Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency – Co-Chairs and Committee

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) has enlisted key representatives from Atlantic Canada to be committee members overseeing the environmental assessment process offshore Newfoundland/NovaScotia. Minister McKenna announced the appointment of Garth Bangay and Wes Foote as co-chairs of the Committee to carry out the regional assessment of Offshore Oil Gas Exploratory Drilling East of Newfoundland and Labrador. Gerald Anderson, Keith Storey and Maureen Murphy Rustad have been appointed as committee members.

Garth Bangay

Mr. Bangay is now an environmental consultant in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Toronto and has over 40 years of experience in bridging science with successful policy outcomes on such diverse subject areas as Great Lakes water quality, acid rain and persistent organic pollutants in the Arctic. He has also been directly responsible for projects such as the successful raising of the oil-laden barge, the Irving Whale from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the clean-up of the Sydney Tar Ponds. He has during his career managed Environment Canada’s national water research institutes and the department’s diverse programs in the Atlantic Region. He has also effectively led Canada’s participation in a number of International initiatives including the first ever seven nation Circumpolar Agreement to protect the Arctic environment. This agreement also set a precedent for the engagement of northern Indigenous peoples. He co-championed the development and implementation of the Nova Scotia Sustainable Communities program, which involved 37 agencies and four levels of government and won the Institute of Public Administration of Canada’s Silver Medal for “Innovation in Horizontal Management in Government.”

Wes Foote

Mr. Foote is the former Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of Petroleum Development with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Wes is an engineering professional consultant with over 30 years of experience in diverse engineering roles. In his ADM role with the provincial government, he was responsible for leading a team that provided technical expertise to allow the government to make informed decisions related to offshore and onshore oil and gas developments in the province as well as marketing the oil and gas potential/ prospectivity. Wes was recently appointed, by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board as a Board member.

Gerald Anderson

Mr. Anderson is well known throughout Newfoundland and across Canada for his work with Indigenous Peoples in the education sector. Born in L’Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Gerald is of Inuit ancestry and a beneficiary of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement. He held the Vice President position (Indigenous) with the University of the Arctic (UArctic) and is currently working a five day per month assignment as Director of Development and Engagement with the Marine Institute of Memorial University. He is also a Board member of Polar Knowledge Canada and an Ambassador with the Arctic Inspiration Prize. In 2014, Mr. Anderson was awarded an Indspire Award, described as the “highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own achievers.” He joined the Fisheries and Marine Institute in 1987 and has worked for over 27 years in various roles with Indigenous groups in Newfoundland, Nunavut, and Nunavik, primarily focused on establishing fisheries and marine education and training programs. Mr. Anderson helped develop Fisheries Development Training plans for Nunavut, Nunatsiavut, Innu Nation, Federation of Newfoundland Indians, and the Labrador Métis Nation. He worked closely with the Miawpukek First Nation in Conne River to develop and deliver long-term fisheries and marine training program

Maureen Murphy Rustad

Ms. Murphy Rustad is the Managing Director of One Ocean, the liaison organization established in 2002, by and for the fishing and petroleum industries of Newfoundland and Labrador. She was born and raised in St. John’s and is the youngest of nine children. After completing her studies in Newfoundland and Ontario, she worked in London, England for two years in public relations before moving to France to continue her studies at the Université de Pau. She worked in France for several years but her interest in marine affairs drew her back to Canada to complete a Master’s degree in Marine Management. She worked as a consultant for Fisheries and Oceans Canada before joining One Ocean at the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2003 as a Research Analyst. Ms. Murphy Rustad was the Manager of Operations for One Ocean before her appointment as Managing Director in 2010.

Keith Storey

Mr. Storey received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom (1966), a Master of Arts from Simon Fraser (1969) and a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario (1977). He taught Geography at Memorial University from 1971 to 2009. He currently holds the position of Honorary Research Professor in Geography and serves as the Director of The Population Project, a research program funded through the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University. In recent years, much of his work has been in the oil and gas, mining, hydro and construction sectors in Newfoundland and Labrador, northern and western Canada, Western Australia and the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: CEAA & CNLOPB