Views (August 01, 2005)

Insurance Industry ‘Competes For A Cure’ at WICC Ontario 6th Annual Golf Tournament

The Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade (WICC) Ontario Chapter teed up for its 6th Annual golf tournament at Angus Glen Golf Club in July, to raise funds for research and education in the fight against cancer.

This year’s tournament drew the largest field ever, with 256 golfers taking to both the south and north courses for a wonderfully ‘rainless’ event. Everyone came out a winner, with a cheque for $150,000 being presented to the Canadian Cancer Society. A fine dinner, draw prizes, and two silent auctions also tantalized guests in the evening.

A very hearty thank-you went out to all golfer participants, tournament sponsors, hole sponsors, hole-in-one sponsors, prize and auction item donors, the 55 volunteers, WICC Corporate Sponsors, as well as a special congratulations to golf Organizing Committee chair Jean Faulkner and her dedicated team: Dawna Matton, Dorothy Davenport, Sarah Cashman, Karen Barkley, Heather Matthews, Elizabeth Kepes, Ashley Chinner and Christina Martin.

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Swiss Reinsurance Company Canada recently held its annual June golf tournament and dinner at Woodington Lake Golf Club in Tottenham, ON. Dozens of insurance and reinsurance industry guests were in attendance to enjoy the day, which was organized by Swiss Re’s Rob Mittertreiner. Special Swiss Re hosts included Swiss Re Americas division head Andreas Beerli, head of US Direct Patrick Mailloux and SRC president designate Jean-Jacques Henchoz, who will be taking over the reins of Swiss Re Canada from Brian Gray later this year.

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Disaster Kleenup International (Canada) Ltd. recently invited its multitude of members to a fun-filled night of dinner, dancing and fireworks featuring India night at the Festival of Lights, while cruising around the Toronto Harbor. The explosive night proved to be the perfect platform for its 300 guests onboard to network the night away. It was also a great way for Disaster Kleenup to shine and say thank you to its growing group of members.

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Enterprise Golf Tournament: Tom Parker, Tony Moise and Marty Meadows, of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, are joined by former hockey player Joe Kocur at Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s 10th annual golf tournament. The event, held at King’s Riding Golf Club, enjoyed a turnout of 180 eager golfers from the insurance, dealership and body shop industries. The glorious day of golfing garnered a total of $10,000 in funds, which were donated to the Sick Kids Foundation.

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Cardinal Golf Club in Kettleby, ON recently welcomed the Property Casualty Underwriters Club (PCUC) golf tournament. The highlight of the day, which offered the perfect setting for PCUC members to network with industry colleagues in a relaxed setting, was a $25,000 Hole-in-One Challenge. The day was a success, boasting a sold out attendance of 144 golfers, who represented a good mix of primary insurer and reinsurer underwriters as well as a solid standing, or swinging, bunch from the brokerage community.

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Loyalist Insurance Group Ltd. Recently appointed Martin D. Heppner and Paul J. Luksha to the Company’s board of directors. Heppner is currently serving as president of Anchor Securities Ltd., a securities dealer located in Toronto. Luksha is a general partner with Graoch Associates, real estate investors, which has locations in Toronto, Vancouver, Tacoma and Houston.

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Arch Insurance Group recently celebrated its launch of Arch Insurance (Canada) in style with a reception at the swanky Toronto Club. Sheldon Rankin, the CEO and chief agent of Arch Insurance (Canada) and Ralph E. Jones III, the president and CEO of Arch Insurance Group Inc. were on hand to meet and greet the waves of brokers, risk managers and other industry players who joined the celebration.

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On June 16, 2005, the newly formed company Assured Automotive – representing the recent merger between Imperial Collision Centres and Oaktown Collision Centres – held a charity boat cruise to raise money for Erinoak – a charitable organization that aids children with physical disabilities. The charity cruise, held at the Toronto harbor, garnered support from more than 400 industry guests who helped raise money through the purchase of Mardi Gras themed beads. The evening reached its climax when director, insurance relations and business development Des Browne announced that Assured Automotive had raised $5,000 for the Erinoak foundation. The evening, co-sponsored by Enterprise rent-a-car and PPG CertifiedFirst Network, went swimmingly.

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The Collision Solutions Network (CSN) recently recognized its expansion into Thunder Bay, ON, region. On July 8, Mascarin Collision Centre, the newest addition to CSN, celebrated the launch of their CSN membership and their new windshield guarantee program with the Mascarin Collision Smash Bash. The function boasted an attendance of over 150 brokers, adjusters and partners in the Thunder Bay Area. CSN’s membership now boasts 37 facilities in just over three years.

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Canadian Underwriter magazine recently launched a new insurance careers website: i-hire.ca. At i-hire.ca job seekers are provided with the tools to browse recent industry jobs, search available jobs by region, category or keyword and reply to employers directly online. Employers and recruiters are able to post jobs, receive applicant information and attachments directly, edit postings and easily manage their account. The innovative site utilizes insurance industry communications vehicles that reach job seekers and employers nationwide. Canadian Underwriter magazine – Canada’s Insurance and Risk Magazine – and canadianunderwriter.ca, will drive the i-hire.ca brand and job postings content, delivering its message nationally to all segments of the insurance market. In addition, all Job Postings placed at i-hire.ca will appear ‘simultaneously’ in the Insurance Careers Section of canadianunderwriter.ca. i-hire.ca jobs will “exclusively power” the Insurance Careers Section at canadianunderwriter.ca – providing i-hire.ca employers/recruiters the benefit of added exposure of their job postings at Canadian Underwriter magazine’s website.

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The annual McKellar Charity Golf Day recently raised $10,350.00 for WICC to aid the group in their fight against cancer. The charity golf day was held at ClubLink’s RattleSnake Point Golf Club in Milton, ON, where 72 participants enjoyed a morning of instruction with LPGA pro Shelley Woolner and her team of professionals as well as, an afternoon nine-hole round of golf.

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CARSTAR Automotive Canada recently initiated its sponsorship of a solar-powered car engineered by students at the University of Calgary dubbed the “Soleon.” The vehicle, whose body was custom painted by the CARSTAR located in Inglewood, Calgary, competed in the North American Solar Challenge race that began in Austin, Texas on July 17 and finished in Calgary on July 27. This is the longest solar car race in the world, covering 4,000 km. The cars raced to a top speed of about 100 km/h. CARSTAR custom painted both the race vehicle and the prototype vehicle.