Canadian Lawyer InHouse

BUILDING BOOM BUILDING BOOM 27 CANAdIANLAwyERMAG.COM/INhOUSE october 2014 M arni Dicker and her legal depart- ment at Infrastructure Ontario are running on a tight schedule. The Pan Am Games are a year away and some projects are delayed but have to be fi nished on time and on budget. Earlier this summer one of the looming deadlines she was dealing with involved the Hamilton Tiger-Cats new stadium — Tim Hortons Field. For a period she met with team representatives every week. It eventually opened for the Labour Day Classic between the Ti-Cats and Argos. It will also host soccer games for the Pan Am Games next year. It's all part of the commercial building boom going on in southwestern Ontario. From transit infrastructure to the condo and offi ce tower sky- line, organizations like Infrastructure Ontario, Metrolinx, and Build Toronto are busy building the urban spaces of tomorrow. As well, organizations like Ryerson Univer- sity are also part of the mix, expanding beyond its purely academic borders to help today's global entrepreneurs expand their reach globally. In this report we look at how the general counsel behind these organizations play a large part in the growth of the region. As executive vice president, general counsel, BY Jennifer BroWn and corporate secretary for Infrastruture Ontario, Dicker is overseeing some of the biggest projects in the province right now. An agency of the gov- ernment, IO's focus and priorities are very much aligned with the focus of the Liberal government — transportation and infrastructure are key areas and IO is the entity responsible for procuring and delivering those projects. Dicker's main focus is the infrastructure and the venues for the Pan Am Games that need to be delivered in a year. Some are delayed due to construction-related issues and are taking up a lot of Dicker's time. "The world is watching and we have to be on time and budget — we also have to be safe as thousands of interna- tional guests will be visiting," she says. Second to the Pan Am Games are all of the transportation projects currently on the go in the province — many of those IO is delivering in part- nership with either the Ministry of Transportation or Metrolinx. "We are very focused on major tran- sit projects," says Dicker. "There's the Windsor Essex Parkway, the Hwy. 407 expansion — the Eg- linton light rail transit — we have a massive team." All of that means she is spending a lot of time with Mary Martin, executive vice president, gen- eral counsel, and corporate secretary for Metro- linx. Martin is also working to deliver on projects such as the Union Station revitalization, Union Pearson Express, and Eglinton Crosstown light rapid transit line. Martin has seen her legal team at Metrolinx grow from seven to 15 lawyers in the last two years. Metrolinx has an annual capital budget of more than $2.6 billion and four operating divi- sions — GO Transit, PRESTO fare card, Union Pearson Express, and rapid transit implementa- tion. "I'm constantly in hiring mode as I expand the legal department to take on the work of our growing organization," says Martin. The legal team at IO has also expanded over the last two years as well and currently stands at

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