Our Board of Directors

Yvon Lemire joined the Responsible Gambling Council Board in June 2011. In June 2019 to June 2022 he served as Vice Chair of the Board. He is now the Chair of the Board.

At the end of January 2013, Yvon became Executive Director of Maison Fraternité, a provincial Francophone residential treatment facility for Francophone clients with addiction and mental health issues, located in Ottawa.  Yvon was very involved in problem gambling treatment during his tenure as Director of the Addiction and Mental Health Services of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, from 2001 to 2011. During that time, he participated actively in the creation of the Comité interprovincial du jeu with the Casino du Lac Leamy in Gatineau. This joint committee was made up of representatives from the treatment sector and the provider sector. Two major accomplishments of this group were making the Ontario Problem Gambling Helpline available in Quebec and providing treatment providers with the possibility of doing self-exclusions with their problem gambling clients at their treatment centres.

Yvon was Board Chair of Action Logement/Action Housing in Ottawa for 4 years and was a Board member of the Réseau des services en santé en Français de l’est de l’Ontario for 5 years. He currently sits on the Board of the Fondation de santé des collines/Des Collines Health Foundation and is an active member of the Wakefield Cemetery Board.

Prior to completing his Masters’ degree in counselling from Université Saint-Paul in Ottawa, Yvon worked in the Federal Government for several years. He also brings private sector experience and served as country coordinator for Canada World Youth in Haiti for one year. He has been working in addictions for over 28 years, as a clinician and in various management positions.

Bev Mehmel has been on the Board of the Responsible Gambling Council since 2019. In June 2022 she became the Vice Chair of the Board.

Bev Mehmel has a history of leadership and impact in the Canadian gaming and liquor social responsibility field. She led Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries’ Corporate Responsibility strategy and social responsibility direction, along with community sponsorships, volunteerism and environmental initiatives.

Bev is a past chair and co-founder of the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation’s Canadian Responsible Gambling Group and co-created the onsite casino information center concept and created the foundation for casino, VLT and lottery staff training across Canada.

Bev has attended the University of Winnipeg, University of Manitoba and the Schulich School of Business at York University. She runs a small consultancy focused on improving sustainability approaches for business growth. She is the President of Niakwa Country Club in Winnipeg and a Board member for the Rehabilitation Centre for Children and the Responsible Gambling Council of Canada. Golf provides the Zen in her life.

Shaila Mehta is a Partner at MNP. Throughout her 25-year career, she has provided audit and advisory services to clients. Shaila was also recently a partner at Deloitte LLP.

Shaila has served large and small, public and private audit clients, mainly in the cannabis, manufacturing and technology industries. She has significant experience in Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises, U.S. GAAP and IFRS. She has helped clients with IPOs in both the U.S. and Canadian markets, completed SOX work for U.S. public companies and assisted companies through mergers & acquisitions.  She has worked on clients with many divisions and has been able to develop good relationships with all levels within the organizations she audits. Most recently, Shaila has been the audit partner on a number of public and private cannabis companies, taking one cannabis company public on the TSX.

For almost 19 years Jim was the Vice President of Corporate Services and Gaming Operations at the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA). Most of Jim’s 30-year career has been with the Government of Saskatchewan. Jim joined SLGA in 2001 following previous positions at the Saskatchewan Water Corporation, Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, the Ministry of Health, and Farm Credit Corporation. Jim now has taken a role with the Public Policy Graduate School at the University of Regina.

Before moving into corporate services, most of Jim’s career focused on policy, research, privacy, corporate social responsibility, including responsible gambling, strategic planning, and performance measurement. Current responsibilities also include information technology, finance, human resources, employee health and safety, and conduct and management oversight of Saskatchewan’s six First Nation-operated casinos and the provincial video lottery terminal (VLT) program.

Born and raised in Regina, Jim attended the University of Regina obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Jim is a past president of the Saskatchewan regional group of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), former chair of Saskatchewan’s assistant deputy minister (ADM) Forum, and is currently chair of the government’s United Way provincial campaign.

Away from work, Jim enjoys travel, personal fitness, hiking, fishing, and reading. Jim and his wife Karen have two daughters, Lily and Sophie, both attending the University of Regina.

