Four new directors appointed to Canadian Blood Services board

As a regular part of Canadian Blood Services’ governance and board terms coming to a close, in December 2025, we bid farewell to four board members: David Lehberg, Anne MacFarlane, Judy Steele and Glenda Yeates. Throughout their years of service, these members’ expertise, guidance and leadership in their roles offered important oversight for Canada’s transfusion and transplantation system.  

Four new board members have now been selected by the provincial and territorial ministers of health (except Quebec). We would like to welcome Sharni Dhillon from Alberta, Karen Herd from Manitoba, Mary Lee from Nova Scotia and David O’Toole from Ontario. 

Meet the new members of our board: 

As a national organization that provides lifesaving biological products to Canadian patients, the work of Canadian Blood Services is not just vitally important; it’s also very complex. Great effort is made to ensure a thorough understanding of our operation, governance and strategy as board members join the organization.  

Board members are provided an extensive orientation as an introduction to their work. This orientation was recently held at our largest production site in Brampton. They were able to see some of the safety measures, logistics and planning that goes into an effective and efficient national transfusion system.  

Now, a little more about each of the new members. 

Sharni Dhillon 

Sharni’s career started in medical research at the University of Calgary Medical School where she explored medical neuroscience focusing on cerebral palsy as well as treatment for stroke patients. Thereafter, she became a lawyer and has worked in national law firms before pivoting to her current role as a lawyer with Calgary Legal Guidance. As the consumer representative on the board, Sharni also brings a close personal connection to Canadian Blood Services products. She has been a longtime advocate and volunteer with the thalassemia community; including her role as chief global moderator with Thalassemia Patients and Friends since 2006. Welcome, Sharni. 

Karen Herd 

As a chartered professional accountant with over 34 years of experience and Manitoba’s former deputy minister of health, Karen brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge. Her background lends itself to financial management but also organizational risk and health system transformation. In 2024 she was appointed to the board of Shared Health Manitoba, the province’s health authority, where she serves on their finance and audit committee as well as quality, risk and performance committee. She has served on many other boards over the course of her career and will bring that knowledge to Canadian Blood Services for the coming years. Welcome, Karen. 

Mary Lee 

With over 30 years in healthcare, both nationally and internationally, Mary brings a wealth of knowledge to her position on the board. Mary accumulated over 15 years of experience in labour relations, benefits administration, and recruitment in the long-term care sector. She has led a provincial organization and managed health, dental, long-term disability, pension and other insurances.  She also comes with a strong governance background with many positions on other boards. Having founded igility, a subsidiary of Health Association Nova Scotia, Mary is also a proven and knowledgeable entrepreneur bringing that ability for oversight and strategic thinking to this position. Welcome, Mary.  

David O’Toole

With over 25 years in senior public administration and extensive leadership in healthcare, David has dedicated much of his career to improving Canada’s health data infrastructure for the betterment of population health outcomes. For 10 years, David was CEO of CIHI, the health data steward organization for Canada. He was responsible for successfully modernizing the organization, as well as the development and implementation of operational and strategic planning. Throughout his career he has also been a dedicated to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within health systems. Much of his focus has been on building relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities to establish trust in the use of health data. Having served on many boards of directors over the course of his career, David will be an asset to Canadian Blood Services’ oversight. Welcome, David.