Columbia Institute
The Centre for Civic Governance is a program arm of the Columbia Institute. The Columbia Institute is a charitable organization established to activate and motivate working people to build strong, progressive communities throughout Canada.
Click here to visit the Columbia Institute website.
Columbia Institute Board of Directors:
Ken Georgetti, President, Canadian Labour Congress
David Levi, Chair, Columbia Foundation
Ken Neumann, President, United Steelworkers
Tom Dufresne, President, International Longshore Workers Union
George Heyman, President Emeritus, BC Government and Service Employees' Union
Andy Ross, President, COPE 378
Barry O'Neill, President, CUPE BC
Jim Sinclair, President, BC Federation of Labour
John Shields, President Emeritus, BC Goverment and Service Employees' Union
Ken Georgetti, President, Canadian Labour Congress
Ken Georgetti was first elected President of the Canadian Labour Congress at its 22nd Convention, in Toronto in May 1999. Born in Trail, BC, Ken first worked as a hard-rock miner. Then, like his father, he went to work in the giant Cominco smelter and earned his trade ticket as a pipefitter. Following the family tradition, Ken became active in the United Steelworkers, Local 480.In 1981, at the young age of 28, he was elected President of the 4,400-member Local – then the largest in western Canada. Elected Vice-President of the BC Federation of Labour in 1984 at the age of 34, Ken became its youngest-ever President just two years later, spending 13 years in the position.
At the same time, he broadened his national labour involvement by becoming a Provincial Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Under his 13-year leadership of the ‘BC Fed’, its membership more than doubled – from 218,000 to 450,000. At the same time, doors at both the political and staff levels were opened in an unprecedented fashion to women, youth and visible minorities.
Ken's vision of labour activism is rooted in a passionate commitment to social justice and a profound belief in the need to empower individuals and involve communities in tackling social and economic problems. His personal priorities at the leadership of the Canadian Labour Congress include the defence and strengthening of public medicare, organizing greater numbers of workers, providing lifelong learning opportunities, enhancing young workers’ involvement in unions, increasing literacy levels for all Canadians and combatting child labour.
Ken is also involved in international issues, building on a long Canadian Labour Congress tradition. He is a Vice-President and member of the Executive Board of the International Trade Union Confederation. He chairs the ITUC Committee on Workers’ Capital. He also sits on the executive of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Ken’s contributions to labour relations and the overall well-being of Canadians have been recognized by various levels of government. In 1998, he became the first union leader to receive the Order of British Columbia. In 2000, he received the Order of Canada.
David Levi, Chair, Columbia Foundation
In January 1992 David started the Working Opportunity Fund, BC's original labour-sponsored investment fund, which has grown to $400 million in assets and 50,000 shareholders. GrowthWorks was founded by David in January 1999 and has quickly grown to be a leading venture capital fund manager, having five offices and nine venture capital funds under management which have made investments in over 200 companies across the country David has grown assets under management to $800 million for GrowthWorks, the second largest manager of labour-sponsored investment funds in Canada.In addition to his entrepreneurship and strategic leadership, David has over 10 years of investment management experience and an in-depth knowledge of the brokerage community, having previously been chair of VanCity Credit Union and Vice-President of Broker Services at C.M. Oliver.
David has provided strategic direction to many portfolio companies and currently serves on the boards of Avcorp Industries and Xantrex Technology. He also chairs Verite, an independent, non-profit social auditing and research organization and is involved in a number of community organizations.
Ken Neumann, President, United Steelworkers
Born and raised in rural Saskatchewan, Ken Neumann has been a lifelong Steelworker. When he was still a teenager, he was a member of Local 5890 at Ipsco Ltd. in Regina, Saskatchewan, and later was a member of Local 6166 at Inco Ltd. in Thompson, Manitoba.As a member of Local 4728 (Westank-Willock, Regina), Ken became active as a steward, and later took on other jobs in the local right up to getting elected president. He became an instructor, organizer, and president of the Regina Area Council before being hired as a Steelworker Staff Representative in 1977.
Ken worked for Steelworker members in Saskatchewan and Kimberley, BC, where he built a personal reputation for strong service to Steelworker members in the East Kootenay region.
He ran and won the election in 1989 to replace retiring District 3 Director Len Stevens, and has been returned to office in every election since then, increasing his and the union’s involvement in the labour movement in Western Canada, as well as increasing organizing activity in the union’s largest geographical district.
Ken is active in numerous Canadian and international organizations, including serving as labour co-chair of the Canadian Steel Trades and Employment Congress, President of the Steelworker Trusteed Benefit Plan, President of the Humanity Fund, director of the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) and ICEM. He is also secretary of the USWA Non-ferrous Industry Conference, chair of the United Dominion Industries Conference and a General Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Tom Dufresne, President, International Longshore Workers Union
Tom Dufresne is President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU). In his fifth term as President, Tom has been a longshoreman on the Vancouver waterfront for over 34 years.
