René Legacy was first elected as MLA on September 14, 2020, in his riding of Bathurst West-Beresford and was re-elected in October 2024 in the redrawn riding of Bathurst. On November 4, 2024, he was sworn in as the Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance and Treasury Board, and Minister responsible for energy. Born and raised in the City of Bathurst, Rene Legacy built a successful career in the financial industry spanning a period of over 25 years, mostly comprised of executive roles with the Caisse populaires acadiènnes, then later named UNI Coopération Financière. Over those same years, Mr. Legacy has been an active community member in many leadership roles. Having the privilege of serving on many boards such as the Northern New Brunswick Airport Authority as president, Enterprise Chaleur as president, Conseil Canadien de la Coopération as Vice president, Conseil Économique du Nouveau Brunswick, ANBL as Audit Chair and more recently as chair of the Chaleur Regional Hospital Foundation $5M capital campaign. He was also instrumental in the revival of Bathurst Hospitality Days serving as president for many years and has been a strong advocate for early childhood literacy at a provincial level. His proudest accomplishment is having raised three successful sons, Christopher, Brandon and Stephen with his wife Brenda.
Tony has had a long and distinguished career in politics, law, and business spanning four decades. Tony served as a Member of Parliament from 2006 to 2019 and a member of the provincial legislature in Ontario from 1995 to 2003. At the federal level, Tony held senior portfolios in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Cabinet, including Minister of Health, Minister of Industry and President of the Treasury Board. Among the many mandates given to him by the Prime Minister, he was tasked with initiating the cost reductions and business transformations that allowed for balancing the federal budget, and he negotiated the deal with Chrysler, GM, auto sector unions, and the US Government, which helped save the domestic auto sector in 2013. He also helped to fashion the first National Pandemic Plan and helped to establish the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and the Mental Health Commission. As Industry Minister, he initiated Canada’s Digital Strategy and later Canada’s open data strategy as part of the worldwide Open Government Partnership. Before federal politics, Tony Clement served in the cabinets of Ontario Premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves, where he was Minister of Transportation, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Since leaving elected office in 2019, Tony has engaged with several entrepreneurial projects, led IT startup companies, and served on various IT and healthcare boards while providing strategic advice to clients nationally and internationally. He also served as Pierre Polievre’s fundraising director during the 2022 leadership campaign and was subsequently appointed to the Conservative Party’s fundraising committee. Today, Tony works internationally, with strong connections in the USA, UK, Europe, South America, Asia, and India. He is a trained lawyer who enjoys analyzing and supporting clients with strategic advice from legal, geopolitical, and financial perspectives. Tony hosts the daily television program “Boom and Bust” on The News Forum, focusing on business, the economy, tech and national security. He also co-hosts his regular podcast, “And Another Thing Podcast,” and hosts a monthly radio program. Tony Clement lives in Muskoka, Ontario, with his wife Lynne, a lawyer and successful author. They have three adult children.
Norm, as he is known by his friends and colleagues, built his extensive knowledge base on an early technical
and regulatory foundation, leading to key C-Suite Nuclear Industry Executive roles. Norm’s distinguished
career in the energy field has included extensive experience in both the commercial operation, and the
regulation of, large Canadian nuclear generation facilities. His significant knowledge and extensive experience
have been recognized by the Government of Canada with his ‘Governor General in Council’ appointment as a
member to the National Research Council, regarded as Canada’s premier science and engineering institution.
Norm has previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer at ARC Clean Energy Canada Inc., a Small
Modular Reactor technology vendor. Before these roles, Norm served in key Nuclear Industry Leadership roles
such as the Executive Vice President & Chief Nuclear Officer at Bruce Power, which is the only privately
owned nuclear operator in Canada, and at that time, was the largest nuclear generating site in the world.
Additionally, Norm served in senior leadership roles at the Hydro Quebec Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station
and at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Early in his career, Norm fulfilled several key roles at the
New Brunswick Point Lepreau Generating Station, including holding a license to operate the nuclear facility.
Internationally, Norm spent time assisting the World Association of Nuclear Operators.
Norm’s distinguished career in the energy field has included significant experience in both the commercial
operation, and the regulation of, large Canadian nuclear generation facilities, as well as supporting several
Small Modular Nuclear Reactor (SMNR) technology and deployment approaches and reviews, including
industrial SMNR integration strategies for large energy corporations.
