Community Advisory Committee for the GO System Electrification Study

Terms of Reference
CAC Membership

Terms of Reference

Metrolinx has appointed a Community Advisory Committee to assist in developing the Terms of Reference for the GO System Electrification Study. The diverse perspectives of transit and engineering experts, community leaders, GO Transit riders, urban planners and others early in the development of the study will provide critical advice to guide this important work. Metrolinx will call also for submissions from interested parties including municipalities, community groups, stakeholders and members of the public at large to assist in shaping the Study terms of reference.

The final Study Terms of Reference, once approved by the Metrolinx Board, will guide the Electrification Study and serve as the basis for issuing any requests for proposals to undertake the Study.

The significance of the Study will benefit by drawing from the diverse range of perspectives and expertise of the CAC members. The Board has appointed a Community Advisory Committee comprised of members who:

1. use or are otherwise affected by transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area who may include students, seniors and representatives from the following sectors:
   • Alternate energy and sustainability
   • Urban Planning, Design and Development
   • Transportation experts
   • Academia
   • Community Leadership
   • Business and Finance
   • Environment
   • Health
   • GO Customer Service Advisory Committee
2. collectively provide a comprehensive perspective on the challenges and possible implications of electrification of the GO Transit system; and
3. collectively represent a broad and balanced representation from the Regional Transportation Area.

Committee members are appointed as individuals, with unique experience and expertise. The study timeline will require a continuity of deliberations and discussion amongst members and as such, substitutions will not be provided for.

CAC Mandate

The Advisory Committee is being established to assist the Board in developing the terms of reference for the GO Transit System Electrification Study. In satisfying this role the Advisory Committee will:

• Review draft terms of reference documents related to the GO Transit System Electrification Study
• Analyze public and stakeholder input;
• Provide recommendations to the Board in respect of the foregoing and any other specific issues referred to the Advisory Committee by the Board or the Executive Committee.

CAC Role

The Advisory Committee’s role is a resource to the Board and to the Corporation’s staff and consultants in preparing the study terms of reference. The Board will give full consideration to recommendations proposed by the Advisory Committee. In addition, to participation in a minimum of five scheduled committee meetings, members will be expected to review the advance materials provided.

Report to the Board

The Advisory Committee shall provide the Board with a report setting out the Advisory Committee’s analysis and recommendations within the time frame set by the Board. The committee reports to the Board shall reflect the collective input and recommendations of the Advisory Committee based on the consensus of the Advisory Committee members.

The Advisory Committee will provide the Board with its best advice. The Advisory Committee Chair will aim to bring the committee to a consensus but not withstanding this, any minority views will also be included in the final report.

The Board will publicly release the Advisory Committee report and recommendations with the consent of the Advisory Committee.

Remuneration and Expenses

In recognition of the tight timeline and the high calibre of expertise and experience required, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee will be compensated at an agreed upon per diem rate. Other members of the Advisory Committee will receive a one-time honorarium of $500 each for the full duration of their deliberations.

Meetings

The Community Advisory Committee meetings are scheduled every two weeks between mid-July and mid-October.

This Advisory Committee is established under Metrolinx By-Law 3, approved by the Board on July 13th 2009.

CAC Membership

• Chair, Daniel Burns, former Ontario Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care
• Vice Chair, Pamela Robinson Ph.D., MCIP RPP, Assistant Professor, School of Urban & Regional Planning, Ryerson University and Member, Metrolinx Advisory Committee on the RTP
• Frank Giannone, President, FRAM
• Dina Graser, Chair, People Plan Toronto
• Dr Linn Holness, Professor and Director, Gage Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, University of Toronto and St Michael's Hospital
• Gerry Johnston, former Assistant Deputy Minister, Ontario Ministry of Transportation
• Ed Levy, Senior Consultant and former President, BA Consulting Group
• Eva Ligeti, Executive Director, Clean Air Partnership
• Eli Malinsky, Member, Clean Train Coalition
• Brian E. McCarry, Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Environment and Health
• Danny Nikitopoulos, Member, GO Customer Service Advisory Committee CA, MBA, Specialist, Valuation Services, KPMG LLP
• Bob Oliver, Executive Director, Pollution Probe
• Murray Skinner, former President and CEO Metroland Media Group Ltd.
• Jim Tovey, President of the Lakeview Ratepayers Association
• Michael Warren, Chair, The Warren Group and former Chief GM TTC
• Alan Wells, Chair, Rouge Park Alliance, former Provincial Development Facilitator and former CAO York Region

Chair, Daniel Burns, Former Deputy Minister, Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
Daniel Burns is the former Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. He is the chair of the board of trustees of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and a trustee of the Maytree Foundation, where he teaches and consults in public policy and public administration. A member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, he has also served on the boards of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, the United Way of Greater Toronto and the Metro Toronto Community Foundation.

