Ride For Dad

Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Behind the Ride For Dad is a dedicated group of over 300 Executive Committee volunteers and several thousand part-time volunteers who give countless hours of their time to the fight against prostate cancer. Supporting our volunteers, and managing the operations of the Ride For Dad is the national office which is lead by the following Board of Directors: 

Steve Cannon: Retired Sr. Vice President Commercial Banking Scotiabank. Steve was responsible for Sales and Distribution of Commercial Banking to mid-market and independent business clients across Canada. Steve was a member of the Senior Credit Committee and the Canadian Banking Executive Team. Steve is also a Director of Dundee Bank of Canada. Steve has been very involved with a number of charities including the Ride For Dad, Co-Chair Ottawa Business Achievement Awards, Ottawa Hospital Foundation Legacy Campaign and a founding member of the University of Ottawa’s EMBA Program “The Executive Forum”, he was also a Director with the Canadian Chamber Commerce Board of Canada, to name but a few.

John Dathan: John has been an active participant and a leading individual fund raiser for the Ride since 2002. He brings to the Board 30 years of hi-tech sales, sales management and business experience. He has also been involved in other organizations including the United Way. John is originally from Montreal and a graduate of Concordia University but now live with his wife Joanne in Ottawa.

Steven Fash: is a native of Toronto and spent his youth growing up in a military family. He was commissioned in the Canadian Forces in 1978 and, after serving in a variety of command and staff positions both within Canada and abroad, he retired with the rank of Colonel in 2010. He is a recipient of the Order of Military Merit (OMM) for his distinguished service.  His overseas assignments included: Germany, the United States, the Middle East and Haiti. Steve is now with the Department of National Defence where he is currently the Director Corporate Strategy for Non-Public Property.

Garry Janz: is the President and co-founder of the Ride For Dad. He spent over 25 years in the broadcasting industry as a reporter, anchor and producer before moving to senior management. Following his retirement he created the Ride For Dad in 2000. Since the inception of the Ride, Garry has been an inspiring and passionate national spokesperson for the Ride.  His passion and dedication have influenced thousands to embrace the cause that has saved the lives of many men through awareness. Through the Ride For Dad, Garry has been recognized for his fight against prostate cancer and has received the Rabbi Reuven Bulka Award for outstanding dedication to finding a cure for cancer and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Philanthropy Award as the Group of the Year.

John McKinlay-Key: is the National Director of Operations for the Ride For Dad. John’s background is rooted in business management with several large retail chains as well as owning his own. He spent 13 years with Mark’s Work Wearhouse in the role of District Manager establishing stores and growing the chain throughout eastern Ontario. His role is to mentor new and existing Chapters in their formative years and to help them adjust to the ever-changing charity landscape.

Lynn Norton: is a chartered accountant and the Chief Operating Officer of the Butler Group of Companies. He is a senior financial executive with a successful track record of improving financial performance and growing retail and service centre operations. As a skilled strategist and implementation specialist, he has gained experience in both private enterprises and public accounting. Lynn is accomplished in the areas of financial management, strategic planning, business growth and real-estate management. Lynn oversees numerous business acquisitions and green field start-ups from negotiation through due diligence through to transaction closing. Lynn currently provides strategic direction setting, operational leadership, and advice to a retail group of dealerships geographically diversified in 5 provincial jurisdictions with over 900 employees. The group retails iconic products through relationships with key strategic manufacturing partners. The suite of products includes automotive, powersports, and recreational vehicles.

Dave Ready: is currently a consultant for the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and the Sens Foundation. Prior to this position, Mr. Ready was the President of the Sens Foundation from spring 2001 to summer 2008. His responsibilities included participation on the Management Team for the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and Scotiabank Place. As President of the Foundation he was responsible for administration, fundraising and reporting on the activities as related to the Foundation’s role in the community. An Ottawa native, Mr. Ready was previously Vice-president of the Children’s Hospital Foundation where he initiated several new and innovative approaches to fundraising, which included the first mega-lottery in the province of Ontario, which has raised millions of dollars for paediatric health care in the region. Dave is a founder of the Bell Capital Cup, which is now the largest hockey tournament in the world, and a founder of Roger’s House named after Ottawa Senators assistant coach Roger Neilson. He presently sits on several boards and committees, including Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa, The Max Keeping Foundation, Ride For Dad, Children and Youth at Risk Advisory Committee, The OutCare Foundation, the Military Families Fund and the Roger’s House Advisory Board.

Byron Smith: is co-founder of the Ride For Dad and the National Ride Captain. Byron retired after 32 years with the Ottawa Police Service and served 12 years on the Board of the Ottawa Police Association, the last two as the President. Byron has lead the development and implementation of the Ride For Dad brand of merchandise, which is proudly worn by tens of thousands of participants and supporters across Canada. Byron’s role within the RFD includes mentoring new executive committees on building relationships with their local first responders, building safe and fun ride routes, along with the creation, and planning of their souvenir merchandise line.

Lance Valcour: Inspector O.O.M., Executive Directo, Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group. Lance retired from the Ottawa Police Service in February 2010 after 33 years of service. Since retiring, Lance has been on contract with the Canadian Police Research Centre, part of the Defence Research Development Canada’s Centre for Security Science, where he leads their national interoperability program known as the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG) and most recently became their Executive Director. Lance has Incident Command, Leadership, Investigative, Strategic Planning and Technology Program/Project Management experience at the national and international levels. He works cooperatively with numerous national and international strategic organizations such as the Canadian Associations’ of Chiefs of Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services, International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council. He also works closely with government and non-governmental departments and agencies in both Canada and the United States to effectively plan, lead, support and foster major projects and initiatives, primarily in the information sharing and public safety interoperability fields. In addition to other national and international awards, on May 26th, 2010 Lance was invested as an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces by the Governor General of Canada.