SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE - Canadian Paralympic ...

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE

A. PARALYMPIAN
(defined as having competed at a Paralympic Games)
☒ Yes or ☐ No

B. CAREER
List your 3 most recent positions of employment (paid/volunteer) below:

1. Legal Counsel, Office of the Chief Division, Calgary Police Service;
2. Associate Litigation Lawyer, McCarthy Tétrault
3. Articling Student, McCarthy Tétrault

C. BOARD EXPERIENCE (not-for-profit, for profit)
List your 3 most recent Board positions below:

1. CNIB Foundation Board of Directors: I currently chair the Risk Committee and serve as a
   member of the Strategy Committee. I was the Chair of the Investment Committee for
   two years, and also served as a member of the Finance and Risk Management
   Committee and the Advocacy Committee. In these roles, I have assisted CNIB in moving
   to an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer model for overseeing the organization’s
   investments on a day-to-day basis. In the risk area, I have assisted the organization in re-
   designing its risk register to account for risks in its regular operations and helped to
   build a special register which addresses risks unique to the current Covid-19 pandemic.
   Since the Risk Committee was a new committee formed in 2018, I assisted in the drafting
   of the Terms of Reference and in developing a risk assessment tool to be used by staff in
   assessing both the frequency and severity of risks that may arise when the organization
   assesses whether to offer specific programs to the public.

2. Vice-President, International Blind Sports Association: I have held this position since
   2017 after serving as Special Advisor to the President for two years. In these roles, I have
   completed a restructuring of IBSA’s governance structure by redesigning IBSA’s
   Constitution and Bylaws. I have drafted resolutions to be passed by the members at two
   general assemblies. I have assisted IBSA’s sports committees in making amendments to
   their sports rules and in making their rules clear and concise. I have resolved disputes
   between members with competing interests by both acting as an arbitrator and in
   deciding applications related to changes in athletes’ nationality. I chair the Governance
   Committee and serve as a member of the Legal and Ethics Committee. I also chair two
   ad hoc committees to implement a new classification system for the sport of Judo and to
   include athlete representation on IBSA’s Executive Board and in its operations generally.
   I have also attended the IPC General Assembly to present IBSA’s position on the IPC’s
   governance review process.

3. CPC Board of Directors: I have served as a director for CPC since 2017. In this role, I have
   served as a member of the Governance Committee and chaired the Stakeholder
   Relations Committee. The Stakeholder Relations Committee was an ad hoc committee
   that was established to survey the CPC membership and other stakeholders to identify
   CPC’s strengths and areas for improvement. The results of the survey have been
   incorporated into CPC’s operational plans for this quadrennial and will be used to inform
   the development of the next Strategic Plan. I have assisted CPC staff in the
   implementation of the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent Abuse and Maltreatment in
   Sport, (UCCMS). This work has involved preparing commentaries for CPC staff on the
   significance of various provisions and recommending amendments to the UCCMS itself
   and in the design of the organizational structure of the entity that will administer
   disputes under the UCCMS. Finally, I served as the Legal Officer for the Canadian Team
   at the 2018 Paralympic Games in Korea.

D. INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNITY (Municipal, Provincial, National)
List your 5 most significant community contributions below:

1. I work for a municipal organization professionally, In that role, I negotiate significant
   contracts and memoranda of understanding with other municipalities, the Government
   of Alberta and the federal government.
2. I have defended over 100 human rights disputes between my organization and others
   over the past 20 years and represented my organization in several significant
   administrative law disputes, primarily in the area of police discipline.
3. I have made several presentations over the years to the Government of Alberta,
   including to the Conservative Party Caucus, on amendments to the Blind Persons Rights
   Act.
4. In 2012, I received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Premier of
   Alberta for my professional contributions.
5. I have assisted the CNIB in preparing applications before the CRTC regarding the
   accessibility of Canada’s telecommunications system from a blindness perspective. I
   have also provided drafting assistance to CNIB on its submissions to the federal
   government on the design of regulations under the Canadians With Disabilities Act.

E. INVOLVEMENT IN SPORT COMMUNITY (Local, Provincial, National, International)
List your 5 most significant sport community contributions below:

1. I have described many of my sport contributions in sections c (2) and c (3) above.
2. I serve as a member At Large on the Alberta Amateur Speed Skating Association’s Board
   of Directors. In that role, I am assisting the organization with governance matters and in
   implementing the UCCMS. I have also provided extensive assistance in designing a job
   description for the organization’s new technical director position.
3. Vice-President, Calgary Speed Skating Association: In this role, I have assisted the

organization in resolving membership disputes, restructured the organization’s bylaws
    and in completing other day-to-day tasks assigned to me by the President.

F. OTHER
(e.g., achievements/awards/previous involvement with the CPC or para sport community)

In addition to serving as a member of the CPC Board of Directors, I also acted as the Legal
Officer at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

G. LEADERSHIP

a. What leadership skills can you demonstrate? Please provide examples for every skill you
   identify.