Currently, through ION Nuclear Consulting Limited, Norm provides Canadian and International clients with
extensive knowledge and experience to support the design, development and successful implementation of
various proven strategies and approaches to enhance performance, support business opportunities and assist
Investors, Banks and Executive Teams with critical decision making.
Dr. André Pelletier works with the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI), where he focuses on advancing Canada’s nuclear industrial strategy through supply chain development, advanced manufacturing integration, and supplier capability building. At OCNI, he leads and co-leads regional and national initiatives including Ready4SMR and CAMiNA, working with industry, research institutions, and standards bodies to address critical supply chain gaps and position Canadian companies for participation in emerging small modular reactor (SMR) and broader nuclear opportunities. His work is grounded in a multidisciplinary background spanning applied chemistry, engineering, and innovation program leadership across energy and resource-based industries. Across his career, Dr. Pelletier has worked at the intersection of technology, commercialization, and policy, with experience supporting organizations in the strategic use of intellectual property and innovation assets. He brings a systems-level perspective to strengthening Canada’s industrial competitiveness in complex, highly regulated sectors.
Arlene Dunn is a seasoned labour relations professional, executive leader, and former elected official with more than 35 years of experience across union, employer, and government sectors. Her career has been defined by advancing strong industrial relations, workforce development, Indigenous engagement, and inclusive economic opportunity—particularly for newcomers and underrepresented populations, including NEET youth—within Canada’s construction and skilled trades sector. She began her career with the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) in New Brunswick, becoming the first woman in Canada to serve as a construction union business manager. She went on to break additional barriers as the first woman to lead both a construction employers’ association—the Hebron Project Employers’ Association—and a building trades council, serving as President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Building and Construction Trades Council. In 2015, Arlene joined Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) as Deputy Director and, in 2019, became its first female Director, representing more than 500,000 skilled trades professionals nationwide. Elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in 2020, Arlene held several senior Cabinet portfolios, including Minister of Indigenous Affairs, Minister of Opportunities New Brunswick, Minister of Economic Development, Minister of Immigration, and Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour. In 2024, she was recruited as Chief Executive Officer of the Saint John Construction Association, Canada’s oldest construction association. Arlene has been widely recognized for her leadership and community service, receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, the Paul Harris Fellow designation, and the Changemaker Award. She holds a degree from the University of New Brunswick, completed executive studies at Cornell University, and most recently completed the Energy Fundamentals for Leaders Program at the University of New Brunswick. She currently serves on several boards, including the Multi Employer Benefit Plan Council of Canada (MEBCO), the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI), the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation, and the Sisters of Charity Legacy Initiative. Arlene is deeply committed to helping children, youth, and individuals experiencing poverty build pathways to training, employment, and long-term careers in the skilled trades. She is also a strong advocate for individuals living with substance use disorders and was instrumental in establishing the first comprehensive support and access program of its kind for members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Building Trades. She is married to John, and they have one daughter who is pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Brad is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick (UNB) with a BSc. in Chemical Engineering and has held a professional engineering designation for over 15 years. Over the past 20 years, Brad has worked with the New Brunswick Departments of Environment, Natural Resources & Energy, and Executive Council and served as Manager of Business for NB Power, working with talented colleagues to develop and launch the small modular and advanced reactor program in New Brunswick. In 2022 Brad left government to join the Centre for Nuclear Energy Research (CNER) at UNB as Director of Innovation and has taught within the Chemical Engineering Department for over a decade.
Francis Bradley is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Electricity Canada, an association which represents and advocates for the companies in the direct value chain of Canadian electricity and acts as a “national voice” for Canada’s electricity sector. The association serves its electricity industry members through its councils and committees, aided by a team of expert professionals, led by Francis, and directed by a Board of Directors made up of member CEOs. Francis sits on the Positive Energy Advisory Council and the Steering Committee for the Electricity Sub-Sector Coordinating Council (ESCC). He was previously co-chair of the National Cross-Sector Forum, overseeing Canada’s Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure. He was a founding Board member of the Canadian Transportation Alliance, and served on the Boards of Electricity Human Resources Canada and the Energy Council of Canada (ECC). In a range of cross-border forums, and at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) Member Representatives Committee and Board of Trustees’ meetings, Francis represents Electricity Canada and advocates strongly for Canada’s critical role in ensuring the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system. Prior to being named CEO in June 2019, Francis managed Electricity Canada’s day-to-day activities as Chief Operating Officer since 2014. During that time, he also acted as a member of the National Advisory Committee of Canada’s Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and was a co-chair with the Standards Council of Canada of the Smart Grid Standards Advisory Committee. Francis has decades of service at the community grassroots level, including coaching amateur sports, teaching outdoor and wilderness skills, chairing the local Scouts Canada group, and acting as a warden at his parish church. In 2019 Francis created and continues to host “The Flux Capacitor” podcast, featuring discussions about the future of electricity with CEOs, regulators, political figures, and leaders from civil society.
