alberta's 50 most influential 2012
DESCRIPTION
Meet the people who are changing your world – and find out how they’re doing itTRANSCRIPT
GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA
SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg
Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor
SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY
Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright
SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID
MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John
Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON
John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill
Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON
REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA
Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL
COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE
Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey
DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-
KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey
Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVIDVET-
TERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN
Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman
MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD
TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane
Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREEN-FIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG
MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade
DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton
REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt
Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan
NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN
GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor SIMONETTA
SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg
Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY Ronald Mathison MARLON MCDOUGALL Drew McNaughton REG MILLEY Dave Mowat KEVIN NAGEL Simon O’Byrne KARINA PILLAY-KINNEE Clif Purvis ALISON REDFORD Danielle Smith ANDY RIDGE Bob Sartor
SIMONETTA SIPIONE Linda Sloan NANCY SOUTHERN Kevin Swan HOWARD TENNANT Bill Tuer DAVID VETTERS Angus Watt DAN WICKLUM Steve Williams MICHAEL WILSON John Wright SANDRA YOUNG Randy Remington JACK ANDERSON Stan Blade DR. NIGEL BROCKTON George Brookman MICHAEL BROWN Michael Casey DANIEL COSTA Craig Curtis DR. CHRIS EAGLE Bill Eddins DAWN FARRELL Greg Fenton JOHN GIBSON Matt Giffen DONALD GREENFIELD Jane Halford GORDON HOULDEN Casey Hudson SHIRAZ JIWANI Ryan Johnson VI (VIOLET) KONKLE Bill Lingard SID MARTY
J u ly 2 0 1 2 ALBERTAVENTURE.COM 31
The 50 Most Infl uential ranking is simultaneously one ofthis magazine’s most popular items and one of its most perplexing. Infl uence, after all, is a bit like happiness – you know when it’s there, but it’s not something you can measureor weigh. That’s why, as we do every year, we spent some time refl ecting on the word “infl uence” itself and what it really means. Infl uence has a relationship with power, and you will see plenty of chief executives and senior politicians on this year’s list, but the two concepts are not synonymous.The more compelling definition of influence is the ideathat it describes the effect a person has over others, andthis year’s list is full of people who may not be headline-makers or widely recognized names but who have had anundeniable – and an undeniably positive – infl uence on others.
That’s the real value of this list, and why we’re proud to presentit again in 2012. It’s nice to recognize people who may notalways get recognition, and who certainly don’t go aroundseeking it, but who deserve credit for making Alberta a better place to live. So, without further ado, Alberta, meet your makers.
>>
and how far does alberta’s infl uence spread?go online to meet the fi ve most infl uential albertans not currently living in the province. visit us at albertaventure.com/infl uenceoutsideab
32 ALBERTAVENTURE.COM J u ly 2 0 1 2
Alison RedfoRd/dAnielle smith Polit ics
Agents of ChAngeWhen Premier Alison Redford took to the stage at the Progressive Conserva-tive party’s headquarters in Calgary on the evening of April 23, she looked triumphant and relieved in equal measure. She had just led the Tories to their 12th straight majority, winning 61 of the legislature’s 87 seats and extending the party’s 41-year lock on power.
But unlike virtually all of those previous 12 victories, this one was a result that nobody had predicted. Danielle Smith’s Wildrose party had consistently polled ahead of the Conservatives in the weeks before the elec-tion. The final results were no doubt a disappointment to Smith, but she did her best to put a positive spin on the outcome. “Change might take us a little longer than we thought,” she told her followers.
That may be true, but her party has already come a lot further than many expected. Her Wildrose Party took 17 seats and 34 per cent of the popular vote, up from zero seats and seven per cent of the vote in 2008. If it weren’t for controversial anti-gay and racially charged statements made by Wildrose candi-dates toward the close of the campaign, Wildrose may have fared even better.
The election results represent a seismic change in Albertan politics. Smith and the Wildrose hived
photographs Colin Way
J u ly 2 0 1 2 ALBERTAVENTURE.COM 33
off much of the right edge of the PC party, while Redford moved more aggressively to the centre of the political spectrum than any PC leader in recent memory. She man-aged to draw votes from the Liberal Party and the NDP, some because of strategic voting but many because they simply liked her policies. As such, she hearkens back to the years of Peter Lougheed, a fiscal conservative with a true progressive bent, more than to her more immedi-ate PC predecessors.
Redford, too, spoke of change on election night. “This Progressive Conservative party has introduced change, has promised change and will make change in this prov-ince,” she said. “Getting that change right is what I promise you tonight.”
And so for the next few years, we will watch these two leaders battle it out in the legislature and in the cauldron of public opinion, with their ideo-logical differences clearly reflected in their views on health care, education, the role of government and Alberta’s place in the federation. Redford’s pro-gressive streak will stand in contrast to Smith’s small-c conservatism. Both will try to bridge the urban/rural divide that was evident in the election results. Redford will try to smooth over the rifts that were created in the PC party, and Smith will work to keep her rookie MLAs in line.
It will be an exciting, refreshing time for Alberta, where elections have long been more like a coronation than a competition. And that’s change we can all get behind. >
34 ALBERTAVENTURE.COM J u ly 2 0 1 2
JAck AndeRson PhilanthroPy and Giv inG
good olds BoyBack in 2007, Calgary rancher Jack Anderson made the largest indi-vidual donation to Olds College in its history, giv-ing the school $1 million to use without restric-tions. In January 2012, he broke his own record, donating his collection of 100 vintage cars and trucks, worth around $2 million, to be auctioned off in 2013 to celebrate Olds College’s centennial anniversary. Anderson started the collection when he was 14, and it includes such gems as a Model A from 1928 and a $300,000 Rolls Royce from 1984 that was once owned by Indian guru Bhagwan Rajneesh. The funds raised from the auction are expected to go towards new facilities. Anderson has been named the Olds College 2012 Partner of the Year in recognition of his com-mitment to the school.
stAn BlAde aGriculture
AgriCulturAlinnovAtorThe traditional family farm might be the conventional image of Albertan agriculture, but today the industry is defined by research and innovation. That’s where Stan Blade, the CEO of Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions comes in. Blade and his organization
are pushing advances in technology in the agricul-ture and forestry sectors, investing in everything from biofuels and barley proteins to genetic testing for livestock. In 2011, AI Bio invested more than $18 million in 107 projects, helping academic institu-
tions, research companies, and agriculture and forestry corporations to develop in-novative new products and techniques.
