The District of Houston has hired a new finance director, replacing Yun Ke “David” Ni who resigned early last September.
Greg LeBlanc began work Jan. 5 following his formal ratification on the part of the municipal council.
Born in St. John, New Brunswick and raised in Williams Lake, LeBlanc came north in 2012, settling first in Smithers and then moving to Whitehorse where his wife lived.
“Looked at different areas of B.C. to relocate to, and the Bulkley Valley kept calling to us from my time here in 2012. Houston just seemed like the best fit for us out of the choices in the valley,” he said.
Already holding a Certified Management Accountant designation, a certificate in business administration and a certificate in local government administration, LeBlanc is working toward a Bachelor of Commerce degree by distance learning through Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. His anticipated completion date is 2022.
As finance director, Leblanc is, according to the job posting placed after Ni’s resignation, to be responsible for the overall management of the financial affairs of the District of Houston, including budgeting, financial planning, internal auditing, accounting, payroll and policy development. He’ll also provide financing and policy advise to the district’s chief administrative officer and council.
Leblanc’s makes for three senior management changes at the District in the past while. Chris Lawrence was hired last year as operations manager to fill the vacancy caused when Paul Gordon passed in the fall of 2019 and Duncan Malkinson came on board as the corporate services director, also last year.