MEET THE Keynote Speaker
Mayor Percy Farwell
Mayor, Town of Gander
Mayor Percy Farwell
Mayor, Town of Gander
Mayor Farwell has been a resident of Gander since 1967. After graduating from Gander Collegiate, he completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and holds a Certified Small Business Counsellor designation with the Canadian Institute of Small Business Counsellors. After a period of time working in the private sector, Mayor Farwell spent 27 years of public service with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador where he held progressively responsible positions in regional and economic development. In 2017, he concluded his career following 17 years as Regional Director with the department responsible for the province’s economic development agenda.
First elected to Gander’s Town Council in 1993, Mayor Farwell was subsequently reelected in 1997 and 2001, serving 12 years in various positions of leadership, including 6 years as Deputy Mayor, before stepping aside from municipal politics in 2005 to focus on his professional career and to help raise a young family. In 2017, Mayor Farwell returned to the political arena and was honored to be elected as Gander’s 9th Mayor and, subsequently, re-elected in 2021. Mayor Farwell currently serves as Central Director on the Board of Directors of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, executive member of the Board of Directors of the Central NL Regional Services Board, NL Director on the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Mayors Congress, and as a Community Advisory Committee member for the Gander area of Central Health Regional Health Authority.
In his personal life, Mayor Farwell has been active in his community throughout his life. In competitive sport, he has represented the Town and Province at the regional/national level in multiple sports. An active member of the Avion Players community theatre group for over 35 years, he has won multiple awards at the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival and is currently Treasurer of the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Society. He is a Past Master of Gander Masonic Lodge and he and his family have been long time volunteers with the Gander and Area SPCA. Mayor Farwell has been married to his wife, Andrea (Yetman), since 1992. They have raised two sons, Matthew and Julien, and share their home with their German Shepherd, Casper
MEET THE Event Speakers
Vince Payne
Founder, OPAS Mobile
Vince Payne
Founder, OPAS Mobile
Vince Payne is a Professional Engineer with experience ranging from mine maintenance to global subsea technology. Across Canada and worldwide, Vince noticed an opportunity to use technology to fundamentally improve HSEQ compliance in the field. Combining broad industrial experience with a passion for workplace safety, Vince founded OPAS Mobile in 2021 with the mission of building a 'Safer, More Productive Workplace'. Vince continues to hold a senior management role inside partner organization, and event sponsor, North Star Associates where he's able to maintain his connection to the field and work with talented safety professionals.
Taylor Goodfellow
RPAS Specialist, AltoMaxx Technologies
Taylor Goodfellow
RPAS Specialist, AltoMaxx Technologies
Taylor Goodfellow is an RPAS Specialist at AltoMaxx Technologies. Taylor graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelors in Environmental and Natural Resources. Taylor has worked on unique drone based projects from walking the ice roads of Alaska measuring ice thickness, riverbed remediation to offshore and FPSO inspection. Taylors diverse experience is unique to the industry and a valued asset to those that she works with and teaches. Taylors interests include hiking, skating, and crocheting.
Liz Horvath
Opening Minds, Mental Health Commission of Canada
Liz Horvath
Opening Minds, Mental Health Commission of Canada
Liz is an accomplished professional and international speaker on mission to make work a great part of life for as many people as possible. She is well known for her empathy and interpersonal skills, combined with her expertise in health and safety, change management, and leadership. Specializing in psychological health and safety for the past 15 years, she currently leads a team of amazing people in the Opening Minds division of the Mental Health Commission of Canada who are dedicated to helping organizations integrate psychological health and safety into how they work. Her former experience includes leading the development of several ground-breaking health and safety standards, including the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the workplace. She also led a team of consultants in the occupational health and safety (OHS) legal practice of Gowlings, which specialized in providing training, consulting, and legal services to clients in throughout Canada, and spent nearly 10 years as an OHS professional in the manufacturing sector.