dR. nigel BRockton Medicine
MediCine MAnDr. Nigel Brockton nearly became a marine biologist, but after surviving cancer
twice in his 20s, he became a cancer researcher, instead. He now studies molecular epidemiology at Calgary’s Tom Baker Cancer Centre. He became one of the
co-investigators on the Tomorrow Project, a long-term research project that aims to track the health of 50,000 Albertans over the next 50 years to investigate cancer prevention and treatment. And while Brockton is known for his research into the effects of HPV and inflammation in the progression of cancers, he’s not content only with doing lab work. The doctor is also a vocal supporter of fundraising efforts and participates annually in the 200-kilometre Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. In 2011, he raised more than $4,000 as a participant in the ride.
geoRgeBRookmAn Public Policy/advocacy
Penny-PinCherIt takes a brave man to stand in front of a room full of business leaders at a Calgary Chamber of Com-merce luncheon and deliver a lecture on the virtues of
a new tax, but that’s what West Canadian Industries CEO George Brookman was doing this past Sep-tember. Along with other members of Transforma-
tion Calgary, Brookman was there to propose the implementation of a penny tax that would go directly towards local infrastructure investments that he says aren’t being adequately funded by government. “It really, to me, makes no sense whatsoever to run a city of a million-plus people with ad hoc little bits of funding,” he said to reporters afterwards. “We’ll be collecting bottles next. We need to figure out a bet-ter plan.”
michAelBRown real estate
revitAlizerMichael Brown’s influ-ence on Calgary’s built environment is both great and growing. Brown spent
time as a vice-president at Calgary Economic Development and was an associate vice-president with Matthews Southwest as it brought Encana’s land-mark 58-storey downtown tower, The Bow, to fruition. Then, on September 21 of last year, he was named president and CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC). Brown is now in charge of overseeing many develop-ments around the city, but the most prominent of those is the revitalization of the East Village. The CMLC has attracted more than $725 million in private development to the East Village project, which will see an area now known for low-rent apartments and vacant lots turned into a mixed-use, inner-city community for 11,000 residents.
photograph of Dr. nigel BroCkton By Matt Wolske; photograph of george BrookMan By Wilkosz & Way
stan blade
J u ly 2 0 1 2 ALBERTAVENTURE.COM 35
michAelcAsey hosPital ity
host withthe MostMichael Casey, a partner at Field Law in Calgary, is also hosting that city’s big-gest party since the 1988 Winter Olympics. The president and chairman of
the Calgary Stampede has been promoting the 100th anniversary of the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth all year. To celebrate the event’s centennial year, Casey is telling anybody who will listen that this year’s party will be bigger than ever, with Ian Tyson as parade marshal and per-formances by Garth Brooks and The Beach Boys. Casey’s work has caught
the attention of CNN, which placed the Stampede in the top five best places to visit in 2012. Combine that with Calgary’s designation as the Cultural Capital of Canada – which was secured in large part by the Calgary Stampede’s centennial – and 2012 is shaping up to be a banner year for tourism in the city. Casey is responsible for a large part of that.
dAnielcostA hosPital ity
toP ChefIf you live in Edmonton, you’ve surely heard the buzz about Corso 32, a newish restaurant located on Jasper Avenue in the city’s downtown core. And while some of that buzz >
EastErn PromisEsthere are those who believe that government should stay out of the way of the private sector and that investments made by the former are invariably less efficient than those made by the latter. but calgary’s east village is demonstrating that there are times when govern-ment investment can be a great idea – and that it can go hand in hand with private-sector activity. the city of calgary has invested $150 million into the eastern portion of its downtown in order to make it more attractive to developers, and it certainly appears to have worked. over the last two years, the area has attracted more than $720 million in private invest-ment, and by 2027, the city thinks there could be as many as 11,000 people living there. there’s even a 315-room hilton hotel slated for construction in the area. it’s safe to say, in other words, that the city will see a healthy return on its investment – additional tax revenues, sure, but also a new and thriving neighbourhood.
$150million
the city of calGaryhas invested
into the east Portion of its downtown
photograph of Daniel Costa By roth anD raMBerg
is probably focused on how hard it is to get a seat there – the restaurant is often booked solid weeks in advance – the majority of it is about the quality of the food, and for good reason. Head chef and owner Daniel Costa’s relentless dedication to creating authentic Italian fare is reinvigorating the city’s food scene and help-ing to raise it to a whole new level. Western Living magazine recently named Costa as one of its Top 40 Foodies under 40, while enRoute picked Corso 32 as one of Canada’s best new restaurants.
cRAigcuRtis Polit ics and Public affairs
red hotMoneySense magazine surprised its readers in Van-couver and Toronto when it put Red Deer in its “10 Best Places to Live” list this year. One person the magazine didn’t surprise was Craig Curtis, Red Deer’s city manager. Back in 2008, he co-authored a study that highlighted the city’s strengths and described several “things we need to do better,” like reducing the city’s child poverty rate. He has since delivered. As city manager, he oversees the city’s 18 departments, 1,200 employees and $700-million operating budget. According to MoneySense, the city today has “a low unemployment rate that
leaves Red Deer locals with cash to burn” and is one of the best places in the coun-try to raise children.
dR. chRiseAgle health care
the fixerDr. Chris Eagle, the CEO of Alberta Health Services, has his hands full. Not only is he the chief executive of the province’s largest employer (with more than 90,000 workers), but AHS is a lightening rod for criticism. In his first year at the helm, he has dealt with anger about emergency room wait times and surgery waiting lists. The situation is improving – in some cases surgical wait times have gone down by as much as 10 weeks – although Eagle acknowledges AHS still has a long way to go. A major new hospital in Calgary and strict performance goals will no doubt help Eagle and his staff get there.
