Our Board of Directors

Howie Dayton is the Director of Community Recreation for the City of Toronto, joining the City in 2015. He is Past President of Parks and Recreation Ontario, Founding Chair of the Ontario Playworks Partnership for Youth and former Task Force Chair responsible for the Affordable Access to Recreation Policy Framework for Ontario.

Howie has worked in several GTA municipalities in progressive positions both in the recreation and social service sectors. He has continued to champion policies that position community recreation, after school and youth development programs as a public good and an essential service that improves quality of life and builds community resiliency.

Martin holds a master’s degree in management and organizational development and a certificate in organizational management from Université Laval. He has been the recreation manager at CFB Valcartier for 15 years.

He represents the Capitale-Nationale region on the Board of Directors of the Association québécoise du loisir municipal (AQLM). Martin grew up in the English-speaking community of Shannon, north of Québec, where his father, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, instilled in him a love of sports, physical activity and the outdoors.

Kelsey Johnson is the Manager of Recreation, Arts & Culture for the City of Penticton. With over 15 years of experience in recreation services, Kelsey has proven to be a proactive visionary committed to advancing and advocating for recreation and community services. In addition to their work in the municipal recreation sector, Kelsey has served on a variety of community committees and co-founded the South Okanagan Women’s Hockey League, the first organized league available in the region. Kelsey was the recipient of the 2019 CPRA Emerging Leader Award.

Originally hailing from Northern Ontario, Mike has called the NWT home since 2013, serving as as the Pool Supervisor in Inuvik from 2013–2019. While in Inuvik, he served on the NWTRPA Board as the Beaufort Delta Director. He took a short break from aquatics in Yellowknife before taking over the reins as Aquatic Supervisor in Hay River in November 2020.

Mike is a Lifeguard Instructor and Trainer for the Lifesaving Society and is also a member of their Technical Committee. When he’s not working, he loves spending his spare time obsessing over Star Wars as well as camping and kayaking. He’s married and is the proud dad of two teenagers.

Jeff is the Commissioner of Community Services with the Town of Newmarket leading the departments of Recreation & Culture and Parks & Facilities. Jeff is currently the Chair of Parks and Recreation Ontario (PRO) and has served on the PRO Board since 2018. Previously Jeff was the Deputy CAO and Director of Corporate Services at Credit Valley Conservation Authority leading programs including parks, trails & recreation programming, property & land management, capital construction, and community engagement. Jeff has over 20 years of progressive public sector experience. His educational background is in political science, legal studies, and public administration.

Jeff is also a member of the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) Parks Task Group, and is a municipal representative on the Pathways to Canada Target 1 National Steering Committee. Past volunteer experience has included minor hockey, the United Way and AMCTO. Jeff served as the Vice-Chair of the Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Board of Directors. He was also a member of the Minister’s Working Group on Conservation Authority modernization in Ontario.

Laine is a graduate of the University of Manitoba’s Bachelor of Recreation Management and Community Development undergraduate degree program. Having worked in the field for almost ten years in various community recreation roles, she is currently the Recreation Facilitator for the Rural Municipality of Rockwood and Town of Stonewall, which she proudly calls home. Laine is a past board member and the current President of Recreation Manitoba. She is passionate, and pleased to be part of a great organization.

As the proud mom of three active young kids and wife to a fantastic hubby, she sees the fundamental proactive role recreation and community development play in increasing the quality of life for everyone. Recreation, community and leisure have been an integral part of her life, and Laine is thrilled to have the opportunity to share her passion for the value of recreation, parks, leisure and community, alongside the other board members of CPRA. Laine enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, fishing, the majority of mainstream sports, volunteering and relaxing at the lake.

John has been a Safety Inspector at the City of Fredericton Engineering Department since August of 2023. Previously he worked as a Recreation Officer with the City of Fredericton for 17 years which included several roles from facility scheduler, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Liaison, Chair of the Outside Recreation Infrastructure Committee, Program Delivery as well as serving on various boards as a liaison with the City of Fredericton. While John no longer works directly in the Recreation Field he serves as President of Recreation New Brunswick and is actively engaged in Recreation through his new role with Parks and Trees as well as Arena Operations.

Brandon began his career in the rural Newfoundland and now has 15 years experience in the recreation sector. He currently holds the position of Recreation Manager in the Town of Clarenville. Brandon has experience in all aspects of recreation including facility management, as well as community programs and events. A long-time member of the Board of Directors for Recreation Newfoundland & Labrador and has just recently been elected into the Vice President role. In his personal time, Brandon enjoys spending time with his family, playing softball and golf.

