Michael George, Chief Executive Officer

Mike George is a proven insurance executive, having built several specialty lines insurers from the ground up. Most recently, Mike was a co-founder, and ultimately CEO, of Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company, until his departure from the organization in 2019, following Trisura Group going public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2017. Mike has been involved in the insurance industry for over 30 years, starting as a financial analyst in the surety business with Guarantee Company of North America in 1988, before joining fledgling Wellington Guarantee in 1990, which became London Guarantee Insurance Company in 1995. London Guarantee Insurance Company was acquired by The St. Paul Companies Inc. in 2002, at which time Mike was responsible for field and branch operations of both the surety and insurance businesses. He stayed with The St. Paul Companies Inc. (which soon after merged with Travelers Property Casualty Corp.) for 3 years following the acquisition, during which time he was appointed to the boards of both St. Paul Guarantee Insurance Company and Northern Indemnity, until those companies amalgamated in 2004, before becoming Travelers Guarantee Insurance Company. Mike left Travelers in 2005 to start Trisura.

Mike’s vision for the Company is to build upon the foundation of Tokio Marine in Canada, while leveraging the global brand and resources of TMG, to become a significant and meaningful insurer in Canada over the next decade and beyond. As CEO, Mike will sit on the board of directors of Tokio Marine Canada, will chair the executive committee that will guide the Company and ensure the business plan is implemented effectively. Mike will also act as the Company’s Chief Complaints Officer.

Daniel Singer, Chief Financial Officer

Daniel Singer CPA, CA is the Company’s CFO and is also the CCO and CRO. Daniel held the position of Director of Taxation (Head of Canadian Tax Operations) at Intact Financial Corporation for the past six years. In his role at Intact, Daniel interacted and collaborated with all facets of the business, including involvement in compliance and risk management functions. Given how tax is implicated in the wider finance function, Daniel had to develop a deep understanding of each sub function in finance in order to ensure the tax operations function operated in an optimal manner. Prior to joining Intact, Daniel ascended from Experienced Associate to Senior Manager during his eight years at PwC where his focus was on insurance and financial services.

Daniel holds an Honours Business Administration degree from Sir Wilfred Laurier University, and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (2008). Daniel has completed numerous advanced insurance related courses. He has extensive experience in the insurance industry and recently ended his tenure as President but continues to be on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Insurance Accountants Association.

Joe Vachon, Senior Vice President,

Commercial Insurance Lines

Joe Vachon is the Senior Vice President for Commercial Insurance Solutions. Joe has 35 years of P&C insurance experience. He trained with Royal & Sun Alliance in the United States where he began his career as an underwriter. Joe went on to spend 20 years with RSA in the US, in various roles including his last one as Senior Vice President of Specialty Lines.

At RSA, he was responsible for a USD 750 million GWP division comprised of a number of consistently profitable portfolios including Marine, International, Japanese Business, SME Joint Venture, and Reverse Flow businesses. Joe proceeded to join RSA in Canada, where he led national broker distribution nationally.

Just prior to joining TMC, Joe was the Executive Director of the Large and Specialty Commercial Lines at Aviva Canada. This business produced consistent industry leading growth and profit under his leadership.

Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Maine. He also completed the Executive Development Program at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia.

Christopher Kucman, Senior Vice President,

Surety Solutions

Chris Kucman is SVP, Surety Solutions at Tokio Marine Canada. Chris is an accomplished executive with over 20 years in surety and banking experience. Chris is currently a leader in the Surety and Construction sectors, where he has acted as Chair of the Ontario Regional Committee for the Surety Association of Canada and the Chair of the Associate Partner Committee for the Ontario General Contractors Association.

Chris began his surety career at St Paul Guarantee Insurance Company, which ultimately became Travelers. Chris was then invited to join the Surety team at Trisura as a startup operation in 2006 where he moved through various roles, ultimately leading the Surety Department for Ontario and Atlantic Canada before his promotion to Senior Vice President. Under Chris’ leadership, the department grew by an impressive 100% reaching almost $30 million in GWP, while maintaining loss ratios in the single digit and low teens.

