FAQs
Donate to the Grand Priory in Canada
Home Caregiver Support Program
HCSP Overview
A Caregiver's Guide
Survey: Assessment of the Caregiver's Guide
First Nations - Preparing for the Journey
Framework on Palliative Care in Canada
Hospice & Palliative Online Resources
The Gazette
Login 
Governance: Board of Governors
The Board of Governors (BOG) is comprised of members who were elected by the members of the Order of Saint Lazarus, Grand Priory in Canada. The BOG has the authority to manage the business, property and affairs of the Grand Priory. Such authority includes, but is not limited to, making regulations, expenditures for promoting the purposes and objects of the Grand Priory, receiving income, employing agents and employees and entering into such trusts or other arrangements as may be beneficial to the Grand Priory. The current Grand Priory in Canada bylaws can be perused for interest by clicking here. The organizational structure is the result of significant effort performed by the Governance Committee tasked to work with the former bylaws and organizational structure in 2019 to take the Order in Canada from what it was to becoming compliant with the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. No individual can serve in their capacity for more than 2 consecutive terms. The following are members of the Order of Saint Lazarus, Grand Priory in Canada, currently serving on the BOG for 2021: |
 Manitoba Commandery Executive Committee Jane is currently the Executive Director of the Sarnia Community Foundation and the Coordinator of Volunteer Services for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services at the Sarnia Jail. She has been involved with a number of volunteer organizations at the local, regional, and national levels for more than 35 years in both a volunteer and a professional capacity. In addition to her employment and work with the Order of Saint Lazarus, she is the treasurer for two volunteer organizations based in Sarnia, a member of the Ontario Independent Police Review Directors resource committee, and past President of the local chapter of Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW). Other volunteer activities have included writing and editing a national magazine, a stint as a member of the Public issues team for the Canadian Federation of Junior Leagues, managing a thrift store, working with the community grants committee for the United Way of Winnipeg along with being part of many community activities, fund raisers and capital campaigns. When not volunteering, she spent nearly 30 years learning with children as a special education consultant and classroom teacher. |
 Calgary Commandery Executive Committee Julien DeSchutter spent more than 42 years in the travel and aviation-related business. During 30 years with Air Canada, he held a number of management and senior management positions in Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal, in the areas of Business Development, Information Technology, Marketing, as well as Corporate and Commercial Strategy. He is also a Past Chair of the Board of Tourism Calgary. In January 1998 Julien was hired as Vice-President, Airport Marketing for The Calgary Airport Authority and remained in that role until he retired at the end of 2008. In that role he was responsible for all Passenger Air Service Development, Tourism Development, Commercial Development, as well as Hospitality Relations. He was also instrumental in bringing large meetings, events, and conferences to Calgary, including The International Air Cargo Association in 2006, World Skills International in 2009, and the Airports Council International North American and International Conferences in 2010. Julien is currently involved with a number of charities including the Board of Directors of The NorthernStar Mothers Milk Bank, as well as Dreams Take Flight, where he has been, until recently, the Treasurer of the Calgary Chapter, and as well served on the National Board of Directors. Julien has served the Grand Priory in Canada as Vice-Chancellor Finance from May 2015 to 2019, and now serves as Chancellor of the Order in Canada. |
 Western Ontario Commandery Executive Committee Fred is a graduate of Brock University, St. Catharines, ON in political science following a five year tour in the Canadian Armed Forces. His academic education was followed by attending the Ontario Police College which led to a position on the York Regional Police Force for 14 years where he retired from the Force with the rank of Sergeant. He later formed TUF Security Services LTD., along with two additional security-oriented companies in Ontario. He was a Vice Chairperson and Member of the Parole Board of Canada. He has been very much involved in community activities including Lead Chair of the District Health Councils of Ontario, Chair of the Council of the Simcoe York District Health Council, and Board Member of both the Salvation Army Toronto Grace Health Centre and York Central Hospital. He was Chair of the Trillium Committee and later Chair of the Community Hospice Association of Ontario after serving as Chair of the Fundraising Committee for Hospice Thornhill. He was admitted to the Order in 2003 with the rank of Officer, appointed Marshal of the Order in 2013, and elected as Commander, Western Ontario Commandery in June 2016. He served as Vice Chancellor Finance from May 2019 and elected Vice Chancellor Finance June 2020. |
