Executive Bios
Colonel W.G.S. (Bill) Sutherland, CD (Ret’d)
Chairman, National Board of Directors
In 2009, Bill Sutherland was appointed Chairman of the National Board of Directors. He is a highly accomplished individual with over 40 years of leadership and executive experience—as a Canadian Forces veteran with a record of military excellence, an award-winning senior public servant and a proven executive leader.
Bill retired from his military career in 1997 after serving as Base Commander of the Edmonton Garrison—which had grown under his command to become one of the four largest army bases in Canada. He was also instrumental in raising the profile of the military community in Edmonton and the Alberta Capital Region through significant outreach and relationship-building initiatives.
Additionally, Bill enjoyed a broad scope of responsibilities in his other assignments within the Canadian Forces—among them deploying on United Nations peacekeeping missions, developing the future leadership of the Army at the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College, and coordinating military operations as Chief of Staff, Land Force Western Area.
After transitioning to civilian life, an innovative corporate culture emerged under Bill’s leadership during his ten years as the Chief Commissioner (Chief Administrative Officer) for the Specialized Municipality of Strathcona County. While leading a municipal corporation of 1,200 employees with an annual operating budget upwards of $175 million, Bill’s achievements included an empowered and innovative workforce, a pioneering leadership development program, a comprehensive strategic planning regime, enhanced municipal governance, and a holistic approach to sustainable community development.
In 2007, Bill assumed the role of Executive Advisor and Municipal Team Leader for Beacon for Change Inc., a consulting company that specializes in helping clients to be more strategic, and municipal governments to improve their inter-municipal relationships while enhancing their governance. In this role, he is recognized as an innovator and mentor whose strengths include strategic thinking, building relationships and getting things done.
Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the Royal Military College in Kingston, where he won the prize for top graduate in the Arts/Humanities Faculty. Bill demonstrated academic excellence again as the top graduate of his executive development graduate program at the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, and throughout his many additional academic credits at home and overseas.
Active in his community, Bill has been a member of more than 20 different committees, clubs, associations and boards over the years. In 2005, Bill was awarded The Institute of Public Administration of Canada’s Lieutenant Governor’s Gold Medal for exceptional achievement, distinctive leadership and outstanding contribution to public administration. He is also a recipient of the The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal presented in recognition of his volunteer service.
Captain(N) Paul A. Guindon (Ret’d), CD
Chairman, National Business Management Committee, Commissionaires
In 2008, Paul was appointed as Chairman of the National Business Management Committee to provide leadership and direction on behalf of a nation-wide alliance of 16 Commissionaires CEOs. The committee’s focus is to find new and better ways of doing business in response to increased security threats, new standards and laws, continuous technological advances, and greater expectations for training and services. Today there are more than 20,000 commissionaires serving private and public sector clients from coast to coast.
In August 2004, Capt (N) Paul Guindon retired from military life to become the CEO of Commissionaires Ottawa – which today employs 3,800 security professionals who provide services at about 500 corporate, industrial, public and government client sites.
By 2006, Commissionaires Ottawa was appointed as the Lead Division of Identification Services on behalf of all Commissionaires offices from coast to coast. Under Paul’s leadership, Commissionaires was among the first to be certified and accredited by the RCMP to participate in their Real Time Identification Project (RTID) – a state-of-the-art digital fingerprint record repository capable of providing immediate criminal record updates and comprehensive information via a direct and secure link. The Idenfication Services portfolio includes the following business lines: on-site or mobile digital and ink fingerprinting, police clearance certificates (CPIC), complete background checks (which include employment screening and credit checks), a pardon application service, US waivers, as well as oaths and affidavits.
Paul Guindon is a 33-year veteran of the Canadian Navy. During his military career, he developed an advanced knowledge of weapons, missile systems and a wide range of national security protocols. He also honed his leadership skills during five command appointments and two deployments in a theatre of war. Paul is a graduate of Dalhousie University in Halifax and Le collège interarmées de défense in Paris. He also obtained his Advanced Military Studies Course (AMSC) from the Military Command and Staff College in Toronto.
In addition to his national and regional responsibilities with Commissionaires, Paul has served as Chair of the Canadian Society of Industrial Security Inc. - NCR Chapter since 2007. He is also a member of the Association of Professional Security Agencies, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the American Society of Industrial Security, the Centre for National Security (The Conference Board of Canada), as well as various other security, military and governmental associations.
Colonel J. Douglas Briscoe (Ret’d), OMM, CD
Executive Director, Commissionaires
In November 2006, Doug Briscoe assumed the newly-created position of Executive Director at Commissionaires. In this capacity, he is responsible for garnering consensus on issues that will continue to advance the strategic goals of the federation. He is also responsible for implementing the national business strategy, managing partnership relations, developing national synergies, as well as building and managing an effective national team.
Doug brings extensive management, leadership, operational security, and strategic planning experience to Commissionaires. These skills were developed and tested during a 37-year military career and further strengthened while fulfilling national security contracts for the Department of National Defence and various Federal Government emergency preparedness organizations.
Among his diverse military command and staff appointments, Doug led the Personnel Division of the Canadian Army, commanded Canadian Forces Base Montreal and served as the military attaché in Washington D.C. for four years. Just prior to his retirement in 2000, he completed two tours as the Chief of Staff, Multinational Division (SW) SFOR, Bosnia where he directed operations of the 8,000 troop six-nation division.
Doug has had a life-long commitment to voluntary activities including: United Way, MIRA, the Last Post Fund, parish council chair and Chair of the CFB Petawawa School Board.
A graduate of Loyola College (Montreal) and National Defence College (Kingston), Doug is a recipient of the Order of Military Merit (Officer), the United States Legion of Merit, the Minister of Energy Award for Innovation and the Last Post Fund Award of Merit.