Gord spent his early career working in recreation in Northern BC and Halifax. He owned a kayak outfitting company before landing in the Municipality of Chester for the past ten years as the Active Living Coordinator. In this position, Gord tries to inspire and activate citizens, and create a culture of physical activity that is supported by the built environment and policy changes that are needed to sustain the change. In addition to Board duties with RNS, he has served for several years on the NSFM Active Transportation Committee and the NS Connect provincial management team. He currently volunteers on the Board of Our Health Centre in Chester and is logistics lead for the annual QEII Foundation’s Ride for Cancer. Lastly, Gord thinks his family is cool and doesn’t understand why more people don’t play bike polo.

Amy Robertson started her career in recreation 13 years ago, joining the Capital Area Recreation Inc.’s management team just a year prior to it hosting the 2009 Summer Canada Games. Amy is still with the facility working as the Administration & Scheduling Manager as they now prepare to host the 2023 Winter Canada Games. The complex currently known as the Bell Aliant Centre is a NFP and the largest most comprehensive recreation complex on the Island with an aquatics facility and 2 NHL-sized ice pads.

Amy is the current VP of Recreation PEI, lives in Brackley PE with her husband and 2 boys, and is a semi-professional wood carver/folk artist.

An avid community volunteer in her youth, Kimberley’s drive to help others led her to an Associate Degree in Recreational Therapy and a volunteer board position for Boys and Girls Club of Canada. For 25 years, she worked in residential care in British Columbia while raising a family and engaging in active community outreach work.

Kimberley began working in Nunavut in 2014 as a Recreation Coordinator. Using her exceptional skills in leadership and organization, she quickly rose to her current role as Senior Administrative Officer. Kimberley shares life’s adventures in the North with her dog, Bart.

Sport and recreation has been the focus of Lindsay’s life since childhood – from participating in organized sport at the community, University, and recreational level; to acquiring her Business & Entrepreneurship Degree, Majoring in Sport & Recreation and pursuing a passionate career in the field. After independently starting and running a recreation tourism and event based business for 7 years in the East Kootenay Rockies of BC, Lindsay was drawn to the fly-in community of Old Crow, in Yukon’s remote north, to take on the role of Recreation Manager for the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Government. While there Lindsay received a Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Sport & Recreation, was a coach with Team Yukon for the 2017 NAIG games, and solidified her passion and determination to help make a difference in peoples lives through physical activity and strong community recreation programming. After 5 years in the far north, Lindsay took on the role as Recreation Manager for the Village of Teslin and Teslin Tlingit Council in Southern Yukon, where she has been since the fall of 2019. She is a member of the Canadian Rangers, has been on the board of directors for the Recreation and Parks Association of Yukon for the past few years and enjoys playing hockey, golf, snowboarding, paddling and camping in her free time.

Darcy McLeod currently resides in Saskatoon following a move from Yorkton in July, when he retired from the City of Yorkton as the Director of Recreation and Community Services, and after 25 years of service. Darcy’s role was to provide leadership to a team of recreation professionals that deliver community services that develop healthy individuals and a healthy community, something that will benefit him in his role as SPRA President.

Not only has Darcy been a recreation professional for the past thirty years, he was also was a community volunteer. Darcy coached hockey and soccer and volunteered for various organizations and events in his community, including acting as Chef D’Mission at numerous Saskatchewan Games. Darcy previously spent six years on the SPRA Board from 1997 to 2003 and was a part of the SPRA’s inaugural Policy Governance Board. Darcy’s participation with SPRA continued after being a formal Board member by participating in the development of the National Framework for Recreation as a Saskatchewan representative at the various national gatherings. Darcy also served on another non-governmental Board, the Community Initiatives Fund from 2009 through 2016. He also was a Board member and Chairperson of the Parkland Recreation Sport, Culture and Recreation District and led the amalgamation process combining multiple regional organizations into one District organization.

Most recently, from 2018 through 2023, Darcy was fortunate enough to participate in three Strategic Planning Missions to the Kingdom of Jordan, through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. During this mission Darcy was part of a team that created community strategic planning, training and development tools and provided this training directly with municipal staff in Jordan.

Darcy has a passion for community and the role that recreation, and it’s practitioners can play in community development. He believes in the value that the benefits of recreation provide and wants to ensure that these benefits continue to be valued by residents and governments, at all levels.