Pat has been a planner for over 47 years. She thought about retiring, but there is too much interesting work to do in planning, so she has remained active. She is a part time consultant, adjunct professor at Vancouver Island University in the Master of Community Planning program, sits on the Professional Standards Board and is a full time grama. Originally from Toronto, Pat left planning school (Toronto Metropolitan University) for Alberta and now lives in British Columbia. She has worked across the west and into the NWT.
Pat has worked in the public, private and not for profit sectors and has volunteered for various organizations for almost all of her 47 years including being a founding member of the Society for Historical Resources in Edmonton, APPI, PIBC, Calgary Planning Commission, the Calgary Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee, PEEC and now PSB. She is currently the Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee. Traditionally a long range planner, she started working with First Nations in 1990 preparing Comprehensive Community Plans and added Airport Planning to her repertoire in 1997 along with Housing Needs Assessments since 2018.
She never stops learning and has mentored dozens of new planners. She also values her mentors. Elder Allan Wolf Leg of the Siksika Nation has mentored Pat for over 30 years, and through her work with the Nation she was unofficially given the name Spitaake (“Tall Sister” in Blackfoot). She believes in planning as a profession and in giving back.