I met Valerie in late 1977. We have been married since October 1982. We have 2 children and 2 grandchildren.
I studied Power and Process Engineering Technology at Vancouver Community College from where I graduated with a 2-year college diploma in 1981.
Valerie studied at Simon Fraser University where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in English in 1982. She then went to The University of Alberta where she graduated with a Bachelor of Education in 1985.
I am a First Class Power Engineer in the Province of Alberta. Since college I have worked in the Power Utility, Pulp and Oil Sands industries.
I also spent 26 years working for the Naval Reserve in Canada, where I retired as a Chief Petty Officer First Class and Chief Engineer in 2004. I spent most of my last 10 years with the military coaching and training supervisors.
Over my career I successfully supervised and managed a number of different areas in industrial plants, including major turnaround coordination between the turnaround team and the operations group, supervising many critical tasks on major power plant outages for several years, and coordinating many key activities during naval deployments and naval training evolutions.
I also served in the Command Structure on naval ships and shore units.
Working in key leadership positions for the military often presents many challenges that differ from civilian workplaces. From my combined experience in both industry and the navy I bring a unique combination of knowledge and experience.