Our seminars are presented by experienced instructors who work in many facets of the insurance industry.  Some of our instructors come to us from the fields of law, dispute resolution, sales and marketing, and adult education.  Regardless of their backgrounds, they share their extensive knowledge and experience to provide you with practical and relevant continuing education.

Katherine Arnold, LLB is associate counsel with Bernard & Partners, a boutique Vancouver law firm. Katherine obtained her LL.B. from the University of Alberta in 1990 and was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1991. She practices in the areas of employment, human rights and insurance law. Katherine has worked extensively with numerous public and private sector clients, including insurance companies, health care professions, hospitals, health regions, self-governing bodies, school boards and municipalities. She has represented clients at a variety of administrative tribunals and courts, including the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, the B.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. She has also presented numerous papers and seminars on employment, human rights and health law issues.

Beverley Carlson has worked in the insurance industry for over 40 years. She began her career as a policy typist at Sun Alliance. Later, Beverley also worked for United Insurance Managers, Safeco Insurance, and the Motor Vehicle Department. Today, she works for HUB International TOS Ltd. where she manages the Pleasure Craft Marine Department. Beverley has been teaching marine pleasure craft seminars for IBABC, along with John Zeiler, since 1998. 

Janette Carr, B.F.A., CAIB is manager of Maxxam Insurance Services in Burnaby. There, she spends her days coaching and managing the day-to-day operations of one of the busiest insurance brokerages in B.C. After obtaining a bachelors' degree in the Arts in 1981, Janette worked for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia for 27 years. In 1993, she obtained her CAIB designation and held the position of Senior Autoplan Instructor until September 2008. In her years at the Corporation, she gained a broad knowledge of automobile insurance and created and delivered numerous courses to hundreds of brokers across the province. Janette has instructed such courses as Autoplan Essentials, Special Coverages, Importing and Salvage, to list a few. She will be presenting seminars for IBABC for the first time in 2010.

Brian Cook is founder and president of PowerCheck Electrical Safety Services, a Vancouver-based company offering electrical safety assessments of homes, apartments and commercial buildings throughout B.C. for the insurance industry. Brian has an in-depth knowledge of and is keenly interested in electrical safety. He is a licensed electrical contractor and a registered Field Safety Representative. His expertise is founded on 35 years experience in the electrical field. He has a comprehensive background in safety of residential and commercial electrical systems, including consulting to BC Hydro and the National Research Council of Canada. Brian regularly lectures on electrical safety at UBC and has written course material on electrical systems for BCIT.

Sandi Dey is a Commercial Surety Underwriter with the Axa Pacific Insurance Company. Starting as a contract surety assistant, Sandi has been with Axa since 1986 and became a Commercial Surety Underwriter in 1998. She belongs to the Surety Association of Canada and is actively involved in the Commercial Surety Committee, meeting with different associations and governing bodies to produce new products and work towards implementation of better legislation, bond wordings and claims handling for the primary goal of consumer protection. She has gained an extensive knowledge of the insurance industry, particularly commercial surety, during her tenure as an underwriter.

Valerie Dixon, LLB is an associate in Clark Wilson's litigation department, specializing in Labour & Employment, Estate & Trust Litigation and Insurance law. She has acted for a variety of clients including financial institutions, insurance companies, insurance brokers and charitable organizations. Valerie has appeared as counsel in all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She writes for a number of internal and external publications, and speaks on employment, estate litigation and insurance issues on a regular basis. Valerie graduated from the University of the Fraser Valley with a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) in 2000. She received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia in 2003 and she articled with Clark Wilson and was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 2004.

Debra L. Fitzsimmons, CAIB has been in the insurance industry for more than ten years. She began her career on the front lines of a large Prince George insurance brokerage as an Autoplan agent, and then quickly moved into personal lines which became her passion. Currently based in Sidney, BC as a multi-office manager for Seafirst Insurance Brokers, Debra continues to assist clients with their personal insurance needs. A former IBABC Board Member and BIP Committee Chair, Debra has been facilitating courses and seminars for IBABC since 2005.

