RESORT TASK FORCE APPOINTMENTS

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1 BACKGROUNDER 2003CSE Nov. 5, 2003 Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise RESORT TASK FORCE APPOINTMENTS Representatives from British Columbia s tourism sector, local government and First Nations have been appointed to assist the B.C. Resort Task Force in identifying and eliminating barriers to resort development, creation and expansion in the province s resort sector. DARCY L. ALEXANDER Darcy Alexander has 18 years experience in the resort industry, working in Banff and then for the Alberta government before moving to Whistler to work as a planning consultant on resort projects around the world. In 1991, he moved to the Okanagan valley to build and manage the Harvest Golf Club Ltd. Alexander has played a key leadership role in the development of Tod Mountain into Sun Peaks Resort one of British Columbia s fastest growing resorts with more than $375 million invested in the last eight years, and serving 400,000 annual visitors. As vice-president of Nippon Cable Canada, Alexander provides management services for several rapidly growing companies that presently have more than 500 employees and annual revenues in excess of $25 million. Alexander has served on the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA) board for eight years and is currently chair. He also serves as chairman and president of Tourism Sun Peaks and sits on the board of several other tourism industry associations. JIM GODFREY Jim Godfrey was the director of the Vancouver Whistler 2010 Bid Corporation that prepared the bid for the winter 2010 Olympics. He is currently the municipal administrator for the Resort Municipality of Whistler, a community that is internationally recognized as one of the world s leading year-round destination resorts. Since starting with Whistler in 1996, Godfrey has developed Whistler 2002 Charting a Course for the Future, a strategic planning document that has provided the foundation for developing a financial plan and the resort s five-year business plan. Godfrey is also a director of the Whistler Resort Association, a multi-million dollar organization with more than 5,000 members that is responsible for marketing Whistler as an international resort. In addition, Godfrey is the director of the Whistler Valley Housing Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the resort municipality with a mandate to provide and manage affordable housing.

2 - 2 - KÁKELTN SIYÁM CHIEF GIBBY JACOB Gibby Jacob is a hereditary Chief of the Squamish First Nation, and his ancestral name is Kákeltn. Chief Jacob has been an elected Squamish Nation councillor since Chief Jacob was a director of the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation and was recently appointed as a member of the board of directors for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee. Chief Jacob was appointed department head of Land Claims and is official spokesperson for the Squamish Nation. He is a member of various Squamish Nation committees that deal with land and environmental issues, economic development, taxation and fiscal relations. He also leads the Squamish Nation s intergovernmental relations with all municipal, regional, provincial and federal governments. Chief Jacob is a founding director of Environmental Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education (EAGLE), and has served as co-chair of the British Columbia Aboriginal Fisheries Commission, Coastal Region, and was a Canada representative for the Pacific Salmon Commission. CAROL SEABLE Carol Seable was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort Ltd. in Seable is also president and chief executive for Wilder Resorts Inc., a Montana-based sister resort; vice-president and partner of Fairmont Riverside Golf Estates Ltd.; and vice-president of Fairmont Villa Management Company. Seable has also volunteered her services to provincial and national tourism and charitable organizations for the past 20 years and currently sits on several boards, including the B.C. Progress Board, and she chairs the finance committee of the Interior Health Authority board. Fairmont Hot Springs Resort has been recognized many times for business excellence under Seable s direction, including being named one of the top 25 businesses to work for in British Columbia by B.C. Business Magazine. Seable has been recognized personally as the Provincial Restaurateur of the Year, and she is a recipient of the Queen s Golden Jubilee Commemorative Medal. BLAIR BALDWIN, MBA LLB Blair Baldwin s career has spanned corporate law, commercial airline management, destination resort management, airline and airport privatization and outdoor adventure. Baldwin became vice-president of Big White Ski Resort in 1992, and since 1996 he has owned and operated Pinnacle Consulting. He also developed and operated a successful outdoor adventure company based in Kelowna. Baldwin served four years as an elected member of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, and has served on the executive as vice president, marketing chairperson, and treasurer. He was a mentor with the Kelowna Youth Entrepreneurship program, is a member of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, has served on the board of directors of the YMCA/YWCA and is currently active with the Building Healthy Families Society in a fundraising capacity. Baldwin is a board member on the 2004 Memorial Cup Society and is also involved with the restoration of Myra Canyon. He teaches at Okanagan University College faculty of business, specializing in marketing strategy and business law.

