Canadian Lawyer InHouse

MARCH 2016 36 INHOUSE After less than a year of private practice, Sachedina moved to the public sector. She had already served for three years as a part-time board member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board of Ontario, hearing claims from victims of violence for public compensation. She then became vice chairwoman of the Social Assistance Review Board, hearing appeals from welfare claimants. Beginning in 1993, Sachedina spent eight years as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board conducting refugee deter- mination hearings, fi rst in Toronto, then in Vancouver, where she moved in 1996 for family reasons. In particular, she dealt with asylum seekers from the imploding Yugo- slavia. "There were such sad stories," she recalls. "You knew that you had somebody's future in your hands." By 2001, Sachedina felt she had made her contribution to refugee work, and she was concerned that her health-care knowledge would become stale if she didn't return to the sector. She seized the opportunity to become Providence's fi rst general counsel. In fact, she says, "I was the fi rst to occupy a general counsel position in B.C.'s health- care sector. The legal role was important to me. I had worked too long and hard to become a lawyer to give that up." Signifi cantly, "I was not just providing legal advice," she says. "I was part of the leadership team deciding where we wanted the organization to go and creating the plans to get us there. I did not want to just give advice and walk away." Sachedina is strongly committed to vol- unteerism, with an international focus. She served on the boards of Oxfam Canada and the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. She was also a member of the Ismaili Council for Canada, which helped resettle Afghan refugees in Canada. Sachedina has been a member of the Is- maili Muslim community's International Conciliation and Arbitration Board since 2009 and chairwoman since December 2015. The nine-member board hears ap- peals from the arbitral decisions of national Ismaili boards. She has heard 20 family- law appeals and two commercial appeals to date. "It's a principle of the Ismaili faith that you don't allow confl ict to fester," she says. "You resolve confl ict in order to build a harmonious community." IH P r o f e s s i o n a l P r o f i l e "We were obviously disap- pointed with the court's deci- sion. We're still exploring the possibility of an appeal." As both head of HR and gen- eral counsel, Sachedina is doubly involved in the issue of violence against health-care workers, which has emerged as a serious occupa- tional safety concern in the health-care sector. She reports the number of vio- lent incidents at Providence facilities has actually decreased in recent years, in part because of an increase in Code Whites (the signal for security and colleagues to render help with an aggressive individual). "Our philosophy is, 'Don't take unnec- essary risks,'" she says. "'Do not feel that you need to be a hero.' We'd rather staff call for help when it isn't necessary than not call when they ought to have. Sometimes, just having a security presence in itself calms things down, so it's best to call proactively." In implementing measures against work- place violence, Sachedina fi nds it's an ad- vantage to have the senior HR position and the general counsel role combined in one person. "You can bring both the legal knowledge and the best practices in HR, and it's nice to have both of those linked together," she says. "They're not either/or. Good HR practices are good risk manage- ment from a legal perspective as well." Sachedina, 58, was born in a small town in the southern highlands of Tanzania. Af- ter attending school in the United King- dom, she immigrated to Canada just before turning 18. After completing an MHSc. in health administration, she worked as direc- tor of human resources at Toronto's Ortho- paedic and Arthritic Hospital for four years. "But my intention was always to combine health administration and the law," she says. "It would give me the subject matter exper- tise to provide leadership and support." In the late eighties, she pursued a law degree at the University of Toronto and ar- ticled with Porter Posluns & Harris LLP, a fi rm she chose because of its health-care law specialization. Hired by the fi rm as a junior, she acted for Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons in disciplinary proceedings against doctors accused of sexual misconduct toward patients. You can bring both the legal knowledge and the best practices in HR, and it's nice to have both of those linked together ZULIE SACHEDINA, Providence Health Care. '' '' SECOND SNAPSHOT T H E L A W Y E R Zulie Sachedina T H E C O M P A N Y Providence Health Care Society, Vancouver • Vice president, human resources and general counsel, Providence Health Care, (since 2001) • Member, Immigration and Refugee Board, Vancouver (1996 – 2001) • Member, Immigration and Refugee Board, Toronto (1993 – 1996) • Vice chair, Ontario Social Assistance Review Board, Toronto (1992 – 1993) • Student and associate at Porter Posluns & Harris LLP, Toronto (1990 – 1992) • Board member, Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, Toronto (1989 – 1992 part-time) • Law degree from University of Toronto (1990) has emerged as a serious occupa- tional safety concern in the health-care sector. She reports the number of vio- lent incidents at Providence facilities has actually decreased in recent years, in part because of an increase in Code Whites (the signal for security and colleagues to render help with an aggressive individual). • Member, Immigration and Refugee Board, Toronto (1993 – 1996) and the best practices in HR, and it's nice to have both of those linked together , Providence Health Care. SNAPSHOT SNAPSHOT Providence Health Care Society, • Vice president, human resources and general counsel, Providence Health Care, • Member, Immigration and Refugee "Our philosophy is, 'Don't take unnec- essary risks,'" she says. "'Do not feel that you need to be a hero.' We'd rather staff call Board, Vancouver (1996 – 2001) • Member, Immigration and Refugee "We were obviously disap- pointed with the court's deci- sion. We're still exploring the possibility of an appeal." As both head of HR and gen- eral counsel, Sachedina is doubly involved in the issue of violence against health-care workers, which has emerged as a serious occupa- tional safety concern in the health-care sector. She reports the number of vio- lent incidents at Providence facilities has actually decreased in recent years, in part because of an increase in Code Whites (the signal for security and colleagues to render help with an aggressive individual). ZULIE SACHEDINA, Providence Health Care. SECOND SECOND SNAPSHOT SNAPSHOT T H E L A W Y E R Zulie Sachedina T H E C O M P A N Y Providence Health Care Society, Vancouver • Vice president, human resources and general counsel, Providence Health Care, (since 2001) • Member, Immigration and Refugee Board, Vancouver (1996 – 2001) • Member, Immigration and Refugee Board, Toronto (1993 – 1996)

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