In additional to his role as President of the ILWU Canada, Tom has also served on the executive of Vancouver ILWU Local 500 as President and Vice President, and as a business agent for two terms.
Active in the labour movement, Tom is an Executive Officer of the BC Federation of Labour, is a member of the Executive Council of the Canadian Labour Congress and for the past nine years has also sat on the Fair Practices Committee of the International Transport Workers Federation.
Tom is also on the Board of Directors for Working Enterprises and the Columbia Foundation and is married with one child.
George Heyman, President, BC Government and Service Employees' Union
George has served as president of the BCGEU since June 1999. He was re-elected at the union's 45th Constitutional Convention in Vancouver, B.C., June 2, 2002. Heyman previously served as a provincial vice-president and a member of the union's Executive Committee for 12 years.
George has been a prominent activist in the BCGEU, the labour movement and his community for nearly three decades. A log scaler and grader with the B.C. Forest Service, Heyman was first elected shop steward in 1978 and has since held various elected positions at the local and provincial levels of the union.
In 1984, Heyman was elected to the provincial executive of the BCGEU as chairperson of the Environment, Resources and Conservation Component, and in 1987, he was elected provincial vice-president. He served as first vice-president of the Kitimat-Terrace and District Labour Council for three years, and is a vice-president of the B.C. Federation of Labour and the National Union of Public and General Employees - one of Canada's largest unions representing 300,000 members in provincial public service, broader public sector and the private sector.
A defender of public services and the people who deliver them, Heyman was active in the Solidarity fightback campaign of 1983 as a labour organizer throughout northwest B.C. He was also active in the union's privatization fightbacks in the late 1980s and the People First campaign to protect jobs and services in 1996-97. Heyman spearheaded an aggressive bargaining and lobbying campaign to achieve wage and benefit parity for 10,000 workers in the community health sector. More recently, Heyman has been a public leader rallying labour and community opposition to the Campbell government's severe cuts in public services and attacks on workers' rights.
Heyman is a published poet, avid runner and enjoys sea kayaking when he gets the opportunity. He lives in East Vancouver.
Andy Ross, President, COPE 378
Andy was elected by the members of COPE 378 as President in 2005. First elected to the Local's Executive Board in 1994, he was elected as a Vice-President for Combined Units in 1996. He also worked as a Temporary Union Representative in the COPE 378 office.
Before coming to COPE 378, Andy worked in the Training Department at the Coast Mountain Bus Company. He has been a member of Local 378 since 1990, and has worked at Coast Mountain Bus Company for 26 years in total, where he started as a Driver.
Andy is an Officer of the BC Federation of Labour, has sat on the Federation's Executive Council since 1999, is Chair of both the Political Action Committee and the Transportation Ad-Hoc Committee, Co-Chair of the Constitution and By-Laws Committee, and sits on the Federation's BC-NDP Liaison Committee.
Andy sits on the Board of Directors of Working Enterprises Insurance and the Columbia Institute. Until recently, he was also President of the New Westminster and District Labour Council.
Andy lives in New Westminster with his partner Nicole. They are both avid gardeners and can be found in summers riding their Harley Davidson motorcycles as often as they can.
Barry O’Neill, President, CUPE BC
Barry O'Neill has been president of CUPE BC since 1997. He represents more than 70,000 workers, including those working in municipalities, school districts, universities, colleges, social services, ambulance paramedics and others. Previous to his position as President of CUPE BC, Barry was the full-time President of CUPE Local 606, representing 1,400 school support workers in School District #68 and School District #69, Nanaimo, Duncan and Lake Cowichan.
Born on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Barry now lives in Lantzville on Vancouver Island with his wife of 27 years, Charmaine. He has 4 children and a wonderful granddaughter, all of which he is very proud.
Barry currently holds positions as:
- Executive Officer of the BC Federation of Labour
- General vice-president, CUPE National, representing B.C. and Alberta.
- Chairperson, BC Federation of Labour, Occupational Health & Safety Committee
- Director, Working Enterprises
- Director, Columbia Foundation
- Director, Camp Jubilee
- Pension Trustee, CUPE Employees' Pension Plan
- Alternate Trustee, Municipal Pension Board of Trustees
Barry enjoys tennis, fishing and has a passion for the game of golf.
Jim Sinclair, President, BC Federation of Labour
Jim Sinclair was elected President of the BC Federation of Labour on May 14, 1999. He was acclaimed President by Convention in 2000 and 2002 and re-elected in 2004.
Jim has been an articulate and active leader in the labour movement for more than 25 years. Jim was elected 2nd Vice-President of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union/Canadian Auto Workers' Union (UFAWU/CAW) from 1991 to 1999. As a staff member for the UFAWU since 1982, he was the lead negotiator in industry-wide negotiations with major fish processing companies. Prior to his work in the fishing industry, Jim was a reporter for the Nelson Daily News.
Jim currently sits on the Board of Directors for Working Enterprises Ltd., the Working Opportunity Fund, and BC Citizens for Public Power. Jim, 51, lives in Port Moody with his partner, Susan, and their son, Lee.