ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP NEWS CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA Ontario architect Allan Teramura leads RAIC Allan Teramura, an Ottawa architect advocating for healthy and sustainable Aboriginal communities, has been named as the 77th president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) at a formal ceremony in January. The national organization has about 5,000 members. About 120 guests attended the Jan. 15 investiture ceremony at the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa. Award winning Canadian author Joseph Boyden delivered the keynote address. Guests included RAIC members, the RAIC board of directors, representatives from Parliament Hill, government depart- ments and First Nations’ communities, as well as allied professionals with an in- terest in the built environment. “As architects, I think we would all agree that losing traditional building crafts and knowledge of ways of organ- izing physical space can be as corrosive to a society as the loss of a spoken lan- guage,” Teramura said in his investiture speech. “The built environment in Indigenous communities tends to be discussed in terms of housing issues, but in my view the problem is compounded by the ab- sence of cultural identity, and this is sel- dom discussed,” he said. “At a time when talk of reconciliation is growing, our profession is in a position to – and, therefore, is obligated to – look at ways to help address injustices, not by imposing our ideas, but by listening and promoting the professional compe- tencies that already exist in Indigenous communities.” Teramura sees similarities between 24 – March 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report the living conditions on reserves to the internment camps where Japanese- Canadians, including his grandparents and parents, were forcibly placed during the Second World War. “They are a technological solution for housing, not intended to be permanent. You realize you’re dealing with some- thing that is not a normal community, but a camp. A camp is a settlement with no future by definition.” Teramura received the President’s Medal from the 2015 president Samuel Oghale Oboh of Edmonton. During his tenure, Oboh was instrumental in the signing of agreements between the RAIC and several international architec- tural associations, as well as many of the Canadian architectural regulatory bodies. He also represented Canada at the COP21 Conference in Paris where he brought the RAIC’s voice to the global discussion of climate change. “Architects are well positioned to as- sist Canada to achieve its targets in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,” says Teramura of continuing Oboh’s work on this key issue. “The building sector is ready and able to do its part.” About Allan Teramura Born and raised in Winnipeg, Tera- mura wonders if he ever considered an alternative profession to architecture; his father was in construction, and his older brother is also an architect. He studied at the University of Manitoba where he earned a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree and received the Univer- sity Gold Medal. Subsequently, he attended the Car- leton University School of Architecture, graduating in 1990 with a Degree with High Distinction. He was also the recipi- ent of the Research Thesis Prize and the RAIC Student Medal for highest overall academic standing. Teramura went on to work as an in- tern architect with the award winning Vancouver firms of Patkau Architects and Henriquez Partners, and later in Ottawa with Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects and GRC Architects. In 2001, he joined Watson MacEwen Architects as an associate and joined the RAIC the next year. In 2009, he became a partner and Watson MacEwen Tera- mura Architects was established. His recent projects include the restoration of the Tropical Greenhouse at the Central Experimental Farm in Ot- tawa, conservation work at the Amherst and Halifax armories, ongoing work on Centre Block on Parliament Hill, as well as various strategic planning studies in the Parliamentary Precinct. From 2011 to 2015, Allan served as the RAIC regional director for Ontario East, North, and Nunavut. He has volun- teered as a member of the City of Ot- tawa’s Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee and sat on the board of the Ottawa Region Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council. He is a member of UNESCO’s Inter- national Council on Monuments and Sites. In 2015, Teramura was the RAIC’s lead representative on an application for a legal injunction to halt the construction of the proposed Memorial to Victims of Communism in the Judicial Precinct of Ottawa. CFBA acclaims Dan Reymer, Bart Kanters for second year The Canadian Farm Builders Association (CFBA) has ac- claimed president Dan Reymer and vice presi- dent Bart Kanters for their second year in office. In a statement, the asso- ciation said the two leaders were greeted warmly by the board at its annual gen- eral meeting and confer- ence on Jan. 29 in Stratford. “As a founding CFBA member, it is very gratifying to see two outstanding individuals like Dan and Bart commit their time and talents to our associa- tion,” said director Gary van Boldersen. “The CFBA is in very good hands with their unselfish leadership.” The CFBA represents numerous stakeholders within the agricultural and farm building communities and works to promote and advance the construction and standards of Canadian farm build- ings. Paul Brydges first landscape architect as Landscape Ontario president Paul Brydges became the first practic- ing landscape architect to hold the posi- tion of president of Landscape Ontario