BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE BOARD OF TRADE OF METROPOLITAN MONTREAL
Chairman of the board, Erik Ryan*
President and CEO, Michel Leblanc*
Retiring Chair of the board, Rémi Racine*
First vice-president of the board, Joseph Iannicelli*
Treasurer, Luc Martin*
* Member of the executive committee
Erik Ryan*
Senior Vice-President, Communications and External Relations
Rio Tinto Alcan
Erik Ryan holds a B. Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University (1987) and an MBA from the Harvard Business School (1995).
Mr. Ryan joins Alcan Inc. in September 2002 as Director, Strategic Management Support. He is part of the Pechiney acquisition team, and is later co-leader of the Alcan-Pechiney Integration Leadership Team in Paris. In the fall of 2004, he becomes Vice-President, Strategy and Business Development, for Alcan Packaging Global Beauty sector. In January 2005, Mr. Ryan is appointed Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Communications, for Alcan Primary Metal Group. In 2007, Regional Industrial Diversification and an aerospace and nuclear alloys casting plant are added to his responsibilities, as he becomes Vice-President, Stakeholder Relations and Communications.
Erik Ryan first became involved with the Board of Trade in 2002 through the strategic analysis committee on economic development before joining the board of directors and then, its executive committee.
Prior to joining Rio Tinto Alcan, Mr. Ryan was Secretary General of the Sommet de Montréal 2002, in charge of designing and conducting this foundational event created to identify the strategic priorities and initiatives critical to the new City of Montréal.
Between 1995 and 2001, following his studies in Boston, Mr. Ryan worked as a consultant for Monitor Company, a Boston consultancy. Between 1995 and 1997, he headed its Paris office. Between 1989 and 1993, he was political advisor to Gérald Tremblay, then Minister of Industry, Trade, and Technology. At that time, Mr. Ryan contributed to the design and deployment of the industrial cluster strategy, and to negotiating the social contract.
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Michel Leblanc*
President and chief executive officer
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Since January 2009, Michel Leblanc has been President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. In this position, he is the official spokesperson of the organization, and he will henceforth be responsible for planning, managing, coordinating and monitoring all its operations.
With extensive experience in the public and private sectors, he is a seasoned administrator with an in-depth knowledge of metropolitan issues. A trained economist, he has a clear understanding of economic questions and the challenges facing the business community.
Until recently, Mr. Leblanc was an Associate Partner at SECOR, and he is a recognized expert in economic and sectoral studies. He had previously occupied senior-level positions at Génome Québec, Montréal International, and the Institute for Research on Public Policy. He has also worked as an economist for the Department of Finance Canada.
Michel Leblanc received a Bachelor of science in economics in 1987 and a Master of science in economics in 1992 from Université de Montréal. He has been named the 2009 honorary graduate of the Université de Montréal’s Economics Department.
Michel Leblanc sits on the boards of directors of the Montreal Health District, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal Foundation, MR3 Montréal Relève and Montréal Excellerator of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. He is a member of the Montréal’s Economic Advisory Committee, of the Steering Committee of Rendez-vous November 2007 – Montréal, cultural metropolis, of the Advisory Committee of the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine, and presides over the Steering Committee of the Rendez-vous des gens d’affaires et des partenaires socioéconomiques.
As a member of the Conseil des partenaires de l’innovation, established by the Minister of Economic Development, Innovation, and Export Trade, Mr. Leblanc helped formulate Quebec’s strategy for research and innovation, announced in December 2006.
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Rémi Racine*
President and CEO
A2M
Rémi Racine is President and CEO of A2M, a company he founded in 1992. For the past 17 years, he has contributed to position A2M as a world leader in the video game industry. Under his leadership, A2M has ranked simultaneously amongst the Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ and Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies™ from 2006 to 2008.
A2M is dedicated to creating video game concepts across all platforms. The studio has established partnerships with major publishers. A2M is Canada's largest independent video game developer, employing 500 talented people in Montréal and Santiago, Chile.
An active member of the video game industry, Mr. Racine has acquired a solid reputation within the business community. He was for three years the President of Alliance Numérique – Quebec's multimedia and interactive digital content association. He is also a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and the International Game Developers Association. His vision is the development of unparalled games, in an environment where talent thrives.
Mr. Racine has a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the Université du Québec à Montréal. Before founding A2M, he worked in the real estate industry for 10 years.
