Appointee Biographies

DANIEL MATHIESON

Dan Mathieson served 5 terms as Mayor and sat on municipal council since 1995. Dan has been a member on numerous boards and committees in healthcare, municipal affairs, law enforcement, athletics, not-for-profits, universities and colleges. He is a former Chair of the Ontario Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), Chair of the Stratford Police Services Board, a former member of the Board of Directors of Festival Hydro and Rhyzome Networks. In 2015 he was awarded the Alumni Award of Excellence from the Master of Public Administration program at Western University and was the 2016 Western University, Public Administration Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, lecturing on governance and innovation in public institutions. Dan holds the following: a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Guelph, a Master of Public Administration from Western University, an ICD.D from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and the Institute of Corporate Directors

BLAIR TAYLOR

Prior to joining the Ontario Municipal Board, Blair Taylor was a Senior Partner with the law firm of O'Connor, MacLeod Hanna LLP. He practiced in the municipal and development field representing both the public and private sectors. He is a former Assistant Director with Ombudsman Ontario. Mr. Taylor is also a former Director of both the Oakville Hospital Foundation and the Community Foundation of Oakville. He holds a Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Laws degree from York University.

NICK SPENSIERI

Nick Spensieri, of Aurora, is former Chief Administrative Officer and former Deputy City Manager of Infrastructure Development for the City of Vaughan. Nick’s community involvement has included serving as Vice-president of Operations for the Oak Ridges Soccer Club.

TRACEY COOK

Tracey Cook has been with the City of Toronto since 2012, having served as the Interim City Manager, Deputy City Manager (Infrastructure & Development Services) and Executive Director of the Municipal Licensing & Standards division. Prior to her work at the city, Ms. Cook held senior and executive positions in the private sector, where she led organization wide business system and process transformations and organizational restructuring. Ms. Cook began her professional career with the Toronto Police Service and ended her 18 years of service as a Detective in the Fraud Squad.

JEFF SCHELLING

Jeff Schelling is a legal counsel employed by the Ontario Public Service and works with the Office of the Provincial Land Development Facilitator on a part-time basis. He has over thirty years of experience in all areas of municipal law, land use planning, real estate, public administration, and commercial law. His previous positions include the Legal Director role within both the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. He also spent many years as a municipal lawyer with the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, most recently, as Regional Solicitor. After his undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, he studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in law from the University of Strathclyde.