Climate Action Team Members
The Climate Action Team has 21 members and one special advisor and is chaired by Cheryl Slusarchuk.
Cheryl Slusarchuk, Climate Action Team chair and president of Premier’s Technology Council (Vancouver)
Cheryl Slusarchuk is the president of the Premier’s Technology Council, which advises the B.C. government on issues related to the advancement and application of technology in the province. She is prominent in the B.C. business and technology community and was recognized as one of the “Top 40 under 40” businesspeople for 2003 by Business in Vancouver and in the 2006 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading lawyer in the area of computer law. Slusarchuk is a partner with McCarthy Tétrault and heads the technology practice in B.C.
Shawn Atleo, B.C. Regional Chief for Assembly of First Nations (West Vancouver)
Shawn A-in-chut Atleo is a Hereditary Chief from the Ahousaht First Nation. He has served First Nations for 20 years as a leader, negotiator, facilitator, mediator, strategic planner, and president of Umeek Human Resource Development. As the BC Regional Chief, Atleo is also a founding member of the BC First Nations Leadership Council (BCAFN, Union of BC Indian Chiefs and First Nations Summit).
Donna Barnett, mayor, District of 100 Mile House
Donna Barnett is in her sixth term as mayor of the District of 100 Mile House. Barnett is involved with all aspects of the community, serving as chair of the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition, and involved with economic development, health, education, safety and community planning.
Lyn Brown, vice-president, Catalyst Paper (Richmond)
Lyn Brown is responsible for the company’s broad social responsibility agenda. Brown joined the company in 2004, bringing a graduate degree in business and 20 years of broad experience in journalism, associations, crown corporations, electric utilities and telecommunications.
Jeff Burghardt, president, Prince Rupert Grain Ltd. (Prince Rupert)
Jeff Burghardt has worked in the agricultural industry for more than 25 years, holding a variety of operations and marketing jobs with Cargill Ltd., one of the owners of Prince Rupert Grain. He is a director of the Health Employers Association of British Columbia, chair of the Health Benefit Trust, chair of the Northwest Corridor Development Corporation, a past director of the Western Transportation Advisory Council, and past chair of the Northern Health Authority.
Teresa Coady, architect, Bunting Coady Architects (Vancouver)
Teresa Coady is responsible for developing and pioneering the Integrated Design Process, which successfully involves the client in all aspects of design and construction. Under her leadership, Bunting Coady Architects has won over 50 awards for design quality and building performance, including the BOMA Earth Award on four separate occasions. Bunting Coady Architects has more square footage of LEED Gold certified projects than any other firm in North America.
Naomi Devine, Common Energy (Victoria)
Naomi Devine is currently studying at the University of Victoria where she is pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies and Political Science. She is a co-founder of Common Energy, an emerging network of students, staff, faculty, and regional partners working to find solutions to climate change at the university level.
Randy McLeod, president, BP CanadaEnergy Co. (Calgary)
Randy McLeod oversees all BP activities in Canada. He brings over 25 years of energy industry experience and has held various management positions with BP in Canada, Alaska and Trinidad. He holds an engineering degree from the University of Western Ontario and completed Stanford University’s executive program. McLeod is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta.
Dr. John Robinson, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, UBC (Vancouver)
Dr. Robinson is a professor at UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, of which he was director from 1992-2001. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the David Suzuki Foundation and the Vancouver Climate Leadership Council and is on the board of the Sustainable Cities Foundation. He is a lead author in Working Groups II and III of the IPCC. His contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. He holds a PhD in geography from the University of Toronto on the intersection of energy policy analysis and philosophy.
Peter Robinson, CEO, David Suzuki Foundation (Vancouver)
Peter Robinson is CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is recognized as a national leader who has proven that it is possible for a business to be environmentally sustainable, socially conscious and extremely successful.
Robinson began his career as a park ranger in B.C. before moving to eventually become the CEO of BC Housing and then the CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). Under his leadership, MEC almost doubled in size, adding five new stores across the country, more than one million new members, and increasing its annual sales from $147 million to $240 million. It also earned international accolades for its transparency, its ethical sourcing policies and its sustainable building and business practices.
A long-time humanitarian volunteer, Peter has monitored prison conditions with the International Red Cross in Rwanda in 1998 and led a team for seven years that monitored detained asylum seekers in B.C. Robinson is also a senior Canadian delegate of the Red Cross and is currently the chair and chancellor of Royal Roads University. Robinson holds a Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Management, a Bachelor of Arts in Geography, and diplomas in Community Economic Development and Fish & Wildlife Management.
Ian Tostenson, president, BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (Vancouver)
Ian Tostenson is president and CEO of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association. An accomplished business leader in the wine, beer and spirits industry in British Columbia, Tostenson was the proprietor of 1 Four Management, president and CEO of Cascadia Brands, and held several senior positions with Calona Wines. He was chair of the BC Wine Institute from 1995-2000. He was a 1998 Entrepreneur of the Year awards finalist and winner of Business in Vancouver’s Under 40 Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Mossadiq Umedaly, chair, BC Hydro & chairman, Xantrex Technology Inc. (Vancouver)
Mossadiq S. Umedaly is the chair of BC Hydro. He is also the chairman of Xantrex Technology Inc., a world leading advanced power electronics company, where from 1999 to 2003, he was the Chief Executive Officer. From 1990 to 1998 he was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ballard Power Systems. He has previously held senior management positions in the Aga Khan Development Network and began his career with Price WaterhouseCoopers in 1975.