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Joseph Iannicelli*
President and Chief Executive Officer
Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada
Joseph Iannicelli is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada. Since his appointment to this position in 2005, Mr. Iannicelli has put a strategic focus on providing asset-managing services for retirement, investment and protection to its clients. He has been instrumental in raising the profile of Canada in the global operations of Standard Life plc headquartered in Scotland.
A graduate of York University in Economics and Administrative Sciences, Mr. Iannicelli began his career with Standard Life in 1992 in the fields of sales and marketing. Over the years he has taken on positions of increasing responsibility, rising from Regional Sales Manager in 1995, to Vice-President, Marketing, in 1999, to Senior Vice-President in 2002, prior to taking on his current role.
Active in a number of insurance industry and business associations, Mr. Iannicelli sits on the Board of Directors, as well as the Executive Committee, of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Iannicelli is also a member of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Standing Committee on Resources. His professional affiliations include membership in the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
Mr. Iannicelli is involved with a number of community and charitable organizations. He is on the Board of Trustees and is Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute Foundation in Montréal and is a member of the Honorary Committee of the Italian-Canadian Community Foundation of Quebec. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Foundation of Greater Montréal and was a member of the YMCA Open Doors Fund Council for the YMCA of Greater Toronto.
Married with three children, Mr. Iannicelli adopted Montréal originally from his native Toronto to take up his present position. He was born in October 1961.
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Luc Martin*
Manufacturing Practice Leader – Canada
Deloitte & Touche
Luc Martin is the Deloitte Country Manufacturing Industry Leader for Canada. He is a member of the Deloitte Global Manufacturing Executive Committee and the Global Leader of the Forest, Paper & Packaging practice. He is also in charge of the market development activities of the Montréal office. Mr. Martin is a member of the Deloitte Canada Board of Directors, Chair of the Board of the National Finance Committee, and member of the Greater Montréal Area Management Committee.
With more than 30 years experience in external auditing and consulting, Luc Martin has acquired an enviable reputation as a business advisor and has gained the trust of a number of major clients.
Before joining Deloitte in June 2002, further to the transaction between Arthur Andersen and Deloitte, Mr. Martin acted as Managing Partner - Province of Quebec for Arthur Andersen. He has also managed the Andersen Montréal office for 5 years and was a member of the Canadian Management Committee.
In addition to his professional activities, Luc Martin is a member of the Board of the following institutions: The Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, the National Circus School Foundation (Treasurer), the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (Treasurer), and the Club Laval-sur-le-Lac (Vice-President).
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Dimitri Antonopoulos
Vice-President, Marketing & Hotel and Restaurant Development
The Antonopoulos Group
As Vice-President of Marketing, Hotel and Restaurant Development, Dimitri Antonopoulos manages the promotions, marketing and public relations for all the Antonopoulos Group properties. He spearheads the development of new hotel and restaurant concepts, providing leadership on levels such as design, marketing, menu creation, market feasibility, strategic planning and execution. He also contributes to the operations of the Antonopoulos Group, supervising the managing staff of the Hotel Nelligan, the Place d'Armes Hotel & Suites, and several restaurant properties.
Mr. Antonopoulos currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Société de développement commercial du Vieux-Montréal, the Board of Trustees of the Société d'archéologie et de numismatique de Montréal and of the Château Ramezay Museum; he is part of the fundraising council for the Jewish General Hospital Foundation and the Fondation de l'Hôpital de Verdun; he was honourary co-president of the 2008 Exklusiv event produced annually by the Fondation du maire de Montréal pour la jeunesse and is an active member of the Entrepreneurs' Organization since 2003.
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Christiane Bergevin
Executive Vice-President, Strategic Partnerships, Office of the President
Desjardins Group
Christiane Bergevin joined the Desjardins Group in August 2009. In a newly created position, she spearheads key strategic partnerships, M&A and other development activities in Canada and abroad in support of the growth of the organization’s major business lines. Desjardins is the largest cooperative financial group in Canada. With assets of about $160 billion, Desjardins is also the largest and best rated (S&P AA-) financial institution in Quebec and the 6th largest financial institution in Canada.
From 1990 to 2009, Ms. Bergevin held various senior management positions, notably in international finance, with the SNC-Lavalin Group. She was President of SNC-Lavalin Capital from 2001 to 2008 and was appointed Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Corporate Projects of the SNC-Lavalin Group in 2009. Previously, she also worked in real estate and international financing with Standard Life and Export Development Canada.
