Executives in the News

Bell and Rogers pay pretty well

2009-04-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

Michael Sabia, former head of BCE and Nadir Mohamed, recently crowned CEO of Rogers had their compensation packages profiled in the Globe and Mail today.
Michael Sabia, caught in a storm of controversy over his sudden appointment as chief of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, pocketed $21-million after stepping down as the head of BCE Inc. last summer.

Mr. Sabia was named chief of the Quebec pension fund manager last month. The speed of his appointment, only one week after the provincial government named Robert Tessier chairman, launched a flurry of criticism that Mr. Sabia had short-circuited the selection process as the favoured candidate of Quebec Premier Jean Charest.

In an effort to defuse the controversy, Mr. Sabia last week said he would give up his right to any bonuses in his first two years on the job, as well as a $235,000-a-year pension and any golden handshake on his departure.

Mr. Sabia's massive separation package from BCE includes severance equal to three years' salary, and short-term incentives amounting to more than $9-million, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. It also contains a $1.3-million payment related to BCE's privatization deal, which collapsed; $3.1-million of incentive pay; $2.9-million in accelerated vesting of stock options; and a base salary up to July 11 of $729,000.
Mr. Sabia was ousted from the top job at the communications giant by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and its partners, which planned to buy BCE for $35-billion. As a condition of the deal, the buyers wanted Bell Canada executive George Cope to take the reins even before the deal closed.
Although the leveraged buyout eventually fell through, Mr. Cope, president and chief executive officer of both BCE and Bell Canada since last July, has been implementing many of the changes the investment group had planned.

Mr. Cope received total compensation of $4.6-million in 2008, including a $2-million recognition and retention payment related to the privatization effort and a $1.2-million incentive payment. His base salary was $959,000.

Mr. Cope also received options for 790,000 BCE shares, bringing the total value of his unvested options to $12.8-million.

Bell Canada rival Rogers Communications Inc. has also provided details of its executive compensation for 2008.
Company founder Ted Rogers, who died on Dec. 2, received total compensation of $21.5-million, of which $14.6-million represented the value of benefits payable to his wife, Loretta.

Nadir Mohamed, who was promoted to CEO this week, received total compensation last year of $6.5-million for serving as president and chief operating officer of the communications group. Salary comprised $853,900 of that amount, share-based awards $3.5-million, option-based rewards $1-million, and an annual incentive of $1.1-million.

Mr. Mohamed also holds vested options worth $5.8-million and unvested options worth $2.8-million.

Edward Rogers, the founder's son and early contender for the top job, had in-the-money options worth $34.6-million at the end of the year. His sister, Melinda, who serves as senior vice-president of strategy and development, held $5.9-million worth of in-the-money options.

Dominic D'Alessandro gets $12.5 Million "Thank You"

2009-03-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Manulife recently promised to pay retiring chief executive officer Dominic D'Alessandro $12.5-million (U.S.) this year in recognition of his "extraordinary performance" at the company.

Manulife Financial's share price plunged 49% last year, so this "Golden Handshake" of sorts should not be seen as a bonus for 2008 or 2009, but more as a bonus for taking Manulife from where it was 15 years ago to where it is today. He will be paid $2.5-million in cash and $10-million in restricted share units.

Mr. D'Alessandro will work just five months of 2009 and plans to retire in May, when he will be eligible to collect an annual pension of $3-million (Canadian). Perhaps he'll write a book, or teach a class at the local community college?

READ THE FULL STORY IN THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Nadir Mohamed chosen (internally) for top Rogers post

2009-03-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

Just read in the Globe and Mail that Nadir Mohamed was chosen as the next CEO of Rogers. In the running were just him and the late Ted Rogers' son, Edward Rogers, currently head of the Cable business.

It's said that Mr. Rogers will take a vice-chairman role at the top, to balance the overwhelming power that Mr. Mohamed will wield, and will advise more on strategy and acquisitions, versus the day to day operational leadership.

Not sure this is the best plan, as I'm a big fan of the 'if it ain't broke...' theory. Nadir Mohamed's experience in the industry, and his love-affair with Bay street is all about stability and long term vision. If a Rogers is calling those shots and once again micro-managing Mohamed, the market may not see the kind of results they're expecting.

I surmise that all will be addressed within the week when Rogers makes the announcement and spells out to analysts what the various roles and responsibilities will be. They cannot afford speculation, so I anticipate a very detailed description and lots of hand holding for Bay Street.

Michael Sabia goes to the Caisse

2009-03-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

“I consider my appointment to such an important position as evidence that Quebeckers are open and confident because the French language is clearly at the heart of life in Quebec and the French language is at the heart of the Caisse's operations,” said Mr. Sabia, who speaks very good French, albeit with an accent.

“In 1993, I chose Quebec. I chose Quebec again in 2000. And now, with other opportunities [available] in Europe, the United States, I chose Quebec again.

Why? Because for my family, for myself, Quebec is home.”

Michael John Sabia BA, MA, MPhil (born 1953 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is the former CEO of Bell Canada and Bell Canada Enterprises and has just been tapped as the new president of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Quebec.

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) manages public pension plans in the Canadian province of Québec. It was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly. The name translates to Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund, but the official French name is normally used in English. In either language, the pension fund is colloquially referred to as the "Caisse". The Caisse is headquartered in Quebec City in the Price building and has a business office in Montreal.

Read the official Press Release from the Caisse.

Dividend cut at Linamar

2009-03-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Press March 5, 2009 at 5:49 PM EST
Linamar Corp. cut its quarterly dividend in half on Thursday as the auto parts maker reported a fourth-quarter loss. The company said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 3 cents per share, down from 6 cents in the previous quarter.

Linamar said the reduction was "a prudent step" and was "in the best interests of the company." Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz was not available for Comment.

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail

Billion Dollar profit for RBC this Quarter

2009-02-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, Royal Bank of Canada chief executive Gordon Nixon said his bank's results “reflect the strength of our Canadian businesses and demonstrate the value of our diversified business model.”

We recently featured Gordon Nixon in a video, from the Canadian Business Leadership Forum.
Read the full story on the Globe and Mail.

Elyse Allan - GE Canada [Video]

2009-02-24T15:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.elyseallan.com

Gordon Nixon - Royal Bank [video]

2009-02-24T15:25:00.001-08:00

http://www.gordonnixon.com

How would you invest $100,000?

2009-02-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

“There are probably 100 cheap stocks I would buy on a diversified basis. For the time being, I would stick with consumer items everybody has to buy, such as toilet paper. The most secure companies of that type would be Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Kellogg. I might look at beaten-down oil stocks—eventually, oil will come back. If I were really courageous, I would nibble at some of the financials.”

See what the other six investing gurus said...

Teachers and Petro Canada heat up

2009-02-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is escalating a shareholder campaign to restructure Petro-Canada that could eventually lead to a change in control at the board level.

Ontario's largest pension is about to submit documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealing that it has become an activist investor in Petro Canada, according to sources.

PetroCan CEO Ron Brenneman attempts to stay the course even after many attempts by shareholders to cause a stir at the Board level.

FULL STORY in the Globe and Mail

Gordon Nixon: "It was just so unrelenting"

2008-12-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

Gordon Nixon: 'It was just so unrelenting'

What's a banker to do? On the heels of a disastrous year, Canada's big banks are being pressured to both step up lending and boost capital levels. As RBC's chief executive officer tells Tara Perkins, it was - one hopes - a once in a lifetime year, valuable lessons were learned and the sector is better prepared for the challenges ahead.

Many executives will remember 2008 as among the most stressful years in their career, but none more so than banking executives.

The world's banking system was brought to its knees this fall. For Gordon Nixon, CEO of the country's biggest bank, that meant being on constant guard for the next potential crisis and taking action to reduce the bank's exposure to it.

This month, Mr. Nixon decided to bolster the bank's protective defences by raising $2.3-billion in common equity to boost its capital levels. Moves by Canada's big banks to increase capital have been criticized by Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, who along with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is urging the banks to step up lending. But the banks are facing pressure to do the opposite. Like its counterparts around the world, the bank is increasing its provisions for bad debts because it appears consumers and businesses will struggle in 2009. But Mr. Nixon says Canada heads into this period in a much better position than previous downturns.

The Rest of the article: Globe and Mail

Nadir Mohamed the natural choice to succeed Ted Rogers

2008-12-04T17:33:00.000-08:00

The question of who should replace the late Ted Rogers as CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. has long been a thorny subject at Rogers headquarters in Toronto. The natural choice currently in the recently created office of the president, is Nadir Mohamed.

Mohamed came to Rogers after working for BCTel and Telus, and was instrumental in the acquisition of Microcell in 2004, which made RCI the largest provider of mobile services in Canada.

Alek Krstajic, head of prospective wireless operator BMV Holdings, warns it would be a mistake to count out Rogers' son, Edward Rogers, who heads the cable unit. While he has high praise for Mohamed – "Nadir is the single best executive in telecom in this country" – he said he now believes that a key element to the cable company's success lies in the fact that all can be traced back to a single person.

"There was a family feel to Rogers and a strength to the brand that comes from understanding that there is a person behind it," said Krstajic. "So, if there were problems, there was a person's name on it and that person would solve the problem."

Ultimately though, Edward Rogers lacks the experience and clout of Nadir Mohamed, and would likely support a move of Mohamed into the corner office.

D'Alessandro flip-flops on Share sale

2008-12-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

Manulife Financial CEO Dominic D'Alessandro warned yesterday about a looming fourth-quarter loss of $1.5 billion and unveiled his plans to raise capital by selling over $2 billion in common shares.

This quarterly loss would be Manulife's largest since 1999. The massive stock sale represents a complete flip-flop for D'Alessandro, the outgoing chief executive, who dismissed the idea of this kind of share sale just weeks ago.

D'Alessandro said last month that a $3 billion term loan from Canada's largest banks would be enough to bolster Manulife's capital position, however now the company plans to reduce the size of that credit facility to $2 billion, choosing to raise their own capital through the share sale.

Investors in the blogosphere and mainstream media appeared unimpressed with the decision as Manulife's shares lost 2.79 % or $0.57 to $19.89 during heavy trading on the TSX.

Manulife, Sun Life set to renew rivalry

2008-10-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Manulife, Sun Life set to renew rivalry
Globe and Mail - Canada
If anything, this generation of leaders has intensified the competition, with Manulife gaining the upper hand. Chippy Manulife CEO Dominic D'Alessandro has ...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081007.WBstreetwise20081007093301/WBStory/WBstreetwise

Once mighty Potash falls hard

2008-10-07T07:15:00.001-07:00

reportonbusiness.com: Once mighty Potash falls hard
Oct 2, 2008 ... Potash Corp.'s swoon has come as investors have fallen out of love with commodities in general, said Wayne Brownlee, chief financial officer ...
http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081002.wpotash03/BNStory/Business/home?cid=al_gam_mostview

George Cohon

2008-10-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

Founder - McDonald's Restaurants of Canada

George A. Cohon is Founder of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited and Founder of McDonald's in Russia. In addition, Mr. Cohon is the Founder of Ronald McDonald Children's Charities here in Canada and in Russia.

In 1967, Mr. Cohon moved to Toronto as the Licensee of McDonald's Corporation for Eastern Canada. McDonald's Canadian operations expanded rapidly and in 1971, after McDonald's Corporation reacquired his license, Mr. Cohon became Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited - positions he held until July 1992. Mr. Cohon has played an active and prominent role in numerous charitable organizations. He is the Founder of Ronald McDonald House Charities, both in Canada and in Russia.

Mr. Cohon spearheaded the opening of McDonald's in the former Soviet Union. Negotiations began in 1976, culminating in the opening in 1990 of the first Moscow McDonald's restaurant. Today, Mr. Cohon continues to actively support the Russian operations. Mr. Cohon is also the author of his best-selling autobiography, To Russia With Fries.

Rob Guenette

2008-10-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

CEO - TAXI

He is known throughout the canadian advertising world for his passion and energy, and Rob Guenette has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business. While on the client side, he was at Unilever for 14 years before moving to Molson in 2000 as Vice President and Global Advertising Director. Switching over to the agency side, Rob has been president and CEO of TAXI Toronto since 2004.

Rob combines his passion for advertising, design, culture and the arts with what he calls a "blue collar" management style that is close to people, close to truth, and very “no- nonsense.” Rob built his career as an agency client with a reputation for buying the best work the industry could produce. At TAXI, he uses that ability to inspire greatness and shape client relationships that are built on shared goals and standards. A recent profile in Strategy Magazine described him as “the most outspoken and successful evangelist for making advertising that has attitude.”

Before joining that little ad shop called Taxi in 2004, Rob Guenette had already earned a reputation as a marketing powerhouse, shaking things up client side by making fresh, engaging creative a top priority while at Unilever, where he stayed for 14 years working on brands such as Lipton and Chesebrough Ponds.

"I'm sorry to say he seems to be one of a kind," said Nancy Vonk, CCO at Ogilvy & Mather Toronto back in August 2004 when strategy put Guenette on the cover of its first magazine issue. "I wish there were many thousands of Rob Guenettes. As a client he really got on board with the whole belief system that you've got to get noticed first and foremost. He really demanded a high calibre of work." In 1999, he was on to Molson where he became VP/global director, marketing before moving to the agency side, running now defunct Flavour. After Flavour came Taxi, and the rest, as they say, is history.

"Rob really is one of the few people I know who has had practical experience client side prior to becoming president of an advertising agency. As a client, he demonstrated his ability to totally motivate our agencies' staff to want to create the best work possible. During his stay at Flavour, Rob started to make his presence known as a real player in this field."

"Simply put, Rob is a self starter. He has the ability to see a bigger picture and the courage to act on making it happen. It's called vision and leadership. He sets the course and pace and because of his commitment, he's able to get his people to trust him because of his beliefs, values and business traits. He gains respect through his actions."

