Wally Dingman steps down as ARC chairman, Dalbert Livingstone to step into role
BY ALLISON ROGERS
The Automotive Recyclers of Canada (ARC) recently announced its 10-years-standing Chairman Wally Dingman of Niagara- on-the-Lake, Ontario’s Caughill Auto Wreckers of will be stepping down from his position.
Dalbert Livingstone of Island Auto Supply in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island will take over the role of chairman. Wally joined the ARC board in 2008 as treasurer, simultaneously serving as president for the Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association (OARA). In 2011, Ed MacDonald retired his position as ARC chairman to serve on the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) board, leaving Wally in the position of leadership. For Wally, his initial mission was twofold: to promote the Canadian Automotive Recyclers Environmental Code (CAREC) as an industry standard across Canada, and to foster the national scrappage program that became Retire Your Ride (RYR). Wally said his proudest moment as ARC chairman has been seeing the regulations he helped create gain recognition across Canada.
“Seeing CAREC grow and serve its purpose has been extremely rewarding,” he said. “Prince Edward Island has adopted its regulations, as has Alberta. It’s been rolled out across the country and I’m hoping to see the rest of the provinces do the same, or at least implement something similar.”
As Dalbert transitions into the role of chairman, Wally says he’ll remain on-call to provide guidance and continue to serve on the ARC Board of Directors.
“I definitely still want to be involved in providing whatever guidance I can and assist in the transition to a new Chair,” said Wally. “As long as I can serve in a useful capacity, I’ll be willing.” When the time came to name a new ARC chairman, the organization immediately turned to Dalbert.
“Wally and I have been speaking over the past few months about his transition out of the Chair position, and he asked if I was ready to take over,” Livingstone told Canadian Auto Recyclers. “While you never think you are ready to take over guidance of a national industry association, with Wally agreeing to stay on the Board and mentor my transition, it was an honour I could not pass up.”
While youthful in the industry, Dalbert has a long history of service. He purchased Island Auto Supply in 2013 from his grandfather Harvey Livingstone and joined the Board of Directors of the ARC Atlantic affiliate, the Automotive Recyclers Association of Atlantic Canada (ARAAC) in 2012 to begin his education of working within industry associations. This was an especially sweet election, as Harvey Livingstone was one of the founders of the Maritime Auto Wreckers Association in 1972—the precursor to the present day ARAAC. Dalbert eventually worked his way up to president of that association and now serves as treasurer. He also spent four years on the Board of Directors of the U.S.-based Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) as the organization’s Canadian representative. He joined the ARC Board of Directors in 2017.
“I am incredibly honoured to be the Chair, and I would like to help Canadian auto recyclers with any regulatory changes in their respective provinces, especially with the rapid deployment of high voltage cars coming to market,” said Dalbert. “ARC needs to be on the forefront of training, safety, and proper recycling of these EVs and their batteries. I would also like to help Canadian recyclers with the burden of time and money spend acquiring salvage and work to find ways to ease tension with the auction companies. Most of all I would like to see ARC continue as the driver for positive change in the industry, raising awareness of professional auto recycling in all corners of the country and on the international scene as well.”
Wally Dingman, owner of Caughill Auto Wreckers in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, has served as ARC chair since 2011.