Billeddins arts and culture
the MAestroBill Eddins, the music director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, has made a name for himself in Alberta with his inventive programming and ener-getic performances. But in May he found himself on an even bigger stage – the biggest in the world when it comes to classical music, in fact. Eddins and the ESO performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall as part of the 2012 Spring for Music
Festival, a festival that’s open to any orchestra in the world brave enough to put its name in front of the selection jury. Eddins earned a spot for the ESO by proposing a concert featuring original music by Robert Rival, John Es-tacio and Allan Gilliland, the orchestra’s three most recent composers-in-resi-dence. And while there may have been some grumbling from other parts of Canada about the selection of the ESO as one of this year’s perform-ing orchestras, Maclean’s columnist and unofficial classical music critic Paul Wells was having none of it. “I don’t believe three new Canadian compos-itions have been featured in that hall in the half-cen-tury since [the Canadian government bankrolled a concert in the 1950s],”
he wrote. “It’s a program of music proposed by an American conductor and selected by an American jury, in competitive cir-cumstances, strictly on its merit, fair and square.”
dAwnfARRell ut il it ies and Power Generation
Power BrokerTrying to sell people on the merits of coal-fired power is an exercise that would test the resolve of even the most skilled marketer, but new TransAlta CEO Dawn Farrell appears to be up to the task. Farrell took over for outgoing TransAlta CEO Steve Snyder in January of this year, and while the company is pushing ahead with investments in >
GooD sEnsEin its March 2012 issue,
MoneySense magazine
affirmed what most
people in red deer
already knew: it’s a
great place to live. the
toronto magazine picked
alberta’s third-largest
city as the ninth best city
to live in, as well as the
fourth best place in the
country to raise kids and
the second best place to
find a job. but while most
of the media attention
focused on red deer’s
ranking, edmonton
actually finished one spot
ahead in the rankings,
in eighth place overall.
calgary, for what it’s
worth, finished in 14th
place. hopefully the city
of edmonton’s political
leadership will avoid the
temptation to put that on
the sign into town.
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billeddins
photograph of Bill eDDins Courtesy of eDMonton syMphony orChestra
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wind energy (including projects in Quebec and Ontario), the bulk of its capacity continues to come from coal – and will for some time. Farrell, who worked for years at TransAlta and did a four-and-a-half year stint at BC Hydro before coming home to Alberta, recently broke from her predecessor by scuttling a proposed $1.4- billion carbon capture and storage plan on the grounds that, despite almost $800 million in government subsidies, it wasn’t economically feasible. Whether that forces the provincial and federal governments to actually put a meaningful price on carbon remains to be seen.
gRegfenton environMent
Bridge BuilderManaging one of Canada’s national parks is no simple task. With new federal budget cuts,
it’s more important than ever to attract visitors to the parks, but those same parks still have a mandate to protect native wildlife. Sometimes those goals come into conflict, and in Jasper National Park, it’s superintendent Greg Fenton’s job to balance development and con-servation. Fenton entered the spotlight in January 2012 when more than 100,000 people signed a petition demanding he prevent Brewster Travel Canada from building a steel-and-glass walkway
over the Sunwapta Val-ley. Fenton ultimately backed Minister of the Environment Peter Kent in approving the project, with construction to be scheduled around the mountain goat kidding season.
JohngiBson enerGy
the Joint Chief John Gibson leads a company roughly the size of Nexen or PCL Construc-tion, and if you haven’t heard of it yet, you will. Tervita Corp. formed in March 2012, when the ownership group for 13 private companies – including CCS Corp. and Hazco Environmental –
consolidated its holdings to create Alberta’s largest energy services company. Gibson will lead the new company, which employs 4,200 people and pulls in more than $5 billion in an-nual revenues, and hopes to turn it into a one-stop shop for energy services that does everything from develop-ing an asset to reclaiming the land after it’s gone. While the company is new, Gibson isn’t exactly new to the role, having served as president of Halliburton’s energy services group. >
brewster travel canada almost certainly didn’t ex-pect to stir up controversy and international atten-tion when it submitted a proposal to Parks canada for its discovery walk project in Jasper national Park. the walk was to replace a roadside turnout on highway 93 with a trail and a glass-floored observation deck that would extend 30 metres into the sunwapta valley. environmental critics seized on it and accused the company of wanting to privatize parts of the park. avaaz, a global civic organization that organ-izes protests and petitions around issues like climate change, human rights and poverty, tried to rally sup-port against the project, but its factually challenged campaign failed to con- vince Parks canada officials, who approved the walk this past february.
GreG fenton
WalK tHis WaY
He’s just Dave to us.
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mAttgiffen bankinG and f inance
energetiCBAnkerWhen Scotia Capital re-located its global energy solutions team from New York to Calgary last year, it sent ripples through the city’s banking com-munity and was hailed by many as a major sign of maturity for the local industry. Leading the way for Scotia Capital is Matt Giffen, a 20-year veteran of the banking industry who was in charge of Scotia Capital’s European and Asian capital market operations in London, Dublin and Singapore before return-ing to Toronto in 2007. The arrival of Giffen and his team complements the existing Scotia Water-ous group, which has had tremendous success financing international oil and gas mergers and acquisitions in recent years.
donAldgReenfield law
Billion-dollArdeAlerIf a billion-dollar deal is going down in the oil and gas sector, the energy team from law firm Bennett Jones, co-chaired by Donald Greenfield (along with Patrick Maguire), is probably going to be involved. Last December, Greenfield and his team acted for Plains Midstream Can-ada in that company’s $1.67-billion purchase
of BP Plc’s natural gas liquids business. Then, in mid-February, they advised Mitsubishi on its $2.9-bil-lion purchase from Encana of a 40 per cent stake in a B.C. shale project. A week later, the team worked with Calgary-based Flint Energy Services when it was bought for $1.5 billion by San Francisco-based construc-tion and engineering firm URS. It all led to Greenfield being named Dealmaker of the Week by The American Lawyer magazine. He was also honoured with Queen’s Council designation at the end of last year.
JAnehAlfoRd accountinG
lone wolfIn February 2011, Canada’s three profes-sional accountancy bodies (the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Society of Manage-ment Accountants of Canada and the Certified General Accountants of Canada) and their provincial chapters began negotiating a merger. The plan was to adopt a super-designation: the Chartered Professional Accountant. But a year later, the Insti-tute of Chartered Account-ants of Alberta (ICAA), led by Jane Halford as CEO and executive director,
pulled the plug on its par-ticipation. It’s a bold move by Alberta’s chartered ac-countants, as merger talks continue between other players nationally and between the two other Al-bertan bodies representing accountants: CMA Alberta and CGA Alberta. But the ICAA membership wasn’t convinced of the benefits and Halford and the ICAA leadership were concerned about the impact on the public.