Toronto airline adds Midway service

2008-10-01T15:32:00.001-07:00

Toronto airline adds Midway service
Chicago Sun-Times - United States
"We think the time-sensitive business traveler will especially like what we
have to offer," said Porter Air CEO Robert Deluce, who indicated the
carrier ... http://www.suntimes.com/business/1196472,CST-FIN-Porter02-w.article

Not all CEOs in Canada are feeling the credit pinch

2008-09-29T01:28:00.001-07:00

John Sleeman, CEO of Guelph, Ont.-based Sleeman Breweries Ltd. expects a solid year. The beer industry is often seen as recession-proof, he notes, because consumers are always willing to treat themselves to a brew even if they can't afford a new car, dishwasher or vacation.

Even though sales to bars and restaurants are slipping, Mr. Sleeman said, the loss has been balanced by increasing take-home purchases.

Mr. Sleeman is also one of few respondents who said the credit crunch is not affecting his borrowing ability. In the brewery's case, that's because it has long-established relationships with Canadian banks, and its parent - Sapporo Breweries Ltd. of Japan - has similar links with large Japanese banks.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080929.wrcsuite29/GIStory/

Andrew Kinnear: Owning your online personal brand identity

2008-09-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

Andrew Kinnear: Owning your online personal brand identity

I just read a few different posts that speak pretty highly of the firstnamelastname.com personal brand identity. (I got a little bit smug...) Sure we'd all like to have firstname@lastname.com as an email address, but this often requires a rare single word .com domain, and these can be expensive. The key is to have an odd name--- oh wait, you've already been dealt your hand...

Andrew Kinnear Consulting

Manulife execs in discussion for AIG assets

2008-09-24T20:04:00.001-07:00

Sep 22, 2008 ... Manulife executives, led by CEO Dominic D'Alessandro, met
with financial advisers late last week to consider ways to exploit AIG's
probable breakup and eventual asset sale ... MORE...

Potash Corp whines about stock price

2008-09-24T13:57:00.001-07:00

Top officials from the world’s largest fertilizer maker were in London this week trying to convince investors their stock has been unjustly thumped.
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan shares at the Toronto Stock Exchange have lost 30 percent of their value since a mid-June peak, even though prices for potash fertilizer continued their meteoric rise.
“Not that I’m whining about it, but we do have the lowest multiples we’ve ever had. Ever. And I’m not sure it reflects the true value of the company,” said Wayne Brownlee, the chief financial officer of Potash Corp, which plans to boost its potash capacity by 80 percent to capture higher prices.
Hedge funds fled commodities and unwound Potash Corp positions since June, Chief Executive Bill Doyle said. Doyle continued to hold fast to his rosy outlook, noting producers are short on potash and prices should continue to rise this year, although not at the same rate as last year, when they tripled.
Grain prices should remain historically high, Doyle said, leaving farmers flush and able to pay more for fertilizer.
“Farmers will grouse that their costs are up. They are up, about $39 billion, but their receipts are up $50 billion. So the math works,” Doyle said.
And despite recent events rocking the world’s financial capitals, demand for grain will continue to grow, keeping pressure on supplies, Doyle said, unless the world economy slips into a depression.
“A lot of the people (in developing economies) who have this aspiration to eat better, I guarantee you, wouldn’t know what had happened to the investment banking community in New York,” he said. “It’s not high on their priority list, where food is.” http://blogs.reuters.com/commodity-corner/2008/09/24/potash-corp-carps-about-stock-price/

D'Alessandro cashes in more options on the way out

2008-09-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

Insider transactions filed on Sept 23, 2008
Source: SEDI

Dominic D'Alessandro, CEO of Manulife Financial Corp., exercised 65,300 options for company common shares at $15.80 each on Sept 22 and Sept 23, 2008. He sold all of these shares during the same period at prices ranging from $38.25 to $38.30, bringing these total common share holdings to 513,750 shares.

If you do the math, that works out to just over $1.4 million into Mr. D'Alessandro's pocket. Not too shabby.

Syncrude emissions reduction plan to cost $1.6bn

2008-09-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

Canadian Oil Sands Trust ("Canadian Oil Sands") CEO Marcel Coutu today announced an updated cost estimate for the Syncrude Emission Reduction ("SER") project of approximately $1.6 billion ($590 million net to Canadian Oil Sands based on our 36.74 per cent working interest). Canadian Oil Sands previously disclosed a cost estimate for the SER project of $772 million gross to Syncrude, but indicated that there was upward cost pressure on the project and an update to the cost estimate and timing would be provided once Syncrude had completed a full review of the project. The cost increase reflects a delay in the expected completion date and inflationary pressures. Construction of the project is approximately 14 per cent complete with about $412 million expended to date.

"Syncrude's voluntary effort to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions demonstrates our long-standing commitment to responsible environmental management and protecting the good air quality in the Wood Buffalo region," said Marcel Coutu, Canadian Oil Sands' President and Chief Executive Officer. "While the investment is significantly higher than we had originally anticipated, the SER project will also support the sustainable development of the Syncrude project and its future growth."
When combined with already completed Stage 3 improvements, the SER project is anticipated to reduce stack emissions of sulphur compounds by about 60 per cent from current approved levels. Emissions of particulate matter also should be significantly reduced. The project involves retrofitting sulphur scrubbing technology into the operation of Syncrude's original two cokers. The third coker that was constructed as part of the Stage 3 expansion already incorporated flue gas desulphurization technology that virtually eliminates sulphur dioxide emissions from this unit.
Located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Syncrude Canada operates large oil-sands mines and an upgrading facility that produces a light, sweet crude oil on behalf of its joint venture owners, which include Canadian Oil Sands Limited, ConocoPhillips Oilsands Partnership II, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Limited, Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Nexen Oil Sands Partnership, and Petro-Canada Oil and Gas.
Canadian Oil Sands provides a pure investment opportunity in the Syncrude Project through its 36.74 per cent working interest. The Trust is an open-ended investment trust managed by Canadian Oil Sands Limited and has approximately 481.5 million units outstanding, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COS.UN.

Jarislowsky comments on $85bn bailout in the U.S.

2008-09-19T05:56:00.001-07:00

BNN interviews uber-market veteran and billionaire, Stephen Jarislowsky, one of Canada's biggest institutional shareholders about the fragile state of the markets and financial sector.

Anti-Linamar vandals strike home of CEO

2008-09-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

After painting an anti-Linamar message on a downtown water tower last week, vandals struck the Hasenfratz family home. Linda Hasenfratz is the Chief Executive Officer of Linamar, a multi-billion dollar auto-parts manufacturer with many plants and headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The area in front of the country home was spray-painted with anti-Linamar messages.

Police are investigating both incidents, said Crystal Roberts, a Linamar spokesperson.

"The vandalism last week, to both the Guelph water tower and Hasenfratz home, is a serious issue, and of concern to both Linamar and the Hasenfratz family," she said in an e-mail.

She said Linamar has increased security at the Hasenfratz home and at its facilities.

D'Alessandro names Guloien as replacement for Manulife

2008-09-08T18:59:00.001-07:00

Manulife Financial CEO Dominic D'Alessandro will be replaced by Donald Guloien. Guloien, chief investment officer, is a 28-year veteran with Manulife who oversees its global investment activities as well as the Asian insurance and wealth-management businesses. Guloien, 51, will take over when D'Alessandro, 61, retires May 7 after 15 years as CEO, Toronto-based Manulife said in a statement today.

``These will be very, very tough shoes to fill,'' said Ian Nakamoto, research director at MacDougall, MacDougall and MacTier Inc. in Toronto, which manages about C$4.5 billion, including Manulife shares. ``It's going to be very difficult.''

Guloien will vie with competitors American International Group Inc., the largest insurer in North America, and MetLife Inc. for sales of wealth-protection and retirement investments in the U.S. and growing markets in Asia. Manulife's stock has returned about 20 percent a year including dividends since the company became publicly traded in 1999, doubling the gains of the main Canadian equity index.

Manulife also named John D. DesPrez III, the senior executive vice president who oversees John Hancock Financial Services, as chief operating officer, responsible for insurance and wealth management operations in Canada, the U.S., Asia and Japan in 2009.

Manulife rose 65 cents, or 1.8 percent, to C$37.65 at 4:15 p.m. on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

'Ideally Suited'

Guloien is ``ideally suited'' as a replacement, Chairman Arthur Sawchuck said in the statement. ``He is extremely bright and has a deep understanding of all facets of our business.''

Holder of a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Toronto, Guloien joined Manulife in 1981 as a research analyst. He headed the firm's mergers and acquisition unit from 1994 to 2001, when he led a number of takeovers and sales, including the merger with North American Life Assurance Co., the sale of its U.K. business, demutualization and the company's entry into Japan.

He became executive vice president and chief investment officer in 2001, when he was put in charge of investment operations in Canada, the U.S., U.K., Japan and Hong Kong. Three years later, after integrating Manulife's investment operations with those of John Hancock, he became senior executive vice president and assumed responsibility for Asian operations.

Assets

Guloien currently oversees more than C$250 billion in assets under management for Manulife and its clients, according to the company Web site.

``It's interesting that they should've picked an investment professional,'' said Gavin Graham, director of investments at Toronto-based BMO Asset Management, which manages about C$54 billion. ``They've been a very successful asset-gathering organization and their investment performance has been respectable.''

D'Alessandro announced four months ago that he'd step down as head of Canada's biggest insurer. He helped expand Manulife through acquisitions during his tenure, including the $13.9 billion purchase of John Hancock in 2004, the largest foreign acquisition by a Canadian company at the time.

The deal doubled the size of Manulife's U.S. operations, making it the country's largest seller of group long-term insurance products. U.S. insurance and asset-management earnings typically account for about 40 percent of Manulife's profit.

D'Alessandro, born in Frosolone, Italy, joined investment firm Genstar Ltd. in 1975. He was also an executive vice president of finance at Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest lender, and was CEO of Laurentian Bank of Canada. His total compensation last year was C$13.6 million, including salary, bonus and stock options.

He became CEO of Manulife in 1994, and led the company through demutualization in 1999, helping it become a public company in September of that year.

More Here, and Here

OPTIONS
Manulife Financial Corp. CEO Dominic D'Alessandro exercised 30,000 options for company common shares at $15.80 each on Sept 3, 2008. He sold all of these shares the same day at $38.10 each, bringing these holdings to 513,750 shares. This put $669,000 in D'Alessandro's pocket.
Manulife Financial Corp. bought back and canceled 500,000 company common shares from Aug 1 to Aug 8, 2008.

Linamar's Linda Hasenfratz not worried about union reps in Guelph

2008-09-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

CEO of Linamar, Linda Hasenfratz, said yesterday that if people think that having a unionized plant would have retained the 500 lost jobs of weeks past, they're crazy. Further, "What about the CAW workers in the auto plants that are shut down?". Hasenfratz maintains that Linamar's priority is split equitably between employees, customers, and shareholders.

From the Guelph mercury...
About 100 CAW representatives were in Guelph yesterday handing out information packages to Linamar workers.

They started getting calls from employees wanting to join the union after the company laid off about 500 people last week, said John Aman, an organizing director with the CAW.

"The layoffs were almost the straw that broke the camel's back," Aman said. "People don't realize the need for representation, but at crunch time, decisions need to be made. In a unionized environment, workers have a say.

"Workers aren't stupid. They know industry is facing tough times -- they just don't think they should bear the brunt," he said.

The CAW workers were handing out envelopes of information, including a contact slip.

"We will be waiting to get the information from those envelopes, and from e-mail and phone," said Vinay Sharma, a national representative with the union.

"If a lot of people are interested, we will do what it takes."

Linamar has kept unions out of its plants by developing a one-on-one relationship with workers, chief executive Linda Hasenfratz said.

"We value our direct relationship with our employees," she said in response to the leaflet campaign. "We have a philosophy of our employees being of equal importance to our customers and shareholders, and I think people know that.

"I think they appreciate that and know that when we have to make tough decisions like last week, we try to balance as best as we can between employees and shareholders."

She said CAW was suggesting that if Linamar was unionized, the layoffs wouldn't have happened. That's "crazy," she said.

"What about the tens of thousands of employees who are unionized CAW members whose plants have been shut down?" she asked.

None of Linamar's Guelph plants are unionized.

Sabia and Cope to rake in the cash from BCE

2008-09-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

Does Michael Sabia, former CEO of BCE really deserve all that money for selling an under-performing company, resulting in thousands of lost jobs? When the CEO can exercise options worth tens of millions of dollars, happily granted by the board, only to then lay off thousands of employees-- something doesn't quite feel right.

From Geoffrey Laxton...
BCE Inc. insiders stand to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in gains from their stock options and other long-term compensation in the proposed sale of the company to a group led by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan for $42.75 per share.

Information in company filings shows that, as of March 31, an unspecified number of BCE employees had 23-million stock options outstanding, with an average strike price of $33, or the price employees can pay to buy stock during the life of the options.

Since options are expected to automatically vest with the closing of the transaction, the gain will be an average of $9.75 per option, for a total of $224-million. That is a significant improvement over just four months ago, when the stock was trading for $30 and the majority of options held by employees were essentially worthless, after five years of flat performance by the stock.

Other compensation awards will likely be released to employees and directors in the event of a sale. Executives and other key employees held a total of three million "restricted share units," (RSUs) at the end of the last quarter, which should vest into the same number of common shares when the deal closes, at a value of $128-million.

Among top executives, chief executive Michael Sabia and president George Cope stand to gain the most from the sale. Mr. Sabia's 450,000 options granted in March at a strike price of $30.72 in March would deliver a pre-tax gain of $5.4-million at the proposed sale price.

Between Mr. Sabia's 134,124 shares and other compensation awards, he should be able to cash out more than $30-million under the deal announced Saturday. Mr. Cope, meanwhile, is sitting on $10-million in potential gains from the 693,000 options he has been granted since joining the company two years ago.

Mr. Sabia or whoever replaces him should expect to see an even larger portion of pay tied to long-term performance under private ownership. That is because leaders of companies bought out by private equity firms are expected to align their interests with the owners by tying their pay to the achievement of long-term returns leading to a sale or public offering. Based on some estimates by investment bankers, the CEO of BCE could earn hundreds of millions of dollars if the company hits its return targets over a five-year period.

