General Operating By-law No. 2
This by-law relates to the conduct of the affairs of the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group, incorporated under the Not-for Profit Corporations Act (2021). It is intended to replace the Constitution and General Operating By-law adopted on January 10, 2010. General Operating By-law No. 2 was adopted by the BCLG membership at a Special Meeting held 14 January 2024.
In accordance with our updated operating by-law, the BCLG is governed by a Board of Directors, which shall be composed of a minimum of three and a maximum of ten Directors who satisfy specified qualification requirements (section 6.04). Directors are elected by the general membership at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for staggered three-year terms, as prescribed in section 6.05 (d). In accordance with the by-law four of the Directors are elected to serve as officers holding the following positions: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. The four officers are elected at the first meeting of the Board of Directors following the AGM. For practical purposes, the position of Secretary has been identified as Recording Secretary and allowance has been made for a Membership Secretary, a position responsible for membership recruitment and renewals.
The Board of Directors, as elected or received at the most recent AGM held 12 November 2023 comprises the 9 individuals listed below with brief biographical profiles. In addition, the Board may include one or more Advisors, BCLG members with expertise and/ or specific skills relevant to the light station preservation/ restoration project. Advisors may have previously served as a Director or Officer; they may opt to attend Board meetings on a regular basis or from time-to-time, as needed; but they do not have voting privileges. It should be noted that the position of Recording Secretary was not filled at the November 2023 AGM and has been vacant since the November 2021 AGM.
Directors and Officers (2026 – 2027)
DIRECTORS
Ian Kerr-Wilson, Chair
Ian was formerly the Manager of Heritage Resource Management for the City of Hamilton. He began his career in the heritage field in 1981, working as a public programmer at various museums in Kingston and Toronto. He joined the City of Hamilton in 1989, holding programming, curatorial and management positions over the next 30 years. As manager, he oversaw 9 city-owned and operated museums (including 6 national historic sites), 40 heritage buildings, 100-plus monuments, memorials and historic plaques.
Ian holds a Master of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto, an M.A. in History, a B.Ed. from Queen’s University and a B.A. from Trent University.
In retirement, in addition to the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group, he is active with the Global Network of Water Museums, the Toronto Railway Museum, and the Program Advisory Committee for the Centennial College Museum and Cultural Management Program.
Ian was elected to the BCLG Board of Directors in November 2019 and took over the position of Chair at the November 2021 AGM.
Tony Thoma, Vice-Chair
Tony is currently a consultant working in post-secondary education and the energy fields. Tony has retired from post-secondary education holding the position of Executive Dean of the Schools of Engineering & Technology and Trades & Apprenticeship at Conestoga College, and prior to this, he held other similar positions at Niagara College and Mohawk College. He has also held senior-level positions in industry including, Vice-President, Operations at Matalco Inc. and Global Technical Director at Wescast Industries.
Tony is a licensed Professional Engineer (PEO), a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton,and has served as a member of the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Stakeholder Advisory Committee. He has also recently served as Chair for the steering committee for the City of Hamilton’s Citizens Jury for the upcoming LRT initiative.
Tony holds several degrees, including an M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario, an Honours B.B.A from Brock University, and a B.Sc. in Metallurgy and Materials Science from McMaster University. More recently he has completed the McMaster University Chartered Directors Program.
Tony was elected to the BCLG Board of Directors in November 2019.
G.A. (Sandy) Thomson, Past Chair
Since 1965, George (Sandy) Thomson has been the third generation owner of the successful family business, Thomson-Gordon Group, located in Burlington, Ontario. Started by Sandy’s grandfather, the business has now been passed on to the fourth generation – his step-daughter, Anna Galoni. Today, the Thomson-Gordon Group encompasses two diverse business units: Thordon Bearings and Marsh Brothers Aviation.
After Sandy graduated from Northrop University in California with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, he worked for a mechanical seal company for several years. He then followed his passion for film, starting Cinema Sixteen Inc, a film production company that produced documentaries and corporate videos.
In 2019, Sandy won the prestigious Elmer A. Sperry Award. This award recognizes distinguished engineering contributions, which have advanced the art of transportation, whether by land, sea, air or air. Sandy is the only resident Canadian engineer to receive this award.
In 1849, Captain George Thomson (Sandy’s great-great-grandfather), emigrated from Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, to take on the position of keeper for the Burlington Canal Lighthouse in Hamilton, Ontario.
Sandy has been a passionate supporter of the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group for many years and served as Chair of the Board of Directors from November 2016 to November 2021.
Bruce and Patti Hoyle
Bruce attended McMaster University and, after graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, joined the credit/legal department at Simpson-Sears. He was a Director of the Canadian Credit Institute and continued to work in commercial finance at various companies including Chase Manhattan Bank, Deutsche Bank, GE Capital, and DLL/Rabobank, from which he recently retired.
