Government appoints new members to the Board of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

Premier Roger Grimes and Mines and Energy Minister Walter Noel today announced the appointment of Paul D. Dicks, Q.C., as chairman of the Board of Directors of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (Hydro) and Danny Dumaresque as a board member. The appointments are for a 36-month term and are effective immediately.

"Mr. Dicks and Mr. Dumaresque will be a great asset to the board of directors of Hydro," said Premier Grimes. "Mr. Dicks� experience as a businessman, lawyer, and negotiator will only strengthen and complement the highly skilled individuals currently serving on the board. As a former Minister of Finance, Justice and Mines and Energy, he is well acquainted with the role and responsibilities of Hydro and the expectations of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to ensure its efficient operation.

"Mr. Dumaresque�s experience as a businessman and former member of the House of Assembly will also provide Hydro with valuable insight. As a Labradorian, he will have a unique perspective on various issues that are of great interest to the people of Labrador.

"I have advised Mr. Dicks and Mr. Dumaresque that government will be continuing its evaluation of potentially broadening the mandate of Hydro to involve all aspects of energy development, not just electricity. This would include such things as petroleum, wind power, and the development of new energy technologies to be used in this province. Government has been looking at these options since March 2002 when our Electricity Policy Review document was released, and we will continue to examine the benefits of strengthening our publicly owned utility.

"We are also awaiting a final report on the cost of integrating Newfoundland Power with Hydro to have one publicly-owned electrical utility in the province. The people of the province have indicated that they want us to consider this option, and we will ensure that all analysis is completed before any final decisions are made."

Mines and Energy Minster Walter Noel said that he has heard many informed and constructive ideas during Electricity Policy Review forums held across the province.

"Over the past several months I have participated in a number of electricity policy forums to discuss the options presented in our Electricity Policy Review document," said Minister Noel. "The re-mandating of Hydro and the merging of our two electrical utilities continue to be issues of great interest to the general public. We asked for the public�s opinion on these issues when we released the document last year, and I believe they want government to examine the viability of moving forward with these initiatives."

Media contact:

Catherina Kennedy, Office of the Premier, (709) 729-3960
Darrell Mercer, Mines and Energy, (709) 729-5777

Paul Dicks is a native of Corner Brook where he graduated from Regina High School.

He received a B.A. (Hons.) and B.Ed. from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1973 with first class standing in both degrees, and was awarded the Gold Medal in philosophy and the NTA Medal for outstanding student in education.

In 1973, he was awarded the Sir James Dunn Scholarship to attend Dalhousie Law School, where he received a Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1976.

Following graduation, Mr. Dicks engaged in the general practice law in Corner Brook from 1977 until 1989. In 1979, Mr. Dicks represented the federal government at an inquiry into the sinking of the M.V. Barracudena. From 1980 until September, 1984, Mr. Dicks was the agent for the Attorney General of Canada in Western Newfoundland representing the federal government in prosecutions under the Food and Drug Act, Narcotics Control Act, Income Tax Act, Fisheries Act, Broadcasting Act, and Immigration Act as well as various civil matters. This included representation at all levels of court in the province including the Provincial Court, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. In addition, Mr. Dicks acted on behalf of various federal Crown corporations including CMHC and the Farm Credit Loan Corporation and represented the federal government in various property acquisitions in the province.

Mr. Dicks also had an active commercial and corporate law and litigation practice and performed work on behalf of various financial institutions. In addition, he acted as the chair of various labour arbitrator panels in both the public and private sectors.

Besides various community and family commitments, Mr. Dicks was active in political circles and was elected president of the provincial Liberal Party in 1984.

From 1989 to 2001, Mr. Dicks represented the District of Humber West in the Newfoundland House of Assembly. During that time, he twice served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (1989 � 1991 and 1998-2000), as Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board (1995 � 2000), and as Minister of Mines and Energy (2000 � 2001). Mr. Dicks was also elected Speaker of the House, serving from 1993 -1995. During that time, he chaired the Constitutional Committee on Meech Lake, the Resource Policy and Appointments Committees of Cabinet, Treasury Board and was a member of the Planning and Priorities Committee of Cabinet.

During his first term as Minister of Justice, Mr. Dicks presided over the Hughes Inquiry which delved into the Mount Cashel incidents and which was largely seen as restoring confidence in the system of justice within the province.

Mr. Dicks also served on the cabinet committees that negotiated and directed the successful agreements to develop the massive Hibernia and Terra Nova off shore oil and gas deposits, including the royalty structure and provincial benefits. He was also instrumental in the development and implementation of a generic off shore royalty regime in the mid 1990s that provided greater certainty for exploration. In addition, he helped direct to arbitration the offshore boundary dispute between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. This settled the key question as to which provincial regulatory regime would apply to exploration and development, particularly in the richly prospective Laurentian Basin area lying south of the province. He also led the successful negotiations to amend the Hibernia royalty regime changing it from a time to a production-based system in order to accommodate an increase in oil production at Hibernia that would not deprive the province of its proper royalty share.

He was also a key member of the cabinet committees that engaged in three series of negotiations in the early, mid and late 1990s to develop the Lower Churchill (Gull Island and Muskrat Falls) in partnership with Hydro Quebec and others.

During his tenure as Finance Minister, Mr. Dicks brought in the first balanced budgets and budgetary surpluses in the province�s history since joining Canada in 1949 while, at the same time, substantially reducing the payroll, personal and corporate income taxes. He was also instrumental in the integration of the GST with the provincial HST which effectively reduced the effective rate of sales tax from almost 20 per cent to 15 per cent. He also negotiated the reform the provincial pension plans to provide for substantial unfunded liabilities.

Mr. Dicks currently practices law with the law firm of Benson Myles in St. John�s, Newfoundland. His preferred areas of practice include: providing legal, policy and strategic advice to both governments and corporations; advising on mergers and acquisitions and natural resource and energy issues; labour and employment law; general corporate and commercial law matters; administrative board work; general litigation and selective criminal matters.

Mr. Dicks serves on the Provincial Executive Board and the National Governance Committee of Junior Achievement of Canada and is a director of a number of private corporations.

In December, 2002, Mr. Dicks was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada and is a member of the Human Resources Committee of the bank.

2003 08 15                                      12:35 p.m.