ADRBO is an industry ombudsman that operates independently from member banks and strives to meet the highest standards of integrity, accountability, impartiality, and independence. ADRBO is overseen by a Board of Directors comprised of individuals with professional expertise and experience in management and/or corporate governance. The Board includes individuals who are leaders in the field of alternative dispute resolution, and others who have been appointed based on their good character, integrity and expertise in other fields, such as business or law.
ADRBO monitors the ongoing suitability and integrity of all directors, who must also continually demonstrate that they are independent in carrying out the functions of the Board. Directors must also demonstrate a high level of professionalism, fairness, flexibility, reliability, and competence.
The Board oversees the financial and operational performance of ADRBO and reviews statistical information supplied by the Ombuds and/or Deputy Ombuds. However, the Board does not look at specific complaints and is therefore unable to influence the outcome of complaints.
ADRBO Board of Directors
Allan Stitt
President and Chairman of the Board
Allan Stitt is the President of ADR Chambers. He is a mediator, arbitrator, negotiation consultant, facilitator, trainer, and ADR systems design specialist. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Law School and a Special Lecturer at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, teaching courses in Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. He has has taught ADR and Negotiation courses throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia with the Stitt Feld Handy Group, a division of ADR Chambers.
Allan is both a Charter Mediator (C.Med.) and a Chartered Arbitrator (C.Arb.). He has mediated two-party and multi-party disputes in numerous contexts, and has also arbitrated numerous commercial cases. His book on ADR systems design, ADR For Organizations, and Mediating Commercial Disputes, were both bestsellers. He also wrote Mediation: A Practical Guide, and is the Editor-in-Chief of the CCH ADR Practice Manual.
Allan is the Past President of the ADR Institute of Canada, the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada, the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Ontario and the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, an IMI Certified Mediator, an arbitrator and mediator for the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC), a panel member of the International Panel of Arbitrators with the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), an arbitrator on the Canadian Transportation Agency List of Arbitrators, and on the International Panel of Mediators with the Singapore Mediation Centre.
Allan has been awarded the Ontario Bar Association Award of Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is listed in the The International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation and The Best Lawyers in Canada in ADR.Allan has designed ADR systems for such organizations as the Canadian Bankers Association, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Law Society of Upper Canada, and Canadian Tire Corporation.
Jerry Wiseblott
Jerry Wiseblott has been a Vice President of KRG Insurance Group for over 11 years, and was President of Wiseblott & Associates for over 21 years. He is a licensed independent insurance broker, and specializes in commercial, personal, life, disability, and critical illness insurance. For over three decades, Jerry has brought low-cost insurance solutions to both individuals and corporations in the GTA and throughout Ontario. He has helped thousands of individuals and hundreds of business enterprises solve a wide range of insurance headaches. As a business-person himself, Jerry strongly empathizes with the needs and concerns of other business owners and entrepreneurs. He is passionate about finding cost savings and the best available coverages.
Bruce P. Elman LL.D
Dr. Bruce P. Elman is Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Windsor. Professor Elman served as Dean of Law at the University of Windsor from 2000–2011. From 2011–2020, Professor Elman was a member of the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, teaching in the areas of Constitutional Law and Professional Responsibility. In 2019, Professor Elman received a Teaching Excellence Award from the Students’ Law Society at the University of Windsor. In addition to his academic responsibilities, Professor Elman served two terms (2012–2018) as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Law Commission of Ontario. On July 1, 2020, he became Professor of Law Emeritus.
Prior to assuming the Deanship at Windsor, Professor Elman was the Belzberg Professor of Constitutional Law (1996–2000) and Chair of the Centre for Constitutional Studies (1984–2000) at the University of Alberta. He was first appointed to the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta in 1975 and served as the Associate Dean of the Faculty from 1991–1994. Professor Elman was the recipient of the Tevie H. Miller Award for Teaching Excellence in 1999 at the University of Alberta.
He has also held several Visiting Professorships. Professor Elman was a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and the Visiting Scholar in Residence at the Centre for the Legal Profession in 2011–12. He was Visiting Professor of Law and Canadian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1988–89 and 1995–96. In 1994, Professor Elman was Visiting Professor of Canadian Law at Niigata University in Niigata, Japan. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at Stanford Law School (1981–82). He received a teaching award from Hebrew University in 1996.
Professor Elman holds a B.Sc. (Honours) from McGill University (1971), an LL.B. from Dalhousie (1974), and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School (1975).
