A retired U.S. Navy commander and Democratic congressional candidate this week quit his advisory board role with NovaRed Mining (CSE: NRED), saying he could not remain after the Vancouver company hired former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
Phil Ehr confirmed to The Northern Miner in an email Wednesday night he has departed from his position with the copper exploration company.
“After making my concerns known and giving the company time to address them, I have now resigned,” he wrote. “I am willing to work with almost anyone so long as they have a moral compass. Kristi Noem does not.
“Serving in any capacity with someone whose record includes the conduct and abuses that occurred under her watch at the DHS made continued association impossible for me on principle.”
Noem hiring
His resignation comes three weeks after NovaRed announced it had hired Noem to support the company’s efforts to acquire and advance critical metal exploration opportunities. NovaRed hailed Noem’s experience with economic development, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, national security and public-private collaboration.
NovaRed’s exploration assets include the Wilmac copper-gold property, covering 160 sq. km, and the smaller Lamont Ridge project. They’re adjacent in the Similkameen mining division about 230 km east of Vancouver.
Company shares gained almost 15% to 77¢ apiece on Thursday afternoon in Toronto, for a market capitalization of $38 million. The stock has traded in a 12-month range of 57¢ to $2.33.
Noem also currently serves as the diplomatic head of the Shield of the Americas, a 17-nation group started in March to fight drug cartels and illegal migrants.
‘Diversity of perspectives’
Asked to comment on Ehr’s departure, NovaRed CEO Brian Goss told The Northern Miner on Thursday that the company appreciates Ehr’s service and respects his decision.
“We welcome a diversity of perspectives, but we also recognize that accomplished leaders can hold different views while contributing meaningfully to our mission,” Goss said in an email.
Just over one week after Noem was hired, NovaRed appointed Katie Zacharia to its advisory board. Zacharia, an attorney and political strategist, is also a former spokesperson with the DHS and now serves as a communications adviser with President Donald Trump’s Truth Social media platform.
However, Goss said the company is revising its news release about Zacharia.
‘Strong opinions inevitable’
Queried about the optics of a Canadian company hiring people closely associated with the Trump administration, Goss said NovaRed is building a business that serves a North American marketplace focused on critical mineral supply chains that are continental and don’t stop at the border.
“Whenever someone who has held a prominent political office joins a private-sector organization, strong opinions are inevitable,” Goss said. “What has been encouraging is that many of our stakeholders have been thrilled by her appointment and how she can strategically counsel our team to foster partnerships which will help develop the critical minerals needed for economic growth, advanced manufacturing, AI infrastructure, electrification and national security.”
Asked what feedback investors have given over its advisory board hires, Goss responded that investors are focused on the fundamentals of the business and how NovaRed fits into the growing demand for secure North American critical minerals supply.
‘Threat to Canada’
Outside NovaRed, former federal NDP MP Charlie Angus blasted the company’s decision to hire Noem in a Substack post in late June.
Calling Noem a threat to Canada’s security and economic independence, Angus said her presence in the sector raises too many red flags to be ignored.
“We must have a full investigation into Ms. Noem’s role in Canada’s copper mining sector and whether she is working on behalf of herself or as an envoy to Donald Trump,” he wrote.
After Trump removed Noem from the DHS post in March, he appointed Noem as Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas. It’s a group of centrist and right-leaning governments Trump created the same month. Major regional powers like Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, as well as Canada, are notably absent.
Key portfolio
As the eighth Secretary of Homeland Security, Noem oversaw one of the federal government’s largest departments and directed initiatives involving critical infrastructure, transportation security, interagency coordination and strategic operations.
A series of leadership controversies, including her handling of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis as well as management scandals, preceded her demotion.
Noem was the governor of South Dakota from 2019 to 2025, where she led statewide economic development and infrastructure initiatives. Before that, she was the sole South Dakota legislator in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019.
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