 Calgary Commandery Executive Committee After joining the Order in 2006 Glynis served the Calgary Commandery as Vice-Commander from 2008-2013 before taking on the role of Commander from 2013 until 2018. Glynis now serves as Commandery Hospitaller and Social Convenor. Glynis was elected Vice-Chancellor of Commanderies in 2018. Active in the Calgary community she has served as a Director for Valour Canada, The Calgary Military Museum Society, Calgary Exotic Car Group, Southern Alberta Children’s Hospice Society (owners and operators of Ronald McDonald House) and has co-chaired FundFest for the Calgary Health Trust, The Grand Highland Ball for the Calgary Highlanders and Art Lotto for the Glenbow Museum. Glynis has been a long time member of the Samaritans, a 110 year old Calgary organization that raises funds to aid Calgarians in need. She has recently taken on the position of President of the Mess Committee for the Calgary Garrison of the 78th Fraser Highlanders. |
 Montreal Commandery The Revd Eric Edward Dyck, EGCLJ, GOMLJ is presently pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in downtown Montreal and on the clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), Eastern Synod. He is Chaplain-General and Ecumenical Commissioner of the Grand Priory of Canada and Deputy Ecclesiastical Grand Prior for the Order internationally. He serves the Ecclesiastical Grand Prior as Chairman of the international Spiritual Advisory Council (an advisory council that informs and recommends to the Grand Master on spiritual matters in the Order). His theological studies were first at Lutheran Theological Seminary (University of Saskatchewan) and then graduate work in liturgical studies at the University of Notre Dame in the U.S.A. He is adjunct faculty at Montreal Anglican Diocesan College (McGill) and a member of Societas Liturgica, an international, academic society for liturgists. In 2018 he was recognised by the ELCIC and made a Companion for the Worship Arts (CWA) in the church’s companionate recognising contributions in the Lutheran Church in worship arts. Pastor Dyck was the ELCIC’s participant in the Lutheran World Federation’s international consultation on worship and culture. This international team engaged the Lutheran world communion in the ecumenical discussion of inculturation. In his work as a parish pastor, Eric Dyck frequently encounters issues of dying and death; the palliative care departments of the Montreal hospitals are familiar places to him. These experiences have cultivated a sensitivity to the pastoral rites for the dying (e.g. “last rites”) and death (e.g. funeral and burial rites) and their therapeutic qualities. He is also active in a number of ecumenical projects, especially with Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Despite numerous projects nationally and internationally, Pastor Eric Dyck has remained rooted in parish ministry and enjoys being able to serve his church and the Order of Saint Lazarus. |
 Western Ontario Commandery  Dr. Robert Boyko graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto (UofT) in 1987. He works as a Family Physician in Mississauga, Ontario. Dr. Boyko is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UofT and teaches undergraduate medical students at the Mississauga Academy of Medicine, where he is the Ethics and Professionalism Site Coordinator. He is also an Investigating and Inquest Coroner for the Province of Ontario. Dr. Boyko volunteers as the Provincial Medical Advisor for St. John Ambulance, Ontario Council and is the Hospitaller of Toronto and Southwest Region of the Canadian Association of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, as well as Hospitaller for the Grand Priory in Canada of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. |
 Acadia Commandery Executive Committee  David, originally from ON, is a graduate of the University of Toronto with majors in biology and computer science. He began his work career conducting six years of diabetes research at the Banting and Best Institute, which spurred further interest in computing. He then pursued a career in technology spanning 25 years developing expertise from IBM mainframes, supercomputers to archtecting advanced network computing environments. David's interest in history was a catalsyt in the founding of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts in Toronto in 1998, which now has schools in Guelph, Stratford, Digby and Halifax. This interest expanded to include heraldy and after becoming a member of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada, he later became its 23rd President. He is an Honorary Fellow of that Society, awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and is a recipient of a grant of arms in 2004 from the Canadian Heraldic Authority, Ottawa. |
 Ottawa Commandery Dr. Davidson received a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree from the University of Guelph in 1973 and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from McMaster University in 1980. He then came to duty with the Canadian Forces Medical Services and served for over 28 years in increasingly responsible clinical, research, teaching, operational, managerial, and command positions in both the air and maritime environments. In 1985, he received a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Texas with a special emphasis on tropical diseases, particularly malariology and leprosy. In 1986, he completed a residency program in aerospace medicine with the United States Air Force before returning to Canada as an Aerospace Medicine Specialist. His last military assignment was as Medical Advisor to the Chief of the Air Staff and Aviation Medical Advisor to the Minister of National Defence. After his retirement, in 2005, Dr. Davidson joined his federal Member of Parliament as a Policy Advisor for two years before founding his own occupational medicine consulting company. In June 2019, he was elected to the Board of Directors of The Leprosy Mission Canada. Throughout his career, Dr. Davidson has retained a keen interest in the provision of health care and the prevention of illness and disease. He describes his attraction for the Order of Saint Lazarus as a logical step in a long process; an opportunity to leverage his military medical experience, his interest in leprosy and tropical diseases, and his desire to serve the disadvantaged in our society. |
