The Waterfront Regeneration Trust Board of Directors
Hon. David Crombie, P.C., O.C., OOnt.
David Crombie is a former City of Toronto Mayor and Member of Parliament. He founded the Waterfront Regeneration Trust as a charity in 1999 with support from waterfront communities as a way to continue the extraordinary work begun through the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront and Waterfront Regeneration Trust agency. At the core of this work was the creation of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail--one of David’s finest legacies.
Crombie was elected to Toronto’s city council in 1970, and became Mayor of Toronto in 1972, ushering in an era of socially responsible urban development inspired by thinkers such as Jane Jacobs.
Crombie was enormously popular as mayor, being re-elected in 1974 and 1976 and repeatedly described in the media as the city’s "tiny, perfect mayor".
He left City Hall in 1978 to move to federal politics, winning a by-election as a Progressive Conservative candidate that gave him a seat in the House of Commons. Crombie served as Minister of Health and Welfare in the minority government of Prime Minister Joe Clark.
When the PC party came back to power in the 1984 election, Crombie was appointed Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, and later Secretary of State and Minister of Multiculturalism. After retiring from federal office in 1988, David Crombie was appointed by the Government of Canada as Commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront. In 1989 the Commission received an additional mandate from the Provincial Government.
From 1992 to 1995 David Crombie headed the Waterfront Regeneration Trust Agency, established by the Province of Ontario to implement the 81 recommendations in the Commission’s final report. In 1999 David Crombie founded the Waterfront Regeneration Trust Corporation, a charity continuing the work of the Agency, with a focus on the completion, expansion and promotion of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail as catalyst for waterfront revitalization.
In 1994, Crombie appointed by the Government of Ontario as the Rouge Park Facilitator to work with partners to develop a managment structure and funding framework for the Rouge Park.
Crombie was appointed Ryerson’s first chancellor in 1994 when the polytechnic was granted university status. He served in that role until 1999.
Throughout the years he served in various advisory capacities to city and provincial governments relating to urban issues including a stint as CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute.
In 2004, Crombie was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2012, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario.
D. Keith Laushway
Keith Laushway is a retired business and tax lawyer with over 40 years of experience in private practice. His areas of expertise include corporate acquisitions, divestitures and reorganizations, as well as corporate and personal tax planning and appeals. He has extensive experience in providing advice to businesses in a wide range of industries and to numerous registered charities. Over the years he has served on the Board of a number of non-for-profit organizations. He is also an avid hiker who has travelled extensively to enjoy some of the world’s finest trails.
Hon. Pauline Browes, P.C.
Pauline Browes was elected as the Member of Parliament in 1984 representing the riding of Scarborough Centre in the Canadian House of Commons. She was appointed to the federal Cabinet as Minister of State for the Environment in 1990. She served in two further portfolios Minister of State for Employment and Immigration as well as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
Pauline Browes is one of five Canadian representatives appointed by Environment Minister Peter Kent to the Joint Public Advisory Committee for the Council of Environmental Co-operation. This commission was established in 1993 when the NAFTA was signed to deal with North American Environmental issues. She was Vice Chair of the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal.
Pauline was one of the founding members of the Save the Rouge Park Alliance Board and has been a passionate champion of protecting and restoring the sensitive ecosystems along the Rouge River. Her work resulted in the creation of Canada’s first Urban National Park in the Rouge Valley.
Pauline’s also has a family century farm in the village of Harwood on the south shore of Rice Lake.
Ann Mulvale
Ann Mulvale has been active in municipal (both regional and local) politics for over 20 years served as Mayor of the Town of Oakville (1988-2006). She is an active volunteer in many organizations and a successful community fundraiser. Ann Mulvale’s distinguished community and public service include the following: Executive Director of the Oakville United Way from 1986-1989, committee member on the Mayors and Regional Chairs Committee for the Greater Toronto Area, the Greater Toronto Services Board, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s Smart Growth Panel , the Central Ontario Smart Growth Panel, the Steering Committee of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (as president 2000-04), Board member for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Ann was Oakville’s first-ever recipient of the Athena award recognizing individuals who strive towards the highest levels of professional accomplishment while advancing the opportunity for the development of women. Ann has served on the Boards of a number of charities and not-for-profits including the Athena Foundation, Ontario’s Promise Wellspring, Oakville Community Foundation, Oakville Hydro, Oakville Economic Development Alliance.
Marlaine Koehler
Marlaine Koehler is the Executive Director of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust. She has spent the past 30 years developing and leading the innovative partnership regenerating the Great Lakes waterfront through the creation of the spectacular Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.
Under her leadership, the Trust has garnered significant public/ private investment in the waterfront and brought together an innovative and active community partnership of 155 communities, First Nations, and NGOs.
Together the Trust and its partners are leading a movement to regenerate and revitalize Canada’s Great Lakes.
Marlaine serves on a number of committees and minister’s working groups related to trails, cycling and waterfront projects.
To reach Marlaine email: mk@wrtrust.com
David Meyer
David is a graduate of Civil Engineering Technology. He oversees WRT programs including expansion and wayfinding programs for the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, Greenbelt Route and Lake Ontario Watershed Cycling Network. This includes 4 major Great Lakes Waterfront Trail expansions on the Lake Huron North Channel, Lake Huron, Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He comes to the Trust after working with the Town of Grimsby, where he assisted with the development of their Greenbelt Route.
David is an outdoors and nature enthusiast and occasional adventure racer, with a particular love of paddling, hiking, and cross country cycling. He one day hopes to complete a ride from Hamilton to Thunder Bay, a goal which his work on the northern Trail expansions will help accomplish.
To contact David, email: projects@wrtrust.com
Jo Sharland
Jo is a dedicated swimmer, runner and cyclist who loves to explore by bike. She has extensive experience as a senior manager for a wide range of major sporting events including running and cycling. She is the Tour Director for the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure, an annual fully supported recreational bike ride of the Waterfront Trail, and the cornerstone of the Trust’s public engagement program.
She works with community partners, corporations, service and bike clubs to deliver a safe tour brimming with WOW experiences of the Wonderful Ontario Waterfront. Jo is also responsible for managing the Trust’s volunteer program.
She has extensive work experience in sport, media, tourism and project management.
To reach Jo: email tourdirector@wrtrust.com