Inside the Commission

On January 28, 2011 my employment with the Mental Health Commission of Canada ended on mutually agreed to terms. My three years with the Commission was in many ways the highlight of my career. From start to finish it was an intense experience and a rare opportunity to be on the inside of an important, new organization.



As a Board Member of the Canadian Mental Health Association, I had been well aware of the launch of the Commission in March 2007. But I was taken by surprise, as was the whole country, when the Commission announced that the head office would be located in Calgary where I lived. The instant I heard the news I knew I wanted to work for the Commission.

I was further pleasantly surprised when Glenn Thompson was appointed Interim President. We knew each other from our time together at CMHA National – Glenn as Acting Chief Executive Officer and I as a Board Member and National Treasurer. I phoned Glenn and expressed my interest in joining the Commission as Chief Financial Officer and he invited me to apply.

On a Saturday morning in September 2007 I received a phone call from Glenn who was in Calgary for the Commission’s first Board meeting. Would I like to meet with Mike Kirby, he asked.

Later that day in the lounge of the Hyatt, I met with Mike Kirby, John Service, Howard Chodos and Glenn Thompson. During this “interview,” I deliberately tested the Commission by being quite open about my personal mental health problems. I have struggled with bouts of depression and anxiety since teenage. In many other organizations my disclosures would have ended any hope of employment on a senior management team. But after due process, I joined the Mental Health Commission of Canada in January 2008 as CFO.

The atmosphere at the January 2008 Board meeting was electric, full of anticipation. The number of attendees was quite large because Advisory Committee members were included. Together with Board and staff, this group became aptly known as the Commission Family.

My first six months with the Commission was the best period of my long career. I was highly motivated and full of energy. There were considerable challenges because this was a start-up situation and I literally began work on my kitchen table. I rose to the occasion with great productivity and accomplishment.

The Executive Leadership Team bonded almost instantly. Working with John Service, Howard Chodos, Mike Pietrus and Jayne Barker seemed almost effortless from a team dynamics perspective. Everyone was completely focused on whatever needed to be done. All of us were excited by the opportunity to really make a difference in a cause important to each of us.

But it certainly wasn’t perfect. Michael Howlett joined the Commission as Chief Executive Officer and he did not make a good first impression on me when we first met in Calgary in April. Something doesn’t feel right, I remarked to my wife after that first meeting. I quickly began having difficulty working with the new CEO and we disagreed on several significant matters. Fortunately he worked out of an office in Toronto where he lived and we saw little of him in Calgary.

The six month high I had been on ended abruptly with the first major negative event in the Commission’s history. In September 2008 Michael Howlett brutally terminated without cause the employment of John Service, Chief Operating Officer. I was further dismayed that the Board of Directors did not intervene. This unjustified act violated my core values and upset me deeply. For a couple of weeks my productivity plummeted and I considered resigning. Thankfully, I was encouraged to stay by Jayne Barker and I am glad I took her advice.

Naively, I had thought that the Mental Health Commission of Canada would be a special place to work both in terms of what the organization did as well as how the work was done. The work of the Commission was indeed special and the rapid start up and accomplishments of 2008 and 2009 was impressive. I found my job a CFO very challenging and stressful but also very rewarding. All things considered, there was no other place I would rather have been.

The challenges of a start-up, the extremely fast pace, the inevitable continuous change, the enormous expectations and trying to work with Michael Howlett added up to a very stressful situation for me, but I coped. Looking back, I am proud of my contribution.

But in July 2009 I had a serious mental health problem which I described in my blog entry Who gets Depressed on Vacation. I began to think about what changes I needed to make for the sake of my mental health. I also received some excellent advice from a psychologist who I see from time to time.

In January, 2010 Michael Howlett informed the Executive Leadership Team that he had resigned and would be leaving the organization at the end of March. Figuratively speaking, I leapt from my chair in pure joy. My two years of trying to work with him was the worst inter-personal experience in my forty year career.

Louise Bradley accepted the offer to move up to Chief Executive Officer. In a private meeting with Louise in March, she expressed her confidence in me and her intention for me to continue as CFO. However, I surprised her and replied that for the sake of my mental health, I wished to semi-retire and step down. Over the next few months we worked out a plan for a smooth transition for both me and the organization.

In September 2010 I left my position as CFO and joined the Commission’s Mental Health First Aid program, working in a part-time, non-management role. I thought we had arrived at a win, win and was pleased to remain with the Commission. However, on December 22, 2010, which by coincidence was the date of my wedding anniversary, I was placed on leave with pay. On January 28, 2011, my employment with the Mental Health Commission of Canada ended on mutually agreed to terms.