Ms. Bergevin draws on extensive public policy knowledge in numerous sectors and wide-ranging international execution skills and award-winning Canadian deal making. She led SNC-Lavalin Capital to achieve Top Ten advisory rankings in the industry League Tables between 2005 and 2007, directed activities in over 20 countries and was involved in several acquisitions, including in energy and infrastructure. She notably led the structuring of some of the largest infrastructure debt closings in Canada, including the $3.1 billion Highway 407 acquisition and the $1.9 billion Canada Line concession in Vancouver.
Ms. Bergevin is a director of Talisman Energy and of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. She was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the Business Development Bank of Canada and the Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec. She supports numerous philanthropic organizations.
Christiane Bergevin is a graduate of McGill University and of the Advanced Management Program of the Wharton School of Business. She is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
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Marc-André Blanchard*
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
McCarthy Tétrault
Marc-André Blanchard is McCarthy Tétrault's Managing Partner for the Quebec Region. He practices civil and commercial litigation, and provides advice to companies on strategic and public policy issues.
Mr. Blanchard is the youngest lawyer to have been appointed Regional Managing Partner of a Canadian law firm. In 2005, he received an Arista award from the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal, in the category “Young Professional in Quebec.” In 2004, he was selected by Lexpert magazine as one of the “Top 40 Lawyers under 40” and in 2000, he was named by La Presse and The Gazette as one of the 40 young leaders in the province of Quebec.
He holds a bachelor of Laws degree from the Université de Montréal (1988), a master's degree in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (1990), and master's degrees in both Public Administration and International Affairs specializing in International Trade Law from the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University (1992). He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1992.
Mr. Blanchard was president of the Quebec Liberal Party from 2000 to 2008.
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Stéphane Boisvert
President, Bell Business Markets
Bell Canada
Recognized for his disciplined approach, excellent overall technological knowledge and ability to rally team members around a shared goal, Mr. Boisvert is a manager who promotes a participatory leadership culture while paying particular attention to training future leaders.
M. Boisvert joined Bell in 2006. In 2009, he was appointed President of Bell Business Markets. As part of this function, he is responsible for the operations of a business unit that offers leading-edge products and services to all Canadian businesses of varying size and scope.
Before joining Bell Canada, Mr. Boisvert held various management positions at IBM Canada (1985 to 2002) and Sun Microsystems (2002 to 2006). In 2000, he was named to Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” list of successful businesspeople. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation and the Fondation de l’hôpital Sainte-Justine.
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Hubert Bolduc
Vice-President, Communications and Public Affairs
Cascades inc.
Hubert Bolduc holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), a Master’s degree in Communications from Stirling University in Scotland and an MBA from HEC Montréal
Before joining Cascades in 2004 as Vice-President of Communications and Public Affairs, he worked as Press Secretary to the Prime Minister of Québec. Hubert Bolduc also worked as an advisor for the public relations firm NATIONAL, as spokesperson for the CHUM and as a Communications lecturer at the UQAM.
Mr. Bolduc is Chairman of the Board of Jour de la Terre and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Manufacturiers et exportateurs du Québec. He also serves on the boards of the Fondation de l’École Buissonnière, the Fondation de l’Entrepreuneurship du Québec, the Fondation de l’UQAM, Forces AVENIR, and Tel-Jeunes. In 2005, he was awarded the Prix Relève d’excellence by the Réseau HEC Montréal, Large Company category, and was on the shortlist of the 30’s to Watch Under 30 in the competition of Marketing Magazine in 2001.
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Manon Brouillette
Executive Vice President, Strategy and Market Development
Videotron Ltd.
Since joining Videotron in July 2004 as Vice-President, Marketing and Product Development, Manon Brouillette has climbed the rungs of the corporate ladder one by one. She was promoted to Senior Vice-President, Marketing, Content and Product Development (Consumer Division) in September 2006, to Senior Vice-President, Strategic Development and Marketing in July 2008, and finally to Executive Vice-President, Strategy and Market Development in March 2009.
In that capacity, Manon Brouillette assumes more responsibility for strategic business development while continuing to oversee marketing of all Videotron products and corporate branding. She is currently working on the roll-out of Videotron's new Advanced Wireless Services network. As well, to promote increased content convergence and capture synergies with all Quebecor Media subsidiaries, Ms. Brouillette is responsible for Videotron's exclusive VOX channel and the Indigo service.
Since she arrived at Videotron, Manon Brouillette has successfully piloted some of the most exciting projects in Videotron's history, including the launch of cable telephone service in 2005, wireless telephone service in 2006, the softphone in 2007, and in 2008 the Ultimate Speed Internet 30 and 50 services, which rank among the fastest Internet access services available in North America and have made Videotron the first cable provider in North America to offer service of this speed over a cable network.
