Our Team

We are a uniquely designed team of exceptionally credentialed experts with an approximately 1000 combined years of hands-on experience with domestic and multinational resource clients, and Western Canadian municipal and provincial governments. 

• Ian Murray - President & General Counsel

In addition to Ian's internal IMC management roles as President and General Legal Counsel, Ian has 24 years of experience providing services to an array of private and public clients, with a focus on the natural resources and manufacturing industries. Prior to founding IMC in 1989, Ian articled for the law firm Parlee McLaws, worked in the acquisitions department of Varity Corporation and was Executive Assistant to the Alberta Minister of Forestry, Lands and Wildlife.  He has a unique combination of expertise and experience in the areas of project management, commercial negotiations, finance, law and government. His work has included providing clients with active hands-on project management of large greenfield projects as well as transition management services for large private and public sector clients during restructurings or periods of change.

• Patrick Spotowski - Controller
  

Patrick  has 20 years of experience working within an accounting environment. He has extensive knowledge on accounting controls; payroll and financial principles. Patrick has provided support in project finances and project management and is familiar with various accounting systems and reporting structures.

• Vinoth Babu - Manager, Client & Marketing Support

Vinoth is a recent MBA graduate, specializing in Natural Resources, Energy, and Environment (NREE), from the University of Alberta. He has focused in marketing, with emphasis in the area of online sales and marketing. Vinoth is also an engineer and previously worked for three years in engineering design and project management for Technip, a multinational engineering firm. In addition, he has experience with regulatory and market research in the oil and gas and oil sands sectors. 

• Bob Baer

After receiving Engineering and MBA degrees from the University of Alberta, Bob spent the next 37 years with ATCO, including acting as Vice President of Government Affairs, Communications, and Corporate Initiatives. His experience included diverse technical and business areas, with a focus on major facilities planning, strategic business planning, regulatory proceedings, and project economic evaluation.  A key area of expertise was working closely with external parties to arrive at mutually agreeable solutions.  Bob is experienced at developing key relationships and executing advocacy plans in the context of new government policy and regulations, involving industry and government stakeholders. 




• James Baker

• Robert Bott

• Ian Cameron

Ian has over 40 years of gas pipeline network system planning and related engineering experience following an extensive career with TransCanada Pipelines. He has served in roles ranging from Regulatory Project Manager to Facilities Planning Manager. He assisted in the preparation of the NEB application for the Keystone XL Pipeline and provided associated hearing support, as well as contributed to the fulfillment of post-certificate condition filings. He possesses significant gas and oil pipeline technical and regulatory expertise.

• Aran O'Carroll

Aran is a lawyer with a strong regulatory background. He also has expertise related to general management, government relations, communications and stakeholder engagement. Aran was the Executive Director of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) where he was responsible for providing program management, technical, facilitation, communications, and government relations support to the over 30 signatory organizations. Prior to the CBFA, Aran was the National Manager of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), a national conservation charity where he was the lead negotiator of the CBFA Agreement. Aran has been the Canadian environmental community’s elected representative to the Government of Canada's Forest Sector Sustainability Table and the elected co-chair of a National Advisory Group to Environment Canada. In his professional capacity, Aran has done consulting work for clients as diverse as the United Nations Forum on Forests, the World Resources Institute and the Great Bear Rainforest's, Coast Information Team. Aran is based in Ottawa and will support IMC’s efforts to assist IMC clients in engaging with the Canadian Federal Government and groups based in Ottawa.

• Colin Cook

Colin has extensive background in and knowledge of the oil industry from a 30 year career at Petro-Canada. He has worked in a variety of planning, marketing and development roles in the areas of refining and marketing, upstream production, and corporate groups. Colin led the strategic, planning, marketing and commercial components of Petro-Canada’s oil sands strategy, including negotiating numerous large contracts and strategic transactions. He has been heavily involved in the development and economic analysis of upgrading strategies for the Edmonton refinery, the Fort Hills mining and upgrading plan, major processing arrangements, and market assessments for oil sands production.