In addition to his position at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, he was a Deputy Minister in numerous Ontario Government Ministries, including Economic Development and Trade, Economic Development Trade and Tourism, and Municipal Affairs and Housing. Born in Ottawa, he received his Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Economics from Queen’s University, and his Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning from the London School of Economics.

Vice-Chair, Pamela Robinson, Assistant Professor and Vice Chair, School of Urban & Regional Planning, Ryerson University
Pamela Robinson, a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University. Prior to joining the faculty at Ryerson, she was a lecturer in the Urban and Environmental Studies programs at Innis College, University of Toronto.

She is a recipient of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Award for Teaching Excellence and the OPPI Award for Planning Excellence. She was a founding partner in Harper Longino Robinson, Community Planning and Development, a Kingston and Toronto based urban planning firm is currently a partner with Robinson & Gore Policy and Planning. She is the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and sits on the Advisory Committees for Metrolinx and UN-Habitat and is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on Canadian municipal response to climate change.

Frank Giannone, President, FRAM Building Group, President, Ontario Home Builders’ Association
Frank Giannone is the president of FRAM Building Group. A graduate of the Civil Engineering program at the University of Toronto, he entered the family business in 1981 as a fourth generation home builder and is currently a builder/developer of residential and mixed-use communities in the Greater Toronto Area, Collingwood, Dallas, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan.

He is also a past president of the Toronto Home Builders’ Association, and is the current President of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association.

Dina Graser, Chair, People Plan Toronto
Dina Graser is an associate at Goodmans LLP, where she practices broadcasting and telecommunications law. Prior to becoming a lawyer, she ran her own company producing and programming festivals, live shows, conferences, special events and community projects for a wide range of organizations in Toronto.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of Artscape Inc. and chairs People Plan Toronto, a group of active, engaged citizens committed to improving Toronto’s planning process, with whom she is working to start a new Community Planning Resource Centre.

Dr. Linn Holness, Professor and Director, Gage Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital
Dr. Holness is the Director of the Gage Occupational and Environmental Health Unit and the Centre for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease, which are collaborative programs of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at St Michael’s Hospital.

Her clinical specialty is occupational medicine with specific research interests in occupational disease, occupational contact dermatitis, occupational lung disease, and occupational health services. She is affiliated with the Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and is the Chair of the Board of Examiners for Occupational Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Gerry Johnston, Former Assistant Deputy Minister, Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Gerry Johnston is the former Assistant Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO). After retiring from the public service in 1992, he established G.H.J. Transportation Consultants where he still serves as President. During his time with MTO, he was responsible for policy, planning and research for all modes of transportation and worked closely with GO Transit in the development of legislation, business plans and implementation strategies.

Since leaving government, he has been involved in a number of domestic and international assignments dealing with the planning, financing, governance and implementation of major transportation works in Canada, Malaysia, Middle East and Trinidad.

He graduated from Queens University with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in 1956 and has a Master of Science in Transportation in 1960.

Ed Levy, Former President and Chairman, BA Consulting Group Ltd.
Ed Levy has worked as a transportation planner and advisor since graduating from the University of Toronto in 1957. He co-founded Barton-Aschman Canada Limited in 1973 which then became BA Consulting Group Limited, serving as President and then Chairman of the Board of Directors for more than 15 years.

In 1989, Ed was retained as an advisor to the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront, and in 1991 was appointed by the Commission as Co-Director of a major study of options for the Gardiner Expressway-Lake Shore Boulevard waterfront transportation corridor.

He is currently a Senior Consultant for the BA Consulting Group and also continues to participate actively on several Toronto Board of Trade committees. He has also been a member of the Metrolinx Advisory Committee to the Board on the Regional Transportation Plan.

Eva Ligeti, Executive Director, Clean Air Partnership
Eva Ligeti is the Executive Director of the Clean Air Partnership, Chair of the GTA Clean Air Council, and a member of the Province of Ontario's expert panel on climate change adaptation. She was chosen as Ontario’s first Environmental Commissioner of Ontario by an all-party committee of the legislature in 1994. She remained Commissioner until 1999, reviewing the government’s compliance with the Environmental Bill of Rights and reporting to an all-party committee of the Ontario legislature.

She is a former principal of Applied Arts and Technology at Seneca College and former chair of its School of Legal and Public Administration.

She has served as legal counsel to the Canadian Environmental Law Association and focuses on civil litigation and administration law in her practice with Iler, Campbell and Associates.

Eli Malinsky, Member, Centre for Social Innovation; Member, Clean Train Coalition
Eli Malinsky has been working to spur collaboration and entrepreneurship within Toronto’s social mission sector over the past seven years. He has worked at Imagine Canada, the country’s pre-imminent research institute on the nonprofit and voluntary sector. In 2005, Eli joined the Centre for Social Innovation to help fulfill the organization’s strategic and programming vision. He is a member of the Clean Train Coalition, an organization created in response to the Georgetown South Service Expansion and the Union-Pearson Rail Link (GSSE/UPRL).

