CANDIDATE PROFILE

"With 14 years serving as an Edmonton City Councillor, I have a range of experience in leadership, regulation and decision making. From chairing the Green Municipal Fund to leading the creation of the City’s public engagement policy to non-profit management, I bring a strong set of skills and experience."

Statement of intent

I have been a long-standing member of Servus Credit Union dating back to my university years when I joined the CN Credit Union. After 14 years serving as a City Councillor in Edmonton, I am now looking for new challenges.

Experience I bring to the table includes seven years serving as Chair of the Green Municipal Fund, a $1.6 billion fund operating as part endowment and part revolving loan fund empowered to help municipalities make sustainable infrastructure choices. I chaired the City of Edmonton Utility Committee for eight years with the responsibility to regulate the City’s utilities including EPCOR, waste department and the new Blatchford utility. I also led the City of Edmonton initiatives on Public Engagement (internationally recognized) on Poverty Elimination, and Affordable Housing and Homelessness.

I bring significant experience in management in small and medium scale nonprofit businesses through my time running theatre companies and a strong connection into the volunteer community through my time with the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues. Finally, based on my experience both nationally and locally in energy transition, I am very interested in the role that banking can play in our endeavour to deal with climate change.

Servus’s Noble Purpose is “Shaping member financial fitness.” What does that mean to you?

Helping members to be both financially stable and to thrive has to be the main purpose of a member-focused financial institution. This can mean anything from helping with financial literacy to making sure that the financial products available suit the needs of the members. It can mean making sure that individual customers and businesses have access to the financial support they need, but also not encouraging them into unnecessary risk. On the other side of the balance sheet, it means making sure they have the right mechanisms to save and invest for their future.

What makes Servus Credit Union different than other financial institutions?

I have always appreciated that Servus, like other credit unions, is member/customer-focused first rather than a first focus on profit and the shareholder. That is not to say that creating profit is not a focus, but in dealing with Servus, I have always sensed that the primary interests being served are mine and not the bank’s. This is not true of other financial institutions. I also have never felt that the small holder is less important than the big client. This concern for the member also carries forward into a concern for the larger community. All of these things are made possible by the fundamental difference that credit unions are member owned and as a result answer primarily to its community.

What are the key issues or challenges facing the credit union system today?

One of the key challenges and opportunities has to be the current volatility of the economy. There is no question that Covid has been unhealthy for our economy but its effects have been very unpredictable and I suspect will remain so. How to help our local economy and citizens rebuild when things continue to be in flux is a significant challenge. The same is true about the effects of choices made to combat climate change on our Alberta economy. That being said, if we can truly invest in what comes next rather than trying to turn time back, I am quite bullish on that economy in the longer term. I think there are some real opportunities in new technologies that are our future. That includes improvements around home building that can be directly aided by adjustments in how mortgages are adjudicated.

How will your skills and life experiences bring value to the collective Servus board?

I feel I bring an interesting combination of skills to the table. My experience chairing the $1.6 billion Green Municipal Fund, dedicated to improving sustainable infrastructure in the municipal sector, has given me knowledge in the areas of portfolio investment, a significant loan portfolio, and targeted sustainable impact investment.

My time chairing the City of Edmonton Utility Committee has given me a strong background in financial regulation. I also bring experience through my leadership creating the City’s Public Engagement Policy along with my mediation and negotiation background.

My time running small and mid-sized theatre companies gives me a good sense of the realities of running a non-profit business. I have strong links to community through my long history with the community league movement. I have significant experience in governance having chaired numerous boards and committees. And, finally, I can bring government relations knowledge with all three orders of government.