of Adjustment and a former member of the Conservation Foundation for the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority. Living within walking distance of the Niagara Escarpment throughout her lifetime, Georgina developed a keen interest in both the Escarpment and the Commission, receiving her appointment to the Commission in September 2003. Georgina is an active member of her community including the Winona Horticultural Society, Fifty United Church and being involved with the Winona Peach Festival since 1967. Georgina, with her husband and four children, currently operate a garden centre in Winona.

NARS BORODCZAK (Public-at-Large)

Biography forthcoming.

TOM BOYLE (Bruce County):

Tom Boyle is a Councillor for the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula and lives in Lion's Head . He has Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University and owns and operates a retail business. Tom has a history of community service including Lions Clubs International, Bruce Peninsula Tourism, Bruce County Museum and Archives, Bruce County Public Library and the Bruce Peninsula National Parks Advisory Committee.

CORWIN T. CAMBRAY (Public-at-Large):

Biography forthcoming.

MICHAEL COLLINS (Niagara Region):

Michael Collins is a councillor for the Region of Niagara and lives in St.Catharines. Councillor Collins served on the Niagara Escarpment Commission from 1992 to 1994, and is a former member of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, and is a past chair of the Region's Ecology and Environment Advisory Committee (EEAC). Councillor Collins taught Municipal Government and English at Niagara College, and is a graduate of Carleton University. His interests include downhill skiing, bird watching and conversational Spanish and Italian.

SHAWN DAVIDSON (Simcoe County):

Shawn is a Councillor for the Township of Clearview in Simcoe County. He chairs the Planning & Development Committee, Transportation Task Force and is a member of a number of municipal committees. Shawn has been an active member of his community through his involvement with the Chamber of Commerce and Lions Clubs International, serving as president of each. Shawn and his wife Paula own the Carruthers & Davidson Funeral Home with locations in Stayner and Wasaga Beach.

ALLAN ELGAR (Halton Region):

Allan is a member of Halton Regional Council, representing Oakville, and serves on the board of directors for Conservation Halton, the Credit Valley Conservation Authority and is the regional representative on Halton's Ecological and Environmental Advisory Committee. He was founding president of Oakvillegreen Conservation Assn. Inc., a grassroots environmental group seeking to preserve greenspace in Oakville. Allan graduated from McMaster University, and recently retired from a 30 year career as a financial/administration manager with Bell Canada, which provided opportunities for him to live and work in various locations in Canada and abroad. Growing up on a farm on the Oak Ridges Moraine has given Allan a strong appreciation of nature and its role in a healthy environment. Allan and his wife Linda have twin sons who are currently attending university.

LLOYD FERGUSON (City of Hamilton):

Lloyd D. Ferguson retired as general manager of Dufferin Construction Company, a division of St. Lawrence Cement Inc. in March 2006 after 32 years of service, 12 as general manager. He is currently working under contract as the Canadian director of Strabag Inc. and deputy project manager of the Ontario Power Generation's $900 million dollar Niagara Tunnel Project where Strabag is the prime contractor. Mr. Ferguson is an active community and industry volunteer, having served with various Hamilton-area boards including the Ancaster Agricultural Society, the Wentworth County Board of Education, and the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority. He currently serves on the board of directors of Hamilton Heath Sciences that manages four hospitals in Hamilton.

JOAN LITTLE (Public-at-Large):

The commission welcomes the return of Joan Little, who was a commissioner from 1986 to 1993, and chair from 1993 to1996. She was a member of Burlington Council and Halton Regional Council between 1974 and 1988, and an active board member of Conservation Halton from 1976 to 1995. Following her council retirement she served on the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital Board, which she left in 1993 to assume the Chair of the NEC. She is a regular freelance columnist on Burlingto/Halton issues in the Hamilton Spectator."

CECIL LOUIS (Public-at-Large):

Cecil Louis returned to the Niagara Escarpment Commission in 2004, having served as the agency's Manager of Development Control from 1974-78 and Manager, Plan Preparation, to the NEC's Assistant Director from 1974-1997. After graduating with an Honours degree in geography from the University of Toronto in 1964, he was Planner to the Acting Director of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs from 1965-74. During that time Mr. Louis also served as a member of the Interministerial Task Force on the Niagara Escarpment.

MOREEN MILLER (Public-at-Large):

Moreen Miller is the land director for Lafarge North America, Canada’s largest construction materials company, and heads up a North America-wide group dedicated to sustainable land management. She has an academic background in geology and landscape architecture, and has over 20 years of experience in the rehabilitation and restoration of industrial landscapes.

In previous positions in government, consulting, industry advocacy, and with her current employer, Moreen has been involved in many industrial rehabilitation projects across Canada and the USA as well as provincial initiatives in Ontario involving non-renewable resources, policy development, and sustainability. Moreen has represented industry on several provincial committees including the Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and the Minister’s Mining Act Advisory Board. Moreen is a past president of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association, and has taught land reclamation courses as an adjunct professor at the University of Guelph. She is currently the president of the Alton Grange Association, a community based association which has partnered with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to manage a 340 acre tract of land in Caledon, Ontario.

RICHARD PATERAK (Peel Region):

Richard Paterak was first appointed to the Niagara Escarpment Commission in March 2001. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Marquette University and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto. He was elected to the Town of Caledon Council in 1997. Richard was an inaugural member of the Caledon Environmental Advisory Committee and was the Town's representative on the Caledon Community Resource Study's Community Advisory Group. He is currently Chair of the Caledon Library Board, a member of the Caledon Youth Services Management Board, and a Director of the Board of Headwaters County Tourist Association. In 1979 Richard established a Pottery Studio and he continues to operate his studio part-time. He worked in international development with Oxfam and CODE (Canadian Organization for Development through Education) prior to establishing his studio.

WALLY REIF (Grey County):

Elected Mayor of the Municipality of Meaford in November 2003, Wally Reif is a former Chartered Accountant. He was a business operator in the computer, construction and health care fields. From 1991 to 1997 he served as a Trustee on the Grey County Board of Education and was its Chair for three years.

JOHN RILEY (Public-at-Large):

John Riley was appointed to the Niagara Escarpment Commission in 2003. His career in ecology started at the Royal Ontario Museum, where he worked as a botanist. In 1986, he joined the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, where he developed natural-heritage policies and programs. Mr. Riley also served as science director and executive director of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. For the past four years, he directed the science and stewardship program of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), in support of direct conservation action. John is a director of the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation, and is the author of the 1996 Ecological Survey of the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve, and of numerous other books and papers on the natural heritage of southern Ontario.