The Empire Club of Canada
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
As Enbridge Gas completes a major acquisition of natural gas utility assets in the U.S., what does this mean for Ontario? North America? The future of natural gas? And Enbridge?
Join us on November 5th, 2024, as the Empire Club of Canada welcomes Michele Harradence, President of Enbridge Gas, for her first major address since the acquisition, transforming the North American gas industry. The event will be moderated by award-winning journalist Hannah Thibedeau.
Michele Harradence is President of Enbridge’s Gas Distribution and Storage business, as such she has led what is Canada’s largest natural gas utility.
With utilities acquired in the U.S., she becomes the leader of the largest natural gas utility in all of North America with Enbridge Gas utility operations in Ontario, Quebec, North Carolina, Ohio, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
Prior to assuming her current role, Michele was Chief Operations Officer for Enbridge’s Gas Transmission & Midstream business unit, Enbridge’s gas pipeline business based in Houston, Texas.
Before joining Enbridge in 2014, Michele worked with Royal Dutch Shell for 16 years, where she served as General Manager of Shell’s Sarnia Manufacturing Centre in Ontario.
Michele has a degree in mechanical engineering from Queen’s University, a law degree from the University of New Brunswick, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.
An award-winning veteran journalist, Hannah Thibedeau has covered Parliament Hill for more than 20 years. She most recently served as National News Anchor of CBC News Live on Canada’s most-watched news network. Thibedeau and her team won the 2023 Canadian Screen Award (formerly the Gemini) for “Best Live News Special: Ottawa Occupation” for their coverage of the truck convoy in Ottawa in 2022.
Thibedeau has covered seven federal elections, four Prime Ministers, multiple leadership conventions, yearly Remembrance Day ceremonies, the first official National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Royal Visits, and the 2014 shootings on Parliament Hill, among many others. During her tenure, she also reported on important international events such as G7, NATO and APEC Summits and Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s visit to Afghanistan.
Hailing from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Thibedeau has always had an interest in politics, news coverage and storytelling. She attended Dalhousie University in Halifax where she earned a degree in Political Science. Following university, Hannah wanted to combine her love of politics and media and went to Algonquin College in Ottawa and completed her Television Broadcasting Diploma.
Her range of skills and experience throughout the industry is extensive, beginning her career behind the scenes as technical support for hockey and football at ESPN2, producing stories for CTV National News, and as a reporter for Global National then reporting locally, nationally and internationally at CBC for all mediums: TV; radio; online; and, social media. Hannah has also spent time working as a reporter in Washington, guest hosting the National as well as Power and Politics and most recently becoming the anchor of her program on CBC News Network.