Chairman appointed for Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation

The Minister of Natural Resources, Dr. Rex Gibbons, today announced that Norman J. Whalen, Q.C. has been appointed as chairman of the board of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation, and associated companies. Mr. Whalen has been a member of the board for five years, since January 1991, and has served on several committees of the board since that time.

Mr. Whalen is a senior lawyer in Newfoundland, and a partner in the firm Martin, Whalen, Hennebury and Stamp in St. John's. He has been appointed for a four�year term to expire in December 1999. Mr. Whalen replaced James R. Chalker, who served as chairman of the Hydro Group of Companies for the past four years. The minister said that he wishes to publicly thank Mr. Chalker for his service during a period when Hydro and government faced many challenges together. The minister stated: "I sincerely thank Jim Chalker for his leadership of Hydro and for his advice and guidance to me during his term as chairman. I look forward to working with him on other energy issues in the future. I also look forward to working with Norm Whalen and Bill Wells, the recently appointed new president of Hdyro, as we address electricity needs of the province in the years ahead."