3 - 3 - PATRICIA E. COCKS, BSC, LLB Patty Cocks resides in Chemainus on Vancouver Island. A graduate of the University of British Columbia in 1978 and the University of Victoria s law school in 1981, Cocks was called to the bar in British Columbia in She was in private practice as a solicitor in Chemainus for 15 years in the areas of corporate law, real estate and estates. In 2000, Cocks and her husband Brian became partners at Tigh-Na-Mara Resort in Parksville. In addition to her capacity as a director, Cocks acted as in-house counsel through Tigh-Na-Mara s massive expansion project, including the construction of 50 new resort rooms, a convention centre and The Grotto Spa. JIM GREENE James (Jim) Greene is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario with a bachelor of arts degree in political science, and a masters of business administration from the University of Western Ontario s Ivey School of Business. Greene currently resides in Rossland, and started working with Red Mountain Resort in 1998 as their director of marketing. Since 1999, Greene has been the general manager of Red Mountain Resort and director of the Kootenay Rockies Tourism Association. He is also chair of the audit committee and member of the board of directors for Aquila Networks Canada (B.C.) Ltd. LEE MALLEAU Lee Malleau has been practising economic development in Canadian communities for 12 years. She was economic development officer (EDO) in Golden for seven years, where she worked closely with leaders and residents to successfully implement a multi-faceted economic development plan that generated new local investments of more than $250 million in several sectors, including the brandnew Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. After completing a one-year economic development project working with First Nations in the Okanagan, Malleau joined the District of Squamish in June of this year as EDO. A recent past-president of the Economic Development Association of British Columbia, Malleau is currently a board member of the Economic Development Association of Canada, and is involved in a number of key initiatives, including the 2010 Olympic Bid Secretariat and Invest British Columbia. Malleau is a Rotary Club past-president, and is one of this year s recipients of the B.C. Tourism Ambassador Award for her work in tourism development and service to the industry. CRAIG MURRAY Craig Murray was born in Toronto and attended Ryerson University for Hotel and Resort Administration, and moved to northern Vancouver Island (Port McNeill) in Nimmo Bay Resort was born October 1980 and has become a globally recognized, niche market tourism odyssey. The Murray family created the Theory of Hospitality and practises the principles of eco-system-based management. Recently Murray and the U mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay signed the Wi la mola Accord, which recognizes a First Nation/non-First Nation partnership in sustainable tourism, based on a First Nations/Nimmo Bay Cultural Adventure throughout the Kwakwaka wakw First Nations territory. Humour, music and detail highlight the success of the Murray family and Nimmo Bay Resort.

4 - 4 - GEOFF PEARCE Geoff Pearce was the first municipal administrator in the Resort Municipality of Whistler, from February 1976 to October During this time, he worked closely with the first seven councils of Whistler in co-ordinating municipal services, the overall planning and implementation of the new Resort Municipality of Whistler. As secretary to the Whistler Village Land Company, he was involved in all directors meetings of the Whistler Village Land Company which was, at that time, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Resort Municipality of Whistler. More recently, in Langford, where he has been the clerk-administrator for 10 years, the new Bear Mountain Golf and Country Club resort with an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course has been efficiently designed and built during the past two years. CHIEF SOPHIE PIERRE Sophie Pierre has been Chief of the St. Mary s First Nations band for more than 20 years, and has demonstrated her commitment to her community through her ongoing involvement in youth activities, women s advocacy, and elder s support. She is one of the most recognized aboriginal leaders in the country, and is a frequent speaker at business and economic development conferences. Chief Pierre has always been a strong advocate of economic development as a means to achieve self-determination for aboriginal peoples and has demonstrated that commitment through her dogged determination in making the St. Eugene Mission Resort a reality for her people. She was recently chosen as one of this year s recipients of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the business category, and she was recognized as CANDO s 2002 Individual Economic Developer of the Year. She is past co-chair of the First Nations Summit, and a recipient of the Order of British Columbia. In December 2002, Chief Pierre received the Queen s Golden Jubilee Commemorative Medal. LLOYD WEBBER Lloyd Webber has been a resident of Prince George for the past 40 years. After graduating, he attended post-secondary school in Prince George and Ottawa. Webber has worked in the forest industry for 30 years and during this time formed many business relationships within the forestry community of British Columbia. Presently, Webber is involved in his own consulting firm dealing primarily with the forest industry. Webber is also a partner and director of Hudson Bay Mountain Adventures Inc., operating as Ski Smithers. Ski Smithers is located in the Bulkley Valley, 300 kilometres west of Prince George. Webber has always been involved in skiing and has held various administrative positions with the Prince George Alpine Ski club. In addition, he was a director of Alpine B.C. MIKE WIEGELE A former ski race competitor, Mike Wiegele has been operating a helicopter skiing business since Originally operating in the Cariboo Mountains outside of Valemount, Wiegele moved his business south to Blue River in 1974 and built his first lodge at Eleanor Lake in By 1992, the Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing Resort started summer operations with activities such as heli-hiking, biking and fishing. Wiegele founded the Canadian Ski Guide Association in 1990, an association responsible for training and developing young Canadians as ski guides. Wiegele has received the Medal of Bravery from the Governor General of Canada, the Marshall Award of Excellence from the Canada West Ski Areas Association, and has been inducted into the Canadian Skiing Hall of Fame. Today, Wiegele continues to develop his business, which is nestled between the Cariboo and Monashee Mountain ranges. It is the single largest heli-ski area in the world, encompassing 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometres) of terrain.

5 - 5 - EDDIE WOOD For the last 10 years, Eddie Wood has been the general manager and vice-president of Mount Seymour. Winner of the 1997 ATP Professional Member of the Year Award, his involvement in the industry has led to participation with the Association of Tourism Professions. Wood is also risk management chair for Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA) and remains the first vicepresident and treasurer of the Council of Tourism Associations (COTA). Infusing team values in everything he does, Wood is responsible for the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio. PAUL PLOCKTIS Paul Plocktis has been employed by Big White Ski Resort Ltd. and Silver Star Ski Resort Ltd. for six years, initially as the general manager of Big White Ski Resort and most recently as vice-president of real estate for both of the resorts. Plocktis has extensive experience in land, subdivision and real estate development, and has attained a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Toronto and designation as a chartered accountant. More information is available at Media contact: Jane MacCarthy Communications Director Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise (cell) Visit the province's Web site at for online information and services.