Leadership

A 40-year-and-counting career has made Dean a respected name and a mentor to many in the Power industry. Highlights include:

• Owner, Executive and Board Member of PowerTel Utilities Contractors Limited, Vice President, 1988 to 2014

• Creating and implementing management processes for every aspect of PowerTel

• Developing hundreds of millions of revenue in new business 

• Leading top-to-bottom implementation of Health & Safety (COR) and Quality Management systems (ISO-9001) that were recognized to be at the forefront of the industry 

• Acquisition of HICO and the branding and development of PowerTraxx Vehicles Inc. tracked vehicle manufacturing business 

• Founding member and developer of the Powerline Technician course at Cambrian College with Industry leaders. Helped develop the Line Crew Ground Support Course (First Nations ‘Make Ready’).

• Completed the U of T Rotman School of Management Directors Education Program (DEP80). Achieved the ICD Directors Designation - ICD.D.

• Served as a Board Member for the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association, Construction Safety Association, Sudbury Construction Association and Cobalt Power Company Inc. MOL PLMSC (Section 21), Ocona Power.

Expertise

If a project has a requirement for Power, Dean will swiftly bring a command of the what’s and who’s required to make it a success. Notable projects include: 

Energy

Cobalt Power Company Inc. |  Develop, Finance, Build and Operate 6.6 MW Powerhouse at Ragged Chute on Montreal River in Cobalt, ON.

OPG | Numerous HEP maintenance and upgrades to substations, power lines and generation systems.

OPG – Kiewit – LMRP | Installation of 230 kV Substations (Little Long, Harmon, Kipling) and Little Long Switching Station as well as EPC of Transmission tower at Little Long.

Brookfield Renewable Power | Maintenance and upgrades to numerous HEP in Wawa and SSM, ON.

Construction

Five Nations Energy Inc. | Western James Bay Grid Extension – 269 km - 138 kV Transmission Line, three substation (Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Attawapiskat) and Switching Station (Moosonee).

Kiewit | Detour Gold 180 km – 230 kV Transmission Line and Interconnection to Pinard GS.

RES | Ridgetown, South Kent and Greenwich Wind Projects – EPC 230 kV Transmission Lines.

Utilities

BELL Aliant & Greater Sudbury Utility | Maintenance and upgrades to GSU system to ‘make ready’ for the installation of the new Fibre To The House (FTTH) project.

Great Lakes Power Transmission | Construction and Maintenance 115 kV and 230 kV Transmission Lines.

Canadian Niagara Power (CNP – FORTIS Ontario) | Niagara River Transmission Line Crossing – Connection to Buffalo NY.

Hydro One | A6N – Complete 230 kV twin circuit transmission lines in Caledonia for Niagara Reinforcement.

DGG5 draws on expertise from every aspect of the industry.

Risk review, opportunity assessment, business development, relationship building, strategy, planning, contract review, scoping, EOI, RFI, RFP, proposal writing, negotiation, procurement, scheduling, sequencing, safety, quality, environment, heritage, Indigenous inclusion, connecting partners, subcontractor relationships, management structure, governance, training, team development, best practices, customer relationship management.

Qualifications

Education

• Electrical Engineering Technology (Cambrian College)

• Certified Electrical Engineering Technologist (OACETT)

• Business Administration Certificate (Cambrian College)

• Certified H & S Representative (WSIB)

• COR Internal Auditor (IHSA)

• Certified Internal Quality Auditor (BSi)

• ESA Master Electrician

• Rotman School of Management Directors Education Program (DEP 80) (U of T)

• Institute of Corporate Directors - ICD.D designation

Memberships & Representatives

Throughout his tenure, Dean has held membership and senior representative positions in organizations that include:

• 35+ year member of CET / Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT)

• Institute of Corporate Directors member

• Executive &  Board member, Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA)

• Chair and Board Member, Electrical Advisory Committee to IHSA Board

• Trades Board member, Ontario College of Trades (OCOT)

• President & Chairman & Board, Sudbury Construction Association (CSA)

• President, Kummercial Klub, Municipal Electric Association (MEA, now EDA)

• Co-Chair, Construction Safety Association of Ontario (CSAO) Sudbury Labour-Management Safety Committee

• Provincial Labour-Management Safety Committee (PLMSC) section 21 advisory committee to the Ontario Minister of Labour 

• Member, Electricity Sector Council for Powerline Worker Project

• Member, Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE)

• Member, Electrical Contractors Association of Northern Ontario (ECANO)

• Member, Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario (ECAO)

• Founding member PAC and LAC Powerline Technician Course Cambrian College.

Roots

Growing up with hard working entrepreneurial parents taught Dean early on that your actions are your resume and your name is your calling card. His father was a WWII Navigator in the Canadian Air Force and his mother was a Danish immigrant, Dairy Farmer and first Lady Teamster in Fort William Dairy. They lived in many communities across Ontario before settling in Whitefish (Sudbury) in 1970, working a family farm.

Dean’s father turned his apprenticeship at Hydro One as a young man into a business of his own in 1953, Central Canada Construction in Thunder Bay. That would eventually be incorporated as PowerTel (in North Bay in 1968), a leading high voltage transmission and distribution contracting company where Dean’s siblings would all contribute at one point or another.

The Gatien name was associated with expertise, safety, workmanship, and integrity in the Power industry. The brothers carried on the tradition, becoming owners of the company in 1988. By 2014, when it was sold to new owners, Dean had helped build the family business into a respected and recognized pillar of the industry. His leadership in planning, safety, operations, and risk has carried into his advising practice.

Passion

Friends of Dean will tell you he should add pseudo-sommelier and travel agent to his resume. If you know Dean, you most certainly have enjoyed a nice glass of red while discussing the yet-to-be-penned-memoir, The Contractor’s Guide To Traveling. A quirk being that every trip involves hotels, airports, restaurants, understanding local geography, a visit to the  local university or college campus - that is perhaps a testament to Dean’s lifelong eagerness to learn. The drive that earned him his recent Directors designation (ICD.D). 

Sharing his experience is important to Dean. He has helped create provincial training, has been involved in First Nations “Make Ready” training in Line Crew Ground Support (LCGS), and helped develop a college program in Sudbury for high school students to enter the Powerline Technician program at Cambrian College. 

At home, Dean’s been heavily involved in helping grow the local basketball community with the development and management of youth basketball leagues in Sudbury (1994) and Lively (1997). 

Ultimately, family is the most important thing to Dean. Spending time with his wife Kelli, two sons Matthew and Michael and golden retriever, Jasper, fills his cup.