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Speakers and facilitators

Here are some of the speakers you'll hear from at the 2022 All-Regions Conference!

Thursday night

Injured Workers Deserve Better: Toward a Worker-Centered WCB

Michelle Laurie

Michelle Laurie is the director representative of workers on the Board of WorkSafe BC – the Workers' Compensation Board, a position she has held since first appointed in 2019. Prior to that, Michelle was a union representative and long-time WCB activist, teaching advocacy courses, and representing workers with claims and appeals for over 20 years, first with the IBEW, then with USW.

A former VP of the BC Fed and chair of the OH&S committee, she is a red-seal journeyed electrician, wife, mother of four and grandmother of five.

Kevin Love

Kevin is a lawyer in CLAS' Community Law Program, working primarily in the areas of mental health and workers' rights. Kevin has represented clients at all levels of court, both federally and provincially, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining the Community Law Program, Kevin worked in CLAS' Mental Health Law Program representing clients who were detained in psychiatric facilities under the Criminal Code.

Janet Patterson

Janet Patterson is a retired lawyer who represented injured workers in compensation claims for many years. In 2019, she was appointed to conduct a review of the BC compensation system and in doing so, she heard from workers, unions and employers throughout the province. Her report, New Directions: Report of WCB Review 2019, sets out recommendations to improve the compensation system for injured workers.

Paul Petrie

Paul Petrie has worked in the BC Workers Compensation System for 45 years initially as a vo-cational rehabilitation consultant, subsequently as a worker's advisor and a union compensation advocate. He was appointed as Registrar and Appeal Commissioner with the WCB Appeal Division in 1991 and retired as Deputy Chief Appeal Commissioner in 2003. He subsequently served as vice-chair with WCAT until 2013. He has provided consultative services to a number of Workers Compensation Boards including Manitoba, Alberta, Yukon and the Northwest Terri-tories.

In 2018 he completed a claims policy review for the BC WCB Board of Directors - Restoring the Balance: A Worker Centred Approach to Workers' Compensation Policy. Most recently he completed and addendum to his claims policy review titled - Claim Suppression: The Elephant in the Workplace.

Doreen Russell

Doreen Russell brings 27 years of experience as an administrator in the workers' compensation field. From 1989 to 2003 she worked for the Workers' Compensation Board (WorkSafeBC) in a number of departments, including Disability Awards, Compensation Services, Regulation Review, and the Appeal Division. In 2003, when the BC Legislature enacted Bill 14, the existing Appeal Division was replaced by a new independent appeal body, the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT). Doreen transferred to the tribunal and continued working as an Appeal Coordinator until her retirement in December 2016.

Friday

Centering the Worker Experience: Stories From the Front Line

Mary Lou Fonda, UFCW

My name is Marylou Fonda, She/Her. I work at Save On Foods #2223 the smallest store in the chain. I’m also a Shop Stewart. I am a proud indigenous woman of the Turtle clan. I am a 60’s scoop survivor reclaiming my culture with the support of my union UFCW 1518, Family& Friends. Activism & resiliency defines me. I reside & am speaking to you from the unceded Territory of Nak’azdli Whut’en. On this territory I enjoy hunting, fishing & trapping. Megwitch, All My Relations

Terri-Lynne Huddlestone, HEU

I live on the north coast in Prince Rupert on the unceded and traditional territory of the Tsimshian. I am an active member on the Hospital Employees Union and am on the HEU Global Justice and Peace Subcommittee and The People With Disabilities Standing Committee. I am newly elected as President of the Prince Rupert Labour Council and also serve as Secretary on my union local executive committee. I work as administrative support/reception at a long term care facility in Prince Rupert and I am a very passionate advocate for public education, health and senior care.

Kris Lally, HSA

Kris Lally (she/her) is a Radiation Therapist working on the front-lines caring for immunocompromised cancer patients. As a labour activist with the Health Sciences Association, she has been supporting other healthcare professionals across the province who are facing chronic staffing shortages, increased workloads and burnout. She has served as the treasurer to the Fraser Valley Labour Council with extensive involvement in political action and anti-racism work. Kris is the daughter of Panjabi immigrants living on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ people.

Valeria Mancilla, CUPE Local 1936

Born and raised in Mexico City, Valeria Mancilla came to Canada in 2009 with her 2-year-old son. Inspired by motherhood, her immigrant experience and her personal talents, she has worked with children for more than a decade as an Early Childhood Educator at Collingwood Neighbourhood House. A natural advocate and an ally for social justice, Valeria is passionate about such causes as workplace fairness, universal quality childcare and equity for women as well as other equity seeking groups. She is a proud member of CUPE Local 1936 and recognizes, lives and plays on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Kathy Wallace, UNITE HERE Local 40

Kathy Wallace has worked in various camps for many years up north, and is currently a cook and shop steward from Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat, BC on the territory of the Haisla Nation. She worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to organize camps across the province with UNITE HERE Local 40, and believes in the power of workers coming together to fight for better working conditions.

