Introducing Michael Fenn, CUI's New Interim President and CEO

CUI Welcomes New Interim President and CEO, W. Michael Fenn

Michael Fenn was appointed in March 2010 by the Board of the Canadian Urban Institute as interim President and CEO of the CUI, to provide transitional leadership to the Institute, pending the recruitment of a permanent President and CEO, following Glen Murray’s election to the Ontario Legislature.

Until his appointment, Michael Fenn was interim President and CEO of eHealth Ontario, a high-profile Ontario Government agency charged with delivering electronic health systems to Ontario’s publicly funded health care system.

He had previously been Special Advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, following terms as the founding CEO of both Metrolinx (Greater Toronto Transportation Authority) and Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network (a new Ontario regional health authority serving over a million residents). Until 2005, he served as Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministries of Municipal Affairs & Housing, and then Community Safety, for eight years. His municipal career includes being city manager of the City of Burlington and later Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, for a total of eleven years. Throughout his career, Michael Fenn has been known for bringing customer-focus, productivity and innovation to the delivery of public services. During his term as Deputy Minister, Ontario Government enacted “brownfields” legislation, the first new Municipal Act in 150 years, implemented reform in social housing, municipal restructuring, building codes and municipal finance, and Ontario was an ‘early adopter’ of “smart growth” and greenbelt policies.

 
Formerly Vice-Chair of the multi-billion dollar Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), he now serves on the Association of Municipalities OMERS Municipal Employer Pension Centre of Ontario (MEPCO). Mr. Fenn has been President of the Ontario Municipal Administrators Association and Chair of the Ontario Public Service United Way Campaign. He has been a member of the Ontario Civil Service Commission, the Public Sector Accounting Board of Canada (PSAB), the Board of the Burlington Hamilton United Way, the National Executive of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), and the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC), the Ontario Government’s real estate authority (serving as Chair of ORC during 2004 and 2005). Mr. Fenn presently serves on the Board of the Canadian Urban Institute, the Board of the innovative “brownfields” project, the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts, in north Hamilton and on the IPAC International Programs Committee.
 
In addition to two degrees from York University, Mr. Fenn holds an MA and a Diploma in Urban/Regional Public Administration, both from the University of Western Ontario. He has also completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government from the Kennedy School at Harvard University. His articles on public policy and public administration have appeared in a number of journals and books.
 
Mr. Fenn has received the highest awards for career achievement from both of Ontario’s major municipal management organizations (from the AMCTO in 2000 and the OMAA’s Robert Baldwin Award in 2006). In 1997, he was awarded Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal of Distinction in Public Administration for Ontario. His contributions to environmental preservation projects have twice been recognized by awards from Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner. He has also received the Award for Program Excellence in Citizen Involvement, from the International City/County Management Association and the “Canada 125 Medal” for community service to Burlington, Ontario.
 
Michael was born and educated in downtown Toronto, where he also lived for many years. He and his wife, Carolyn, have two adult children and they live in Burlington, Ontario. He enjoys opera and blues, graphic arts, cycling, canoeing, and international travel, having visited over 40 countries.

 

(Photo credit: Hamilton Spectator/Ron Albertson; article "Transit's quiet mandarin")

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