Gordon Winkel Confirmed National Board Chair

June 21, 2021

Gord Winkel, MSc P.Eng was confirmed as National Board Chair of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires at the Annual General Meeting earlier this month. Mr. Winkel succeeds Col. Chris Lythgo, CD (ret’d) whose two-year term concluded.

As Board Chair, Gord hopes to “continue to move forward as a unified Federation and build on good work. It’s never about starting over. It’s very much about taking the good work that’s been done to date and innovating from there with leading practices.”

Gord has held numerous senior business and board positions, bringing considerable safety and risk management experience from the healthcare, agriculture, and mining industry to the National Board. His work to improve workplace safety and technology in the Canadian Mining industry led to Distinguished Lecturer Awards from the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) in 2002, 2008 and 2013. He retired as a Vice-President for Syncrude Canada Ltd. and joined the University of Alberta in 2010 as Chair and Industrial Professor for the Safety and Risk Management Program in the Faculty of Engineering.

Through his various roles, Gord has worked to provide organization effectiveness support. Additionally, he has participated in various strategic initiatives for injury reduction as a member of safety boards and committees both provincially and nationally. He joined the Board of our Northern Alberta, Northwest Territory and Nunavut Division in 2014, most recently serving as Board Chair. He has served on the National Board since 2019.

Chris Lythgo completed his two-year term as National Board Chair this month. During his term, Chris oversaw updates to the Corps’ governance structure and strategic plan, and provided strong and principled leadership during the unpredictable impacts of the pandemic.

As a not-for-profit, Commissionaires is overseen by an all-volunteer board. These exceptional individuals bring a wealth of military, police, and executive experience to the organization.

A complete biography for Gordon Winkel is available here.