Marcella Szel
Ms. Szel has significant experience in the transportation industry, business, and as a board member.
She is currently board chair of TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transportation authority. TransLink is Metro Vancouver’s transportation network of major roads, buses, SkyTrain, bridges and cycling serving 21 communities and more than 4 million residents. She is a director of the Global Transportation Hub (Saskatchewan) . The Global Transportation Hub (GTH) is one of Saskatchewan’s most important economic development initiatives. It establishes and enhances Saskatchewan’s role in the Asia-Pacific Corridor and in the Western Canadian Network, allowing the province to capitalize on some of the world’s largest shipping volumes. In June 2014 she was appointed by the federal minister of transportation as a member of a panel to review the Canada Transportation Act and related legislation. She is a past board director of Port Metro Vancouver, Export Development Canada and Consolidated Fastfrate.
From 1977 to 2009, Ms. Szel was with Canadian Pacific Railway, where she held a number of senior positions including North American responsibility for customers, freight revenues, logistics, and intermodal terminals and auto compounds. Previously, she was vice president in marketing, government affairs, corporate strategy, law and was corporate secretary.
She has been extensively involved in the business community, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Chair 1998-1999), Western Transportation Advisory Committee (Chair 2007-2009), Coal Association of Canada, Canadian Unity Council, BC Business Council, Canada-US Law Institute, Alberta Economic Development Authority, University of Calgary Medicine Dean’s Advisory Committee.
Ms. Szel studied law and holds an LL.B (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta. She is a Queen’s Counsel (1998), was named one of Canada’s Top 25 General Counsel (2003) and awarded a Queen’s Jubilee medal for community service (2003), was honored as a “Woman of Distinction”, Calgary, and “Woman in Transportation” by the BC Minerva Foundation (2011).