The PABC Board of Directors are comprised of volunteer members of the National Association of Parliamentarians located in British Columbia. The Board is comprised of the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and up to three Directors at Large. Board of Director elections are conducted annually at the Annual General Meeting.
Article 4.1 and Article 7.1 of the PABC Bylaws
Board Member – Executive Officer
President
John Bieker (he/him) has been a member of NAP since 2021 and achieved the Professional Registered Parliamentarian (PRP) credential in 2026. He also holds the GPC.D credential from the Governance Professionals of Canada. John has served as a Chief Governance Officer for an Indigenous government in British Columbia, fulfilling the role of clerk and advising parliamentarian for their legislative assembly and Annual General Meetings. Currently, he is a governance consultant for many organizations, advocating for continuous improvement in governance activities, and leads training sessions in board effectiveness, decision-making, and procedural rules. John enjoys reading, writing, and golfing in his spare time.
Vice President
Treasurer
Meredith Laird (they/them/theirs) was born in Ottawa and lived in several locations within the ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishnabeg peoples before moving to Surrey, B.C. in 2015. Their career has included roles in education administration, not-for-profit organizations, and staff positions in municipal government. Their volunteering has included roles in neighborhood associations, parent councils, trade unions, and political parties. Their interest in parliamentary procedure developed from learning how effective democratic decision-making permits individuals to contribute their perspective to group decision-making. They were elected Treasurer of PABC in 2022 and hope to help support education efforts that assist people in fully participating in the groups to which they belong.
Secretary
Susan Wood (she/her) has been a member of PABC since 1999, and has previously served as PABC treasurer, secretary and again as secretary in 2018. She has also served on several boards and has done volunteer work in the community. Her goal in PABC is to welcome and educate future members. Presently she is also Secretary of a Vacation home Strata in Point Roberts Washington. She went to BCIT and trained and worked as a Medical Imaging Technologist. Being retired Susan and her husband of over 50 years enjoy spending time with their three children and five grandkids in New Westminster, Langley, Whitehorse Yukon, and Point Roberts.
Board of Directors – Directors at Large
Director-At-Large
Justin Schmid is a Professional Registered Parliamentarian (PRP), and a Certified Parliamentarian-Teacher (CP-T). He specializes in parliamentary procedure, governance, and member education, working with unions, political parties, financial institutions, First Nations organizations, professional associations, and non-profits across Canada. Justin provides procedural advice, convention support, governance consulting, bylaw development, facilitation, and training. He has extensive experience chairing meetings and advising large conventions and membership assemblies, including national conventions with thousands of delegates. Justin serves as a Director of the American Institute of Parliamentarians and is actively involved in projects focused on parliamentary education, governance resources, and strengthening democratic decision-making within organizations.
Director-At-Large
Benjamin Tischler (he/him) has been a member of NAP since early 2024. He became interested in Robert’s Rules while serving on the Student Society during his studies at Simon Fraser University, where he is working towards a Joint Major in Mathematics and Computing Science. He hopes to complete his RP credential in the coming years and work with student organizations to better governance practices at their meetings. When not working or studying, he enjoys cooking, watching Formula 1, and programming (for fun).
Director-At-Large
Scott Blackford has been practicing law for almost 20 years, with 15 of them as Legal Counsel, Associate General Counsel, and Acting General Counsel at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. Among his areas of expertise is university governance, which includes serving TRU’s Senate as its parliamentarian. Scott received his Registered Parliamentarian (RP) credential in November, 2025.