• Charles Cote

Charles has over 25 years of experience in the retail sector. He was the COO of the United Farmers of Alberta and a senior executive with Kmart Canada and Zellers. He was also the International President of Wholesale Sports and Interim President of Sportsman's Warehouse, both of which are large international retail chains. He has expertise and a strong track record of creating shareholder value through marketing prowess and operational excellence. He was responsible for significant increase in revenue and earnings for a large retail chain, successfully opened many new store locations, and managed and financed acquisitions. In addition, he has demonstrated skills in identifying opportunities, negotiating transactions, directing due diligence and managing operations. Charles held Board positions with large international organizations such as Universal Co-op and Wholesale Sports.   

• Rod Crockford

Rod has extensive experience in the electricity sector in Alberta. As President and CEO of EnCana Power and Processing, Rod was actively involved in a broad range of project development, commercial, operational, regulatory and public policy services.  Rod has a successful track record in development and construction of power plants, management of ongoing operations, management of the procurement of load services, and regulatory interventions. Rod’s experience spans into British Columbia as he has been actively involved with the electrification of the Cabin Gas Plant generation facility, as well as distribution and transmission development in the Dawson Creek area. He participated in the study looking at electrical alternatives for the Kitimat LNG project, provided feedback on the Dawson Chetwynd Area Transmission (DCAT) project and has participated in the Integrated Resource Plan for BC Hydro.

• Koren Cromwell

Koren has 25 years’ of experience serving the engineering industry, including 20 years of project support experience at Stantec and more recently as an entrepreneur. She is very successful in fast-paced, multi-disciplined environments, where interactions and collaborations between many project participants are required. She was deeply involved in project setup, projects communications, document control, quality, budget and schedule management for Stantec. Koren has experience working in design-build and P3 delivery models; in transportation and industrial sectors; and has expertise developing project policy, procedures, and strategic plans. 

• Nolan Crouse

Nolan spent 30 years as an Executive in the Forest Products Industry in Canada and the United States where he managed and owned operations that manufactured pulp, paper, lumber, fiberboard, strawboard and wood packaging products. He provided key leadership in the Charmin Tissue change management in the US, started up the greenfield Alberta Energy Company Pulp Mill in Slave Lake and was the Chief Operating Officer for a new strawboard plant start-up. Nolan also worked for Procter and Gamble and West Fraser Timber prior to purchasing Sunchild Forest Products in Edmonton. He was also the first Head Coach and General Manager of the start-up Junior “A” hockey franchise in Brooks. Nolan was elected to St. Albert City Council in 2004 where he served 3 years as Council prior to serving 10 years as Mayor of St. Albert. Additionally, he served 5.5 years as Capital Region Board Chair (24 Mayors) for the Edmonton region. Nolan holds an MBA degree from Cape Breton University plus a Chemical diploma from NAIT.

• David Dorward

David has extensive business and government experience.   David founded the 25 person accounting firm Dorward & Company in the mid ‘90’s, with offices in Edmonton and Calgary. Previous to that he worked with a national trust company in the controller and treasury areas.   He was elected in 2012 in Edmonton-Gold Bar as a MLA and served in numerous positions in the government, including as the Associate Minister of Aboriginal Relations.   David has made extensive community contributions, including leading the successful efforts to raise funds to build the Saville Community Sports Centre (GO Centre) at the U of A South Campus. The building was a vision of David’s that grew during his time of coaching basketball for 12 years. 

• Bob Fisher

• Alnoor Halari

Alnoor has almost 20 years of experience in the energy industry. He brings to IMC specialized skills in the areas of capital project planning, management, control and execution.  Alnoor has a PhD in Civil Engineering, with a project management specialization focusing on systems that enhance project planning and predictability, leading to improved project execution. He has been involved in projects related to such things as SAGD well pads, upgraders and refineries, pipelines and tank farms for companies such as Petro-Canada, Devon Canada, Veco Canada and Jacobs Engineering.

