Commission Members
The Nuclear Safety and Control Act provides for the appointment of not more than seven permanent Commission members by Order in Council and of temporary members. One permanent member of the Commission is designated as the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC's) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The current Commission membership is as follows:
Permanent Members:
Michael Binder
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Ronald J. Barriault
Charlo, New Brunswick
Mr. André Harvey
Québec, Québec
Dr. J. Moyra J. McDill
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
Dr. Alexander (Sandy) McEwan
Edmonton, Alberta
Mr. Dan D. Tolgyesi
President of Quebec Mining Association
Québec, Québec
Ms. Rumina Velshi
Toronto, Ontario
Temporary Members:
Dr. James F. Archibald
Kingston, Ontario
Dr. Gunter Muecke
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Dr. Stella Swanson
Calgary, Alberta
Permanent Members
Dr. Michael Binder
Dr. Michael Binder is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). He was appointed to this position in January 2008 and reappointed for a second five-year term, effective May 2013.
As CNSC President, Dr. Binder leads and manages the Commission in order to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians and the environment; and to implement Canada's international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. His avowed mission is to ensure that Canadian nuclear facilities and activities are the safest and most secure in the world.
Throughout an extensive career in the federal public service, Dr. Binder has held senior positions at Industry Canada, the Department of Communications, the Office of the Comptroller General of Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Ministry of State for Urban Affairs and the Defence Research Board.
Dr. Binder holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Alberta.
Dr. Ronald J. Barriault
Dr. Barriault was appointed as a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on December 3, 2007.
A native of Dalhousie, New Brunswick, Dr. Barriault received his pre-medical science degree from St. Francis Xavier University and completed his medical training at Dalhousie University. He did post graduate medicine in the field of Advanced Study in Primary Care at the Montreal General Hospital, part of McGill University.
Dr. Barriault has practised medicine in several regions across Canada, holding professional licences in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories. He held hospital appointments at the St. Joseph and Campbellton Regional Hospitals in New Brunswick and at the Carthage General and Smith County Memorial Hospitals in Tennessee, U.S. He has worked extensively in both the private sector and government. He served as Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, New Brunswick where he was responsible for medicare, public health and medical education. Dr. Barriault was the Medical Advisor to the Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta and Vice-President, Medical and Chief of Staff of the Restigouche Regional Health Authority, New Brunswick. He brought his medical expertise and knowledge to bear in various private sector positions with Imperial Oil Limited, Brunswick Mining and Smelting (Noranda) and Canadian National Railway. Dr. Barriault was also a Professor of Medicine at McGill University and the University of Alberta. He is currently a practising physician with the Restigouche Regional Health Authority.
Dr. Barriault has been an active participant in many medical professional associations. He is currently a member of the Canadian Medical Association, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and the New Brunswick Medical Society.
Mr. André Harvey
Mr. André Harvey was appointed as member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on June 2, 2006.
A native of Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec, Mr. Harvey received a B.Sc.A. in Civil Engineering from Université Laval, and an M.Sc.A in Water Management from the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Mr. Harvey was, for eight years, President of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), the Québec agency responsible for the public part of the environmental evaluation and assessment process. He held several positions within the Ministère des Richesses naturelles and the Ministère de l’Environnement, including, Director General of the Water Resources, Director General of the Environment and the Economy and Assistant Deputy Minister for Sustainable Development within the Ministère de l’Environnement.
Mr. Harvey has been a member of various organizations related to water and environment management. Notably, he was co-chairman of the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Committee, and under the auspices of the International Joint Commission, he was the Quebec representative on the International St Lawrence River Board of Control and a member of the Conseil d’étude sur le niveau d’eau des Grands Lacs. He was also member of the Board of Directors of Recyc-Québec and Collecte sélective Québec and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.
Mr. Harvey received the 2005 Grand Prix d’excellence from the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec – the highest honour for Québec engineers.
Dr. J. Moyra J. McDill
Dr. J. Moyra J. McDill has been a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission since May 2002.
Dr. McDill, a native of Ottawa, received a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) in 1979, a Master of Materials Engineering in 1980 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering in 1988 from Carleton University. She is currently a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University, where she also served for one year as Associate Chair to the National Science and Engineering Research Council/Nortel Joint Chair Ontario for Women in Science and Engineering and more recently for seven years as Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies.
Dr. McDill has made significant contributions to the cause of women in engineering and holds many academic and teaching awards including the Y-Ottawa Women of Distinction Award (Education) in 2002, the Student’s Choice Award, Best Professor, International Students’ Centre in 2001, the National Academy of Engineering, Gallery of Women in Engineering in 2000, and a Carleton University Teaching Achievement Award in 1997-1998. Dr. McDill was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2004, and in 2009 received the Medal for Engineering Excellence from the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.
