Leadership

Ms. Hale joined the FortisAlberta Board of Directors in April 2016. Ms. Hale brings more than 35 years of experience in finance and operations; recently retiring from Finning International as Senior Vice-President, Finance. Prior to joining Finning, she held the roles of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and Vice President, Finance for Prairie Mines & Royalty Ltd. Ms. Hale also held numerous senior roles at TELUS.

Ms. Hale currently serves on the boards of Enerflex Ltd. and the Edmonton International Airport. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum and Financial Executives International and a former Board Director of the University of Alberta, STARS Air Ambulance, the United Way of Alberta Capital Region, and TEC Edmonton. Ms. Hale is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta and is a past recipient of the YWCA Women of Distinction business entrepreneur award. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta.

Linda Apsey is President and CEO of ITC Holdings Corp. In this role, she is responsible for the strategic vision and overall business operation of ITC and its subsidiaries. Previously, Mrs. Apsey served as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Unit Officer, leading all aspects of the financial and operational performance of the company.

Mrs. Apsey also has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, and President of ITC Michigan, where she was responsible for the company's regulatory, marketing and communications, federal, state and local government affairs, and human resource functions.

Mrs. Apsey was Manager of Transmission Policy and Business Planning for ITC when the organization was a subsidiary of DTE Energy. Prior to that role, she held a variety of positions at Detroit Edison including, Manager, Regulatory Relations, where she was responsible for developing and managing regulatory and communications activities with the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Mrs. Apsey earned her MBA and Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs Management from Michigan State University. She is a member of the Business Roundtable and serves on the boards of ITC Holdings Corp., FortisAlberta, the Edison Energy Institute (EEI), The Detroit Economic Club, The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, Business Leaders for Michigan, the Nature Conservancy (Michigan), and the Board of Trustees at The Henry Ford. She is a past member of the Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC), the EAC’s Transmission Subcommittee, the Michigan Chamber Board of Directors, the Board of Trustees for Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, and the Eli Broad College of Business Alumni Board of Directors at Michigan State University. In addition, she is past chair of The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW) and past President of the Novi Parks Foundation.

Mr. Smith has held a number of senior leadership positions with the Fortis Group throughout his 35-year tenure. He was previously Executive Vice President, Eastern Canadian and Caribbean Operations, Fortis Inc.; President and Chief Executive Officer of Newfoundland Power; Vice President of Customer Operations and Engineering of Newfoundland Power; and Vice President of Operations and Engineering of FortisAlberta.

Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has completed the Finance for Senior Executives Program at the Harvard Business School.

Mr. Smith currently serves as a Director on the Boards of FortisAlberta, FortisOntario, UNS Energy, Caribbean Utilities, FortisTCI and Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL), all Fortis utilities. He is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of Wataynikaneyap Power PM, a Fortis subsidiary acting as the Project Manager for the Wataynikaneyap Power Transmission Project, a partnership with 24 First Nations that is building a transmission line to connect 17 First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario to the power grid.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement Canada and Chair of its Canadian Business Hall of Fame Governance Committee, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation and is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee to the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Ms. Hertz joined the FortisAlberta Board of Directors in February 2023. Joan is an accomplished and experienced corporate director, who currently Chairs both the ATB Financial Board of Directors and the Business Advisory Committee of the Edmonton International Airport. She also serves on the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and Silvacom Holdings boards.  Ms. Hertz maintains a corporate commercial law practice that includes the provision of strategic consulting services. 

Dr. Bridgeman was appointed to the Board of Directors of FortisAlberta in February 2023. He brings more than 30 years’ experience in Alberta’s electricity industry, holding several progressively senior executive roles with EPCOR Utilities Inc. including Chief Financial Officer and head of the Distribution and Transmission, Energy Services and Water Canada business units. Dr. Bridgeman served on the Board of Directors of the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) from 2020 to 2022. 

Dr. Bridgeman is an active Corporate Director serving as Chair of the Rohit Investments Inc. Advisory Board, Vice Chair of the Claystone Wase Ltd. Board and Chair of its Governance Committee, Vice Chair of the University of Alberta Board of Governors and Chair if its Governance Committee, a member of the University of Alberta Properties Trust Board and Chair of its Governance and HR Committee, and a member of the Fort Edmonton Management Co. Board and Chair its Governance and HR Committee. 

Dr. Bridgeman has a passion for high performance Governance. He holds the ICD.D designation, previously served on the Executive Committee of the Edmonton Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Director and currently teaches in the ICD Director Education Program and the Governance Professionals of Canada GPC.D Program.