Alta Vista Ventures appoints Smitherman as director 2016-01-22 13:44 ET - News Release
Mr. Ian Foreman reports
ALTA VISTA BRINGS ON GEORGE SMITHERMAN TO THE BOARD, KIM DERRY AS SENIOR ADVISOR - SAFETY AND SECURITY AND DON SHAXON AS SENIOR ADVISOR
George Smitherman has joined Alta Vista Ventures Ltd.'s board of directors and Kim Derry has joined the company as senior adviser, safety and security.
Mr. Smitherman had a long, successful political career until 2010, when he returned to his prepolitics roots as an entrepreneur. He is the founder of three companies and is an adviser to several others. Most recently a candidate for the Mayor of Toronto, Mr. Smitherman has previously been elected three times as a member of the provincial parliament, where he served as Ontario's Deputy Premier, Health Minister, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, as well as many other roles. Over a career spanning almost 25 years, Mr. Smitherman has been active in all three levels of government.
Mr. Smitherman's interest in medical marijuana started when he was Ontario's Health Minister. He has since become a vocal advocate of medical marijuana and the legalization of recreational marijuana nationally.
Mr. Derry has had a long, distinguished career in law enforcement. Over his 38-year career, Mr. Derry has performed uniform, undercover and investigative duties. At the peak of his law enforcement career, Mr. Derry was appointed the deputy chief of police for the City of Toronto. He has been responsible for the policing operations in Toronto for 17 divisions, managed in excess of 4,000 personnel and oversaw divisional policing budgets of $490-million.
Mr. Derry's wide-ranging experience in safety and security is a natural fit for the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations environment. He is motivated by the opportunity to reduce the influence of gangs and organized crime through a sensible regulatory regime.
In addition, the company would like to announce that Don Shaxon is also joining as senior adviser. Mr. Shaxon brings 20 years of experience in the capital markets, and including the medical marijuana sector, since 2007. As corporate development manager with Cannabis Science Inc., the first public company in North America dedicated to the marijuana industry, he helped build the company from a small-cap company into an industry leader with a market cap that topped $100-million. Since then, he has been involved in a number of public companies and was instrumental in bringing the RedeCan Pharm opportunity to the company.
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