Andrea Harden-Donahue, Council of Canadians

Andrea Harden-Donahue is the Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. Andrea has been with the Council for over five years, working with members, Council chapters and allies on local, national and international campaigns for climate justice. This has seen Andrea attend international climate summits, author several reports, promote energy alternatives and participate in campaigns against extreme energy including tar sands pipelines and fracking. Andrea has a history of activism in the water justice movement and defending arts programs; she studied human rights at Carleton University. She loves to play ultimate frisbee and spend time with her family, including her one year old son.

The Council of Canadians is Canada’s leading social action organization, mobilizing a network of 60 chapters across the country. Their campaigns support democracy, clean water, fair trade, climate justice, public health care, and community organizing. The Council of Canadians is a registered non-profit organization and does not accept money from corporations or governments.

Ben Powless, Ecology Ottawa

Ben Powless is working as a Community Organizer on the proposed pipeline with Ecology Ottawa. He has worked extensively with the Indigenous Environmental Network, focused on climate justice and the tar sands. He is also an organizer with the Defenders of the Land and Idle No More, and was a co-founder of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, where he still serves on the national council. He enjoys biking and photography in his spare time.

Ecology Ottawa is a not-for-profit, grassroots, volunteer-driven organization working to make Ottawa the green capital of Canada.

(Andrea and Ben’s bios were adapted from those provided by Sustainable North Grenville at their Energy East information session held September 18, 2013 in Kemptville.)

Angela Northfield, REAL

Angela Gulley-Northfield is a hydrogeologist with a long association with REAL.  She has been a Certified Water Advisor for the Well Aware program since 2007, and is currently working with REAL on a groundwater monitoring program for homeowners with wells located close solar farm installations in Drummond North Elmsley and Rideau Lakes.  Angela is a sessional instructor at Carleton University, and has provided consulting services for industry, government and non-profits for many years. She and her husband have twin girls in university, and enjoy maintaining their historic stone house and garden.

Dr. Darko Matovic, Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum

Dr. Matovic, a Mechanical Engineering Professor at Queen’s University, began researching issues of pipeline safety after reading about the pipeline spill in Michigan.  When the National Energy Board proposed changes to Line 9B, he investigated further, mapping the diameter changes in the pipeline, and determining the pipeline was not designed with sufficient margins of safety for its proposed use.  He subsequently gained intervener status at the NEB hearings and presented his findings at the hearings in Montreal.  Dr. Matovic is the Chairperson of the Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum and a sustainable energy advocate and researcher.