Education / Training

My university education provided me with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton N.B.

This section identifies training received, or in some cases training I provided during my career with Imperial Oil, and while operating MacKay Emergency Management Consulting Inc. This page is really boring and I suggest you skip it, unless you are interested in this stuff.

Emergency and continuity management program development

Emergency and continuity management program development training courses are noted below. Much of the knowledge and experience in program development was acquired through real life experience in developing or evaluating programs based on the EXXON-Mobil Operations Integrity Management System, the NFPA 1600 Standard for Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs, the EMAP standard and as a member of the Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee that developed the Z1600 Standard for Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs. I have made numerous presentations on emergency management and business continuity program standards to emergency management and business continuity professionals and assisted CSA in delivering a series of cross Canada workshops to introduce the Z1600 standard.

I continue to serve as a member of the ISO TC 292 Technical Committee since it was established in 2015.

  • Z1600 Essentials - Emergency Management & Business Continuity Programs Canadian Standards Association, 2009 (CSA Trainer)

  • Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery Redmond Worldwide Incorporated NY. 10 weekly sessions - 2006

  • Basic Emergency Management - Trainer - Emergency Management Ontario, Toronto, ON 2003

  • Workshop - Advanced Emergency Management: Learning From Real Life Incidents International Association of Emergency Managers, Riverside California 2001

  • Communications Workshop: Training Tips and Techniques For Emergency Managers International Association of Emergency Managers, Riverside California 2001

  • Municipal and Industrial Risk Assessment Major Industrial Accidents Council of Canada (MIACC) 1995

Program Evaluation, auditing and exercising

Training and experience includes conducting formal program assessments and developing and conducting tests and exercises for validation within a program. The formal assessment training includes assessing emergency management and business continuity programs, environmental and safety programs and internal and contract emergency response teams. Exercise training includes developing tests for a central emergency number and local, regional, national and international oil and chemical response organizations.

Emergency management and business continuity programs, or select portions of programs, are evaluated through a combination of self assessments, formal evaluations and by a testing and exercising program designed to validate individual components or an entire plan. Training and experience in conducting both formal evaluations and testing and exercising are noted below.

  • Assessor Training Course Emergency Management Accreditation Program (Voluntary accreditation for local and state emergency management programs) Columbus, OH 2002

  • York Region exercise - Operation Timothy - Amateur radio emergency service operator in support of Red Cross, Newmarket, ON, 2002

  • Exercising: How When and Why - International Oil Spill Conference, The Corporate Response Group Inc. Tampa, Florida, 2001

  • City of London exercise - Participated as an industry member of the City of London, ON exercise design and evaluation team, 2000.

  • Emergency Response Contractor Assessment Training - Canadian Emergency Contractors Alliance 1998 & 2000

  • Mastering Environmental Health and Safety Survey Skills and Techniques - Arthur D. Little, Toronto 1994

  • CANUSLAK St. Lawrence River oil spill exercise - Exercise to evaluate Canada and US Coast Guard, Imperial Oil, Exxon and Eastern Canada Response Corporation response to a major oil spill. Participated as a member of the exercise design team and simulator, 1997.

  • Legal Aspects of Assessments and Investigations - Imperial Oil Limited Law Department - 1994

  • Strathcona Refinery Simulation - Exercise to evaluate the response capability of the Imperial Oil Strathcona Alberta refinery. Participated as a member of the Imperial Oil National Emergency Team, 1994.

  • Imperial Oil Limited exercises - Participated in regional and national emergency team and crisis management team exercises either on the exercise design team or as a member or Incident Commander of a crisis management or response team. Exercises took place a minimum of annually between 1977 and 2001.

  • Accredited Safety Auditor - International Safety Rating Council, Atlanta Georgia, 1987

  • Safety Program Auditing - International Loss Control Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, 1984

Emergency Response

Training courses include response to oil and chemical on site and offsite transportation incidents by all modes of transport and to criminal / terrorist incidents. Experience involved providing training for emergency response and crisis management teams, implementation of an incident command system, experience as Incident Commander of a National Emergency Team and support of a certified marine oil spill response organization.