goRdonhoulden education and acadeMia
eAstern envoyAlberta’s economic future depends in part on its grow-ing relationship with China, and there are few people that understand that better than Gordon Houlden. He’s the director of the University of Alberta’s China Institute and a former director general at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, where he worked in a variety of roles, including at the Canadian trade office
in Taipei and the Canadian embassy in Beijing. Houl-den was re-appointed to his role on May 1, 2012, and will be a key contributor to discussions about how Alberta can best continue to build its relationship with the world’s second-largest economy and the people who live there.
cAseyhudson culture and entertainMent
MAss effeCterCasey Hudson, a program-mer for Edmonton-based software developer and Electronic Arts subsidiary
BioWare, became the world’s most famous game programmer (for a few min-utes, anyway) this past year when the company released the third instalment in its Mass Effect franchise amid massive controversy. Many of the franchise’s fans were upset by the game’s ending and accused the company of false advertising. Some even threatened to boycott future releases from the company. Hudson, the game’s executive producer, initially defended BioWare’s work, saying the company was happy the ending had made such an impact. But BioWare and Hudson eventually returned to the coding board, promising fans a free expanded ending
photograph of Casey huDson Courtesy of university of alBerta aluMni assoCiation
Gordonhoulden
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for the game, the first time in gaming history that a major video game producer has significantly changed a game in response to an outcry from fans. The new content is due out this sum-mer, and whether it’s loved or hated, its very existence will have an enormous im-pact on the gaming indus-try in Alberta and abroad.
shiRAzJiwAni PhilanthroPy and GivinG
nAit’s Best friendShiraz Jiwani, president and owner of Sherwood Park’s Aman Construction Group, is helping to build NAIT’s future. Jiwani’s focus on community led the company to contribute heavily to NAIT’s Centre for Applied Technologies, the JR Shaw School of Business and the Hokan-son Centre for Culinary Arts. In addition to their support of NAIT, Jiwani and Aman have supported a wide variety of charitable organizations and com-munity events, including the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and the World Partnership Walk. In April, to recognize his commit-ment to both NAIT and the community as a whole, Jiwani was named the 2011 Distinguished Friend of the Institute. Jiwani’s company is also making strides
encouraging green building practices, and is a member of the Canada Green Build-ing Council.
RyAnJohnson h iGh-tech
geo-whizLethbridge has designs on developing a high-tech hub and diversifying its local economy. If that happens, it will have had a lot to do with Ryan Johnson. He’s the CEO of Black Bridge Geomat-ics, a leading supplier of optical satellite imagery in Canada and the next-door neighbour and key in-vestor in tecconnect, a new facility in Lethbridge that will serve as an incubator for companies in the infor-mation and communica-tions technology sector. In addition to building a new corporate office and a tier III data centre on the site (and providing its services to tecconnect’s tenants),
Black Bridge will invest $1 million in the facility over five years. If Lethbridge’s fledgling high-tech com-munity flourishes as a result, Johnson will have been the fertilizer that helped it grow.
Vi (Violet)konkle retail
retAil therAPistWhen former Walmart Canada executive Vi Konkle joined The Brick in February of 2010, it was still reeling from the effects of the 2008/09 recession. Now, a little more than two years later and after Konkle was promoted from president of business support to president and CEO in January of 2012, she is in charge of a much healthier company. In December,
the company paid off a substantial portion of the $120 million in high-yield debentures The Brick had issued in May of 2009 in order to stay solvent. That shouldn’t be a problem
going forward, given that the company’s decision to shift its focus away from lower-margin electronics and towards mattresses appears to be paying off in a big way. During the first nine months of 2011, the company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) rose by 19 per cent, even though same-store sales dropped by one per cent.
BilllingARd enerGy
teCh suPPortAs chair of the board at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) since September 2011, Bill Lingard has helped to set the mission for the institute in its pursuit of educational excellence and ensured that it is both financially accountable and respon-sive to the needs of the communities it serves. With 2,200 faculty and staff and more than 70,000 people enrolled in courses each year, SAIT is a crucial element in the province’s suc-cess. Lingard, the CEO of Flint Energy Services since 2005, grew that company to become a major presence in the oil field services sector and oversaw the $1.24-billion friendly takeover of the company by U.S. engin-eering giant URS Corp. in May. Flint shareholders got $25 per share – a 68 per cent premium on the stock price – in the deal. Lingard remains the CEO of URS Flint.
sidmARty Public Policy/advocacy
log JAMMer On February 1, 2012, former Parks Canada warden and award-win-ning author Sid Marty stared down a bulldozer near Pincher Creek in southwestern Alberta. He had been picketing against clear-cut logging on 81 square kilometres of forest near Castle Mountain ski
resort because he believed it would destroy grizzly bear habitat. Marty was arrested and given a court order to stay off public lands.
He ignored the order, giving speeches on public properties and encour-aging people to bombard Premier Alison Redford’s office with more than 100,000 phone calls, let-ters and emails demand-ing the logging licence be relocated elsewhere. His arrest made headlines and stirred a debate about land use in special forest man-age-ment areas, partly because of Marty’s high profile in southern Alberta – he has twice been finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, most re-cently in 2008 for The Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek.
Foresters started log-ging in the region just >
illustration roBert Carter
ryan Johnson
sidMarty
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hours after Marty’s ar-rest, but motivated pro-testers have continued to push Alberta Sustain-able Resource Develop-ment to stop activity scheduled for 2013. In April 2012, the Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition announced it was suing the govern-ment, saying that when the Alberta government designated the region a “special place” in 1998, “there was a reasonable expectation given these decisions that the Castle was already protected.” In fact, the area was once part of Waterton Lakes National Park. Marty is committed to ensuring it’s protected again.
