Board Members

Acting Chair Fred Bennink
Provincial Appointee

Fred considers public safety to be one of the most important services for a community to uphold. He hopes that his previous board experiences, his history of consensus building, budget/financial management, and his desire to help people ‘be the best they can be’, will be an asset to the Hamilton Police Services Board.

The outdoor sign industry is where Fred spent 35 years, as owner/President of Zip Signs Ltd. He retired in 2018. Fred has served the outdoor sign industry in many areas, including the Provincial Industry Board and the National Board, as well as assisting in International endeavours in specific areas in the industry.

Assisting and learning through volunteering has been important to Fred as demonstrated by over 30 years of community service. His board experience includes Hospital Foundation, Canadian Food Grains Bank, Hamilton Dream Center, an international relief and development organization, a Mental Health organization, and a Family Services organization in Hamilton. Fred has also served in his local church and through various committees.

Fred is a former Auxiliary Constable, a volunteer position with the Hamilton Police Service.

Fred has been married to Arlene for 39 years and they have 3 children and 4 grandchildren.

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Member Geordie Elms
Provincial Appointee
Current Term March 7, 2022 - March 6, 2025

Geordie Elms was born in Toronto. In 1974, while serving with the 48th Highlanders, he transferred to The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR).  He served with battalions on regimental duty in Petawawa, Germany, Winnipeg, and Gagetown. He also served on operations/peacekeeping duties in Cyprus (1976-77), Lebanon and Israel (1983-85), Afghanistan and Pakistan (1988-89), and Bosnia (1992-93). 

He moved to Hamilton In 2000, when he was appointed Commanding Officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada. He was commanding when Her Majesty The Queen presented new Colours to the Regiment in 2002 at Copps Coliseum, Hamilton.

In 2003, Colonel Elms was posted as Canadian Defence Advisor (Attaché) to the Canadian High Commission in Pakistan and cross-accredited as Canadian Defence Attaché to Afghanistan. In 2006, he was selected to open the Canadian Defence Attaché Office in Kabul, Afghanistan. His final Regular Force appointment was as Canadian Defence Attaché to Israel (2008-10). Colonel Elms was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for service in Southwest Asia (2008) and Chief of Defence Staff Commendations for meritorious service in Beirut (1985) and during the Pakistan Earthquake (2005).

In December 2010, after 43 years in uniform, Colonel Elms retired and returned home to Canada, where he and his wife, Shirley, divide their time between their home in Dundas and their cottage in Haliburton. Geordie spends his time in retirement supporting activities and causes that serve and help veterans. He is active with The Last Post Fund of Canada, Hamilton Division Corps of Commissionaires and the Royal Canadian Legion He was appointed to the Hamilton Police Services Board in April 2019.  

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Member Andrea Horwath
City Council Representative
Current Term November 15, 2022 - November 14, 2026

Andrea Horwath is proud to be a life-long Hamiltonian. Born and raised in Stoney Creek, she went to Cardinal Newman high school, followed by post-secondary studies at McMaster University. She’s lived in a number of the city’s great neighbourhoods and now calls downtown home. Prior to being elected she worked in adult ESL and literacy, affordable housing, community development, in factories and as a server in the hospitality sector.

In 1997, she was elected to Hamilton City Council, representing Ward 2. Over three terms, she chaired the solid waste management committee, the municipal non-profit housing corporation, and co-chaired the health and social services committee. She did everything she could to fight for people and the small local businesses in the ward.

In 2004, Hamiltonians elected her to be the MPP for Hamilton Centre. As a voice for Hamilton and Ontario’s Leader of the Official Opposition, she focused on improving education and health care, making housing affordable, protecting the environment and giving working people the respect they deserve.

In 2022, Andrea was elected to be the Mayor of Hamilton and hit the ground running. For her, it’s about people. Hamilton and Hamiltonians are her pride and her inspiration, and she’s working to make sure Hamilton’s best days are ahead. She believes, together, we can fulfill the promise of a thriving Hamilton —the best place to live, to learn, to raise a family and to build a great life.

