Ottawa, June 16, 2014 – Today, the Honorable Peter Van Loan, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, announced two appointments to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Kathleen Fox, who has enjoyed a four-decade career in the aviation sector, including membership of the Transportation Safety Board since 2007, will become the Board’s next Chairperson. Faye Ackermans, a 25-year veteran of the rail industry, has been appointed as a part-time member of the Transportation Safety Board.
“Ms. Fox’s previous experience on the Board and senior management experience in the public sector will be of significant value to the Board. As well, Mrs. Ackermans’ extensive background in the field of rail safety will be a valuable asset to the Board.” Mr. Van Loan commented.
Ms. Fox’s four-year term will begin August 21, 2014, and Mrs. Ackermans four-year appointment will begin on July 2, 2014.
Mr. Van Loan added, “I want to take this occasion to thank Wendy Tadros for her many years of service to the Transportation Safety Board, including the last nine as its Chairperson.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is an independent agency, created in 1990 and consisting of up to five Board members, including a Chairperson. It reports to Parliament through the Government House Leader. Its mandate is to advance transportation safety through the investigation of occurrences in the marine, pipeline, rail and air modes of transportation. The Board works to identify safety deficiencies and to make recommendations designed to eliminate or reduce those safety deficiencies.
For more information on the Transportation Safety Board please visit: http://www.tsb.gc.ca.
Kathy Fox selected air traffic control as a career in 1974 and worked at Transport Canada control towers in Quebec. From 1982 until 1986, she was in charge of air traffic control training at the CEGEP Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a cooperative training program coordinated by Transport Canada and the Quebec Ministry of Education.
Ms. Fox left operational controlling in 1992 to accept a developmental assignment with Air Traffic Services Headquarters in Ottawa, assuming progressively senior positions. She transferred to NAV CANADA in 1996 and became Director, Safety & Quality, in 1997; then Director, Air Traffic Services, in 1999. In 2000, she was appointed Assistant Vice-President, Air Traffic Services. She became Vice-President, Operations, in 2003 where she was responsible for providing executive leadership and direction throughout NAV CANADA's Operations Group. She retired from NAV CANADA in June 2007.
Ms. Fox has been a member of the Transportation Safety Board since 2007.
Ms. Fox received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master's degree in Business Administration from McGill University. She also completed a Master of Science in Human Factors and System Safety with Lund University in Sweden.
Faye Ackermans has 25 years of experience in the rail industry and over 15 of those years with senior positions in rail safety and regulatory affairs.
Mrs. Ackermans began her career with Canadian Pacific Railway in 1982 as a mechanical planning analyst. She went on to work as the Director of Mechanical Regulations in 1991, and then as the Director General of Regulatory Affairs for Canadian Pacific from 1992 to 1995.
Mrs. Ackermans then worked as General Manager of Safety & Regulatory Affairs from 1996 to 2008. In this role, she was responsible for corporate-wide oversight for safety management, security planning, operations regulatory compliance and occurrence investigations. Over that period, Canadian Pacific reduced train accidents by 65% and personal injuries by over 70%. Her tenure includes the only employee fatality-free year in Canadian Pacific’s history.
She has held several rail industry committee memberships over her career, including the Safety & Operations Management Committees of both the Railway Association of Canada and the American Association of Railroads.
Mrs. Ackermans recently was a senior consultant with Behavioural Science Technology, Inc. from 2010 until earlier this year.
Mrs. Ackermans received a Master of Business Administration from Concordia University in Montreal and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa.
