Richard is a former Deputy Minister with the Province of Manitoba and brings over 25 years of senior project management and consulting experience to his work. Over the past decade he has been extensively involved in the mental health/illness sector at the national level. Richard has a special interest in mental wellness in the Canadian workplace and brings with him his experience from both an employer and employee perspective.

Over the past several years Richard has conducted over 50 focus groups and provincial consultations in all regions of Canada aimed at understanding the barriers and issues facing mental health consumers. Richard has served as Senior Project Manager for several national initiatives including the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH’s – 20 national organizations) three-year Mental Health Literacy Project, Phase Two of the Canadian Collaborative Mental Health Initiative and the three-year Building Bridges projects, a joint initiative between the Mood Disorders Society of Canada and the Native Mental Health Association of Canada.

More recently, Richard has served as Project Manager in the development of a national anti-stigma training program for family physicians and specialists. This initiative represented an exciting opportunity for the Mood Disorders Society of Canada (MDSC) and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) to change the perceptions of family physicians and specialists about persons with mental illness and help people living with mental illness to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Richard served as Project Manager for the MDSC/CMA Post Traumatic Stress Disorder CME which ran from February 1st, 2013 to March 31st, 2014. The CME resulted in the development of a National PTSD Interactive on-line module in the form of a Training Program for family physicians and specialists in Canada. Several years ago Richard was diagnosed with PTSD as a result of his service in the RCMP.