Tom Hawkins, LLB is a senior partner with Bernard & Partners, a boutique Vancouver law firm. Tom practices in the areas of insurance defence and maritime law, representing international and local marine underwriters in all manner of marine insurance, personal injury, collision, cargo, tug & tow, oil pollution and maritime commercial disputes. He deals regularly with pleasure craft casualty, tug and tow and other personal injury issues arising in the marine context, and has conducted trials and appeals in the Federal Court and Court of Appeal, the B.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Tom is a frequent speaker in the area of insurance, personal injury and maritime law. He has presented numerous seminars on marine bodily injury claims to the Marine Insurance Association of BC and the Canadian Maritime Law Association. Tom has been an Adjunct Professor of Maritime law at the U.B.C. Faculty of Law since 1996.

David K. Jones, LLB, LLM is a partner with Bernard & Partners. David earned his LLB from the University of Victoria in 1993 and an LLM in maritime law from the University of Wales in 1995. He practices in the area of civil and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on maritime and environmental matters. David’s maritime law practice includes representing clients in cargo damage, personal injury, marine insurance, oil pollution, administrative and regulatory matters. His environmental law practice includes contaminated sites litigation, due diligence matters and defence of environmental prosecutions. David has appeared at all levels of the British Columbia courts and in the Federal Court and Court of Appeal. He is currently Chair of the Maritime Law section of the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. Branch), as well as a member of the Environmental section.

Alan Kavanaugh, BA, CRM is an independent contractor on assignment to Risk Management Services (RMS). He provides a variety of risk management services to RMS, including: valuations of schools, colleges and universities; playground audits; sprinkler system evaluations, testing and inspections; development of standards, guidelines and policies in relation to various risk management standards; evaluation, inspection and policy development for fire suppression systems for major industries; municipal insurance association inspections and evaluations and more. He also facilitates numerous courses and workshops on such topics as automatic sprinkler systems, process hazards, risk evaluations, playground audits and training of new inspectors. Before going independent in 1993, Alan was a loss prevention engineer with Lumbermen’s Underwriting Alliance and, prior to that, he was a tank troop commander with the Canadian Armed Forces.

Wayne Kehl, CIP, CPBA, CPMA is an experienced business leader, author, lecturer, and personal development and talent assessment consultant with Dynamic Leadership Inc. Born in Vancouver, he has lived in Prince George for most of his life. He spent 40 years as a manager and Vice-president in the General Insurance industry, in the end retiring from his position as Vice-president of Operations and Vice-president of Employee Engagement at HUB International. Wayne qualified as an Associate of the Insurance Institute of Canada with honours, and is a Chartered Insurance Professional.  He is also a Certified Professional Behavioural Analyst, a Certified Professional Motivational Analyst, and a Certified Professional TriMetrix Analyst. The books he has authored include: “Getting Along With People Is Easy”, “A Passion For Leadership” and “Always Remember: If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doing!” In addition to these books, he has written articles for a variety of trade publications. Wayne has taught general insurance courses at the College of New Caledonia, has presented many seminars for insurance industry professionals, has lectured to the faculty of the University of Northern British Columbia, and has been a member of Toastmasters International.

Glen MacRae currently works at a major insurance brokerage specializing in servicing the construction sector. His career has embraced many front line jobs in the insurance industry. After graduating from the University of British Columbia, he worked briefly as an administration manager in a Canadian chartered bank before joining a direct writing American insurance company selling commercial P&C, life, and disability insurance. For fifteen years, he worked at producing and servicing clients in many industry sectors. During those years, he had first hand experience as a Direct Writer, National Tier I brokerage and as an equity owner in an independent agency. After selling his business, he went to work for a decade in increasingly senior positions with one of Canada's foremost insurance companies. There, he worked closely with the president and COO as Manager of Claims Operations. Following a corporate reshuffling, he took a Graduate Certificate in e-Business at the University of British Columbia. Glen combines his first-hand experience of the insurance industry and experience as a senior management trainer to create educational programs directed at the emerging needs of the insurance brokerage sector. He has been presenting seminars for IBABC since 2006.

Karen MacWilliam, BA, FIIC, CRM is an independent insurance and risk management consultant. She has over 20 years experience as an underwriter, broker, corporate risk manager, trainer and consultant. In addition to advising a variety of clients on risk management and insurance matters, she is the author of The Risk Management and Insurance Guidebook for Industry © 2001, ABS Inc. and teaches advanced insurance and risk management curriculum at SFU and UNBC. Karen has been facilitating seminars for IBABC since 1998.

