Dean Atkins is Vice-President, Real Estate for the Victoria-based British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC). Dean Atkins is the Vice President, Mortgage Investments with the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (“bcIMC”) and has over 20-years experience in commercial real estate finance and investments. Dean’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Commerce (Urban Land) from the University of British Columbia, a commercial real estate professional appraiser designation (P App) (AACI) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

bcIMC’s Mortgage Department has over $4.93 billion in mortgage commitments and operates three separate mortgage funds (Fixed Term Fund, Construction Fund and Mezzanine Fund). In 2007, bcIMC financed roughly $1.4 billion in new mortgage commitments.

Penny Ballem, MD, FRCP has enjoyed a distinguished career in clinical practice, health administration, and research and teaching, the latter through her current position as a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Ballem graduated in 1978 from the Medical School of UBC. She then completed a fellowship in Hematology in 1983 and was an MRC Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1983 to 1985. She also holds a BSc from McGill University and a MSc in Immunology from the University of Western Ontario.

From 1985 to 1991, Dr. Ballem was Deputy Medical Director of the Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service for B.C and the Yukon. Following this, as an operational vice president, she participated in founding the BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre in Vancouver and its subsequent merger with BC Children’s Hospital. During these years, she was also instrumental in establishing the BC Centre of Excellence in Women’s Health, a national policy research centre.

In 2001, Dr. Ballem was appointed Deputy Minister of Health Services for the province of British Columbia and shortly thereafter she became Deputy Minister of Health Planning as well, positions she held until 2006. While she was Deputy Minister, Dr. Ballem also served as member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Institute for Health Information, a member of Canada Health Infoway, Liaison Deputy Minister for the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation, and Co-chair of the PanCanadian Public Health Surveillance Information System.

John D’Eathe is the President of Freehold Development Canada Ltd., a real estate development company he founded in 1980, which has developed industrial, residential and retail properties in BC and in Alberta. He has a lifetime of working experience in the full spectrum of real estate and finance in Europe, Asia and throughout North America. Mr. D’Eathe has been employed by Hong Kong Land Co, Grosvenor International, Canadian Freehold Developments and Penreal Advisors.

Mr. D’Eathe had been a director of Penreal Advisors from its inception in 1982 and was its chairman when Penreal was merged into Bentall Investment Management in 1997. At that time, he was elected Chairman of the new company and he continues to serve Bentall and several of its investor companies as a director.

Mr. D’Eathe holds, and has held, a wide variety of positions in civic, charitable and business organizations in Canada. He is particularly interested in Marineview Housing Society, an organization providing accommodation for the mentally disabled, of which he is Chairman. Mr. D’Eathe holds an LLB (Honours) from London University, and is an associate member of the Canadian Bar Association. In addition, he is a Fellow and Institution Prizeman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (United Kingdom), a Fellow of the Real Estate Institute of Canada and a Counselor of Real Estate (USA).

Maureen Farrow is President of Economap Inc. and during her career has specialized in applied economics, forecasting, and policy development. Her professional experience includes a wide range of public speaking engagements, spanning more than 30 years, on global economic trends, the new economy, Canadian and regional economics, demographics, competitiveness and the environment. In particular, her in-depth knowledge of the consumer products sector, retailing, metals and minerals sector, steel industry, insurance industry, financial markets, telecommunications, real estate and construction is widely recognized.

In addition to serving as a director of Bentall, Ms. Farrow is currently a director of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada, a member of the Investment Committee of the WCB of British Columbia and a member of the British North American Committee. Over the past decade, she has served as a director of a number of public companies as well as a public governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange. From 1994 to 1999, Ms. Farrow served as Executive Vice President for Loewen, Ondaatje, McCutcheon Limited. She was President of the C.D. Howe Institute for two years and was Partner and Chief Economist of the Cooper & Lybrand Consulting Group from 1980 to 1992.

In 1991, Ms. Farrow was made a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants. In 1996, she received the Commemorative Medal marking the 125th Anniversary of Confederation. Ms. Farrow holds a BSc (Honours) in Economics from Hull University in England and has undertaken post graduate work at York University, Ontario.

Rita-Rose Gagné is SITQ’s Vice-President, Legal Affairs, a position she has held since 2007.  In this capacity, Ms. Gagné  provides legal advice on real estate transaction structuring and negotiations. She also coordinates and supervises both outside counsel and SITQ’s in-house legal team and leads SITQ’s Corporate Department.

Ms. Gagné is a member of the Quebec Bar (Barreau du Québec).  She graduated from Laval University in 1986 with an LLB. Prior to joining SITQ in 2006 Ms. Gagné was a partner with Fasken Martineau in Montreal from 2001 to 2004, where she practised in the fields of litigation and real estate.  From 2004 to 2006 she directed legal affairs for Hydro Quebec Equipment and Société Énergie de la Baie James.  Ms. Gagné was a member of the Board of Oxfam Quebec from 1998 to 2008. 

