Award Recipients

2009 Recipient

Claude Baillargeon

Following his admission to the Bar of Québec in 1974, Claude Baillargeon went on to complete a Master's degree in the law of insurance and of civil litigation at the University of London, England in 1975. He practiced law in the firm of Lavery, de Billy, where served as a partner from 1980 until his untimely death in November 2000. Mr. Baillargeon’s main areas of practice were in construction, surety and fidelity law, as well as officers’ and directors' liability insurance.

He was a member of the Canadian Bar Association (founder of the Québec division’s Construction Section), the American Bar Association (member of the "Forum Committee on the Construction Industry" and the "Fidelity and Surety Committee", the International Association of Defense Counsel (member of the "Construction Law and Litigation Committee" and the "Fidelity and Surety Committee") and Fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers. Mr. Baillargeon also authored of the Québec sections of the standard reference work Scott & Reynolds on Surety Bonds.

Claude was also an active participant in the activities of the Quebec Chapter of the Surety Association of Canada having served on the Quebec Regional Committee from the inception of the association in 1992. He was the driving force behind the SAC Standard Indemnity Agreement which he created to in response to changes in Quebec’s civil code in the mid-90s. This indemnity agreement is still used by SAC members today.

Claude was an exceptional man, not only in his skill and learning as lawyer, but also in his exemplary character, his always optimistic nature and his dedication to his family. Everyone who knew Claude respected him and spoke well of him.

2008 Recipient

Kenneth W. Scott, QC

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In 1993, he along with his long time partner and collaborator, Bruce Reynolds published Scott and Reynolds on Surety Bonds which is upheld by practitioners and the courts as the definitive text on construction and surety jurisprudence in Canada. As Reynolds says of his partner and mentor, “Ken Scott is one of the giants of the Canadian construction bar and his legacy continues in the (practice of) construction, surety and fidelity law.”

The Steward of Suretyship is awarded to the individual or individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the surety profession over a career or extended period of time. This award will not necessarily be presented every year, but only when a candidate who merits its receipt is brought forward for consideration. Ken Scott

is such a candidate.

Ken is renowned throughout the surety industry as the dean of the surety law fraternity. Over the course of a stellar career spanning almost five decades, Ken supervised or was consulted in litigation in all 10 provinces and argued cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.

2007 Recipients

Leo C. Ell

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Leo Ell was associated with the surety industry from September 1959 until his retirement in December 1998, a span of 39 years. He worked in the accounting and underwriting department of Western Surety Company until his appointment as Assistant Manager in 1970. Four years later, he was appointed as General Manager of the Company and in 1978, he became its President and CEO; a post he held until his retirement.

As president he expanded the operations to the Atlantic Provinces and to the west coast. During his tenure, the surety premium increased by 341% while maintaining a consistently low loss ratio. Asset value of the company was increased by 645%.

Leo’s involvement in surety industry issues goes back to the days of the Insurance Bureau of Canada and he has been involved with the Surety Association of Canada since its inception in 2002. He was the first Chair of our Western Regional Committee and held that post for two years. Western Surety became a charter member of our association and continues its involvement on a very active basis.

When the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the notice provision in the labour and material payment bond, Leo was instrumental in persuading the Saskatchewan Superintendent of Insurance to introduce a revision to the province’s Insurance Act which effectively re-established the 120 notice provision as the standard requirement on payment bonds in

Saskatchewan.

In addition to his achievements over a long and distinguished surety career, Leo was and continues to be active in other business and community organizations.

Treasurer and Director of McCallum Hill Limited and Director of various other McCallum Hill companies.

A member of the Regina Eastview Rotary Club since 1970 where he still serves as past president and director.

Active in the United Way of Regina, the Salvation Army and other fund raising charities.

For more than 40 years, a Trustee of the Franciscans of Western Canada.

Barry K. Peters

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Barry Peters spent more than 30 years in the surety industry including 28 years with Aon Reed Stenhouse (and its numerous predecessor firms) in Edmonton. For 20 years of his career, he was the manager of the Surety Department of the Aon’s Edmonton office where he served until his retirement in 2003.

Throughout his career Barry gave freely of his time, as a consultant working with government and quasi-government bodies, as an advocate working with numerous construction and surety associations and as a teacher helping young people to learn the surety trade.

He is a past chair of the Advisory Board of the Construction Engineering Management Program at the

University of Alberta and a past Vice-Chair of the Joint Standards Directorate of the Alberta Ministry of Labour.

Barry has worked diligently with trade associations across the industry to ensure a more surety-friendly environment in

Alberta and across Canada. He was a charter member of the Surety Association of Canada’s Western Committee on which he served for seven years. Prior to SAC’s formation, he served on the Western Surety Committee of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. He is also a past director of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers in the United States.

On the Construction side, Barry is a past director of the Alberta Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association and a former surety consultant for the Alberta Construction Association.

He was a teacher and mentor as well, having served as surety lecturer with the Department of Engineering at the University of Alberta, the Grant McEwan Community College and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. He was also the instructor for the Surety Bonds course in the CIP program.

Pierre Surprenant

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Pierre Surprenant started out in 1968 with the Travelers Indemnity Company in Montreal where for the next 11 years he learned the trade as a surety underwriter.

In 1979 he assumed a position with Groupe Commerce as Vice-President of Surety. Where he spent the next 12 years building the surety book into one of

Quebec’s largest and most profitable.

From 1991 to 1998 Pierre served as the Vice President of Surety for the AXA Group in Montreal and was instrumental in returning the surety book to profitability after some difficult years.