But if Mr. Sabia loses his job within a year of the change of control, he stands to make three year's worth of his salary and target bonus, equal to a severance payment of $8.4-million. BCE directors also stand to gain from the sale. Directors receive their fees in the form of "deferred stock units", which turn into common shares when they leave the board or if the company is sold. Based on information in the company's most recent proxy circular, eight of the company's 15 directors are sitting on more than $1-million worth of deferred units each. In total, the 1.3-million DSUs granted to directors and key executives would be worth $55-million at the sale price. The biggest gainer on the board is chairman Dick Currie, who bought about 1-million shares after ascending to that position five years ago. His current stake in the company, including units paid for his services on the board, will be worth $45-million if the deal closes at the sale price.

Thomas Bata dies at 93

2008-09-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Shoe tycoon and owner of the corporation of the same name, Thomas Bata, died yesterday at the age of 93 years. I heard an interesting story about Bata, and the early days of the international development of his global shoe business. He sent a salesman to India, who returned a failure, with terrible news; "Indians don't wear shoes". That salesman was fired and another hired in his place. Bata told the new salesman that "everyone in India should be considered a customer!". Today there are over 1200 Bata shoe stores in India, and it continues to be one of the company's largest sales regions.

Leslie Tenenbaum, the company's general counsel, said Bata died early yesterday in Sunnybrook Hospital only weeks before his 94th birthday.

Tenenbaum did not give Bata's cause of death. He said a company statement will be issued later. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

Bata is survived by his wife, a son and three daughters.

Bata's father, Tomas, founded the shoe empire in 1894 in Zlin, in what is now the Czech Republic. It would later swell into the giant Bata Shoe Organization.

Thomas Bata was born on Sept. 17, 1914. He fled Czechoslovakia for Canada in 1938 with the rise of Nazism in his homeland. He ran the shoe company from the 1940s into the 1980s.

Aeroplan boss Duchesne is all about unhappy customers

2008-08-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Quite frankly-- it makes more money. Groupe Aeroplan CEO Rupert Duchesne commented Saturday in the Report on Business about the difference in profitability of a happy consumer versus an unhappy. If you're frustrated on the phone calling Aeroplan to redeem a flight, and you give up, they make more money.

With the 800,000 or so Aeroplan miles that Rupert Duchesne has on reserve - "Hoarding has sort of squirrel connotations," he notes - he could place an order via Aeroplan's online catalogue for a Vespa LX50 along with a Jura Impressa F50 Automatic 18 Bar Power Pump Coffee Centre. (It makes coffee).

This, however, would go against type. "I tend to stockpile them and wait until I can do something big and significant and have a really great, memorable experience," says the chief executive officer of the company now known as Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Mr. Duchesne is laying down his thoughts on the human emotions that backstop loyalty, or rewards, programs such as Aeroplan. On the one hand, it can sound like Psych 101. On the other, it is the foundation upon which he has built a corporate skill set that he is now plying worldwide, hoping to transform Aeroplan into the global leader in loyalty marketing and loyalty management. More...

Fundamental to making Aeroplan a profitable proposition is what is known in the industry as "breakage," or unredeemed air miles. On average, the company receives approximately 1.20 cents for every mile sold by participants throughout the Aeroplan coalition, which includes Esso, Home Hardware and, of course, Air Canada, calculated largely on a volume-based model. Aeroplan's redemption cost - the amount it has to pay for that Vespa LX50 - averages 0.98 cents per mile sold, for an average gross margin of 0.22 cents per mile.

When a mile is broken - and 17 per cent of Aeroplan miles are never redeemed - Aeroplan earns a 100-per-cent margin. In loyalty economics terms, breakage is good, and 17 per cent is in line with the industry average. If the company were to improve the level of customer satisfaction, Mr. Duchesne says, "we destroy the economics, because people don't hoard and the miles don't break." Asked to clarify the degree to which members may be more frustrated in their attempts to redeem Aeroplan miles for flights than for products, Mr. Duchesne offers this: "If your conclusion is all the dissatisfaction on that [80/20] metric is related to air redemption, the answer would be absolutely yes." Refreshingly, he makes no effort to 'spin' this side of the Aeroplan story. "We have no objective at this point to improve that raw metric of customer satisfaction," he says frankly.

Globe and Mail hands $1.7bn contract to Transcontinental

2008-08-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

Transcontinental Inc, a global printing company, has announced that they will be printing the Globe and Mail for 18 years, following the end of the current print contract in 2010. Over the next two years Transcontinental will add improvements to their already sophisticated multi-platform line, including the ability to print and integrate flyers with the paper.

CEO and Publisher of the Globe and Mail, Phillip Crawley, said "High-quality color production capacity has always been a key point of distinction for The Globe and Mail. Transcontinental's commitment to providing the most progressive high-speed color printing capability will keep us at the leading edge. With millions of people every week reading the paper version of The Globe and Mail, sophisticated printing capability is vital to our business."

The paper, which was redesigned in April 2007, will be reduced in size by 1 3/4 inches to a height of 21 inches (53 centimetres).

Globe publisher Phillip Crawley said a full-fledged redesign will take place as the added use of colour and ability to print on various paper stocks will provide more options for advertisers and be welcome by readers.

"This gives us an opportunity to get a competitive advantage in terms of what we can offer that other people can't," he said in an interview from Toronto.

The Globe and Mail, which is owned by CTVglobemedia and in print for 163 years, reaches more than 2.80 million readers every week. According to International Newspaper Color Quality Club, or INCQC, the Globe and Mail is one of the top 50 newspapers in the world for its printed quality.

Transcontinental also prints The New York Times for the upper New York state and Ontario markets and La Presse. In 2006, Transcontinental bagged a billion-dollar contract to print the San Francisco Chronicle.

Robert Deluce speaks with BNN about profitability

2008-08-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

Porter Airlines CEO Robert Deluce speaks with BNN regarding the profitability of the airline since June of 2007.

D'Alessandro says Manulifes costs are under control

2008-08-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

In almost every industry on the planet, costs are rising. It's either energy costs due to the price of oil, or labour and operating costs keeping up with inflation, or a combination of factors.

Manulife Financial, one of Canada's biggest companies, just behind RBC in market cap, has been growing enormously in the past two years, and until recently showed great promise. Just recently profit at Manulife Financial Corp. fell 8.5 per cent in the second quarter, missing analyst forecasts, as weak equity markets, a stronger Canadian dollar and tax-related provisions all took a toll.

But Manulife, North America's No. 2 life insurer, also raised its dividend by eight per cent to 26 cents a share, and stressed that its insurance and wealth management sales grew by double digits.

"We again experienced excellent sales results in almost every one of our businesses," CEO Dominic D'Alessandro said during a conference call.

He said the company's costs are under control, it is expanding and gaining market share.

"We don't run the business for quarter-to-quarter purposes, we run it for the long term ... we look forward to continuing to deliver strong results in the periods ahead, no matter what the economic conditions are," D'Alessandro said.

Manulife earned $1.01 billion, or 66 cents a share, down from year-earlier $1.1 billion, or 71 cents a share.

Analysts had expected profit of 71 cents a share before exceptional items, according to Reuters Estimates.

"Obviously, the headline number was short of consensus, it's a slight miss," said Jukka Lipponen, insurance analyst at investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

"In the corporate segment they had a loss, and I was looking for positive earnings. But in terms of top-line growth, they had a lot of strength in a number of areas."

Excluding currency movements, insurance sales rose 18 per cent and wealth management sales climbed 14 per cent.Toronto-based Manulife, which operates in Canada, the United States and Asia, said charges from insurance sales growth, less favourable credit and equity markets and tax-related charges on leveraged lease investments more than offset improvements in earnings from a higher insurance in-force base and investment gains.

Equity market declines, primarily in the U.S. and Hong Kong, hurt fee income while the higher Canadian dollar trimmed earnings by $41 million in the quarter, Manulife said. About 70 per cent of its income is denominated in foreign currencies.

The year-over-year currency drag should abate in upcoming quarters, RBC Capital Markets analyst Andre-Philippe Hardy said in a research note.

John Sleeman and Mill St. Brewery feud over distillery

2008-08-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

The Distillery District in Toronto is a great spot. Lot's of shops, places to eat, places to drink, and overall, and really cool part of town. It's also a popular tourist spot for those visiting Toronto, and so it's no wonder that Sleeman Breweries Ltd., now a wholly-owned sub of Japan's mega-producer Sapporo since 2006, has set it's sights on the area.

Mill Street Brewery co-founder Steve Abrams says the area used to be friendly between businesses, but has since lost that neighbourhood feel. What sparked the initial friction between John Sleeman and his Guelph-Ontario brewery and the locals of Mill St. was a huge Sleeman banner promoting Summerfest, that the landlords of the distillery district, Cityscape Development Corp, had hung over the Mill St. Patio. Summerfest is an event that hosts the largest patio in Canada, and has sold exclusivity to Sleeman for the event. More on the dust up between Mill St. and Sleeman.

In a separate matter, Sleeman has also filed a lawsuit against Mill St., alleging that they poached a sales director who subsequently leaked 'Sleeman Secrets'.

Sabia to chair HIV vaccine advisory board

2008-08-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Former CEO of BCE, Michael Sabia, was recently asked to chair the advisory board for the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative Implementation. The honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, was the one to name Sabia to the board. The Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative Implementation Advisory Board has a mission of making a significant contribution to the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, and accelerate the development of a preventative HIV vaccine globally.

Addressing a crowd of Canadian delegates at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Minister Clement announced that Mr. Sabia will chair the board, made up of Canadian leaders in the business, philanthropy, public policy, scientific and non-governmental sectors. The CHVI Implementation Advisory Board will provide advice to the Minister of Health, the Minister of International Cooperation, and the Minister of Industry on how to raise the profile and promote the sustainability of the CHVI through expanded partnerships and linkages both in Canada and around the world. Additional board members will be named as their commitments are finalized.

"I am honoured to say that Mr. Michael Sabia has agreed to take on this role," said Minister Clement, "I am confident that with his successful career in Canadian business, his participation will open doors for the CHVI that will allow the Government of Canada to continue to be a leader in HIV vaccine development until we have reached our global goal."

"The CHVI is a great example of creative public policy," said Mr. Sabia, "By bringing together the public resources of the Government of Canada and the private capabilities of the Gates Foundation, this initiative can accelerate progress being made in the global fight against HIV. Our goal, as the Implementation Advisory Board, will be to leverage the strengths and ideas of the public, private and philanthropic sectors to ensure that this initiative moves quickly and has the maximum possible impact."

The Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative was launched in February 2007, and is dedicated to accelerating worldwide efforts towards the development of safe, effective, affordable, and globally accessible HIV vaccines that are essential to ultimately overcoming the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Through the CHVI, the Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have dedicated, over 5 years, $111 million and $28 million respectively, to support the global fight against HIV and AIDS.

The CHVI will strengthen global capacity to manufacture HIV vaccines for high quality clinical trials. Its ultimate aim is that an affordable, safe, effective and globally accessible vaccine will be made available to those who most need it but can least afford it, particularly those in low-and-middle income countries.

The Canadian International Development Agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Industry Canada, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and Health Canada all partner in this global collaboration, which involves developed and developing countries, researchers, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and governments.

Green Peace and Syncrude not getting along in the oil sands

2008-08-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Individuals representing GreenPeace were recently charged with trespassing (and nothing else) after infiltrating the Syncrude oil sands property and displaying a giant banner expressing their concern over the toxic nature of the projects tailing ponds.

Tailings, and the ponds that they collect in, are the toxic liquid by-products of the production process, and are what's left when the oil is 'washed' from the Alberta sand.

On their site the Peacers trumpet that "Braving toxic fumes and the same toxic tailings waste that earlier this year killed 500 ducks .... activists deployed a massive banner on the bank of the tailings pond while two other activists erected a banner on the top of another pipe which depicted a large skull and crossbones banner. The skull hung just above the pipe's opening, giving the illusion of toxic water gushing from the "mouth" of the skull."

Syncrude — a joint venture owned by Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Imperial Oil Ltd, Petro-Canada, ConocoPhillips, Nexen Inc., Nippon Oil Corp. unit Mocal Energy Ltd. and Murphy Oil Corp. — could not be reached for comment.

Industry has also launched a web site to show that it cares about the environment, you can see it here. The home page they've set up to counter the bad publicity has a quote by Marcel Coutu, Syncrude's chairman, that says:

"If you ask people for their views, you better be prepared to listen. I expect some tough criticisms of our industry, but we need to hear them directly from the public. If a criticism is unfair, we need to explain why. If it is fair, we need to act."

The bigger question is "What happens to the tailings and the collection ponds once the oil is gone?"

Rogers' Nadir Mohamed buying $150mil in iPhones

2008-08-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

After the amazing success of the iPhone 3G here in Canada, Nadir Mohamed, President of Rogers Communications Inc, has said that all other phone sales have virtually slammed on the brakes. To keep up with demand in Canada, Rogers plans to buy $150 million worth of the Apple products, and make them available in all available points of distribution.

During a phone call to discuss the company's latest quarterly results, Rogers president Nadir Mohamed said sales of other phones were virtually non-existant the day the iPhone 3G was announced.

Furthermore, a week after the iPhone 3G launched in Canada, Rogers and Nokia had to drop the N95 8GB sticker price nearly in half (to $200 under contract) in an effort to help stimulate sales of other devices.

Mohamed said the company was actually surprised the iPhone 3G came to Canada when it did, telling Electronista, "We didn't anticipate that we would launch that device under any model this year."

Rogers says the up-front discount for the iPhone 3G for consumers is the largest in the company's history, but higher revenue is also expected as cellphone users sign on to data and voice plans.