 Arctic Commandery Michael has recently retired after 25 years as a senior manager with the Government of the Northwest Territories. He most recently served as the Director of the Program Review Office where he worked on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government program and services. He previously served as Director of Pipeline Readiness, Community Governance, Strategic Change, Land Claims and Self Government Negotiations, and as Advisor to Cabinet. Michael received the Premier’s Award for Excellence in Public Service in 2009 for his role in the negotiation of the Tlicho Land Claim and Self-Government Agreement. He is presently working on a number of alternative energy projects, and is engaged in the development of a new enterprise, Arctic Sustainable Harvesting, with a view to establishing local food sources that will provide employment, import substitution, tourism and export opportunities. Michael is a member of the Northern Lights Council of Scouts Canada, the True North Rotary Club,, and actively involved in several other community groups. He has received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, the Scouts Centennial Medal, and the NWT Volunteer of the Year Award in recognition of his voluntary activities. Michael served as Vice Commander northwest Territories for the previous three years. He also serves as Scrivener of the Grand Priory in Canada, and has attended every Chapter General since joining the Order. |
 Western Ontario Commandery Scott is a passionate about family, church, career and the Order of St. Lazarus. Introduced to the Order in the 1990’s by the then Chaplain General and other members, predominantly through the Anglican Church, Scott was admitted as an Officer in 1997. Recognized for his energy he was drawn to serve the Marshall’s Corp from 1998 – 2014; served as Chair of the Ecumenical Commission 2013 – 2017; elected Vice Commander of Western Ontario 2017 and Commander in 2019. A member of the Order of Huron, Scott’s passion for the Anglican Church is demonstrated by his appointment to Diocesan Council & Executive, the Episcopal Election Committee, a Synod Representative, Paymaster and Member of Council for the Regional Ministry of Saugeen Shores, Tara and Chatsworth as well as Head of the Altar Guild in his home Parish of St. Paul’s. A self-motivated individual Scott had a fast tracked career with Canadian Tire store management from 1987 – 2001 and then began a successful real estate career in 2002. Scott is married to his wife Trish and is step-father to Elyse and devoted uncle to Serenity and Andre. |
 Acadia Commandery Lois Stevenson was investitured in the Order of St. Lazarus in 2018 (promoted to rank of Commander in 2019) but has been a member of the Acadia Commandery since 2016, currently serving as its Treasurer. She has an MBA from Dalhousie University and an M.Phil from the University of Bath in England. A former professor of business at Acadia University, St. Mary’s University and Mount Saint Vincent University, she later spent a number of years in the Canadian federal government holding executive-level positions responsible for entrepreneurship, small business, innovation, and economic framework policies and initiatives. She is a past president of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) and the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and a founding member of the Middle East Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Lois was a member of the Planning Committee for the 2019 Chapter General of the Order of Saint Lazarus hosted by the Acadia Commandery in Digby, NS in May 2019 and on the Board of the Atalanta Hospice Society. In 2019/20, she co-chaired the Board Governance Working Group of the Grand Priory which resulted in modernization of The Order's bylaws. In June 2020, she was elected to the Board of Governors. |
 Toronto Commandery  Warren joined the Order in 1996 and has held numerous positions as a member of Thunder Bay and Toronto Commanderies. With Toronto since 2007, he has held the Secretary and Webmaster positions in addition to membership on three Chapter General organizing committees. He has been the Editor of the Gazette, the Order’s newsletter from 2010 – 2015 and 2017 as well as deputy to the Marshal when conducting our Vigil and Investiture ceremonies. Warren was elected to the position of Registrar General in 2018. Warren was employed with Hydro One for 20 years advancing from field positions to Training Manager. He moved to academic positions in Engineering Technology at Georgian College where he served on a variety of internal and external committees from 2008 to 2018. In 2018 he returned to Hydro One as Senior Manager, System Operation Training and Development and serves the industry as a member of the NERC Credential Maintenance and CO-2 Operator Training working groups. He earned his B. Ed in Adult Education at Brock, an M. Ed in Distance Education at Athabasca, and is pursuing an Ed. D. in Distance Education at Athabasca. |
 Montréal Commandery  Marc-Philippe Vincent is an elementary school principal in Montréal. Born in Montreal, he did his theological and pedagogical studies at Université de Montréal where he got his M.A. He also completed a diploma in school administration. Ordained a deacon and then a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, he has served as a non-stipendiary priest in the diocese of Montréal in various communities and parishes. Member of the Order of St Lazarus since 2008, he has served on the Montreal Commandery’s Executive as Hospitaller and Director of Communications. He has also helped in the translation and adaptation from English into French of liturgical material for the Grand Priory. He was elected Commander of Montreal in June 2016. |