Her major research contribution, with colleagues, has been the development of special elements and techniques useful in analyzing welds, heat transfer and stress in many manufacturing processes.
Dr. Alexander McEwan
Dr. Alexander (Sandy) McEwan was appointed as member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on March 7, 2013.
A resident of Edmonton, Dr. McEwan holds a medical degree and a Master of Science in Nuclear Medicine from the University of London in the UK. He obtained his Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada certification in 1986 and has been a practising nuclear medicine physician at the Cross Cancer Institute since July of that year. He is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta, and is a past Chair of the Department of Radiology at the same university.
His clinical and research interests are in the clinically effective and safe uses of radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, particularly in patients with cancer. He is an internationally recognized expert in the role of radiopharmaceuticals in the management of patients with neuroendocrine cancers, and has established the largest treatment program in Canada. Dr. McEwan has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, and has been awarded more than 20 million dollars in peer-reviewed grants.
He is a past president of the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine, and from 2007-2008 was president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging in the United States. Dr. McEwan is also a member of the Society of Nuclear Medicine Clinical Trials Network. In these roles, he represented the discipline at many venues, including discussions with the U.S. and Canadian federal governments, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), industry and other medical specialty societies. He was Special Advisor on medical isotopes to the Canadian Federal Minister of Health from 2009 to 2011, and he sits on the Nuclear Energy Agency’s High-level Group on the Security of Supply of Medical Radioisotopes. He is a member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
Mr. Dan D. Tolgyesi
Dan D. Tolgyesi has been appointed a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and his term begins May 30, 2008.
A resident of Quebec City, Mr. Tolgyesi holds a B.Eng. in Mining Engineering and a Master’s in Mineral Economics from Laval University in Quebec City. For over fifteen years, he has held the position of President of the Quebec Mining Association, the organization responsible for promoting the development of mineral resources and of the mining, metallurgy and related industries in Quebec.
With over thirty years of experience in the mining industry, Mr. Tolgyesi has held operational and supervisory positions at Noranda Inc. and Falconbridge Limited. He managed the Portage, Opémiska and Lac Shortt mines and then, as general manager, was responsible for all the mining operations of Minnova Inc. in Quebec.
Mr. Tolgyesi is involved with various natural resources (mines) and business agencies as well as with associations that protect the health and safety of workers in the mining industry.
He is a member of the boards of directors of several organizations, including the Conseil du patronat du Québec, the Centre patronal en environnement du Québec and MISA (an economic development agency in Abitibi -Témiscamingue), and is co-chair of the Association paritaire pour la santé et la sécurité du travail – Mines (APSM). He was a cofounder of COREM (a consortium of applied research for the treatment and transformation of mineral substances) and SOREDEM (a mining research and development consortium). He is also a member of the mining engineering advisory boards of McGill University, the École Polytechnique de Montréal and Laval University in Quebec City.
Mr. Tolgyesi has several professional affiliations, including the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec, the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME (USA) and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (UK). He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and the Mine Ventilation Society of South Africa. In 1998, Mr. Tolgyesi received an award of recognition for his outstanding services to the Canadian mining industry and the CIM.
Ms. Rumina Velshi
Ms. Rumina Velshi was appointed as a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on December 15, 2011.
Ms. Velshi holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Civil Engineering), Master of Engineering (Chemical Engineering) and a Master of Business Administration, all from the University of Toronto. From June 2010 to December 2011, Ms. Velshi served as a Chairperson of the Board of Referees (Ontario Regional Division), an administrative tribunal responsible for conducting hearings and making decisions on appeals filed pursuant to the Employment Insurance Act. Previously, between 1978 and 2009, she worked in various capacities at Ontario Hydro and Ontario Power Generation (OPG). Most recently, she was Director, Planning and Control, for the Darlington New Nuclear Project. In that role, she was OPG’s commercial lead for the procurement of new nuclear reactors for the Darlington site as well as responsible for developing and implementing the project management infrastructure. The Darlington New Nuclear Project is one of the largest mega capital projects in Canada.
Throughout her career, Ms. Velshi has worked relentlessly on promoting careers in science and engineering, especially for women. She is the founding member of Women in Science and Engineering (Canada), has served on the Board of Directors of Women in Nuclear (WiN) (Canada), and is a member of the Board of Directors of Scientists in School – an organization with the mandate of inspiring an excitement for science and technology in children of all ages. She is the recipient of the 2011WiN Canada Leadership Award.
