Oversight Advisory Committee Members

• The Honourable John A. Fraser
• L. Denis Desautels
• Frank LeBlanc
• Jean-Claude Marsan
• Terence J. Williams

The Honourable John A. Fraser, P.C., O.C., O.B.C., C.D., Q.C., LL.D.

Raised in Vancouver, Mr. Fraser has had a lifelong interest and commitment to environmental issues. After graduating in law from the University of British Columbia in 1954, he practiced law until his election to the House of Commons in 1972 as the Progressive Conservative Member for Vancouver South. During his 21-year history with the House of Commons (1972 to 1993), Mr. Fraser served in a number of positions which included Minister for the Environment, Minister of Fisheries and Speaker of the House of Commons.

His accomplishments as Speaker included the establishment of the Central and Eastern European Parliamentary Cooperation Program; the creation of the House of Commons Public Information Office; the establishment of the House of Commons Environmental Program, Greening the Hill; and the Task Force on the disabled and handicapped to ensure access and employment opportunities on Parliament Hill. He also commissioned the publication The House of Commons at Work.

In 1994, Mr. Fraser was appointed Canada's Ambassador for the Environment. In this role, he was responsible for Canadian follow-up to commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio in 1992 and other related events which included liaison with a variety of international bodies, federal departments, provincial governments, the private sector, academic institutions, community groups and interested individuals.

In March 1999, Mr. Fraser was appointed Chair of the Parliamentary Buildings Advisory Council (PBAC). This Council's mandate was to advise the Minister on all matters related to the renovation and construction program underway in the Parliament Buildings. On May 3, 2001, Mr. Fraser, on behalf of Council members, presented PBAC's recommendations for the restoration of the parliamentary precinct to the Honourable Alfonso Gagliano, Minister of Public Works and Government Services. As a result of PBAC’s recommendations, Mr. Fraser currently chairs the Parliamentary Precinct Oversight Advisory Committee.

Mr. Fraser has chaired the Minister’s Monitoring Committee on Change in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces and currently serves on a wide range of domestic and international bodies. From September 1998, John Fraser chaired the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, until his appointment in April 2005 to chair the BC Pacific Salmon Forum. John Fraser is a Queen's Counsel, an officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of British Columbia and he holds the Canadian Forces Decoration. He was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees for his contributions to environmental causes by Simon Fraser University and St. Lawrence University in 1999 and by the University of British Columbia in 2004.

L. Denis Desautels, O.C., F.C.A.

L. Denis Desautels was Auditor General of Canada from April 1, 1991 until March 31, 2001. At the time of his appointment, Mr. Desautels was a senior partner in the Montreal Office of Ernst & Young (formerly Clarkson Gordon). In addition to a distinguished career in the private sector, Mr. Desautels had extensive experience in public sector auditing and accounting at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.

Mr. Desautels was born in St-Bruno, Québec in 1943. He attended schools in Montreal and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1964. He joined the firm of Clarkson Gordon in Montreal and became a Chartered Accountant in 1966.

In his 27 years with Ernst   Young, he served the firm in various capacities and in a number of offices, namely Montreal, Ottawa and Québec. He also carried out a number of significant assignments for the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and for a number of public sector organizations. At the time of his appointment as Auditor General, he was Ernst   Young’s Regional Director of Consulting Services for the Province of Québec and the National Capital Region.

In recognition of his contribution to the auditing and accounting professions, he was awarded the designation “Fellow” by the Order of Chartered Accountants of Québec in 1986. He had been a member of the Public Sector Accounting and Auditing Committee of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) since its foundation in 1981, and Chairman of the Committee for 1984-85. He was awarded the designation of Fellow by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 1991. He was invested as Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1997 by the Archbishop of Ottawa and, more recently, he received honorary doctorates from the University of Ottawa, the University of Waterloo and Saint Paul University. He also has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

As Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Desautels was responsible for conducting examinations of the operations of the Government of Canada and of its numerous Crown corporations and agencies, as well as those of Canada’s three territorial governments. The Auditor General’s reports to Parliament cover a wide range of issues dealing with accountability and the management of government programmes and the delivery of services to the public.

He is presently a member of the Accounting Standards Oversight Council of the CICA, the National Awards in Governance Advisory Committee of the Conference Board of Canada and the Parliament Precinct Oversight Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the board of directors of CARE Canada, the International Development Research Centre, the Laurentian Bank of Canada, Groupe Jean Coutu (PJC) Inc., Bombardier Inc. and Alcan Inc. He is presently an Executive-in-residence at the School of Management of the University of Ottawa.

