Born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in the Ottawa Valley, Richard has lived his entire adult life in
Kingston, Ontario. He moved to Kingston to study mechanical
engineering at Queen's University, Kingston in 1985 and has called Kingston
home ever since. After leaving Queen's he went on to complete a
three year diploma in Fashion Design at St. Lawrence College, where
he graduated with distinction and as Valedictorian. He has an extensive
list of domestic and international publications on leadership,
ethics, organizational renewal, and strategic studies.
He has been an officer with the Canadian Naval Reserve since 1985
where he received training and practical experience in public
relations, leadership, finance and budget tracking. He served as
Executive Officer (second-in-command) of HMCS Cataraqui,
Kingston's
Naval Reserve Unit, from 1999 until 2001, following which he was
promoted to his present rank of Lieutenant Commander. In January
2010 Richard returned from a six month deployment in Afghanistan
where he was a Liaison Officer and Mentor to the Afghan National
Army Headquarters in Kabul. He currently works as the Change
Management Officer at the Canadian Defence Academy.
Richard's service is not limited to the Naval Reserve. He chaired
the Kingston Community Memorial Center Advisory Committee for three
years; was a member of the Kingston Young Entrepreneur Group,
Political Action Committee; the Canadian Consortium on Asian Pacific
Security, Maritime Security Working Group; and, up until his
departure to Afghanistan, served on the FOCUS Kingston committee.
He currently serves as the Treasurer of the Pittsburgh Community
Benefit Fund; Secretary of the Ontario Progressive Conservative
Association of Kingston and the Islands; and on the Executive of the
Canadian Conservative Association of Kingston and the Islands.