Salim Adatia is Vice President of Client Services for North America, at Gaming Laboratories International (GLI). www.gaminglabs.com

As one of the world’s leading experts in testing and certification, Salim works with government regulators, gaming operators, and suppliers, all of whom benefit from his 23+ years of experience in multi-lingual projects crossing over traditional land-based, iGaming and sports betting around the world. Globally recognized as a pioneer in digital gaming assessments, he is a sought-after thought leader who helps GLI’s customers illuminate their paths to gaming integrity. This is achieved by ensuring gaming companies adhere to comprehensive technical and regulatory requirements, supplier specifications, and global best-practice industry standards.

Salim continues to be an important force for GLI; assuring industry stakeholders receive world-class service leveraging his team of dedicated customer service executives. Preceding his current role, Salim served as GLI’s Vice President of iGaming and Canadian Services, where he helped industry stakeholders navigate the exciting and rapidly growing world of iGaming, as well as overseeing Canadian market services and customers. He was also instrumental in the original establishment of GLI’s highly successful professional services practice.

Salim volunteers as a Board Member of the Responsible Gambling Council of Canada (RGCC). The RGCC Board is comprised of professionals with deep and broad expertise in gaming, public policy, community service, problem gambling, addiction treatment, and more.

Prior to its acquisition by GLI, Salim was CEO of the Technical Systems Testing (TST) group of companies, and responsible for driving the performance of the company’s global spread of testing facilities located in Vancouver, London, Macau, Manila, Sydney and Melbourne.

Salim has previously been honored as one of the gaming industry’s “Top 25 People to Watch” by Global Gaming Business magazine. He has spoken at a variety of industry conferences in Canada, the U.S., Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Australia. Salim has also been interviewed by, and written for, numerous publications serving the industry internationally.

Dan is the Principal of Shimski & Associates, a boutique consulting firm focused on technology solutions in the area of road safety.

Dan’s career path has led him to a number of roles in the private and public sector. In the public sector, these roles have included being a Senior Advisor to an Ontario Cabinet Minister, Chief of Staff to a Toronto Councillor and senior roles within the City of Toronto administration.

In the private sector, Dan held a series of Operational, Sales and Customer Support roles with Conduent Inc. (formerly Xerox Services), as well as working as a lobbyist supporting both causes and commerce for a variety of organizations and corporate interests.

Through personal experience, Dan knows the challenges created by problem gambling – not just for the gambler, but oftentimes for those who care about them.

Dan has the firmly held belief that through education and the elimination of the stigma associated with problem gambling, we can start having the important conversations about gambling risk factors and mitigation strategies to reduce problem gambling.

Dan is also the proud recipient of a transplanted kidney, and would never miss an opportunity to encourage all who are able to sign their organ donor cards to give the ultimate Gift of Life.

Stacy Shaw currently leads Product Marketing for the Oregon Lottery. In this role, she provides executive leadership and go to market strategic direction for Lottery’s games and services and mission critical brand programs such as responsible gaming and customer experience. Throughout her career she has been guided by the belief that people and profits can go together and that doing the right thing is just good business. For the last ten years she has focused on developing an industry leading RG program for Oregon Lottery, collaborating across diverse stakeholder groups including gambling operators, treatment, prevention and recovery professionals, researchers and legislators. Most recently, Stacy has worked with Oregon Council on Problem Gambling to stand up a Research Center designed to promote research and learning that will inform lasting solutions to gambling related issues facing the State of Oregon and the nation. Stacy is currently the Chair of the NCPG Advisory board and is active on the National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) RG committee. Previous to joining Lottery, Stacy held senior marketing and business development roles with Hyatt Hotels, Preferred Hotels and Related Companies. She also founded and managed m-k-t-g, a marketing agency focused on real estate, entertainment and travel. She spent most of her life in Chicago, lived briefly in Toronto but feels her love for her new state qualifies her as a true Oregonian. She lives in Silverton, Oregon with her husband Kevin and their cat Babe. When not working she can likely be found walking on the Oregon Coast or wine tasting across the Pacific Northwest.