Chris joins Tokio Marine Canada most recently from Trisura, where he was a Senior Vice President, responsible for oversight of all branch field operations nationally in addition to distribution strategy and managing broker relationships while working closely with that company’s marketing department.

Elizabeth Diotte, Senior Vice President, 

Professional Lines

Elizabeth Diotte is the SVP of Professional and Financial Solutions. She brings over 25 years of extensive insurance leadership experience including underwriting, claims management, loss control management and business development to TMC.

Elizabeth spent 20+ years with Travelers Canada (previously London Guarantee) in various roles culminating in her becoming the Regional Operating Officer for Quebec and Director of Business Development. Immediately prior to joining TMC, she held the position of Chief Operating Officer of La Mutuelle des Municipalités du Québec, a member owned insurer providing standard and specialty coverage for municipalities in Québec.

Elizabeth has a deep of understanding of the professional and financial lines space in the Canadian insurance industry and will leverage her experience and relationships in the broker community to deliver on Tokio Marine Canada’s strategic plan.

Craig Emuss, Senior Vice President

Specialty Risk

​Craig Emuss is the Senior Vice President of Specialty Risk.  As a seasoned specialty lines leader, Craig brings a wealth of experience, including a proven track record of sustained growth and profitability.   With over 20 years of specialty experience, Craig has strong client partnership and a focused business strategy for the specialty insurance industry.    Prior to joining Tokio Marine Canada, Craig was Head of Portfolio Solutions at Aviva Canada, where he led large programs and MGA’s.  Before Aviva, Craig spent over 16 years at Northbridge Insurance, his last role being Vice President of Specialty Risk and 2 years at St. Paul Guarantee.

Craig holds a degree in Economics from Brock University and has a strong background in finance and underwriting.

Kaiji Takagi, Vice President

Group Originated Business

Kaiji Takagi is VP and Head of Group Originated Business and additionally serves as the Tokio Marine Group Liaison. Kaiji has 23 years of experience in the international insurance market with a focus on marine insurance, reinsurance and renewable energy exposures.

Early in his career Kaiji spent twelve years as a sales representative in charge of shipping and shipbuilding companies in TMG’s Japanese Marine division. Kaiji was then assigned as a marine reinsurance manager in London within TMG. In London, Kaiji spent three years managing reinsurance treaties, handling facultative reinsurance, and launched a new reinsurance facility for offshore wind farms. Kaiji returned to Japan and spent three years as manager of the upstream energy and offshore wind farm team in Tokyo.

Francine Armel, Senior Vice President

Claims and Corporate Counsel 

Francine Armel is Senior Vice President, Claims and Corporate Counsel.  Early in her career, she worked as a litigator in private practice acting as defense and coverage counsel for a number of different insurers in the professional lines as well as CGL.  In 2001, Francine joined liberty international senior claims counsel for specialty casualty claims, handling claims for specialty lines including professional liability, crime, financial institutions and directors and officers liability. Francine join the underwriting side of Travelers in 2005, first as the chief underwriting officer and product developer for the Financial and Professional Services unit, and then taking over the role as vice president of that department in 2011.  In 2014, Francine joined the MGA Creechurch, which was then acquired by Beazley.   In her role at Beazley, Francine was responsible for the small business and financial lines specialty underwriting business lines in Canada, including oversight of product development, working closely with operations, actuarial, finance and IT to streamline the operation.

Méline Van Slyke, CHRL, Senior Vice President

Human Resources

Méline Van Slyke is Senior Vice President, Human Resources.  Méline has over 25 years of extensive human resources leadership experience across a variety of industries including commercial real estate, financial services, technology, life sciences, automotive, geophysics, and hospitality services.  Her professional background spans HR for small start ups through established global organizations, where she has balanced strategy with execution as she built HR infrastructure and implemented leading edge HR initiatives on a national and/or global scale.

She is a respected HR leader and a trusted advisor to all levels of the organization with a passion for developing people and building a culture where employees can maximize their potential.  As a true partner to the business, Méline builds strategic advantage through people with the creation and implementation of innovative human capital strategies that support collaboration, innovation, inclusion and the development of great people.

Méline holds a BA in Psychology from McMaster University, an HRM Certificate from Seneca College, and also holds her Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) professional designation.