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Mr. Paul Patterson

Paul Patterson is the Department's Senior Director of the Community & Public Affairs Section.

Paul joined the VPD in 2004 as the first civilian Director of Community & Public Affairs to head up a section that was designed to have responsibility for all internal and external communications.

Paul is known as one of the leading media trainers, presenters and facilitators in British Columbia, having trained and presented to more than 4,500 people in the last eight years. His background as a journalist and producer allows him to provide an insider's view on communications and how to convey key messages to the public.

Paul began as a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen, and then moved on to the Toronto Sun, Windsor Star, CBC Windsor, Toronto and Halifax. He was also the founding Executive Producer of Business World on CBC's Newsworld network and later the Head of Regional Television News for the CBC in British Columbia.

Paul had an eclectic education, graduating from Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa., then obtaining a degree in International Business and Economics from the American College of Switzerland in Leysin. After graduation he ran his own bar in Florence, Italy, and a year later moved to London, England and joined the London Fire Brigade. When he eventually returned to Canada, he studied journalism at Ryerson, a craft he would practice for 20 years.

In the late 1990s, he operated his own communications-consulting firm for four years, which led to a position as a Manager in the Human Resources consulting division of KPMG. Following KPMG he joined ICBC as Provincial Marketing Manager, leading a team of 18 communication professionals across the province. He was most recently in charge of media relations and media training at the University of British Columbia as the Associate Director of Community & Public Affairs.