Emergency response related training includes:

  • Advanced Emergency Management - Learning From History International Association of Emergency Managers, Columbus, OH 2002

  • Shelter in Place or Evacuation During and Environmental Emergency Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, Toronto, ON, 2002

  • Universal National Executive Certification (NEC) Leader Seminar (911 Centre Operation) National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, Tampa Bay, Florida, 2002

  • Workshop - Advanced Emergency Management: Learning From Real Life Incidents International Association of Emergency Managers, Riverside California 2001

  • Communications Workshop: Training Tips and Techniques For Emergency Managers International Association of Emergency Managers, Riverside California 2001

  • Standards for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents (NFPA 472) Self study and CPPI Land Spill Emergency Response Task Force participation, 1999 - 2000

  • Advanced Hazardous Materials Technician Training Chemical Emergency Response Partnership, Holden Louisiana (Instructor & Participant) 1998

  • Emergency Response to Criminal / Terrorist Incidents Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Tempe Arizona 1997

  • Oil Spill Management & Response Spill Management and Response Training Institute (SMRT), Toronto, 1997

  • Hazardous Materials Emergency Response - Eight Hour Refresher Training United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1996

  • Marine Emergency Management - Canada Coast Guard, George A. Scott Centre For Transportation Management Studies 1990 (Instructor)

  • Health and Safety Training Program - Exxon Valdez Clean Up Operations VECO (Exxon contract training) 1989

  • Tank Car Safety Association of American Railroads, Hazmat Training Centre, Pueblo, Colorado 1989

  • Major Spill Response Course Imperial Oil Limited, 1985

  • Handling Hazardous Materials Transportation Emergencies National Fire Protection Association, Oklahoma City, OK 1978

  • Oil Spill Control Course - Texas A&M University, Galveston, Texas, 1975

Crisis Management

Crisis management capability has been developed through a combination of training and experience in setting up, maintaining and exercising oil and chemical industry crisis management teams and responding to actual incidents as a crisis management team member. Experience also includes providing training to Esso Chemical Canada, Imperial Oil and Exxon Chemical crisis management teams.

Crisis management capability has been developed through a combination of training and experience. A crisis management team was established for Esso Chemical Canada, a crisis management team was maintained and enhanced for Imperial Oil Limited and training was provided for crisis management team members within the ExxonMobil organization. Emergency operations centres (EOC's) were established to support crisis management teams. Maintaining and exercising oil and chemical industry crisis management teams and responding to actual incidents as a crisis management team member has provided an excellent background to assist clients establish train and operate crisis management teams. Response team and crisis management team training involved training in dealing with the news media, legal aspects of response as well as all other aspects of operating and emergency response / crisis management organization.

  • Advanced Emergency Management - Learning From History - International Association of Emergency Managers, Columbus, OH 2002

  • Workshop - Advanced Emergency Management: Learning From Real Life Incidents International Association of Emergency Managers, Riverside California 2001

  • Major Spill Response Course - Imperial Oil Limited, 1985

  • CANUSLAK St. Lawrence River oil spill exercise to evaluate Canada and US Coast Guard, Imperial Oil, Exxon and Eastern Canada Response Corporation response to a major oil spill. Participated as a member of the exercise design team and simulator, 1997.

Other Miscellaneous Training

Training and experience has provided an understanding about all modes of transportation having supervised truck, rail and marine distribution operations, aviation refueling operations and having acquired a class A-B-M-Z drivers license and private pilots license. Knowledge of communications has been acquired as a response team Incident Commander, experience with automated emergency notifications systems and obtaining an amateur radio operators license. Study of performance based training and experience in developing competency based training for emergency response and crisis management team members has provided valuable learning.

Other miscellaneous training includes:

  • Professional Driver Training Course - Canada Safety Council, 1977 and Transportation Safety Association of Ontario, 2001

  • Amateur Radio Certificate of Proficiency - Industry Canada, 2000

  • Communications Workshop - IAEM, Austin Texas, 2000

  • Introduction to Performance Based Training - The Training Corporation, Toronto, ON 1988

  • Private Pilots License - Toronto Airways Limited, Buttonville, ON 1978

  • Ontario Drivers License - Class A, B, M, Z

  • Aviation Products and Line Service Training - Imperial Oil, 1977