Although Pierre retired from AXA in 1998, he couldn’t quite tear himself away from our industry and spent eight more years in the surety business; this time as Vice President of Surety for Quebec at the Guarantee Company of North America where he remained until his retirement in 2006.

During the course of his career, Pierre was very active in industry activities. He served on both the Quebec Surety Committee and National Surety Committee of the Insurance Bureau of Canada and is a past Chair of the Quebec Committee.

When the Surety Association of Canada was formed in 1992, he became a charter member of our Board of Directors where he served until his retirement from AXA in 1998.

Pierre also served on the CCDC Surety Subcommittee with 2006 Steward of Suretyship, Bob McClellan. This committee was charged with reviewing the standard bond wordings and publications and making recommendations to the overall Committee.

2006 Recipients

Anthony G. (Tony) Breuer

Tony Breuer began his career in 1961 with the Canadian Indemnity Company in Winnipeg and transferred to Montreal in 1966 where he served as a Casualty underwriter until 1970 when he moved full time into the Surety Department.

In 1982 Mr. Breuer became Canadian Indemnity Company's Surety Manager for Canada and the United States and continued in that role when the company was acquired by Dominion Insurance Company of Canada 1985 He retired in May of 2006.

Tony served as a member of the National Surety Committee of the Insurance Bureau of Canada from 1982 to 1992 when the surety activities of IBC were assumed by the new Surety Association of Canada. He became a founding member of the SAC Board of Directors where he served until his retirement, and from 1999 to 2000 he served as the sixth Chairperson of our association.

Robert H. (Bob) McClellan

Bob McClellan joined the Bonding Department of Dominion Insurance Corporation in 1957.

In 1965, he moved to Harry Price, Hilborn Insurance Limited, an insurance agency with a special emphasis on Construction. HPH merged with Marsh & McLennan in 1971.

Mr. McClellan was appointed Assistant Vice President of Marsh & McLennan and Manager of the Toronto Surety Department in 1972 and promoted to full Vice President in 1978 where he remained until his retirement in 1997.

Bob was instrumental in launching the Surety Division of the Insurance Bureau of Canada - which was a first for broker involvement in IBC committees. He served as Chair of the Ontario Committee for several years. In 1981, arranged what was (at that time), the largest bond ever written in Canada was at that time.

Among the many volunteer positions Bob has held during his forty year surety career:
Treasurer of the Toronto Construction Association.
hairman of the 1971 Canadian Construction Association annual convention.
Served on the Boards of Directors of CCA, TCA and the National Association of Surety Bond Producers.

Bob has also assumed volunteer roles in a number of community groups including Junior Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts of Canada, King Bay Chaplaincy and local churches.

James Ranson

Jim Ranson began his career as a surety underwriter with Travelers Indemnity Company in 1958.

In 1970 he switched teams, becoming Surety Manager for the Aetna Casualty and Surety Company of Canada, a post he held until assuming the position of National Surety Manager of Canadian Surety Company in 1982.

Mr. Ranson is remembered by most in our industry as a teacher and mentor. His retirement from Canadian Surety in 1992 did not mean an end to his involvement in our industry. In 1984 he worked with the Insurance Institute of Canada to create a credit course in introductory surety bonding. He wrote the text and became the instructor until finally relinquishing that role earlier this year.

Jim served on both the National Committee and Ontario Committee of the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Perhaps Jim's most influential achievement was becoming a member of the radical and heretical "Gang of Five" that was influential in moving control of the surety industry away from the Insurance Bureau of Canada to the fledgling Surety Association of Canada.

Patrick Webb

Patrick Webb started out in 1966 with the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company.

He rose through the ranks to become Surety Superintendent for Canada with responsibility for what was then the largest surety portfolio in the country.

In 1989 Pat became National Vice President for Surety of the Guarantee Company of North America where he remained until 1994.

It was that year that he came full circle and rejoined the United States Fidelity and Guaranty group, assuming control of its new Canadian operation, Northern Indemnity as President and CEO.

Mr Webb is also known as a teacher and mentor and when you look around the industry today, you see people in senior surety positions across the country who learned the business at his knee.

Like all of the Stewards of Suretyship, he too served on several surety committees of the Insurance Bureau of Canada and was Chair of the Ontario Regional Committee in 1987.

He officially "retired" in 1998, although later that same year, he accepted an offer from a former assistant who now headed up the predecessor firm to Aviva Surety. He continues to assist Aviva as a part time consultant.

Eberhard R. (Dick) Amann

Dick started his career in insurance 1963 with the Quebec Casualty/Surety Department of Guardian Insurance Company of Canada.

In 1966 he became Manager of the Auto/Casualty/Surety Department of Guardian's City Branch in Montreal and in 1968, assumed the position of Assistant Casualty Manager for Canada of Guardian, a role that included responsibility for Guardian's Surety portfolio.

1971 Mr. Amann was appointed Surety Manager for Canada when Guardian established a separate Surety Department, a position which he held until retiring in 2003 from ING Canada, which had merged with Guardian had merged in 1998.

Among the highlights of Dick's forty year career in our industry were:
Winning the William Conway Butler Memorial Award in 1966 as the most outstanding student in Canada in the Casualty Branch, Part III, of the Insurance Institute of Canada.
Receiving his fellowship of the Insurance Institute of Canada in 1978
Receiving his University level Fellowship of the Insurance Institute of Canada in 1979.

Dick was a member of the National Surety Committee of the Insurance Bureau of Canada from 1978 to 1992 and served as chairman of the customs bond sub-committee.

When the Surety Association of Canada was formed in 1992 Dick Amann became a founding member of the Board of Directors where he served until his retirement.