Allan Seckel

Allan Seckel is a Canadian lawyer and government official. He serves in leadership positions with the BC Housing Management Commission,^[1][2] the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC),^[3] Legal Aid BC, TransLink, and WorkSafeBC.^[4][5] He previously served as CEO of Doctors of BC and board chair of Covenant House Vancouver.^[3]

He is currently leading the process of amalgamating BC's health colleges for the BC Ministry of Health under the Health Professions Act.^[6]

History

Education

Seckel received a Bachelor of Arts in economics and commerce from Simon Fraser University, subsequently studying law at the University of Victoria. He then attended Gonville & Caius College at the University of Cambridge as a Commonwealth Scholar.

Career

Seckel served as a law clerk to Chief Justice of Nathaniel Nemetz from 1983 to 1984 before beginning his practice as a litigation lawyer.^[3] Starting in 1998, Seckel began co-authoring an annual series called "BC Supreme Court Rules Annotated" published by Thomson Reuters.^[7] He then worked as Deputy Attorney General for British Columbia from 2003 to 2009,^[8] and was designated as Queen's Council before subsequently becoming Cabinet Secretary, head of the BC Public Service Agency, and Deputy Minister to Premier Gordon Campbell from 2009 to 2011.^[4][3] Seckel was dismissed from his position by incoming premier Christy Clark, receiving a $550,000 severance package.^[9]

On June 7, 2011, Seckel registered as a lobbyist for the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA), which later became Doctors of BC.^[10] He was announced as the new CEO of the BCMA on October 11, 2011, succeeding Mark Schonfeld, and taking over duties effective October 31, 2011.^[11][12] From June 2012 – June 2019, he served as a member of the Telus Vancouver and Coastal Community Board of the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation.

In early 2014, the BCMA changed its name to Doctors of BC. According to Seckel, this was done to address public confusion about the organization's existence and its acronym.^[13]

Seckel was a member of the Deputy Minister Advisory Panel on Criminal Legal Aid for the Department of Justice Canada from 2013 to 2014.^[14] From May 2017 – June 2018, Seckel served as Chair of the Mobility Pricing Independent Commission for TransLink and the Metro Vancouver Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation.^[15][16][17]

COVID-19

Following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, in April 2020, Attorney General David Eby appointed Seckel to chair a Cross-Jurisdictional Technical Advisory Group to assist the provincial court system amidst public health restrictions.^[18][19][20] On June 2, 2020, Seckel and Doctors of BC President Kathleen Ross published a statement condemning recent acts of racism and violence in the United States.^[21]

Seckel was appointed to the board of directors of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) on April 22, 2021,^[22] as chair of BC Housing in July 2022,^[23] and as the inaugural Fair Practices Commissioner for WorkSafeBC on May 1, 2023.^[5]

On July 24, 2023, BC Minister of Health Adrian Dix appointed Seckel via ministerial order to lead the process of amalgamating British Columbia's health colleges.^[24] The amalgamation process is scheduled for completion on June 28, 2024.^[6][25][26]

References

1. Chan, Kenneth (October 11, 2023). "New board members appointed to BC Housing include YouTuber | Urbanized". Daily Hive. from the original on October 12, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
2. Collins, Lauren (April 29, 2023). "BC Housing gets new, permanent CEO". Victoria News. from the original on December 4, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
3. "Allan Seckel". Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
4. "Board Profiles". BC Housing. from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
5. "Fair practices commissioner". WorkSafeBC. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
6. "BC Health Regulatory College Amalgamation | Summer 2023 Update". College of Psychologists of British Columbia. September 27, 2023. from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
7. "British Columbia Supreme Court rules annotated". Courthouse Libraries BC. from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
8. Vakil, Thea (2009). "Changing Public Service Values: Limits of Fundamental Reform and Rhetoric". Library and Archives Canada. p. 327. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
9. "B.C. civil servants reap $2.4M severance". CBC News. April 28, 2011. from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
10. "British Columbia Medical Association / Alan Seckel – 2 of 16". Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists for British Columbia. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
11. Shore, Sharon (October 11, 2011). "BCMA Names New CEO". Doctors of BC. from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
12. "Mr Allan Seckel appointed CEO of BCMA". BC Medical Journal. 53 (9): 493. November 2011. from the original on October 2, 2023.
13. Fayerman, Pamela (July 16, 2014). "Was a doctors' lobby group re-branding really necessary, after more than 100 years?". Vancouver Sun. from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
14. "Report Of The Deputy Minister Advisory Panel On Criminal Legal Aid". Department of Justice Canada. August 25, 2022. from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
15. Mobility Pricing Independent Commission (May 2018). "Metro Vancouver Mobility Pricing Study: Findings and Recommendations for an Effective, Farsighted, and Fair Mobility Pricing Policy" (PDF). TransLink. (PDF) from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
16. McElroy, Justin (May 24, 2018). "Mobility pricing commission recommends more study of road pricing for Metro Vancouver". CBC News. from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
17. Saltman, Jennifer (October 24, 2017). "Metro Vancouver's Mobility Pricing Independent Commission to launch public engagement". Vancouver Sun. from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
18. Fletcher, Tom (May 8, 2020). "B.C. joins national effort to deal with COVID-19 court backups". The Abbotsford News. from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
19. "Provincial justice system advisory groups established". Government of British Columbia. Ministry of Attorney General. April 24, 2020. from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
20. Sadowski, Elisabeth A. (Fall 2020). "Overview of the legal provincial and federal committees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic" (PDF). The Verdict. No. 166. Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia. p. 69. (PDF) from the original on February 9, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
21. Ross, Kathleen; Seckel, Allan (June 2, 2020). "Statement on diversity and inclusion". Doctors of BC. from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
22. Holt, Catherine (September 27, 2022). "Statements and Schedules of Financial Information – Year Ended March 31, 2022" (PDF). Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. pp. 107–108. (PDF) from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
23. DeRosa, Katie (May 11, 2023). "Residents may be impacted as Atira housing contracts set to expire". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
24. Dix, Adrian (July 24, 2023). "Ministerial Order No. M217". Government of British Columbia. from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
25. "BC Health Regulatory College Amalgamation I Fall 2023 Update" (PDF). College of Naturopathic Physicians of British Columbia. September 26, 2023. (PDF) from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
26. "Update on Amalgamation of Regulatory Colleges". College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia. August 29, 2023. from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.