About Clear Seas:
Supporting Sustainable Marine Shipping

Murray Coolican

Board Chair

Murray Coolican has held leadership positions across a number of sectors including not for profit, government, and the private sector. He has worked on environmental and aboriginal issues, in the energy and natural resources sectors, and in financial services.

He served as Senior Executive Vice President at Maritime Life, and Vice President at a number of companies including Nova Scotia Power, Corporate Communications Limited and National Sea Products. In government, he worked as Deputy Minister of Energy and Business in the Government of Nova Scotia, Deputy Minister of Native Affairs in the Government of Ontario and Special Assistant to the Rt. Hon. Robert Stanfield. He was also Executive Director of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, an environmental NGO when it won the Governor General’s Conservation Award.

As a volunteer, he Chaired the Halifax Metro United Way, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce and served as Vice-Chair of the Dalhousie University Board of Governors. He has also served as a Director of the Canadian Geographic Society and the World Wildlife Fund (Canada).

Kim Baird, C.M., O.B.C.

Board Vice-Chair

Kim Baird is the owner of Kim Baird Strategic Consulting and offers First Nation related and strategic advice to industry, government and First Nations. In June 2020, she was appointed to a three-year term as chancellor of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, in Vancouver.

While Chief of the Tsawwassen First Nation, she negotiated and implemented British Columbia’s first urban treaty. Kim serves on several boards, including the Infrastructure Bank of Canada, and is the recipient of both Orders of Canada and British Columbia. Kim holds an Institute of Corporate Director’s designation.

Aldo Chircop, Ph. D.

Dr. Chircop is a professor and the Canada Research Chair in Maritime Law and Policy at Dalhousie University. His principal areas of research are in Canadian maritime law, international maritime law, and international law of the sea. His research focuses on the international regulation of marine shipping in polar regions, especially in the Arctic. He is Chair of the Comité Maritime International’s International Working Group on Polar Shipping. His previous positions include directorships of the Marine and Environmental Law Institute, Marine Affairs Program, International Ocean Institute, and the Mediterranean Institute at the University of Malta. Dr. Chircop was also the Canadian Chair in Marine Environment Protection at the International Maritime Organization’s World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden. Dr. Chircop has published extensively in Canada and overseas.

Ginny Flood

Ginny Flood is a senior executive with an extensive background in corporate and public service focused on the Canadian and international energy and mining sectors.

She recently retired as Vice-President, Government Relations at Suncor Energy Inc., Calgary, Alberta. Ms. Flood led the development, implementation and evaluation of the company’s government relations strategy to contribute to government policies and regulatory agendas. 

Previously, Ms. Flood held senior roles as Vice-President, Canada, for Rio Tinto and in the Canadian federal government in resource development. This included participating as the Government of Canada’s representative on international and government-to-government working groups globally in the minerals and metals sector. 

In 2018-2019, she was Chair of the Board of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and is one of the founding members of the Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) and a member of its Board of Directors. 

Ms. Flood resides in Victoria, BC, and has a Queen’s University Executive MBA, and studied Business Administration at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Julie Gelfand, MBA

Julie Gelfand is a distinguished fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto with a background in environmental affairs and sustainable development. 

Ms. Gelfand is the former federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. She led a historic collaborative audit on climate change with the provincial Auditors Generals as well as audits on subjects such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), toxic substances, biodiversity, and the federal oversight of industrial activities (mining, aquaculture, nuclear energy, pipelines). 

Formerly, Ms. Gelfand was the Vice President of Environment and Social Responsibility at Rio Tinto, Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) where she was a member of the Executive Team and directed all environmental and social responsibility files. Before joining IOC, Ms. Gelfand was Vice President of Sustainable Development at the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) from 2008 to 2011 and President of Nature Canada from 1992 to 2008. At Nature Canada, she led campaigns to establish new National Parks and laws to protect nature (including the federal Species at Risk Act), and founded and chaired the Green Budget Coalition, an alliance of twenty-two national environmental NGOs working to achieve ecological fiscal reform.

Ms. Gelfand has significant experience sitting on boards of directors of charitable organizations both nationally and internationally. She is fluent in English and French, is a certified coach, and has an MBA from the University of Ottawa.   

Serge Alain Le Guellec

Mr. Le Guellec recently retired as the President and General Manager of Desgagnés, where he led the operations of a fleet of 15+ merchant vessels including bulk carriers, tankers, and general cargo vessels. Throughout his career, Mr. Le Guellec worked in the defence, aerospace, and marine transportation industries, and built extensive expertise in the fields of engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain management. He also devoted significant efforts to increasing awareness around shipping safety and environmental protection, notably by sharing best practices and emergency protocols to prevent and mitigate the impact of maritime incidents and accidents.

Mr. Le Guellec is a former member of the Canadian Forces. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada, a Master’s degree in Project Management from the University of Hull, as well as Master’s degree in Aerospace Vehicle Design from the Cranfield Institute of Technology (UK).

John W. Hepburn, Ph. D., FRSC

Dr. John Hepburn is CEO and Senior Scientific Director at Mitacs, a national, not-for-profit research and training organization dedicated to advancing collaboration between industry, academia and government in Canada. 

