Directors 2022-2023

Richard Dowsett

President & Treasurer
Supporter of Humanism as a positive, ethical life-stance and lens through which I view the world. Community and Communication are fundamental to happiness and peace; bad things begin where community and communication end. Striving to be Open, Honest & Authentic.
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Cameron Soltys

Secretary
Born in London, Ontario and raised Roman Catholic until he made the mistake of trying to learn more about his faith through reading the Bible. Now a proud Humanist working towards a better world through science-based decision making.
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Kelly Bogart

Membership Coordinator
I have been an atheist since birth. I have a deep appreciation for what mankind has achieved through science and reason. I believe all ideas should be open to criticism.
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George Cordahi

Event Coordinator
Born in Egypt to observant Syrian Orthodox parents, then joined siblings in Canada as a teen. Seeds of freethought germinated while still in Egypt, but sprouted in my early twenties from reading Ayn Rand. While never a follower of Ayn Rand she must be credited for clearing cobwebs from my mind.
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Jerry Bakker

Director at Large
Over the years I have worked and became friends with people from around the world. I would ask questions about their cultures and religions because I am interested in how others live their lives. But I was also questioning my Catholic upbringing and looking for something that reflected my personal values without all the things I objected to in the church. My search led to Humanism.
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Mohammed Al-Naib

Director at Large
Born in Nairobi, Kenya to Iraqi diplomat parents, I spent most of my childhood in Baghdad. Completed my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering in Iraq, then my post graduate degree in Jordan. I started questioning my Islamic faith in my early 30s while in Dubai and finally came the realization that the presence of an all-knowing creator didn’t make sense to me. As Sam Harris said, “It's simply untrue that religion provides the only framework for a universal morality."

Edwin de Leon

Director at Large
The seeds of my skepticism of the Catholic doctrines have been planted ever since further studies took me to a science-based awareness. I became a humanist even before I learned there was such an organization. The ongoing scandals in the church and the divisiveness religion has wrought on the world have deepened my resolve to make a difference. My writings are a testament to that effort.

Blaine Adams

Director at Large
Once I left the Catholic church in my 20s, it took a while to figure out what my path in my intellectual life would be. I did not give much time to that because in those years, I was concerned with my career as a teacher and my role as a husband and father. But eventually I did come to the conclusion that life was best seen as a humanist which I could not really explain until we viewed the video of Grayling who said humanism was an attitude. This works for me.
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Kostas Tsembelis

Webmaster
He left Greece for the UK and got a First Class degree in astrophysics and a PhD in space sciences. In 2006 he crossed the Pond and now lives in Ottawa. His turn to irreligion was very gradual but in the end, logic prevailed. Like many new atheists he went through a phase of being very polemic to theism and religion but now tends to leave theists in peace unless they want to impose their views on him and, especially, on the legal framework of the country. This is where he makes his stand. "I expect and demand equal rights and freedom of expression and beliefs for all." His hobbies include photography and web development.