RonAldmAthison real estate
towering figureFew people can watch their investments grow like Ronald Mathison. The chairman of Matco Investments and vet-eran of the oil and gas industry has watched Eighth Avenue Place, a 49-storey tower in Calgary, grow to domin-ate the skyline in the west half of downtown. Mathison’s company owns a third of the development, which will include a second tower and add two mil-lion square feet of office space to the downtown. The towers are designed to look like moun-tain peaks and have been awarded LEED Platinum pre-certifica-tion. They are slated to become Canada’s first
LEED Platinum multi-tenant highrise office buildings, thanks in large part to Mathison’s vision.
mARlonmcdougAll enerGy
sMooth oPerAtorIt didn’t take Marlon McDougall very long to find a new job after leaving NAL Energy. In fact, McDougall resigned as chief operating officer of NAL in June 2011 and joined Pengrowth Energy as COO a month later. Eight months after that, McDougall’s new com-pany announced it was purchasing his previous one. Pengrowth bought NAL for $1.3 billion in stock in March 2012, giv-ing McDougall operating control of the company where he once worked. The acquisition is directly tied to Pengrowth’s hopes of developing the Lind-bergh oil sands project, which contains more than 780 million barrels of bitumen. It’s an ambitious project, and now that McDougall oversees the combined operations of both companies, he is working to bring it to pro-duction as Pengrowth’s first oil sands operation.
dRewmcnAughton h iGh-tech
the CABle guyAs the chief technology officer at Calgary-based Axia NetMedia, Drew McNaughton has been integral to the company’s evolution from a feisty startup to an international
player. He oversaw the company’s breakthrough triumph, the Alberta SuperNet, which provides high-speed Internet access to 402 rural com-munities in Alberta. But his influence is felt even more broadly through his work as president of the Alberta Informa-tion Communications Technology Association, a role that he assumed last year. The association is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization that supports companies in the province’s informa-tion and communications technology (ICT) sector. The sector includes some 5,200 companies in the province employing more than 55,000 people and generating more than $10.5 billion in annual revenue. With connectivity transforming the way we work, learn and play, the importance of the field, and of a healthy Albertan hand in it, will only grow.
Regmilley transPortation and loGist ics
high flierReg Milley’s hands are full. The president and CEO of Edmonton Airports is busy overseeing the $670-mil-lion expansion at Edmon-ton International Airport
(EIA) and the shutting down of City Centre Air-port, as well as playing an important role with Port Alberta in integrating rail, trucking and air trans-portation in the Capital Region. The changes Milley oversees at all four of the region’s airports, including the construction of a new 50,000-square-foot cargo facility at EIA, will help Port Alberta achieve its goal of building an integrated transporta-tion hub in the middle of the province.
dAVemowAt bankinG and f inance
Poster BoyMost bankers prefer to stay out of the spotlight, but apparently Dave Mowat isn’t a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. The president and CEO of ATB Financial, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Alberta and the province’s largest home-grown finan-cial institution, has been front and centre since coming back to Alberta in 2007 after a seven-year stint in Vancouver as the
the slow-motion game of chicken between the katz Group and the city of edmonton picked up a bit of speed this spring with the release of design drawings that fleshed out what the proposed downtown arena might look like. the gorgeous renderings had edmon-ton residents like david staples, the Edmonton Journal ’s most tire-less arena cheerleader, absolutely agog about the transformative potential of the as-yet-imaginary arena: “Many edmonton-ians who were lukewarm on the arena are warming up fast. the design is that hot. it’s a winner.” but the remaining $100 million needed to fund the project in its entirety remain unaccounted for, and until they are, the downtown arena remains little more than a dream – or a nightmare, depending on where you stand on the issue.
DraWn toGEtHEr
drewMcnauGhton
dave Mowat
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CEO of Vancity. Most recently, he has become the face of his company’s new advertising cam-paign. Billboards for ATB feature Mowat’s email address, encouraging cus-tomers to drop him a line with any questions and receive a response from the CEO.
keVinnAgel education and acadeMia
trAilBlAzerThe president and CEO of Keyano College is helping bring post-secondary education to Alberta’s
northernmost commun-ities. Kevin Nagel helped cut the ribbon at Keyano College’s new $3.5-million Fort Chipewyan campus in September 2011, kick-ing off the first academic year at Alberta’s northern-most post-secondary cam-pus. Nagel, who joined Keyano College in April 2011, is also helping it expand its course offerings in northeastern Alberta. Under Nagel’s tenure, Keyano has launched new partnership programs with Finning Canada and partnered with educa-tional boards from Fort McMurray to Fort McKay to help local high school students pursue further education.
simono’ByRne architecture and enGineerinG
urBAniteSimon O’Byrne has long been one of Edmonton’s most prominent and vocal urban planners. A vice-president at Stantec Consulting and the practice leader for urban planning, he has been the principal planner on many new communities throughout the Capital Region and has been involved with several prominent projects, includ-ing the Downtown Arena and Entertainment District plan, the Capital Region
Land Use Plan and the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan.
O’Byrne is a vocal sup-porter of walkable com-munities, green initiatives and affordable housing, but it’s his volunteer work that stands out this year. He is on the board of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce and is chair of Edmonton’s Downtown Vibrancy Task Force, a group trying to develop a vibrant core for a city that desperately needs one. In the latter role, he came out in favour of the downtown arena and entertainment complex proposed by the Katz Group, bringing a credible voice to the debate over a project that, if it proceeds, will transform the downtown for decades to come.
kARinAPillAy-kinnee Polit ics and Public affairs
CoMMunityreBuilderNobody who lives in Slave Lake will ever forget the summer of 2011. In May, a wildfire destroyed more than a third of the town, including hundreds of homes. The fire was one of the most costly disasters in Canadian history, with insurance claims totalling over $700 million. In July, nature struck again, this time with heavy rains that caused significant flood-ing and displaced families that had already lost homes in the fire. Mayor Karina Pillay- Kinnee guided her community through the
disaster, and it’s in part thanks to her that, a year later, Slave Lake is recover-ing, and even thriving. Pillay-Kinnee is working with both the Municipal District of Lesser Slave
Lake and the Sawridge First Nation to plan for the long-term recovery of the Slave Lake region. She has also been the face of the community for those out-side Slave Lake, discussing the challenges the town faces as it rebuilds.
clifPuRVis Public Policy/advocacy
PuBliC defenderWho watches the watchers? Clif Purvis does. Purvis is a lawyer and former Crown prosecutor who is the civil-ian director of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, or ASIRT. The organ-ization, created in 2007, is an independent agency that investigates incidents in which the actions of a police officer cause serious injury >
karina Pillay-kinnee
or death. ASIRT is one of the first organizations of its kind, and police forces and agencies across the country, along with the Canadian military, have taken an interest in what it does and how it does it.
RAndyRemington real estate
urBAnredeveloPer Who looks at a gravel pit and industrial dump and thinks, “I can turn this into a liveable neighbour-hood?” Randy Remington does. The chairman of Remington Development Corporation is transform-ing a Lafarge Canada dump into a southeast
Calgary neighbourhood with more that 1.7 million square feet of commercial office space and 90 acres of park space next to the Bow River. Unlike other new neighbourhoods, Quarry Park isn’t on the edge of town and therefore contributing to the city’s urban sprawl. Instead, the new neighbourhood will add density within the city and sits on a proposed southeast LRT line.