Mr. Desautels is married to Shirley Leuthold. Mr. And Mrs. Desautels have three sons: Marc, Pierre and André. In his leisure time Mr. Desautels enjoys golf, skiing, gardening and spending time with his family and five young grandchildren.

Frank N. LeBlanc, P. Eng
Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada

A registered Professional Engineer for over 35 years, Mr. LeBlanc received his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 1970 from the Nova Scotia Technical College.

During a lengthy year career with CBCL Limited and the Canadian-British Consulting Group, Frank progressed from junior design engineer to President and CEO. He also spent several years with the Whitman Benn Group as Executive Vice-President, and over four years in management with SGE and SGE Acres.

During his 34 year career in the consulting engineering business he has been responsible for

• engineering feasibility studies, economic analysis,
• detailed engineering design,
• project management,
• cost analysis and management,
• multiple project coordination and administration,
• implementing the effective use of computers and technology,
• day to day administration and financial management,
• marketing management and public relations,
• human resource development and performance incentive plans, and
• organizational and strategic planning.

A strong advocate of Total Quality Management, he was instrumental getting both CBCL and Whitman Benn registered to the ISO9001 international quality standard.

Mr. LeBlanc served terms as President of the Consulting Engineers of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Consulting Engineers Association, the Design and Construction Institute of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic Industrial Engineering Society. He also served as a Director of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada and for two years was Vice Chairman of ACEC’s Business Practice Group. In addition, he was a registered Peer Reviewer for Consulting Engineering firms in both Canada and the USA.

Mr. LeBlanc also served on the Quality Management Committee of the International Consulting Engineers Federation (FIDIC), the Consulting Practice Committee of the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia and was a member of the DalTech Industrial Engineering Advisory Board.

In 1997, Mr. LeBlanc was listed in the International Who’s Who of Professionals.

In 1999, Mr. LeBlanc was appointed to serve on the Parliament Buildings Advisory Council, and he continues to serve on the Parliament Buildings Oversight Advisory Committee.

Jean-Claude Marsan, O.C., Ph.D., FRSC, Hon. FRAIC,
Architect and urban planner

For almost thirty years, Mr. Marsan has promoted Montreal's urban and architectural heritage, combining study, teaching and research on built heritage with his work in the media. The author of numerous publications, he is a founding member of several urban and architectural heritage groups and has served as a consultant for numerous stakeholders in the public and private sectors. As a result of his initiative, the Université de Montréal is the only institution in Canada that offers a master's degree in the conservation of the built environment.

Terence J Williams, PP-MRAIC, PP-MAIBC, Hon-FAIA, RCA, LEED® AP

Terence Williams is an architect and Managing Principal at Busby Perkins+Will. After working in New York, London, Helsinki and Bristol (England), he moved from Vancouver, BC to Victoria in 1971 to join John Wade who had started a practice in 1946.

Terry is a Past President of the Architectural Institute of BC and Past President of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture and former Chancellor of the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Terry is currently a Member of the Parliamentary Precinct Oversight Advisory Committee reviewing the development of the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa. He was previously a member of the Parliamentary Buildings Advisory Council.

Terry is a founding Board Member of the Canada Green Building Council. He is recognized as an expert in sustainable design, building and planning. His “green” buildings and Campus Planning projects have received numerous awards and have been illustrated in a number of professional publications. Most recently, Terry has been managing the design and development of the 12 acre Dockside Green development, a groundbreaking eco-community in Victoria, BC.

Terry is President of the Victoria Conservatory of Music. His interest in music and the performing arts has resulted in the design and construction of many performance venues, including the Farquhar Auditorium at UVIC, the Expo Theatre in Vancouver, the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the CBC Studios in Vancouver and Victoria.

Terry has run a marathon, won a gold medal in the Masters Dave Murray Ski Racing Camp, kayaked the "Inside Passage" from Victoria to Port Hardy (556k), climbed Mount Rainier’s 14,500 ft. peak twice, trekked to Machu Pichu, walked the South Downs Way 90 miles, the West Highland Way 95 miles and in 2003 walked 200 miles across England on the "coast to coast" trail. His most recent adventure entailed a week-long hike through the Swiss Alps. After playing rugby for 35 years he still has useable knees and continues to play tennis twice a week, and the piano most mornings. He is married to Liz and has a daughter Maila and a son Michael who are also happily married. He is also a recent grandfather of two beautiful little girls.