Canadians looking to get an iPhone 3G should expect to pay about $100 per month to get a decent plan. Calls to Rogers show this amount will get you the following features:

• Data: The current promotion with Rogers (ending Aug. 31) gets you 6GB of data transfer per month, which is more than enough for every type of user ($30/month)

• Voice package: 250 minutes/month, free evenings & weekends (starting at 9 p.m.) and calling five of your "favourite" friends an unlimited number of times ($35/month)

• Extra: Visual voicemail, caller ID, WhoCalled and 2,500 text messages per month ($15/month)

When you add tax, system access fees and the 911 charge, you should expect to fork out about $98.81 per month. So from Rogers' perspective, this type of plan will earn the company about $3,600 per iPhone user over the three-year term.

Mohamed said Rogers is now buying $150 million worth of iPhones to keep up with demand, and it will buy more from Apple as necessary.

Dunaway shares disappointment with E3 showing

2008-08-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Nintendo of America's 'queen of marketing', EVP Cammie Dunaway, shared Nintendo's collective disappointment with their showing at E3, the annual electronics and entertainment show turned 'business summit'.

"We were disappointed with our performance at E3," Dunaway told VGChartz. "There were titles like [Wario Land: Shake It!] which we think will be really fun titles that we should have showcased."

Perhaps the most exciting announcement to come out of the conference—the revelation of a Pikmin sequel—had to be pried out of celebrated developer Shigeru Miyamoto at a developer roundtable.

"We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming," Dunaway added. "It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage. But, we think it was a good recognition for us that we care for our core fans, and not just the new people who are now discovering Nintendo."

It's interesting that the game developer was the one to announce (or let slip) the news about the game, and not Marketing. Dunaway's comment sounds more like a cover-up for the slip.

Allan Markin hosts Gates and Buffett in Alberta

2008-08-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

Up for a visit to the oil sands, billionaire buddies Bill Gates and Warren Buffett were hosted by Canadian Natural Chairman and one of Canada's richest men, Allan Markin.

Buffett and Gates - who were first and third, respectively, on the world's richest people list in the March edition of Forbes Magazine - were hosted by a group that included Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) at Canadian Natural's $9.3-billion Horizon oilsands development.

Representatives from CAPP made a presentation to the American power duo, who were pegged by Forbes in the spring as having a collective net worth of a cool $120 billion U.S. and who could be looking for secure places to make resource-related investments now that the U.S. dollar seems to be recovering.

Spokeperson Rob Larson, from Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. confirmed that the tour did take place, but would not comment on details.

Jarislowsky jabs at BCE

2008-08-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

Diane Francis of the Financial Post sits down with one of Canada's top money men to discuss the latest opinions of BCE. With Michael Sabia out, and George Cope in, as well as the supreme court's ruling on the legality of the BCE Board of Directors actions regarding bond-holder rights, Stephen Jarislowsky speaks his mind.

Q: BCE?
A: “It’s outrageous that the board of directors took $1 billion from BCE’s bondholders. It’s also just plain stupid that the Supreme Court of Canada, in a 7 to 0 opinion, briefly heard the case and overturned the Quebec Appeal Court’s unanimous 5 to 0 opinion upholding the rights of bondholders.”

Q: The Supreme Court’s overturning of the Quebec Appeal Court’s unanimous decision in any other issue would have sparked a constitutional crisis? What was this all about?
A: “The whole field of investor law is a joke in Canada. What was allowed to happen to BCE bondholders is unbelievable. The dividends were cut for BCE shareholders to reduce the price paid. The board did not look after the bondholders as well as the shareholders. The Quebec Appeal Court’s decision was the correct one.”

Q: Wasn’t this lack of protection for bondholders in the fine print of the deal?
A: “In Canada, the board is responsible to the company and not the shareholders or bondholders. Thomson Reuters just sold bonds and had a clause which stated that bondholders were not protected or subordinate to shareholders. We would not buy bonds like that which mean that they can go from As to junk based on board decisions in the future.”

Q: How is it that BCE is now run by the buyers even though the deal hasn’t closed?
A: “It’s unacceptable.”

Q: Will BCE get the debt it needs to close the deal?
A: “I don’t know. The banks have been out of control and are now having difficulties.”

Q: What legal reforms should occur in Canada?
A: “Much work needs to be done and I am setting up a foundation with others to come up with legislative ideas. Take Conrad Black. He stole more money in Canada than he did in the U.S. and he wasn’t even pursued here. We do not have police or securities commissions who are on the ball. We do not have specialized courts who understand what to do. Suing in Canadian courts is not a remedy because it takes ten years to get anywhere and why should shareholders have to suffer when a board has done something wrong?”
“Arbitration, not lawsuits, is the best way to handle disagreements and problems.”

Q: Why has BCE been so badly managed for so long?
A: “All the company did for decades was go to Ottawa and ask for higher rates of return. They blew money on bad investments and never fixed their customer relations problem. This is a company that has been disliked as much as Air Canada with its hated, high-handed employee behaviour toward customers. That still hasn’t been fixed. I used to have lunch with Michael [Sabia, former CEO]. I like him but he never fixed it.”

Paul Tsaparis

2008-08-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

President and CEO - Hewlett-Packard Canada

Paul Tsaparis is responsible for all aspects of Hewlett-Packard’s operations in Canada. He is also responsible for business development initiatives, alliances and partnerships.

Tsaparis first joined HP in 1984 as Marketing Program Manager and has held progressively senior appointments including Telecommunications General Manager, with responsibility for strategic planning and development programs. He was named Vice President, Computer Organization, in September 1997 and appointed President and CEO of HP Canada in September 1998.

Tsaparis has also worked and studied internationally. In 1985 he attended the Co-operative Japanese and Business Society Program in Tokyo, Japan with the Council of International Educational Exchange.

Born in Toronto in 1960, he holds an MBA from York University in Toronto and an undergraduate degree in science and economics from the University of Toronto.

Tsaparis is the Vice-chair of the Information Technology Association of Canada, and is a member of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, the Business Council on National Issues, and the Dean's Advisory Council of the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Tsaparis was a recipient of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Award for 1998.

Nancy Cardinal

2008-08-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Vice President, Marketing & Customer Insights - LCBO

Nancy Cardinal is responsible for developing the corporate marketing strategy and communicating the LCBO brand to consumers, both in stores and in publications, including FOOD & DRINK. Marketing and Customer Insights ensures that all points of contact between the LCBO and its customers are consistent and express the LCBO brand. She joined the LCBO in 1989 and was appointed Vice President in 2000.

With a focus on creating the ultimate consumer experience, innovative retailer LCBO topped up its performance in 2007. Thank Nancy Cardinal

Complacent? Not this government agency.

Last year, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) delivered a record high $3.9 billion in net sales (up from $3.66 billion in 2006). Its Food & Drink magazine reached 2.2 million readers, the highest readership levels ever. And in-store promotions - which highlight a country or region, category or entertaining theme - hit home run after home run, sparking respective sales increases of anywhere from 44% to 100%.

A decade has passed since the Toronto-based LCBO opted to shed its stodgy, bureaucratic image with the aim of becoming a modern, innovative, world-class retail brand. Since 2000, when she was promoted to the position of VP marketing and customer insights, Nancy Cardinal and her team (now numbering 63) have ensured it stays that way.

"We benchmark ourselves against the best in the world," says Cardinal. "When we sit down to plan, we spend most of our time in the research phase, finding out what our customers are looking for from us. Then we turn our gaze globally, to find out who is best-in-class in their area, who's connecting with customers and how we can learn from them and incorporate that into what we do. It's the mindset of the company and it permeates everywhere, not just marketing."

Responsible for everything from the overall brand vision to customer insight research, store design and signage, Cardinal is credited with helping to bring the new-style LCBO to life.

"All the things she's doing currently build on successes that she created before, basically from scratch," says Alan Gee of GJP, the LCBO's AOR. "Every single touchpoint Nancy's involved in, she sweats the details. That's her hallmark."

Cardinal and her team operate on a 13-month cycle that has pushed out a new promotion every four weeks since 2003. Last year's promotions built on previously established successes like the annual October whisky promotion, which this year debuted a consumer photo contest that resulted in 20,250 online entries, twice the anticipated number. To support the campaign there were also more than 1,000 tastings in all 602 LCBO locations and an Ultimate Whisky Bar Chef Challenge, which took place at Toronto's Metro Convention Centre.

Last year also saw new initiatives like podcasts, including one for the summer Hot City Cocktails promotion that became the most-visited podcast in the Entertaining section of iTunes for two straight weeks. And the Latin Fever promo in the spring combined in-store displays, radio, print FSIs and special events, increasing sales of featured Central and South American wines by 100%.

Another success story was the overhaul of the Vintages circular to attract a broader consumer base. "In the past it had been designed to appeal to customers who had a very solid understanding of the world of wine," says Cardinal. "We felt there were so many newcomers who wanted to step into the Vintages [area of the stores], but we had to put out the welcome mat for them and get the kind of content and look and feel that wasn't intimidating." The result contributed to double-digit growth for wines sold under the Vintages brand.

Up next? A new five-year strategy focusing on discovery and learning is rolling out. "A lot of what we're trying to do through our promotions and marketing is to demystify beverage alcohol and get customers feeling comfortable with it," says Cardinal. That will mean a multi-channel approach, including a major redesign of lcbo.com to include more podcasts and new streaming-video tutorials on topics such as wine etiquette.

The LCBO will also venture into e-commerce for the first time with Vintagesshoponline.com, where oenophiles can order bottles from smaller batches that don't make it to stores.

The store planning department brought Nella Fiorino of Toronto-based Fiorino Design, the award-winning designer of the Summerhill LCBO location, on board to develop the retail experience. Enhanced fixtures and lighting will turn aisles into "fashion runways" to make featured products easier to find. And expanded tasting centres called "discovery bars," where experts will present short lessons and samples to larger groups, will be piloted in two stores in Toronto and Oakville in the fall.

"There's been a consistency in the marketing efforts of the LCBO for the past few years," says Steve Mykolyn, ECD at Taxi in Toronto, one of the 15-odd agencies in the LCBO's design pool. "Nancy has a real vision, and there's a high bar set to meet that vision. You're always working towards something."

Team size: 63

Years at LCBO: 18

Previous post: Marketing manager, Marks & Spencer, Toronto

Professional highlight of the year: "We've aligned the entire organization to a new customer promise of 'inspire, guide and delight.'"

Marketing style in three words: "Nothing is impossible."

Phillip Crawley

2008-08-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Publisher and CEO - The Globe and Mail

Phillip Crawley was chosen to lead The Globe in October 1998, weeks before a newspaper war against a new national rival was to begin. Mr. Crawley, the Globe’s publisher and chief executive officer, had held senior editorial and executive positions with major newspapers on four continents. The Globe and Mail has remained firmly in place as Canada’s leading national newspaper and has made impressive gains in circulation and readership despite increased competition. In July 1999, Richard Addis, a veteran of London’s fierce newspaper wars, was named the newspaper’s editor.

As Publisher and CEO of The Globe and Mail, Crawley is responsible for leading all aspects of Canada’s national newspaper.

Prior to joining The Globe and Mail, Crawley held a variety of senior executive positions with some of the world's leading newspaper and media companies. From 1997 to 1998 he was the Managing Director of The New Zealand Herald, and later the CEO Designate of Wilson & Horton, the newspaper's owner and New Zealand's largest media group, including newspapers, radio, magazines and print, (wholly owned subsidiary of Independent Newspapers of Dublin). Between 1993 and 1997 he was Managing Director, The Times Supplements, London (subsidiary of News International, publisher of The Times Educational Supplement, The Times Higher Educational Supplement and The Times Literary Supplement). From 1988 to 1993 he was Editor, then Editor-in-Chief of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and Editorial Director of Asia Magazine. Between 1987 and 1988 he was Northern Editor, The Daily Telegraph, London, and between 1979 and 1987 he was Editor of The Journal, Newcastle upon Tyne. Prior to 1979, Crawley worked in various editorial roles for Thomson Regional Newspapers.

Crawley is chairman of the Canadian Press (as of May 2007) and is a member of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre board in Toronto. He is a former chairman of the Canadian Newspaper Association and a former co-chair of Workopolis, Canada’s #1 careers website. He is involved with various charities, including The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Crawley was born in Northumberland, England in 1944 and graduated in English Language and Literature at Manchester University.

John Sleeman

2008-08-11T07:06:00.001-07:00

Chief Executive Officer - Sleeman Breweries Ltd.

In 1984, 51 years after they had closed their doors, and exactly 150 years after John H. Sleeman's arrival in Canada, John W. Sleeman, his great, great grandson, was given George's original brewery recipe book. John W. seems to have had no doubts about what he was going to do with the family recipe book. Especially since the fresh spring water from Guelph's deep wells was still running pure and waiting for John to turn it into something better.

In 1985 John W. Sleeman re-incorporated the Sleeman Brewing and Malting Company Limited and by August of 1988 Sleeman Cream Ale was once again flowing, using the very same recipes and techniques that his great, great grandfather had devised and his great grandfather had recorded for him. John even purchased special small batch brewing vessels from Europe, in order to simulate, as closely as possible, the equipment used by his ancestors. It isn't surprising that this tried and true, premium ale, re-introduced to the public a short 14 years ago, quickly re-established itself with the beer loving public.

When you pop the cap on a bottle of Cream Ale, you will find the number 64 stamped on the inside. It signifies page 64 of his great grandfather, George's leather bound, recipe book for Sleeman's Cream Ale.

Within three years (1991) Sleeman's had captured 1% of the Ontario beer market and Sleeman Cream Ale had won the Gold medal at the International Monde Selection in Belgium, while their Silver Creek Lager won the prestigious Grand Gold medal at the same event.

The Sleeman Original Dark went on to win the Grand Gold in Belgium in 1994 and Sleeman Premium Light took the Grand Gold the following year.

The magnitude of Sleeman's product growth, recognition and success, in such a short period of time, is unprecedented. It also speaks volumes about the quality of their products and the success that a well managed company can achieve, when they remain true to their roots and focused on their core business.

