Your Executive

Nick Bergamini – President

Nick Bergamini is a 4th-year Journalism student at Carleton University, who brings a wealth of experience in campus activism at Carleton. Most recently, he sat as the Vice-President (Student Issues) of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).

Nick has successfully brought conservatism to the mainstream on campus. His election to the CUSA executive marks the first time in over a decade that a conservative was elected successfully to the Executive of the student association that founded the Canadian Federation of Students.

During his time in office, he successfully fought for small-c conservative causes, including the implementation of the Project Hero scholarship, which awards free tuition to the children of members of the Canadian Forces killed in the line of duty. He also organized the campus’ Remembrance Day Ceremony, which brought out nearly 1000 students.

In Nick’s second year, he successfully fought a brutal CUPE strike which paralyzed the university, running a media campaign and student protest which quickly ended the labour stoppage.

He believes that his experience in student activism will lead to an OPCCA that will help campus clubs to recruit, train and build their organizations to support the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and espouse conservative values on campus.

Nick is also an active member of his community, having founded and organized the Keg Cup Road Hockey Tournament, the largest of its kind in Ottawa, which raises funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Amber Ruddy – Vice President

Amber is studying Criminology and Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. She got involved with the UWO Tories in her first year and went on to serve as club president. Amber has taken an active role on OPCCA by developing strategies to combat rampant leftism on campuses across Ontario including by providing support to campuses that want to de-federate from the CFS.

Amber sits on the St. John Ambulance Board of Directors in London and is a member of United Way’s Young Leaders of Tomorrow program. She hopes to use her experience to further the conservative cause on Ontario’s campuses.

Bryan Vanderkruk – Director of Membership and Recruitment

Bryan Vanderkruk cast his first ballot in the PC leadership election of 2003 and instantly fell in love with politics. Living in a then-Liberal riding, Bryan became involved with the nomination campaign for David Sweet in ADFW and the 2004 campaign that followed. An avid grassroots activist, he continued to become more involved in ADFW volunteering in all subsequent campaigns, and was elected to both the Federal and Provincial EDA boards where he has served in various executive and committee positions, and is currently the Membership Director provincially. In 2009, Bryan helped found the previously defunct McMaster Association of Conservatives and led it as President in his final year at school. The newly founded club grew to 40 paid members and over 100 on its mailing list within months, and hosted many successful events that attracted candidates, MPPs, MPs and Cabinet Ministers as guest speakers. His leadership has positioned McMaster for even greater success over the coming years. Bryan will continue his history of success as your Membership Director, with the goal of making OPCCA self-sustainable through an alumni network, and a vital resource in the toolkit of the party.

Stephanie Brooks – Director of Communications

Stephanie Brooks is a third-year journalism student at Carleton University who combines her strong passion of communication with extensive experience in the private and public sectors to fight for the Conservative cause. Her political experience stretches from working with federal politicians and extends to her own campus where she is on the executive of the Carleton Campus Conservatives as Events Director.

Stephanie has worked for PR firm Hill and Knowlton, done communications for the Canadian Cancer Society, and currently works in Public Affairs at the Department of National Defence. As a leader in the campus environment, Stephanie has ran for the executive of her student union, CUSA, and has held a number of management positions in the residence community. She writes for a number of publications, spearheads an annual charity talent show, Carleton’s got Talent, speaks French and Spanish and is the journalism representative for the Carleton Academic Student Government.

Anosh Jacob – Policy Director

Anosh Jacob is a resident of Brampton, Ontario and has been very active within his riding of Bramley – Gore – Malton. He was born into a very politically household and learned from a young age the importance of responsible government and politically active youth.

Anosh is responsible for the revival of the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Conservatives, a club that was faltering until he took the lead as president. Under Anosh Jacob’s leadership, the UTSC Conservatives have managed to become the most active political club on campus, as well as one of the most active campus conservative clubs in Ontario.

Anosh is very excited to be policy director for OPCCA. As a result of his experience with campus political groups, he knows exactly what Conservative campus associations need in order to stay active and become leaders in the charge to get Tim Hudak elected in 2011. Anosh wants to work towards making the students an important base of the PC party in training them to recruit other youth, and working at the grassroots level to make every student more active within their Party as well as in their every day lives.

Anosh believes in bringing forth strong and effective policies such as getting campus presidents the same recognition as EDA presidents, thereby granting them access to such programs as CIMS Ontario to help them recruit youth and get them working for the PC Party. He also believes in making sure there’s a policy in place to accommodate students who want to volunteer for party headquarters according to their timetables, allowing them to become active in the party while still maintaining their status as students. He also believes in creating policies that make OPCCA and the PC Party as a whole more accessible to students in general. Anosh also takes very seriously the fight against the CFS, and pledges to keep OPCCA’s fight against unfair student unions an integral part of the organization’s activities.

Lyndon Koopmans – Director of Campus Activism

Lyndon Koopmans, an undergrad at the Schulich School of business, is currently the president of the York Unviersity Campus Conservatives where he has organized many events alongside past president Josh Valler. Lyndon gained experience coordinating national media coverage when he created Yorknothostage.com and gaining the support of over 5,400 students successfully lobbying Dalton McGuinty’s government to pass back to work legislation.

