FREDERICTON (GNB) – Premier David Alward announced during the state of the province address that the provincial government will create a new energy institute and with renowned biology professor Louis LaPierre of Moncton having agreed to serve as its first chair.

"I am pleased to share with you that Dr. LaPierre has agreed to be the first chair and lead the development and launch of the energy institute," Alward said. "Dr. Lapierre is an internationally recognized scientist, and he is the right person to provide leadership on this file while working with communities, experts, and industry."

The recommendation of having an energy institute was recommended in part of LaPierre's report The Path Forward released in October 2012. The report was created following a series of public sessions to discuss proposed new rules for an expanded oil and gas industry in the province.

The institute will be an independent body composed of researchers from New Brunswick universities. It will liaise with the provincial government through the Department of Energy and Mines.

It will work to ensure credible research and monitoring in support of energy files, including shale gas exploration and production in the province in the months and years ahead as industry explores the potential of an expanded natural gas sector. An important role of the institute will be to communicate its findings to the public, thereby ensuring factual and unbiased information is available to all New Brunswickers.

While the full structure, mandate and budget for the energy institute will be determined in the months to come, it will tap into the research capabilities of the province's four public universities.

"Research conducted to date suggests strongly that, as we continue to explore the potential of an expanded oil and natural gas industry in our province, New Brunswickers want a more factual, science-based dialogue," said Energy and Mines Minister Craig Leonard. "The creation of an energy institute will go a long way toward helping to achieve this, with research and science in a New Brunswick context, while still building on best practices and important work already created in other jurisdictions."

LaPierre, recently awarded the Order of Canada for his long career in environmental sciences, has been professor emeritus in biology at the Université de Moncton since October 2003. At this same university, he was holder of the K.C. Irving Chair in Sustainable Development from 1993 to 2001; professor of Wildlife and Environmental Ecology from 1970 to 1999; and director of the Masters in Environmental Studies program from 1994 to 1999. Between 1990 and 1994, he was also director of the university's Environmental Science Research Centre.


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