He holds a Master’s degree in Communication and Cultural Studies.

Brian E. McCarry, Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University
Brian E. McCarry is a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University with expertise in environmental toxicology and organic analytical chemistry as the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Environment and Health and has served on many major university committees.

He is the chair of Clean Air Hamilton (CAH), a multi-stakeholder group which has provided informed direction on air quality issues and health impacts due to air pollution; he also chairs the Hamilton Air Monitoring Network. A well-known figure in the City of Hamilton's clean-air movement, he has documented the health risks resulting from transportation sources, industrial sources and major fires such as the Plastimet fire and Hagersville tire fire.

He holds a B.Sc. degree from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. He is a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada. In 2005 he was named Hamilton Environmentalist of the Year and he received the Canadian Environmental Awards Silver Award in the Climate Change category.

Danny Nikitopoulos, Member GO Transit Customer Service Advisory Committee
Danny Nikitopoulos works in as a Specialist in Valuation Services at KPMG LLP. He is a Chartered Accountant and completed his Masters of Business Administration at the Schulich School of Business at York University. An avid public transit user, Danny is a member of the GO Customer Service Advisory Committee.

Bob Oliver, Executive Director, Pollution Probe
Bob Oliver is the Executive Director of Pollution Probe in Toronto. He holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Carleton University and has fifteen years experience managing industrial projects and developing strategies for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

He was most recently the Director of Pollution Probe’s Transportation Programme. In that position he worked effectively to support the development of policies and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation activity in Canada.

He researched and wrote Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Standards for Canada, a major report supporting the development of policy options to reduce emissions through improvements in automobile technology and fleet composition and has also focused on the potential for alternative fuels and transportation infrastructure to contribute to reducing emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

Murray Skinner, Former President, Metroland Media Group
Murray Skinner was named president of Metroland Media Group in September 2000 and had been a part of the company for 33 years, serving as vice-president of marketing for 19 years. He previously worked in advertising and management positions at Thomson Newspapers.

He is a director of Black Press, and a former member of Canadian Community Newspapers Association’s Distribution Committee, the Retail Advertising Club of Toronto, Advertising & Marketing Club of Toronto, Canadian advisory board for Canadian Circulation Audit Board and a founding member of the Flyer Distribution Standards Association.

He is a recipient of an honourary life membership with the Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) in recognition of his contribution and support of community journalism in Canada.

Jim Tovey, President, Lakeview Ratepayers Association
Jim Tovey is a long time resident of Lakeview, near Mississauga and is a community advocate on issues of culture, planning, environment and health. He has been a strong voice in calling for the protection and revitalization of the GTA’s waterfront.

He is the Vice Chair of the City of Mississauga Heritage Advisory Committee, as well as President and founder of the Lakeview Ratepayers Association, the largest residents association in Mississauga. He was a central figure in halting the use of the Lakeview Generating Station grounds as a location for power generation, and spearheaded the first citizen-created master plan for waterfront reclamation and community revitalization in North America.

In 2009, he was honoured with the Gordon G. Shipp Citizen of the Year award for his contributions and achievements in Mississauga.

R. Michael Warren, Chair and CEO, The Warren Group; Former Chief GM, TTC
Michael Warren has been the Chairman and CEO of The Warren Group Inc. since 1985, a consulting group that provides strategic advice to governments and corporations. He served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Sunrise Senior Living REIT from 2004 to 2007. He was the first President and CEO of Canada Post Corporation and the first Chief General Manager of the Toronto Transit Commission.

Through 1980 he acted as the Interim General Manager of the Canadian National Exhibition and from 1962 until 1975 he was a Deputy Minister in several Ontario Government departments including Solicitor General, Municipal Affairs and Housing and Citizenship.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University and is a member of their Sports Hall of Fame. His columns and opinion pieces are frequently published in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and other major Canadian newspapers.

Alan Wells, Chair, Rouge Park Alliance; Former CAO York Region
Alan Wells was appointed by the Ontario government as Chair of the Rouge Park Alliance, the board of one of the world's largest natural environment parks located in an urban area, in February 2008. Prior to joining the Rouge Park Alliance, he worked with the Province of Ontario as the Development Facilitator helping groups resolve issues concerning growth management, infrastructure planning and environmental protection. He has over 25 years experience working with York Region, including seven years as Chief Administrative Officer.

He has also served as a volunteer with the Uxbridge Watershed Advisory Committee and Toronto Region Conservation Authority's Duffins and Carruthers Creeks Watershed Resource Technical Advisory Committee.