About Us - Corporation | Richmond Olympic Oval

the corporation

In an effort to maximize entrepreneurial benefit and financial viability, a new corporation was created to manage the Oval project, with the City as sole shareholder. Operations of the Richmond Oval will be overseen by a city-appointed board of directors consisting of a selection of community leaders representing a broad range of professional backgrounds. Michael O’Brien, Senior Vice President of YVR, will assume the role of Chair.

The Corporation will be fully accountable to the citizens of Richmond, with the City reserving the ability to make decisions on issues of finance and governance as necessary.

Michael O’Brien (Chair)

Michael O’Brien has been part of the executive group of the Airport Authority since immediately before the not-for-profit Authority assumed responsibility for the operation of Vancouver International Airport (YVR) in 1992. In the years since then, as the Authority transformed YVR into one of the world’s leading airports (including construction liof a new runway, a new international terminal and creation of a customer driven organization) Mr. O’Brien has acted as Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors and has been variously responsible for law, government relations, strategic planning, communications, community and environmental issues.

Mr. O'Brien graduated from the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School at York Universityand is a member of the Bars of Ontario and British Columbia.

Prior to working for the Airport Authority he spent six years in Ottawa in the headquarters of three different federal departments, including the Department of Transport. He started his career as a barrister with the Toronto law firm of Cassels, Brock.

Mr. O’Brien serves on the Boards of the Fraser Basin Council, Providence Health Care Legacy Project and the Richmond Gateway Theatre Society, and is a member of the Richmond Olympic Business Advisory Committee.

George Duncan

George has served in the capacity of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) since March 1997. Previously, George held the position of General Manager of Engineering & Public Works. Prior to joining the public sector, George served 14 years in the private sector – first with the Engineering Department of international manufacturing and corporate leader, Proctor & Gamble; and then as a self-employed businessman, employing up to 70 employees with operations in both Ontario and British Columbia.

In addition to his regular duties as CAO, George also sits as a Municipal Representative on the Canada Line Board of Directors; serves in a similar capacity with the VANOC Board and is a member of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Partners Committee.

Vic Farmer

Victor Farmer is the Senior Vice President of Progressive Construction Ltd; a Richmond owned and operated real estate development company. He has also been a professional accountant (C.M.A.) for twenty years and holds both a Master of Business Administration (Finance) and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree.

He has been actively involved in numerous industry and community associations including as a member of the Richmond Oval 2010 Steering Committee and currently as a co-chair of the Richmond Extreme Weather Shelter. He currently is a director of a number of private corporations including a local charitable foundation. Victor lives with his wife (Sarina) and three children in west Richmond.

Moray Keith

Moray Keith is the President of the Dueck Auto Group – 3 GM Dealerships in Greater Vancouver, of which Dueck on Marine is the largest dealership in Canada, along with Dueck Downtown and Dueck Richmond.

In addition to the Richmond Oval Corporation, Moray serves on the Boards of a number of organizations, including the BC Lottery Corporation, the Vehicle Sales Authority, the Vancouver Board of Trade, he is Chairman of the BC Sport Agency, and President of the Delta Police Foundation. He is a Regional Director of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council. He was the Chairman of the 2011 Grey Cup Festival in Vancouver, and sits as a Director of the BC Football Hall of Fame, while also being a Founding Member of the BC Lions Waterboys.

Moray is the President of the Chiefs Development Group, which built and opened the Prospera Centre Arena in Chilliwack, BC, the Langley Events Centre in Langley, and the Moose Jaw Multiplex in Moose Jaw, SK. He is a past co-owner of both the WHL Chilliwack Bruins Hockey Club and the BCHL Langley Chiefs Hockey Club, and the current Co-Owner of the Chilliwack Chiefs BCHL Hockey Club. Moray is also the proud recipient of the 2010 JCC Sports Personality of the Year Award.

Umendra Mital

Umendra Miital has over 37 years of diverse experience in Federal, Provincial and Local Governments as well as in the private sector. Currently Umendra is the Vice President and the General Manager of the Ebco Industries Ltd. and the Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc. located in Richmond, BC. These companies are engaged in the fabrication and manufacturing of heavy steel components and medical cyclotrons and have over 250 employees ranging from engineers and scientist to technicians and shop floor machinists and welders.

