Honouring our Past

Mike Sullivan, President, Utility Safety Partners

Late last month, and over two-and-a-half days, Utility Safety Partners held its 40th Anniversary and Safety Conference at the Banff Springs Hotel. While it was an opportunity to get ready for yet another digging season, it was also dedicated to honouring those whose hard work, dedication and vision helped get us here.

Two of Alberta One-Call’s founders, Dave Chapman (AGT) and Ted Rowsell (TransAlta), were able to join us, as well as past-President, Bob Chisholm. I have the distinct honour of hosting these self-proclaimed “Old Boys” at an annual luncheon every year that Bob readily organizes, and I’ve been waiting for the 40th event to let them know just how much their commitment to achieving the vision of a safer Alberta means to me, my colleagues, the board of directors and so many others across the province.

We hosted our invited dignitaries at an evening banquet in one of the Banff Springs’ most ornate ballrooms where Alberta One-Call and Utility Safety Partners’ history was presented and special recognition was made for Dave, Ted and Bob’s contributions, which were literally too many to capture in a 30-minute presentation. And we also managed to recognize the very first locate requestor from Hansen Plumbing. The company is now owned by the previous owner’s son, Ryan Hansen, who joined us at the head table with his wife, Sam. From that very first locate request, 10 million (and counting!) have followed!

There have been many lives saved and serious injuries avoided as a result of these founders – and because of every single person who has submitted a locate request over the past 40 years.

We’ve made a lot of advancements over the years; shifting from calls to clicks and introducing new and unified services under the new Utility Safety Partners’ banner. We provide services beyond Alberta and influence damage prevention professionals around the globe. As I asked Bob, Dave and Ted tongue-in-cheek a few times when we were together that evening, “Did you have any idea 40 years ago how this was going to turn out?”

On behalf of the Utility Safety Partners board of directors, thank you.

Utility Safety Partners’ board members (from left to right back row): Amrit Seegobin – Plains Midstream Canada, Perry Ellis – Federation of Alberta Gas Co-ops, Jamie Andersen – At Large / ABCGA, Bas Owel – At Large / ABCGA, Shane Cleet – Enbridge Pipelines Inc., John Hoffman – Pembina, Curtis Bellows – APEX Utilities Inc., Mike Sullivan - President, Harjinder Sokhal – ATCO Electric.

Missing/absent: Darcy Hurlock – TELUS, City of Edmonton – VACANT, ATCO Gas & Pipelines – VACANT, City of Calgary – Ravi Seera, Imperial Oil – VACANT, Cody Stocks – ENMAX, Tyrone Kimmel – EPCOR