Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, honourable members.
I want to thank you for the invitation to appear before you today, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have. Before doing so, I would like to offer you an overview of the experience and qualifications I bring to my position as a member of the National Energy Board.
Let me begin by saying that it is indeed an honour to become a member of the NEB, effective September of this year. Although it is still early in my role, I have been consistently impressed by the professionalism, dedication, and quality of the work being undertaken by the board. In my view, this is clearly the result of a dynamic partnership between our talented and committed staff and fellow board members in pursuit of fulfilling the NEB's mandate.
To assist you in your own mandate to better understand my qualifications for fulfilling the role to which I have been appointed, I will offer you a brief overview of my background. Most fundamentally, my career has been built upon a foundation of environmental science, coupled with a deep understanding of energy issues and affected stakeholders.
Academically, I have a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Regina and a master of science degree in zoology from the University of Alberta.
Upon graduation, my first job was to assess the environmental impacts of large-diameter pipelines throughout western and northern Canada. I went on to found a company called Environmental Management Associates, which was fully devoted to environmental, social, and engineering studies of energy, mining, and water projects. Importantly, this work involved extensive stakeholder consultation with aboriginal groups, environmental non-governmental organizations, landowners, and other potentially affected parties. That work also involved participation in complex regulatory hearings.
Environmental Management Associates eventually merged with a company called Golder Associates, a leading international physical and social science consulting firm. I was a principal with Golder, where I led environmental engineering and socio-economic impact assessments on an international scale, working across North America and South America, as well as in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Our client base included natural resources extraction industries, but also aboriginal communities, NGOs, and federal...[Technical difficulty--Editor]...lines, to formulating water and sustainable agriculture policies and programs.
In 1995, I was chosen to become the executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Ducks Unlimited Canada. This role afforded me the opportunity to maintain my commitment to environmental and social science, but in this case from the perspective of a leading environmental and science-based non-governmental organization. Here I provided strategic direction for what is widely acknowledged to be Canada's most trusted and respected conservation organization. With a staff of more than 500 scientists and other professionals, and a membership base of nearly 100,000 representing every province and territory, we were able to deliver landscape-scale conservation initiatives across Canada. This is possible only through the development of strategic partnerships with federal and provincial governments, aboriginal groups, other NGOs, and various corporate supporters, including the energy industry.
In 1999, I was selected to become CEO and member of the board for Ducks Unlimited's international operations. Here I was able to continue to nurture Ducks Unlimited's reputation as a science-based, pragmatic, solutions-oriented NGO. Key initiatives here included developing continental conservation initiatives, pursuing leading-edge science research, and promoting key environmental policies within Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
The organization's culture of cultivating partnerships to magnify conservation impacts was central to our success. Here we engaged with first nations, global NGOs, governments, universities, and corporations to raise the needed dollars and to implement policies and programs to protect vital landscapes. Additionally, in my board capacity, I had significant fiduciary responsibilities in the areas of governance, ethics, safety, and reasoned and fair decision-making.
I might also note that during my tenure at Ducks Unlimited, my ongoing commitment towards continuous learning continued with my participation at Harvard Business School in education with respect to not-for-profit management.
In 2010, I was recruited to become the senior vice-president of corporate sustainability for Smith & Nephew, an 11,000-person, London-based international medical technology company. Here my role was to provide global sustainability leadership to improve the company's environmental, social, and economic performance in a highly regulated industry.
I developed and implemented Smith & Nephew's first comprehensive global sustainability strategy and a corporate citizenship community engagement strategy, led extensive stakeholder relations programs, and developed regulatory policies for sustainable practices. Additional responsibilities included directing day-to-day activities of the company's environmental health and safety programs worldwide.
I'm hopeful that this overview of my background will serve to affirm my career-long commitment towards science, sustainability, regulatory compliance, and reasoned decision-making. My new role with Canada's NEB is a continuation of this sustainable journey where we focus on the necessity of a strong, clear, and unbiased regulatory regime, based on protecting the public interest and balancing the economic, social, and environmental aspects of energy development.
My career, which includes an uninterrupted commitment towards environmental science, coupled with diverse perspectives and international experience, has equipped me to objectively state that Canada's energy regulatory framework is one of the strongest in the world.
I'm proud to be able to serve in my new capacity to help ensure that the National Energy Board effectively and efficiently fulfills this important mandate that we've been provided by Parliament.
Thank you very much.