• Anne Harding

Anne has worked with over 60 Indigenous groups across Canada since 2005. She led stakeholder engagement planning and execution for conventional and unconventional oil and gas, pipelines, facilities, refining, and renewable energy projects at Petro-Canada and Suncor. In addition, Anne’s work has resulted in the creation of a common values-based approach to Indigenous business development and workforce development in Suncor’s upstream, downstream, and renewable energy businesses across Canada. Anne has a Master of Arts in Corporate-Aboriginal Relations and is a Certified Public Participation Professional (CP3) through the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2). Her research and practice have identified key criteria for effective Indigenous-corporate collaboration, based on the evolution of Suncor’s approach to Indigenous engagement in the oil sands. 

• Elliot Holland

Elliot has extensive experience in the resource sector both as a management consultant and a senior executive. As a consultant at McKinsey & Company, he worked on operational and strategic projects with more than 50 mines, mineral processing facilities, and oil & gas installations around the world. He was ultimately elected a Partner in McKinsey's Denver office. Following this, Elliot was Vice-President Projects at Dominion Diamond Corporation in northern Canada. At Dominion, he had executive responsibility for business development, major capital projects (including information technology and new technology introductions), regulatory and government relations, and indigenous and stakeholder relations. 

• James Horsman

Jim’s distinguished career in public service and politics spanned almost twenty years. First elected to the Alberta Legislature as MLA for Medicine Hat in 1975, he served five consecutive terms (1975 to 1993), fourteen years of which he served as Minister of the Crown in roles ranging from Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs to Attorney General and Deputy Premier. In addition to his Cabinet responsibilities, Jim chaired the Cabinet Task Force on International Trade Negotiations. After leaving politics, he was the chief negotiator for Alberta on the Canadian Agreement on International Trade. Jim has since served as Chancellor of the University of Lethbridge and in 2006, was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence, and the Order of Canada. His unparalleled political and policy experience provides IMC clients with superior insight into domestic and international political, policy and regulatory developments affecting the resources industry in Western Canada.

• Gary Hummell

Gary has 35 years of industry experience. He is well versed in strategic planning, product sourcing across the global supply chain, and product branding. As president of Calvin Klein Jeans, he successfully grew the business from less than $1 Mil in sales to $44 Mil in sales in five years. He has extensive manufacturing  experience and as COO, has managed large domestic vertical manufacturing facilities across multiple facilities. He has restructured companies from both a manufacturing focus and branding strategy. Gary was involved in the restructuring of Blue Bell Canada (Calvin Klein and Wrangler Jeans Canada) which entailed shutting down their manufacturing facilities in Ontario and rebuilding the manufacturing volume and team in Winnipeg. He has successfully transitioned a number of companies’ business models, from domestic manufacturing to fully outsourcing imported product. He has consulted for the federal government under the CATIP initiative as a best practice consultant creating profitable alternatives to past practices. He has also been the lead company negotiator for several unionized collective agreements.

• Bill Hunter

Bill is a business leader with over 30 years of experience in the forestry industry in Canada. His career involved many senior positions including serving as President, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc., a $1.4 billion asset. Mr. Hunter also provided senior operations and project management for forest companies in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta. Most recently, Bill has been involved in the development of; bio-products industry, industrial materials recycling industry, sand and gravel products as well as Indigenous capacity building. Bill is a multiple recipient as one of “Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People” (Alberta Venture Magazine) in 2002, 2007 and 2008.

 

• Eddy Isaacs

Eddy Isaacs is the former CEO of Alberta Innovates – Energy & Environment Solutions and a Strategic Advisor to the University of Alberta, Faculty of Engineering. Eddy has spent his career promoting innovation in energy and environment across Canada and in forging partnerships between industry, government and academia. In 2014, he received the ASTECH Foundation’s award for his outstanding contribution to the Alberta science and technology community. Eddy has served as co-Chair of the Energy Technology Working Group of the Canadian Council of Energy Ministers. He is regularly called upon to provide expert opinion and insight into Alberta’s future in energy and environment.

