William J. (Bill) Anhorn KC, ICD.D

William J. (Bill) Anhorn graduated from the University of Albert-Faculty of Law in 1975 and became a member of the Law Society of Alberta in 1976.  He carried on a full-time practice as a Barrister and Solicitor in Medicine Hat, Alberta for 35 years, retiring in June 2012.  In addition to his private law practice, Mr. Anhorn was appointed as a Federal Prosecutor (Agent of the Attorney General of Canada) and was responsible for all federal prosecutions in the Judicial District of Medicine Hat from 1980 to 1985.  Based upon his distinguished career as both a lawyer and community leader, Mr. Anhorn was recognized by his appointment as a Queen’s Counsel in 2010.  In addition to his academic and professional standing, Mr. Anhorn is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors Program from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and holds an ICD designation.

Mr. Anhorn was active in his community, having served on the City of Medicine Hat Parks Advisory Board for three years and the Medicine Hat Police Commission for nine years, including three years as Commission Chair (1998-2007).  He was also Past President of the Medicine Hat Bar Association and former Associate Director with the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede Company.

By far Mr. Anhorn’s most significant accomplishment has been his service to the Credit Union System in Alberta.  In 1980, he was elected as a Board Member of the Medicine Hat Savings and Credit Union (1980-2000) and in 2000, Mr. Anhorn was instrumental in the merger of Community Credit Union (Medicine Hat) and Parkland Savings and Credit Union (Red Deer).  This resulted in the establishment of the Community Credit Union Ltd. (Community Savings), the first regional credit union in Canada serving both central and southern Alberta.  Mr. Anhorn was honored to be elected as Chairman of the Board of this new regional financial institution.

Community Savings quickly became a significant player in the financial service industry in Alberta (2000-2008).  In 2007 Mr. Anhorn, together with the Board Chairs of Commonwealth Credit Union in Lloydminster and Servus Credit Union in Edmonton (and their respective CEO’s), worked together over several months towards the amalgamation of these three highly successful credit unions.  Ultimately, in 2008, the first province wide credit union in Canada, Servus Credit Union Ltd., was created.  Mr. Anhorn was again honored by being elected to serve as the inaugural Chairman of the Board of Directors of this new organization, a position he held for three years.  Mr. Anhorn continued to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Servus Credit Union (2015) and in addition to Board Chair served as Chairman of the Enterprise Risk Management Committee. Servus Credit Union is the largest credit union in Alberta and second in Canada with over 13.4 billion dollars in assets and serving over 390,000 members with more than 100 branches throughout the province.

Because of his commitment, hard work and dedication to the Alberta Credit Union system, Mr. Anhorn has been appointed to several different committees of the Credit Union Central of Alberta. Most recently he was a member of the Dues Governance Task Force (2014-2015), a committee established to examine current governance and funding issues relating to credit unions in Alberta.

Based upon his community involvement, Board experience and legal training, Mr. Anhorn was appointed to the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) in 2010, a position he held until September 2016, when his term expired. He served on the Audit and Finance Committee and the Corporate Governance, Stakeholder and Strategic Planning Committee and on the Audit Committee. He was a strong advocate of the AGLC creating a robust enterprise risk management system and was instrumental in the development of a comprehensive policy governance model, both of which were adopted by AGLC.

Mr. Anhorn was born and raised in Medicine Hat and together with his wife Joan continues to reside in that community, where they both enjoy golf, travel and “entertaining” their five grandchildren.