Before joining Videotron, Manon Brouillette was a manager and then Vice-President with Sprint Communication Marketing/Publicité Martin inc. from 1998 to 2002. She also worked at Groupe Cossette's Blitz division, Boutiques San Francisco and Groupe Transat A.T. Inc.
Manon Brouillette has been a member of the board of directors of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal since October 2008. She received the prestigious Growth Award from the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) in 2007 and was invited to sit on the CTAM Board the following year. In 2006, she received the Stratège award from the Association des professionnels de la communication et du marketing (APCM). Manon Brouillette graduated from Université Laval with a Bachelor's degree (major in Communications, minor in Marketing).
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Charles-Mathieu Brunelle
Executive director
Montréal's Nature Museums
Charles-Mathieu Brunelle has in-depth expertise and experience in the management of cultural undertakings. He is a founding member of TOHU, a commitment that earned him the title of “2005 Person of the year – Business, administration, and institutions” at the 21st Gala Excellence La Presse/Radio-Canada.
He serves on the executive council of Culture Montréal, the board of directors of the Société du Havre de Montréal, and the City of Montréal's economic advisory committee. He is also president of the Karuna Canada Foundation, an organization launched in January 2008 by Matthieu Ricard to organize, fund, and develop humanitarian programs in Asia.
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Isabelle Courville*
President
Hydro-Québec TransÉnergie
Isabelle Courville joined Hydro-Québec in January 2007 as President of Hydro-Québec TransÉnergie. Before joining Hydro-Québec, Isabelle Courville was President of Bell Canada's Enterprise Group. Previously, Ms. Courville was President and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Nordiq Group (Télébec-NorthernTel).
An engineer and lawyer, Ms. Courville has held a number of executive-level positions related to supply, investments, technology, and national and international alliances. She has presided over companies and divisions since 2001.
Ms. Courville is a member of the boards of the Sainte-Justine Hospital Foundation, Miranda Technologies and Laurentian Bank.
She holds a bachelor's degree in engineering physics from the École Polytechnique de Montréal and a bachelor's degree in civil law from McGill University. She is a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, the Barreau du Québec and the Canadian Bar Association.
In 2005 and 2006, she received Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award in the Corporate Executives category, awarded by Women's Executive Network (WXN). In February 2007, she received the McGill Management Achievement Award for her contribution to the business world and community involvement.
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Robert Desbiens
Executive Vice-President, Corporate Strategies
R3D Consulting Inc.
Robert Desbiens is Senior Vice-President, Corporate Strategies, for R3D Consulting. R3D provides independent management and IT consulting services to help businesses improve their performance by better aligning business with technology.
Mr. Desbiens has more than 25 years' experience in information technology at the senior management level in both the private and public sectors. He has served as Cisco Systems Vice-President, Eastern Canada, and Associate Secretary for the Government Info-Highway and Information Resources at the Treasury Board Secretariat of the Quebec government.
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François Giroux
President and CEO
Allianz Madvac Inc.
François Giroux is President and CEO of Allianz Madvac Inc., the largest manufacturer of street and vacuum sweepers in Canada.
He has a degree in Food Science & Technology from the Université Laval and an MBA from the Université de Sherbrooke. Mr. Giroux held several positions in the food industry before joining Groupe Lacasse in 1989 as Executive Vice-President and COO until 1998. He then successively became President and CEO of Wildfire Inc. and JR Ouimet Inc. Following the acquisition of Groupe Lacasse by Haworth Inc. in 2000, he rejoined Groupe Lacasse as President.
Mr. Giroux is a member of the Board of Directors of Dawson College and of the Advisory Board of the John Molson International Case Competition at Concordia University.
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Michael Goodman
President and founder
Michael Goodman Executive Search
Michael Goodman began his career as an executive recruiter in 1986 with Armitage Associates, and the following year joined the Montréal office of Coopers and Lybrand. He continued his career in partnership with Gilles Tremblay and Associates, following which he joined forces with Claude Vézina to create a new firm, Vézina Goodman. In 2004, Mr. Goodman formed Michael Goodman Executive Search, representing clients from a wide variety of industry sectors to help them identify the kind of executive talent needed to create stronger organizations.
Prior to entering the executive search field, he was Director of Recruitment for Quebec for Royal Trust and subsequently Director of Employee Relations for Canada and the United States for the Mercantile Bank. Michael Goodman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University (1970) and a law degree from the Université de Montréal.
