Appointee Biographies

IAN MCSWEENEY

became a member of the Tribunal in 2015 and was appointed Tribunal Chair on September 13, 2017. Ian is a retired partner of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. At Osler, he chaired the firm’s Pension & Employee Benefits Department for many years and practiced exclusively in that area for most of his 35 plus year legal career. In 2016 Ian received the OBA Award of Excellence in Pensions & Benefits Law. Most recently, Ian served as Chair of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) prior to FSCO’s transition into the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) on June 8th, 2019. Ian is currently a member of the Headwaters Healthcare Centre Quality Committee and is a member of the Orangeville Police Services Board. He has an Honors business degree from Ivey (HBA, 1975) and obtained his law degree from The University of Western Ontario (LLB, 1979).

BERYL (BETHUNE) WHISTON

Bethune Whiston was appointed a member of the Financial Services Tribunal on December 17, 2013 and appointed Vice-Chair of the Tribunal on April 11, 2018. Ms. Whiston is a Vice-President in the Retirement Solutions and Regulatory, Governance and Legal Practices of Morneau Shepell and consults, speaks, teaches and writes internationally on pension plan issues. With over 30 years of experience, Ms. Whiston manages the company’s pension & benefits consulting legal team in Toronto and o-manages the Toronto regulatory practice, a large multi-specialty team of people working on over 180 pension plan wind-ups and restructurings in Canada. Ms. Whiston has held leadership positions on several committees and councils in the industry and coordinates publications of the Morneau Shepell Handbook of Canadian Pension and Benefits Plan. Ms. Whiston manages the company’s pension & benefits consulting legal team in Toronto and co-manages the Toronto regulatory practice, a large multi-specialty team of people working on over 180 pension plan wind-ups and restructurings in Canada. Ms. Whiston has held leadership positions on several committees and councils in the industry and coordinates publication of the Morneau Shepell Handbook of Canadian Pension and Benefit Plans. Ms. Whiston holds a B.A. from Western University and a J.D. from the University of Toronto.

MARTIN GUEST

Martin Guest was appointed to the Financial Services Tribunal in December 2021. Previously, he served as General Counsel Canada for Manulife, with responsibility for all legal and compliance activities for its Canadian Division, including banking, group benefits, insurance, investments, and pensions. Prior to joining Manulife, Martin was a partner at Torys LLP. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at Fidelity Investments Canada. He began his career at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Trinity College (BA, 1984) and the Faculty of Law (LL.B., 1987); he is also qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA, 1996) and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (2018).

RUTH WAHL

Ruth Wahl is a senior partner with the Business Law Group of the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. As Chair of the Firm’s national research team, she provide opinions, advice and analysis in a broad range of cases involving court, tribunal and arbitral proceedings, financial institutions compliance, pension disputes, insolvency proceedings, debt finance, corporate M&A, and special situations. With a focus on legal theory, she advises on strategy, innovation, risk assessment and compliance and prepares arguments for disputes.

MARTIN GUEST

Martin Guest was Senior Vice President, General Counsel Canada at Manulife, a leading international financial services group, headquartered in Toronto, providing financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups, and institutions. Prior to this role, Martin was a Partner at Torys LLP, a business law firm. Previously, Martin led the legal function at Fidelity Canada; he began his legal career at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt.

CAROLINE HUNT

Caroline Hunt is Head of Finance Technology Transformation, Bank of Montreal. She is responsible for modernizing process and technology to support the role of Finance as a strategic partner in driving business performance. She is a member of the Chief Financial Officer’s Senior Executive Team, and the Bank’s Leadership Council on Inclusion and Diversity. Ms Hunt has been at the Bank of Montreal since 1996, in increasingly more senior roles in accounting and finance. Ms. Hunt received her LLB from the University of Western Ontario in 1980 and her Chartered Accountant designation in 1984. She was made a Fellow of the Ontario CPA Institute in 2013.

JANE WAECHTER

Jane Waechter has over 25 years of litigation and financial services industry experience. She has led in-house litigation teams at two banks, has conducted public interest litigation, and is a former partner at a national law firm. Ms. Waechter has appeared as counsel before tribunals and at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She has served on a securities industry disciplinary tribunal and has extensive experience on not-for-profit boards. She is a CPA,CA.