Previously, he was the Vice-President, Research and Partnerships at CIFAR in Toronto.  Dr. Hepburn also served as Vice-President, Research & International at the University of British Columbia. He had joined UBC in 2001 as a Professor of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, and Head of Chemistry. Dr. Hepburn later became Dean of Science in 2003 and Vice-President, Research in 2005. Before his time at UBC he was a Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Waterloo from 1982-2001.

He holds a BSc from the University of Waterloo, a PhD from the University of Toronto, and he was a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California Berkeley. He has been a Fellow of the A.P. Sloan Foundation, a Foreign Research Fellow of the CNRS (France), and a Canada Council Killam Fellow. 

He has also been awarded the Rutherford Medal and the Noranda Prize, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Physical Society and the Canadian Institute for Chemistry. Dr. Hepburn also serves as a Board member for numerous organizations, including membership on the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Council of Canadian Academies.

Kate Moran, Ph. D.

Kate Moran is President and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada, Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria, and former Director of NEPTUNE Canada. From 2009 to 2011, she was seconded to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she served as an Assistant Director and focused on Arctic, Polar, Ocean, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and climate policy issues. Kate Moran received degrees in engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (BS), the University of Rhode Island (MS), and Dalhousie University
(Ph. D.).

Richard Sparrow

Richard Sparrow is a member and Councillor of xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band). He has been active in the field of First Nations conservation and restoration management and policy for more than 20 years.

Mr. Sparrow has spent his career advocating for the protection and enhancement of the inherent fishing rights and titles of local First Nations communities. His work primarily focuses on building and maintaining natural resource relationships with Indigenous communities throughout British Columbia, as well as on collective impact related to First Nations natural resource management and inherent rights.

Prior to his work with The Grizzly Bear Foundation, Mr. Sparrow spent more than 6 years providing senior management to the First Nations Fisheries Council of British Columbia, where he supported intergovernmental affairs and fisheries management, as well as governance and leadership to the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance and the Musqueam Fisheries Commission.

Bud Streeter

Bud Streeter is the former President of Lloyd’s Register Canada Limited and Americas Regional Manager of Naval Business and External Affairs. He has close to 50 years of experience in the maritime industry, where he has held leadership roles in both the public and private sectors, including Transport Canada, the Canadian Advisory Council on National Security, and Marine Atlantic Inc. During his time as the Director General of Marine Safety at Transport Canada, Mr. Streeter acted as the Head of the Canadian Delegation at various meetings at the International Maritime Organization and other international forums.

In 2013, Mr. Streeter was presented with the inaugural Medal of Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering and was cited for his long-standing commitment to marine safety and the mentoring of young maritime professionals. He has been sitting on Clear Seas’ Board of Directors since its founding and assumed responsibility as Chair of the Board from 2018 to early 2022. Mr. Streeter is a Marine Engineering graduate from the Canadian Coast Guard College.

Jane Weldon, MBA

Jane Weldon recently retired as the Executive Head of the Oceans Protection Plan at Transport Canada, where she served for several years. Previously, she was Director-General of Canada’s Marine Safety and Security and led the development of many government initiatives aimed at addressing key marine environmental issues, including the protection of North Atlantic right whales and the prevention of damage from flooding in Quebec and Ontario.

Throughout her career, Jane Weldon collaborated extensively with industry members, academia, the non-profit sector, and other international colleagues to develop and implement Canadian marine policies and regulatory frameworks. She also worked in transportation infrastructure funding, the management of federal ports and airports, social policy, and human resources.

She represented Canada as the Head of Delegation at the International Maritime Organization, was Co-Chair of the Canada-U.S. Maritime Security Committee, and Chair of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan Management Committee.

Jane Weldon is a graduate of the University of Ottawa.

Duncan Wilson

As Vice President, Environment, Community and Government Affairs, Duncan Wilson leads the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s environmental programs, community engagement, aboriginal engagement, communications, and government affairs functions.

With more than 25 years of experience working in communications, public engagement and marketing, Mr. Wilson also has a distinguished track record of community leadership, having served three consecutive terms as Commissioner on the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, including three years as Chair of the Board. Mr. Wilson currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He previously served on the boards of the Vancouver Aboriginal Skills and Employment Program, Vancouver Public Library, Downtown Vancouver Association and Hastings Park Conservancy.

Peter Xotta, MBA

In his role as Vice president, Operations and Supply Chain, for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Peter Xotta is overseeing the health, safety, and security of all land and marine operations, as well as port and supply chain optimization activities.

For the past decade, Mr. Xotta has led the development and funding of the port authority’s gateway infrastructure programs to deliver an enhanced road and rail network to facilitate trade through the Port of Vancouver. He also oversees the optimization of the port and supply chain work streams, including vessel traffic management and visibility initiatives.

Over the years, Mr. Xotta has held several strategic port projects and business development initiatives. He is the former President of Modalink Distribution Hub Ltd., a multi-modal logistics facility in British Columbia, and Chair of Canada Place Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Mr. Xotta sits on the Board of Directors of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and the Freight Management Association of Canada. He holds a Master’s degree in business administration from Simon Fraser University.