Board of Directors
Brian Fehr
Chairman, One Sky Forest Products
Mr. Fehr is Chairman of Peak Renewables Ltd. and Founder of BID Group. He is known for his contributions to the economic revitalization of local communities through his innovations in the forest industry and his commitment to maintaining operations in North America. While he was the Founder and Chairman of the BID Group, Brian developed innovative technical systems and construction services for wood products industries. Today, the BID Group is a billion-dollar company employing 400 people in B.C. alone and 1400 more throughout North America.
Through its subsidiary DelTech, the BID Group has developed innovative biomass energy systems that lower energy costs and greenhouse emissions using wood waste that was formerly burned by the forest industry.
Brian foresaw the application of AI in smart manufacturing, developing a ‘profiling’ technology that processes logs into lumber with a single pass, cutting labor costs and improving productivity. Through “auto grading”, he created an industry game-changing computerized process for optimizing lumber values at significantly higher speeds than traditional manual processes resulting in loss minimization, cost reduction and improvements in the value of finished products. His predictive maintenance processes for sawmills means equipment can be fixed before a breakdown occurs, increasing worker safety and improving efficiency.
Brian’s clients include Canfor, Tolko, West Fraser, and Georgia Pacific. He is an Order of BC recipient, the Chairman Emeritus of the BID Group and serves as a Director on multiple boards.
John Broere, B. Comm
Chief Financial Officer, One Sky Forest Products
John is an experienced finance professional with 17 years’ experience in investment banking, M&A, capital markets and financial modeling. He joins One Sky Forest Products as the Chief Financial Officer responsible for managing all financial activities. His career has provided him with opportunities to work in the financial markets of Vancouver, London, and Hong Kong. Most recently, John spent 10 years in the Global Investment Banking division of RBC Capital Markets.
John holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of British Columbia.
Herbert Urton
Co-founder One Sky Group of Companies
Herbert Urton is a visionary and quintessential entrepreneur. He was born with a pioneering spirit and drive to explore new frontiers, both geographic as well as economic. He is known for “breaking trail” through initiatives that connect people, resources, and business opportunities on behalf of an improved quality of life, better stewardship of natural resources, and solid financial returns. The businesses that have developed from these initiatives were grounded in trust, transparency, and respect to fill cultural gaps, meet unaddressed needs, and create win-wins for all partners.
Herbert has established himself as a well-respected, trusted promoter of Saskatchewan through sound financial investment and expansion of trade throughout China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Cheung On Investment, which he co-founded in 1989 as an international investor syndicate, quickly became a leading venture fund with broad asset distribution in the hospitality industry of Saskatchewan as well other enterprises. Currently, as a founding partner of One Sky Group of Companies, his focus is on initiatives closer to home and heart. One Sky Group is currently pursuing public, private and government partnerships in Saskatchewan to expand trade and investments, improve quality of life for indigenous communities and advance cross-culture business ventures in the areas of forestry, mining, and addiction recovery.
Herbert’s broad perspective of business development from regional, national to international provides the leadership experience needed to meet the challenges involved in grassroot innovative initiatives that will “break trail'' for business models of the future.
Robert Fincati
Entrepreneur and Indigenous Investment Specialist
Robert Fincati specializes in Indigenous wealth creation and positive social impact development strategies. His genius lies in his ability to develop high functioning executive teams who develop and execute strategic plans to ensure operations are aligned with core values and mandates.
Robert focuses on good corporate governance and best business practices with a proven record for excelling in fund management and financial investment returns. Robert has a passion for generating wealth sovereignty for Indigenous Nations in Canada and globally. He has been called a "natural CEO" with a gift for making money to make a difference.
Robert currently serves as CEO of Tatanka Oyate Holdings LP an Indigenous investment fund company and is the former CEO of Montreal Lake Business Ventures LP where he grew the company by a stellar 546% or 23.04% annually over a 9-year period.
Robert also serves as a founding Board Director of One Sky Forest Products a proposed OSB mill that will be offering best-in-class products starting in Q4 of 2023, as well as a Director of Sterling Concrete & Hauling, an Indigenous owned Concrete Company with a stellar reputation for making quality products. Robert is past Director for Manitobah Mukluks, an Indigenous owned Canadian growth 500 company and past Director, President and Chairman of Sakaw Askiy Management Inc. that owns the Prince Albert Forest Management Agreement. Robert is a Registered Professional Forester with over 40 years of experience in a wide range of roles in the forest industry.
Al Balisky
President/CEO, MLTC Industrial Investments
Al Balisky has 35 years of experience in the Canadian forestry sector. He has been affiliated with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council’s forestry operations in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan since 1998. Al enjoys life the most when it is filled with people, places, possibilities, and projects.
Darryn Knibbs
President/CEO, Hoffman Kool Insurance
Darryn Knibbs brings extensive experience in the areas of finance and corporate development. He is actively involved in several real estate and development projects. He has been on the board member of various private companies as well as a past board member of The Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan.
Darryn holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting from the University of Saskatchewan.. He is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) with diplomas for the Canadian Securities Course and The Insurance Institute of America Risk Management Course.
Eldon Henderson
Montreal Lake Business Ventures
Eldon Henderson graduated with a B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan. He is currently an elected Councillor of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation and holds the following portfolios: MLCN Urban Services Inc.; Treaties; Lands & Resources; Chair, Land Claims Committee; Montreal Lake Business Ventures and Economic Development. Since 2017, Eldon has been a Board of Director for the Montreal Lake Business Ventures LP (MLBV) and in 2021, he was appointed as the Secretary and Treasurer.
During his tenure with MLBV, Eldon co-founded the Kitaskinaw Committee, which was established under the auspices of Kaskew Forestry Products LP. He was instrumental in taking Kitaskinaw Committee to the next level by creating a non-profit organization, which is now known as Kitaskinaw Land Based Services Inc. Eldon currently serves as a Director on Kitaskinaw Land-Based Services Inc., in addition to being a Board of Director on Kaskew Forestry Products LP since 2017.
In 2019, Mr. Henderson founded the Treaty 6 Adhesion Committee (T6A) comprised of volunteers from Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Lac La Ronge Indian Band and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. The purpose of T6A Committee was to commemorate the 130th Anniversary of the signing of Treaty 6 Adhesion. The T6A Committee is currently working on a book about the history of the Treaty 6 Adhesion.
Eldon continues to work on various special projects and serves on various committees and dedicates his time toward the well-being and prosperity of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation.