Ron Ghitter, QC enjoyed a long and successful career in the legal profession and has a track record of distinguished service within the City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta and Canada. He founded the law firm of Ghitter & Company in 1960 and practiced as its Senior Partner specializing in real estate until his retirement in 1985. He received an Honourary LLD from the University of Calgary in 2001.

Mr. Ghitter was elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1971 and successfully ran again in 1975. He chaired a number of committees, including those examining Condominium Property Legislation as well as Tolerance and Understanding. He remains active in numerous organizations which protect and promote human rights both provincially and nationally, is a frequent lecturer on this topic and has been honoured on many occasions for his work in the area. Mr. Ghitter was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1993, where he served for seven years, during which he chaired the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources.

He founded and contributes annually to the Ron Ghitter Human Rights Award at the University of Calgary and is a director of a number of companies predominantly involved in the real estate industry, as well as the Chumir Foundation and Tennis Canada. Mr. Ghitter previously served as a director of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Calgary Junior Achievement, the Calgary Foundation and the Calgary Beautification Committee. He chaired the Mayor’s Task Force on Community and Family Violence as well as the Arts Festival Committee for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Jon Hagan has held a number of executive finance positions in the real estate industry. Beginning with Oxford in the 1970s, his career then took him to Cambridge Shopping Centres in 1980, where he eventually became Senior Vice-President, Corporate Group and Chief Financial Officer. He then joined the Empire Company Limited where he was Executive Vice-President, Finance and Corporate Development. From 1996 through 2000, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cadillac Fairview Corporation. His experience spans corporate strategy, corporate and real estate finance, real estate acquisition and disposition, compensation programs, computer systems, financial reporting, forecasting and budgeting.

Mr. Hagan is a chartered accountant. He holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan and attended the Executive MBA program at the University of Alberta. He is a director of First Capital Realty Inc. and Teranet Inc.

Andre Kuzmicki is Executive Director of the pioneering Program in Real Property at the Schulich School of Business, York University. His MBA courses in real estate finance and investment have earned him the School's highest teaching award. Over the ten years he has been associated with the Real Property program, his students have launched careers in the real estate industry in Toronto and other major markets around the world.

A BA and MBA graduate from McGill University, Mr. Kuzmicki worked for 20 years in real estate investment with the Canadian arm of the Prudential Insurance Company of America. During his final six years with Prudential, he was head of the real estate investment department. He is a past president of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties, Greater Toronto Chapter (NAIOP) and one of the Founding Fathers of the annual NAIOP REX Awards and Gala.

Mr. Kuzmicki serves on the boards of RealNet Canada Inc. and Chartwell Master Care Corporation, and is a member of the Investment Advisory Committee for the Maestro Student Residences Fund 1, LP. He formerly served on the boards of Apex Corporation and Artis REIT. Mr. Kuzmicki is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Nathalie Le Prohon most recently was President and General Manager of the Canadian unit of Nokia where she was responsible for all aspects of the Canadian mobile products organization including strategy development, marketing, sales and channel execution, operations, product testing and customer support. In this role, she also served as a Director of the Canadian Wireless Technology Association (CWTA).

Prior to that, Ms. Le Prohon was with IBM for almost 20 years, where she held a variety of positions in sales and marketing, operations and general management.

Ms. Le Prohon is currently an administrator and, in addition to serving on Bentall's board, she holds positions on the Boards of Hydro-Québec and the Québec Breast Cancer Foundation. She is involved in a number of fundraising initiatives, in particular for the Marie-Vincent Foundation and La Vittoria, a Québec Breast Cancer Foundation fundraising event. Ms. Le Prohon holds an MBA from Concordia University and a Bcomm from McGill University.

Gary Whitelaw joined Bentall Investment Management as President and Chief Executive Officer in 1998. In January 2002, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of Bentall. In 2008, he became Chief Executive Officer of Bental Group.

Prior to joining Bentall, Gary was Vice President and COO of Nexacor, Bell Canada’s real estate division, which managed a 25 million square foot portfolio for numerous BCE companies. Preceding Nexacor, Gary was Executive Vice President of Gentra Inc., a Canadian public real estate corporation listed on the TSX, where he was responsible for the management of Gentra’s real estate group. In addition, he spent eight years running various entities within the Mollenhauer Group of Companies, a mid-sized construction and development company active in Canada and the US.

Gary holds a degree in architecture from McGill University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is currently a director of RealPac - Real Property Association of Canada and was previously a director of NAREIM (National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers).

James Wright is a real estate corporate finance professional with extensive experience of capital markets in both Canada and the US. He has appeared as a guest speaker at numerous industry functions throughout North America, the UK and Asia. In the course of his career, he spent some 25 years with Citicorp, the last 13 of these acting as managing Director and Group Head of Citibank Canada’s Corporate Real Estate (CRE) Group.

Mr. Wright holds an AB from Princeton and an MBA and a JD from Cornell, and was accepted to the Ohio Bar Association. He has served as a First Lieutenant with the US Army.