Kelley McKinnon and Patricia Olasker appointed to Ontario Securities Commission board of directors

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has announced the appointments of Kelley McKinnon and Patricia Olasker to its board of directors. 

Patricia Olasker is a senior partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. She specializes in mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism, corporate governance, and capital markets. With over 40 years of experience in law practice, Olasker has advised investors, issuers, acquirers, targets and boards in Canada and abroad and is a frequent commentator, lecturer and speaker on important issues and developments in securities law and policy. 

Olasker is an adjunct law professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she teaches advanced mergers and acquisitions. She was a member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s CEO Advisory Council and past chair of the OSC’s Securities Advisory Committee.  

Kelley McKinnon has over thirty years of experience across regulatory and financial sectors. She will serve on the governance and nominating committee and the risk committee. She was an executive at BMO Financial Group, handling global regulatory and compliance roles and deputy general counsel. She was senior deputy commissioner at the Canadian Competition Bureau, overseeing the mergers branch, and held the dual roles of chief litigation counsel and deputy director of enforcement at the Ontario Securities Commission. McKinnon has also been a partner at two major Canadian law firms. 

She has served on several boards, including Queen’s University Board of Trustees, where she was vice-chair of the board and chair of the governance and nominating committee. She is a member of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada board and chair of the Neuchatel Junior College Canadian Advisory Committee.  

Steven Wolff, the founding CEO of Nova Scotia Pension Services Corporation, has also joined the OSC's Board of Directors alongside McKinnon and Olasker. 

Kevan Cowan, the OSC board chair, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Kelley, Patricia, and Steve to the OSC's Board of Directors. Their collective expertise in areas such as financial services, capital markets, corporate governance, securities litigation and risk management will be invaluable as the OSC embarks on an exciting next chapter guided by a bold new vision and strategy.” 

In addition to the new appointments, OSC has likewise announced Cowan's reappointment as chair of the board and the reappointment of board directors Mary Anne De Monte-Whelan, Jennifer Fang, David Lewis, and Hari Panday.  

“I am pleased to welcome such a strong group of new members, who each bring a deep understanding of the Canadian capital markets and a wealth of knowledge that will complement an already impressive Board of Directors,” said OSC CEO Grant Vingoe. “I am also delighted by the reappointment of Kevan Cowan, whose continued leadership as Chair of the Board will be critical as we strive to become a more efficient, responsive and proactive regulator.”