Janice Rennie (Board Chair)
Ms. Janice Rennie, FCPA, FCA, F.ICD, was appointed the non-executive chair of EPCOR's Board of Directors in May 2018.
Ms. Rennie has a long-standing association with EPCOR, as a member of the board during the company's formative days and through subsequent years of transformational growth from 1996-2004. She is currently serving her second tenure on the board.
Her business background includes executive positions in large organizations and overseeing her own investment firm. This included the position of senior vice president of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness at EPCOR during a time of transition. Prior to this, Ms. Rennie held key executive positions with Princeton Developments.
With more than 20 years' experience as a corporate director, Ms. Rennie also serves on the board of Major Drilling International Inc., based in Moncton, N.B.; as well as on the board of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., based in Vancouver. She is a past board member of Methanex Corporation.
In the not-for-profit sector, Janice has served as chair of the audit committee of the Province of Alberta and as a board member of the inaugural boards of the Accounting Education Foundation of Alberta and the Edmonton Community Foundation. She has also served on the boards of numerous Edmonton community organizations.
Ms. Rennie holds a bachelor of commerce from the University of Alberta and is a fellow of both the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta and the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Richard Cruickshank (Board Vice Chair)
Mr. Richard Cruickshank, Q.C., was appointed to the board in 2017 and is chair of its Human Resources and Compensation Committee. He was appointed vice-chair of the board in April 2019.
Mr. Cruickshank is the founding partner and, for 25 years, the managing partner of the law firm Cruickshank Karvellas, prior to its merger with Fraser Milner (now Dentons) in 2000. He was appointed to Alberta King's Counsel in 1996. Throughout his career, he has provided strategic counsel to a number of corporations and institutions, with a primary focus on tax law.
Mr. Cruickshank served on the board of directors of Capital Power Corporation from 2009 to 2015. He is also a past president of the Edmonton Bar Association and a former board member of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Cruickshank holds a law degree from the University of Manitoba and an arts degree in economics from the University of Winnipeg.
Leontine van Leeuwen-Atkins
Ms. Leontine van Leeuwen-Atkins, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D, MA, CPA, was appointed to the board in 2020. She also serves on the boards of ARC Resources Ltd. of Calgary (where she also serves as audit committee chair, and on the risk committee) and Cameco Corporation of Saskatoon (where she serves on the audit, governance and nominating, and technical committees).
Ms. van Leeuwen-Atkins was previously a member of KPMG Canada's national board of directors and KPMG Canada's acquisitions and admissions and succession committees.
Having worked in the industrial and energy sectors for more than 30 years, Ms. van Leeuwen-Atkins has significant experience in international and North American oil and gas, mining, oil sands, regulated utilities, pipelines, gas storage, power and petro- and agri-chemicals.
In 2022, Ms. Van Leeuwen-Atkins was honoured as a fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta. Along with being a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors Calgary Chapter's executive committee, she holds an ICD.D Corporate Director designation, as well as a bachelor of business administration in finance (cum laude), an MBA (cum laude) and a Chartered Public Accountant designation (Gold Medal).
Mary (Margaret) Bateman
Ms. Mary (Margaret) Bateman was appointed to the board in 2019. She is past CEO and senior partner of Calder Bateman Communications – a firm she co-founded in 1990, and which merged with Calgary-based ZGM Modern Marketing Partners in 2018.
For more than 40 years, Ms. Bateman has provided strategic counsel and planning expertise to public and private sector clients engaged in a range of public policy issues. She has also led complex multi-stakeholder engagements on behalf of governments at all levels.
Ms. Bateman currently serves on the board of Edmonton’s 2001 Legacy Foundation. She was board chair of Edmonton Airports when it financed a billion-dollar expansion through capital markets, and negotiated closure of the city's municipal airport. Ms. Bateman is also a past member of the Board of Governors of Augustana University College, which is now part of the University of Alberta, and past board member of Alberta Blue Cross Corporation.
Ms. Bateman is a former managing director of the Government of Alberta's Public Affairs Bureau and vice-president of Alberta Housing Corporation.
Vito Culmone
Mr. Vito Culmone, FCPA, FCA, was appointed a director in August 2013, and is the chair of the board's Audit Committee. He is currently the chief financial officer of MDA Ltd. of Brampton, Ont. Mr. Culmone is the former chief financial officer of Element Fleet Management, and CFO and executive vice-president of finance for Shaw Communications Inc., and served the same roles with WestJet Airlines for eight years. He has also held various senior leadership roles with Molson Inc. (now Molson Coors) over a 12-year period, working both domestically and internationally.
Mr. Culmone obtained his chartered accountant designation in 1989 while at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked in the firm's tax and audit departments. He holds a bachelor of commerce (honours) degree in economics and finance from the University of Toronto.
