John-Paul Alexandrowicz

Day 2: Case Law Update, Working Effectively with External Workplace Investigators

Practicing in both English and French, John-Paul Alexandrowicz is an experienced school board lawyer and co-chair of BLG's National School Boards Practice. John-Paul practices exclusively for school boards and school board associations, to whom he provides strategic advice and oral and written advocacy in a variety of forums including arbitration, labour boards, human rights tribunals and the courts. John-Paul has represented and advised the majority of public, Catholic and francophone school boards in Ontario, both directly and through their provincial school boards associations, in particular, OPSBA and the Council of Trustees’ Associations.

Zoe Aranha

Day 2: Working Effectively with External Workplace Investigators

Zoe is a senior associate in BLG's National School Boards Practice. She advises and advocates for clients in labour matters and tort, civil sexual assault, defamation, human rights, and workers’ compensation claims. She has appeared in numerous grievance arbitrations, and proceedings before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, Human Rights Tribunals, and Workplace and Safety Insurance Appeals Tribunal. Zoe also maintains an advisory practice, assisting clients with workplace, student conduct, and sexual violence investigations, crisis management and incident response.

John K. Donkor

Day 2: Working Effectively with External Workplace Investigators

John is a highly experienced and sought-after investigator and workplace lawyer.  John has conducted over a hundred investigations in both public and private sector contexts.  In the public sector, John is often retained to conduct investigations on behalf of school boards, municipalities, hospitals, social service agencies, as well as fire and police services.  In the private sector, John is frequently retained by employers in retail, manufacturing, automotive, construction and aviation industries.

John believes in taking a practical and collaborative approach to handling workplace investigations.  To this end, John has handled investigations involving complex subject matter including, but not limited to, allegations of discrimination, anti-black racism, sexual harassment, psychological harassment, bullying, favouratism and professional negligence.

John was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2006, having obtained his law degree from the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University. While in law school, John was awarded the Vincent Principi Memorial Award in Labour Law.  Prior to law school, John completed his undergraduate studies at Western University.

Craig Fink

Day 1: Role of HR in Governance

Craig Fink is a Senior Negotiations Strategist with Alberta Treasury Board and Finance. Since joining the Government of Alberta in 2012, he has shaped public sector collective bargaining policy and negotiations under the Public Education Collective Bargaining Act and Public Sector Employers Act. Craig  was the lead negotiator for the recent provincial negotiations with teachers, and works closely with public, separate, and Francophone school board trustees and administrators to balance government and school board interests in bargaining and other labour relations processes.

Andrew Gold

Day 2: Provincial Bargaining Panel

Andrew Gold has been OPSBA's Director of Labour Relations since 2022. Andrew brings more than 30 years of experience in the public education sector, starting in the Toronto DSB (TDSB), where last served as the Associate Director, Learning, Leadership and Development. Andrew led bargaining at the TDSB for more than a decade and was a member of OPSBA's Labour Relations Council providing advice on provincial labour relations matters and also practiced in central bargaining in the 2019-2022 and 2022 rounds of bargaining. Andrew has been the lead spokesperson in bargaining with OSSTF Teachers and OSSTF Education Workers and also been a member of the bargaining teams at all other central bargaining tables. Andrew has extensive leadership experience in labour relations, professional learning, effective governance, stakeholder relations and equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives

Joe O’Hara

Day 2: School Administrators Through an HR Lens

Joe O’Hara is an accomplished human resources leader with extensive experience in labour relations, organizational development, and employee engagement. He has worked in the human resources field for over 38 years in the municipal and education sectors including three different School Boards and a secondment as Director, Operations in the Education Labour Relations Division of the Ministry of Education.  As the Executive Officer of Human Resources Services at the Halton Catholic District School Board for 20 years, he played a pivotal role in fostering a positive and productive workplace culture for educators, administrators, and support staff. 

He has also been involved in various rounds of province wide collective bargaining through his work with the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association (OCSTA). Joe has served on the Board of Directors for the Ontario Catholic School Business Officials Association (OCSBOA) for several years, including two years as President. He was also an active member of the Ontario Catholic Supervisory Officers Association (OCSOA), and the Ontario Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) and continues to be an active member of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA). He is proud to have mentored new Supervisory Officers and human resources professionals throughout his career.

With a career spanning both municipal and education sectors, Joe has developed a reputation for strategic thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and a focus on equity and inclusion in the workplace. His expertise includes collective bargaining, strategy and negotiation in a multi union setting, workplace investigations, policy development, talent management, and guiding organizations through complex change initiatives.

Upon his retirement from Halton Catholic in August 2021, Joe established O’Hara H.R. Services and continues to provide consulting services to various school boards, as well as private sector clients. 

Driven by a passion for supporting people and strengthening organizational capacity, Joe continues to champion initiatives that enhance strategic employee and labour relations, sound decisions and results.

Linnea Olson

Day 1: HR Leadership Succession Planning

B.Comm, B.A., CPHR

Assistant Director of Legal, Employee and Labour Relations

Justin Rempel

Day 2: Provincial Bargaining Panel

Secretary-Treasurer

Executive Director Labour Relations (Collective Bargaining), BCPSEA, British Columbia

Steven St. Amand

Day 2: Provincial Bargaining Panel

Steven St. Amand, MIR, CPHR, is a Senior Negotiations Strategist with the Government of Alberta providing advice and support to 61 school board employers across the province, including acting as Lead Spokesperson for local collective bargaining. He holds a Master of Industrial Relations from Queen's University and is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources. With a focus on K-12 education, Steven also acts on behalf of the Teachers Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) in provincial grievances filed by the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) and supports central teacher collective bargaining. His prior experience includes managing negotiations and compensation for the Government of the Northwest Territories, where he led collective bargaining within the NWT public service.