Item - 2020.NC7.1

The Corporations Nominating Panel recommends that:

1. City Council appoint the following candidates to the Toronto Hydro Board, at pleasure of Council, for a term of office starting March 5, 2020 and ending March 5, 2022, continuing to serve until successors are appointed:

David McFadden, as Chair

George Cooke

Tamara Kronis

Juliana Lam

Michael Nobrega

Mary Ellen Richardson

Howard Wetston

Heather Zordel 

2. City Council direct that Confidential Attachments 1 to 6 to the report (February 6, 2020) from the City Clerk remain confidential in their entirety as they relate to personal matters about identifiable individuals being considered for appointment to the Toronto Hydro Board.

Candidates' biographies:

George Cooke

George Cooke, BA (Hons), MBA is currently Board Chair at OMERS Administration Corporation and a former Chair at Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. He is also a former Director of Hydro One and Atomic Energy Canada Limited and currently volunteers on MaRS Energy Board. George was the CEO of The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company for over 20 years, he retired in 2012.  He now serves as a Corporate Director, volunteers at Queen’s University, Loran Scholarship Foundation, Spinal Cord Injury Ontario and sits as a Governor of Curling Canada.

Tamara Kronis

Tamara Kronis is a Toronto-based entrepreneur, goldsmith and lawyer. She is currently the Founder and CEO of Studio1098, a custom fine jewellery design manufacturer based in Toronto. Ms. Kronis worked as a commercial lawyer whose practice included several transactions related to the Ontario energy market. Her past experience includes positions as Legal Counsel, Vertex Outsourcing, Associate Lawyer at Torys LLP, Director of Advocacy at EGALE Canada and Trial Assistant, United Nations (ICTY).

Juliana Lam

Ms. Lam has extensive executive level global financial management experience in diverse industries including mining, manufacturing, services and distribution.  Most recently, she retired from CPA Ontario as their Executive VP and COO.  Previously, she was the Executive VP and CFO of Uranium One Inc, Senior VP Finance of Kinross Gold Corporation, CFO of Nexans Canada, and has held senior roles within other publicly traded companies.  Ms. Lam is a CPA, CA, MBA as well as a Certified Director (ICD.D).

David McFadden

David McFadden is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Toronto Hydro Corporation, 407 International Inc. and PCI Geomatics Inc. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Cricket Energy Holdings Inc. and Makwa Development Corporation. David is also Chair of the Energy Transformation Network of Ontario, a member of the MaRS Energy Board and a member of the Council for Clean and Reliable Energy. He served previously as the Chair of the Board of the Ontario Energy Association. David was a partner at Gowling WLG for over 30 years where he acted for corporations, municipalities and utilities involved in the generation, distribution, transmission, marketing and financing of energy.

Michael Nobrega

A graduate of the University of Toronto, a professional accountant with a FCA designation and former partner of Arthur Andersen. Retired President and CEO of OMERS, former Chair of the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Chair of the Centre for the Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, Chair of Toronto Hydro's Audit Committee, former panel member of three Provincial Expert Panels with two as the Chair and recently served as Interim President & CEO of Waterfront Toronto, a tripartite public sector corporation with a mandate to revitalize Toronto's waterfront lands.

Mary Ellen Richardson

Ms. Richardson’s corporate career in the energy sector spans 30 years.  Most recently, she has held executive and operating responsibility for corporate strategic and operation planning, program design and delivery, legal and regulatory affairs, corporate communication, stakeholder engagement, and government liaison activities. She has extensive knowledge of customer energy requirements, as week as Canadian municipal energy and sustainability goals. 

Howard Wetston

The Hon. Howard Wetston (Ontario) was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. He was CEO of the OSC from 2010-15; Vice-Chair from 1999-2004; and Chair of the Ontario Energy Board from 2003-10. The Senator served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, from 1993-99. He was Canada’s Commissioner of Competition; a member of the Shannon School of Business Advisory Board at Cape Breton University; and is a Senior Fellow of the C.D. Howe Institute. In 2016, Senator Wetston was awarded the Order of Canada for his significant contributions as a public servant, jurist and regulator.

Heather Zordel

Heather Zordel has been a Board Member of Toronto Hydro Corporation since December 2015.  She is a member of the THC Audit Committee and Chair of THC’s street-lighting subsidiary Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc. She is a corporate law partner at Gardiner Roberts LLP, a part-time Commissioner of the Ontario Securities Commission, Chair of the Condominium Authority of Ontario and Co-director of the Osgoode LL.M. (Securities) program. She is a former Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario.

The Corporations Nominating Panel will conduct interviews and recommend eight public members, including a Chair, for appointment to the Toronto Hydro Board.