AndyRidge Polit ics and Public affairs
the inforMer Hydraulic fracturing, com-monly known as fracking,
is a controversial method of extracting oil and natural gas from otherwise inaccessible reservoirs. With good information about fracking hard to come by, the public is understandably wary of its potential environmental consequences. That’s something Andy Ridge, the water policy director of Alberta Environment and Water, aims to change. Ridge is pushing for increased transparency, like sharing open-source data, in order to start a more honest conversation about the practice and get Albertans on-board. As part of that effort, he has also been participating at energy and environmental conferences, presenting on the government’s role
in hydraulic fracturing and water usage by oil sands producers.
BoB sARtoR business
BrewMAster
Bob Sartor doesn’t dodowntime, apparently.
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CALGARY | TORONTO | EDMONTON | OT TAWABEIJING | DUBAI | DOHA | ABU DHABI
Plug into Bennett Jones.
Don Greenfield, we tip our hat to you.
Congratulations to Don Green�eld on being named one of Alberta’s 50 Most In�uential People in 2012 by Alberta Venture Magazine.
Your commitment to our profession and the law makes us proud to call you one of our own. You bring professional excellence, respect, integrity and a gracious spirit to all that you do. Congratulations from all of your friends at Bennett Jones.
BennettJones_AB Venture Magazine_Greenfield.indd 1 05/06/2012 8:55:05 AM
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the people of slave lake had a very difficult year in 2011, but it was made a bit brighter by a pair of unexpected vis-itors. the duke and duchess of cambridge, william and kate, made a two-hour stop in the fire-ravaged town as part of their post-wedding tour of canada. they spent time touring the town and talking to locals, an experience that clearly resonated with the shell-shocked locals who were still trying to get their lives back in order. Mayor karina Pillay-kinnee was touched by the support that celebrities like the royal couple and u2 lead singer bono gave to the community.
You would think that after engineering a deal that saw the Forzani Group – the sporting goods retailer of which he was CEO from 2003 to 2011 and where he’d worked for 15 years in total – get scooped up by Canadian Tire in a $771-million deal, Sartor would treat himself to some rest and relaxation. Instead, he’s back at the helm, this time with Big Rock, a company that’s even more iconic in Calgary than the Forzani Group. Founder Ed McNally stepped aside for Sartor and became chair-man of the company’s board, and together they’re ready to make Alberta’s favourite beer a national name. “We have capital to invest,” Sartor
told the Calgary Herald. “The question is where and why.” Cheers to that.
simonettAsiPione Medicine
life sAver What do you have to do to get a lab named after you? Well, coming up with a groundbreaking new treatment for Huntington’s disease certainly helps. Simonetta Sipione, an assistant professor of phar-macology at the University of Alberta and researcher at the school’s Simonetta Sipione Laboratory (SipioneLab), was part of the team that discovered a link between cholesterol
and Huntington’s disease while working in Milan. Now at the University of Alberta, Sipione and her new team have discovered what could be a life-alter-ing treatment that restores motor function to those afflicted with the disease and may slow or even stop its progression. The team hopes to begin a clinical trial within the next two years.
lindAsloAn Polit ics and Public affairs
loCAl heroThe relationships between municipalities and the provincial government can often be difficult, >
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with bitter arguments emerging over funding and infrastructure. Linda Sloan is hoping to change that through the Alberta Urban Municipalities As-sociation (AUMA) Local Matters campaign. As AUMA’s president, Sloan has been instrumental in raising the issues faced by urban municipalities responsible for fund-ing infrastructure and essential services while relying on relatively few tax dollars and an outdated system of ad hoc grants from the provin-cial government. The campaign went public in March 2012, but Sloan’s message was already getting traction by April, when municipal funding became a significant issue in the provincial election.
nAncysoutheRn business
strAightshooter With the recent an-nouncement that legend-ary Albertan businessman and longtime chairman of the board, Ron Southern, will step down from his position at the helm of the Atco Group, even more responsibility will fall to his daughter and the company’s president and
CEO, Nancy Southern. But there’s no doubt she’s ready for it. The personable, un-assuming heir to the throne has run the company’s day-to-day operations since 2003, leading it to its best year ever in 2010 (with a net income of $296 million) and closing a $1.1-billion deal for oil and gas assets in Australia last year.
Southern was named Alberta’s Business Person of the Year for 2011 by Alberta Venture, receiving the award with charac-teristic humility. “I have such an incredible team of people that make Atco work,” she said at the time, “and I really feel that this is their recognition.”
keVinswAn f inance and bankinG
Angel investorIf you’re one of the hundreds of young (or, perhaps, not-so-young) tech entrepreneurs in this province, you probably know who Kevin Swan is. For those who don’t, Swan is a principal with Montreal-based iNovia Capital who specializes in providing venture capital funding for startup enterprises in Alberta’s tech community. It’s an interesting career for someone who once felt he was destined to become a bee farmer like his parents, but after spending a few years in California getting his master’s degree and generally immersing himself in the tech scene down there, he decided he wanted to go in a different direction. Now, he’s making a buzz of a different sort.
howARdtennAnt education and acadeMia
the MAn inthe Middle It’s easy to be critical of the lack of oversight in the oil sands but far more difficult to fix it. That’s the job that has fallen, in part, to Howard Tennant, the former president and vice-chancellor of the University of Lethbridge. In 2011, Ten-nant co-chaired the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Panel, a committee charged with making recommenda-tions to create a world-class environmental monitoring system for the province. The panel suggested a permanent, independent and highly transparent Environmental Monitoring Commission that would integrate environmental monitoring efforts. In March, Tennant was chosen to lead the six-member working group in charge of following up on those
recommendations and coming up with sufficient sustainable funding.
Bill tueR law
integrAl PArtnerMacleod Dixon and Norton Rose merged in January 2012 with the stated goal of becoming a new Canadian legal powerhouse. Bill Tuer is helping make sure that happens. Tuer had been managing partner with Calgary-based Macleod Dixon for 12 years and is now chief integration partner of the combined 2,900-lawyer firm, called Norton Rose Canada, with 43 offices worldwide. Tuer is no stranger to international law – Macleod Dixon had offices in Caracas, Bogota, Moscow and Kazakhstan. But as a member of the combined firm’s global executive committee, he and his team will be able to extend their reach. “This isn’t our first international rodeo,” he says, “but it is our biggest.”
dAVidVetteRs bankinG and f inance
Merger MAsterAs the head of oil and gas banking in Canada for Macquarie Tristone, the Australia-based global
investment bank, David Vetters has left his mark on many of Western Canada’s most prominent mergers and acquisitions. This year alone, the managing director of Macquarie’s Calgary office and his team have worked on deals for Connacher Oil and Gas, Corridor Resources, Terra Energy, TimberRock Energy, Suncor Energy and more.
