In Conversation With … The Prosecution

Posted On: August 26, 2022

In Conversation With … The Prosecution

Date:  Thursday December 15, 2022
Time: 9:30 am to 11:00 am
Location: Virtual (video conference)
Cost:  Free

In every discipline case brought before the Discipline Committee of the College, there are three “parties” to the matter. There is the “prosecution”, the “defense” and the “panel”. In this special edition of In Conversation With, Registrants and members of the public will have the opportunity to hear from and pose questions to the Prosecution Team of the College.

This 90-minute interactive session will allow the public and Registrants to explore important questions such as:

  • What motivates the College to prosecute or not?
  • Is your objective really just to “get the Registrant”?
  • Are you just covering up for the profession and sweeping poor behaviour under the carpet?
  • What are the likely outcomes of a hearing?

We will also explore the steps in the discipline process, why it is important to have legal representation, what to expect at a hearing, what happens if there is a finding, what happens if there is no finding.

If you’d like to attend this event, please register in advance. Click here to register now.

Attendees are also invited to submit their questions in advance, which will allow our panel to answer more questions in greater detail. Click here to submit your questions.

Please note that the College cannot discuss specifics regarding active discipline cases for which an outcome is still pending, or positions taken in past discipline matters.

Panel members

The prosecution team is made of two groups, legal counsel for the College, and representatives of the College itself.

Rebecca Durcan

Legal Counsel for the College, Rebecca Durcan of Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc LLP is legal counsel for the College and the lead prosecutor on all disciplinary matters.

Rebecca Durcan is the Co-Managing Partner at Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc. Rebecca was a Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario from 2018-2019. She attended Queen’s University to study history and obtained her law degree from the University of Windsor in 2000. In 2006, Rebecca completed her Masters in Health Law from Osgoode Hall. In 2016 Rebecca obtained her Certificate in Risk Management from the University of Toronto.

Rebecca acts as general counsel, prosecution counsel and independent legal counsel to several Ontario regulators.

In 2016, Rebecca co-authored the Annotated Statutory Powers Procedure Act with her partner Julie Maciura. In 2019, Rebecca also co-authored the text Prosecuting and Defending Professional Regulation Cases.

Rebecca regularly speaks about regulatory issues at the Canadian Network of Agencies for Regulation (CNAR), Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR), Ontario Bar Association, Advocates Society, and Continuing Legal Education of British Columbia.

When not working, Rebecca enjoys running, cooking and spending time with her sons,  Harry, Jude and Teddy.

Andrew Parr, CAE

The CEO of the College, Andrew Parr, CAE, represents the College in disciplinary matters and makes the final decisions on whether allegations are pursued or dropped and whether any settlements of matters are to be agreed upon.

Andrew Parr is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the College of Naturopaths of Ontario, the regulatory authority governing naturopathic doctors in Ontario. He was first appointed to the College during its formative stages in August 2010 and, upon proclamation of the Naturopathy Act, 2007 in July 2015 was formally re-appointed by the new Council.

Prior to joining the College, Andrew had been working in the not-for-profit sector for 20 years including eight of which he served as the Executive Director and CEO of the association for registered massage therapists in Ontario.  Andrew has also served as the Executive Director of the Canadian Society of Association Executives-Trillium Chapter for ten years through a successful association management firm he had established.

Andrew has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in politics from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario and has attained his Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the Canadian Society of Association Executives.

Outside of work, Andrew enjoys spending time at the lake with his husband of 30 years and his delightful pups, Chandler and Gunther.

Rita Gupta, Facilitator

Since 2005 Rita has facilitated over 100 sessions (single and multi-sessions) with project teams.  During that time, she has gained experience with a wide variety of facilitation techniques and processes, adapting processes to changing situations and the needs of the group.

Rita has also used her wealth of facilitation experience to train clients on developing facilitation skills.  She has taught 2-day introductory courses that combine topics such as facilitation practices, meeting management, managing group conflict, and decision-making techniques.

Rita has experience beyond that of facilitation.  She has over 20 years of experience as a Project Manager, including a management role of Director of a PMO at an IT consulting firm.  She also has several years developing and implementing Project Processes.  She is a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

 

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