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Member Cameron Kroetsch
City Council Representative
Current Term November 15, 2022 - November 14, 2026

Cameron Kroetsch is a member of the downtown community and proud to represent Ward 2 on Hamilton City Council. Cameron and his partner currently live in the Durand neighbourhood and have previously called the Beasley and Corktown neighbourhoods home. Before he was elected to City Council he was a small business owner and the President of a large labour union. He has a rich history of community work in Hamilton and has been a board member of Pride Hamilton, the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, The AIDS Network, the Hamilton Literacy Council, and helped to start the Hamilton Encampment Support Network. Cameron was also the Chair of the City's LGBTQ Advisory Committee. He comes to this work with a rich education in the arts and humanities, earning a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Brock University, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Arts from Western University. He is also a member in good standing of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) and a certified Laubach Literacy Tutor. Cameron hopes to bring a critical thinking perspective to the work he does on the Board and is focused on rebuilding trust with communities through a commitment to transparency and accountability.

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Member Esther Pauls
City Council Representative
Current Term November 15, 2022 - November 14, 2026

Esther Pauls was born in Sicily and immigrated to Canada in 1963.  From 1973 to 1988, she worked at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) while raising 4 sons and coached hockey for 4 years. She attended Mohawk College to obtain a Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO) license. A sport enthusiast, she competed in nine Ironman competitions, over 20 marathons, over 30 half-marathons, 5 Around The Bay races, and numerous other races throughout North America. Combining their avid athleticism with their enthusiastic entrepreneurship, Esther and her husband Gord opened Runner’s Den in 1996 and leveraged significant charitable fundraising, organizing the Road2Hope marathon benefitting Haiti and local charities, including City Kidz, Liberty For Youth, Boys and Girls Club, and Edudeo. Esther’s leadership, philanthropy, and community services, including her work as a Coordinator for Strengthening Hamilton’s Community Initiative, were recognized with prestigious awards and honours including the YMCA Peace Medal, the Athena Award, the Woman of the Year Award, Spirit Award, and being selected as a torchbearer for the 2015 Pan-Am Games held in Canada. Most recently, Esther took up another kind of running – running for public office – and was elected as the Hamilton City Councillor for Ward 7 in both 2018 and 2022.

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Member Anjali Menezes
Council Appointed Citizen Member
Current Term November 9, 2023 - November 14, 2026

Dr. Anjali Menezes is a family physician, educator, and researcher in Hamilton. With special interests in trauma-informed care, medical education, and racism in medical training, her career thus far is an eclectic mix of clinical work, teaching, mentoring, research, scholarly work and community activism.

Her research focuses on studying how racism, structural, and institutionalized oppression influence the training and educational trajectories of health professionals, and novel ways of addressing racism in health care settings. Through her community activism, she has built community networks with many equity work leaders in Hamilton, across Canada, and internationally. Still early in her career, she has already successfully created numerous safe spaces for racialized and equity-deserving learners and clinicians. Her approach to activism rests on the guiding principle that we must first and foremost foster community. Only then can we co-imagine and co-create a vision for a brighter, more equitable world. 

Humanism pedagogy strongly influences her teaching philosophy, with the guiding principle that we can only attain knowledge when our basic needs are met. She posits that the most basic of all our needs are our needs to feel safe and to feel like we belong. Our sense of belonging in the Hamilton community, ensuring that all Hamiltonians feel safe and supported by the Police Service, and that they have a voice represented on the Police Service Board, will be her focus in this role.

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Member Don Robertson
Provincial Appointee
Current Term April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2027

Don believes that giving back to your community is a key component for making our community a better place to live. He is a native of Lynden Ontario and lifelong rural resident of Hamilton. Don and his wife live in rural Ancaster. He's been a realtor since 1974 and owner of Com/Choice Realty in Dundas since 1996. He's also the owner and General Manager of the Dundas Real McCoys (Allan Cup Champions) and sits on the Board of the Ontario Hockey Association. Don is a recipient of their highest honour - the Gold Stick Award.

Don is a past President of the Lynden Lions Club and former Citizen of the Year in Dundas and have worked on many charitable events within the community. He is a former Vice President of the Ontario Liberal Party.