Taxpayer representatives on the MPAC Board of Directors

 Paul Bernards

Mr. Bernards is a finance professional who has held various management roles in both the private and public sector over the past 30 years.

His extensive experience includes managing worldwide finance, tax and IT functions, including the development of reporting and control processes, due diligence and post-acquisition integration. A Canadian Chartered Accountant and U.S. Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Bernards began in public practice with KPMG in Toronto before leaving to continue his career in the private sector.

He has since served as Chief Financial Officer for Discovery Air, Masonite International Corporation, Shepell FGI and Premier Salons, as well as Vice-President of Finance and Operations for JELD-WEN. Since 2017, Mr. Bernards has served as Director and Chair of the Audit Committee for the Canadian Opera Company and TO Live.

Mr. Bernards holds a Masters in Business Administration from York (now Schulich) School of Business as well as a Director designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D).

 Niels Christensen

Mr. Christensen is the Managing Director and Broker of the Christensen Real Estate Group; a real estate brokerage located in Toronto and has over 35 years of experience in Law Enforcement, Securities Regulation and Real Estate.

He is a licensed Broker, Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist, International Real Estate Specialist, and Certified Negotiation Expert. He has served on the Arbitration Committee at the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) and as past Vice-Chair of the Discipline Committee at the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO).

A graduate of the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management - Directors Education Program and a recipient of the ICD.D designation; Niels currently serves as Chair of the Governance & Human Resources Committee.

A former police officer with the Toronto Police Services, he is a former Certified Fraud Examiner and also previously held the position of Senior Manager of Investigations - Enforcement Branch at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), where he served as the OSC liaison to the Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario Task Force responsible for investigating organized criminal activity in the Capital Markets.

An active volunteer in his community, Mr. Christensen was the Chairperson of the Toronto Police 22 Division Community Police Liaison Committee, President of the Humber Valley Village Residents Association, and a member of The Hospital for Sick Children’s Circle of Care.

 Ray Kindiak

Ray Kindiak is a lawyer and corporate finance professional with over 30 years of capital markets, operational and legal experience in corporate restructuring, financings, mergers and acquisitions. He has executed financing mandates in numerous industry sectors including technology, real estate, manufacturing, resources, pharmaceutical and hospitality.

Mr. Kindiak has worked at leading Canadian brokerage firms as an analyst and investment banker. He has also carried out mandates as chief financial officer and other senior executive roles including operations, corporate development and legal counsel. Most recently, Mr. Kindiak served as a commissioner and board member of the Ontario Securities Commission.

Mr. Kindiak holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor and is a member of the Law Society of Ontario.

In community service, Mr. Kindiak has done extensive immigration outreach work and is actively involved in not-for-profit organizations helping disadvantaged groups.

 Derek Vanstone

A public affairs, government relations, legal, compliance and regulatory affairs professional with a track record of achieving regulatory change and project wins through proactive engagement, Derek leads global government relations and regulatory affairs at Canadian multinational engineering consultancy Hatch.  In this role, he assists Hatch and its clients with major projects in their government facing and community engagement challenges.

Derek spent years as a commercial litigator where he was involved in a number of significant cases, many of which had associated public policy issues or communications challenges. He has appeared before all levels of Ontario courts and remains a licensed lawyer. He then took on key roles in the Canadian federal government, serving as Chief of Staff to Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty (2006-2009) and Deputy Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper (2009-2012) where he helped the government achieve a majority mandate after several minority terms. After government and prior to joining Hatch, he was with Air Canada as Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Industry and Government Affairs.

Derek resides in Toronto and he holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Saskatchewan.