Since joining Macquarie in September 2009 as part of Macquarie’s acquisition of Tristone Capital, Vetters has advised on more than $15 billion in merger, acquisition and divestiture deals and more than $8 billion in equity finan-cings. With predictions of ongoing strength in the oil and gas sector, expect to see his fingerprints on even more deals.
AnguswAtt Polit ics and Public affairs
his exCellenCyAngus Watt has a well-known face (and voice) around Edmonton through his regular appearances talking finances on Global TV and 630 CHED. The managing director of individual investor services at National Bank Financial is equally comfortable discussing the markets, long-term financial >
Macleod dixon was the first canadian law firm, and just the second inter-national law firm in the world, to be accredited in the former u.s.s.r. that was in 1989, just before the fall of communism and the opening of eastern europe to western business. since then, Macleod dixon has opened offices in kazakhstan, venezuela, brazil and colombia. the firm’s merger with norton rose, which has offices in places like Morocco, south africa, Germany and australia, extends the company’s reach even further.
ForEiGn inVEstmEnt
illustration roBert Carter
HOW TO CLEAN UP IN THE ENERGY BUSINESS.
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planning and insurance policies. But he may be even better known for volunteering, whether it’s past work on the Edmon-ton Police Foundation and TELUS Edmonton Community boards or current involvement with the University of Alberta senate. Most recently, Watt has been instru-mental in raising the pro-file of the Alberta Order of Excellence Awards, the highest honour the province bestows on its citizens. Watt is chair of the council that receives and considers nominations and has helped make the Alberta Order the distinguished honour it is meant to be.
dAnwicklum enerGy
defensiveCo-ordinAtorFor four years in the 1980s, Dan Wicklum de-fended the line of scrim-mage as a linebacker with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders. Now, as the chief executive with Can-ada’s Oil Sands Innova-tion Alliance (COSIA), he’s playing both sides of the ball: defending the oil sands from criticism of their environmental record and working to move the organiza-tion toward its goals of accelerating the pace of improved environmental performance. COSIA was launched in March 2012 in response to inter-national concern over the environmental effects of oil sands development. Twelve of the biggest
players in the industry came together to say they would share technology and know-how to help each other improve operations. They picked Wicklum to lead the way, bringing together industry, govern-ment and academia to improve the performance and perception of Alberta’s energy sector.
steVewilliAms enerGy
Biggest BossSuncor Energy is this country’s largest integrated energy company, and the person in charge of it is bound to wield more than a little influence. So it is with Steve Williams, named in May as the successor to Suncor’s former chief executive, Rick George. Williams has been well groomed for the role, having risen through the company’s ranks over the last decade, most recently
serving as chief operating officer since 2007.
Suncor is flush with cash and has a growing income, giving Williams options on how to grow. He has already laid down some ambitious plans, promising to nearly double Suncor’s production by 2020, a feat which, if accomplished, will cement his influence for the next decade. At the same time, he faces ongoing volatil-ity in crude prices and the challenges of opening new markets at a time when environmental groups vociferously oppose pipe-lines in all directions.
michAelwilson aGriculture
growth exPert Michael Wilson has a knack for finding deals. In 2012, the president and CEO of Agrium led the company’s $1.15-billion purchase of former rival Viterra’s retail shops in Canada and
Australia. “The transaction is an excellent fit,” he says. It certainly fits with Agrium’s stated goal of being the “leading global agricul-tural retailer,” with more than $1 billion in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) from retail sales by 2015. Wilson has demonstrated he’s serious about reaching this goal. In 2011, the company made 17 retail acquisitions, and in 2010, it purchased the Australian Wheat Board’s retail operations for A$1.2 billion. The purchase of Vit-erra adds 230 retail stores to Agrium’s existing network of 1,250 locations. The only question for Wilson is, “Who’s next?”
JohnwRight enerGy
reBounderWhen John Wright took over as the CEO of Petro-Bakken in May of 2011, he probably imagined that it would mark the beginning of a turnaround for the company he helped found in 2009. Its share price had traded down from the mid-20s to the high teens, and Wright admitted at the time that he hadn’t done a good enough job of communicat-ing the company’s story to investors. By October, with those shares trading as low as $6.05, investors would have been justified in questioning whether Wright’s influence really was positive.
He answered those ques-tions by embarking on a decisive restructuring of the company’s balance sheet, one that involved selling off some non-core assets,
floating a $900-million, high-yield bond and draw-ing down its credit facility. In the process, he restored the faith of investors in the company’s plan – they watched as the share price more than doubled in fewer than three months.
sAndRAyoung real estate
hoMe MAkerSandra Young, the vice-president and general manger of Homes by Avi, took over as president of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) in Alberta in September 2011. CHBA represents more than 1,500 business mem-bers in the home construc-tion industry, including builders, renovators, trade and supply companies and professional services, with regional associations in Calgary, central Alberta, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Young’s focus is working with those regional associations and the provincial government to build safe and sustainable communities and homes in Alberta. As president, she meets with stakeholders and government represent-atives on issues affecting homebuilders and buyers, such as mandatory new-home warrantees, housing affordability, labour market challenges and construc-tion-worker safety. AV
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steve williaMs
NEWLOOK!
@CityOfRedDeer
403.342.8111
leadership
businessvision
community
Congratulations to our City Manager Craig Curtis on being named one of
Alberta’s 50 Most In uential People.Your vision has led Red Deer to
become a stronger, more vibrant city.
Red Deer is brimming with opportunity; whether a company ready to expand, an entrepreneur
with a dream, or a family settling into a welcoming community.
