OCtOBER 2014 BCBusiness 31 NIK WESt
Jessica McDonald
The longtime civil servant and new CEO of
BC Hydro on revitalizing an aging utility
infrastructure, the promise of Site C and
lessons learned from her battle with cancer
by Matt O'Grady
J
essica McDonald is no
stranger to challenges. The
new
CEO of BC Hydro found
out in 1990, at the age of 21,
that she had ovarian cancer—
almost unheard of for someone her
age. She went through months of
debilitating chemotherapy treat-
ment in which her whole system
got septic before fi nally coming
through the other end to become
cancer free. Emboldened by her
new lease on life, the
UBC politi-
cal science grad pursued a career
in public service, and quickly
rose through the ranks of Gordon
Campbell's government, assuming
the top role of deputy minister and
head of the 30,000-plus B.C. public
service in 2005. The political
and bureaucratic skills honed in
Victoria will be put to the test in
her new role as chief executive at
B.C.'s largest public utility, which
now fi nds itself at one of the most
pivotal points in its history.
What did your experience
working for Gordon Campbell
teach you?
The importance of considering all
options. Sometimes we get our-
selves trapped into thinking about
the way we've always done things
and what the opposite view to that
has always been seen to be—and
that those are our two choices.
There are a range of other possi-
bilities and having the freedom of
thought to actually pursue those—and come
to the conclusion of what is the best way,
the right way, to get us to a new outcome—
I'd have to say that that was my take-away
from that time period.
One of your key responsibilities as
his deputy minister was to review
and evaluate how government was
structured and delivered services.
Any early thoughts on how BC Hydro
needs to evolve as a public utility?
E N E R G Y
