board of directors

Our Board of Directors

Our Honourary Board
Environmental Defence's distinguished Honourary Board supports our efforts to protect the environment and human health. We're pleased to count these well-known Canadians among our supporters.

Robert Davies has been practising architecture in Toronto for over 30 years. He is a Principal at Montgomery Sisam Architects, a firm working mostly in the not-for-profit or public sector designing hospitals, missions, treatment centres, schools, convents, retirement centres and the odd bridge or two. As architects they know all to well how important it is to design buildings to be sustainable in a fragile world undergoing profound environmental change. In addition the his volunteer role at Environmental Defence, he is also on the board of Cape Farewell, a North American charity that promotes a cultural response to climate change.

Eric Stevenson was born in Montreal in 1958. He has an Honours BA in History from Middlebury College, Vermont and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario). From the mid 1980s, Eric worked for nearly a decade as an investment banker in London England, primarily as a vice-president of corporate finance for Barclays Bank. Since 1995, Eric has been based in Toronto and has actively led a private equity syndicate whose main investments have been in shipowning – in refrigerated cargo vessels, bulk carriers and product tankers - and in ship management software. His principal interest outside business is nature conservation, and he serves as a Director of several non-profit organizations dedicated to nature or the environment, including Environmental Defence and the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

Margaret Slaght is a freelance writer and was for many years an award-winning producer/director of television documentaries broadcast by CBC, History Television and others. She has long been interested in environmental issues and has been an active supporter of Environmental Defence.

Bruce Lourie is one of Canada’s leading environmental thinkers and co-author of the best selling book Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health. He is President of the Ivey Foundation, a private charitable foundation in Canada, a Director of the Ontario Power Authority and a Director of the San Francisco-based Consultative Group on Biological Diversity. He is an honorary director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and a member of World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Advisory Committee. Bruce is a founder of a number of for profit and non-profit organizations including Summerhill Group, a prominent consulting company in Toronto; the Sustainability Network, a highly regarded capacity building organization; and the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network. He has acted on numerous international, federal, provincial and municipal bodies advising on environmental and energy policy issues. Bruce has degrees in Geology, Environmental Studies and a near-complete doctorate.

Fatima Crerar leads Summerhill's Marketing Department as well as the Summerhill Foundation, focused on engaging consumers in meaningful action. Since 2004, she has helped to take many of Summerhill's public engagement programs to scale, as well as leading the development of several new programs. Fatima has a passion for empowering people to act and a knack for creating unlikely partnerships. She has two terrific kids, a close-knit family and a happy little home in Toronto.

Bruce Best is a human rights lawyer, pursuing social justice and equality through law reform and litigation. He represents clients facing discrimination before courts and tribunals, is a mentor and resource to other lawyers across the province, and is a regular speaker at legal education programs. He is currently Senior Litigation Counsel at the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. A former Board President, he has been a Director since 1998. He is an avid cyclist and lousy but persistent runner, and lives with his spouse and two-year old twin girls in Toronto.

Robert Eisenberg is the founding partner of Intraurban Projects and York Heritage Properties, and has received commendations and awards from the Toronto Historical Board, Heritage Toronto, Trade Associations and the City of Toronto. Robert has long been involved with environmental issues in Ontario, co-founding and first president of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, sitting as a director of Nature Ontario and on several other boards serving to protect Ontario’s natural heritage. Robert Eisenberg has been involved with many other community related activities. He is a past director of the United Way and currently  serves as president of Sistema Toronto Academy and as a director of Jacob’s Ladder.

Jennifer Ivey is a director of the Ivey Foundation. She is currently serving on the Governor's Board of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Campaign Cabinet for the Research and Learning Tower for the Hospital for Sick Children.

Trish McMaster was born and raised in Montreal. She graduated from Queen’s University and had a brief career in banking before moving on to advertising. Trish had a successful seventeen year career in media buying and planning at several major Canadian agencies. By 1997 her growing interest in health and disillusionment with consumerism inspired her to leave advertising and return to school to become a Registered Massage Therapist and Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Trish has owned and operated her own successful massage therapy practice for the past ten years. As a passionate gardener, naturalist and food lover she has developed an avid interest in the environment and sustainable living; she is a current supporter of Environmental Defence, Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy, CPAWS, WWF, and IFAW among others.

Michael Perley has spent nearly 35 years in the field of environmental and public health advocacy. After a short stint as Executive Director of the Canadian Environmental Law Research Foundation, he helped found the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain in 1980, and was the Coalition’s co-Executive Coordinator until 1990. The Coalition successfully lobbied for reductions in acid rain-causing emissions in both the United States and Canada during that time. Michael joined the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco as Director in 1993. On behalf of the Ontario medical and public health communities, he has led the campaign’s efforts to help pass the Ontario Tobacco Control Act – which was proclaimed in 1994 – and the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which came into force in May 2006. Most recently, his work contributed to passage of the supporting Smoke-Free Ontario by Reducing Contraband Tobacco Act, which received Royal Assent in June 2011. As well as being devoted birdwatchers, Michael, his wife Jayne and their son Will are Georgian Bay fanatics, who can usually be found during as much of each summer as possible in Nares Inlet.

Tom Rand spent a number of years as a successful software entrepreneur. He now focuses his efforts on carbon mitigation. Tom is active in Cleantech venture capital, technology incubation and commercialization, and public advocacy. He is Cleantech Practice, Lead Advisor at the MaRS Discovery District and sits on the board of a number of clean energy companies and organizations. He is also the Managing Partner of the newly established MaRS Cleantech Fund, and co-developer of the low-carbon hotel development Planet Traveler. Tom holds a BSc in electrical engineering, an MSc in philosophy of science, and an MA and PhD in philosophy. Tom is an Action Canada Fellow. He is the author of Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit, and the upcoming book Hot Water.

Jeffrey Singer is Partner and member of Management Committee of Stikeman Elliott LLP whose practice focuses on domestic and international M&A, corporate finance and private equity related transactions. He has been recognized as a leading practitioner by The Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory, IFLR’s Guide to the World’s Leading Capital Markets Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in Canada, and PLC Which Lawyer? Jeffrey is a widely published legal author, often featured in Canadian and international media. He is a contributing editor of the International Finance & Law Review and Federated Press’ Corporate Financing and Creative Financing. He has spoken domestically and internationally on many subjects relating to Canadian M&A and corporate finance, and has lectured on these topics at U of T Law School, Osgoode Hall Law School and Windsor Law School. Jeffrey is a current or former Director of Canadian Association of Income Funds, Environmental Defence Canada, Junior Achievement Canada, JACs, Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto, Canadian Council for Reform Judaism and Daytrippers Children’s Charity.