Our Board of Directors
Chair
Scott Wallace, Invermere
Scott has been active in the real estate industry for more than 22 years; he’s currently an associate broker for Maxwell Realty Invermere, after having acted as its managing broker for several years. He also served as a director of the Kootenay Real Estate Board and was a member of BCREA’s Standard Forms Committee. Prior to obtaining his real estate licence, Scott was an insurance broker in Calgary for more than 24 years.
Vice-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.
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.
Dennis Fimrite, Victoria
Dennis Fimrite has over 30 years of real estate experience including as a Managing Broker (Commercial Leasing and Sales, Rental Property Management and Strata Management). Dennis lives and works in Victoria after starting as a commercial salesperson in Edmonton, Alberta. He has served the Victoria Real Estate Board as chair of the commercial division, a member of the board, and president. He has also served as a member of the Real Estate Council of BC.
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.
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.
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.