Board & Staff

CHAIR

Rex Hagon started acting in the early 1950s, starring in numerous CBC TV and radio productions, including Maggie Muggins, Howdy Doody, and Jake and the Kid. He was a lead in the internationally acclaimed Canadian series The Forest Rangers, then hosted CBC’s Drop-In for three years, and co-hosted of TVOntario’s Polka Dot Door for five years.

While continuing to perform, Rex also is a professional coach and trainer in effective business communications. He draws upon his performance training and corporate experience to guide companies in establishing strong corporate communications, through consistent, cohesive messaging.

ACTRA Fraternal recognized Rex’s contribution by granting him their Leslie Yeo Award for Volunteerism. Rex served as President of ACTRA Toronto and Treasurer of ACTRA National. For 10 years, he was on the Board of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, and a key fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

VICE-CHAIR, TREASURER

Jean-Marc MacKenzie brings a broad range of experience to PAL Toronto. He was a professional hockey player and a Bay Street lawyer before becoming a successful business executive in the Canadian healthcare field, with firms such as Medcan Health Management, and Morneau Shepell. Currently, Jean-Marc is Chief of Strategy and Co-founder of ReGen Scientific. In these leadership roles, he supported the development of health and disability management programs for the ACTRA Fraternal Benefit Society.

Jean-Marc has been a strong supporter of PAL, including through ONTogether, a not-for-profit group he founded to assist organizations through the pandemic. He is a member of the Board of Directors for a publicly traded company, and volunteers his time with several non-profit Boards.

Jean-Marc has a combined Juris Doctor of law degree (JD) and a Master of Health Administration (MHA) from Dalhousie University. He also holds a Master of Education (Med) in Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, with an emphasis on positive coaching and leadership, from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

SECRETARY

For 43 years, Talin Vartanian was a CBC producer on many cherished national radio programs, including Morningside, As It Happens, This Morning, and The Sunday Edition. In 2000, she created Canada Reads, and was the program's executive producer from 2001 to 2005.

To the PAL Board of Directors, she brings the communication, organizational, and analytical skills that served her well as a veteran journalist.

Talin’s experience on other non-profit boards, includes two years as a School Council chair, five years at the food-rescue organization Second Harvest, and her current role on the executive of the Ontario Region branch of the CBC pensioners’ association.

She is now a freelance writer, producer, and editor. https://www.editortalin.com/ In her spare time, Talin loves to play Scrabble, and she takes no prisoners.

DIRECTOR

Chair, Residential Accommodation Committee (RAC)

Elva Mai Hoover was Chair of the Board of Directors of PAL Toronto from 2018 to 2022, and is serving the residents once again, as an active Board member. The Residential Accommodation Committee, which she chairs, reviews applications for residency according to our building mandate.

Elva is the definition of a working actor, with more than six decades of experience, three ACTRA Award nominations and one Genie Award nomination. In 2015, ACTRA National Council granted Elva a Life Membership, in recognition of her contribution to building Canada’s cultural industry. She is also a Life Member of Canadian Actors’ Equity, and a member of British Equity.

Elva has played leading parts across Canada, including the Stratford Festival, and has had continuing TV roles in Road to Avonlea, The Edison Twins, Queer as Folk. Her recent film and TV appearances include Strays, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Expanse, The Christmas Chalet, The Romanovs, Mama, and Murdoch Mysteries.

DIRECTOR

Chair, Management Review Committee (MRC)

Danann Hawes holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from Carleton University. In 2015, after more than a decade as the Director of Content Development and Acquisitions at LexisNexis, he moved to Emond Publishing. Danann is experienced in creatively building businesses, and developing relationships between organizations. He teaches legal publishing at Toronto Metropolitan University, in the Chang School of Continuing Education.

Danann has volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, and has been a strong advocate for Cambodian Legal Education for Women, a charity that supports rural Cambodian women who pursue careers in law. He has also served on the board of directors of the Society of Sharing, and the Etobicoke Humane Society.

As a published short-story author and screenwriter, he has written five feature-length, original screenplays. Danann is a grateful dog owner and tolerates his cat Felix, who treats all humans with disdain.

DIRECTOR

Immediate Past Chair

Jocelyn Reneuve has enjoyed a wide range of experience in the performing arts, and arts administration fields. A University of British Columbia graduate with a B.A. in English literature and theatre, she worked and studied at the Arts Club Theatre School. Jocelyn performed at the James Cowan Theatre, as a member of the Chameleon Theatre Group.

Relocating to Toronto in the early 1990s, she continued to study literature at the University of Toronto, and attended theatre classes at George Brown College. Jocelyn balanced her pursuit of professional roles with manuscript editing, arts administration, and accounting.

A long-time supporter of PAL Toronto, she was the coordinator of the charity division from 2005 to 2011, working with the Board and residents on multiple projects, and was first elected to the Board in 2019. Jocelyn also liaised with Autumn Productions for The Limelighters, a documentary about the residents of PAL Toronto.

DIRECTOR

dTaborah (Tabby) Johnson is a professional performer, with more than five decades of experience, on both stage and screen. She has entertained audiences of all ages, from Porgy and Bess and Hair to The Big Comfy Couch and The Polka Dot Door.

dTaborah also has been an engaged activist in numerous organizations. She addresses “the elephant in the room,” be it as a Board member (ACTRA, the Canadian Artists Network, and PAL); as a juror for the Toronto Arts Council; or as a workshop designer for conferences.

Education is a personal passion. dTaborah is a former Waldorf instructor, an “Artist in the Schools” mentor, and a substitute teacher for the Toronto Board of Education.

Inspired by the elders she has known throughout her life, dTaborah is dedicated to improving the deplorable state of housing not only for senior artists, but for all who are reaching the age of wisdom.

DIRECTOR

Fiona Andrew is a Toronto-based motion picture set decorator and property master. She has been a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) for more than 25 years.

Fiona has served on the union’s Props, Set Decoration, and Greens Committee, and volunteered for two terms on the Women’s Committee.

DIRECTOR

A trained, professional child actor, Rochelle Porter performed on radio, television, in films, and on stage. As an adult, she managed the communications department, connecting the CBC to its audiences in Windsor and Essex County. For more than two decades, she worked as a radio and television promotion producer, program marketing coordinator, in public relations, and in community outreach. Her multimedia marketing campaign to promote CBC Radio 1550. Rochelle won an International PromaxBDA Award for "A Windsor Perspective."

CBC cutbacks opened a new career path for Rochelle. At the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, she was a special projects manager, grant writer, and media liaison. She also helped government-assisted refugees to adapt to their new lives in Canada. Rochelle was part of a team that created a welcoming community for all, through education, community engagement, and the promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusion.