Two Independent Directors Elected

Don Cousens, Principal, Counsel Public Affairs Inc. and Roberta L. Jamieson Chief Executive Officer, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation have been elected to the Stewardship Ontario board. Both Don and Roberta have distinguished track records of public service and community engagement.

Don Cousens is a well respected community leader and has many years of experience within the public sector. Don was first elected Mayor of Markham in 1993 and served four successive terms. He was also elected to the York County Board of Education (now the York Region District School Board) in 1972, and served as Chair in 1978-79. From 1981 to 1993 he was Markham's Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) serving as Deputy Speaker, Minister of Corrections and Opposition Critic for Environment and Finance. In 2006, the Donald Cousens Parkway in Markham was unveiled and the following year, the York District School Board named Donald Cousens Public School in his honour.

Roberta Jamieson, C.M., LLB., LLD (Hons), I.P.C. is a Mohawk woman from the Six Nations of the Grand River, a national Aboriginal leader and Member of the Order of Canada. In her role as NAAF CEO (role) Roberta is focused on helping Aboriginal youth from across Canada to realize their potential and pursue their career dreams. She served for three years as the elected Chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River – the first woman ever to head Canada's most populous reserve. For an unprecedented 10 years Roberta served as Ombudsman for the Province of Ontario. During this period she became the founding President of the Canadian Ombudsman Association (Institute) and a (founding) Board Member of the Centre for Research in Women’s Health.

Roberta is a recognized expert in Corporate Social Responsibility and a member of the Canadian Board Diversity Council.

We are certain that the calibre and experience these two directors bring will bring an even stronger focus to the board.

In June 2010 we were pleased to elect a new board of 14 directors who work with steward companies or steward-related associations. These individuals and their respective companies take their responsibility for the future seriously and are committed to industry led/funded waste diversion programs.

Recognizing the ever growing importance of the need for consumer representation in environmental stewardship program management, the Board opted to appoint Don and Roberta as two independent directors who have no industry or commercial ties to our recycling programs.

Stewardship Ontario has always approached program plan development with the consumer in mind and retained professionals with consumer and social marketing backgrounds to design the public education and engagement components of Stewardship Ontario program plans. Moreover, many on the Stewardship Ontario board are in the consumer products business.

Our vision of being an industry leader is well under way and we value the efforts of our entire team. With the completion of the board appointments we are now actively focused on developing a new strategic plan with the management team that will set out long-term priorities for the organization.

We will continue to focus our efforts and resources on the essential steps that will enable us to deliver a higher level of service to our stewards, partners and Ontarians. Learn more about our new board.