Robert (Bob) Foster
Mr. Robert (Bob) Foster joined EPCOR's Board of Directors in May 2014 and currently chairs EPCOR's Health, Safety and Environment Committee. He has a strong record of municipal and executive leadership, most recently as the mayor of Long Beach, Calif. – an office he held from 2006 to 2014.
Mr. Foster has an extensive background as an executive in the utility sector and is the former chair of the California Independent System Operator. Prior to this and his entry into politics, he was president of Southern California Edison, where he also held other key executive positions and also within its parent company, Edison International, over two decades.
Mr. Foster played a lead role in developing energy policy for the State of California during the early part of his career. He held key leadership positions with the state's Energy Commission and the California State Senate Committee on Energy and Public Utilities. Mr. Foster is a graduate of San Jose State University with a bachelor of arts in public administration.
David Hay
Mr. David Hay joined EPCOR's Board of Directors in 2017 and chairs the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. He has a strong background as a corporate director, crown utility CEO and investment banking executive.
Mr. Hay held the position of vice-chair and managing director of CIBC World Markets Inc. from 2010 to 2015, with power, utilities and infrastructure as a major focus, as well as vice-chair of the board of directors of Toronto Hydro Corporation. Prior to this, he was president and CEO for six years with New Brunswick Power, where he led a major restructuring of the crown utility.
Mr. Hay serves as the managing director of Delgatie Inc., a financial services advisory firm. He is also a director of Toronto-based Hydro One Ltd., a member of the Council for Clean and Reliable Energy and an executive Fellow of the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre in London, Ont.
Mr. Hay has also served as senior vice-president and director of Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. Mr. Hay holds a bachelor of laws from York University and a bachelor of arts from the University of Toronto.
Alan Krause
Mr. Alan Krause was appointed to the board in 2018. He served as chair and CEO of MWH Global Inc. (now part of Stantec), from 2011 to 2017. Under his leadership, MWH completed some of the world's most complex water infrastructure projects, including the Panama Canal Expansion and the Tekeze Hydropower Project in Ethiopia.
Mr. Krause held several other key executive positions with MWH, including president and chief operating officer and president of the company's natural resources, industry and infrastructure section. He played a significant role in the merger of Harza and Montgomery Watson in 2001 that created MWH.
Mr. Krause earned a master's degree in geological engineering from the University of Nevada’s Mackay School of Mines. He has completed the owner/president management program at Harvard Business School, and is a member and distinguished engineer for the Pan American Academy of Engineering.
In 2015, Mr. Krause was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to represent the consulting and engineering segment of the U.S. environmental technology sector on the Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee.
Catherine Roozen
Ms. Catherine Roozen was appointed a director in November 2014. She had been chair and secretary of Cathton Investments Ltd. (formerly Cathton Holdings Ltd.) of Edmonton, a private investment company with interests in banking, broadcasting, ranching and real estate development, since 2009. She joined Cathton Holdings in 1981 and has also served as its vice-president. She is also director and secretary of the Allard Foundation of Edmonton.
Ms. Roozen currently serves on the board of directors of both Melcor Developments Ltd. of Edmonton and Corus Entertainment Inc. of Toronto. She has served on numerous corporate and community boards, including Alberta Health Services, the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, and the University of Alberta Board of Governors.
Ms. Roozen graduated from the University of Alberta with a bachelor of commerce degree and has received an honorary doctor of laws from that institution. She is a recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence, the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Alberta Award of Excellence.
Nizar Jaffer Somji
Mr. Nizar Jaffer Somji was appointed to the Board in 2015. He graduated from the University of Birmingham with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and holds a master of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Alberta.
Mr. Somji is the president and chief executive officer of Jaffer Inc. of Edmonton, and founder and former president and chief executive officer of Matrikon Inc., prior to the company being acquired by Honeywell in 2010. Matrikon was a leader in industrial intelligence for the oil and gas industry and employed over 600 employees on six continents.
Mr. Somji is chair of Kanvi Private Equity Fund, a director at QuirkLogic Inc. of Calgary, and past chair of Zafin Inc. of Toronto.
Dr. Verna Yiu
Dr. Verna Yiu was appointed to the board in November 2023. She is currently the Interim Provost and Vice-President, Academic at the University of Alberta, and a professor of pediatrics in the university's Division of Pediatric Nephrology. Dr. Yiu completed her undergraduate degree, medical school and residency at the University of Alberta, and completed a fellowship in pediatric nephrology at Harvard University.
Along with her previous faculty leadership roles at the University of Alberta, Dr. Yiu served as the Executive Vice-President and Chief Medical Officer (2012-2016) and then as the President and CEO (2016-2022) of Alberta Health Services, where she oversaw a workforce of more than 110,000.
Dr. Yiu has served on boards and committees of several influential health organizations, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, and is the recipient of numerous awards for her service, teaching and clinical care.
Dr. Yiu also continues to work on the front lines, providing care to young patients and their families at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta.