Jacqueline Cherevaty is Vice President of Strategic Services for Commercial Operations at BWX Technologies, Inc (BWXT). She directs the supply chain management, infrastructure and strategy of the nuclear power businesses at the company. BWXT has over 60 years of expertise in engineering, manufacturing and servicing critical nuclear components, fuel and equipment for the nuclear power industry. As well, the company has decades of expertise developing and manufacturing medical isotopes and radiopharmaceutical drugs for the global nuclear medicine industry. With 25 years of nuclear industry experience, Ms. Cherevaty’s career includes over 20 years of experience at Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) and Kinectrics, where she held various operational and business development leadership roles for reactor refurbishments, inspection and maintenance systems, reverse engineering and asset life cycle management. Ms. Cherevaty holds a bachelor’s degree in applied science in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and a bachelor’s degree in education for mathematics and physics from the University of Toronto. She is a licensed professional engineer in the province of Ontario and holds her Professional Project Management from Project Management institute (PMI). Ms. Cherevaty is a board member on the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI). Ms. Cherevaty is also a former Professional Women’s Hockey Player. She played Varsity Hockey at the University of Toronto, capturing a National Championship and was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Jeff is the Deputy Minister of Energy in the New Brunswick Department of Energy. Prior to being appointed Deputy in February 2025 Jeff served as Assistant Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Development in the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development. Prior to his Jeff spent 10 years with the Department of Environment and Local Government most recently as the Executive Director of the New Brunswick Climate Change Secretariat. Before joining the government of New Brunswick Jeff worked for 11 years with the British Columbia Ministry of Environment in the field of natural resource management.
Ms. Hamberg is a partner and National Low Carbon Fuels Lead at Deloitte Canada where she advises on the commercialization of climate technology at industrial scale. She serves clients across all sectors on the evolving clean technology and clean fuels landscape, advancing innovation to market readiness, and how to de-risk and operationalize the introduction of new technology. She is fascinated by the challenge of developing and commercializing the solutions Canada needs for the energy transition, particularly where new markets and new value chains need to be created. Karen is a clean technology executive with more than 20 years of global experience in the deployment of clean transportation technologies and the policy/regulatory frameworks to enable growth, scale, and market leadership. Prior to Deloitte, she held a range of senior executive positions at Westport Fuel Systems with experience in corporate strategy, market creation and development, product commercialization, external communications, and policy and regulatory affairs. Appointed to the Government of Canada’s Industry Strategy Council and named chair of the Clean Technology Economic Strategy Table in June 2020, Karen has advised on accelerating the deployment of made-in-Canada cleantech, scaling Canadian companies, and ensuring Canada’s global competitiveness in a net-zero economy. An active volunteer, she is currently a Director of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, a trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Nature, Chair Emeritus of CALSTART in Pasadena, California, and past Chair of the United Way of British Columbia Campaign Cabinet. Karen holds a Master of Arts from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts from Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba.
Laura Donahue has over 20 years of professional experience in the maritime and defence industries, holding degrees in both Mechanical and Chemical Engineering. Laura spent her early career leading and executing projects related to source and consequence modelling of threats to military and civilian infrastructure. Since 2013, she has led teams of engineers and computer scientists solving challenging client problems in a range of domains including fluid dynamics, noise and vibration, risk, structural analysis, nuclear, human factors, and autonomy. Currently, Laura is LR’s global Advisory Solutions Operations Director. She is also LR’s Vice President representing Canada. Outside of work, Laura has been an active participant in the Boards of several non-profit groups in her Halifax, Nova Scotia community.
Lori was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in July 2022. Prior to this, she held various roles of increasing responsibility with NB Power including Senior Vice President - Operations, Vice President - Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Initiatives, Executive Director - Human Resources, and Managing Director – Finance. Lori leads a team of energy professionals who provide electricity services to nearly 400,000 customers in New Brunswick. This team is focused on the energy transition and ensuring clean, reliable and affordable energy to all New Brunswickers. Lori’s career path at NB Power is a testament to her strong leadership abilities, her utility knowledge, her strength of character, and her tenacity. She prides herself in being open, honest, transparent, and authentic. As a leader she has high standards, drives accountability and is seen as firm but fair. Lori holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. She has also studied Nuclear Reactor Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Governance at the Rotman School of Management, and Leadership at the Wharton School of Business. She is the first female to hold the position of President and CEO in NB Power’s 100+ year history. In addition, she is the first female to be named CEO of a utility with a nuclear plant in its fleet in Canada. In her spare time Lori enjoys reading, travelling, and spending time with her family and her yellow lab, Murphy.