Hira Zavoral, BCCWITT

Hira Zavoral (she/her), power system operator with BC Hydro. Hira is responsible for the safe & efficient operation of BC’s power system. She monitors & operates Transmission lines, & it’s her job to keep the lights on safely. Hira is a regional representative of the BC Centre for Women In The Trades. She's passionate about supporting women working in careers dominated by men. Hira wants to empower women to stand up for themselves & be their own advocate & assist in changing the culture. She is a proud mom of two wonderful children, and lives in North Vancouver on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations.

Worker Voices, Local Issues

Bea Bruske

Bea Bruske

Bea Bruske was elected President of the Canadian Labour Congress at the 29th Constitutional Convention in 2021. She is only the second woman to hold the position. For more than three decades, Bea has served workers and their families as an activist, workers’ advocate, negotiator, community organizer and labour leader. Her experience has served her well as President of CLC in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before her election as President, Bea served as Vice-President of the UFCW Canada National Council, which sets the strategic direction for the national union and its more than 250,000 members across the country. She had previously served as Secretary-Treasurer for UFCW Local 832, where she was responsible for the largest private-sector union local in Manitoba.

Michele Babchuk

Michele Babchuk

Michele Babchuk was elected as the MLA for North Island in 2020. She is the Deputy Government Whip and a member of the Appointment Orders Committee. From 2014-2020 she was a councillor for the City of Campbell River as well as chair of the Strathcona Regional District Board. She has been a strong advocate for resource sector communities and is passionate about internet connectivity. She has served in various roles with the Comox Strathcona Hospital Board, the Comox Strathcona Solid Waste Management Board, the Strathcona Gardens Commission, the Tourism Advisory Committee, and the Airport Advisory Committee.

Amandeep Nijjar

Mohini Singh

Workshop:
Equitable Organizing:
Building Relationships between Labour and Community

Jonny Sopotiuk

Jonny Sopotiuk is a visual artist, curator and community organizer living and working on the Unceded Indigenous territories belonging to the Musqueam, Skxwú7mesh-ulh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and Tsleil-Watututh peoples in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His interdisciplinary practice explores compulsion and control through the lenses of production, labour, and work. Jonny is the President of the Arts and Cultural Workers Union (ACWU), IATSE Local B778 and is a founding member of two arts worker cooperatives: the Vancouver Artists Labour Union Cooperative (VALU CO-OP) and Stitchers Cooperative.

The Problem With Precarity

Brynn Bourke

Brynn Bourke is the executive director of the BC Building Trades representing over 40,000-members. Bourke is the first woman to lead the council in its more than 50-year history. Bourke is passionate about equity and diversity in the trades and skilled trades certification, the latter informed by the 10 years she spent as the BCBT’s in-house apprenticeship specialist. Before joining BCBT in 2012, Bourke held outreach, engagement and communications portfolios for progressive leaders in the provincial and federal governments.

Shannon Daub

Shannon Daub

Shannon is the director of CCPA-BC and co-director of the Corporate Mapping Project. Her research interests include social movements, framing, environmental communication, corporate power and democratic capacity. Outside her day-to-day work life at CCPA, Shannon has taught in the School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads University, and volunteered as a board member with organizations like the Wilderness Committee, CCEC Credit Union and the Vancouver Public Library.

Julie Diesta

I left the Philippines in 1986 after the Dictator Pres. Marcos was toppled by a peaceful revolution. I went to Singapore and worked as a domestic worker for four years, and then I came to Vancouver under the federal immigration program called Foreign Domestic Movement Program (FDM) in 1991. Because of many immigration and employment issues of abuse and exploitation against domestic workers, I joined the Westcoast Domestic Workers Association (DWA). In 1992, together with other like-minded domestic workers and community activists, we formed the Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights or CDWCR. Even after I received my permanent resident status, I continued to work as a care worker. In 2018, I started to work at South Vancouver Neighbourhood House (SVNH) as a service provider serving the needs of migrant workers.

Andreea Micu

Andreea has worked in retail for over ten years and is familiar with many of the challenges retail workers face. Empowering workers to stand up for themselves and their rights sparks joy for her.

As a Solidarity Steward, Andreea lets workers know their options in whatever situation they’re facing at work, and has their back throughout the process that follows.

Kendra Strauss