• Deborah James

Deborah James, BSc (Pharm), PhD, is the Executive Director of Innovation for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta. With more than 15 years of academic-executive and consulting experience, Dr. James works extensively across the public and private sector to bridge, create and implement large-scale initiatives that demonstrate value to care providers, academia and industry. Her particular interests are in precision diagnostics, point of care testing, digital health, and how new disruptive technologies are substantially changing healthcare delivery. Dr. James leads the Faculty’s Precision Health initiative that is founded on access to and analysis of robust health data and bringing new health innovations to market and/or adoption.

• Heather Jones

Heather has over 15 years of experience as an environmental consultant focusing on GHG and air-related issues. Technical work has included assessing emission control methods for heavy-duty industrial engines and air quality dispersion modeling. Regulatory and policy work includes work for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) evaluating and comparing GHG policies across multiple jurisdictions.  Heather has an M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Heather specializes in technical and regulatory work regarding air and GHG aiming to find creative solutions to bridge the gap between industry and government positions.

Michael is an Emmy® award-winning filmmaker and network storytelling consultant in both the fiction and non-fiction genres. As a producer, writer and director, his films have earned him more than 80 international, national and regional awards and he is the only filmmaker in history to be granted access inside a classified U.S. Department of Defense weapons competition. “Battle of the X-Planes” earned Michael his first Emmy® for best long form news and current affairs documentary. Michael helped launch the acclaimed science show “Daily Planet” for the Discovery Channel and negotiated access to NASA, Russian and European space  agencies to tell the story of the people working on the first human mission to Mars. Michael has been a judge for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Emmys® since 2010. In 2013, his feature-length theatrical documentary, “Unclaimed”, opened to international acclaim and was long-listed for an Oscar®. Michael is the Chair of the of the Alberta Media Industries Association and is a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association, the Giant Screen Association and the Producers Guild of America. 

• Dermot Lane
  

Dermot Lane joined IMC following a long and successful career with Fording Coal and Elk Valley Coal. He was responsible for external relations programs targeted at the provincial, national and international level to respond to political and public issues affecting the coal and mining sector. Dermot also served in Environmental Affairs and Corporate Communications. He has extensive experience with provincial and federal regulatory processes for operations in Alberta and BC. He has developed and implemented regulatory and environmental assessments and strategies and plans for major projects including public engagement and indigenous consultation requirements.

• Allan Legge

Allan has over 35 years of experience in designing, conducting and evaluating research on air quality and the effects of air pollution on Albertan and international terrestrial ecosystems. He is an expert in multidisciplinary environmental research design, initiation, coordination, management and execution. Allan received various awards by organizations such as the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists; Alberta Research Council and the Air and Waste Management Association. He has experience in government and industry related research projects and has worked with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board; Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development; Husky; Petro-Canada and TransCanada Pipeline. Allan was previously the Senior Research Scientist with the Kananaskis Centre for Environmental Research and Senior Research Officer for the Alberta Research Council.

•  Donald McLeod

Don has 40 years of wide-ranging project and construction management and operations experience. His operations expertise includes the petrochemical, pipelining, oilsands, refining and fertilizer industries. Don is also experienced in highly advanced participative management systems as well as traditional management roles and he has had significant success in line management, staff management, project management and other specialist roles. Don recently managed the SNC Lavalin Edmonton office. Previously, he was chair of the COAA's Field Rework committee and was subsequently awarded the COAA Currie Award of Recognition for his work.

