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Appointee Biographies

Ontario Human Rights Commission

JEWEL AMOAH

Jewel Amoah is a Human Rights & Equity Advisor for Halton District School Board, and a former lecturer at the University of the West Indies. Her community involvement includes serving as Public Legal Education Coordinator for the University Rights Advocacy Program (U-RAP UWI).

VIOLETTA IGNESKI

Violetta Igneski is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at McMaster University. Her research and teaching interests are focused on ethics, justice and human rights. Her professional and community involvement has aimed at advocating for equity and justice both within the university, including faculty, students and research participants, and more broadly community members. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto.

RANDALL ARSENAULT

is a Police Constable for the Toronto Police Service. Randall’s community involvement includes serving as a Volunteer for the Greenwood Coalition.

GARY PIETERS

Gary Pieters has been an educator for over 25 years and is currently a principal with Toronto District School Board (TDSB). He is a social justice champion whether as president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) from 2012-2015; advising the provincial government on Equity in Education as a member of the Ontario Ministry of Education, Minister's Advisory Council on Special Education (MACSE); or as a member of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) Modernization in Measurement Advisory Panel. He is also Vice-Chair and a Member of the Toronto Islands Residential Community Trust Corporation. His extensive knowledge base and experience are leveraged through community building, youth engagement, through an equity, inclusion, diversity, anti-racist, anti-oppression and dismantling anti-Black racism lens.

BRIAN EYOLFSON

Brian Eyolfson is a lawyer who practices alternative dispute resolution, primarily in the area of human rights. He has a B.Sc. in psychology and an LL.B. from Queen’s University, and an LL.M., specializing in administrative law, from Osgoode Hall Law School. He was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1994. Brian was a Commissioner with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, from September 2016, to June 2019. Prior to that, Brian served as Acting Deputy Director in the Legal Services Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. He was a full-time Vice-Chair with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, between 2007 and 2016. Brian was also a Senior Staff Lawyer with Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, where he practiced human rights, Aboriginal and administrative law, and he previously served as Counsel to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Brian is a member of Couchiching First Nation in Treaty #3 territory.

SANDI BELL

Sandi Bell serves as a member (part-time) for Patient and Family Advisory Council, and is President of EMPOWWORD Inc. Sandi’s community involvement includes serving as a Chair for Hospital Standards Committee.

PATRICIA DEGUIRE

Patricia DeGuire, called to the bar in 1993, is an advocate for access to justice, equality, and equity. She is known for her passion for the Rule of Law, public service, education, and mentorship. She is a Deputy Judge of the SCJ, Small Claims Court Div. She is an ADR practitioner. She was an adjudicator for the IRB, Appeal Division; the HRTO and the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal. She was an LAO and JusticeNet Board Member. She was an OBA and CBA Council Member and served in many women’s issues and diversity.