As Vice President, Key Accounts and Stakeholder Management at Candu Energy Inc., an AtkinsRéalis company, Maura McDonald is responsible for Global Key Accounts, the majority of which are made up of Global CANDU® fleet clients. In this capacity, she provides strategic oversight on global business development and market growth, working collaboratively with key industry stakeholders. Functionally, she oversees Key Account Management for Candu’s Global OEM Services business. OEM Services is responsible for engineering and field inspection, maintenance, and nuclear-specified and manufactured parts for all existing CANDU® reactors in Canada (Ontario, New Brunswick), Argentina, South Korea, Romania, and China. Maura also manages the Candu proposals group while working cooperatively with the broader AtkinsRéalis team to manage stakeholder relationships. Her range of experience with Candu Energy includes the MONARK Project, Marketing & Business Development, and Governance and Deployment, where her portfolio included market strategy and multi-tier stakeholder engagement. In this capacity, she was responsible for the execution of key strategies that prepare Ontario, Canada and the globe for the next CANDU new build. Before joining Candu Energy in 2020, Maura was Engineering Manager at Acuren Nuclear Services, Inc., overseeing the establishment and implementation of the N299.1 program. Prior to Acuren, Maura worked as an independent consultant at Bruce Power, delivering key system design updates executed during online outages. Her early career started on the Bruce Power Units 1&2 Restart Refurbishment Project, initially supporting the balance of plant field engineering with the majority of time supporting the modification and maintenance certification, return-to-service, and available-for-service of key systems, including vault, airlocks, feeders and fuel channels. Maura is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and holds a Master of Engineering from the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto.
Mathias Trojer, PhD, is Co-Founder of Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd., and serves as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. He earned his PhD in Petroleum Engineering from the Mining University of Leoben in Austria, and completed two postdoctoral fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), focusing on nuclear reactor safety management systems and design. Mathias’ extensive background in nuclear sciences, combined with his commercial experience in the Oil and Gas and offshore industries, informed the technical basis for Prodigy’s Transportable Nuclear Power Plant (TNPP) program. As key enabling Canadian technologies, Prodigy’s TNPPs provide rapid deployment solutions to deliver safe, clean and reliable power to Canada's Northern and Arctic regions.
In her role as President of the Atlantica Centre for Energy, Michelle proactively advocates for the evolution and growth of Atlantic Canada’s energy sector and is a champion for a more reliable, affordable, secure, and economically competitive regional energy system. Michelle has more than 25 years of public relations, education and business management experience. She has led research projects and community engagement initiatives in various sectors for government, industry and non-profits. Michelle serves as Secretary/Treasurer for the Atlantic Hydrogen Alliance and is an Expert Advisory Panel member for the Atlantic Economic Panel, a private sector led initiative to lead transformational economic growth for the region. Michelle was part of the 2024 New Brunswick Energy Strategy Working Group formed to solicit feedback from the public on the province’s Clean Energy Strategy. She was also a member of the national Nuclear Leadership Roundtable, Energy Safety Canada’s Energy Transition Steering Committee and the Canadian Centre for Energy Information External Advisory Committee. Michelle is an active volunteer in the community, recently joining the board of the Saint John Theater Company. Previously, Michelle worked at the New Brunswick Community College and for the Financial and Consumer Services Commission. She is a proud mom to twin daughters, Madelyn and Sophie who have recently joined her as University of New Brunswick alumni.