ED SKWAREK

Ed Skwarek is currently Vice President of legal and regulatory affairs at The Financial Advisors Association of Canada. Mr. Skwarek holds a B.A from York University, an LL.B. from the University of Windsor and LL.M.’s from the London School of Economics and Political Science (the LSE).

ANTHONY FREDERICKS

Anthony Fredericks is the CEO of A.M. Fredericks Underwriting Management Limited. He is a member of the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario, the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers' Association, and the Ontario Risk and Insurance Management Society. Anthony is a 50% owner of the law firm Secure Legal Solutions

CHRISTOPHER PORTNER

Christopher Portner was a Partner at Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP for 33 years. From 2011 to 2017, he was a Commissioner of the Ontario Securities Commission, and for the last two years of his appointment, served as Lead Director of the Commission's Board of Directors. Mr. Portner's community involvement includes being Director and Chair of the Governance Committee of the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation and former Director of the Hospital for Sick Children.

GARNET FENN, MBA, ICD.D, FCPA, FCA

Garnet Fenn is formerly the Global Group Assistant Treasurer of DaimlerChrysler LLC and Cerberus-Chrysler in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer of Canadian operations. He was the Chief Compliance Officer of the company’s global funded trusts including its pension plans and Financial Controller of benefit plans. He was a member of the Global Benefits and Investment Strategy Committees and interfaced with several operational groups. Mr. Fenn is a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (Ontario, FCA, FCMA, FCGA and Life Member) and Certified Public Accountant (Michigan) and has completed CPA Canada’s tax specialty programs. He is a life member of the Chartered Financial Analysts Institute, Canadian Securities Institute, the Institute of Corporate Directors and is a Fellow Chartered Governance professional granted through the Canadian Governance Institute of Canada. Mr. Fenn is a former Commissioner and Board member with the Ontario Securities Commission in Toronto, Ontario and was the Chair of its Audit and Finance and Risk Committees. This role included policy development, adjudication and board governance. He was also board member at ENWIN Utilities in Windsor, Ontario where he has served as Board Chair and previously the Chair of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee and was a member of the Executive Committee. He was recently appointed by Windsor City Council to Windsor Canada Utilities, the operational holding company for utilities in the Greater-Windsor area. He is actively involved in several not-for-profit organizations and has been an instructor at the Odette Business School for over 25 years. He was most recently appointed as an adjudicator with the Financial Services Tribunal by an Ontario Order in Council in January 2023.

VERLYN FRANCIS

Verlyn Francis practices adjudication, arbitration, mediation, and dispute prevention in commercial, civil, employment, estates, professional discipline, and cross-cultural disputes. She has taught ethics, administrative tribunals practice and procedure, arbitration, mediation, and negotiation up to the master’s level in law schools and business schools. She also publishes and presents on arbitration, mediation, ethics, the impact of culture on conflict, dispute prevention, and process design. In addition to her independent work, Ms. Francis is a member of several rosters including CPR’s Panels of Distinguished Neutrals, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, National Bar Association - ADR Section, New York State Unified Court System, New York State Bar Association, and Ontario Police Arbitration and Adjudication Commission. She earned her J.D. and LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School and practised law for over 20 years in Toronto before focusing on practising and teaching ADR.

KATHRYN BUSH

Kathryn Bush, of Toronto, is a Partner at Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP. Her community involvement has included serving as Chair of the National Policy Committee for The Association of Canadian Pension Management.

HAMISH DUNLOP

Hamish Dunlop, of Toronto, is a former Managing Principal at Morneau Shepell and former Vice-President of Policy, Communications and Governance at the OPSEU Pension Trust. He is also a former Senior Policy Advisor for Private Sector Pension Policy for the Ontario Ministry of Finance. His community involvement has included serving as a member of the International Pension and Employee Benefits Association.

EMILY COLE

Emily Cole is an experienced adjudicator and a certified mediator with expertise in financial services. She is a retired lawyer, with extensive trial experience prosecuting and defending clients in complex corporate commercial and securities litigation. Emily currently chairs hearings and writes decisions in discipline cases for the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and the Ontario Police Adjudication and Arbitration Commission. Emily holds a B.A. from McGill University, a J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School and was admitted to the New York State bar. She also has an ICD.D designation and taught Director and Officer liability at the Rotman School of Management.