Commission Team

Commissioner, the Honourable Justice William Hourigan

Former Chair of the Litigation Department at Fasken Martineau, Justice Hourigan has a distinguished 25-year career in the law. In private practice, Justice Hourigan specialized in complex commercial litigation. He was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court in 2009. While on the Superior Court, Justice Hourigan served on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Superior Court Judges’ Association. In October of 2013, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Justice Hourigan is a graduate of McGill University and Osgoode Hall Law School.

Co-lead Counsel, John Adair

John is a founding partner of Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP and brings extensive experience in commercial litigation. John has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions, the Court of Appeal for Ontario on over 30 appeals and has conducted numerous trials and administrative hearings throughout his career. He has also served as a Co-Chair of the Advocates’ Society Commercial Litigation Practice Group, and as an instructor in the Trial Advocacy Program at the University of Toronto. John is recognized by his peers as a leading lawyer and is regularly invited to speak at conferences and conduct advocacy demonstrations. He is the author of numerous articles related to litigation issues and is a recipient of the David Stockwood Memorial Prize, awarded biannually by The Advocates’ Journal.

Co-lead Counsel, Christine Mainville

Christine is a partner at Henein Hutchison LLP where she has a criminal and quasi-criminal litigation practice in both English and French. She represents clients in criminal, extradition and regulatory proceedings, and conducts investigations on behalf of companies and institutions. She has experience with Customs Act and Elections Act offences; privilege issues; and search warrants and production orders. In 2021, Christine was recognized by her peers as part of the Best Lawyers Canada rankings for criminal defence. Christine acted as senior counsel to the Honourable Justice Michael Tulloch in the Independent Street Checks Review, and as co-counsel on the Nova Scotia Parsons Independent Review. She also acted as lead representative of an association participant in the Long-Term Care Homes Public Inquiry, and as co-counsel to a participant in the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia. Christine has argued at all levels of court in both Ontario and Quebec, as well as in the Supreme Court of Canada. She serves as pro bono duty counsel in the Court of Appeal and regularly intervenes before appellate courts on behalf of public interest organizations. Christine was born and raised in Ottawa.

Co-lead Counsel, Kate McGrann

Kate is a partner at Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP, where she provides strategic advice and representation on matters including corporate/commercial litigation, professional discipline, employment, fraud, and defamation. Kate was co-lead for the Commission Counsel on Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission, which investigated how and why COVID-19 spread in long-term care homes. Prior to that, Kate was Lead Inquiry Counsel on the Town of Collingwood Judicial Inquiry into the 50 per cent share sale of Collingwood Utility Services Corporation to PowerStream Inc. In 2021, Kate received the Lexpert Rising Star Award which recognizes leading lawyers under the age of 40 across Canada. Kate has appeared before a variety of courts, tribunals, arbitrators and regulatory bodies, including all levels of the Ontario courts, the British Columbia Supreme Court, the Ontario Securities Commission, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Ontario Municipal Board and the Financial Planning Standards Council.

Executive Director, Tracy Shultis

Tracy is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and the Auckland College of Education. She worked for several years at the Ontario Ministry of Labour before embarking on a career in teaching. She taught law at the college and university levels in New Zealand, and recently retired from a career in secondary education.

Counsel Team

Commission Counsel, Tara Boghosian

Tara is an associate at Henein Hutchison LLP, where she practices criminal and regulatory defence. Tara graduated from Harvard Law School in 2020 and practiced law in Massachusetts before returning home to Ontario.

Commission Counsel, Mark Coombes

Mark Coombes is a partner at Bowsher + Bowsher LLP where he maintains a broad practice involving corporate and commercial law, real estate, and wills and estates, acting in both transactional and contentious matters. Prior to joining Bowsher + Bowsher LLP, Mark practised commercial litigation at a leading international firm, worked as an Assistant Crown Attorney and clerked at the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

Commission Counsel, Chris Grisdale

Chris Grisdale is an associate at Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP, where his practice focuses on civil and commercial litigation. Chris clerked at the Supreme Court of British Columbia and has represented clients in proceedings before all levels of court in Ontario and British Columbia.

Commission Counsel, Fraser Harland

Fraser Harland is an associate at Olthuis van Ert, where he has a general practice in commercial litigation and public law, with a particular focus on administrative law and appeals. Fraser clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and spent three years as litigation counsel for Canada’s Department of Justice before joining Olthuis van Ert.

