Item - 2023.NS2.1

The Nominating Panel - Sign Variance Committee recommends that:

1. City Council appoint Janet Ross as Chair of the Sign Variance Committee for a term of office ending on March 9, 2026, and until a successor is appointed.

2. City Council appoint the following candidates to the Sign Variance Committee for a term of office ending on December 16, 2027, and until successors are appointed:

Irene Buncel

Derek Lett

Tony Tsui

The Nominating Panel - Sign Variance Committee:

1. Directed that Confidential Attachments 1 to 5 to the report (November 14, 2023) from the City Clerk remain confidential in their entirety as they relate to personal matters about identifiable individuals being considered for appointment to the Sign Variance Committee.

Candidates' biographies:

Irene Buncel

Ms. Buncel has worked in the area of complaints resolution since 2009, first at the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman, then City of Toronto Ombudsman and at the Fair Practices Commission since 2012 (internal Ombudsman to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board). She was licensed by the Law Society of Ontario in 2012 as a paralegal, earned a LLB (Bachelor of Laws) in 2021 and is currently working on an LLM (Master of Law) at Osgoode Law School. In addition to the complaints resolution, she has been a volunteer at several not for profit organizations including Meals on Wheels East York.

Derek Lett

Mr. Lett is a professor, mediator and an experienced public sector executive who has held leadership roles in line ministries, central agencies and legislative oversight agencies of the Ontario government. He has served on several community boards, including as a past member of the city's Committee of Adjustment, North York Panel.

Janet Ross

Janet Ross is a graduate of the University of Manitoba where she received a Bachelor of Arts. She is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and called to the Ontario Bar. She was employed as a lawyer in the private sector and later joined the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Hearings Determination Division as a Refugee Protection Officer until her retirement in 2019.

Tony Tsui

Tony Tsui is passionate about the challenges of city building based on his Civil Engineering background. His educational and professional experience includes working in various engineering capacities with the Regional Municipality of York, City of Toronto, and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change as well as an environmental consulting firm. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a Master’s degree in environmental engineering.

The Nominating Panel - Sign Variance Committee will conduct interviews and recommend to City Council three candidates for appointment to the Sign Variance Committee. The Panel will also recommend one candidate as Chair of the Sign Variance Committee, to be nominated from the three recommended candidates or the current members of the Sign Variance Committee.