Michael Goodman has also been involved with various professional and charitable organizations as a volunteer and board member. He has regularly been invited to act as a guest lecturer at McGill University and HEC Montréal, and has given presentations on career planning issues to MBA students at both institutions.
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Jean-Marc Léger
President
Leger Marketing
Economist and President of Leger Marketing, Jean-Marc Léger is without a doubt the person who knows Quebeckers and Canadians best. Each year his firm − the largest Canadian-owned market research firm in Canada − conducts thousands of surveys, which allow him to provide a discriminating and accurate look on all facets of our society.
Leger Marketing’s vast research expertise, combined with its analytical capacity, has established Jean-Marc Léger as one of the most sought-after strategic advisors by business leaders, the media, and all political party leaders in Canada and Quebec.
Jean-Marc Léger is also an exceptional public speaker and has given over 500 lectures in Canada and the United States. He captivates all audiences with his strategic analysis of behavior in Quebec, Canada and the US, as well as his knowledge of major trends.
Under his leadership, Leger Marketing has grown substantially in recent years following, among others, acquisitions in Ontario and Alberta. The creation of the U.S. subsidiary, TRIG, The Research Intelligence Group, and the founding and chairing of an international research association – the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research (WIN) – comprised of the largest independent research firms in 21 countries around the world, all reflect the international scope of Mr. Léger’s business.
Jean-Marc Léger is involved in his community. Several organizations have relied on him as chairman of their board of directors, including the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and the Publicité Club de Montréal. He is a member of the board of directors of TVA GROUP, the daily Le Devoir, the Raoul-Dandurand Chair of American Studies, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, the Board of Trade of Metropolitain Montreal and the Fondation de l’entrepreneurship.
Building on the success of over one hundred market research and strategic consulting professionals, the Leger Marketing firm employs over 500 people in North America.
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Caroline Ménard
Président, Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal
Following her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Université de Montréal in 1999, and her Master’s degree in Change Management from HEC Montréal in 2002, Caroline Ménard began her professional life at a large consulting firm. In 2005, the creation of Brio Conseils provides her with the opportunity to join the ranks of a boutique firm specializing in transformation management. Since that time, she has accompanied some of the most well-known public and private organizations in the definition and development of their transformation initiatives. Prior to her nomination as President of the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal in June 2009, Ms. Ménard’s dedication has been a four-year example of active participation.
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Heather Munroe-Blum
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
McGill University
Heather Munroe-Blum is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University and Professor in Medicine. A distinguished psychiatric epidemiologist, she has dedicated her career to the advancement of higher education, science and innovation, in Canada and internationally, advising governments and other organizations on the role that universities and research play in advancing international competitiveness and enriching societies.
Prof. Munroe-Blum serves on numerous not-for-profit and private boards. She is Chair of the Board of the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec (CREPUQ) and she serves on the executive committees of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and the Association of American Universities (AAU). She chairs the AUCC Standing Advisory Committee on University Research (SACUR), and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies. She is also a member of the federal Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC), of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and of the Trilateral Commission. She serves on the boards of the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, the Conférence de Montréal, the Yellow Pages Group, and the Canada Forum of Rio Tinto Alcan. She was a founding director of the Medical and Related Sciences Discovery District (MARS) and Genome Canada (where she also served as Vice-Chair of the Board) and has also served on the boards of the former Medical Research Council of Canada, NeuroScience Canada, the Four Seasons Hotel, Alcan, and Hydro One, among others.
Prof. Munroe-Blum holds a Ph. D. with distinction in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in addition to M.S.W. (Wilfrid Laurier University) and B.A. and B.S.W. degrees (McMaster University). Named an Officer of the Order of Canada for her outstanding record of achievements in science, innovation and higher education policy, she holds numerous honorary degrees from Canadian and international universities. Prof. Munroe-Blum is a Specially Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Senior Fellow of Massey College. She was named a Great Montrealer, Montréal’s highest honour, in 2008 and received the National Order of Quebec in June 2009.
Heather Munroe-Blum is married to screenwriter and teacher Len Blum, and they have one daughter.
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Michel Patry
Director
HEC Montréal
Holder of a Ph. D. in Economics from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from HEC Montréal, Michel Patry is currently Full Professor at the Institut d’économie appliquée of HEC Montréal and Director of HEC Montréal, a major international business school.
Mr. Patry is a member of several boards including: Canadian Federation of Business Schools Deans (CFBSD), Committee on Issues in Management Education (CIME), AACSB International, Global Foundation for Management Education (GFME), Standing Advisory Committee on International Relations, and International Accreditation Advisory Board – Association of MBAs.
