About Clear Seas:
Supporting Sustainable Marine Shipping
Who We Are
Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping is an independent not-for-profit research centre that supports safe and sustainable marine shipping in Canada.
Clear Seas was established in 2014 after extensive discussions among government, industry, environmental organizations, Indigenous peoples and coastal communities revealed a need for impartial information about the Canadian marine shipping industry.
What We Do
RESEARCH • ENGAGE • INFORM
Clear Seas provides impartial information on marine shipping in Canada to policy makers and the public. Our mandate is to initiate and interpret research, analyze policies, identify best practices, share information and facilitate dialogue.
Our research focuses on the human, environmental and economic impacts of marine shipping. That includes practices for safe handling of bulk commodities at marine terminals, impacts of oil and liquid natural gas shipping, spill prevention and response, impacts on coastal and Indigenous communities, and much more.
We collaborate with Indigenous groups, stakeholders and experts to identify knowledge gaps, share results of existing studies, and facilitate new research to ensure decision makers have access to accurate, up-to-date information.
Indigenous Relations & Participation
Clear Seas recognizes the unique place of Indigenous peoples – including First Nations, Inuit and Métis – in Canada, which affords them special rights, as protected under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution and as recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This may include titles or rights and associated stewardship over their territories, including marine areas.
Accordingly, Clear Seas strives to actively involve Indigenous communities in carrying out its mission concerning research and knowledge sharing on safe and sustainable marine shipping in Canada. In particular, Clear Seas seeks to:
- Create awareness among indigenous communities of Clear Seas’ mission and activities;
- Learn about Indigenous communities’ perspectives on marine shipping issues;
- Identify areas where Clear Seas can contribute to addressing marine shipping issues using research capacity, communication, and convening power;
- Appropriately apply traditional knowledge* to Clear Seas’ research;
- Collaborate with Indigenous communities to lead or participate in research activities, and also provide employment and business opportunities; and
- Build respectful relationships between Clear Seas and Indigenous communities.
*Traditional knowledge is a body of knowledge specific to Indigenous people. It comes from their cultural heritage, traditional lifestyles and the strong relationship they cultivate with the natural environment. Traditional knowledge includes deep understanding and insights into traditional subsistence and resource harvesting practices as well as extensive knowledge of environmentally sensitive and culturally significant coastal areas.
Our Team
Paul Blomerus
Executive Director
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Meghan Mathieson
(On Leave)
Director of Research & Knowledge Mobilization
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Edward Downing
Director of Communications & Engagement
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Andrea Mitchell-Rozario
Executive Assistant/Coordinator
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Jennifer Steele
Manager of Research & Knowledge Mobilization
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Sarah Landry
Manager of Communications
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Sarah Thomas
Manager of Indigenous & Coastal Communities Engagement
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Jim Hodgson
Research Associate
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Tessa Coulthard
Research Associate
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Chloe Scott
Research Assistant
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Board of Directors
How We Operate
Clear Seas received seed funding in 2015 through equal contributions of $3.7 million from the Government of Canada (Transport Canada), the Government of Alberta (Alberta Energy) and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Our funders saw the need for an independent organization that would be a source of objective information on issues related to marine shipping in Canada. In 2020, Clear Seas received $1 million in additional funding from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
As an independent research centre, Clear Seas operates at arm’s length from our funders. Our research agenda is defined internally in response to current issues, reviewed by our research advisory committee, and approved by our board of directors.
Our board of directors is composed of scientists, community leaders, engineers and industry executives with decades of experience investigating human, environmental and economic issues related to our oceans, coastlines and waterways.
All our reports and findings are available to the public here at clearseas.org.
Read our 2018/2019 Directors’ report available here.
Board of Directors
Bud Streeter
Board Chair
Bud Streeter retired as President Lloyd’s Register Canada Limited and Americas Manager of Naval Business and External Affairs at the end of 2017, capping a career of nearly 50 years in the marine business. He is a 1973 graduate in Marine Engineering from the Canadian Coast Guard College. His early career was spent as an Engineering Officer on various ships, as an Instructor in Marine Engineering Technologies at the Canadian Coast Guard College and as a Marine Safety Surveyor, Examiner and Manager in various offices. In 1987, he joined Marine Atlantic Inc. as Manager of Marine Technical Services. He left as Vice President Safety and Regulatory Affairs in 1996 to join Transport Canada as Director General Marine Safety, in which capacity he was the Head of the Canadian Delegation to various meetings at the International Maritime Organization and other international gatherings. Bud joined Lloyd’s Register, a global safety and risk management organization in 2002 and held various positions with Lloyd’s Register including Vice President, Lloyd’s Register North America, Inc. responsible for Canada and as Vice President Lloyd’s Register North America Inc, responsible for business in North America and the Caribbean. He was then appointed as President Lloyd’s Register Canada Limited and concurrently as President of Martec Limited, which was a Lloyd’s Register affiliated consulting company. In 2014 he took on the role of President of Lloyd’s Register Canada Limited and Americas Regional Manager of Naval Business and External Affairs.
He has served as a Board Member for Meridian Shipping Limited and on various of the Lloyd’s Register affiliated companies. He was appointed to the Canadian Advisory Council on National Security and served as a marine security advisor between 2005 and 2009. In 2013, he was presented with the inaugural Medal of Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering and was cited for his long commitment to marine safety and the mentoring of young maritime professionals. Bud has been a Director of Clear Seas since its founding and assumed responsibility as Chair of the Board of Directors on 20 February 2018.
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 (KPU) in Vancouver, BC effective October 2020.
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.
Murray Coolican
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.)
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.
Serge Alain Le Guellec
President & General Manager, Transport Desgagnés
Mr. Le Guellec is President and General Manager Transport Desgagnés Inc. He holds a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering (Royal Military College of Canada), a Master’s degree of science in Project Management (University of Hull, Quebec, Canada) and a Master’s degree in Aerospace Vehicle Design (Cranfield Institute of Technology, UK). A former uniformed member of the Canadian Forces, Mr. Le Guellec has worked in turn in the defence, aerospace and maritime transportation industries, first in engineering specialist roles and, later in his career, in project / program management and senior management roles. As a result, he possesses a unique mix of experience in aerospace engineering, manufacturing, supply chain management, project / program management and, lastly, general management.
As the President and General Manager of Transport Desgagnés inc., Mr. Le Guellec is responsible for the technical management of a varied fleet of tanker vessels, bulkers, general cargo / heavy lift and cargo / passenger vessels. As a senior maritime transportation industry executive, Mr. Le Guellec is a strong advocate of safety as well as the protection of the environment, explaining in public forums those applicable regulatory frameworks, procedures and best practices the maritime industry follows to first prevent an incident from happening and, should it become necessary, those emergency protocols and procedures to be enacted in order to minimise the impact and consequences of a given maritime accident.
Dr. John W. Hepburn, 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.
Dr. Kate Moran, PhD
Kate Moran is currently the President and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada. She is also a Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria. Previously, she was a Director of NEPTUNE Canada. From 2009 to 2011, Moran 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. Moran received degrees in engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (BS), University of Rhode Island (MS), and Dalhousie University (PhD).
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 (VanASEP), Vancouver Public Library, Downtown Vancouver Association and Hastings Park Conservancy.
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.
