Membership Profiles

The Gerontological Advisory Council is comprised of 16 members who represent many of Canada's leading authorities in the fields of aging, seniors' and veterans' issues.

Chair:

Professor Victor Marshall, Ph.D, is Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. and Director of the University of North Carolina's Institute on Aging. Prior to these appointments, Professor Marshall was recognized as one of Canada's leading social gerontologists, serving as Director of the Institute for Human Development, Life Course and Aging with the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto. Professor Marshall is a noted authority on the aging of the labour force and the transition into retirement, health and long-term care issues, social theories of aging and social policy for an aging society. He also holds a commission in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve.

Council Members:

Mr. Pierre Allard first enrolled in the militia as a private with the "Régiment de Hull". He joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1964 and served for thirty-five years. A pilot, Mr. Allard flew various maritime patrol aircraft, including the CP121 Tracker embarked on HMCS Bonaventure. He was Commanding Officer of 415 (MP) Squadron and Wing Commander of 14 Wing, Greenwood, Nova Scotia and also served in Naples/Italy as Senior Canadian Liaison Officer at NATO Allied Forces Southern HQ during the Kosovo conflict.

Mr. Allard is a graduate of the "Institut Supérieur de Défense" in Bruxelles, Belgium, received a BA in Political Science from the University of Manitoba and a Certificate in Organisational Communications from l'Université du Québec. He is currently completing an MA in War Studies at Royal Military College and is the newly designated Royal Canadian Legion Service Bureau Director after serving for 18 months as a Dominion Command Service Officer.

Professor François Béland, Ph.D, is a Professor in Departmental Health Administration with the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal. A noted national researcher of health, aging and long-term care in Quebec, Professor Béland has published approximately 100 scholarly articles and is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal on Aging.

Dr. Bernard Groulx is Chief of Psychiatry at Quebec's Ste. Anne's Hospital, the only remaining long-term care facility operated by Veterans Affairs Canada. He is a Professor of Psychogeriatrics in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, a Professor with the McGill Centre for Study in Aging and Editor-in-Chief of Geronto-McGill, the Centre's journal. Dr. Groulx, who specializes in the evaluation and treatment of dementia and depression, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Quebec Psychogeriatric Society and the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Kenneth W. Henderson, joined the Canadian Army in 1961, and served in Canada with the RCR. Ken served as President of Montreal East Unit No 308 of The Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans in Canada for four years. Then served another four years as the Provincial President of Quebec. He is now in his fifth year as a Dominion Vice-President. Ken was a consultative member of the Ste. Anne's Transfer Project and is a continuing member of the Sick and Visiting Committee for Ste. Anne's Veterans Hospital. He is also a serving member of the Consultative Committee of Veterans Associations for the Montreal and Quebec region. As a member of the Youth Involvement in Community Projects Initiative, Ken devotes much time to his community. Ken has recently retired after a 34 year career at Noranda Inc. as a process operator in the division Canadian Copper Refinery. He currently lives in Montreal with his second wife Shirley. He is the father of four children and has eight grandchildren.

For his many years of service to the Association, he has received a number of awards, such as ANAVETS Order of Service, Life Membership, Past Unit President, and Past Provincial President.

Professor Norah Keating, Ph.D, is a Professor and co-director of Research on Aging, Policies and Practice in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta. Dr. Keating is a leading authority on caregiving to frail seniors, and frequent consultant to governments on caregiving policy. Professor Keating is a past president of the Canadian Association on Gerontology and involved in a number of national and international collaborative research projects on caregiving, aging well and rural seniors.

Dr. Christopher MacKnight is an Assistant Professor of the Geriatric Medicine Division with Dalhousie University and an Associate Director of Dalhousie University's Geriatric Research Unit. He is a Visiting Fellow of the University of Bristol's Department of Care of the Elderly and Medical Advisor for Community Mental Health within Prince Edward Island. Dr. MacKnight's research interests include the areas of dementia and frailty.

Ms. Jean McMillan, is the Assistant Director Administration, National Service Bureau, The War Amputations of Canada. This is a position she has held since 1991. Her major area of concentration has been health related issues. She works on behalf of clients of the War Amputations of Canada with Veterans Affairs Canada and other organizations to resolve veterans health issues. She has worked for private industry prior to joining the War Amputations of Canada in several administrative positions.

Dr. David William Molloy is a geriatrician specializing in the treatment of patients with dementia, particularly Alzheimer's Disease. He is Director of the Geriatric Research Group and Memory Clinic at the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, Henderson Division and a Professor of Medicine with McMaster University. Dr. Molloy is the author of several books on issues related to aging and dementia, including Let Me Decide, Set Me Free, Vital Choices, What are We Going to Do Now? and his latest publication, Alzheimer's Disease, co-authored with Dr. Paul Caldwell.

The Honourable Orville H. Phillips was first elected to the House of Commons in 1957 and was twice re-elected before being appointed to the Senate in 1963. Prior to his retirement from the Senate in 1999, Mr. Phillips chaired the Senate Sub-committee on Veterans Affairs. Mr. Phillips is, himself, a veteran of the Second World War, having served with the Royal Canadian Air Force's 426 “Thunderbird” Squadron.