Greg Mansfield, B.A., CAIB, Dipl.Ed. has been in the insurance industry since 1987 and is currently Manager of IBABC’s Education Department. After graduating from the University of British Columbia, Greg worked for the Commercial Union Insurance Company of Canada as a commercial lines underwriter and claims adjuster. In 1989, he became a broker at Mellor-Liggett Insurance Agencies in Vancouver, where he served in various capacities for eight years, including office manager, commercial accounts executive and staff trainer. In 1997, Greg became a full-time computer training specialist on assignment to London Life. He then joined the IBABC Education Department in 1999. In addition to his administrative duties at IBABC, he continues to enjoy instructing some seminars. An advocate of life-long learning, Greg received a Diploma in Adult Education from the University of B.C. in 2003 and completed a Certificate in Online Learning Instruction through Vancouver Community College in 2007.

Ken Marriette is a Victoria-based sales trainer, business coach and marketing specialist. Ken was an extremely successful sales professional with IBM Canada Ltd. for twenty-five years. During his time there, he consistently exceeded sales targets and was perennially awarded for being a high achiever. In 1992, he left IBM and is now a full-time seminar instructor, business mentor and personal coach. His highly energetic and enthusiastic presentation style puts him in constant demand as a presenter. He has been facilitating sales, marketing and business coaching seminars for the IBABC since the early 1990’s.

Evan Miles is the Branch Manager for Crawford & Company (Canada) Ltd., in charge of the Vancouver, Abbotsford and B.C. Marine branches. He was born on the prairies, was raised in Edmonton, and moved to B.C. over 20 years ago. While in Alberta, Evan spent 17 years in the Fire Services and, after 10 years of active firefighting, moved into Fire & Arson Investigations where he eventually reached the rank of Assistant Fire Marshall, then Deputy Fire Chief. Of course, most firefighters have some type of part time job and, in Evan’s case, he owned and operated a Private Investigation Agency for over 10 years and he also dabbled in Driver Education. Over the past 20 years, he has worked as a Claims Professional in Independent Adjusting and as a Staff Adjuster, Examiner and Litigation Manager.

Jo Anne Mitchell, CIP is founder and operator of Effective Training & Communications Plus (ETC Plus), based in Port Stanley, Ontario. Jo Anne has over 20 years experience in the insurance industry, including commercial lines and farms. A seasoned facilitator, she has trained over 5,000 insurance professionals across Canada. Jo Anne’s insurance career spans both a brokerage and company background, giving her a unique insight into the training needs of both groups. She has been presenting seminars for IBABC since 2006.

Jeff Nykoluk, B.Comm. is a Commercial Surety Underwriter with the Axa Pacific Insurance Company. Jeff has been with Axa as a surety underwriter since 2004. He completed his Bachelors of Commerce degree at UBC in 1993, and is now in the final stages of completing his CGA certification. He has been involved with in-house surety training for Axa Pacific employees and has presented numerous surety seminars to insurance brokers.

Krista Prockiw, LLB is an associate with Clark Wilson LLP and a member of its Insurance Law Group. She has been a member of Clark Wilson’s Litigation Department since 2002. The focus of her practice is insurance litigation and the defense of personal injury claims. In the past, Krista has worked on behalf of private insurers, ICBC, and for Plaintiffs in personal injury claims. As a result, she has a broad experience with both third party and first party claims. Krista obtained a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) from the University of Alberta in 1993 and, after graduation, taught English in Kagoshima, Japan. Following her return to Canada, she obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia in 1998 and was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 1999. She has been presenting seminars for IBABC since 2004.

Edith Strauss, CIP, CRM began her career in the insurance industry in the mid-1970s. She has worked as a broker/manager in both British Columbia and Ontario. Edith is an Associate of the Insurance Institute of Canada, is a member of the Chartered Insurance Professionals Society, and obtained her Certified Risk Manager’s designation in 2008. Since 1990, she has served as IBABC’s senior instructor, teaching Fundamentals and CAIB courses as well as seminars. She is also chief editor of IBABC’s online CAIB courses. Edith is one of the contributors to the Fundamentals of Insurance textbook and, in the past, she has been a text auditor for the Insurance Institute of Canada. She now devotes her energy full-time to the education and training of insurance professionals.

