By Pepper Parr
December 17, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Major and surprising shake up at Conservation Halton – a leadership change was announced by the Board who appointed Hassaan Basit as General Manager, replacing Ken Phillips, who served as Chief Administrative Officer for just over nine years.
The Conservation Authority has been around for 60 years – new leadership is being sought to adjust to the changes taking place in how these Authorities operate and the role they play in the development of the Region.
The recruitment of a new CAO is anticipated to be completed at the end of June.
Hassaan Basit, was the Director of Strategic Planning & Communication for the Conservation Authority.
“Decisions like these are difficult but it has become necessary for Conservation Halton to look ahead and change our approach in order to ensure that we are able to reach our goals and grow as an organization.” said John Vice, Chair of Conservation Halton. “This will require a defined strategic plan, more efficient, effective operations, strong financial foundation, trust and accountability, and a willingness to invest in innovations.” continued John Vice.
“Transitions can be tough, especially when an organization is going through some turbulence. However Conservation Halton is a resilient organization, staffed by professionals who are focused on their jobs. We are about to enter our 60th year as a community-based conservation authority, and underpinning our new strategic plan will be the core of what we do and have done for decades at Conservation Halton: providing sustainable, quality conservation programs and services to watershed residents and visitors.” said Hassaan Basit, now the General Manager of Conservation Halton.
“As the strategic plan is developed and implemented, the next six months will be nothing short of a transformation for Conservation Halton, and the Board of Directors has absolute confidence in Hassaan as the new General Manager.” added John Vice.
Hassaan Basit appointed as General Manager of Conservation Halton while the Board searches for a new CAO. Is Basit a candidate for that job?
A biologist at the University of Toronto early in his career, Hassaan Basit has been with Conservation Halton for 12 years, starting out as Communications Specialist, before moving to Community Engagement and then Director of Communications. His latest role as Director of Strategic Planning has demonstrated his commitment and skill in engaging staff, asking tough questions, building consensus and moving forward in a focused, strategic direction. He also served as acting Director of Lands, which has allowed him a thorough understanding of Conservation Halton from a conservation, regulation, and operations perspective. In addition to his experience at a senior leadership level, his academic qualifications include a B.Sc in Biology from the University of Toronto, M.Sc from Queen’s University of Belfast, and Masters Cert. in Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.
Basit commentd that the board has to review the job description, form a hiring committee, retain an executive search firm, advertise for at least a month, and then go through the interviews which will likely be late spring.
Basit added that: “The other is that there is a very critical strategic planning process under way at the moment at Conservation Halton, which is going to not just formulate a new set of priorities for the organization but also needs to take a deeper look at current barriers to executing strategic priorities and address those.
“It turns in to a bit of a review of what we do at CH, why we do it, should we continue to do it, and how should we do it in the future. All this requires some time, if we are to move forward as an organization that offers a clear set of programs and services that are sustainable and add value to our stakeholders and to the conservation needs of the watershed. The Board would like this work to continue unhindered, which probably gets us to June again. A steady hand at the tiller if you will.”
