Our Team

Robert grew up in Northwestern Quebec and spent most of his career in leadership positions at colleges in Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba, as well as with the Gov’t of Manitoba.Appointments ranged from college Vice-President to Assistant Deputy Minister, Finance and Admin in Education. Robert also worked part-time in media as a journalist and a radio broadcaster. A firm believer in giving back to the community, he served as Board Chair of Winnipeg Habitat for Humanity; Assistant Superintendent of St John Ambulance (MB); Judge, Premier’s Volunteer Award Committee (MB), Volunteer Ambassador in the dialysis wing of the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg; and Chair of the Prairie Region Citizen Advisory Committee with Corrections Canada for which he was recognized nationally with the James A. Murphy Award of Excellence.

In 2017, Robert moved to Squamish, B.C. and looking for potential volunteer opportunities, stumbled on the Squamish Men’s Shed. Since then, he served as its President, as well as Vice-President of the Men’s Shed Association of B.C., and now as President of Men’s Sheds Canada. In 2021, he chaired and hosted the first provincial Men’s Shed Conference in Squamish, B.C.

Dr. Andy Tamas is a governance and organizational change specialist with extensive experience in capacity development and training for performance management and evaluation, valuing diversity and gender equity in Canadian military, government, and private sector organizations. He has also served as an administrator, social worker and adult educator with the governments of the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

Andy has worked on projects in the Middle East (Iraq, Egypt, Qatar, Yemen, Libya), Afghanistan, Africa, South America, Asia, Haiti, Ghana, the Canadian north, and Alaska, including public sector reform and governance initiatives in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere, including evaluations of multiple USAID projects and research for UNDP.  His education includes a Bachelor’s in Integrated Studies (Waterloo) and Social Work (Regina), a Master in Continuing Education (SK), and a Doctorate in Governance from University College Dublin in 2018. 

Andy has been an active member of the Arnprior-McNabb-Braeside Men’s Shed since 2021, where, among other things, he makes wooden toys for children. He is based in Arnprior, Ontario, near Ottawa. For more information and samples of his work, see his company’s website: www.tamas.com, and his articles and reports on Academia: https://ucd.academia.edu/AndyTamas

Jim and his wife Brenda both grew up in Orangeville, Ontario, and moved to Port Moody, BC in 1991. Married for 49 years, they have two daughters, two sons, and nine grandchildren and have volunteered extensively with heritage organizations and Girl Guides and Scouts. Jim also has a strong interest in environment and climate change.

Jim learned about Men’s Sheds several years ago and thought it would be a win/win to start one at the Port Moody Station Museum, a heritage site that includes a station built in 1908, as well as vintage train cars.  Jim is currently the Port Moody Men’s Shed Treasurer and has seen first-hand how Men’s Sheds are both valuable to the community and to its members. The Port Moody Men’s Shed is also supported by the Port Moody Legion #119.

Audrey has had an extensive career working in libraries in Vancouver, Dawson Creek, and Fraser Lake, B.C., and also has significant governance experience, including as Treasurer for over 12 years for the Association of British Columbia Public Library Directors, and various positions with the Fraser Lake and District Chamber of Commerce – President, Vice President and Treasurer for over 12 years. She has been a Village of Fraser Lake elected Councillor since 2018. These positions, along with her schooling through Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek, Simon Fraser University, and continued lifelong learning through seminars and conferences, has taught her governance, policy development and implementation, marketing, communication, human resources, finances, and more.

Audrey is a member of the Fraser Lake Men’s Shed and having seen firsthand the positive effect a Men’s Shed had on her husband Jan, was keen to join Men’s Sheds Canada as a Director. She believes Men’s Sheds can be of extraordinary benefit to not only the men who join, but to their partners, families, and communities. The Men’s Shed can help a man become healthy mentally and physically through the camaraderie of other men and they can find a renewed joy of life and what it has to offer. For these reasons, Audrey would like to see a Men’s Shed in every community across Canada.

Robert was born and raised in Montreal, and following graduation from Carleton University in Ottawa with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree, joined the family business in 1978. In 1979, he became President of Rampart Partitions at the age of 23, taking over from its founder Karel Elhen, who died in a car accident. The business develops, manufactures, and installs partitions systems, demountable walls, acoustic panels, and baffles, as well as custom solutions for commercial or institutional work environments. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023 with the third generation now running this family business.

Robert has been a member of CAFE ( Canadian Association of Family Enterprises), Groupement des Chefs d’enterprises, and President’s Association, as well is current President of CIQMO (Commerce International Québec Montérégie-Ouest), providing front-line export services to companies in Monteregie wishing to expand their activities in international markets.

Now in semi-retirement mode, Robert is based in both Lac-Brome and Brossard, Quebec, where he has been an active member of the Lac-Brome Men’s Shed since January 2023 and Vice-President since July 2023.  As MSC appointed Quebec Ambassador, he is working to increase awareness of Men’s Sheds, and open new Sheds in Quebec and other Francophone areas. Robert was appointed as a Director on the MSC board in November, 2023.