Backgrounder: Biographies – Canada Industrial Relations Boards reappointments

Full-time Member (Employers) – Elizabeth Cameron
Elizabeth Cameron has been serving as a full-time employer representative member of the Canada Industrial Relations Board since 2021.

Ms. Cameron has over 30 years of relevant experience in labour relations and human resources and has been an active and important player on the labour relations scene in Canada. In her role as a member of the Board responsible for hearing and adjudicating applicable matters as a participant on three-member panels, she has written more than 80 decisions on jurisdictional labour issues and participated on 145 panels. She was recently Chair of Federally Regulated Employers – Transportation and Communications (FETCO) which is an employers’ association comprised of federally regulated firms within the transportation and communications sectors. Ms. Cameron has represented federal employers at parliamentary committee meetings. She held the positions of Vice-President, Labour Relations at NAV CANADA, where she served as chief labour relations negotiator under numerous collective agreements. Ms. Cameron has twice represented Canadian employers as a delegate to the International Labour Organization and was a Vision Award winner for her work in labour relations in the Ottawa area. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University.

Ms. Cameron has been reappointed for a term of three years, effective January 4, 2024.

Full-time Member (Employers) – Richard Brabander
Richard Brabander has been a full-time member of the Canada Industrial Relations Board since 2013.

Mr. Brabander has had a distinguished career with more than 40 years experience in Canadian labour relations. Mr. Brabander has a deep understanding and knowledge of the Canada Labour Code and other federal laws and regulations related to human resources in the workplace such as the Federal Public Service Labour Relations Act, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Employment Equity Act. He practiced administrative law at Heenan Blaikie from 1997 to 2011. Prior to that, he established and led a labour, employment and human rights group within the corporate law department of Bell Canada. Mr. Brabander studied both arts and law at the University of New Brunswick. Throughout his career, he has participated actively in the Canadian Bar Association and other conferences on labour law and related subjects as a speaker, panel chair or conference chair.

Mr. Brabander has been reappointed for a term of three years, effective December 22, 2023.

Part-time Member (Employers) – Barbara Mittleman
Barbara Mittleman has been serving as a part-time employer representative member of the Canada Industrial Relations Board since 2016.

Ms. Mittleman is an accomplished senior legal and human resources professional with extensive experience in the fields of employment and labour laws and standards, employee relations, privacy, human rights and employment equity. During her career, she spent nearly 30 years at Canadian Pacific Railway in several roles, including as Legal Counsel, and subsequently, Director Employee Relations and Chief Privacy Officer, where she played a key role in employment-related policy and legislative initiatives with various organizations. During her tenure at Canadian Pacific, she received a platinum award for government relations and a human rights leader award from the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Ms. Mittleman has also practised in the fields of labour and employment law with the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association and Ogilvy Renault. She obtained her common law and civil law degrees from the University of Ottawa, where she was awarded the Brian Dixon Award for the highest marks in the combined program. She was a member of the Quebec Bar until her retirement from Canadian Pacific.

Ms. Mittleman has been reappointed for a term of three years, effective December 21, 2023.