•   Analytical thinking: I worked in partnership with the CEO to produce commentaries on
    several versions of the UCCMS and on the proposed structure of the process for
    administering the UCCMS which have formed a good portions of CPC’s overall
    recommendations to government and other stakeholders.
•   Coaching: I provide support to five other lawyers in the organization where I work by
    assisting them in resolving complex legal issues that touch on several different areas of
    law and in managing interpersonal conflicts with senior management.
•   Inclusion: I have recently been named to serve on an anti-racism committee which
    consists of members of the Calgary Police Service and members of the Calgary
    community to implement an anti-racism strategy for the Calgary Police Service. I was
    specifically added to this committee to offer of my legal expertise and previous
    experience in working with community-based groups. I also provide advice on human
    rights and inclusion issues to my employer on a regular basis which involves engaging
    others to implement strategies to prevent future complaints.
•   Risk Management: I have extensive experience in identifying and managing risk. I
    manage all of the civil disputes between my employer and third parties and make all of
    the recommendations on which matters should be settled or defended. I have also
    worked with other colleagues and staff to developed risk registers and overseen how
    they are administered at a governance level.
•   Teamwork: I have served on several boards where members have different perspectives,
    cultural backgrounds and experiences. These experiences are more fully described in
    sections c (1) through c (3) above. From these experiences I have learned to be more
    patient and understanding of the views of others. In leading classification consultation
    meetings for IBSA I have specifically adopted a strategy to allow all stakeholders to share
    their views.

b. What personal or professional experience do you have, if any, with people living with a
   disability?

I am totally blind and have been for life. I have also served on the board of several disability
organizations including the Canadian Blind Sports Association, the International Blind Sports
Federation, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the CNIB.

H. CV/RÉSUMÉ

☒ A copy of my CV résumé is attached (maximum two (2) pages).

ROBERT J. FENTON
                                 235 Millrise Drive SW
                              Calgary, Alberta T2Y 2S5
                                 Phone: 403-466-1352
                         E-mail: RobertFenton103@gmail.com

EDUCATION
2019: Calgary Police Service, Calgary AB: LDP 200 Certificate
2015: University of Calgary and Calgary Police Service, Calgary, AB: Executive
      Leadership Certificate
2011: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB: Certificate in Professional Management
2011: Calgary Police Service and Canadian Police College, Calgary, AB: Senior
      Police Administration Certificate
1992: Queen's University, Kingston, ON: Faculty of Law, L.L.B.
1989: Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON: Bachelor of Arts (Political Science)

LEGAL WORK EXPERIENCE

March 2001 to Present
Calgary Police Service, Calgary, AB: Legal Counsel, Office of the Chief
February 1994 to February 2001
McCarthy Tétrault, Toronto, ON: Associate civil litigation lawyer

June 1992 to June 1993
McCarthy Tétrault, Toronto, ON: Articling Student
June 1991 to August 1991:
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General Constitutional Law and Policy Division:
Summer Law Student

RECENT MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS
2020 - Present:     Member of the CNIB Foundation’s Strategy and Programming
                    Committee
2020 - Present:     Chair of the International Blind Sports Federation’s Research
                    Implementation Committee to Establish a New Vision Classification
                    System for the Sport of Judo
2019 - Present:     Chair of the Risk Committee of the CNIB Foundation
2019 - Present:     Member of the Board of Directors of the Alberta Amateur Speed
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ROBERT J. FENTON

                     Skating Association
2018 - 2020:         Chair of the CNIB Foundation Investment Committee
2018 - Present:      Vice-President, Calgary Speed Skating Association
2017 - Present:      Vice President, International Blind Sports Federation, Chair of the
                     Governance Committee
2017 - 2018:         Legal Services Officer, Canadian Paralympic team for the 2018
                     Paralympic Games – Pyeongchang, South Korea
2017 - Present:      Member of the Canadian Paralympic Committee Board of Directors,
                     and Member of the Governance Committee and Chair of the
                     Stakeholder Relations Committee
2016 - 2018:         Member of the CNIB National Board of Directors, Member of the
                     Finance and Risk Management Committee, and member of the
                     Advocacy and Foundation Programming Committee
2015 - 2017:         Advisor to the President and Member of the Executive Board,
                     International Blind Sports Federation
2012 - 2017:         President, Canadian Blind Sports Association
2011 - 2012:         Sports Technical Director, Canadian Blind Sports Association
2001 - Present:      Member of the Alberta Bar
1994 - Present:      Member of the Ontario Bar

RELEVANT AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

2012:          Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal Recipient

1992:          C. Douglas McLeod Scholarship for Constitutional and Administrative Law

               The Gavel Award for distinguished service and contribution to the Queen's
               Law School Community

               The Remedies Course Prize

1986 - 1989: Recipient of the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award for Excellence in
             Academics, Athletics and Community Service

1984:          Member of the Canadian Swim Team at the International Games for the
               Disabled, the predecessor to the Paralympic Games

I have also received five STARS Employment Awards from the Calgary Police

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