Edmonton - The University of Alberta Faculty of Law today announced the appointment of Rowland Harrison as the next TransCanada Chair in Administrative and Regulatory Law. The Chair is supported by a $1.5 million donation from TransCanada, one of the country's leaders in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure. It was designed to enable the Faculty to enrich its research and teaching program in the vital area of administrative and regulatory law.
"Rowland Harrison brings to the TransCanada Chair in Administrative and Regulatory Law exceptional breadth and depth of experience as an academic, lawyer and regulator. We are especially delighted that he adds to the Faculty's expertise in the field of energy regulation, an area that is critical to Alberta's economic well-being," says Dean Philip Bryden.
"We are very pleased with the appointment of Mr. Harrison to this important role," said Sean McMaster, TransCanada's Executive Vice-President, Stakeholder Relations and General Counsel. "His wealth and breadth of experience will enhance the benefits this Chair has already brought to the field of administrative and regulatory law and will continue to do so in the years to come."
Rowland Harrison was born in Tasmania, Australia. He graduated LL.B. from the University of Tasmania in 1968 and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. In 1969, he became a graduate student in oil and gas law at the University of Alberta and received his LL.M degree in 1975. He was a full-time member of the Faculty of Law at the U of A from 1970 to 1972. He was subsequently a full-time member of the Faculties of Law at Dalhousie University, the University of Calgary and the University of Ottawa. While at the University of Calgary, he was the founding Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Resources Law.
Mr. Harrison served as a senior official with the Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration in Ottawa. He was also a partner in the Ottawa and Calgary offices of Stikeman Elliott, practising in the field of energy regulation. From 1997 to 2011, Mr. Harrison was a permanent member of the National Energy Board in Calgary. During that time, he was appointed by the federal Minister of Environment as a member of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project. He was appointed Queen's Counsel by the government of Alberta in 2005. He resides in Calgary.
"I am honoured to have been appointed as the TransCanada Chair in Administrative and Regulatory Law," Mr. Harrison said. "I am very much looking forward to returning to teaching and the opportunity to share with students, faculty and members of the regulatory community my observations and learnings from my involvement in regulation over many years, particularly as a member of the National Energy Board for the past 14 years. This is a challenging period in the field of energy and environmental regulation - there is no shortage of material to be researched and discussed in the classroom! I am also pleased to be returning to my alma mater."
For more information:
Katherine Thompson
Communications and Events Coordinator
Faculty of Law, University of Alberta
780-492-3296; lawcomm@ualberta.ca
James Millar, ABC
Manager, External Communications
TransCanada
403-920-2240; james_millar@transcanada.com