Lyndon has extensive activism experience having appeared in programs such as Canada AM, City TV, CBC radio and has been quoted extensively in the Toronto Star and National Post. Lyndon Has organized three student political demonstrations, two of which were at Queens Park, as well as press conferences and media events with high profile speakers including John Tory, Peter Shurman and Jim Wilson. Lyndon is highly involved in student politics at York University where in 2009 it was speculated that he would run for student body president.

Eugene Pasternak – Director of Training

Eugene grew up in Toronto and now resides in Waterloo, where he is studying Actuarial Science. Eugene first got involved in politics while volunteering for the Michael Mostyn campaign in York-Centre and has since volunteered for several campaigns. Most recently he was involved with the Peter Braid Campaign in Kitchener-Waterloo. He helped close a 13,000 vote gap as Braid was elected by 17 votes.

Upon entering university, Eugene got involved with the UW Conservatives. He served as the First Year Representative, Campus Activism Director and for the past year as President. He helped double the club’s membership and oversaw many successful social events.

Eugene was past Election Readiness Director on OPCCA’s executive. He oversaw OPCCA’s volunteer efforts in recent By-Elections including St Paul’s and Toronto Centre. Furthermore, he helped update OPCCA’s training manual and helped run training sessions for developing clubs. Eugene looks forward to strengthening our clubs through training.

Aaron Hunt – Fundraising Director

Coming from a small town called Tottenham in the riding of Simcoe-Grey, Aaron Hunt has been interested in conservative politics since Grade 11. Aaron has been actively involved with politics for four years now on both the provincial and federal level. Getting his start with the University of Ottawa Campus club, Aaron volunteered heavily in the 2007 Provincial Election Campaign in the Ottawa region, and was elected as a Vice President of the University of Ottawa Campus Conservatives for second year. In second year, during the 2008 federal election Aaron volunteered for the Ottawa South campaign as well as various others in the Ottawa region.

Aaron has previously worked for both Laurie Hawn, Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Centre, and Jim Wilson, MPP for his home riding of Simcoe-Grey. Currently, Aaron is in his final year at the University of Ottawa, and remains a Vice President of his campus club.

Michelle Berman – Secretary Treasurer

Arpan Khanna – Director of Outreach

As a 3^rd year criminology student at the University of Western Ontario, Arpan Khanna has committed himself to being involved within the university community. Arpan has developed his strong leadership skills through his experience as a martial arts instructor and as an entrepreneur. Being born into a family of politicians, Arpan has committed himself to the betterment of society, voicing his opinion on social problems and offering solutions. As a youth leader, he has been involved in many successful Conservative election campaigns including those of former MPP Raminder Gill, and MP candidates, Parm Gill and Sam Hundal.

Arpan is an active member with the UWO Conservatives, currently serving as VP Election Readiness. Taking on the role of Director of Outreach with the OPCCA, Arpan believes that in order to further the strength of the Conservatives at campuses, co-operating with new support bases is a must. Giving back to the country and community from which he has gained so much has always been important to Arpan and he feels that getting individuals across campuses involved in politics will lead to a stronger and more united Canada.

Craig Draeger – Director of Election Readiness

Craig Draeger is entering his second year at Queen’s University, studying Politics and Philosophy. He grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario in the riding of Thunder Bay-Atikokan,  one of the least Conservative-friendly ridings in the province. As such, he did not become involved in the Ontario PC Party until recently, but took on a very active role upon arriving in Southern Ontario.

In his first year at Queen’s, he served as Director of First-Year Students in the Queen’s Campus Conservatives, ascending to the role of President in his second year. He currently divides his time between his role as the Youth Campaign Coordinator in the Keith Hobbs mayoral campaign in Thunder Bay and organizing for the coming year at Queen’s.

As Director of Election Readiness, he looks forward to travelling across Southern Ontario and organizing volunteer and GOTV efforts in by-elections across the province in preparation for a Tim Hudak victory in 2011!

Eric Merkley – Past President

Eric attends Wilfrid Laurier University, where he is enrolled in double Honours Political Science and History. He is Vice-President of the Kitchener-Centre PC Riding Association, and sits as Youth Chair on the executive of the Kitchener-Waterloo Conservative Electoral District Association. Eric has served as Director of Training for OPCCA, President of the Laurier Campus Conservatives, and most recent President of OPCCA.

Eric oversaw the creation of an OPCCA-OPCYA Training Committee with the task of organizing a weekend election training conference, to train youth with campaign techniques and strategies needed for them to fill the critical shortage of volunteers at the highest level of campaigns. This project was just completed with resounding success: almost 70 youth attendees.

Eric has also been heavily active in election campaigns. Most recently, he took off the fall term of school to serve as Deputy Campaign Manager for Peter Braid in Kitchener—Waterloo. He oversaw voter identification and GOTV efforts among other things, which proved crucial in Peter Braid’s 17 vote upset of Andrew Telegdi, closing nearly a 13 000 vote gap.