When I finally managed to snag a case of Cream Ale for myself, a few years after it's inaugural release, it was considered liquid gold, the yuppy beer of choice and the only beer to serve or to order when you were trying to impress someone. The nice thing about Sleeman's Cream Ale, is that its appeal was not and is not all based on marketing hype. It really is a good smooth tasting, livelier, cream ale.

As for the present day John W. Sleeman, he has stayed true to his heritage, closely following the recipes handed down to him, as well as, the processes that make them special.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Sleeman Breweries Ltd. operates in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The company has been brewing beer since August 17, 1988, but the history of Sleeman beer goes back to 1834 when John H. Sleeman established himself as a brewer and malter, but the company ceased operations by 1933.

In 2006, Sapporo Breweries of Japan announced they would be acquiring No. 3 Canadian brewer Sleeman in a $400-million all-cash deal. The company's current products are based on the family's original recipes.

Cammie Dunaway

2008-07-14T11:51:00.001-07:00

Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing - Nintendo of America

Cammie Dunaway is responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada and Latin America, filling the position vacated when Fils-Aime was promoted to his current positions in May 2006.

Dunaway has more than 20 years of marketing and sales experience, most recently as chief marketing officer for Yahoo!, where she was responsible for leading Yahoo!'s worldwide branding efforts and driving the company's product-marketing initiatives.

"Cammie Dunaway is the perfect choice to drive the next phase of Nintendo's business," Fils-Aime says. "She is a tremendous leader and will help continue momentum behind both Wii and Nintendo DS."

"Being able to further shape a leading brand like Nintendo is a tremendous opportunity," Dunaway says. "I'm looking forward to building on Nintendo's industry-defining reputation as a disruptor, as the company continues to prove that everyone's a gamer."

Dunaway oversaw Yahoo!'s tremendously successful 10-year anniversary campaign, which earned a 2006 Gold Reggie Award from the Promotional Marketing Association. She was named one of the 100 Top Marketers by Advertising Age and led Yahoo! to widespread industry recognition, including Clio Awards, Obie Awards, the Promo PRO Awards and the DMA Marketer of the Year Award for 2006. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Dunaway spent 13 years at Frito-Lay, supervising prominent brands.

Dunaway holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Richmond and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She serves on the board of directors of Brunswick, Inc. She is also on the board of Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley, and was recently elected by her peers to the board of the American Marketing Association.

NY Times:
Until last week, Ms. Dunaway, 45, had been chief marketing officer at Yahoo in Sunnyvale, Calif., which she joined in 2003. Before that, she spent 13 years at the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo, overseeing brands like Doritos and Lay’s.

“I’ve heard Nintendo say that everyone is a gamer,” Ms. Dunaway said yesterday in a telephone interview, adding that her experience in marketing the Yahoo Web site as a mainstream portal “will prove helpful as we seek to make gaming relevant whether you’re 5 or 95.”

Particularly with the success of the new Wii console, Ms. Dunaway said, Nintendo has helped prove “that video games are not a niche market” dominated by boys and young men.

“My 8-year-old son plays with it,” she added, “and my 76-year-old mom is using Wii for the bowling game.”

Still, Ms. Dunaway said, “there are still a lot of people to be converted” to the habit of playing video games.

Nintendo of America is to formally announce today the decision to hire Ms. Dunaway. She will be based in a Silicon Valley office that the company is opening in Redwood Shores, Calif. Nintendo of America is based in Redmond, Wash.

Part of the sales and marketing team with which Ms. Dunaway will work will be in an office in New York.

In leaving Yahoo, Ms. Dunaway joined a lengthening list of senior managers who have been seeking the exits as Yahoo seeks to reverse a financial slump. At Yahoo, Allen Olivo, vice president for global brand marketing, is assuming her duties for the time being.

Ms. Dunaway said her departure from Yahoo was unrelated to the changes that company has been undergoing.

“It was not a decision to leave Yahoo,” Ms. Dunaway said, “it was really a decision to join Nintendo.”

Bill Kostenko

2008-07-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

Chief Executive Officer - Beringer Capital

Bill Kostenko has more than 25 years of experience and is a recognized expert in advising and managing marketing and communications firms. Since 1990, he has helped clients implement transactions involving divestment, acquisition and financing solutions. He has also been involved in numerous crisis situations in a leadership role. Bill is General Partner of The Mentor Fund, which invests intellectual and financial capital in “emerging” marketing and communications companies.

From 1986 to 1990, Bill was the Chief Financial Officer and a significant shareholder in Sherwood, a holding company with 14 operating subsidiaries in the communications industry. Bill negotiated the divestment and sale of several subsidiaries of Sherwood during the late 1980's.

Prior to Sherwood, Bill held senior financial management positions with a number of manufacturing and technology based companies including Genesis Microchip, Mitel, Rolm Canada and Rockwell International.

Bill serves several private and public company boards and is an advisor to the Queen's Centre for Enterprise Development. He has an M.B.A. in finance from McMaster University as well as a B.A. in Economics.

View Bill's LinkedIn profile

Neil Skelding

2008-07-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - RBC Insurance

As President & CEO of RBC Insurance, Neil Skelding has global responsibility for RBC Financial Group's insurance businesses, including life and health, home and auto and travel insurance as well as reinsurance. He was appointed to his current position in September 2004.

RBC Insurance provides insurance solutions to more than five million North American customers. Mr Skelding joined RBC Insurance in January 2003 as executive vice-president, Life Operations, and also served as President and CEO of RBC Life Insurance Company.

Prior to working for RBC Insurance, Mr. Skelding held a number of senior positions in the Canadian insurance industry with Transamerica Life Canada , Money Concepts, Aegon Dealer Services, Zurich Canada and World Travel Protection.

Mr. Skelding has a bachelor of technology in mechanical engineering and an MBA in Finance. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of North York General Hospital and is on the Principal's Advisory Council for the University of Toronto ( Mississauga campus).

Mr. Skelding is chair of the Canadian Association of Financial Institutions in Insurance (CAFII) and is also a director with the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA).

Réal Raymond

2008-06-30T14:05:00.001-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - National Bank of Canada

Réal Raymond as CEO and President of National Bank of Canada is responsible for the strategies, orientations and development of the Bank and its subsidiaries. Prior to this appointment, he held the position of President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Raymond has worked at National Bank since 1970. In 1977, at the age of only 27, he became one of the youngest branch managers of the Montreal-based institution, before joining the Corporate Banking division in the mid-1980s. This marked the beginning of a rapid rise through the Bank.
In 1987, Mr. Raymond was promoted to Senior Manager – Corporate Banking, Eastern Canada, a position he held until 1989, when he was appointed Vice-President of that sector. In 1991, he became Senior Vice-President – Real Estate and Corporate Banking for all of Canada, after which his career moved more towards financial markets. In 1992, Mr. Raymond was appointed Senior Vice-President – Treasury and Financial Markets, and in 1997 he joined the ranks of Lévesque Beaubien Geoffrion, the
leading Quebec securities broker (which has since become National Bank Financial), as Senior Executive Vice-President. In the fall of 1999, he was appointed President – Personal and Commercial Bank, in which position he was responsible for the Bank’s day-to-day operations. He continued in this capacity until his appointment as President and Chief Operating Officer in July 2001.

In addition to his professional activities, Mr. Raymond is actively involved in a number of well-known Quebec institutions. He chairs the major development campaign at the Université du Québec à Montréal, which began in 2002 and ends in 2007 and also chaired the Banks division of the 2006 Centraide du Grand Montréal campaign. In 2003, he was named financial personality of the year by the business publication Finance et Investissement. In 2002, he was awarded the Prix Hermès by the Université Laval Faculty of Business Administration and, in 2000, he was honoured as MBA
of the year by the Quebec Association of MBAs.

In 2005, Mr. Raymond was named CEO of the Year in a survey conducted by the French daily La Presse and was among the nominees for the prestigious CEO of the Year award given by the Financial Post Business Magazine. In its Sunday, March 12, 2006 edition, La Presse named Mr. Raymond as its Personality of the Week. Mr. Raymond sits on the Board of Directors of National Bank and is Chairman of the Board of the subsidiary National Bank Life Insurance. He is also on the boards
of St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation and the Cercle des présidents, and is a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Fondation de l’UQAM. He is also President of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Foundation and Governor of the Quebec Association of MBAs. Nationally, Mr. Raymond serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Conference Board of Canada. Mr. Raymond is a graduate of the Université Laval in administration and has a MBA from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a diploma from the Institute
of Canadian Bankers. In 1990, Mr. Raymond successfully completed the renowned Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan.

Raymond McFeetors

2008-06-30T14:04:00.002-07:00

Chairman - Great West Life Co.

A fresh-faced Raymond McFeetors, who holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Winnipeg, first entered the doors of Great-West Life as a junior trainee in 1968. It was a smart career move. The married father of four and homegrown Manitoban earned his chartered financial analyst designation in 1978 and managed to work his way up to senior vice-president and chief investment officer by 1991, making the leap to president and chief executive officer just a year later. McFeetors became co-president and CEO (with William McCallum) of the parent corporation in 2000, and went solo in the top spot last year after McCallum's retirement. In the past year, Great-West Lifeco has bought two annuity blocks in the U.K. with almost $15 billion worth of assets, greatly increasing its European presence.

Philip Pascall

2008-06-30T14:04:00.001-07:00

Chief Executive Officer - First Quantum Minerals

Philip Pascall's success stems from one simple decision: He set up shop in mineral-rich Central Africa in the 1990s when most of his mining peers were either unwilling or unable to do so. Today, with metal prices near record highs, he's got a lot of company. Firms are eschewing the political risks to invest billions into countries like Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But Pascall - who was born in Zimbabwe and still enjoys Africa's wildlife as much as the mining - got to No. 2 on our CEO list by getting into the continent ahead of the pack.

Pascall's involvement in Zambia began in the early 1990s, when he was doing project management work, just as the country was coming out of a socialist period. He and a few colleagues launched First Quantum Minerals Ltd. in 1996, after they acquired some promising mining licences. That led to the Bwana Mkubwa project, which began in 1998. "There was interest in Africa from other companies," Pascall says. "The difference with us was that we got an operation up and running. And that provides a base from which to expand and develop and get to understand what you're doing."

Pascall repeated that success in the DRC and Mauritania, and First Quantum now has seven projects, while its 2006 revenue topped the $1-billion mark. It's also enjoyed meteoric share-price growth. In 2002, First Quantum was producing 12,000 tonnes of copper and its stock was below $3. Last year, it produced 183,000 tonnes and shares topped $110. The company expects to produce 400,000 tonnes in 2010. That track record has won plenty of fans. "That is one of the most extreme areas of the world to try and operate in on a day-to-day basis," says John Hughes, an analyst at Desjardins Securities in Toronto. "There is no one company in Central Africa that has built a mining concern that comes anywhere near to what Pascall built for First Quantum."

Of course, it's not all about Pascall. Copper prices that have more than quadrupled since 2003 and merger rumours have given the stock an enormous boost. Pascall acknowledges that the company has been approached about potential deals, but says it's not something he's pursuing. In his mind, the biggest challenge going forward is managing First Quantum's cash and proving to investors that he can keep delivering whirlwind growth.

While he plots First Quantum's future, Pascall's also getting to see if mining smarts run in the family. His daughter Joanne, a geology grad, joined the company last year. She also received an offer from rival LionOre, but Pascall would not let her go. "We snapped her up, and she's working for us in Zambia," he says proudly.

Marcel Coutu

2008-06-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Chairman - Syncrude Joint Venture

Marcel Coutu joined Canadian Oil Sands Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Oil Sands Trust, as President and Chief Executive Officer in September 2001. Under his leadership, Canadian Oil Sands internalized management and has grown to become the largest owner in the Syncrude Joint Venture. In addition to providing guidance and direction to the Trust, Mr. Coutu is Chairman of the Board of Syncrude and chairs the Syncrude Joint Venture CEO and Management Committees.

Mr. Coutu has 25 years of experience in the resource and energy sector, primarily focused in corporate finance. Prior to joining Canadian Oil Sands, Mr. Coutu was Chief Financial Officer of Gulf Canada until its sale to Conoco. Preceding that position, he was Senior Vice President International and Vice President Finance at TransCanada Pipelines where he helped finance their mainline expansion and international projects. Mr. Coutu also has worked many years in the upstream sector for companies that include Hudson's Bay Oil & Gas and Dome Petroleum, and has five years of experience in the investment banking business, mostly with Burns Fry Limited.

Mr. Coutu holds a H.B.Sc. in geology from the University of Waterloo (1976), an MBA from the University of Western Ontario (1980), and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists (APEGGA). Mr. Coutu is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Calgary and the Calgary Stampede Pension Committee. As well, he is on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Originally from Welland, Ontario, Mr. Coutu now resides in Calgary with his wife and two children.

Rank:34

Age:55

Tenure:5 yrs., 9 mos.

Salary:$575 k

Bonus:$1.4 mil

Marcel Coutu was one CEO ahead of the curve when the federal government in April revealed its plan to cut 20% of emissions by 2020. In early March, he joined a climate-change task force of oil executives aiming to cut industry emissions. The Welland, Ont., native studied geology at the University of Waterloo and received his MBA from the University of Western Ontario in London in 1980. Apart from a five-year stint in investment banking, Coutu cemented his career in the oil and gas industry with senior positions at Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. and TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. Now CEO of Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Coutu also chairs Syncrude Canada Ltd., one of the company's major subsidiaries. Looking ahead, the father of two plans to boost production of the Syncrude Alberta oilsands project to 500,000 barrels a day in a decade.

Manfred Gingl

2008-06-30T14:01:00.002-07:00

Chief Executive Officer - Tesma and Executive Vice Chairman of Magna Intl.

