Executive Council
December 15, 2006

Premier 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.

2006 12 15                                          3:30 p.m.


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