President                            Sue Dawson, Barrie Fire & Emergency Services

Past President                    Terry Hubbard, Burlington Fire Department

Vice President                   Karen MacKinnon, Mississauga Fire Department

Second Vice President       Greg Robinson, Kingston Fire & Rescue

Secretary/Treasurer           Lori Hamer, Kitchener Fire Department

Director                             Karen Page, Kincardine Communications

Director                             Wendy Camber, Barrie Fire & Emergency Services

OFCA Liason                    Gordon Mills, Ottawa Fire Services 

 

Sue Dawson

Communications Manager

Barrie Fire & Emergency Service

28 years of service

Worked the Barrie tornado in 1985, part of original implementation of full time communicators within Barrie Fire, working on a brand new communications centre at the new Fire Station and is currently serving as Vice Chairperson of the Simcoe County 9-1-1 Management Board.

OFCA Position – President. Duties include representing OFCA on the Professional Standards Setting Body and Certification related topics.

 

Terry Hubbard

Title:                                                   Communications Coordinator

Department:                                         Burlington Fire Department

Years of Service:                                  26

Prior Emergency Service Experience:      5, Halton Regional Police Service

Career Highlights:

Serving as APCO Canada’s first female, first “civilian” President

Coordinating the initial Public Safety Communications Program at Mohawk College

Dispatching during the 2003 Black Out (I LOVED it!!)

Obtaining the green light to proceed with the launch of the OFCA.

Earning the RPL and ENP (please don’t make me write that exam again!) designations

Seeing the joy on my Mom’s face when she met the Honourable Lincoln Alexander.

Meeting Kenadie Bromley.

OFCA Role/Responsibilities

To date, my primary areas of focus have been:

• The proposal to develop TERT or a similar mutual aid system for Fire Communications Centres in Ontario
• The Resolutions calling for Provincial Certification for Fire Communicators and Minimum Standards for Public Safety Communications Programs

 

Karen MacKinnon

Title: Communications Coordinator

Department: Mississauga Fire & Emergency Services

  

Years of Service: 32 years total. 26 years with Fire & an additional 6 years with Halton Regional Police & Calgary Police Services

 Career Highlights:

• began career with MFES in November 1985 as one of the first four "civilian" communicators 
• promoted to Communications Officer in May 1992
• promoted to Communications Coordinator in November 2000

OFCA Role/Responsibility: Vice President

 

 

Greg Robinson

Title:                Executive Officer

Department:    Kingston Fire & Rescue

Years of Service:                                 28

Prior Emergency Service Experience:     Kingston Township Fire Department

                                                             CFB Kingston Fire Department 

Career Highlights:

Volunteer Firefighter Kingston Township, Volunteer Captain, Career Fireifghter CFB Kingston, Career Firefighter Kingston Fire, Acting Captain, Captain, Acting Chief of Communications, Chief of Communications & Operational Development, Executive Officer; Division Chief for Communications and Mechanical, Policy Developement.  

 

Lori Hamer

Title:  Communication Officer

Department: Kitchener Fire Department

Years of Service: 12 years

 Career Highlights:

• Began my career as Kitchener's first part time communicator in July 1998
• One of the first Communication Officer's at Kitchener Fire Department when the position was created in 2009
• Elected to the newly formed OFCA executive in May 2008 (Secretary)
• Re-elected to the OFCA as Treasurer/Secretary for the 2010-2012 term
• Secretary of the KPFFA charities committee 2003-2007
• Chair of the KPFFA charities committee 2008
• Co Chair of the KPFFA charities committee 2009-2011

OFCA Roles/Responsibilities:

• Secretary / Treasurer

 

Wendy Camber

Wendy Camber

Communications Supervisor

Barrie Fire & Emergency Service

16 years Experience with Barrie Fire & Emergency Service

4 years experience in a Police Communications Centre

One of the first Communications Supervisors within Barrie Fire, , a Trainer Facilitator, and Instructor of Emergency Service Communications at our local Community College (part time).

OFCA Director - I hope to be instrumental in providing a common resource point, through our website,  for Fire Communicators to acquire information and practical solutions to some of the complexities and challenges that we as Communicators face on a daily basis.

 

 

Karen Page

Title: owner

Department:  Kincardine Communications  independent contractor for fire dispatching

Years of service: 28

director of OFCA

Sat on the Municipality of Kincardine's Emergency Services Committee for 2 years

 

 

Gord Mills

Title:                Deputy Fire Chief

Department:     Ottawa Fire Service

Former Fire Chief for the Township or Rideau and the City of Cumberland prior to the amalgamation of the 9  former municipalities of Ottawa into the new City of Ottawa that came into effect January 2001.   At that time I took on the roll as a Deputy Chief  and managed the consolidation of 8 former fire communications centers into a central com center.    Although the majority of my portfolio has been focused on Operations and  Fleet recent re-structuring of the Deputy portfolios has returned our Communications Division back to my portfolio.   I am pleased to represent the OAFC as a member of the Board of Directors and to act as the liaison between the OAFC and the OFCA.