Members of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

The Nuclear Safety and Control Act provides for the appointment of not more than seven Commission members by Order in Council. One member is designated as President and Chief Executive Officer. This office is held by Linda J. Keen.

The current Commission membership is as follows:

Linda J. Keen
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Ottawa, Ontario

Dr. Christopher R. Barnes
Professor, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia

Dr. James A. Dosman
Director, Institute of Agricultural Rural and Environmental Medicine, University of Saskatchewan

Mr. Alan R. Graham
Rexton, New Brunswick

Dr. J. Moyra J. McDill
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario

Linda J. Keen
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Ottawa, Ontario

Linda J. Keen is the President and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). She assumed duties as President and CEO of the CNSC on January 1, 2001. The CNSC is Canada’s nuclear watchdog. It regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment and to respect Canada's international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, with 2500 licensees, covering all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle and uses from mining to power reactors to cancer clinics.

As President of the Commission, Ms. Keen presides over a quasi-judicial federal tribunal that is responsible for regulatory policy and making licensing decisions in an impartial manner and where the public is invited to participate. As CEO of the staff organization, Ms. Keen is responsible for the strategic oversight of the scientific and engineering oriented organization of 530 people. The CNSC is committed to an effective and transparent regulatory system and, where possible, to enhancing the efficiency of the regulatory process.

Prior to her Governor in Council appointment as President and CEO of the CNSC, Ms. Keen was Assistant Deputy Minister of the Minerals and Metals Sector with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) where she led the internationally renowned CANMET technology centre as well as directed the departmental Work and Innovation, International Trade and Investment Strategies. Previous to NRCan, Ms. Keen was a director general in Industry Canada, which included leading the International Trade Centres, and development of the prize-winning Export Source Web site.

A native Albertan, she holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Science from the University of Alberta. She is a professional chemist, a member of Women In Science and Engineering (WISE), is the Immediate Past President of the International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), and is the newly elected President of the Third Review Meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety in 2005. 

Dr. Christopher R. Barnes
Professor, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia

Dr. Christopher Barnes was first appointed a member of the former Atomic Energy Control Board in 1996, and has since been reappointed as a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

Dr. Barnes began his geological career with studies in England (B.Sc., University of Birmingham) and Canada (Ph.D., University of Ottawa), followed by a NATO Research Fellowship at the University of Wales. His academic career began at the University of Waterloo in 1965, where he was Chair of Earth Sciences from 1975 to 1981. He held a similar position for six years at Memorial University of Newfoundland where he helped establish and direct the Centre for Earth Resources Research. From 1987 to 1989, he served as Director General of the Sedimentary and Marine Geoscience Branch of the Geological Survey of Canada. He held the position of Director of both the Centre of Earth and Ocean Research and the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria for over a decade, and remains a professor in the School. Dr. Barnes is currently the Project Director for Project Neptune Canada at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.

Dr. Barnes is a former President of the Geological Association of Canada, the Canadian Geoscience Council, and the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada. He has also served as Group Chair for both the Earth Sciences and Interdisciplinary Committees of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. He has been a member of the Science Council of British Columbia and the Canadian Council of the Ocean Drilling Program, and has served on many other boards and councils. For his scientific achievements, Dr. Barnes has been awarded the Past Presidents' Medal and the J. Willis Ambrose Medal of the Geological Association of Canada, the Bancroft Award of the Royal Society of Canada, and the Queen's Jubilee Medal. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1982 and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1996.

Dr. James A. Dosman

Dr. James A. Dosman was appointed a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in June, 2002.

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Dr. Dosman received a Bachelor of Arts in 1959, a Doctor of Medicine in 1963, and a Master of Arts in 1969, all from the University of Saskatchewan. He is currently the Director of the Institute of Agricultural Rural and Environmental Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Dosman is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. He is an Associate Member of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology. Dr. Dosman’s fields of expertise include respiratory diseases, occupational diseases and agricultural medicine.

Dr. Dosman has chaired or co-chaired four International Symposia on health issues related to agriculture and rural populations. He is a founding chair of the Canadian Coalition for Agriculture Safety and Rural Health (1992); founding grantee of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Program (1994); founding co-chair of the Canadian Rural Health Research Society (2002); and past member of the Governing Council of the Medical Research Council of Canada (1995-2000). He is a current grantee of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in areas related to occupational and environmental exposures.

Dr. Dosman’s honours include receipt of a Distinguished Scientist Award from the Medical Research Council of Canada (1998) and numerous fellowships and scholarships in medical research including Research Scholar, Health Canada (1988-89, 1990-94), Ferguson Professor of Respiratory Diseases, University of Saskatchewan (1975-84), Fellow, American College of Chest Physicians (1980) and Lifetime Membership, Saskatchewan Lung Association (1979).

Mr. Alan R. Graham
Rexton, New Brunswick

Mr. Alan R. Graham was first appointed a member of the former Atomic Energy Control Board in 1999, and has since been reappointed a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

Mr. Graham is a native of Main River, New Brunswick. He was first elected as a Member of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly in 1967 and served as MLA for the riding of Kent for 31 years until his retirement in 1998. He was Minister of Agriculture from 1987-1991. He was Minister of Natural Resources and Energy from 1991 to 1998 and served on Cabinet committees of Policy and Priorities, Board of Management, and Budget. From 1997-1998, he was Deputy Premier of New Brunswick. During his political career, Mr. Graham served on numerous Legislative Committees. While in opposition, he acted as critic for Agriculture, Natural Resources, Housing, Health, and Alcoholism and Drug Dependency. He was also Liberal Caucus Chairperson and Opposition House Leader. Now self-employed, Mr. Graham resides with his wife, Connie, in Rexton, New Brunswick.

A long-time community activist, Mr. Graham serves on numerous boards at both the local, national and international level. He is a Trustee of the Nature Conservancy of Canada and a member of the Board of the Atlantic Salmon Federation. He also serves on several boards of family-owned businesses related to lumbering, transportation and export.

Dr. J. Moyra J. McDill
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario

Dr. J. Moyra J. McDill has been a member of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission since May 2002.

Dr. McDill is a native of Ottawa. She received a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) in 1979, a Master of Materials Engineering in 1980 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering in 1988, all from Carleton University. Dr. McDill is currently Associate Chair, Undergraduate, of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University, and is also a professor in the department. From January 1 to July 1, 2001, and from January 1 to July 1, 2002, Dr. McDill also held the position of Associate Chair to the National Science and Engineering Research Council/Nortel Joint Chair Ontario for Women in Science and Engineering.

Dr. McDill has made significant contributions to the cause of women in engineering and holds many academic and teaching awards including nomination for the Y-Ottawa Women of Distinction Award (Education) in 2002, and receipt of the Student's Choice Award, Best Professor, International Student's Centre in 2001, the National Academy of Engineering, Gallery of Women in Engineering in 2000, and the Carleton University Teaching Achievement Award in 1997-1998.

Her major research contribution, with colleagues, has been the development of special elements and techniques useful in analyzing welds, heat transfer and stress in many manufacturing processes.