Peter Swanson, LLB is a senior partner with Bernard & Partners, a boutique Vancouver law firm. Peter is recognized by his peers as a leader in the field of maritime law. He handles cases involving the carriage of cargo, collision, salvage, bodily injury, ship source pollution, enforcement of maritime liens, vessel arrest, charter party disputes and constitutional issues arising in a marine context.  Peter has argued cases at all levels of court, including the Federal Court and Court of Appeal, the B.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in Canada since it was first published in 2006, and is rated as Repeatedly Recommended for shipping and maritime law in the Canadian Legal L’expert Directory. Peter was winning counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada in the leading Canadian case on the enforcement of forum selection clauses (Z.I. Pompey Industrie v. ECU‑Line N.V., 2003).

Neo Tuytel, LLB is a senior counsel with Bernard & Partners. Neo obtained his LL.B. from the University of British Columbia in 1984 and was called to the bar in 1985. He was also accredited as a mediator in 1994. Neo is a member of the Environmental, Civil Litigation and Insurance subsections of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute. He is General Editor of the Canadian Journal of Insurance Law and has written and presented numerous papers at seminars under the auspices of IBABC, Canadian Defence Lawyers, the Defence Research Institute (U.S.), the Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C., the Canadian Risk and Insurance Managers Society, B.C. Risk and Insurance Managers Association, the Insurance Institutes of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, the Canadian Institute and other organizations. Neo was winning counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark cases of overlapping insurance coverage (Family v Lombard, 2002) and restrictive covenants in employment contracts (Shafron v. KRG Insurance, 2009). He has been presenting seminars for IBABC since 2004.

Gary Wharton, LLB, MSc is a senior partner with Bernard & Partners. Gary earned his M.Sc. (Marine Ecology) in 1980 and his LLB in 1985, both from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is a recognized authority on maritime law, as well as aspects of environmental law relating to the marine environment. Gary has been lead counsel on several maritime collision cases, as well as major marine incidents involving oil pollution. He has published numerous articles in the area of maritime law and has presented several seminars the Law Society of BC’s Continuing Legal Education Program, and other educational institutes. Gary taught Fisheries Law for several years as an Adjunct Professor at the U.B.C. Faculty of Law, and has chaired the Maritime Law section of the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. Branch). He is also active in committee work at the Canadian Maritime Law Association, and has worked extensively with the Government of Vietnam to bring their marine transportation and environmental legislation up to international standards.

John Zeiler, AIIC has been in the insurance industry for over forty years. He began his career in 1970 with Zurich Insurance as a Personal Lines Supervisor. Soon after, he began specializing in marine insurance when he joined Dale and Company in 1972 as a Marine Insurance Marketer and Accounts Executive. Since then, he has held numerous positions in marine insurance for the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, Marsh & McLennan Ltd., the Allianz Insurance Company, and as President and CEO of Oceanic Underwriters Ltd. He is currently the head of Eagle Underwriting Pacific. Over the years, John has been a member of the B.C. Insurance Adjusters Association, the International Association of Marine Investigators, and the Vancouver Maritime Arbitrators Association. He is also an experienced instructor, having taught courses for IBABC, the Insurance Institute of Canada, the Association of Marine Underwriters of B.C., and the Northwest Community College for many years.

Arnie Zippel, B.Comm., CIP has been in the insurance industry for over 27 years since graduating from the University of Calgary. The insurance business has provided a variety of learning opportunities for him, from underwriting to managing to business development and product development. As Manager of Market Segmentation at AXA Pacific Insurance, Arnie leads their underwriting team’s training and development in specialized classes of commercial business, including manufacturing, wholesale distribution and graphic trades. His expertise in underwriting and training has given him a reputation as an energetic instructor who is able to bring years of experience to the classroom. Arnie lives and works in Calgary and his passion, second only to insurance, is golf. When he’s not on a course, preparing a course, teaching a course or dreaming about a course, his time is spent with his wife (also in the industry) discussing insurance.