Professor Elman has published numerous works on criminal law, evidence, constitutional law, freedom of expression, law and religion, multiculturalism, and ethics and professional responsibility.
He is frequently invited to speak to professional and general audiences on topics in constitutional law and politics, ethics and professional responsibility, and legal education.
As Dean of Law at the University of Windsor, Professor Elman promoted ethics, professionalism and competence as pre-eminent values of Windsor Law. Professor Elman served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Legal Assistance of Windsor, Community Legal Aid, and the University of Windsor Mediation Services–Windsor Law’s three clinics. Professor Elman was a founding member of the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism. His paper on “Creating a Culture of Ethics and Professional Responsibility: A Leadership Role for Law Schools” was delivered at the 8th Colloquium on Legal Profession: The Challenge of Leadership in May 2007.
Professor Elman is a member of the Law Societies of Ontario and Alberta (inactive). In June 2018, the Law Society of Ontario bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) on Professor Elman. The Law Society awards honorary doctorates each year to distinguished members of the profession and he public in recognition of outstanding achievements in the legal profession, the rule of law or the cause of justice. In the fall of 2018, Professor Elman was named a “Builder of Windsor Law.” This award recognizes “individuals who are not alumni but who have made a significant contribution to Windsor Law.”
Under an agreement, Professor Elman serves as the Integrity Commissioner for the City of Windsor, the Town of Amherstburg, and the Municipality of Lakeshore.
Greg Basham
Greg Basham brings a unique mix of senior level crown corporation, business, teaching, consulting, training, civic, and consumer advocacy experience and skills to the ADRBO Board of Directors.
Since first elected in 2015 to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan (“CAMVAP”) as one of two consumer representatives for the Consumers Association of Canada Greg has served on the Executive Committee.
Greg has been a consumer advocate representing the Consumers Association of Canada at the BC Utilities Commission on ICBC hearings and other venues including the Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee in 2018.
In 2007, Greg was a co-founder and CEO of eeVoices Ltd. in Hong Kong, a third party employment background verification and engagement survey firm serving a mix of global and regional brands. Greg led internal consulting and influence skills workshops for the Hang Seng Bank and management workshops and one on one coaching for Coface Asia.
Greg led a number of major consulting assignments from 2000 to 2007 including preparing strategic plans for crime insurance covering 750 BC-based financial institutions and a captive insurer and an insurance strategy review for the BC tourism industry and government. In 2000, Greg led a road safety review for the government of Costa Rica that led to a Global Road Safety Partnership sponsorship and a national stakeholders congress.
As Senior Vice President, Government and Corporate Relations for the Insurance Corporation of BC Greg led the reorientation of customers complaints to a fairness lens through policy reviews, service enhancements and reduced timelines and advocated for the appointment of an external ICBC Fairness Commissioner/Ombudsman. Greg administratively led customer fairness, strategy, policy, issues management, internal audit, youth road safety and statutory functions including Freedom of Information and Privacy and acting as liaison with BC Ombudsman investigations and the Canadian Police Information Centre. Greg served as acting President and CEO during his years as a member of the Executive Committee.
Prior to ICBC Greg was appointed by Order-in-Council as Project Director of the Vancouver Police and Community Services Project reporting to a Deputy Chief Constable with a mandate to develop a new service delivery model for police with integration with criminal justice, community social and mental health agencies to improve diversion from the courts and enhance community relations.
Following university graduation, Greg was appointed as the District of North Vancouver’s first Municipal Social Planner, a role that coordinated projects across civic agencies such as health, welfare, policing and community groups and agencies. Significant achievements included negotiating for the City and District of North Vancouver one of the first provincial agreements for the transfer of the municipal welfare functions to the Province of BC.
Until 1996, Greg instructed management and organizational behavior at the British Columbia Institute of Technology for 13 years, as well as coached youth soccer and baseball and later senior men soccer teams.
Greg served for nine years on the Board of Governors of Simon Fraser University as well as served as a Senator and President of the Alumni Association. In 2005, Greg was one of 40 recipients of the President’s 40 th Anniversary Award.
In 1990, the Greg was honoured with the Alumni Silver Anniversary Award. In 1972, Greg received the Chancellor Gordon Shrum Medal for outstanding contribution to the university and high academic standing.
Greg has a BA and EMBA from Simon Fraser University and was the principal author of “A Planning and Implementation Guide to Team Policing” in 1977.