Chairmen of the National Energy Board

Gaétan Caron
2007 -

Gaétan Caron was designated Chair and CEO of the National Energy Board of Canada (Board) on 20 September 2007. Prior to assuming that role, he was Vice-Chair of the Board, having been appointed on 1 January 2005. In 2003, he was appointed member of the Board. Gaétan joined the staff of the Board in 1979. He has assumed a number of responsibilities at the Board, including those of Chief Engineer and Director, Financial Regulation. From 1994 to 2003, he held the position of Chief Operating Officer, being accountable to the Chair for the Board's overall capability and readiness to meet strategic and operational needs. Gaétan obtained his Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Rural Engineering from Laval University in 1979 and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Ottawa in 1987. He is a member of the Québec Order of Engineers and of the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada. He serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Committee on International Relations and is a member of the Committee on Gas of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). He has been actively engaged in the work of the Calgary United Way notably as a member of its Board of Directors from 2002 to 2009.

Kenneth W. Vollman
1997-2007

Born in Macklin, Saskatchewan, Mr. Vollman holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta. Mr. Vollman spent his career working in the energy sector, gaining his practical experience with oil and gas production while working in the private sector. He moved from the private sector to the National Energy Board in 1973. During his career at the NEB, Mr. Vollman gained experience in energy supply and demand, pipeline construction and operating matters, energy regulatory issues and management. He was appointed to the position of Temporary Member in 1988, appointed to Board Member in 1993 and designated Vice-Chairman in 1995. Mr. Vollman was Acting Chairman from December 1997 to July 1998, he was designated Chairman of the National Energy Board in July 1998 and was reappointed on 30 November 1999 for a seven-year term. He retired from that position on 2 June 2007. On 27 June 2007, Mr. Vollman was appointed a Temporary Member for a term of two years, for the purpose of allowing him to continue to serve on the Mackenzie Gas Project review. Over the past four decades, Mr. Vollman has authored and presented numerous papers at Canadian and international conferences. Since 1988, he has chaired many of the Board's public hearings including major pipeline infrastructure projects such as the Sable Offshore Energy Project and the Alliance Pipeline. He will continue to chair the NEB hearings for the Mackenzie Gas Project.

Roland Priddle
1986–1997

Roland Priddle was born in Scotland in 1933. Educated at Cambridge University in economic geography and with a master's degree in economics from the University of Ottawa, he worked for Royal Dutch Shell in London and The Hague until 1965, when he joined the National Energy Board. Mr.Priddle served briefly as chief of special projects before being appointed to head the Oil Policy Branch. After nine years with the Board, he moved to the federal Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, where he eventually rose to the position of assistant deputy minister. Mr. Priddle re-joined the Board as chairman in 1986 and remained in the position until 1997, becoming the Board's longest serving chairman. Under Mr. Priddle's leadership, the Board proceeded with substantive regulatory reforms propelled by government policy and the dismantling of the National Energy Program. The Board also made the long-mooted move from Ottawa to Calgary during his term as chairman. These accomplishments aside, Mr. Priddle is also remembered as the chairman who rode his bicycle to work, through rain, sunshine, and snow. Since leaving the Board he has engaged extensively in energy consulting activies nationally and internationally. On July 1, 2009, Mr. Priddle became a recipient of the Order of Canada for his leadership role in the energy sector as a consultant at both the national and international levels, specializing in oil industry deregulation and policy development.

C. Geoffrey Edge
1980-1986

Geoffrey Edge was born in England in 1920 and trained as an economist at the University of London. He came to Canada in 1951 to work in industry. In 1971, he was appointed a member of the National Energy Board. He brought extensive experience in operations research and financial management to the position. Mr. Edge became an associate vice-chairman in 1975, was appointed vice-chairman in 1978, and succeeded Jack Stabbeck as chairman in 1980. Known as a formidable inquisitor in hearings, he steered the Board through the turbulent years of the National Energy Program. He made important contributions to the administrative structure of the Board, by introducing the position of executive director and initiating regulatory reform. The Board celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary under Mr. Edge in 1984. Geoffrey Edge retired from the National Energy Board in 1986. He passed away in 2003.

Jack G. Stabback
1978-1980

Born in Alberta in 1921, Jack Stabback trained as a chemical engineer at the University of Alberta. He joined the Alberta Petroleum and Natural Gas Conservation Board in 1949, served briefly on secondment to the National Energy Board in 1960, and then moved permanently to Ottawa in 1964 to work as the Board's chief engineer. Mr. Stabback was appointed a member of the Board in 1968, became associate vice-chairman in 1974, and became vice-chairman in 1976. In 1978, after serving as chairman of the Northern Pipelines hearings, he was appointed chairman of the Board. Mr. Stabback was renowned at the Board for putting in long hours and the thoroughness with which he prepared for hearings. Jack Stabback retired from the Board in 1980. After leaving the Board, he continued working for a number of years as a senior vice-president with the Royal Bank's Global Energy and Minerals Group. He currently resides in Calgary.

Marshall A. Crowe
1973-1977

Marshall Crowe was appointed chairman of the National Energy Board in 1973. Born in Manitoba in 1921 and educated at the University of Manitoba, Mr. Crowe by 1973 had extensive experience in government and the private sector. He joined the board from the Canada Development Corporation, of which he was chairman in 1971-1973. Mr.Crowe's tenure was dominated by the expansion of the Board's regulatory responsibilities and by the question of how and when Canada should develop its northern oil and gas reserves. An "apprehension of bias" stemming from his previous work prevented Mr.Crowe from serving on the panel that reviewed the northern pipelines applications. Marshall Crowe resigned from the Board in 1977 and established a consulting practice in Ottawa.

He later earned a law degree and was called to the bar of Ontario and was elected a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Dr. Robert D. Howland
1968-1973

Robert Howland was born in England in 1909 and came to Canada in 1926. After graduating from Brandon College, he returned to England and completed a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics. He subsequently served in a succession of responsible government positions, including as a staff member on the Royal Commisssion on Canada's Economic Future and the Royal Commission on Energy. He was appointed a member of the National Energy Board in 1959, serving first as vice-chairman and then, on Ian McKinnon's retirement in 1968, as chairman. "Doc" Howland played a key role in the development and implementation of the National Oil Policy and guided the Board through the stressful early years of the energy crisis. He resigned from the board in 1973 and established himself in business as an energy consultant. Robert Howland died in 1991.

Ian N. McKinnon
1959-1968

Ian McKinnon was appointed the first chairman of the National Energy Board in 1959. born in Scotland in 1906, McKinnon came to Canada in 1923. Trained as an accountant, he had a sharp eye for detail and a strong work ethic, talents he put to work from 1948 to 1959 as chairman of Alberta's Oil and Gas Conservation Board, and subsequently at the National Energy Board. McKinnon shaped the Board through his early appointments, the administrative policies and procedures he set in motion, and his insistence on unanimity in Board decisions. After retiring from the Board in 1968, he became chairman of Consoidated Natural Gas Ltd. Ian McKinnon died in 1976.