Backgrounder
Grassy Mountain Coal Project
Establishment of Joint Review Panel—Biographical Notes

Mr. Alex Bolton—Panel Chair

Mr. Alex Bolton is a professional geoscientist with 30 years of diverse technical and management experience in the energy, government, and consulting sectors. Mr. Bolton was appointed chief hearing commissioner for the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) in June 2014. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Bolton served as a hearing commissioner with the AER and as a board member of the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB).

Although he began his career as an exploration geologist in the oil and gas industry, he has spent the majority of his career working on environmental, regulatory, and stakeholder issues associated with resource development activities. He has held environmentally focused positions with senior energy producers Home Oil and Anderson Exploration and has experience in developing and implementing policies and programs to improve performance in the areas of environmental auditing and regulatory compliance, environmental monitoring, environmental impact assessment, and contaminated sites management.

Before joining the ERCB in 2010, Mr. Bolton was the president and founder of Epicentre Consulting Inc., where he developed and managed regulatory compliance and environmental strategies to support a variety of energy development projects.

Between 2001 and 2005, Mr. Bolton served as the director of Compliance & Enforcement with the Natural Resources Conservation Board in Alberta. He was responsible for developing and implementing a province-wide compliance monitoring and enforcement program for intensive livestock operations under new provincial legislation.

Mr. Bolton has successfully worked with a broad range of stakeholders including land owners, Indigenous and northern communities, municipalities, provincial, territorial and federal government departments and agencies, and non-governmental organizations. While supporting oil and gas exploration programs in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, he was responsible for leading government, community, and Indigenous consultation activities, including the negotiation of impact and benefit agreements with First Nations.

Mr. Bolton has experience conducting fair, transparent, and independent public hearings and ensuring the quality of regulatory decisions. He is a member of the Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals and has participated on and chaired hearing panels considering a wide range of energy projects, including conventional oil and gas, pipeline, coal mining, and oil sands projects. He has participated on joint provincial-federal review panels and has significant experience considering the social, environmental, and economic effects of projects, including the effects on Indigenous treaty rights and traditional land use.

Mr. Bolton is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta and has a bachelor of science in earth sciences and a master of management science with a specialization in the management of technology, both from the University of Waterloo. In addition, Mr. Bolton has completed the public executive program at Queen's University's School of Business.

Mr. Hans Matthews—Panel Member

Mr. Hans Matthews has been the President of the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association since 1992. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Brock University and has completed courses toward a Master of Science at Western University in Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.

Mr. Matthews is Anishnawbek from the Wahnapitae First Nation. He brings over 30 years of experience in many areas, including policy development, community development, government services, economic development, resource development, environmental impact studies and mineral exploration.

Mr. Matthews held advisory roles with Rio Tinto and the Aboriginal Environmental Leadership Circle. As a member of the National Energy Board, he was a member of the Joint Review Panel that assessed the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Project. In his role as President of the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association and with the World Bank and the United Nations, Mr. Matthews participated in numerous speaking engagements throughout the world including, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the Americas.

Mr. Matthews was an elected Councilor for Wahnapitae First Nation for four years. He also is a member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and has been the Board Chair of the Shkagamik Kwe Health Centre since 2010.

Mr. Dean O'Gorman—Panel Member

Mr. Dean O'Gorman has spent his career working in the intersection between our environmental, energy and economic challenges. Prior to his appointment as a hearing commissioner with the Alberta Energy Regulator in July 2017, Mr. O'Gorman was a Senior Regulatory Manager with Barr Engineering and Environmental Science Canada in Calgary. As a consultant he specialized in environmental assessments, climate change policy and regulatory developments, and regulatory approvals.

Mr. O'Gorman began his career with the Saskatchewan government in the 1990s, working on both climate change and natural gas issues. He then spent over a decade at Environment Canada in Ottawa, as a senior climate change policy expert, and contributing to a range of cross-cutting environmental policy issues. At the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, he assumed the role of Director of Review Panels where he was responsible to establish and oversee reviews of some of the most controversial projects in Canada including pipeline projects, several oil sands mines, hydroelectric and nuclear electricity generation projects, and major mining projects. In this role, he also oversaw the government's consultation with Indigenous groups that were potentially impacted by these projects.

Mr. O'Gorman is member of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation from Newfoundland and he has a passionate interest in the issues impacting the lives of Indigenous peoples. He has a master's degree in theoretical physics from McGill University and is committed to promoting the role of science in public policy and decision-making.

 

Document Reference Number: 81

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