Umendra has had a long career in executive management positions including 8 years as City Manager for Surrey, 4 years as General Manager of Engineering Services for Surrey, and 3 years as Deputy Minister in Manitoba amongst others. Umendra is currently on the Board of BC Rapid Transit Company (SkyTrain) as well as the West Coast Express Company. Umendra is a Registered Professional Engineer and has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Linda Sanderson

Linda Sanderson is an experienced executive with Vancouver Community College, an innovative post secondary institution with over 22,000 students and 1,400 faculty and staff. She has held several senior level positions within Human Resources, Purchasing and Operations at Rogers Communications. Linda holds a Masters of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University. She has expertise in leadership, negotiations, executive coaching, strategic planning and human resource management. Linda is currently the Executive Director Human Resources with Vancouver Community College.

Prior to joining VCC and Rogers, Linda was a Human Resources and Community Recreation Manager with the City of Burnaby. This experience, along with several volunteer positions including: United Way, 2010 Olympic Games, Junior Achievement BC, Burnaby Volunteer Centre and Parent School based groups, has provided Linda with skills in generating community support for projects.

Dennis Skulsky

A familiar face throughout the CFL community, Dennis enters his second season as the club’s 29th president following a four-year stint as president and CEO of Canwest Publishing where he oversaw the company’s print and online assets.

An integral part of the Lions organization since 2003, Skulsky was a part of a group led by the club’s late president and CEO Bob Ackles that founded the Waterboys, a collective of British Columbia business leaders who are committed to promoting the Lions brand in the corporate community.

In addition to his duties as chairman of the Waterboys, Skulsky also spearheaded the very successful 2005 Grey Cup Committee whose Party on the Pacific Festival remains one of the most profitable and entertaining CFL championships to date. With a wealth of experience and leadership to his credit, Dennis was subsequently appointed co-chair of the 2011 Grey Cup Committee.

A veteran media executive in the newspaper industry, Skulsky began his career nearly three decades ago as circulation district manager for The Edmonton Journal, followed by several senior leadership positions with Southam Inc., Hollinger and Canwest.

Prior to his appointment as president and CEO of Canwest Publishing, Skulsky served as president and publisher for the Pacific Newspaper Group and group publisher, western region. In this role, Dennis oversaw all of Canwest MediaWorks’ western daily newspapers, including The Vancouver Sun, The Province, The Times Colonist, The Calgary Herald, The Edmonton Journal, The Leader-Post, The Star-Phoenix and 12 community newspapers throughout the lower mainland.

An Edmonton native, Dennis and his wife Marlene have two daughters, Jodi (Adam) and Kimberly and a granddaughter. Dennis has family ties to British Columbia as his parents currently reside in White Rock.

Wayne Duzita

Wayne recently retired (2012) from IAT Management LP a property management company for Huntingdon Capital Corp. During his twenty three years at IAT as the Vice President for Leasing and Marketing - Wayne was responsible for over five million square feet of retail, industrial, commercial and on airport property in Canada.

Wayne is a lifelong volunteer and has given thousands of hours of this time, skills and experience, to furthering causes he is passionate about – most of which have been in support of children or youth facing challenging or difficult times. He was Chair of Canuck Place Foundation and Canuck Place Hospice for eight years and was part of the team had secured corporate, government and individual contributions to stabilize the Hospice in the early part of the past decade. He is also the Co-Founder of YVR Golf for Kids which has raised more than $3 million for children’s charities such as Canuck Place, Dreams Take Flight, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, DARE, Canucks for Kids Foundation and the Richmond Christmas Fund. He is the past City of Richmond’s representative for the 2010 Games Operating Trust, which oversees the $130 million legacy fund and was part of the three person team appointed by the Provincial Government to review the Governance structure of TransLink. Currently, Wayne is part of the Steering Committee to bring Trinity Western University to Richmond in 2013.

Wayne was born in Vancouver and has lived most of his life in Richmond with his wife Georgia and is proud that both his adult children Brett and Tiffany also live and work in Richmond.

Committees

The committees of the Board and the current members of each committee are listed below.

Business Planning Committee

• Moray Keith (Chair)
• George Duncan
• Dennis Skulsky
• Wayne Duzita
• Michael O'Brien

Audit & Finance Committee

• Victor Farmer (Chair)
• George Duncan
• Umendra Mital
• Michael O'Brien
• Linda Sanderson