Michael provides practical advice to clients on key environmental, Indigenous and strategic aspects of developing, permitting and constructing energy, infrastructure, mining and real estate projects. He guides clients in their negotiations with Indigenous peoples and regulatory agencies, especially to resolve impasses, to advance complex, multi-party negotiations and to develop strong, mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous peoples. He also provides counsel on consultation and accommodation obligations as well as the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples. Michael often crafts a practical, successful resolution to disputes whether acting as counsel, mediator or facilitator. His dispute resolution practice includes approval hearings, civil litigation (especially with respect to contamination), mediation, negotiation and regulatory prosecutions and other proceedings, including with respect to the Environmental Protection Act, Ontario Water Resources Act, Pesticides Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, Fisheries Act and Nuclear Safety and Control Act. As part of Michael’s active transactional practice, he regularly assists buyers, sellers, lenders, borrowers, underwriters and investors through all the environmental and Indigenous aspects of transactions, from the design and coordination of deal-specific liability assessments, through the negotiation of agreements and in handling closing and post-closing details. For existing operations in a wide range of sectors, Michael provides regulatory advice on a broad range of environmental, health and safety issues, including with respect to environmental assessments and other vital permits, including for electricity generation and transmission, water, wastewater, transportation, waste, mine and remediation/closure projects inspections; investigations; liability assessments; climate change; contaminated sites; air, renewable energy, sewage and other approvals. He also advises on the transportation, import and export of dangerous goods, nuclear substances, hazardous products and wastes.
Rory O’Sullivan is the CEO of Moltex Energy, where he leads the development of next-generation nuclear technologies designed to transform the future of clean energy. He has dedicated his career to advancing economical and scalable Generation IV nuclear reactors that address the global challenges of climate change, energy security, and energy poverty. Since co-founding Moltex Energy, Rory has overseen the engineering design of the company’s flagship reactor technologies, led major fundraising efforts, built high-performing international teams, and positioned Moltex as a global leader in advanced nuclear innovation. Under his leadership, Moltex’s Stable Salt Reactor (SSR) has become one of the world’s most promising molten salt reactor technologies and the company has developed and demonstrated a breakthrough nuclear waste recycling technology that can revolutionize nuclear power. Prior to Moltex, Rory founded and directed Energy Process Developments Ltd, where he managed a groundbreaking feasibility study on molten salt reactors that laid the foundation for Moltex’s success. He also co-founded NovaSlice Ltd, a company focused on improving safety and efficiency in the construction sector through patented pile cropping technology. Rory holds a First-Class Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from Trinity College Dublin and completed advanced engineering studies at INSA de Lyon in France through a dual-degree engineering program. He is also a Harvard alumni having participated in the HBS General Management Program. His international experience across the UK, France, Canada, and Haiti has shaped his global perspective on energy, infrastructure, and innovation. Earlier in his career, Rory held complex project management roles with Bouygues UK, delivering major infrastructure and commercial construction projects across London. Rory is a Chartered Engineer and member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), fluent in French, and an active contributor to humanitarian engineering initiatives. Rory has been recognized with multiple industry and leadership awards, including being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list. Outside of work, he is an avid skier, diver, and lifelong adventurer.
She began her CNSC career in 2009 in Saskatoon, as an Inspector for uranium mines and mills. In 2017, Sarah joined the Nuclear Processing and Facilities Division, where she was a Senior Project Officer conducting inspections of fuel cycle facilities. In 2021, Sarah was appointed the Director of Advanced Reactor Licensing in the Directorate of Advanced Reactor Technologies and in 2023 Sarah became the Director General. The Directorate of Advanced Reactor Technologies is responsible for licensing new nuclear reactors, pre-licensing activities and leading the new reactor readiness project for the CNSC, ensuring a coordinated matrix approach to organizational readiness for regulating SMRs, new reactors and new novel technologies. Sarah is a proud Newfoundlander, with a Master of Science in Earth Science from Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Dr. William (Willy) Cook has been a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UNB since 2004 and Director of UNB’s Centre for Nuclear Energy Research (CNER) since 2014. A three-time graduate from UNB’s Chemical Engineering program, Willy is recognized internationally as an expert in power plant chemistry control, corrosion monitoring and corrosion mitigation, specifically for nuclear power systems. Research interests and expertise include the use of test systems that simulate the operational conditions in fossil boiler systems, conventional and advanced Generation IV nuclear power reactors and Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technologies and deployment of advanced energy systems for non-emitting power generation. Willy has recently led the expansion of the CNER research team by incorporating advanced SMR research areas into CNER’s portfolio, culminating in the opening of CNER’s Advanced Nuclear Reactors Laboratory (ANRL) in July 2025. Willy has successfully advocated for and sparked the expansion of nuclear engineering curriculum at UNB with key teaching highlights on topics in nuclear engineering and electrochemical engineering processes. Willy is a passionate lecturer on topics of energy for which he developed the highly popular “Energy and the Environment” course that provides a high-level survey of the necessity and use of various forms of energy in society.