Umedaly is also a member of the Premier's Technology Council and of the steering committee of the Institute of Climate Change Solutions at the University of Victoria. He serves on the advisory boards for the Faculties of Business at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia and McMaster University, Ontario. He is also a director of the Vancouver Board of Trade, a board member of the US Department of Energy's National Centre for Photovoltaics, and a member of the David Suzuki Foundation's Business Council on Sustainability.
In April 2005, Umedaly was appointed by Premier Campbell to lead the Alternative Energy and Power Technology Task Force to develop an implementation plan for the "Vision to Grow a World Class Power Technology Cluster in a Sustainable British Columbia," a report which he authored.
Joe Van Belleghem, partner, Three Point Properties (Victoria)
Joe Van Belleghem is responsible for green building development strategies at the BuildGreen Consulting arm of Three Point Properties. He is a chartered accountant with over 17 years of experience in real estate development and financing in a range of sectors, including hospitality, residential, office and retail. Van Belleghem is a board member of both the United States Green Building Council and the Canadian Green Building Council. He is also a LEED Accredited Professional and Advanced Faculty Member.
John Walker, president and CEO, FortisBC Inc. (Kelowna)
John Walker has worked with the Fortis group of companies since 1983, where he began his career with Newfoundland Power Inc. In 1989, Walker started at Fortis Properties Inc., where he held several positions and served as president and chief executive officer from 1996 to 2005.
Dr. Andrew Weaver, School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, UVic (Victoria)
Dr. Andrew Weaver is a professor and Canada research chair in atmospheric science in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UVic. His contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. He joined UVic in 1992, having spent three years as a natural sciences and engineering research council university research fellow in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University. He has written over 120 peer reviewed papers in climate, meteorology, oceanography, earth science, policy and education journals. He was involved as a lead author in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change second and third scientific assessments of climate change. Weaver presently serves on the United Nations World Climate Research Program Working Group on Coupled Modelling, and the United States National Academy of Sciences Climate Research Committee as well as the NAS Panel on Climate Feedbacks. He is co-chair of the UN WCRP CLIVAR-PAGES Intersection Panel and is an editor of the Journal of Climate.
Ex-Officio Member Bios
Dr. Ken Denman, Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, UVic (Victoria)
Dr. Ken Denman is an adjunct professor at UVic’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and a senior research scientist with the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, an Environment Canada research centre based at UVic. He was a convening lead author of a chapter in the IPCC Climate Change 1995 report. His contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. Denman has served on the international and Canadian JGOFS Scientific Steering Committees, and the International GOOS Steering and Executive Committees.
Dr. Greg Flato, Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, UVic (Victoria)
Greg Flato is an adjunct professor at UVic’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and a senior research scientist with the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis. Dr. Flato’s contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. Flato is chair of the CMOS Vancouver Island Regional Centre. Flato’s research interests include global coupled climate modelling, sea-ice dynamics and thermodynamics. Flato holds a PhD in engineering science from Dartmouth College.
Dr. John Fyfe, Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, UVic (Victoria)
John Fyfe is an adjunct professor at UVic’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and a senior research scientist with the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis. He is an internationally recognized researcher into climate variability and change and is a lead author of the IPCC Working Group 1 Fourth Assessment Report entitled “Climate Change: The Physical Science Basis” (2007). He was also an author of the Arctic Climate Impacts Assessment (ACIA, 2005) and contributed to the Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment (2003). His contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. Fyfe’s research interests include high latitude ocean and atmosphere climate variability and change and analyses leading to the understanding of atmospheric jet variability.
Dr. Werner Kurz, Pacific Forestry Centre (Victoria)
Dr. Werner Kurtz leads the development of a National Forest Carbon Accounting System for Canada. Dr. Kurtz is an international expert on forest carbon accounting and this is reflected in his work for the IPCC as lead author on numerous landmark reports on land use, land-use change and forestry. His contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. Werner’s research focuses on the impacts of natural disturbances, forest management and land-use change on forest carbon budgets. Kurz holds a PhD in forest ecology from UBC.
Dr. Terry Prowse, Department of Geography, UVic (Victoria)
Dr. Terry Prowse is a UVic geography professor and project chief of the Water and Climate Impacts Research Centre, jointly sponsored by Environment Canada and UVic. Prowse has numerous publications to his credit, including lead author of the IPCC’s special theme report on Climate and Water. His contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. Prowse is a member of the Scientific Steering Group, World Climate Research Program and the Climate and the Cryosphere program. His research interests include climate impacts on hydrology and aquatic systems as well as circumpolar cold regions hydrology. Prowse holds a PhD from the University of Canterbury.
Dr. Frederick Wrona, Department of Geography, UVic (Victoria)
Dr. Wrona is a professor in the University of Victoria’s Department of Geography and branch director of W-CIRC. Wrona’s high-calibre research has won him a Citation of Excellence from Environment Canada, and his contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. Wrona’s expertise is in aquatic ecology and eco-toxicology as well as biostatistics and quantitative ecology. Wrona holds a PhD from the University of Calgary.
Special Advisor Bio
Dr. Mark Jaccard, School of Resource & Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver)
Dr. Jaccard develops and applies energy-economy models to assess sustainable energy and materials policies. A professor in REM since 1986, Jaccard served as chair and CEO of the B.C. Utilities Commission (1992-97), on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1993-96), and on the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (1996-01). Currently, he is a lead author on the Global Energy Assessment (due in 2010), a member of Canada’s National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy and a special advisor to Canada’s Council of Chief Executive Officers. In 2007, he won the SFU President’s Award for Media and his book, Sustainable Fossil Fuels, won the Donner Prize for best policy book in Canada. Jaccard is responsible for the Canadian Industrial Energy End-use Data and Analysis Centre, directed by Dr. John Nyboer, University Research Associate.
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