Mr. Gingl is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tesma and the Executive Vice Chairman and a director of Magna International Inc. ("Magna"). From February 1995 to May 2002, Mr. Gingl also served as the President of Tesma. Between June 1993 and February 1995, Mr. Gingl served as Managing Director of Blau International Ges.m.b.H. and as President of Blau Autotec Inc., two companies which developed and supplied automotive fueling and cooling components and which were acquired by Tesma in July 1995. Prior to June 1993, Mr. Gingl served as President and Chief Operating Officer (since December 1981) and Chief Executive Officer (since April 1988) of Magna, during which time he coordinated Magna's strategy of becoming a world-class "systems" supplier to the automotive OEMs and established Magna's operating groups (now systems corporations) which are organized on a product line basis.

Harold (Hal) Kvisle

2008-06-30T14:01:00.001-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - TransCanada PipeLines Limited

President and Chief Executive Officer of TransCanada PipeLines Limited (TCPL) since May 2001, and TransCanada Corporation since May 2003. Prior to his employment with TCPL, Mr. Kvisle was the President of Fletcher Challenge Energy Canada Inc. (oil and gas) from 1990 to 1999. He has worked in the oil and gas industry since 1975 and in the utilities and power industries since 1999. He held engineering, finance and management positions with Dome Petroleum Limited, is former Chair of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) and is Chair of the Mount Royal College Board of Governors.

Mr. Kvisle has Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Engineering from the University of Alberta and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Calgary.

www.transcanada.com

Gwyn Morgan

2008-06-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

former President and CEO - Encana Corporation

Gwyn Morgan, P.Eng. is a director of several large corporations in Canada, including EnCana Corporation and SNC-Lavalin. He is also on the board of trustees of the Fraser Institute, a Director for The Manning Centre for Building Democracy and a non-executive Director of HSBC. He is most noted for being the former President and CEO of EnCana Corporation.

In 2006, Morgan was appointed by Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper to chair the new public appointment commission. However, the appointment was rejected by opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) due to statements Morgan had made linking refugees with crime in Canada. NDP and Liberal MPs objected to Morgan's linking of refugees to crime, comments he made when he was in business and not directly involved with federal politics.

Morgan's defenders noted that the federal Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada agency ran a program from 1999 to 2003 under the governing Liberals called Project Early Intervention that targeted children in a community "made up of recent Arabic and Somalian immigrants" with the goal of reducing crime. In addition, in 2004, Canada established a national action plan, aimed in part at reducing violence, called A Canada Fit for Children which said "children of recent immigrants and refugee children are more likely to experience economic disadvantage with its associated risks." For these reasons, the attack on Morgan was seen by some as a veiled partisan attack on Prime Minister Harper.

There were also concerns raised that Harper's first nomination for the new post was a fundraiser for the Conservative Party of Canada; since the position was intended to reduce or eliminate the use of public appointments for "patronage" purposes, Opposition MPs saw the appointment of a Conservative Party partisan as inconsistent.

Clive Mather

2008-06-30T13:59:00.001-07:00

former President and Chief Executive Officer - Shell Canada Ltd.

Clive Mather was born in Warwickshire, England in 1947 and won scholarships to Warwick School and Lincoln College, Oxford. He joined Shell in 1969 and retired in 2007. His career included assignments in Brunei, Gabon, South Africa, the Netherlands, Canada and the UK where he was Chairman of Shell UK Limited between 2002 and 2004. His last position was as President & CEO of Shell Canada Ltd based in Calgary. Shell Canada was one of the biggest companies quoted on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with major businesses in oil & gas exploration and production, oil sands, and refining and marketing. Whilst in Canada he was also a Director of Placer Dome Inc. and the C D Howe Institute, Canada's leading think tank. He was formerly Chairman of the UK Government/Industry CSR Academy, Deputy Chairman of the Windsor Leadership Trust and Chairman of the IMD Business Advisory Council in Switzerland. He held a number of public appointments in the UK including Commissioner for the Equal Opportunities Commission, Chairman of the Petroleum Employer’s Council and Chairman of the Lambeth Education Action Zone.

Mather writes and speaks on leadership, the environment and energy internationally.

He is currently the Executive Chairman of Aibel Group Limited, the international oil and gas services company. He is the Lead Director of Iogen Corporation, a Canadian company specializing in enzyme technology and a leading producer of cellulosic ethanol. He is Chairman of the Shell Pensions Trust Ltd. He is a Director and the Chairman designate of Tearfund, the Christian charity working to combat global poverty. He also serves on the Royal Anniversary Trust, the Council of The Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association, and the Advisory Board of the Relationships Foundation.

In 2004 the Board of Shell Canada Limited appointed Mather as president and CEO of Shell Canada.

During 2006 Royal Dutch Shell, which owned 78% of the public stock of Shell Canada commenced an $8.7-billion takeover of the 22% of Shell Canada that it didn't own. In March 2007 the shareholders of Shell Canada Ltd. accepted a $45.00 per share cash offer from Royal Dutch Shell Plc [1]. In the year up to the acceptance of this offer shares in Shell Canada increased in value from $28.90 to just under $45

Rank:8

Age:59

Tenure:2 yrs., 10 mos.

Salary:$979 K

Bonus:$800 k

When parent Royal Dutch Shell took full control of Shell Canada last month, eliminating the need for a separate CEO, Clive Mather decided it was time to retire. So on June 6, Mather will step down after 38 years with the company, including nearly three as CEO at Shell Canada. He joined Shell in 1969, and has taken positions across the globe, including jobs in Brunei, South Africa, Britain and the Netherlands. The English-born Mather took charge of Shell Canada in 2004, spearheading the company's $2.4-billion acquisition of BlackRock Ventures Inc. and investing in the multibillion-dollar expansion of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, while advocating sustainable development.

Bradley (Brad) Langille

2008-06-30T13:58:00.002-07:00

Chief Executive Officer - Gammon Lakes Resources

Bradley H. Langille serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gammon Lakes Resources Inc. Mr. Langille serves as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President of Mexgold Resources Inc. and has been its Executive Director since 2003. Mr. Langille is the founder of Gammon Lakes Resources Inc. and assembled its first group of mineral claims. From 1985 to 1990, Mr. Langille served as Vice President of Metro Insurance Services Limited, a medium-sized general insurance agency ... operating in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to 1990, Mr. Langille operated a small wholesale and distribution business in Halifax. Since 1990, Mr. Langille has been employed as an airline pilot with Air Nova, a division of Air Canada Ltd. Mr. Langille has been a Director of Gammon Lakes Resources Inc. since 1996 and serves as a Member of its Audit Committee. He has experience in mineral prospecting, exploration techniques, project management and negotiation of mineral acquisitions. Most notably, he has been instrumental in the exploration of disseminated gold in Nova Scotia. Mr. Langille studied Geology at Saint Mary's University in Halifax and has prospected mineral properties for the past seven years.

André Desmarais

2008-06-30T13:58:00.001-07:00

President and co-Chief Executive Officer - Power Corporation

André Desmarais, O.C. (born October 26, 1956, in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian businessman, whose hometown is Montreal, Canada. He is one of two sons of Paul Desmarais, Sr. He is currently the president and co-chief executive officer of his father's founding company the Power Corporation, based in Montreal, Canada. It is a diversified management and holding company, which has holdings in leading financial services and the communications sector. Through its European-based affiliate Pargesa group, Power Corporation holds significant positions in major media, energy, water, waste services, and specialty minerals companies. Power Corporation also has diversified interests in Asia.

He attended Selwyn House School and later obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University, both located in Montreal. Andre Desmarais was appointed as a member of the Hong Kong Chief Executive's Council of International Advisers in the years of 1998-2005[1].

In 2003 he was appointed to the International Council of the JP Morgan Chase Bank. Also in that year he was named an officer of the Order of Canada. He is married to France Chrétien Desmarais, the daughter of former Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien. They have four children.

Born in 1956. Early in his career involved with Corporation Campeau Limitée (real estate). Special assistant to the Minister of Justice of Canada. Institutional investment councillor at Richardson Greenshields Securities. Joined Power Corporation in the early 1980s. Headed the exploitation department at Power Corporation for several years. Director Groupe Bruxelles Lambert since 1990. President and co-CEO of Power Corporation since 1996 and primarily responsible for the publishing arm of the company. Regularly attends the Trilateral Commission since the late 1990s. Member of the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan Chase anno 2005. Director and member of the International Advisory Council of the Hong Kong-based CITIC Pacific, a very large industrial corporation operating in China. Member of the Chief Executive's Council of International Advisors of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), together with Paul Volcker (former head FED; Rockefeller protege), Peter Sutherland (chair Goldman Sachs; chair Trilateral Commission), Maurice R. Greenberg (chair AIG; vice-chairman CFR; Bilderberg; Trilateral Commission; Bohemian Grove; trustee Rockefeller University), Sir John Bond (Chair HSBC; Bank of England; Multinational Chairman's Group). Named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2003. Honorary chairman of the Canada-China Business Council, an organization founded by Maurice Strong and his father. Andre Desmarais is married to France, the daughter of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

Uwe Stueckmann

2008-06-30T13:55:00.001-07:00

Senior Vice President Cossette and General Manager Blitz Direct, Data, & Promotion

Uwe Stueckmann, a leading figure in the Canadian direct marketing and CRM industry, is joining the Cossette Communication Group in Toronto as Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Blitz Direct, Data & Promotion.

Stueckmann, who has more than 15 years experience in direct marketing, CRM and customer loyalty program development, was most recently Vice-President of Marketing with Lowe’s Companies Canada, the U.S.-based home goods retailer that is launching soon in Canada. Before that, Stueckmann spent five years with Shoppers Drug Mart, managing the drug store retailer’s Optimum card loyalty and CRM programs.

“Direct response marketing is playing an increasingly important role in the marketing mix, particularly with the rising influence of consumer control,” says Brett Marchand, Cossette Group Executive Vice-President and Toronto General Manager. “We spent several months searching for the right person to head our direct response business and believe that with Uwe Stueckmann we have brought on board one of the best CRM, brand response and retail specialists in the country.”

Stueckmann, who also worked in database management and loyalty programs at the Loyalty Group (Air Miles Rewards) and Petro-Canada, worked closely with Blitz in developing the Optimum loyalty card program at Shoppers Drug Mart.

“Having had the opportunity to work with Blitz as a client and having seen the great work they’ve done over the years makes me very excited to lead this organization in the next phase of its growth,” says Stueckmann.

Tim Hogarth

2008-06-30T13:54:00.002-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - Pioneer Petroleum

Pioneer Petroleums has been recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Private Companies. Canada’s 50 Best Managed Program, sponsored by Arthur Andersen, CIBC and National Post, was established in 1993. The 50 Best logo has come to symbolize Canadian success - companies that are growing rapidly and excelling. “This recognition is very gratifying, especially since it comes just three years into the implementation of a long-term growth strategy we developed in 1997,” said Tim Hogarth, President and C.E.O. “This award speaks to the commitment and dedication of Pioneer people at all levels of the organization across Ontario.” Tim Hogarth, President & CEO

Pioneer’s growth strategy was built around a commitment to better meet the demands of customers for quality, service and convenience, said Mr. Hogarth. “Our Snack Express Expanded Retail Offer, which was first introduced in late 1997, has been very successful.” Pioneer also continues to invest in its people and facilities. The company has developed comprehensive training and incentive programs, and continues to invest heavily in upgrading and refurbishing its retail network. “Today’s Pioneer delivers a broad variety of products and services in a welcoming and safe environment,” said Mr. Hogarth. “Our focus for the future is on continuing to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.” In 2000, Pioneer expanded into the U.S. market for the first time through a joint venture between The Pioneer Group Inc. and Bay Petroleum of Lansing, Michigan. Bay Petroleum’s sites are now being rebranded as Pioneer gas bars, and are introducing both Snack Express and Pioneer Bonus Bucks. Pioneer was founded by Murray Hogarth in Hamilton in November 1956, with the opening of its first gas bar on Upper James Street. The Burlington-based company owns and operates more than 160 locations from Windsor to Ottawa and north to Timmins. Head office staff, District Managers and Station-of-the-Year winners celebrate award announcement.

Thomas Bata

2008-06-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

former Chairman - Bata Shoe

Thomas J. Bata (born September 17, 1914), also known as Tomas Bata Jr. and Tomáš Baťa Jr., ran the Bata Shoe Company from the 40s until the 80s.

Bata was born in the Czech city of Zlin, in what is now the Czech Republic, the son of Czech industrialist Tomáš Baťa.

Bata has also won many honorary degrees and is a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian award. He is the Honorary Colonel of the The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment of the Canadian Forces Reserve, and is frequently seen in the field visiting with its troops.

He currently resides in Toronto with his wife Sonja I. Bata, founder of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, where he continues to take an active role in the business, currently run by the Board of Directors of the company.
Sonja and Thomas Bata head the largest and most successful family-run business in the world, selling just one simple but indispensable article of clothing - the shoe. Their inspiring story is told in the Life & Times of Sonja and Thomas Bata.

From its beginnings over a hundred years ago, the
Bata Shoe Organization has sold more than 14 billion pairs of shoes - greater than the number of pairs of human feet that have walked the earth. It was Thomas Bata's father, a ninth generation cobbler, who founded the company in Czechoslovakia. His enterprising spirit, idealism and commitment to his workers formed the company's credo. Tomas Bata Sr. was a demanding father who groomed his son from an early age to run the company. When Thomas Jr. was 17, his father died in a plane crash. From then on, he resolved to carry on his father's legacy. Sonja Bata says: "His worry in life is that he might not live up to his father's goals, that he might fail his father."

By the 1930s, the Bata Shoe Organization was looking to explore the North American market. Thomas Bata wanted to make his mark. "I wanted to do something where I could say okay now this enterprise I built on my own. Canada was the one country that I selected for this experiment." Thomas Bata came to Canada and founded a successful shoe factory. He never looked back. And he did not disappoint his father's legacy.

After the war, Bata returned to Europe where he met and married Sonja who was impressed by this "capitalist with a social conscience." Sonja Bata's fashion sense and business acumen was to be a boon to the growing business. Together they would carry out the dream of Tomas Bata Sr. of putting shoes on the feet of every man, woman and child. They established companies in countries all over the world, employing local people and local materials. They built an international shoe empire. And Sonja Bata went on to create the largest shoe museum in North America to fulfill her twin passions, shoes and architecture.

