Essential Skills - National Adult Literacy Database

Essential Skills and the Northern Oil and Gas Workforce Final Report and Resource Guide
Doug Anguish
Doug Anguish has had a significant career in both the public and private sectors. He spent
20 years, from 1976 – 1996, in the politics of Canada’s prairie province of Saskatchewan.
During that time he was a Member of Parliament and later a Member of Saskatchewan’s
Legislative Assembly. While serving in the Provincial Legislature he was appointed to
Executive Council where he was Minister of Energy and Mines and, later, Minister of Labour.
Following his retirement from politics Doug moved to the Northwest Territories where he
was Vice President of Marketing for the Northwest Territories Development Corporation. In
1998 Doug moved to Calgary, Alberta were he was part of the corporate management team
for Renaissance Energy one of Canada’s top ten oil and gas producers. In late 2000 Doug
became President of External Solutions a position he currently holds.
Helen Balanoff
Helen Balanoff has lived in the Northwest Territories for more than 30 years, working in the
field of education and learning. She has taught people of all ages in a variety of places. She
later became Director of Early Childhood and School Services in the Department of
Education, Culture and Employment. She also worked as a researcher for the NWT Special
Committee on Education and the Special Committee on the Review of Official Languages.
Today she works for the NWT Literacy Council on family literacy, literacy research and
workplace literacy projects.
Chris Bates
Chris Bates leads the Essential Skills Outreach Team with the Human Resources Partnership
Directorate, Government of Canada. He has been promoting this initiative to networks across
Canada, for the past 3 years. Chris received his undergraduate degree from the University of
Waterloo with honours and has completed a certificate in human resources management at
Conestoga College.
Mark Cleveland
Mark Cleveland is currently serving as Deputy Minister of Education, Culture & Employment
with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). He has worked for the GNWT for
over twenty-five years in a wide range of roles – from community to regional and territorial
levels. For the past eight years he has served, in several departments as a Deputy Minister.
Mr. Cleveland's primary service has been in the field of adult learning and organizational
development. He was directly involved in the establishment of the first regional education
authorities in the NWT and played a key role in the establishment of a decentralized public
college system in which he served as president for six years. For this work, he was
recognized by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and was awarded the
National Leadership Award. In his work with government departments, Mr. Cleveland has
been actively involved in a number of major change activities. He led the establishment of
long-term corporate plans for two government departments; managed the division of a
department as part of the creation of the Nunavut Territory, directed the redesign of major
programs including the NWT Income Support and Student Financial Assistance Programs
and served in both leadership and participatory roles on a number of internal and external
committees and boards.
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