Board of Directors

Wayne Anderson was born in Winnipeg and holds a B.S.A. from the University of Manitoba and an MBA from York University. He has been a self-employed businessman for most of the last 30 years. First as President and General Manager of General Window Products of Canada Limited, then as President of Bonar Plastics Western Ltd., and latterly as President at St. Boniface Pallet Co. Ltd. In addition, Wayne has been actively involved with his brother in the family cattle operation since 1968. He is the former Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba and current Chair of The Canadian Wood Pallet and Container Association and a Member of the Board for St. Boniface Hospital. He was Chair of the Manitoba Horse Racing Commission for 9 years and also served as a Director on the Board of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association for some 18 years, including 3 years as Chair.

Peter Holle is the founding President of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, an award-winning western Canadian based public policy think tank. Since its founding in 1997, Frontier has brought a distinctive and influential Prairie voice to regional and national debates over public policy in areas such as core public sector reform, housing, poverty, aboriginals, consumer-focused health care performance, equalization, rural policy and much more. Of the nearly 100 recognized think tanks in Canada, Frontier is one of only 5 to make the 2008 global "Go-To Think Tanks" list published by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. Mr. Holle has worked extensively with public sector reform and has provided advisory services to various governments across Canada and the United States. His publications have appeared in various newspapers and journals including dozens of newspapers, the National Post and the Wall Street Journal. He has a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  He is a member of various organizations including the Mont Pelerin Society, an international organization of classical liberals. 

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James Blatz is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering both from the University of Manitoba. He spent a year undertaking an NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellowship studying alternative materials for bridge abutment stabilization at the GeoEngineering Center at Queen’s-RMC before taking up his faculty appointment at the University of Manitoba. James teaches courses in the area of geotechnical engineering, foundation engineering and landslide assessment. He currently conducts research for a number of private and public clients focusing on assessment management for Civil infrastructure, risk-based decision analysis for infrastructure planning as well as technical aspects of flood protection systems. James is a Professional Engineer and has served on the board of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of Manitoba since 2005. James serves on a number of other boards and committee for professional and technical societies both nationally and internationally. He also owns and operates his consulting practice providing specialist services to a number of firms in Winnipeg and abroad. He is the recipient of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers 2006 Early achievement award and is the 2007 Canadian Geotechnical Society Colloquium speaker.

Dale Botting Dale has been a high profile Business Leader and “serial CEO” leading 4 different non-profit and corporate organizations in rehabilitation services, economic development, and international trade promotion. He has also spent 11 years in leadership of thelargest small business organization in Canada (the CFIB), working with over 100,000 entrepreneurs across the nation. He has held several other senior positions in the public sector as an Environment Manager, a Management Consultant to several Premiers, and as Executive Director of a Ministry of Science and Technology. He ended his career in Government as Deputy Minister of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, and as the founding CEO of Enterprise Saskatchewan.
 

Rob Coghlan is the vice president of Coghlan's Ltd, a family owned manufacturer/distributor of camping equipment. In his over 20 years with Coghlan's, Rob's involvement has included all areas of sales, marketing, and distribution of their products to retail accounts in Canada, the United States and over 40 other countries around the world. He has been active in a number of community organizations including, The United Way, Lake of the Woods Property Owners Association and The Vincent Massey Alumni Association. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Rob resides in St Vital with his wife Sandi and children Natalie and Cailey.

Bradley D. Farquhar is President of Nomad Capital Corp., a private equity investment and research company developing opportunities in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and the country of Mongolia. He is a Partner at Assiniboia Capital Corp. and fund manager of the largest farmland investment company in Canada. With a background in politics, Brad has a wide range of experience in Saskatchewan, across Canada, and in Europe, Central Asia, and Africa from his work as a senior political advisor at the national and provincial levels and as an international management and governance consultant. Brad is a director of SIM Canada and the International Centre for Human Rights & Democratic Development (Rights & Democracy), and a former director of the Regina & District Chamber of Commerce. He has a Master of Public Administration degree, specializing in electoral systems, from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.

John Heimbecker has been a Vice President at Parrish & Heimbecker since 1999. He graduated from MacMaster University with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Finance) in 1987. He began working for Parrish & Heimbecker as a Domestic Feed Grain trader that same year and was promoted to General Manager of Eastern Trading in 1990. In 1999 he was appointed as Vice President in charge of all grain related operations across Canada and the U.S. and presently serves on the executive committee of P & H. Other professional activities include Past President of the Canada Ports Clearance Association; Past President of Winnipeg Commodity Clearing Ltd.; Director, Martin Mills Ltd.; Chairman, The Winnipeg Commodity Exchange Feed Grains Committee and Director, Smith Brokerage Ltd. John Heimbecker is on the Rural Renaissance Project Advisory Committee.

