Mike Sullivan is the President of Alberta One-Call Corporation and Executive Director of the Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA). Mike’s damage prevention experience stems from a 25 year career with the National Energy Board, Canada’s federal regulatory agency governing interprovincial and international transmission pipelines, Alliance Pipeline Ltd., and Vice-President and General Manager with HMA Land Services, one of Canada’s leading transmission pipeline project management and land services. With his dedicated and best-in-class Team at Alberta One-Call, Mike championed and Trademarked ‘ClickBeforeYouDig’ and successfully transitioned the Corporation’s services towards web-based locate requests. Mike and his Team are now working with western Canada’s One-Call leaders to implement new technology that will improve the integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of the damage prevention process.
As Executive Director of the CCGA, and a member of the Common Ground Alliance’s Board of Directors in the United States, Mike represents the collective damage prevention voice of Canada’s Regional CGA Partners with a mandate to simplify access to the damage prevention process in Canada, realize a One-Call Notification System serving every province and territory, enable effective damage prevention legislation and harmonize damage prevention best practices across Canada.
Bill S229, the Underground Infrastructure Safety Enhancement Act
In May 2018, under Mike’s leadership, the CCGA reached a significant milestone when Bill S229, the Underground Infrastructure Safety Enhancement Act, was adopted in the Canadian Senate following third reading. While the bill has not yet been tabled in the House of Commons for debate, it was the focus of a strategic awareness campaign targeting Members of Parliament. The damage prevention governance articulated in Bill S229 is now the centre of a federal pilot project exploring procedural and operational gaps among Canada’s Ministries governing underground infrastructure.
About the CCGA
The Canadian Common Ground Alliance is the voice of Canada’s Regional Partner CGAs dedicated to working toward damage prevention solutions that will benefit all Canadians. Through shared responsibility among all stakeholders, the CCGA works to reduce damages to underground infrastructure – ensuring public safety, environmental protection, and the integrity of services by promoting effective damage prevention practices. Through its Board of Directors, the CCGA reaches an estimated 1.5 million Canadians.
A lot of time and effort goes into reducing damages to buried energy and utility assets. Technological advancements do pay off but they’re usually costly to develop and expensive to purchase and implement. By far, the most effective method of reducing damages to buried assets is requesting a locate before digging and waiting for a …
FOR ALMOST four years of my life, bill S229 seemed to be all I lived and breathed! Working with Senator Grant Mitchell, MP Lloyd Longfield, Parliamentary lawyers, stakeholders and interested parties across the country as we drafted and refined legislative language was a tremendous experience. There were successes and challenges – perhaps none bigger than when …
Damage Prevention: Legislation or Collaboration? Read More »
Demographics are a promotional campaign’s key ingredient, and identifying and reaching your target audience is critical. When done correctly, it can be the tipping point between meeting your objective and missing it altogether. The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) has a solid history of leveraging sports, such as NASCAR, hunting, fishing, horse racing and baseball to …
Leveraging Damage Prevention Awareness with the Grey Cup Read More »
If you want something done, give it to the busy guy. He’s busy for a reason. The vast majority of damage prevention goals and objectives are achieved through volunteer efforts by subject matter experts lending their time, energy and knowledge to the cause. We lean on these folks and relentlessly soak in their volunteerism. And, …
Damage prevention legislation, unencumbered by exemptions or governance limitations, is the ultimate “Holy Grail” for the CCGA and its stakeholders. We can achieve harmonized best practices, develop definitive infrastructure- saving procedures, confirm root causes and societal costs through expanding data, and promote a unified damage prevention initiative and process, but until we capture that Holy …