In the past, Mr. Patry has served in other administrative capacities at HEC Montréal, as Associate Director – Academic Affairs and Strategic Planning; Director of the Doctoral Program and Director of Research; and activities outside of HEC Montréal, more specifically as President and CEO of the Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO), an important research, liaison and transfert center dedicated to the improvement of organizations’ and markets’ efficiency and competitiveness; Director of the Romanian-Canadian MBA Program; Director of the Joint Ph. D. in Administration Program offered by the four Montréal universities; and Secretary-Treasurer of the Société canadienne de science économique.
Professor Patry is an expert in the economics of organizations and regulation. At the moment, his teaching and research deal with the economic analysis of organizations, the economics and strategic analysis of outsourcing, the economic analysis of regulation, as well as the economics of IT and e-commerce.
Michel Patry has published over a hundred research documents of a scientific and professional nature – articles in academic and professional publications, book sections, monographs, research reports, etc. – as well as many transfer and public education articles. He has supervised close to a hundred students in Business Administration, Economics and IT postgraduate programs. He also served as a consultant to many private and public organizations.
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Daniel Peritz
Senior Vice-President, Montréal
Canderel Management inc.
Mr. Daniel Peritz joined Canderel in September 1983. His current responsibilities include all aspects of the Quebec Division’s real estate activities including; asset management, acquisitions, dispositions, development, leasing, construction, and partner and municipal relations. In his 25 years at Canderel, he has levered his broad industry knowledge into many of the company’s more significant and complex transactions in the Montréal marketplace.
Prior to joining Canderel, Mr. Peritz spent 3 years with Canadian Pacific Enterprise’s real estate arm in a leasing role for their office, industrial and retail portfolio in Quebec. He also spent 4 years with a German-based real estate concern in the function of property manager for two major office buildings in downtown Montréal.
Mr. Peritz is the outgoing President of the Board of Directors of the Urban Development Institute of Quebec and currently a member of their Honorary Board of Governors. He is presently Co-President of the Real Estate Division of Centraide (United Way).
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Lorraine Pintal*
Artistic and General Director
Théâtre du Nouveau Monde
Lorraine Pintal is an actor, director, producer, and author. Her work can be found in the theatre, on television, and on the large screen. During the 2008-2009 season, she will host the literary program Vous m'en lirez tant on Radio-Canada's Première Chaîne. As director, she has brought more than sixty classic and contemporary works to the stage. She adapted both L'hiver de force by Réjean Ducharme and Une adoration by Nancy Huston for the stage. In 2004, she was invited by Dublin's Abbey Theatre to direct The Burial at Thebes, an adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney. More recently, she directed the opera Wozzeck at the Orford Arts Centre, Molière's Don Juan at the Stratford Festival and the TNM, and, in spring 2008, the latest play by Carole Fréchette, La petite pièce en haut de l'escalier. Her last starring role was in Congorama, written and directed by Philippe Falardeau.
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Luc Sabbatini
President
Astral Media Outdoor
Luc Sabbatini holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from HEC Montréal. He is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University and in 2004 was a recipient of the prestigious Top 40 Under 40 Award, honouring excellence in business leaders across Canada.
Luc Sabbatini’s career in communications has led him to the position of President of Astral Media Outdoor. He sits on the management committee of Astral Media Inc.
Prior to that, he was Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Astral Media Radio and Astral Media Outdoor, before that, Executive Vice-President of Astral Media Radio and earlier, Vice-President Sales and Marketing of Astral Media Radio Inc. Up until the year 2000, he worked in television at Groupe TVA in an executive position and before that appointment, he held the position of Vice-President and General Manager of Radio Plus, the largest radio sales representation company in Eastern Canada.
Mr. Sabbatini is very involved in the communication industry and over the years has been on the boards of BBM (Bureau of Measurements), CAB radio and television (Canadian Association of Broadcasters), COMB (Canadian Outdoor Measurement Bureau), BCRQ (Bureau de commercialisation de la radio du Québec), OMAC (Out-of-Home Marketing Association of Canada) and RMB (Radio Marketing Bureau).
Astral Media Outdoor is one of Canada’s leading outdoor advertising companies. Founded in 1987, it has continually impressed consumers and advertisers alike with its boundless creativity and product innovation.
Fiscal 2007 was a banner year for Astral Media Outdoor with the signature of an agreement with the city of Toronto to service its 20 year street furniture program, a contract valued at more than 1.5 billion dollar in revenues. In 2009, the company launched in Montréal the first Canadian Outdoor Digital network.
