The Provincial Government today announced the members of the Independent Churchill Falls Negotiation Oversight Panel.
The panel members are:
- Dennis Browne, KC, Consumer Advocate, Chair
- C. Douglas Bowman, BS, MS
- Michael Wilson, CA, FCA
Chair Dennis Browne, KC, selected the other two panelists. Detailed biographies can be found in the backgrounder below.
The Independent Churchill River Negotiation Oversight Panel of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will provide reliable and transparent oversight on the following issues associated with the ongoing negotiations process in respect of new contracts and developments with Hydro-Quebec. The panel is mandated to:
- Review the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated December 12, 2024, and progress towards definitive agreements.
- Provide advice to Cabinet.
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador worked with two members of the Third Party – NDP Leader and MHA for St. John’s Centre Jim Dinn and MHA for Labrador West Jordan Brown – and the two Independent Members – Mount Pearl-Southlands MHA Paul Lane and Humber-Bay of Islands MHA Eddie Joyce – to reach this agreement on the new, independent, oversight panel.
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“Independent review of the negotiations with Hydro-Quebec was a critical component in reaching this historic Memorandum of Understanding and will continue to play an important role in getting the most out of future negotiations toward definitive agreements. By engaging the Consumer Advocate to chair a new, independent panel to oversee the ongoing negotiations, we can be confident that the important need for independent oversight of this historic deal for our province is achieved. The work of Mr. Browne, Mr. Bowman and Mr. Wilson will be critical to the negotiations process, and I thank them for their commitment.”
Honourable Bernard Davis
Minister of Justice and Public Safety
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BACKGROUNDER
Biographies – Independent Churchill Falls Negotiation Oversight Panel
Dennis Browne, KC, Chair
Dennis Browne, KC, practices administrative law. A graduate of Dalhousie Law School, he was called to the bar in 1984 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997. He is best known as the province’s Consumer Advocate, representing ratepayers on electricity issues, and has served in this role from 1996-2004 and from 2016 to the present.
Additionally, Mr. Browne is a labour arbitrator since 1986 and a Federal Labour Adjudicator and Mediator since 1990. He served as Chair of the Newfoundland Labour Relations Board from 1989-1998.
From 2017-2018, he served as Chair for the New Brunswick Ministerial Task Force and WorkSafeNB.
Additionally, in 1997 he authored a report to the Newfoundland and Labrador Government on gasoline pricing. From 2000-2002 he was a member of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Freedom of Information Review Committee, which issued a report on privacy. From 2010-2014, he was a member of 2041, the group who advocated against the Muskrat Falls Development.
Douglas Bowman, BS, BM
Mr. Bowman (BS and MS in Electrical Engineering at University of Buffalo) has more than 40 years of experience in the power industry both domestically and internationally. His primary areas of expertise include electricity services costing, pricing and contracts, and power sector restructuring, regulation and markets. Mr. Bowman has provided consulting advice to governments, regulators, utilities and consumer groups, and has played a leading role in consulting projects in over 50 countries around the world.
Mr. Bowman has provided advice relating to regional electricity market design, development and pricing in SIEPAC, which covers seven Central American countries; the Pan-Arab Regional Electricity Market covering 22 Arab countries; and the Electricity Market of South Asia for Regional Trade of Electric Energy and Services covering eight South Asian countries.
He has advised and trained regulatory staff on all issues related to electricity markets in Egypt, Mongolia, Serbia, and the Republic of Georgia. He has advised clients on electricity generation project development, market assessment and transmission access in all of the NERC reliability regions covering the interconnected power systems of the United States and Canada, and parts of Mexico.
For the past 28 years he has routinely provided advice to the Consumer Advocate in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador on utility capital budgets, general rate applications and issues relating to generation, transmission and distribution planning.
Michael Wilson, CA, FCA
During his career spanning over 40 years, Michael Wilson served in a number of executive positions within the global professional services firm Ernst and Young including office managing partner in St. John’s and senior partner in the Toronto office leadership group.
Throughout his career, Mr. Wilson prepared and/or reviewed a significant number of commercial contracts relating to the formation of partnerships, joint ventures and IPO’s, the purchase and sale of specific assets, businesses enterprises, capital investment, and financing structures. He provided service to clients in the power and energy, oil and gas, technology, insurance, financial services, construction, and transportation sectors. In addition, Mr. Wilson provided consulting services to all three levels of government, sovereign wealth funds and unions. Mr. Wilson negotiated and executed complex multi-jurisdictional contracts and completed numerous consulting contracts including program development and evaluation, capital budgeting, risk management and forensic audits.
Mr. Wilson is also a veteran entrepreneur having owned and operated business undertakings in the outfitting, cable TV, service, construction and entertainment industries.
Mr. Wilson is a former president of both the St. John’s Board of Trade and Rotary Club of St. John’s East and former director of numerous NPOs and charities. He obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1978 and was awarded a Fellowship in 2003 in recognition of his outstanding service to the profession and the community. Mr. Wilson retired in 2013 and continues to operate his professional services firm and small outfitting business.