Thank You, Patricia

I first met Patricia Poulton in 2004. I was with Alliance Pipeline at the time and she was with TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. Our respective roles in those pipeline companies were similar — damage prevention and public awareness. And although both pipeline companies competed for market share, damage prevention and public awareness are areas of shared responsibility where all pipeline companies work collaboratively to promote public, worker and community safety. 

Patricia and TransCanada wanted to produce an updated damage prevention video and it didn’t take long for me, and everyone else involved in this project, to be engulfed by her quiet determination and perseverance. It was clear she wasn’t one to take no for an answer but how she managed that was with seldom-seen and casual calmness where she simply kept everyone and everything quietly and effectively moving forward.

In all the years I’ve known Patricia, that has continued to be her way.

Patricia began working for TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. in Mexico, where she grew up, in the 1990s. A short time later, she was transferred to Alberta; working in some of the more geographically remote areas of the province. Eventually, she moved closer to corporate Calgary and her role expanded to include community awareness and Indigenous relations. To her credit, she was effective in all areas and is one of the few people I know who was given the honour of receiving an Indigenous name — a testament to her ability building meaningful and respectful relationships.

Over the last many years, Patricia has been a constant force as the chair of the Alberta Common Ground Alliance’s Education and Awareness Committee. Her quiet persistence succeeded in helping the committee to move the awareness needle continually forward while the ABCGA planned and hosted annual Safety Conferences, DigSafe Month activities and, more recently, helped introduce Ground Disturbance Training into several Indigenous communities.

After a wonderful career with TC Energy, Patricia is retiring Oct. 1 and the damage prevention community will miss her. 

Thank you, Patricia, for your contribution to public, worker and community safety across Canada.

Mike Sullivan – President, Utility Safety Partners (operated by Alberta One-Call Corporation)