Having built a network of more than 4,700 retail stores and 60 shoe-production facilities in over 30 countries, Sonja and Thomas Bata are about to turn over control of the business to their eldest son, Thomas George Bata.

Rizwan Jamal

2008-06-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Senior Vice President, Marketing - Telus

As Senior Vice President of Marketing, Rizwan Jamal brings 11 years of telecommunications and marketing experience to his role as he leads a national team dedicated to providing best-in-class marketing programs, including marketing communications, marketing intelligence, marketing operations, product marketing and related functions. He joined Clearnet Communications in 1998, prior to the TELUS acquisition, and has held increasingly senior roles within the organization. Prior to being appointed Senior Vice President, Rizwan held the position of Vice President of Channel Operations where he oversaw the company’s expanding national network of consumer product and service distribution channels, including corporate stores, dealer and retail partners, as well as direct sales. Rizwan holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

“TELUS and its team members are committed to give where we live,” said Rizwan Jamal, senior vice-president of Consumer Solutions at TELUS. “As such, we are proud to present an event like the RBC desiFEST which plays an important role in promoting and keeping alive the South Asian cultural richness across the country.”

Philip Lind

2008-06-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

Vice-Chairman - Rogers Communications Inc.

Mr. Lind serves as Vice-Chairman of the Corporation. Mr. Lind joined the Corporation in 1969 as Programming Chief and has served as Secretary of the Board and Senior Vice President, Programming and Planning. Mr. Lind is also a director of the Council for Business and the Arts, the Power Plant (Contemporary Art Gallery at Harbourfront), and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Mr. Lind is a former member of the Board of the National Cable Television Association in the U.S. and is a former Chairman of the Canadian Cable Television Association. He is also Chairman of the Board of the CCPTA (Channel 17, WNED). Mr. Lind holds a B.A. (Political Science and Sociology), University of British Columbia and a M.A. (Political Science), University of Rochester. In 2002, he received a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from the University of British Columbia. In 2002, Mr. Lind was appointed to the Order of Canada.

Perry Miele

2008-06-30T13:43:00.001-07:00

Chairman - Beringer Capital

Perry Miele has over 20 years of experience in the advertising and marketing industry and has earned a reputation as a strategic builder of businesses. He is also General Partner of The Mentor Fund, which invests intellectual and financial capital in “emerging” marketing and communications companies.

In 1987, Perry became a partner in Gingko, an integrated marketing services company, located in Toronto. At Gingko, Perry grew the company to become one of Canada ’s largest independently owned agencies. In 1998, he successfully negotiated a merger with DraftWorldwide (a subsidiary of Interpublic Group). Perry joined Draft’s executive management team as President of the International Group, leading the company’s international expansion.

Perry started his career with the Canadian federal government, rising to the position of Chief of Staff to the Minister of International Trade during the NAFTA negotiations.

Perry currently sits on the boards of Izumi Outdoors and the Fishing Forever Foundation and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization. Perry has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario.

Linda Hasenfratz

2008-06-30T13:37:00.006-07:00

Chief Executive Officer - Linamar Corporation

Linda Hasenfratz was named Chief Executive Officer of Linamar Corporation in August 2002. She had been President of Linamar Corporation from April 1999 to August 2004. From September 1997 to September 1999 Ms. Hasenfratz was also Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Ms. Hasenfratz joined Linamar Corporation in July 1990 and embarked on an extensive training program to gain familiarity with all aspects of the business. Positions held in the Corporation range from machine operator to Operations Manager. Ms. Hasenfratz completed an Executive MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in June 1997. In addition, Ms. Hasenfratz holds an Honors Bachelor of Science degree from the same institution.

Board and Council Memberships: CIBC Board of Directors – Spring of 2004; Foundation Board of Directors, Royal Ontario Museum – appointed Spring 2002; and Catalyst.

Ms. Hasenfratz has been a director of Linamar Corporation since 1998.

Linda Hasenfratz was born in Guelph, Ontario, in 1966. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Western Ontario and completed an Executive M.B.A. from the Ivey School of Business at the same university in 1997. She is Chief Executive Officer of Linamar Corporation.

She was Materials Manager of the Traxie subsidiary and in 1995 became Operations Manager for the start up of Comtech Manufacturing Ltd. She was named General Manager of Comtech and Vehcom Manufacturing in 1997. Ms. Hasenfratz was named Chief Operating Officer of Linamar in 1997 and President in 1999, before assuming her current position in 2002.

Ms. Hasenfratz is a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Catalyst Canadian Board of Advisors, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Original Equipment Manufacturers Association.

Jeffrey Wortsman

2008-06-30T13:29:00.003-07:00

President & Chief Executive Officer - Danier Leather Inc.

Jeffrey Wortsman has been Chief Executive Officer of Danier Leather Inc. since 1997 and as its President since 1994. Mr. Wortsman joined Danier Leather Inc. in 1986. He is responsible for store operations, marketing, logistics, distribution and direct sales. Prior to joining Danier Leather Inc., Mr. Wortsman was employed by a prominent Canadian investment firm. Mr. Wortsman has been a Director of Danier Leather Inc. since 1994. Mr. Wortsman has been a Director of Cars4U.com Ltd. (now Chesswood Income Fund), an online retailer of automobiles since 1999. Mr. Wortsman received a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Laws Degree from York University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1985.

Donald Triggs

2008-06-30T13:25:00.006-07:00

President - Arise Ventures Ltd.

Donald Triggs is currently the President of Arise Ventures Ltd. Previously, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vincor International Inc., a leading vintner in Canada and the fourth largest wine producer in North America. Together with Allan Jackson, he established the Jackson-Triggs brand in 1993. Today, an extensive portfolio of Proprietors' Selection and VQA Proprietors' Reserve and Grand Reserve wines are produced in both the Okanagan Valley and the Niagara Peninsula.

Mr. Triggs created the Triggs Premium Vinifera Lecture Series at Brock University's Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute. He is presently a Director of the Board of Grapes for Humanity. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Ivey Business School at the University of Ontario and, in 2006, established the Donald L. Triggs Chair in International Business at the Ivey Business School. In addition, he previously served as Director and past Chairman of About Face, a former Trustee of Brock University.

Mr. Triggs has been presented with a number of prestigious awards including an Honourary Doctorate of Commerce from Ryerson in 2007, the American Marketing Association's Marketing Hall of Legends inductee in 2006, an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Brock University in 2004, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario and Canada in 2003, to name a few. Mr. Triggs holds his Bachelor of Science (Honours Economics) in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba and his Master in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario.

Beverley Morden

2008-06-30T13:20:00.002-07:00

Managing Director - PriceWaterhouseCoopers - Toronto

Beverly Morden is a managing director in the Revenue Optimization practice within the Advisory Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP working in the Toronto office. The focus of her efforts is on helping Management Teams grow their top lines. As the former CEO of a publicly traded company, Beverley is able to relate well to the issues faced by executives and boards of directors and is the senior business advisor on selected accounts.

Beverley has more than 30 years of management and executive experience in entrepreneurial, publicly traded and privately held mid to large-sized organizations, mostly as a driver of change. She has been instrumental in improving the profitability, and accelerating the growth, of a diverse range of businesses. Working with the C-Suite, Beverley defines and orchestrates broad-based performance improvement and change programs, incorporating multiple functional elements including process, sales and marketing, IT, finance and HR.

In three distinct industry settings as both the leader and a member of executive teams, Beverley has developed the ability to analyze the business environment facing companies, understand competitive threats and assess the internal capabilities of companies. Blending the knowledge of the external environment with the strategic ambitions of the business and the capabilities of the organization and following with activity-based costing analyses, repositioning products and services, acquiring and integrating businesses and identifying organic growth opportunities, Beverley has developed and implemented practical action plans for improved performance.

Beverly has a BA (Business and Psychology) and is a graduate of the YPO President’s Program at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Barry Avrich

2008-06-30T13:20:00.001-07:00

Barry Avrich, Toronto, Ontario. Born in Montreal, Quebec. Barry Avrich is a veteran creative marketing professional and is currently President of Endeavour, a full service advertising agency. Barry has worked in sponsorship and marketing with major brands including American Express, Starbucks, Diesel, Cineplex, The Rolling Stones and many others. Barry is also an award winning film director, most recently, THE LAST MOGUL: The LIFE & TIMES OF LEW WASSERMAN, and author of three marketing books including the best selling; SELLING THE SIZZLE: The Magic and Logic of Entertainment Marketing. Barry is also a director of The Toronto International Film Festival Group, Stratford Festival of Canada, Best Buddies Canada, One x One Foundation, The International Emmy Awards and a member of Young President’s Organization. Barry is also President of Melbar Entertainment Group, a film and television production company.

Allan Oberman

2008-06-30T13:19:00.003-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - Novopharm

Mr. Oberman is a member of CGPA's Executive Committee and Board of Directors and, until becoming Chair, fulfilled the role of Vice Chair of CGPA. "I look forward to working closely with all stakeholders, including governments across Canada and the pharmacy community, to ensure Canadians have access to high-quality, affordable prescription medicines," said Mr. Oberman.

"Prescription drug expenditure continues to be one of the fastest rising costs in health care. By increasing the use of lower-cost generic medicines, we can help preserve the public and private drug benefit plans upon which so many Canadians, particularly seniors, rely," Mr. Oberman said. "In fact, if the use of generic drugs in Canada increased to levels in the United States, it would save Canada's health-care system up to $500-million in the first year alone."
In a career spanning more than 25 years, Mr. Oberman was previously the President of Bestfoods Canada and held senior management positions at Pillsbury Canada.
Novopharm Limited is one of Canada's oldest and largest generic pharmaceutical companies. In 2000, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries acquired Ontario-based Novopharm making Teva the largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world.

Aldo Cundari

2008-06-30T13:19:00.001-07:00

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Cundari Group Ltd

Aldo Cundari, 48, founder, chairman and CEO of Cundari Group and current chair of the National Advertising Benevolent Society, had no plans to work in advertising at all.

His original aim was to be a sculptor, but like the young dreams of many, reality stepped in.

“I studied fine arts in Canada, and felt that the schools here only brought me to a certain level, so went off to Italy to study, convincing the L’Instituto Europeo di Disegno to let me complete the three-year course in one year,” Cundari says.

“But when I returned to Canada in 1979, there was a huge recession — not much need for sculptors — and I could see that there was no money to be made in that field. So I decided to freelance for a while in graphics and design, which is part of what I studied.”

A Long Term International Plan

His small shop in graphics and design has since grown to be one of the top 10 agencies in Canada and one of the few independents, with a staff of about 120 in Toronto, plus small offices in Washington, D.C. and Montreal, and the imminent opening of an office in Vancouver. Next are plans to buy an agency in New York, and, following a long-term plan, to have a substantial presence in various U.S. cities and, possibly, offices in the U.K. and other G7 countries to 2014.

Cundari doesn’t think small.

“We want to be the ‘super agency’, in Canada first, solidifying a strong national presence, and then moving outward,” he says.

To date, his plans are falling into place. His solid client base includes such long-term clients as BMW (11 years) and long-term staff.

“Big agencies would kill for our culture,” says Cundari. “People like working here. We have an extensive training program, with tool kits on every process, even on how to hold a meeting. We have training modules, including, occasionally, ones for all staff.

“We’re building an environment with great relationships and, through word of mouth, attract great staff and great clients. I think my own strength is my talent for being energized and motivated myself, and then motivating others towards a common good.”

An Ultra-Busy Schedule

The schedule that Cundari keeps can lead one to wonder how he gets all that energy, but he seems to thrive on keeping busy with a disciplined approach and eclectic interests. Married 20 years to his wife Livian and father of five — Natalie, Christopher, Julia, Joseph and Nicholas — his passions range from loving to cook, ‘great wines’, winning on the golf course, collecting hand-carved tall ships and hand-carved ducks, and practicing yoga in the agency’s own fully-equipped gym.

Added to that are his business travel and sitting on the Board of Governors of the Villa charities (operator of the second largest home for the aged in Toronto, several assisted-living locations, about 30 external life-skills homes in Toronto and other services) and on the Board of Reach for the Rainbow to raise funds for the hiring of the one-to-one counselors needed to send severely disabled children to summer camp.

That alone would keep a marathon man busy, but Cundari is in the first of a two-year term as chair of NABS, the communications industry's own charitable organization in Canada that provides assistance to advertising, media and related industry professionals who may need professional counseling or short term financial help due to illness, injury, stress or unemployment. That also involves traveling to NABS chapters in western Canada and Montreal (the latter known as the Benevolent d’entraide aux communicateurs).

Plans and Challenges for NABS

“NABS biggest challenge is to get the community to rally around it,” says Cundari. “We have to redefine what NABS stands for as a brand; have to broaden it to include anyone who touches on our industry; and must develop a dominant youth culture. We have to bring more younger people onto the Board and use them to bring in more people.

“There’s a lot of stress in our industry, and we need funds to help people with this and other problems that we see affecting young people, not just the seniors who tended to use NABS in the past. I’d like to see NABS broaden the scope of whom it can help — and to offer retraining as part of its services to get people back in the work force.

“I hope that within the next five years that the majority of the industry will understand what NABS stands for and will present it as part of the benefit package offered to employees.”

NABS exists solely through donations and funds raised through such events as its annual Gala, golf tournament and media auction.

“NABS’ biggest need is funds,” says Cundari. “We’re trying to grow the ‘Friends of NABS’, and are looking for 100 companies and individuals to donate.”

Putting his money where his mouth is, so to speak, Cundari personally donated $25,000 to NABS, and it is his agency’s charity of choice.