• Grant McNeil

Grant has over 35 years of corporate finance and project development experience in several sectors including oil sands, energy service, oil & gas, forestry, power, pipelines, petrochemicals, manufacturing, bio-fuels, government and mining. 13 years of that time was with IMC as Vice President Finance.  He continues to focus on feasibility analysis, financial modeling, project financing, project management, commercial negotiations, industrial market due diligence, corporate planning, M&A analysis and negotiations, capitalization strategies, valuations, financial restructurings, due diligence and financing. Grant is also active with Financial Executives International at the national level and as President of the Calgary chapter Board of Directors. He has lectured in corporate finance at the University of Alberta, and strategic management at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Previously, Grant was Vice-President, Corporate and Energy Banking for ScotiaBank, and before that he was with Bank of America, Bank of Montreal and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

•  Daryl Mikalson

Daryl has extensive research, management, regulatory and environmental experience resulting from 35 years in the mining and utility industries. He has innovated, negotiated and managed on behalf of TransAlta Corporation, Associated Mining Consultants Ltd., Gartner Lee Limited, Syncrude Canada Ltd., McIntyre Mines Ltd. and CANMET. Daryl has performed regulatory and public consultation, managed health, safety and environmental programs, and managed environmental impact assessments. As well, Daryl has planned and executed community, Indigenous, and regulatory consultation for the successful receipt of EUB and Alberta Environment applications.

• Kristina Milke 

Kristina is the President of Valhalla Angels, one of Canada’s most active angel investing groups and an Executive/Co-Founder with Valhalla Private Capital. As well as being an angel investor herself, an A100 member, and sits on various boards, she spends time supporting the entrepreneurial eco-system in Edmonton by both mentoring and participating on the Board of Advisors with Venture Mentoring Services (VMS) a world-renowned mentoring program with a local branch operating at the University of Alberta. In 2018, Kristina started a new early stage tech fund called Sprout Fund along with 3 partners.

• Bob Nichol

• Lynn Olenek

Lynn comes to IMC with a wealth of knowledge in the health and housing industry. As a senior executive, Lynn has led a variety of Boards and senior teams in public, private and government settings.  In her last role, she brought three organizations into one, building a strong corporate culture that saw the organization double its inventory in less than five years.  She demonstrates strong leadership, the ability to build community relationships across a wide spectrum, project management experience, operational management skills, and government relations.

Jane has over 22 years of experience working in the fields of government, public relations and stakeholder relations in Alberta’s private and public sector. She has held senior stakeholder relations roles with Capital Power and EPCOR Utilities, and communication, event management, and media relations roles for the Alberta Government’s labour relations ministry. Jane also spent five years as a senior consultant with Weber Shandwick Worldwide, the world’s largest stakeholder relations firm. She is well experienced with managing stakeholder engagement programs with communities, First Nations, and industry, both for the Government of Alberta, and companies such as Shell Canada, Syncrude, EPCOR and Capital Power. 

• Michael Phair

Michael had a 15 year career as an elected member of Edmonton’s City Council, representing central Edmonton. During that time, he represented Edmonton on the Board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). Michael has significant experience with government policy and planning structures and engagement work with communities and business policy initiatives. He has acted in an advisory role to Mayor Don Iveson and is currently the Chair of the University of Alberta Board of Governors.

• Terry Quinn

• Wouter Raemdonck

Wouter has over 40 years of experience in the Oil and Gas industry with Petrofina and later after their merger, with Total. He held senior positions on four continents with stops in Great Britain and Australia before becoming Refinery Manager in Antwerp Belgium, and later in Angola and finally Port Arthur Texas before settling in Calgary as Senior Vice President of Major Projects for Total. Under his management all these refineries underwent major modernization investments. Wouter holds his Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Leuven in Belgium, he completed the Senior Management Program at the Harvard Business School and his participation in the oil and gas industry has included roles in the NPRA, NCIA and OSLI. His expertise spans from project development and implementation, to HR management, general management, operations, and business development. Wouter’s leadership and implementation skills are best illustrated by the speedy recovery of the Port Arthur refinery after Hurricane Rita. Wouter is uniquely positioned to cultivate strategic priorities in the Oil and Gas industry and transform them into confirmed effectual ventures.