Alan MacDonald
Electrician, Corner Brook Pulp & Paper
Alan MacDonald
Electrician, Corner Brook Pulp & Paper
My name is Alan MacDonald I'm an Electrician and I work at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper for the past 24 years. For the last 5 years I have been the employee co chair for the OHS committee. I'm married with 1 daughter and I reside in Massey Drive. If I am not at work I can be found on the golf course during the summer and at the hockey rink or on skidoo during the winter.
David Wooten
National Product Manager, Levitt-Safety
David Wooten
National Product Manager, Levitt-Safety
David has been a passionate and enthusiastic health and safety representative with almost thirty years of experience travelling across Canada working with customers in various high-risk industries including oil and gas, pulp and paper, mining, chemical and emergency response.
David has been employed with Levitt-Safety in various roles for twenty-three years with the last seven years as the National Product Manager representing Prevor Toxicology & Chemical Risk Management based in France. As the product specialist, David challenges people’s conventional thinking on how to best manage workplace chemical injuries and spills. David has helped hundreds of companies across the country evaluate their chemical risk response programs and implement emergency washing protocols that deliver results that are superior over passive water rinsing. David’s passions include golf, travel and anytime he can spend in Ontario’s Muskoka
Darren Stratton
Partner, McInnes Cooper
Darren Stratton
Partner, McInnes Cooper
Darren is a partner with McInnes Cooper and works from its St. John’s office. For over 30 years, Darren has helped employers understand their rights and obligations pertaining to union-management relations, health and safety, employee discharge and discipline, human rights, and employment standards – all within their unique regulatory and labour relations environments. Darren has worked predominately with clients in the oil and gas, mining, utilities and construction industries, helping them achieve their safety and productivity goals.
Darren is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland (B. Comm. (Co-op.), 1989) and Dalhousie University (LL.B., 1992). He has taught labour relations at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Memorial University and he continues to provide specialized training and seminars on employment law and labour relations topics at Memorial’s Gardiner Centre and for clients and other lawyers.
Jodi Hedderson
Courage to Care Advisor, Rio Tinto, IOC
Jodi Hedderson
Courage to Care Advisor, Rio Tinto, IOC
Jodi Hedderson is a journeyperson electrician by trade who began working with the Iron Ore Company of Canada 16 years ago. After more than 10 years as an electrician, working in various areas of the business, she stepped up to become involved in the Courage to Care process. Through her commitment to risk awareness, Jodi found her true calling as an advisor, helping to lead the Courage to Care team. Jodi has really found her passion in what she does and takes great pride in being part of the culture change at IOC. As a wife, and a mother to two young boys, her main driving force at work is for all employees to go home safe at the end of the day to the people waiting for them.
Gary Shaw
Courage to Care Co-Chair, Rio Tinto, IOC
Gary Shaw
Courage to Care Co-Chair, Rio Tinto, IOC
Gary Shaw has worked with the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) for over 19 years. Starting his mining career as an Operator Maintainer working in various areas of the business, Gary found himself with the opportunity to be involved in a culture change at IOC. When Courage to Care rolled out in his area, he brought forward a safety concern and became and active “Core Team” member. The following year another opportunity presented itself when the Courage to Care Co-Chair position became available, Gary stepped up to help lead his team with a passion for making things better for his fellow workers.
An avid hunter and fishman Gary has taken his new found passion for health and safety and brought it into his personal life, being an advocate for his friends and family to use safe practices while enjoying the outdoors.
Tenille Warford
Courage to Care Co-Chair, Rio Tinto, IOC
Tenille Warford
Courage to Care Co-Chair, Rio Tinto, IOC
Tenille Warford started with the Iron Ore Company of Canada in an operational role 15 years ago. With a Millwright apprenticeship in her back pocket, she transitioned into a Maintenance role 5 years later and completed her journeypersons in Millwright in 2021.
Starting with the Courage to Care team during it’s rollout in her work area, Tenille presented a safety concern during a workshop with her peers and became a “Core Team” member. When her predecessor stepped down from the co-chair position for retirement Tenille was supported by the team to step into the Co-chair role. Tenille is a strong female safety leader that demonstrates what it means to be a part of the culture change that is Courage to Care.
