September 19th, 2022
Tom Bennett takes the reins after two years as Vice Chair and 16 years as a Board member
Tom Bennett is the new Chair of the 16-member Board of Governors for Commissionaires Nova Scotia (CNS), the province’s premier and only not-for-profit provider of security and background screening services.
He succeeds Steve Graham, who has led the volunteer Board since 2020 and will now become Past Chair.
The changing of the guard took place Friday during the CNS Annual General Meeting at its Head Office in Bedford Commons. Mr. Bennett will serve a two-year term.
“This is a very inspiring time to take over as Board Chair,” said Mr. Bennett.
“We’ve just welcomed a new CEO, our workforce is getting younger and better trained, and the technological shift that’s underway is bringing efficiency to every aspect of our organization.”
Mr. Bennett is a retired Chief Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). His tenure with the police force spanned 37 years, and various roles across Canada. He worked as a criminal operations officer in Nova Scotia and held operational and administrative positions in Saskatchewan and Newfoundland/Labrador.
Since retiring in 2009, Mr. Bennett has continued to work in law enforcement. He was appointed the Commissioner of Police in Antigua and Barbuda. He earned a Meritorious Service Medal for helping the island nation’s government modernize its police force.
Mr. Bennett was first elected to the CNS Board in 2006. He has sat on numerous Board committees over the years. He most recently served on the Finance, Governance, Human Resource, and Executive committees.
The Board is nearly halfway through its three-year strategic plan to transform CNS into a sought-after employer and partner. The plan’s four main pillars are:
- Building our future workforce – attracting, retaining, and developing a diverse team that can meet future opportunities with success
- Developing our integrated security business – continually improving our operations and diversifying our products to become a full-range integrated security provider
- Enabling informed decisions – putting the tools and systems in place to make sure everyone is able to make decisions based on good information
- Being a good neighbour – being a visibly engaged and responsible member of our community that anyone would be proud to work with
We thank Mr. Graham for his Board leadership over the past two years. He will continue to sit on the Executive and Veterans committees.