Our Board of Directors
Chair
Calvin Lindberg, West Vancouver
Currently the managing broker of Angell Hasman & Associates in West Vancouver, Cal has been selling real estate for more than 34 years. He’s been involved in organized real estate for many years, serving as president of the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and FIABCI – The Americas. Cal has also served as a director of BCREA and the Real Estate Council of BC.
Vice-Chair
Peter Kelly, Vancouver
Peter Kelly has been in the insurance industry for more than 45 years. He designed, implemented and managed the original E&O program before it became self-managed. After that, he continued as a member of the Claims Committee and advisor to the Board for several years. His area of expertise is professional liability insurance. His clients have included the Real Estate Insurance Exchange (Alberta), the Real Estate Council of Ontario and the Law Societies of both BC and Alberta.
Directors
Dan Bennett, KC, Vancouver
Dan Bennett, KC, a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright in Vancouver, has practiced law in BC for more than 33 years. His practice has been focused on commercial and administrative litigation and he has acted as legal counsel for several real estate organizations over the years including BCREA, the Real Estate Compensation Fund Corporation and various real estate boards. He sat on the Law Society Discipline Committee and has been involved in professional development of lawyers, including acting as an adjunct professor at UBC. He was also an elected county member for the Canadian Bar Association and sat as a board member for Family Services of the North Shore.
Susan Forbes, KC, Vancouver
Susan Forbes, KC, Chief Operating Officer of the Lawyers’ Indemnity Fund (LIF), Law Society of BC, has more than 37 years of experience in the legal profession and the insurance industry. She’s been a lawyer since 1982 and practiced in a broad range of areas, including real estate licensee errors and omissions, before joining LIF where she manages E & O claims against lawyers. Ms. Forbes currently serves on the Board of the Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association and has twice been the President of the National Association of Bar Related Insurance Companies.
Scott Russell, Richmond
Scott Russell has been a real estate licensee since 1980 and is currently a Managing Broker (Trading and Rental) at Sutton Group Seafair Realty in Richmond. He brings a wealth of experience including serving as a member of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver from 2002 to 2010 and as president in 2009. He was also a member of the BC Real Estate Association Board of Directors from 2011 to 2016, including acting as President in 2015. Scott is currently acting as chair of the Arbitration Committee for the REBGV.
Gerry Thiessen, Vanderhoof
Gerry has been a real estate licensee since 1977 and is currently an Associate Broker (Trading) for Re/Max Vanderhoof. His years of experience in organized real estate include serving as president of the Canadian Real Estate Association in 2005, as president of the BC Real Estate Association in 1988 and as president of the BC Northern Real Estate Board in 1995. In addition to several roles on other boards, he also served four terms as mayor of the District of Vanderhoof and four years as chair of the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako.
Eric Watt, Vancouver
Eric Watt is an accountant with more than 40 years of client-service experience, primarily in the asset management, insurance, and real estate sectors. He has achieved the designations of Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants (FCPA) and Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA). He was active in the BC captive insurance sector, including sitting on the board of the Canadian Captive Insurance Association and serving a term as chair. He is currently serving as chair of Leith Wheeler Investment Funds’ Independent Review Committee and is a director of both the Arts Umbrella Foundation and the Rick Hansen Foundation.
Executive Officer
Leslie Howatt
Leslie Howatt became Executive Officer for E&O in June 2011. She is a lawyer with over 33 years experience in insurance and professional liability claims against real estate licensees, both in private practice and at E&O. She currently sits on the BCREA Standard Forms Committee and the BCFSA Legal Update Content Advisory Committee. She has also participated in education of licensees, teaching Agency and Legal Update courses from 2006 to 2011.