Accelerating High-Speed Internet Access Delivery Across Canada
Perspectives from Legal and Technological Experts Around Municipal Access Agreements and Permitting Best Practices

Ed Plant

Owner, T.E.P. R-O-W Co-ordination Inc

Ed’s career was with the City of Edmonton, leading the Right-of-Way Management unit before retiring in 2015 to form his consulting firm, T.E.P. R-O-W Co-ordination Inc. He is a member of the American Public Works Association’s Utilities & Public Right-of-Way sub-committee, the current chair of the Utility Safety Partner’s Best Practices Committee, and a technical committee member on 2 CSA Standards. Ed consults with a number of Ontario municipalities on telecom issues. Since graduating from technical college in 1980, he attended the University of Alberta / Dalhousie University and holds a National Advanced Certificate in Local Authorities Administration Level II. 

📨 ed@teprow.com

Jason St. Pierre

CEO, Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN)

Jason St.Pierre is a leader with 25 years of experience in the telecommunications field delivering complex and high-value projects, while working to improve connectivity throughout Ontario. Throughout his career, Jason has been involved in project management and procurement of a variety of large-scale, high-profile ventures, and in his current role as CEO of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) he oversees the delivery of a $300 million project to close the gaps in cell service in eastern Ontario. Jason is presently assisting the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (EOWC) in the development of a business case for a project aiming to greatly reduce municipal waiting lists for affordable housing.

📨 jst-pierre@eorn.ca

Stéphane Émard-Chabot

Lawyer, Sicotte Guilbault LLP

Stéphane practices in the areas of municipal law, commercial litigation, administrative law, and constitutional law with Sicotte Guilbault LLP in Ottawa. Stéphane has represented the Federation of Canadian Municipalities since 2008 and has appeared for FCM before the CRTC, the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada. During his career, Stéphane served two terms on Ottawa City Council, was Assistant Dean at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, served as Education Director at the National Judicial Institute, overseeing the education programs for Canada’s judges, and is a regular contributor for CBC on municipal issues. 

📨 semard-chabot@sicotte.ca

Steve Murphy

Owner & President, SVJR Consulting Inc.

Steve is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Civil Engineering Technology and is the owner and President of SVJR Consulting Inc. Steve obtained a vast amount of knowledge throughout his 33 years working for municipalities and 7 years in the private sector in a variety of utility and development design/construction positions.  In his role as York Region’s Program Manager – Corridor Control – he was responsible for managing the utility permitting which included the development, negotiation and implementation of telecommunication Municipal Access Agreements  He is an active member on several industry association committees and subcommittees related to utility and right-of-way management. 

📨 steve.murphy@svjrconsulting.com

Doug Allport

Consultant, Transnomis Solutions Inc.

Doug led the development of the Municipal511 service that serves more than 50% of Ontario municipalities, and the new Permit Central service that was developed with 10 Ontario municipalities within an Eastern Ontario Leadership Council (EOLC) initiative. Prior to Transnomis, Doug led the development of provincial and national situational awareness systems used in disasters, and he was a lead author of National Public Alerting System (NPAS) protocols and policy. 

📨 doug@transnomis.com