With an unparalleled network, Astral Media Outdoor offers advertisers more than 7,500 strategically placed advertising faces in key markets in Quebec and Ontario.
The Astral Media Outdoor team is a group of dedicated professionals committed to providing its clients and partners with the best customer service and highest quality products available.
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Javier San Juan
President and Chief Executive Officer
L’Oréal Canada
Mr. Javier San Juan is President and Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal Canada since April 2006, subsequent to a 17 year career path within the L’Oréal Group.
He now manages the 7th most important business subsidiary of the multinational in the world, one of the most flourishing of the 130 other group holdings.
L’Oréal Canada employs more than 1,200 persons and has 3 establishments in the Greater Montréal region: the head office, the distribution center and a high performing manufacturing plant servicing more than 40 countries in the world.
Mr. San Juan took on the mandate of developing, at a rate twice as fast as the cosmetic market, the Group’s diversified brands. Whether originating from Europe, like Lancôme, Yves Saint-Laurent, Giorgio Armani and L’Oréal Paris, or from North America like Maybelline New York, Redken and Kiehl’s, or from Asia like Shu Uemura, these brands offer in Canada products to consumers from such diverse worlds as luxury, professional salons, pharmacies and mass distribution.
This diversity allows, according to Mr. San Juan, L’Oréal Canada to accomplish its mission: “To improve the quality of life of our consumers, giving access to beauty day after day, within the reach of every woman and every man”.
His previous experiences within the company led Mr. San Juan to manage the Group in Argentina and Romania, after holding the position of Director of Finance and Operations in Russia from 1994 to 1998. His first Sales and Marketing Director experiences in Spain and France fostered the core credentials required for any high-end director at L’Oréal.
Equipped with a Master’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University ICADE in Spain, as well as a post-graduated diploma from HEC Paris, Mr. San Juan began his international career in the Finance Department at the Head Office of the pharmaceutical group Sandoz (known today as Novartis) and he also worked at one of its subsidiaries in the Philippines as Financial Manager.
Extremely engaged with the countries he lived in during his career, Mr. San Juan speaks four languages. He is a Board Member of the Luminato Festival in Toronto, of Business for the Arts and of Pan/Parapan American Games Corporation as well as an Advisory Board Member of Schulich School of Business at York University, a Member of the Board of Directors of the Just for Laughs Group and a Member of the Comité de pilotage du Plan d’action 2007-2017 − Montréal, métropole culturelle. He also collaborates for Undergraduate and MBA Programs at HEC Montréal. Mr. San Juan is married and the proud father of three girls, the youngest of which is a little Canadian born in January 2008.
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Sylvain Vincent
Managing Partner, Eastern Canada, and Member of Canadian Executive Committee
Ernst & Young LLP
Sylvain Vincent is Ernst & Young Managing Partner, Eastern Canada, as well as a member of the firm's Canadian Executive and Operating Committees.
Sylvain Vincent joined Ernst & Young in 1979 and was admitted to the partnership in 1990. He was honoured by the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec with the Fellow designation in 1999. He has been a member of the firm's Quebec Executive Committee for eight years. Between 1995 and 2007, Mr. Vincent served with distinction as leader of the firm's Quebec Transaction Advisory Services. Under his watch, the group achieved stellar growth and executed restructuring, financing, merger and acquisition engagements on behalf of clients of the firm.
He is also a proud alumna of HEC Montréal, having served as Chairman of the Réseau HEC. Mr. Vincent harbours a deep commitment to post-secondary educational institutions, which has translated into the resounding success of many annual fund-raising campaigns he has led for Quebec universities.
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The board of directors has nominated three observer members:
Hélène Desmarais
Founder, Chair and CEO
Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal
Founder, CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Centre d'entreprises et d'innovation de Montréal (CEIM) since 1996, Hélène Desmarais holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from HEC Montréal. CEIM is a business incubator, with an emphasis on startups as well as the development of innovative IT, multimedia, industrial technology and biotech companies. CEIM supports the emergence of viable, innovative and successful companies from those sectors which are an economic priority for the Greater Metropolitan Area of Montréal and the province of Quebec.
