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 currently the Associate Vice-President (Partnerships) in the Vice-President Research and International Office at the University of Manitoba and full Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering.  James is responsible for all elements of research enterprise at the University of Manitoba and directly assists the Vice-President (Research and International) in all matters related to research, partnerships development, intellectual property management, technology development, administration, and promotion. He is also the President of TREK Geotechnical Inc., a consulting company providing geotechnical engineering consulting services nationally. James has served on a number of boards and committees most notably being appointed to serve on the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, which he continues to serve on currently. In 2011 he was appointed by Engineers Canada to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board that is responsible for accreditation of engineering programs nationally. James is a recipient of the 2009 Rh Award for outstanding research contributions, the 2006 Engineers Canada Young Engineer Achievement Award, and the 2005 Early Achievement Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba. He was the 2007 Canadian Geotechnical Society Colloquium speaker and in 2009 was appointed a Fellow of Engineers Canada.

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.

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.

Rick M. Riffel is a native of Regina, Saskatchewan. He is a graduate from the University of Regina, Bachelor of Administration 1984 and is a chartered member holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst Designation.  Rick has over twenty five 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 a Vice-President with Hemisphere Capital Management Inc., a discretionary investment counselling firm and a board member of Direct-MS, a non-profit organization that promotes non-drug therapies for those affected by Multiple Sclerosis.  Rick resides in Calgary with his wife Cindy and sons Matthew and Roman.

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.

Henry Kutarna is Chairman of a private family investment fund concentrating on manufacturing and real estate. He is the Calgary leader of the Alberta Deal Generator group of investors. He has been a Deputy Minister of Economic Development, President of the Saskatchewan Diversification Corporation, and a Deputy Minister of Social Services.  He operates The Executive Advisor, a consultant group working with corporations and not-for-profit organizations in executive coaching, advisory services, board governance, deal making, and other business development. He has served on numerous private and public boards, as well as on many not for profit and charitable boards. He is known as an executive coach and mentor. He is an executive in residence at the Banff Centre for Leadership, has led CEO forums for The Executive Committee and was president and CEO of the Calgary Convention & Visitors Bureau. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Economics from the University of Saskatchewan, has done post-graduate work in Economics at the University of Regina, has a Certified Destination Management Executive designation [C.D.M.E.] from Purdue University/University of Calgary, was a participant in the Province of Saskatchewan Executive Development Program Certificate, and has taken the Canadian Securities Course and a host of other executive seminars such as the Queen’s University Negotiations Seminar.

Victor T. Thomas is currently Executive Director of Aspen Medical Canada Inc., 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 on the board of directors of SaskEnergy, Saskatchewan's natural gas distribution utility with an asset base of $1.6 billion and over 1,000 employee where he chairs the Human Resources & Compensation Committee.  In 2011, he served as Chair of the Regina & District Chamber of Commerce and led its 1,150 member businesses.  Victor completed his Masters of Administration in Leadership at the University of Regina where he was once student president.  He also graduated with the designation Chartered Director through McMaster University and holds the reciprocal designation of Administrateur de Sociétés Certifié from Laval University.

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