Executive Council
December 15, 2006Premier
Announces Senior Appointments
The Honourable Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland
and Labrador, today announced senior appointments.
�On behalf of the people and Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, I
want to thank each of these individuals for embracing their new roles,�
said Premier Williams. �Collectively, they have all provided invaluable
service to the people of this province for many years, and I know they
will continue to serve with the same dedication and commitment in their
new positions.�
Mike Samson has been appointed deputy minister with the responsibility
for setting up and then heading a new emergency management agency which
will report to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. Mr. Samson most
recently served as Deputy Minister (Emergency Planning). His new
appointment is effective Monday, December 18. The government is
currently reviewing options for the structure and functions of a new
agency and will provide additional details in the coming months.
Also effective December 18:
Rebecca Roome will be the new Deputy Minister of Education and President
of the College of the North Atlantic (Acting). She served most recently
as Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment.
Bruce Hollett will be the new Deputy Minister of Environment and
Conservation, having served as Deputy Minister of Education and
President (Acting) of the College of the North Atlantic.
Brenda Caul will be the new Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Labour
and Employment. She served most recently as Deputy Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
Marian Fushell has been appointed Assistant Deputy Minister (Primary,
Elementary and Secondary Education), Department of Education. Ms.
Fushell has been serving in that position in an acting capacity since
May this year.
Keith Deering, currently Regional Director for Labrador, Department of
Natural Resources, has been appointed Assistant Deputy Minister
(Forestry) with the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency of the Department of
Natural Resources in Corner Brook. His appointment will be effective
January 2, 2007.
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Media contact:
Elizabeth Matthews
Director of Communications
Office of the Premier
709-729-3960, 351-1227
elizabethmatthews@gov.nl.ca
BIOGRAPHIES
Mike Samson
Mr. Samson most recently served as Deputy Minister (Emergency Planning)
with responsibility for developing a comprehensive approach to emergency
preparedness within the Provincial Government, and make recommendations
to government on legislative changes, financial and organizational
requirements for more effective emergency preparedness. He began his
career with the Provincial Government in 1988. He was appointed Deputy
Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture in 1998. Prior to that, he served
as Deputy Minister (Acting) of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
Secretariat. He has also served in other policy positions, including
with the then Native Policy Branch of Executive Council. Mr. Samson also
held the position of executive director, Aboriginal Affairs, Executive
Council.
Mr. Samson holds a B.A. in political science and economics from Acadia
University, and undertook graduate studies in Canadian government and
Newfoundland politics at Memorial University.
Rebecca Roome
Ms. Roome most recently served as Deputy Minister of Human Resources,
Labour and Employment, a position she had held since February 2004. She
has also held the positions of Assistant Secretary to Cabinet for Social
Policy; Assistant Deputy Minister for the province�s Strategic Social
Plan; and, Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy and Planning) with the
former Department of Human Resources and Employment. She has more than
30 years experience in the public sector in front line service delivery,
human resource management, social policy and planning, and public
administration. She holds a bachelor of arts in sociology, and a
bachelor of social work from Memorial University, and has completed
courses in social work at the master�s level.
Bruce Hollett
Mr. Hollett was most recently Deputy Minister of the Department of
Education and has served as interim President of the College of the
North Atlantic. Since joining the Provincial Government in 1988, he has
also served as Deputy Minister, Department of Industry, Trade and
Technology; Deputy Minister, Youth Services and Post-Secondary
Education; Deputy Minister, and earlier as Assistant Deputy Minister, of
the Voisey�s Bay Project Secretariat; and, Assistant Deputy Minister
(Fiscal and Tax Policy), Department of Finance; Director of Social and
Fiscal Policy, Intergovernmental Affairs; and, Director of Fiscal
Policy, Department of Finance.
Mr. Hollett has a master of business administration from York University
and a bachelor of commerce (honours) from Memorial University.
Brenda Caul
Ms. Caul served as Deputy Minister of the Department of Environment and
Conservation since April 2005. Other positions she has held with the
Provincial Government include Assistant Secretary to Treasury Board
(Budgeting), and Assistant Deputy Minister (Municipal Support) with the
Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs. Prior to that, Ms. Caul
spent most of her career with the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing
Corporation, where she was Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer for
17 years. She also worked as Assistant Comptroller with the corporation
and as a staff accountant with H.R. Doane and Company. Ms. Caul holds a
chartered accountant professional designation, a bachelor of science
from Memorial University and has served as the secretary of the
Newfoundland Chapter of the Treasury Managers Association.
Marian Fushell
Marian Fushell began her career in the education system in 1976 as a
mathematics and science teacher and has held a number of teaching and
administrative positions in the K � 12 school system. She came to
government in 1992 as an evaluation consultant with the Department of
Education, working in the areas of language arts, mathematics, science,
and French for Grades K � 12. Before appointment as Assistant Deputy
Minister (acting) with the Department of Education this year, she has
served as Director of Evaluation and Research. She has also taught
university level courses on student assessment for pre-service education
students. Ms. Fushell has a Ph.D. in measurement and testing from the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
She holds a master of education degree from Memorial University, as well
as bachelor degrees in both science and education.
Keith Deering
Mr. Deering has been working with the provincial Department of Natural
Resources since 1999. In that time, he has served the department in the
roles of District Manager for southeastern Labrador, District Manager
for Central and Western Labrador and Regional Planner for all of
Labrador. For the past three years he has held the position of Regional
Director for Labrador with regional responsibility for forest
management, forest fire suppression, silviculture, planning, road
construction, and forestry and wildlife compliance and enforcement.
He is a provincial representative on the Torngat Plant and Wildlife
Co-Management Board with the Nunatsiavut government and has been an
active participant on the provincial Innu Land Claim negotiating team.
He received a Public Service Award of Excellence in 2002 for his role in
significantly improving the working relationship between the province
and Innu Nation on forest management issues which resulted in a forest
management plan that has received national attention for its approach to
ecosystem-based forest management. Prior to working with the provincial
public service, Mr. Deering spent several years working in various
capacities with Natural Resources Canada, most recently as a forest
ecologist. Mr. Deering graduated from the University of New Brunswick in
1994 with a bachelor of science in forestry.
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