Ms. Desmarais is founder and Chair of the Board of Directors and of the Entrepreneurial Development Committee of the Société de développement économique Ville-Marie (SDEVM) since 1998. She is both Chair of the Board of Directors and of the Financial Assistance Committee of the SDEVM's Société d'Investissement Jeunesse (SIJ) Loan Guarantee Program. The primary mission of these two organizations is to promote entrepreneurship and economic development. The SDEVM primarily offers commercial loan guarantees to startup companies. The SIJ offers personal loan guarantees to young entrepreneurs under 35 who wish to start, acquire or become an associate in a Quebec business.
Gestion Bio-Capital Inc. was founded in 1997 and was led by Ms. Desmarais as Chair of the Board of Directors until the sale of the fund in 2001. She was also a member of the verification and investment committees and member of the private investment evaluation committee at the time of the sale of the fund. Gestion Bio-Capital Inc. was a venture capital organization specializing in biotech startups.
In 2003, Ms. Desmarais was appointed first female President of HEC's Board of Directors, to which she had been named in 1999. She is Co-President and founder of the International Advisory Board of HEC Montréal (1990); Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine (2006); President of the Advisory Board of the Hospital Centre of the Université de Montréal (CHUM) since 2008; President of the Advisory Board and member of the Board of Governors of the Conference of Montreal (International Economic Forum of the Americas, 1995); President of the Board of Directors of The Montreal Economic Institute (2007), where she has held a seat since 2002. In 2007, Ms. Desmarais is Chair the Board of Directors of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, following a tenure as First Vice-President which began in 2006. She sits on the Board of the Board of Trade since 2002 and has sat on its Executive Committee since 2005. She has been Deputy Chair of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and of its Endowment Funds since 2004 and is founder and Chair of the OSM Foundation since 2008.
Ms. Desmarais also sits on the following boards of directors: Garda World Security Corporation (2006); C.D. Howe Institute (2005); the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (2005); of the IRCM – Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (2005); of Génome Québec (2002); of VAL-CHUM – Société de valorisation des recherches du CHUM (2004); and of SDA – Société de développement Technopôle Angus (2005). She is a member of the Conseil des partenaires de l'innovation (CPI), which falls under the aegis of Quebec's Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade (2006). She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Royal Society of Canada (2008).
Elliot Lifson
Vice-Chairman
Vêtements Peerless Clothing inc.
For the past 35 years, Elliot Lifson has been working in the Canadian apparel industry. He is President of the Canadian Apparel Federation; member of the Federal Government Sectoral Advisory Group on International Trade; member of the Advisory Council to the Retail Council of Canada for the Advancement of Responsible Trade; Chairman of the advisory board to the Government of Quebec for the apparel industry; member of the economic advisory board for the Apparel industry for the City of Montréal; member of the board of directors of the Apparel Manufacturers Institute of Quebec; member of the Apparel Human Resource Council of Canada; Director of the Montréal Fashion Foundation and the Montréal Fashion Week. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Management at McGill University.
He is active in many community activities, including the board of directors of PROMIS (Promotion, Intégration, Société nouvelle), the Fondation de la tolerance, and the Segal Center. He is also a member of the Barreau du Québec and the Lord Reading Law Society.
He is a graduate in Law from the Université de Montréal, and a graduate from the University of Western Ontario with an MBA.
Roger Plamondon
President
Société en commandite
Stationnement de Montréal
Real estate and urban development strategic planner, Roger Plamondon is Chairman of the Board of the Société en commandite Stationnement de Montréal. In this role, he has transformed the company from a simple parking meter operator into an organization which is recognized worldwide for its technological innovation and cutting-edge urban travel solutions such as its interactive parking pay stations and BIXI, its new public bike system.
Also recognized for his extensive retail experience, Mr. Plamondon supervised the rollout of Réno-Dépôt’s first six big box stores in Quebec. As Assistant Vice-President, Development and Legal Affairs, at Costco, he was a member of the team which established the new concept in Quebec. While at Home Depot, as Regional Vice-President, Operations, for Eastern Canada, he established the banner as a major player in Quebec, and accelerated its development in the other provinces.
Previously, he worked in the real estate division of CN, at Steinberg as Senior Development Director and at Créations Kendra as General Manager, responsible for turning the company around. He is currently a consultant for several real estate developers and retailers.
A conference speaker and author of several articles in industry publications, Mr. Plamondon is a governor of the Conseil québécois du commerce de détail, which he chaired from 1999 to 2001, and a member of the board of the Conseil supérieur de la langue française.
He was also an administrator with the Business Development Bank of Canada and a member of the boards of the Retail Council of Canada and the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors. The first recipient of a grant from the Fondation de l’UQAM, he holds a BBA with a major in real estate and an MBA with a major in finance from HEC Montréal.
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