Tenille enjoys spending her spare time with her family at the cabin, she brings her risk aware mindset to the outdoor activities that she loves such as snowmobiling and boating.
Rene Ritter
Director and founder of BFA: Emergency Response Education
Rene Ritter
Director and founder of BFA: Emergency Response Education
René Ritter is the Director and founder of BFA: Emergency Response Education. He has extensive experience working in the field of outdoor experiential education, technical rescue and consulting, particularly as it pertains to remote/wilderness medicine, aquatic injury prevention, technical water rescue and ice rescue. Through BFA, René has built solid relationships with a number of organizations in the private and public
sector. René has also trained First Responders across Canada from various organizations over the last decade, including Parks Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, VALE, Raytheon, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, SmartICE, BC Search & Rescue and volunteer and career firefighters.
Jan Chappel
Senior Technical Specialist, CCOHS
Jan Chappel
Senior Technical Specialist, CCOHS
Jan Chappel is a Senior Technical Specialist at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) where she provides expertise in mental health, workplace safety, occupational hygiene, and education to CCOHS’ team of specialists. Jan is the project lead for the Center’s online fact sheets (OSH Answers) and publications. She works on a variety of projects including e-courses, and creating web tools and mobile apps for organizations such as WorkSafe New Brunswick, WorkplaceNL, PEI, and WorkSafe Saskatchewan and authoring e-learning courses.She has also developed health and safety educational material for teachers in Ontario and Costa Rica, and co-authored CCOHS’ publication, Workplace Strategies: Risk of Impairment from Cannabis.
She is an active member of several Canadian Standards Association technical committees, including Occupational Health and Safety Training, Incident Investigation, Management of impairment in the workplace. Jan received a Masters of Health Science degree in Occupational Hygiene from the University of Toronto and a Honours Bachelor degree in Health Studies from the University of Waterloo.
Aubrey Vincent
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)
Aubrey Vincent
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)
Over his career, Aubrey has held various positions focusing on Mental Health, Critical Incident Stress Intervention and Emotional and Spiritual Care. Aubrey retired in August, 2019 from the St. John’s Regional Fire Department as Chaplain and Behavioral
Health Coordinator. Prior to this, he held the position of Director of Emergency Disaster Services for Newfoundland and Labrador with The Salvation Army. Aubrey is also a retired teacher and holds a Master of Education degree in Leadership.
Aubrey has been significantly involved with Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). He is an Approved Instructor for the Individual and Peer Course, Croup Crisis Intervention Course, Advanced Group Crisis Intervention and Grief following Trauma course. He has been quite active in providing facilitation for crisis interventions for the St. John’s Regional Fire Department as well as many other Fire Departments in NL., RNC witnesses and other First Responder and community groups. This continues since retirement.
He has worked in several Disaster situations and was an Incident Commander for the Salvation Army’s response to Hurricane Igor in NL, High River Flood in Alberta and the Fort McMurray Response. Aubrey was awarded the Community Services Award by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the John N. Cardolis Memorial Award by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Fire Services, both in 2017. He is married to Christine and have two daughters, Valerie and Vanessa. They have three grandchildren, Julie, William and Megan. He’s an avid fisherman, canoeist and motorcyclists. He enjoys spending part of his winters in Florida.
Sgt. Danny Williams
RCMP
Sgt. Danny Williams
RCMP
Sergeant Danny Williams is a 17 year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). He has served the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the communities of Springdale, Ferryland, and Trepassey before starting his role overseeing Emergency Management at ‘B’ Division Headquarters in St. John’s. He is the Province’s RCMP liaison to all Federal and Provincial emergency partners, oversees the administration of search and rescue for RCMP jurisdictions within the Province, and manages police response in emergency situations. Sergeant Williams is a Public Order Tactical Commander, Public Order Tactical Advisor and a Counter Terrorism Search Instructor. In addition to his service to the Province, he also has experience leading Tactical Support Groups to support National Operations for major dignitaries including President Obama, President Trump, President Zelenskyy and other world leaders.
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