Peter Jessiman has built and managed a number of successful international enterprises over the past twenty years. He is the principal and Chief Executive Officer of the investment firm Registry Capital Inc. of Barbados, where he lived from 2002 to 2007. Peter has recently moved back to his native Winnipeg and is currently the Executive Vice President of Wescan Capital Inc., a family owned holding company with interests in transportation, logistics and real estate. As a member of over twenty Canadian and U.S.-based think tanks, Mr. Jessiman brings a wealth of relevant knowledge to the Frontier Centre.

Alexander J. MacKenzie , since 1975, has been a Lawyer in private practice in Winnipeg Manitoba. He received his Bachelor of Arts Hons. in Philosophy at the University of Winnipeg in 1971 and graduated from the University of Manitoba Robson Hall law school in 1975. Mr MacKenzie took his articles and practiced for a short time with Joseph Zuken Q.C. and since then has practiced independently. For several years he advanced the interests of the now defunct National Organization for the Reform of Marihuana Laws, and then settled into a General Law practice with a focus on commercial law, estate law, and civil litigation. Mr. MacKenzie has been the Discipline Committee Chair of the Manitoba Institute of Registered Social Workers, a Board Member of the Community Resource Board of Restorative Resolutions, and Honorary Counsel to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Manitoba,. He is a Past President of the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Manitoba, and a Past President of the St. Boniface / St. Vital Rotary Club.

Honourable Charlie Mayer, P.C holds a degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and owned and managed an irrigated farming and ranching operation from 1965 to 1996 in Carberry, Manitoba.  Mr. Mayer held several cabinet positions during his career as a federal Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1993.  In his various portfolios he was Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, Grains and Oil Seeds, Western Economic Diversification, and Agriculture. He was a participant in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Canada/U.S. free trade agreement negotiations.  As Wheat Board Minister he pursued an agenda of modernization and openness at the Board and was inducted into the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2005.  He is also Chair of the Board of Directors of Teilhard Technologies; a board member of VacciTest Corp. and Care Canada and a past Chair of Manitoba Crop Insurance.  He resides in St. Francois Xavier, Manitoba, and is one of the founding board members of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

John R. (Jack) Messer brings a diverse senior executive level background in both the public and private sectors. Prior to taking on the leadership of the Saskatchewan Power Corporation in 1991, he carried three portfolios during his nine years as a Minister in the Saskatchewan Government including Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Industry and Commerce and Minister of Mineral Resources. As CEO of SaskPower he successfully restructured the provincial utility into a lean and profitable organization ready to meet international competition. His private sector background includes senior management and board chairmen positions for major Canadian utility, mining, oil and investment companies. He has played lead Board roles with several Saskatchewan-based corporations during periods of rapid expansion, rationalization and development of global manufacturing and marketing initiatives. Jack still owns and manages a large and successful diversified grain farm in the Tisdale area of Saskatchewan where he was born and lives there with his wife, Joanne. They have three grown children.

Richard M. Riffel is a native of Regina, Saskatchewan. He graduated from the University of Regina in 1984 with a Bachelor of Administration Degree majoring in accounting and finance. Rick has over fifteen years experience in the investment industry ranging from venture capital management to institutional investment management and presently specializes in private client investment management. Rick is Vice-President with Hemisphere Capital Management Inc., a discretionary investment counselling firm based out of Calgary, Alberta. He is a chartered member holder of the Chartered Financial Analysts designation.

Allan Grant is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA from the University of Manitoba. He was a partner in an international CA firm and then senior partner in the firm bearing his name. Allan retired from Lazer Grant in 2004. He consults in strategic planning, profit improvement. and organization growth. He has been an instructor at the University of Manitoba and presented papers to professional organizations. Allan holds interests in and is a director of manufacturing and health care firms in Winnipeg. He is a current or former board member of St. Boniface General Hospital, Cancer Care Manitoba, The Manitoba Quality Network, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, St. John’s-Ravenscourt School, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Dale Bossert has over forty years of diverse experience in the upstream oil and natural gas industry. He currently sits on the board of directors of Gasfrac Energy Services Inc. and Forbes Energy Services Inc. Mr. Bossert has held various positions with Amoco Corporation in Calgary, Alberta, and Chicago, Illinois, and with Union Pacific Resources Company in Calgary, Alberta, Denver, Colorado, and Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Bossert has worked for or acted as a consultant to a number of U.S. based energy companies, including Celsius Energy Company, Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Bass Enterprises. Mr. Bossert has a BSC Degree (1966) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta.

Victor T. Thomas is currently Executive Director of E.VO Global an international interim management firm based out of Sydney, Australia that focuses on high growth, turnaround and start-up companies. He is a Board of Director for Aspen Medical Canada, a subsidiary of Aspen Medical, a firm specializing in solutions based medical logistics around the world and has been recognized as one of Australia’s fastest growing and most successful private companies. Victor is also on the Board of Directors of SaskEnergy, Saskatchewan's natural gas distribution utility. He was the 2011 Chair of the Regina & District Chamber of Commerce and also was the former student president of the University of Regina where he completed his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Administration in Leadership.

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