Bob Kingston - National President

Bob Kingston was elected National President of the Agriculture Union at our 2008 Triennial Convention, having served as First National Executive Vice-President since 1996.

Most recently an Inspection Supervisor with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Burnaby, B.C., Bob's union activism extends back to the mid-1980s.

Over the years, Bob has served our Union in a number of increasingly-responsible positions: President of Vancouver Local 20044, Regional Vice-President for Western British Columbia and then Third National Executive Vice-President.

Bob was elected Alternate Regional Executive Vice-President for all Public Service Alliance of Canada members in British Columbia at the 2003 PSAC Convention.

A health and safety activist for more than 20 years, Bob acted as an appeal representative and member education facilitator for the Agriculture Union and the PSAC in the B.C. region.

Deborah Forsythe - First National Executive Vice-Pres.

Deborah Forsythe was elected First National Executive Vice-President of the Agriculture Union at our 2008 Triennial Convention.   This National Executive position became full-time at the Ottawa Nationa Office after our 2005 Convention.

Formerly a Planning and Resource Administrative Co-ordinator with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, she first became actively involved in our union in the early 1980s.

After a year as a shop steward, Deborah's co-workers elected her President of Local 80003.  In 1987, she was elected as the Atlantic representative on the Agriculture Union's Equal Opportunities Committee, going on to serve as its Chair for two terms.

Deborah was elected Alternate Regional Vice-President for the Eastern Atlantic Region at our 1993 Triennial Convention.   She was subsequently elected RVP in 1996 and 1999.   She was elected Third National Executive Vice-President at the Agriculture Union's 2002 Triennial Convention, and Second National Executive Vice-President in 2005.

A Past Chair of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour Women's Committee, Deborah has also served on negotiating teams in bargaining with both the CFIA and Treasury Board.

Denis Sicard - Second National Executive Vice-President

Denis Sicard was elected Second National Executive Vice-President of the Agriculture Union at our 2008 Triennial Convention, three years after being elected as Third National Executive Vice-Presiden.

A longtime union activist, Denis became Chief Steward of Montreal Local 10012 in 1988.  He went on to become the Local's Vice-President half-a-dozen years later.  In 1996, Denis was elected Regional Vice-President for the Agriculture Union's members in the Western Quebec Region.  He was elected Fourth National Executive Vice-President at the Agriculture Union's 2002 Triennial Convention.

A strong believer in membership training, Denis has served for a decade as education co-ordinator on the Quebec Regional Council of Public Service Alliance of Canada Locals.

Denis represents the PSAC on the General Council of the Quebec Federation of Labour.  He is also a member of the QFL's information committee.

Before union work took over much of his spare time, Denis was extremely active in community-based education, church and civic activities.  He nonetheless continues to promote his community's annual United Way campaign.

Howard Willems - Third National Executive Vice-President

Howard Willems was elected Third National Executive Vice-President at the Agriculture Union's 2008 Triennial Convention.  He had been elected Fourth National Executive Vice-President in 2005. His election capped many years of activism within the Agriculture Union.

Howard rose through the union ranks to his current position on the National Executive. First elected as Vice-President of Local 40022, in Saskatchewan, he went on to become Local President, Alternate Regional Vice-President and ultimately Regional Vice-President.

An inspector with the Dairy-Processed Products-Honey Programs, Howard has worked for Agriculture Canada, and subsequently the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, since 1981.

Occupational health and safety is a passion of Howard’s. He was quick to appreciate the inherent workplace dangers faced by not only his own members, but all working people.

Howard has also made his mark in the broader labour movement. Having served as a member of his Local’s workplace health and safety committee and Regional health and safety committee, he was appointed by our bargaining agent – the Public Service Alliance – as the PSAC’s representative on the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour’s OH&S Committee. He has also facilitated regional health and safety training.

Fabian Murphy - Fourth National Executive Vice-President