Commission Counsel, Anthony Imbesi

Anthony Imbesi is a lawyer at Rasmussen Starr Ruddy LLP in Ottawa. His practice focuses primarily on construction and commercial law, including construction lien claims, procurement issues, contract drafting and advice, professional liability defence and Occupational Health and Safety Act matters. He has represented clients in proceedings before all levels of court in Ontario as well as arbitral tribunals.

Commission Counsel, Liz McLellan

Liz McLellan is an associate at Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP, where her practice encompasses a broad range of civil, commercial, and securities litigation matters. She is a graduate of the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law.

Commission Counsel, Daniella Murynka

Daniella Murynka is an associate at Henein Hutchison LLP, where her practice focuses on civil, regulatory and appellate proceedings. Daniella clerked for both the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal and has completed an LL.M. at Harvard Law School.

Commission Counsel, Manish Oza

Manish Oza is an assistant professor at Western Law. He completed his JD and his PhD in philosophy at the University of Toronto and clerked at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Commission Counsel, Carly Peddle

Carly Peddle is an associate at Henein Hutchison LLP. Her practice focuses on criminal, regulatory, and related civil proceedings. Carly previously worked as a prosecutor and judicial law-clerk. She acted as co-counsel to a participant in the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia.

Commission Counsel, Anthony Sangiuliano

Anthony Sangiuliano is a PhD candidate in the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He previously worked as a judicial clerk for the judges of the Ontario Court of Appeal and as a Research Associate at Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP.

Commission Counsel, Emily Young

Emily Young is an associate at Polley Faith LLP, where she has a broad litigation practice that includes civil, commercial, regulatory, and constitutional matters. Emily served as a judicial law clerk at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada. She was born and raised in Ottawa.

Operational Team

Director of Policy and Operations, Sherisse DeFreitas

Sherisse has worked in the Ontario Public Service for over 15 years. She brings to the team experience in strategic planning and policy. Most recently, she worked as the Manager of the Fraud Prevention Business Integrity Office, safeguarding the Ministry of Transportation’s Driver and Vehicle programs.

Director of Communications, John McGrath

John is a former journalist and founder of the McGrath Group, which provides media relations and strategic communications advice to Ontario public sector agencies. John has worked with a number of accountability and oversight offices, including the Environmental Commission of Ontario, the Financial Accountability Office, the Ontario Energy Board, as well as Ombudsman offices at the City of Toronto and Hydro One. In 2013, he was Executive-Director of Communications for the transition team of incoming Premier Kathleen Wynne. John has also written several energy reports for the Ontario government, including two Long-Term Energy Plans, and a report reviewing the proposed Energy East Pipeline.

As a journalist for CBC Radio, John covered federal, provincial and municipal politics in Ottawa, Toronto and at Queen’s Park for close to three decades and was president of the Queen’s Park Press Gallery. He has a Bachelor’s degree in arts and one in Journalism from Carleton University.

Jacqueline Steventon, Senior Project Manager

Jacqueline has over 20 years of experience in the provincial government and has worked in several ministries in senior roles including management, communications, finance and policy development.

She is a seasoned project management and change management professional with over 12 years of project experience implementing large multi-faceted modernization projects for the Ministry of the Attorney General and has been recognized with a number of awards in project excellence. Most recently she has led provincial projects to operationalize the courts during Covid.

Project Manager, Justin Chee

Justin has over 10 years of experience managing and leading complex research projects, including several initiatives on reducing transportation related injuries and fatalities on Ontario’s roads. He received his doctorate in rehabilitation sciences and biomedical engineering from the University of Toronto and brings substantial knowledge in project management, scientific writing and transportation safety.

Project Manager, Sanja Kuzmanovic

Sanja has nearly 15 years of experience in policy development and program delivery with the Ontario Public Service, primarily with the Ministry of Transportation. Sanja has recently led various multi-faceted initiatives to better optimize the province's transportation network. She brings extensive project management expertise to this new role.

Senior Project Manager, Carla Novakovic

With more than 14 years working in the Ontario Public Service and experience in supporting both the Long-Term Care Homes Public Inquiry and Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission, Carla brings extensive operational, business and process management knowledge and expertise.

Consultants

Communications Consultant, Peter Rehak

Peter Rehak, has provided communications services and support for many public inquiries and Commissions in Ontario over the past 20 years, including the Walkerton Inquiry, the Independent SARS Commission, the Ipperwash Inquiry, the Elliot Lake Inquiry, the Motherisk Commission and most recently the Ontario Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission. He has extensive experience in journalism.

Designated Minister

The Minister of Transportation is designated as the minister responsible for the Commission under clause 3(3)(f) of the Public Inquiries Act, 2009.