• Sharon L. Read

•  George Rhodey

George has over 40 years of extensive experience in oil sands mining and upgrading, oil refining, refined oil and lubricating oil marketing, petrochemicals, fertilizers, explosives, chemicals, natural gas and natural gas liquids industries in Canada and worldwide.  George has BASc. and MASc. Degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo Ontario. He is a member of APEGA, a participating member of the Canadian Heavy Oil Association, a member of Alberta Chamber of Resources, and a member of the Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC).

• Dave Sentes

David has over 25 years of experience as a financial executive in the energy industry. He gained substantial experience in the capital markets and established solid relationships with investment bankers and lenders. David's technical competence was fashioned while directing financial reporting, budgetary planning and control, risk management, tax compliance and internal audit functions. David's expertise goes beyond spreadsheets and his versatility was demonstrated while directing the marketing, human resources insurance and purchasing functions.

•  Mark Smith

Mark has extensive commercial and project experience including complex deal structuring and risk mitigation in oil and gas, pipeline and midstream and power industries. This relates to commercial commodity arrangements, various financing structures and acquisitions and joint ventures. He has been a senior partner in two major law firms and has held CEO and director positions with several domestic and international oil and gas companies.      

•  Russ Stanley

Russ has over 20 years of experience in management consulting, project development and finance. He has worked in the oil & gas, power, telecommunications, forestry, computer software, manufacturing and tourism sectors for several consulting firms including PriceWaterhouse and Deloitte & Touche.

• Laurie Stretch

Laurie is a senior communications and stakeholder relations consultant with 25 years of experience including agency, corporate and government roles. In senior agency positions, she led a major initiative supporting TransCanada’s Energy East project, supported stakeholder relations for a pipeline in B.C. to serve the LNG industry, and led communications efforts for CAPP, the Government of Alberta, Shell Canada, Talisman, NSolv and others. She also led the teams undertaking stakeholder mapping projects for Pembina Pipelines and CAPP. At Petro-Canada, Laurie was a founding member of the Aboriginal Relations Team, and part of the project team that built the MacKay River SAGD Project. A native Edmontonian who has lived in Calgary for 20 years, Laurie has also worked with the City of Calgary and several Calgary civic institutions.

• Chris Suvan

Chris has over 10 years of experience in business development and project management. He has over 4 years of private equity experience in the oil and gas sector. Chris has held top positions in companies like Capwest Equity Partners and Nor-Chris Holdings. He has a strong mergers and acquisitions background with focus on post-transaction integration in varied sectors including oilfield services, industrials and construction.

• Wayne Thorp

•  Greg Taylor

Greg has had a long and decorated career in academia where he concluded a successful, decade-long tenure of the largest faculty at the University of Alberta as Dean of Science. Specializing in plant ecology, Greg earned his PhD. in Biology from Queen’s University in 1983. Dr. Taylor has led numerous research projects that span four decades that primarily focus on plant-based sciences. Greg has extensive experience in research, management, operations and implementation. Under his leadership, the University of Alberta built a 50,000 square foot, state of the art facility that focuses on interdisciplinary sciences with over 1,000 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students.




• William (Bill) Teeple

With over 50 years of financial, operational, and general management experience, Bill brings an extensive background in leadership and real-world expertise. Bill’s areas of expertise include financial restructuring, corporate turnarounds, general management, and complex business transactions, particularly in Europe, Brazil, Japan, and Canada. Serving as a CFO for several companies between 1988 – 2003, Bill helped in the successful transition and growth of these companies. Between 2013 to 2016, Bill worked with Alberta Innovates as special advisor to the CEO, focusing primarily on small and medium-size enterprises. He is currently an investor, board member and president of Agents of Discovery – a digital education gaming platform. Bill is a retired U.S. Army Infantry Officer, a Vietnam Veteran and graduate of Bucknell University in Economics. Over the years, Bill has served as chairman and trustee of Southern New Hampshire Regional Medical Centre and on boards of several companies and currently serves as a member of board of directors for Stanton Chase International, a global executive search firm.

• Harvey Voogd

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