Simo is on the Board of the Responsible Gambling Council of Canada and serves on the Digital Advisory Panel of the Great Britain Gambling Commission. He is the founder of BetBuddy, a pioneer in the use of software and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to protect consumers from gambling related harm. Following the acquisition of BetBuddy by Playtech Plc, Simo was head of Playtech AI and also headed-up Playtech’s responsible gambling unit. Simo recently founded the Game Safety Institute (GSI), which is focused on developing new insights at the intersection of products, players and safer gambling.

Simo previously supervised on the Phd programme at City, University of London’s Research Centre for Adaptive Computer Systems and Machine Learning. His research interests are focused on making AI more accountable, transparent, and ethical. His research has been published at NeurIPS, AAAI, IJCNN, and ECAI, as well as the leading gambling scientific journals.

Prior to founding BetBuddy Simo spent over a decade working in the financial services industry, including as Director of Major Programmes at Barclays Plc.

Peter Slater has over 15 years of experience across various capacities in the finance, gaming and technology sectors. Peter currently holds the position of Vice President, Finance at Splash Sports, a leading provider of peer-to-peer sports contests through its platforms including splashsports.com, runyourpool.com and officefootballpool.com. Prior to his role at Splash Sports, Peter spent more than a decade of his career in the investment banking industry covering diversified Canadian industries including technology, gaming and healthcare. In this role, Peter played an instrumental role in advising and facilitating IPOs, M&A and financings. Peter also previously served as CFO for a compliance software company, ultimately managing its strategic sale to a NASDAQ listed competitor.

Peter holds an Honours Business Administration degree (with distinction) from the Richard Ivey School of Business and is a CFA Charterholder.

Wan-Peng is an experienced IT/Digital executive and Governance Professional. He has led engineering teams in various countries across many continents delivering innovative solutions that solve complicated problems. He has deep experience in Digital Transformation, Digital Adoption, Digital Delivery and Artificial Intelligence. Wan-Peng is passionate about Governance and has brought his governance experience to Youth, Healthcare and Sports Non-Profit Organizations.

Wan-Peng has a bachelor’s degree from Western University in Computer Science, Biology and Accounting. Wan-Peng is a CPA, CMA.

Christine is a Canadian leader on sustainability and corporate responsibility issues, having worked in the field for nearly 15 years in both a consulting and corporate capacity. Christine currently holds the position of Associate Vice President, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Reporting and Measurement at TD Bank. Prior to that, she was an Associate Partner and Central Canada Leader of EY’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services practice, where she worked for over a decade.

Christine has significant experience designing, implementing and auditing social and environmental strategies across sectors including financial services, hospitality, transportation and logistics and various industrial industries. Her past non-profit board experience includes serving as an inaugural director for the Global Cannabis Partnership, where she helped to design a corporate responsibility framework for the newly legalized cannabis industry and oversaw the development of the member certification and assurance process.

Based in Toronto, Christine holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from McGill University and the Canadian Enterprise Risk Management (CRMe) designation. She has lived and worked in Boston, Montreal and Vancouver and gets back to the mountains whenever she can.

Executive Director, Tribunals Ontario

Harry is a provincial civil servant with in-depth knowledge of government and 20+ years of legal, policy and program development experience. Before his role at Tribunals Ontario, he was the Director of Corporate Affairs and Governance at the at Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, where he was responsible for government relations, issues management, supporting Board governance and overseeing the day-to-day administration of an adjudicative tribunal, among other things.

Harry is a lawyer by training, and prior to joining the Ontario government, he practised corporate law with Torys LLP and within the legal aid department of the United Nations/International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Betina G. Airoldi is an accomplished bilingual executive professional in the enterprise risk management, internal audit, regulatory compliance, and governance fields renowned for expertise in navigating global business landscapes across different industries and the largest professional accounting firms.

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Betina has leveraged her linguistic and cultural acumen to lead global initiatives and cross-functional reviews. She has demonstrated critical thinking, proactive problem-solving, and decision-making skills, serving as a trusted advisor to senior executives.

Currently Betina is the Managing Director at BGA Valued Consulting Inc., a boutique consulting firm focused on elevating their clients’ internal audit, enterprise risk management, governance, and compliance programs, transforming them into strategic assets for organizations.

Betina holds designations as Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Risk Management Assurance (CRMA), Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).

She loves walking and hiking, treasures theater performances above all else, and proudly declares herself a chocolate addict.