Gordon Howie, Board Chair

Gord Howie has spent 30 years in senior leadership positions in local government. His credits include CAO in Prince Rupert from 1980 to 1987, Deputy CAO in Richmond and CAO for the District of North Vancouver. In 2005, Gord returned to Prince Rupert as CAO for the City.

Gord is a founding board member and past Chair of the Municipal Insurance Association of BC. Gord has also served on a number of government-related organizations including the Board of Examiners for the Province of BC, Local Government Management Association of BC as well as the Mentor Access Program Committee for the Local Government Association of BC.

Gord holds a Diploma in Public Sector Management from the University of Victoria and has a Senior Certificate in Local Government Management from the BC Board of Examiners.

Bruce Kerr

Bruce is a long-term Rupertite, and was employed by the former Prince Rupert City Telephones (now CityWest) from 1965 until his retirement in 2002.

During his time at City Telephones he worked in the central office, switching and in business equipment for 18 years. In 1983, he became General Manager and was instrumental in the introduction of the private line service, cellular service and the Internet. Bruce has also had considerable experience in dealing with the CRTC since City Telephones became regulated in 1995. In addition, he was the Director of the Canadian Independent Telephone Association for 6 years. Bruce is a founding member of the City West Group of Companies.

Steve Lake

Until recently, Steve held the position of Chief Operating Officer of Bell’s western Canadian operations. Steve now serves as a consultant to EQO communications, a Vancouver based next-gen Telco, and is currently involved in building their global mobile VOIP network. Steve is also on the EQO advisory board.

Steve’s career in cable and telecommunications is extensive. In the 1970’s he was the senior operations manager of Okanagan Skeena Group Ltd for all of their cable TV and Broadcast operations throughout BC. Following that, Steve spent a decade with Shaw Communications, starting off as a regional manager in the cable TV division and eventually Vice President of Operations for Shaw Fiberlink, Shaw’s competitive telecommunications division. When Fiberlink was sold to Group Telecom, Steve exited Shaw and joined 360 Networks as Vice President of Operations for Europe and later the North American Operations. Steve joined Bell in 2004 when 360 Network’s Canadian operations were sold to Bell.

Previously, Steve has held positions on MBA advisory boards for Royal Roads University. In the recent past, Steve was a member of the BC Business Council, a board and executive committee member of Netera in Alberta, and he is very active in the western business scene.

Rhoda Witherly

A long time resident of Prince Rupert, Rhoda brings to the Board of City West community knowledge, business expertise and  board experience.  She was a member of the Prince Rupert City Council for 8 years and also served on the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional district.   As a community volunteer she was on the building committee for the Lester Centre for the Performing Arts, has been a director of the Museum of Northern British Columbia, served on several health organizations and chairs the city heritage committee.

Rhoda is a past chairperson of the Prince Rupert Port Authority and past director of Ridley Terminals Inc.  She also was a panel member on the Urban Transportation Showcase program, a national program highlighting green transportation initiatives and is a public member on the College of Midwives of British Columbia, the regulatory college governing the practice of midwifery in British Columbia.

Professionally, Rhoda is a Notary Public and manages a registry and document service agency. 

Jack Payne

Born in Prince Rupert, Jack has been involved in professional and volunteer activities in the Northwest area for his entire life. His business ventures include commercial property management and development, hospitality, retail building supplies, wireless networking and system integration, and fishing charters. Jack is the past-commodore of Prince Rupert Rowing & Yachting Club, and an active member of Rotary and the Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce.

Jack has previously been chair of several organizations including the Prince Rupert & District Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Prince Rupert, Northern Economic Development Corporation, and Prince Rupert Downtown Revitalization Committee. He has served on the boards of Prince Rupert Port Corporation, Retail Council of Canada, Asia Pacific Initiative Committee, City of Prince Rupert Economic Development & Tourism Committee, and Museum of Northern British Columbia Building Committee.

Frank Parnell

Frank was born and raised on the North Coast and has been a strong promoter of economic self-reliance for North Coast residents, especially First Nations. He brings over 35 years of management experience in both the private and government sectors to the CityWest group.

Frank was instrumental in the establishment of Tribal Resources Investment Corporation back in 1989, and as CEO since its inception; he has continuously expanded TRICORP’s positive presence in the Northwest economy. Frank has been a Board Member of many local and regional businesses over the years. He has also served on numerous local, regional, provincial and federal committees such as: Prince Rupert Economic Development; Science Council of BC; All Native Tournament; North Coast Economic Development Corporation; Native Economic Development Advisory Board; BC Capacity Initiative; Prince Rupert Friendship House Society; & the Council of Haida Nations.

Lael McKeown

For over 30 years, Lael and her husband, David, have owned  a successful general contracting and development company in Terrace.  Progressive Ventures has built projects throughout northwest BC.    As well, Lael has been active with and held executive positions in a number of community groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, Terrace Economic Development Authority, KT Industrial Development Society and the Northwest Regional Airport.