Patti was born and raised in Hamilton, attending the nursing program at Mohawk College. She qualified as a Registered Nurse and worked for many years at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton. Since retiring she has pursued many interests, including volunteer work, dancing, and travelling. She and Bruce are long-term residents of Burlington.
Bruce and Patti are both long-standing members of the BCLG. Patti has been involved with our group for over 15 years and her instinct for sales has been a great asset to our fund-raising activities. Patti was elected as a Director in November 2016. Bruce has a long history as both Treasurer and Director.
Robin McKee
Robin graduated from McMaster University, with a B.A. in History, and Mohawk College, with a certificate in Broadcast Television. He is also a qualified museum worker, with a Certificate in Museum Studies from the Ontario Museum Association. Robin has lived in Hamilton since 1971 and worked at CHCH-TV as an on-air audio technician man from 1978 until his retirement in 2009.
Robin has been the Chair and long-standing member of several local historical societies and heritage groups including the BCLG, for which he has served many terms as a Director. Through his own business, Historical Perceptions, Robin leads “Stories in the Stones” tours of the historic Hamilton Cemetery and makes presentations on different aspects of Hamilton’s history and heritage.
Robin was a contributing author to numerous publications on local history, including The Hamiltonians, Vanished Hamilton, Vol. I, II and III, First Here, plus two sequels (edited by the late Margaret Houghton), and Memories of the Beach Strip, by Gary Evans. At the Hamilton Heritage Day Awards in February 2018, he received the Reverend T. Melville Bailey Lifetime Achievement Award. He has now published his fourth volume of self-guided walking tours of the Hamilton Cemetery: Gone but Not Forgotten.
Ann Gillespie, Membership Secretary
Ann graduated from Carleton University with a Masters degree in the Canadian Studies program, specializing in the history of Canadian architecture and building technology. She was subsequently employed by the City of Hamilton for 16 years as a Heritage Researcher/ Planner. After taking early retirement at the end of 2001, she became a member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Consultants (now CAHP – Ontario Chapter) and established a part-time consulting business under the name Gillespie Heritage Consulting, from which she retired in 2016. Ann has been actively involved with the Hamilton Region Branch of the ACO (Architectural Conservancy of Ontario), since it was resuscitated from a dormant phase 2019 and joined the new Board of Directors in 2026.
Ann is a long-standing member of the BCLG and served as the group’s Recording Secretary from November 2015 to November 2021. She then took on the role of website administrator, working on content for the new WordPress website launched in early 2022. Ann was elected as a first-time Director at the November 2023 AGM. She then took over as Membership Secretary from Gloria Pfefferle, who had held this position since joining the Board of Directors in 2008 (deceased in 2025).
Tom Minnes
(profile to be added)
Richard Barlas
Richard graduated with a B.A. in History from McGill University and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto. He also received a graduate certificate of museum studies from Sir Sandford Fleming College. Along the way, Richard developed a love and appreciation for Industrial history, a passion that he carries to this day.
Beginning his career as a historical researcher at Heritage Mississauga, Richard moved to King Township where he managed the King Township Museum. As the museum curator, Richard oversaw the upgrading of the museum to meet Ontario museum operating and collections standards and led an initiative to transfer the museum from the ownership of the local historical society to the municipality, resulting in better funding and sustainability for the museum.
Starting in 2004 Richard worked for the City of Hamilton Culture Division in a variety of roles. Beginning as a Historical Interpreter, he subsequently held positions as the Programme Coordinator of Fieldcote Museum, Assistant Curator of Whitehern National Historic Site, and spent over 10 years establishing the collections management unit of the Hamilton museum system before becoming curator of the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology. Richard ended his career in Hamilton as the Civic Curator, working with community groups to share stories of Hamilton history not captured by the City’s museums.
Richard was elected to the BCLG Board of Directors in April 2025.
Larissa Fenn, ex-officio non-voting director and HOPA Representative
Larissa Fenn is Vice President, Corporate Affairs at HOPA Ports, leading a team responsible for strategic initiatives, public affairs, sustainability reporting, corporate governance and culture. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Queen’s University, and an MBA from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University.
Larissa was appointed as HOPA’s representative on the BCLG’s Board of Directors in 2019.
OFFICERS
Stewart Patch, Treasurer
Stewart graduated from Queens’ University with a degree in engineering and worked for Bell Canada as a network engineer in Ottawa for nearly 30 years. He took early retirement in 2004 and in 2006 moved to Dundas to join his wife, Ann Gillespie. He then began attending BCLG General Meetings and became more involved when his financial and computer programming skills were revealed. In addition to serving as Treasurer since November 2015, and one term as Chair (the previous year), Stewart also maintained the BCLG website for many years. From 2021 to 2024 he was enrolled in the Honours Physics program at McMaster University and graduated in June 2024 with a B.Sc. degree.
Recording Secretary (vacant since the November 14, 2021, AGM)
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