Ms. Velshi is also very active in international development activities. She is the founding member of Focus Humanitarian Assistance Canada, which has since become an internationally recognized humanitarian assistance agency. Ms Velshi currently serves as the Aga Khan Foundation Canada’s City Chair for Toronto for the World Partnership Events, Canada’s largest annual event dedicated to increasing awareness and raising funds to fight global poverty.
Temporary Members
Dr. James F. Archibald
Temporary member, currently appointed to the Deep Geologic Repository for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Joint Review Panel
Dr. James F. Archibald is a professor in the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining, Queen’s University at Kingston. He has knowledge and direct experience of both the federal and provincial environmental assessment processes, having been an appointed member of the federal-provincial review panel for new uranium mine developments in the Province of Saskatchewan. Dr. Archibald was also a technical advisor to the federal review panel that assessed nuclear fuel waste disposal concepts.
Dr. Archibald’s current research interests include assessment of innovative forms of backfill media, development of rapidly deployable spray-on lining supports for underground hard rock mines and the use of similar spray liner agents for acid mine drainage control.
He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), Chairman of the Rock Engineering Society of CIM, Past Chairman of the Canadian Rock Mechanics Association, a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and pursues an active career as a Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario.
Dr. Gunter Muecke
Temporary member, currently appointed to the Deep Geologic Repository for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Joint Review Panel
Dr. Muecke graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.Sc. in Geology in 1963 and a Masters Degree in Structural Geology in 1964. In 1969, he received a D.Phil. in Geochemistry from Oxford University. Dr. Muecke started his career as a field geologist for Shell Canada (1960–1963) and became a lecturer in Mineralogy at Oxford University (1968–1970). He then pursued a teaching career at Dalhousie University, in the Department of Geology and Earth Sciences (1970–1985) and at the School of Resource and Environmental Studies (1985–1998). From 1998 to 2006, he assumed post-retirement appointments as Associate Research Professor at the School of Resource and Environmental Studies and at the Faculty of Science (Geographic Information Systems).
Dr. Muecke holds additional professional experience as a consultant both at the international level (Hahn-Meitner Institute of Nuclear Studies, Berlin, Germany) and at the national level (underground thermal energy storage, Environment Canada). He has knowledge and direct experience of both the federal and provincial environmental assessment processes having been an appointed member of the federal-provincial review panel for the Whites Point Quarry and Marine Terminal Project (2004) and as a member of the review panel for the Kelly’s Mountain Coastal Superquarry Project (1991).
Dr. Muecke is the author or co-author of research papers on geology, geochemistry, petrogenesis, geochronology and stratigraphic and magmatic evolution. He was an active member of departmental and faculty committees, such as the Postdoctoral Fellowship Committee, Department of Earth Sciences Curriculum Committee (chair) and Dalhousie Northern Studies Committee (chair). He was a member of international interdisciplinary technical journals, such as the Editorial Board of Lanthanide and Actinide Research.
Dr. Muecke has received numerous awards throughout his career, such as the University of Alberta Gold Medal in Geology (1963), Woodrow Wilson Fellowship (1964), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship (1977, 1978, 1983), and the University of Alberta Endowment Fund for the Future (1982).
Dr. Stella Swanson
Temporary member, currently Chair of the Deep Geologic Repository for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Joint Review Panel
Dr. Stella Swanson was born and raised on a farm near Rockglen, Saskatchewan. She received her BSc (Hons) in Biology from the University of Regina and her PhD in Limnology at the University of Saskatchewan. She completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Radiation Ecology at the Saskatchewan Research Council.
Dr. Swanson’s 30-year career has included management of the Aquatic Biology Group at the Saskatchewan Research Council, and consulting positions with SENTAR Consultants (now Stantec) and Golder Associates Ltd. She now owns and operates Swanson Environmental Strategies Ltd. in Calgary, Alberta.
Dr. Swanson’s experience spans work for a wide range of industries as well as federal, provincial and territorial governments and non-governmental organizations. She has assessed the impacts of the nuclear fuel cycle on human health and the environment, including uranium mining and milling, nuclear power plants, and nuclear waste storage. She has conducted human health and ecological risk assessments of contaminated sites, operating industrial facilities and proposed future developments. Her recent projects focus on strategic environmental planning, public consultation, and expert review. Dr. Swanson has maintained her connection with the research community through supervision of graduate students, participation in academic research projects and membership on review committees for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Toxic Substances Research Initiative. She served on the Scientific Review Group advising the federal review panel on High Level Nuclear Waste Disposal in Canada (Seaborn Panel).
Dr. Swanson’s recent experience has included serving as Chair of the Strategic Advisory Panel on Selenium Management; this independent Panel has published a strategic plan for the management of selenium discharges from Teck Coal operations. Dr. Swanson is a member of the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, and the Canadian Association on Water Quality.