Dr. A. Robin Poole is a Research Scientist specializing in arthritis and Rheumatology, particularly cartilage structure and metabolism in health and disease. Until 2002, Dr. Poole was a Professor of Surgical Research at McGill University and Director of the Joint Diseases Laboratory at the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Montreal. Dr. Poole designed, supervised construction and established this laboratory in 1974-1977. Its research focuses on the structure, degradation, repair and immunity to cartilage in health and arthritis, and growth plate cartilage in development.

Originally from England, Dr. Poole has received several international awards for his work in the field of Rheumatology and has published over 250 articles, book chapters and reviews, and lectured extensively throughout the world.

Professor Dorothy Pringle, RN, Ph.D., is a Professor on the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto and was Dean from 1988 to 1999. Her research and practice focus on long-term care with particular attention to the needs of community-based and institutionalized cognitively impaired elders and their family caregivers. She was a member of the Alzheimer Society of Canada Research Advisory Committee for many years and now leads a caregiver support group for the Society.

Mr. Douglas H. Rapelje, a consultant in Long Term Care - Gerontology, has accumulated a wealth of experience as Director of Regional Administration with the Social Services and Senior Citizens Department for the Regional Municipality of Niagara. He is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Health Service Executives, a member of the National Advisory Council on Aging and Chairman of the Niagara Health Council's Long Term Care Committee.

Professor Evelyn Shapiro is a Senior Scholar and Professor with the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba's Facility of Medicine, a member of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation and a Research Associate with the Manitoba Longitudinal Study on Aging. Professor Shapiro is an Expert Advisor with Health Canada's National Home Care Cost Effectiveness Project and Chairperson of the Review Panel Committee for the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.

Colonel Donald M. Thompson, CD Retired, is a veteran of the Second World War, having served six and a half years as a member of the Cameron Highlander of Ottawa. A D-Day veteran, wounded in action, Colonel Thompson has served veterans in various capacities throughout his career. He is a past Dominion Secretary of the Royal Canadian Legion and, until his retirement in 1987, served as Chairman of the War Veterans Allowance Board. He serves as co-chair of the PEI Seniors Advisory Council.

Dr. Howard Zacharias is Clinical Head of Services to Seniors for Central Regional Health Authority and Consultant Geriatrician to Southeast Regional Health Authority, Manitoba. Prior to that he was the Provincial Geriatrician for Prince Edward Island and also served as a consultant to Veterans Affairs Canada as well as Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine's Division of Geriatric Medicine at Dalhousie University. He has a long term interest in rural health care, cognitive impairment and third world health care. Dr. Zacharias has worked in a number of developing countries in an advisory capacity (Paraguay, Brazil, and Belize) and was Chief Medical Officer of Macha Hospital in Zambia.

Retired Members

Mr. Jim Rycroft joined the Canadian Army (Regular) in 1964, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps four years later and, after being called to the Manitoba Bar in 1981, assumed several posting in the field and in National Defence Headquarters as a legal officer in the Judge Advocate General Branch. In 1994, following his retirement from the Canadian Forces, Mr. Rycroft joined The Royal Canadian Legion as Director, Service Bureau. He brings to this position a wealth of knowledge on veterans' issues.

Mr. Peter T. Ambroziak, CD, Dominion Secretary-Treasurer of the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada (ANAVETS), is a former member of the Canadian Army (Regular). He spent three years with the 2nd Battalion Canadian Guards before being commissioned as a supply officer, then as an infantry officer responsible for training young officers. In 1975, Mr. Ambroziak began a 20-year career with the federal public service, applying his expertise in human resources within a number of departments including the Department of National Defence, Revenue Canada Taxation, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Canada Labour Relations Board.

Professor Neena L. Chappell, Ph.D, Director of the University of Victoria's Centre on Aging, is Chair of the Advisory Board and of the Evaluation Subcommittee of the National Respite Care project of the Canadian Long-term Care Association and Home Support Canada. Professor Chappell also is a member-at-large of the Behavioral and Social Science section of the Gerontological Society of America, Vice-President of the Research Committee on Aging of the International Sociological Association and will serve as Program Chair for the Research Committee when the World Congress meets in Montreal in 1999. Professor Chappell was a member of the Medical Research Council of Canada's Task Force on Health Research in 1993-94 and now sits as a member of that Council's Planning and Evaluation Committee which is charged with implementing MRC's expanded research mandate.

Mr. Cliff Chadderton, O.C., O.Ont., DCL, LLD., is Chief Executive Officer of The War Amps and Chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada. A veteran of the Second World War, Mr. Chadderton lost his right leg below the knee in 1944 while in command of a company of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles battling for the Scheldt Estuary in Belgium and the Netherlands. As a tireless advocate for Canada's veterans and amputee community for more than 30 years, Mr. Chadderton's efforts have earned him a number of prestigious awards, including the Royal Bank Award for Canadian Achievement.