Brian Hetheringtion
President

Brian Hetherington has more than 30 years experience of public relations management in Canada and the United Kingdom. During his career, he has worked as head of British P.R. Operations of Philips Electronics, was senior manager of two Toronto public relations firms and Public Affairs Director for the Government of Alberta.

Since leaving government in 1979, he has been responsible for managing the Edmonton operations of Berger Hetherington & Associates, a national PR firm, and the Edmonton office of the international Hill & Knowlton (H&K) company from April 1994 to December 1996. At that time he purchased the office from H&K and has since then been the sole owner.

He has provided public relations counsel and developed communications strategies for some of the more controversial issues in Alberta during the past few years. These have included the permitting of Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries’ pulp mill, the upgrading of the Procter & Gamble Cellulose pulp mill in Grande Prairie, the liquidation of Canadian Commercial Bank, Gainer’s “hog wars” battles with the Alberta Pork Producers Marketing Board, WMI Waste Management of Canada’s expansion of the West Edmonton Landfill, and the application process for the Cheviot Coal Mine outside Jasper National Park.

Because of their highly sensitive nature, many of these have involved crisis elements, and he was instrumental in developing a crisis manual for Luscar Ltd. and its coal mining activities along the boundary of Jasper National Park.

His knowledge of the working of the Government of Alberta has helped the company continue to operate an effective government consulting service for its clients.

Under his direction the Edmonton office has achieved an enviable record in developing media relations programs for clients, has won national awards for special events, and has developed successful government affairs programs for a wide range of clients.

Active in the community, he has served on the Boards of Directors of the Edmonton Symphony (including two years as president), the Edmonton Concert Hall Foundation, Edmonton YMCA, Edmonton Centre Club, the Citadel Theatre, the Children’s Health Foundation of Northern Alberta, the Edmonton Glenora PC Association, and was co-chair of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Edmonton Sports Festival.

He was part of the Edmonton team that secured approval to stage the ITU Triathlon World Championship, which was held in 2001. He remains on the Board of the organization that now hosts annual triathlon world cup races in the city.