TransLink Executives

Ian Jarvis

Ian participated in the creation of TransLink and for the period from inception in March 1999 to June 2001 he was the Chief Financial Officer for both GVRD and TransLink.

Ian held the position of Chief Operating Officer from September 2003 to March 2007 where in addition to the finance and corporate service functions he was responsible for Transit Police Services as well as coordinating corporate business planning processes. In February 2007 Ian moved to the bus division to assume the role of Vice-President of Finance and Corporate Services for Coast Mountain Bus Company with responsibility for finance, human resources, information systems and customer information. He moved back to TransLink in February of 2008 to assume the role of Chief Financial Officer & Vice President Finance and Corporate Services.

Ian received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia. Prior to public service he served seven years in public practice.

Haydn Acheson

Haydn joined the TransLink enterprise in May 2011 as the President and General Manager of Coast Mountain Bus Company, the operating company responsible for the operation of the bus system and SeaBus. Haydn brings significant experience within the transportation industry. Prior to joining TransLink, he held the positions of Acting Chief Operating Officer/Vice President Operations with Canadian Airlines; VP Operations and Customer Service and then President at Harmony Airways. Haydn holds a Bachelor of Education from UBC, and sits on the Board of the Law Society of British Columbia. He is also an appointed citizen representative for the City of Richmond on the YVR Noise Management Committee.

Fred Cummings

In November 2010, Fred was named President and General Manager of BC Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC), which operates and maintains SkyTrain's Expo and Millennium Lines, is responsible for West Coast Express commuter rail and manages the Canada Line contract on behalf of TransLink.

Fred brings more than 30 years of transportation and engineering experience to the organization. Since 1999, he has held a number of senior management roles at TransLink, most recently as Vice President Engineering & Implementation. Fred was the TransLink executive responsible for the Canada Line Rapid Transit project and led the building of the Golden Ears Bridge.

Before joining TransLink and BC Transit as Manager, Engineering and Project Services in 1996, Fred was a transportation-engineering consultant assisting both private and public sector clients in the planning, design and construction of large-scale capital projects.

In 2009, he was awarded the Transportation Association of Canada Award of Achievement in recognition of his work on the Golden Ears Bridge project.

Fred is a Professional Engineer and a graduate of the University of Waterloo with a B.A.Sc. in Civil Engineering. He also serves as Director on the Evergreen Line Project Board.

Doug Kelsey

Doug is committed to providing excellence in customer service and safety throughout TransLink's integrated transportation network. Doug is the past President and Chief Executive Officer of the British Columbia Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC) which encompasses SkyTrain and West Coast Express commuter rail system. In addition to his responsibilities at BCRTC, Doug was the TransLink executive accountable for Metro Vancouver's spectator and workforce movement for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as well as one of the lead developers of the transportation plan at the Olympic bid stage to help secure the Games. Doug is a graduate of the CEO program at the Kellogg School of Management and has an extensive background in operations, asset management, strategic planning, finance, mergers and divestitures and real estate in both the public and private sectors including Shell Canada, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours and Starbucks Coffee. He is also the co-founder and past CEO with the HSBC Basketball Classic, now the largest high school tournament in North America.

Cathy McLay

Cathy is an award winning executive with extensive experience with reorganizational structures, mergers, acquisitions, change management and divestitures. Winner of the Business in Vancouver 2013 CFO of the Year in the Transformation Agents category, she’s constantly looking for ways to make TransLink better and more efficient.

Prior to her present appointment, she was TransLink’s Director of Finance. She served as the General Manager for Canadian Forest Products Ltd, as well as the Corporate Controller for Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Limited Partnership. Cathy was also the acting secretary for the Board of Directors and a member of many Executive Steering Committees such as Fiber, Health Safety and Environment and Oracle Financial Project. In addition, she also served as the Regional Controller for Canadian Forest Products Limited in Prince George and as a Senior Field Accountant for Deloitte & Touche.

An International Certified Business Coach, Cathy is a Certified Management Accountant, holds a Business Administration Diploma in Finance and Accounting.

Previously, Cathy served on the Board of Directors for Vancouver Coastal Health and as Director and President of the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Corporation.

Bob Paddon

Bob came to TransLink in 2001 from Metro Vancouver, bringing expertise in local government, communications, media relations and business administration. He has an MBA and an MA in Communications and Technology. Bob was also part of the Metro Vancouver team that created TransLink. Bob has led public consultation initiatives for several Strategic Transportation plans and major projects. He led staff efforts that culminated in TransLink receiving the region’s portion of federal gas taxes and moved the organization to adopt new communication technology as part of its customer services and marketing endeavours. Bob has held senior positions in the private sector and in public and crown corporations in Alberta and BC over the past 20 years. He represents TransLink on the Canadian Urban Transit board of directors and on the Strategic Management committee of the Transportation Research Board.

Sandra Hentzen

Sandra is responsible for establishing and managing people strategies across the TransLink family of companies. 

Before coming over to TransLink in December 2009, Sandra was responsible for the strategic corporate direction of all human resources activities at Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC). Sandra joined CMBC as an Employment Services Advisor in July 1995, and quickly progressed into management. In January 2008, Sandra was appointed Vice-President Human Resources. Prior to joining CMBC, Sandra was employed at the City of Richmond, Telus, Oshawa Foods and Nabisco Brands (Toronto). Sandra earned a Diploma in Human Resources from BCIT.

In 2008, Sandra was nominated by her team, and went on to win the BCHRMA Award of Excellence for Leadership.

Sandra currently sits as a Board Member on the BC Corps of Commissionaires Board of Directors.