Government of Manitoba Media Release |

Manitoba Families has appointed six new members to the Vulnerable Persons’ Hearing Panel and increased the board size by two members.

The purpose of the hearing panel is to provide the vulnerable persons’ commissioner with independent and objective recommendations regarding applications for substitute decision-makers. The hearing panel has members located throughout Manitoba and is made up of relatives of vulnerable people, lawyers and community members.

The new appointments are:

Family member:
Heather Deneka (Beausejour), a resource teacher at École Beausejour Early Years School.

Community members:
Cecile Berard (Grande Pointe), a former financial security advisor who co-founded Berard Financial Group;
Norman Bruce (Swan River), who has worked as an upper-level administrator in various government positions across Manitoba and served on multiple boards; and Jeff Fawcett (Brandon), a local business owner and board member who has worked as a volunteer mediator in the community.

Lawyers:
Sheree Walder (Winnipeg), a partner at Myers Weinberg LLP with expertise in Indigenous child welfare and family law; and
Karla Dane (Brandon), a partner at Meighen Haddad who has served on several local boards in Westman.

The vulnerable persons’ commissioner appoints these individuals to have legal authority and act for a vulnerable person unable to make certain decisions on their own in specific areas identified by the commissioner.

The Vulnerable Persons Living with a Mental Disability Act defines a vulnerable person as an adult living with a mental disability who is in need of assistance to meet his or her basic needs with regard to personal care or management of his or her property.