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Corporate Governance


Board of Trustees Biographies

K. Rai Sahi is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Trust and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morguard Corporation. Mr. Sahi, FCPA, FCGA, has over 30 years of business experience in public and private corporations, including extensive experience in investing, financial reporting, standards, and policy covering a broad range of industries including insurance, commercial banking, manufacturing, transportation and automotive as well as real estate.  Mr. Sahi has received many distinctions, including the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada Fellowship Award (2009), Voice Achievement Award (Fellowship in the Indo-Canadian Community over critical enterprises, 2009) and Turnaround Entrepreneur of the Year (1994). In addition, Mr. Sahi is a ranked member of numerous prestigious business listings, including ‘‘The Top 25 Most Influential Figures in Canadian Golf’’ (The National Post) and one of ‘‘The Most Influential People in Golf’’ (Golf Inc.).

Avtar T. Bains is the President of Premise Properties Ltd., a boutique real estate firm. Mr. Bains is an established real estate professional with a career spanning over 30 years with Colliers International, where he was the Executive Vice President, National Investment Team when he departed in 2011. Mr. Bains brokered the sales of numerous notable properties across Canada, and he maintains strong relationships in local, national and international real estate markets. Mr. Bains is involved in various charitable and volunteer endeavors, and is a speaker for a number of organizations across Canada, including the Urban Land Institute, the Vancouver and Toronto Real Estate Forums and the University of British Columbia.

Dino Chiesa is Principal, Chiesa Group, commercial property investors, and was the Chair of Sienna Senior Living (formerly Leisureworld), one of Canada’s largest owners of long-term care facilities. Mr. Chiesa is past Chair of the Board of Directors of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a position he held from 2005 to 2012, and a board he had served as a member of since 2001. Prior to this, Mr. Chiesa served as Vice Chair of Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) and Chief Executive Officer of Residential Equities REIT. He also served as the Assistant Deputy Minister of Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Housing Corporation, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Mortgage Corporation and was with CMHC from 1975 to 1987. Mr. Chiesa also participates on the boards of various community-based organizations, is the past Chair of the board of directors of Create TO, is past Chair for Villa Charities Inc., sits on the Advisory Board for the Schulich School of Business at York University, and sits on the President’s Expert Advisory Committee on Real Estate and Development Strategy for Ryerson University. Mr. Chiesa holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from McMaster University.

Mel Leiderman, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D, is a senior consultant of Lipton LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants. He has over 30 years’ experience specializing in providing advisory services, financing, tax, estate and strategic planning. Mr. Leiderman consults to a broad range of clients in the real estate sector, including commercial, industrial and residential property owners, property and subdivision developers, residential and commercial construction companies and property management companies. Mr. Leiderman has completed the Directors Education Program (ICD.D) and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He served on the board of directors and audit committee of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, a company listed on the TSX and New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Leiderman is a former member of the North York General Hospital Foundation Professional Advisory Committee, a member of the Discipline Committee of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants from 2002 to 2011, a member of the Accounting Standards Board (CICA) Private Enterprise Advisory Committee from 2010 to 2013, and a member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario from 2011 to 2016. 

Frank Munsters is a corporate director and senior executive with over forty years’ experience in the finance and real estate industries. Mr. Munsters spent much of his career with the Royal Bank of Canada, where he rose to the position of Vice President, Corporate Banking/National Accounts. Mr. Munsters joined Morguard in 1994 and served as Vice President, Credit and Banking from April 1, 1996 until his retirement on July 2, 2010.

Bruce K. Robertson has served as Vice President, Investments of The Woodbridge Company Limited since September 2013. Mr. Robertson previously served as a principal of Grandview Capital, a Canadian merchant bank and prior thereto, as Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., a specialty asset management company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the TSX. Mr. Robertson received his Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Queens’s University in 1988.

William O. Wallace has been an entrepreneur and business owner for more than 20 years, currently owning four automotive dealerships in the Greater Toronto Area. Mr. Wallace has acted as a director and as President of the General Motors Dealer Association of Toronto, he was the Chairman of the General Motors Dealer Communications Team (National Council) and recently completed his term as the Canadian representative on the United States Chevrolet Car and Truck Advisory Council. Mr. Wallace received his Bachelor of Economics degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and his bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Northwood University (Michigan).