Vice Chair Appointments & Reappointments

We have a number of exciting announcements to make regarding vice chair appointments. 

First, Rene-John Nicolas has been reappointed to the Board for a term of five years, effective April 11, 2026.

Second, five new vice chairs have been appointed, each for four-year terms:

• Kaity Cooper, who comes to the Board from her role as General Counsel to the Hospital Employees’ Union
• Kas Pavanantharajah, who comes from representing unions as an associate at Black Burke Mayor
• Don Richards, who most recently comes from a brief stint with the BC Nurses Union, but prior to that, was a partner at Farris for 30 years
• Sherry Shir, who most recently comes from the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal, but before that represented unions with Labour Rights Law
• Matthew Sutcliffe, who comes to the Board from his role as National Director, Employment and Labour Relations, for LifeLabs LP

A copy of the Order In Council (OIC) appointment can be found here. While the OIC takes effect immediately, each of the five newly appointed vice chairs will officially join the Board over the next couple of months.

Finally, though we initially posted three vacancies, five vice chairs were ultimately appointed because two of our existing vice chairs have elected not to seek reappointment when their terms expire. As we previously announced, Carmen Hamilton has joined the Board’s mediation department as a Mediator, although she will wear two hats until her term expires in July, 2026. Gurleen S. Sahota intends to return to practice when his term expires at the end of March, 2026.