Be a part of the activity.
meets
www.reddeer.ca
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siKanDar atiq23vP Portfolio development, next equities twitter: @nextequitiesMost recent university graduates go to companies in search of a job. Sikandar Atiq, on the other hand, goes to them looking to in-vest. Atiq is the VP of portfolio development for Next Equities, an Edmonton-based private equity firm run by his father, Fred, that’s looking to invest $50 million in small and mid-sized companies. Those are precisely the kinds of businesses that don’t tend to get a lot of love from private equity firms, but Next Equities hopes to build a portfolio of 10 such companies with combined revenues of $100 million by 2015. Atiq, who is also doing his MBA at NYU’s Stern School of Business in his spare time, will play a critical role in making that happen.
lisa BarolDi31director and vision holder of Progress unlimitedtwitter: @lisabaroldiOne of the most vexing problems that policy-makers and politicians face is finding a way to help off-
reserve aboriginals make a home for themselves in our cities. Lisa Baroldi is playing a key role in doing just that in Edmonton, a city with one of the country’s biggest off-reserve aboriginal popula-tions. She wrote the grant that attracted $1.2 million in
funding from Alberta Justice for a pioneering three-year project called New In Town Edmonton, and she has been essential in getting the word out about the services it offers. Baroldi used her connections to bring the project to the attention of Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and other local representatives. They liked it – so much, in fact, that it may well end up serving as a model for other communities across the country.
HEatHErCHristiE-Burns40co-founder and coo of angle energyThe energy sector is no longer the testosterone-rich boys’ club it was a few decades ago, but there are still precious few women working in senior management positions. Heather Christie-Burns is an exception to that. The 40-year-old co-founder and COO of Angle Energy has helped create a company that has grown its production to more than 13,000 boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day) over seven years in business while surviving both the unexpected phase-out of the royalty trust system and the deepest reces-sion the world has seen in more than 70 years. Christie-Burns’s training as an engineer, her background in the industry and her willingness to go out into the field and see how things are really done make her an arche-type for what an energy company executive should be like in the 21st century.
Kara ClaYPool39senior vice-President, Jugo Juicetwitter: @karajugoWhen it comes to future CEOs in this province’s retail sector, there might not be a more promising candidate than Kara Claypool. After spending 10 years at Big Rock moving from junior accountant to the senior manager of fi-nance and strategic planning Claypool moved to Jugo Juice in 2006. She’s now the company’s executive vice-president and has been at the centre of its ongoing expansion and growth. Between 2006 and 2010, overall sales increased by 138 per cent, while more
than 70 new stores were opened. She also volunteers as a speaker with a program called Dollars with Sense, which teaches junior high kids how to create a budget and manage their finances.
Dana Ditomaso37digital Marketing consultanttwitter: @danaditomasoIn a world where being on the web is no longer a choice and where a growing proportion of business is done online, owning an ugly or inefficient website is more than just an esthetic concern. Enter Dana DiTomaso, an Edmonton-based web design and search optimization expert and tech-nology columnist with CBC Edmonton AM, who has spent the last 10 years helping individuals and companies present themselves properly on the web. As the range of ways people can communicate on the Internet has grown so has her portfolio of services, which now includes website audits, pay-per-click management and social media marketing, among other things.
Pat KEllY anD PEtEr olDrinG40creators, This is That twitter: @cbcthisisthatSatire might be a lost art, but don’t tell that to Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring, the Calgary team behind CBC Radio’s This is That. Their satirical version of a weekly news show (which has fea-tured “stories” on subjects like locals being forced to drive on the wrong side of the road during a visit by the queen and Grade 4 being cancelled in Nova Scotia) has been an instant hit with listeners. In fact, because it’s so pitch perfect in both its tone and
presentation, it routinely confuses CBC listeners expecting to hear The Vinyl Café or something equally earn-est, and has generated more than its share of angry letters to management. Meet Canada’s next version of Bob and Doug Mackenzie – only way, way smarter.
DominiC misHio27alderman, city of leduc twitter: @domishioOn October 15, 2007, Dominic Mishio was elect-ed to represent the City of Leduc as an alderman. He was just 22 years old at the time, making him the youngest representative in Leduc’s history and the youngest serving elected official in the entire province at the time. But Mishio proved to be more than just a novelty act and was re-elected by Leduc residents in 2010. In April of 2011, Mishio challenged incumbent (and perennial backbencher) MLA George Rogers for the PC nomination in the riding of Leduc-Beaumont, and while he didn’t win (Rogers earned 826 votes to Mishio’s 625 votes), it’s safe to assume it won’t be Mishio’s last attempt at a seat in the provincial legislature.
mattHEW orr25owner and operator of canadian sustainability and water solutionstwitter: @calgarysolarAlbertans are waking up to the fact that environmentally sustainable products like solar heaters and LED lights aren’t just good for reducing carbon footprints. They’re also great ways to save money, and Vulcan’s Matthew Orr is one of the province’s most visible enviro-preneurs. The 25-year-old is the owner and operator
photograph of Chris turner By ashley BristoWe
10neXt
t H E n E X t 1 0 a l B E r ta’ s r i s i n G s ta r s
of Canadian Sustainability and Water Solutions and was picked recently by the Globe and Mail as one of Calgary’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs. The company offers consumers everything from products like solar heaters and recycling bins to services like solar feasibility studies and water quality evaluations. Orr is not content just to sell sustainable products and services, either – he plans to lobby government to introduce more stringent efficiency measures in building codes for both residential and commercial infrastructure.
sHaWna PanDYa27co-founder and cMo of civiGuard and neurosurgical resident at the university of albertatwitter: @shawnapandyaIf you fancy yourself some-thing of an overachiever, look away – Shawna Pandya is about to put you to shame. The co-founder of CiviGuard Technologies, a Silicon Valley startup that combines smartphones with disaster response, also happens to be finishing off a medical degree at the University of Alberta. She is a past Rhodes scholarship provincial finalist and a two-time Peter Lougheed scholar, and was named as a finalist for the 2009 AStech Leader of Tomorrow award for leadership and innova-tion in science, technology and entrepre-neurship. In her spare time – she doesn’t sleep, apparently – Pandya is involved with the SHINE clinic, which works with at-risk youth in Edmonton.
CHris turnEr38Journalist and author of The Leap twitter: @theturner
It’s a sad commentary on the state of literate culture in 2012 that you’ll find more young people who can name their favourite YouTube video than favourite writer. But Calgary writer Chris Turner is trying to change that, one thought-pro-voking piece at a time. Turner
has carved out a niche for himself writing about the intersection of energy, the environment and the economy, and he has received a number of awards for his work in recent years. He even parlayed it into two popular books, 2007’s The Geography of Hope: A Guided Tour of the World We Need and 2011’s The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy. AV
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