Keeping Up on Trends and High Level Topics

Citing his own biggest weakness as lack of time, Cundari keeps up to date by reading a lot, and maintaining his 18-year membership in Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide (MAAW), a global organization dedicated solely to the CEOs, presidents, managing directors and principals of top marketing services agencies — mainly independents. At its meetings (this spring in Berlin), members deal with solving developing issues and discussing topics of interest to senior executives, such as making a succession plan.

“MAAW helps me stay ahead of the curve,” says Cundari. “And I love to innovate.”

Cundari and his agency group have been responsible for many marketing breakthroughs, including the first customer retention programs for past client Hewlett Packard and successful branding campaigns for BMW and Siemens Canada.

Cundari Group itself is also a member of the ComVort Group, the world’s largest network of specialized, independent and owner-managed companies operating in all branches of integrated marketing-communication.

Cundari established a long-term plan for his agency seven years ago, which includes not only geographical expansion, but a totally integrated concept of all disciplines, and a succession plan — although he has no plans for retiring for many years to come.

Many Disciplines, One Bill

“We have no silos and have a one billing structure and system. That’s a fundamental difference between other agencies and us. Others are starting to migrate that way, but we have 25 years of learning about it. Your systems have to be different; your processes have to be different; your people have to be trained differently.

“Most of it has to be driven by the client. The client has to realize that, because you’re going to do that, you have to structure how you’re going to pay your agency differently. You cannot have varying price points or ways you buy goods. You should only pay your agency fee — and most agencies don’t know how to survive just on fees. They build the fat back into everything. That pisses off the client.”

At Cundari, there is no special pricing for each service. The client gets the best of what is needed from each discipline required and the people may move about as required. Even though Cundari Group includes Cundari Health and Cundari SFP (the branding and design group Spencer Francey Peters bought by Cundari in 2004), the same situation applies, with their separate names mainly to indicate specialization offered by Cundari in these sectors.

“We wanted to create ‘best in class’, which is why we bought SFP,” Cundari says. “It's all part of the plan. We offer best-in-class advertising, design, branding, interactive, direct marketing, promotion, events, media planning and public relations. We have top of the line print and broadcast production studios, our own focus group research facilities, and a development group that builds custom software applications.

“We offer everything to help clients reach their business goals. Our philosophy is ‘Creating Valuable Experiences’. We look everywhere for opportunities where we can make a difference. We want to create meaningful, valuable experiences that encourage people to take action. Everything we do is focused on the client.”

Geographical Expansion

Cundari opened its Montreal office in Dec./06.

“There’s more of an entrepreneurial spirit in Montreal than in Toronto,” says Cundari. “And there’s a lot of pharmaceutical business. I think we can gain an edge in Montreal because of the way we think. We want to draw clients locally. When we talk to the people there, they’re surprised at the scale of business that we have.

“We had been thinking of opening in Montreal for a couple of years. We didn’t open there to handle the francophone needs of our current clients, but if they migrate to our Montreal office, too, that's great.”

The Montreal office opened with the Teccart Institute account, and has since added another, as yet unnamed client.

The Washington office, opened in November, 2006, is working on the ‘branding’ of Washington, D.C., much in the way that the agency branded the Toronto Waterfront.

The Brand Is Everthing

“Branding and building value for the brand are key for us,” he says. “When a company has a problem, it’s usually not because it’s a bad company; it’s because it has a branding problem. The brand has to be central to everything, then everything else comes off that.”

Cundari has been opening up ownership of the company, with minor shareholders now including Garry Lee, agency president; Robert Lewocz , executive vice-president, and Maria Orsin, vice-president administration and finance. The next concept is for new seniors in the agency to also have equity.

“Our current challenge is to finance our geographical expansion and to find the skill sets we need in these markets,” Cundari says.

And, of course, Cundari would like to add some new accounts.

“We’re specialists in the luxury segment, with clients like BMW and Four Seasons, and would love to add a financial/wealth management client, and one in the higher end spirits or beer. In fact, we’d love any aggressive clients that want to succeed.

“And I’m always looking for the brightest people. If you have the right people, they’ll motivate others who will bubble to the surface.”

Research and Creative Thoughts

Cundari has some strong ideas on today’s research and creative trends.

“People are researching marketing to death because it’s the wrong kind of research. They don’t dig deep enough. They measure the creative and not the cause. That’s one of the reasons that we have our own focus group facilities. You have to gather the right information.

“And you have to build relationships. People are looking in the wrong places for creative ideas. They think they have to shock people. Rather, it’s important to know how to talk to customers with the right returns. Today, we often see what I call ‘bratvertising’ — advertising that doesn’t respect the brand.

“You have to know how to differentiate the brand, and when and how to talk to the consumer.”

......And he’d still like to be a sculptor!

LinkedIn Profile

Taking care of business
By David Brown

Fashion Monitor Toronto

About Cundari

Cundari is one of Canada's largest independently owned and operated communications agencies, with the goal of Creating Valuable Experiences for their client partners. Cundari operates in Toronto, Montreal and Washington and owns divisions that include Cundari Interactive, Cundari Health and internationally recognized design and branding firm, Cundari SFP. Established in 1980, The Cundari Group is proud to have been entrusted with such brands as BMW, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Royal Ontario Museum, Subway, National Car and Truck, CIBC Run for the Cure and Bordner Ladner Gervais, to name a few. Visit www.cundari.com for more information.

Cundari Group of Companies

Michael J. Sabia

2008-06-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

former President and Chief Executive Officer, BCE and Chief Executive Officer, Bell Canada

Michael J. Sabia was President and Chief Executive Officer of BCE Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada. He is also Chairman of the Board of Bell Aliant Regional Communications, as well as director of BCE Inc., Bell Canada and The Thomson Corporation.

Mr. Sabia was President and Chief Operating Officer of BCE from March 2002 to April 2002, and Chief Operating Officer of Bell Canada from March 2002 to May 2002. He was President of BCE from 2000 to March 2002 and Executive Vice-President of BCE from July 2000 to December 2000, and Vice-Chair of Bell Canada from 2000 to March 2002. He was previously Vice-Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada International Inc. (BCI) from 1999 to June 2000 and then Vice-Chair of BCI from 2000 to November 2001.

Before joining BCI, Mr. Sabia was an executive of Canadian National Railway Company (railway company) where he joined as Vice-President, Corporate Development in 1993, and was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer in 1995. Prior to 1993, Mr. Sabia held a number of senior positions in the Canadian Federal Public Service, including Director-General of Tax Policy in the Department of Finance and Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans) in the Privy Council Office.

Sabia, the son of the feminist Laura Sabia, held a number of senior positions in Canada's federal public service during the 1980s and early 1990s, including:

* Director-General of Tax Policy in the Department of Finance
* Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans) of the Privy Council Office.

Sabia's supervisor, Clerk of the Privy Council Paul Tellier, left the public service to assume the presidency of Crown corporation CN Rail in the early 1990s and subsequently persuaded Sabia to follow him to help in privatizing the company. Sabia's partnership with Tellier led to increasing respect within the Canadian business community for the rapid turn-around of the company's financial performance. Sabia held a number of executive positions at Canadian National Railway during the 1990s such as Vice-President, Corporate Development and Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer.

Sabia subsequently left CN to the executive offices at BCE.

On April 28, 2006, BCE announced that CEO Michael Sabia was taking a 555% pay increase, his salary being raised from $1.21 million CAD a year to $6.71 million CAD a year. The pay included a $1.25 million CAD salary, a $29.2 million CAD bonus that Sabia converted to deferred share units, a long-term incentive payout of $3 million CAD and other compensation, the filing shows. Bell Canada also posted record revenue increases for the previous fiscal year.

On September 21, 2007, Sabia announced he will leave BCE after the privatization deal closes.

Profile from Macleans magazine:

In her day, the late Laura Sabia was never shy about poking establishment noses. Tart and outspoken, the founding president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women in 1972 was a champion upender of the status quo. Now her youngest child, Michael, has suddenly vaulted into the top job at BCE INC., the bluest of the blue chips - it's telephone giant Bell Canada's parent after all - albeit in one of its periodic slides from glory. Thank goodness, shareholders may say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

When 48-year-old Michael Sabia takes the dais this week at BCE's annual meeting, he will be wearing his darkest suit, speaking in his most careful tones and doing his best to keep his electric hair under control. Don't be fooled; he is truly the iconoclast's son. In two previous incarnations, Sabia took his lack of specific training, his distanced eye, and turned it into an asset. "If you want to know about water," he once said, "don't ask a fish." Ask instead, the one getting thrown in the deep end.

His first dunking was the GST. Somebody had to think that sucker through and figure out how to implement a new federal consumption tax across an unwieldy and unwilling economy during the all-consuming '80s. Might as well be the new kid in the Finance Department, you know, the one with the political science degree from Yale who had wanted to be an academic.

Then came a six-year stint as Paul Tellier's sidekick at Canadian National Railway Co. Just a couple of old civil service buddies fixing up a clunker. Actually, two pretty intense, ferociously driven ex-bureaucrats, who made a pig fly, as one business book had it: first by privatizing the former Crown corporation and then by turning it into one of the most efficient railways in North America. "This was a business miracle that business people were not able to produce," observes Stanley Hartt, chairman of Salomon Smith Barney Canada Inc., a commercial banker, and a deputy minister of finance during the Brian Mulroney years. And in the course of producing it, Sabia became, in Hartt's view, "the quintessential CFO," a chief financial officer who was routinely sought after by other corporations for his strategic thinking. "And he doesn't even have an accounting degree!" says Hartt. "He's not trapped by 'thinking inside the box' because he hasn't been in any single place long enough to be in a box."

But he is now. If not all that much is known about Michael Sabia - he's turned aside all interviews at least until he has met with shareholders and has all his management ducks lined up - there is no shortage of speculation about what ails giant BCE. Sabia has been at the telecom and communications conglomerate since October, 1999, coincidently just a few months after mentor Tellier joined the BCE board. Sabia started by running Bell Canada's international arm, its investments in phone and Internet companies in Asia and Latin America. But he was quickly moved up the ladder. By July, 2000, he became executive vice-president of parent BCE, and in January was named its chief operating officer, the No. 2 (again) but clearly the heir apparent to the patrician Jean Monty. No one, however, thought the coronation would come as quickly as it did, at the end of April, when Monty unexpectedly lost a protracted battle with the BCE board, fell on his sword, and left it to Sabia to pick up the corporate pieces. Pretty big pieces at that.

Bell's telephone operations were all doing well, aggressively grasping for market supremacy, in fact. But almost all its other big investments were coming apart at the seams. And BCE shares, the once-happy haven of widows and mutual funds, had lost about a third of their value. The biggest headache was Teleglobe Inc., a state-of-the-art subsidiary that was girdling the world with fibre optic cables in anticipation of an e-commerce data boom that never quite materialized. By walking away from Teleglobe in April, after what some estimate as a $15-billion investment, and pushing it into court-ordered bankruptcy protection, BCE has staunched its red ink. But it has also lost its own set of overseas conduits and, more importantly perhaps, the parent company's withdrawal has really ticked off a long list of creditors. Which leads to headache No. 2.

At the end of June, a six-month window opens for SBC Communications Inc. of San Antonio, Tex., one of the more successful of the so-called Baby Bells in the U.S., to require BCE to buy back SBC's 20 per cent stake in Bell Canada for fair market value plus a premium of 25 per cent. Or roughly $7.5 billion. Given SBC's own ambitions - it has reportedly been sniffing around the fire sale possibilities of its former parent, AT & T&T;, as well as Teleglobe - most analysts expect BCE to have to come up with the money somehow. Doing so might also bring it face to face with the underpinnings of the Monty-induced, Sabia-backed strategy, the so-called three Cs: content, connectivity and (e-)commerce. This was the notion that prompted BCE to go out and buy itself a television network, CTV, and a newspaper, the Globe and Mail, to pump through its new-found Internet and Teleglobe connections.

"This won't be his first priority," suggests Lawrence Surtees, senior telecom analyst with IDC Canada and a long-time Bell watcher. "But within six months to a year I can see Sabia dismembering his media properties. They make money. But for BCE that's mostly chump change. And if you want to be a real convergence carrier, you don't want to be just locked in to your own guys, you want to be able to do deals with their competitors."

The end of convergence? Much too soon to say. Sabia's first moves have been very cautious, moving his own executives up into place but no radical house-cleaning. The look is much more one of BCE's time-honoured corrections. For a blue-chip operator, it has a history of buying the wrong assets at the wrong time. During the booming 1980s it saddled itself with real estate and energy appendages. Then, after selling Nortel Networks Corp., its manufacturing arm, two years ago it went on its Internet and media buying spree. But in many respects, Surtees argues, Bell has been retrenching for much of the last decade, solidifying its hold on business and household telephone use in Central Canada, the Maritimes and parts of the West. "There has always been that question," he says. "What does BCE want to be when it grows up?"

You might say the same for Michael Sabia. He's probably taken his talented amateur act as far as he can go. He's not the No. 2 any more, as he was at CN or even with the GST, where his immediate boss was tough-talking David Dodge, now the governor of the Bank of Canada. Sabia's now the one in charge, not the "shit disturber" he once called himself who can afford to challenge everything that's on the table. By most accounts, an impressive, quippy, likeable guy - "as long as you have the smarts to stand up to him," a former colleague says - even former opponents have nothing but praise. "He's brilliant, bulldoggy but always courteous," says ex-Liberal minister Doug Young, who was his party's GST critic in opposition and then worked closely with Sabia and Tellier on the privatization of CN.

So far, Michael Sabia has slipped in under the radar. He's not even listed in the Canadian Who's Who. But his wife, Hilary Pearson, is and there is a story in that. They met at the U of T, in their very first year and married in 1983 when they were both civil servants. She is the granddaughter of a Liberal prime minister; he is the son of the feminist firebrand who ran for the Tories and routinely threatened Mike Pearson with all manner of political devastation. An establishment marriage? Their daughter's name is Laura.
Author ROBERT SHEPPARD

M. Jacqueline Sheppard

2008-06-27T11:48:00.001-07:00

Executive Vice-President, Corporate and Legal - Talisman Energy

Ms. Sheppard joined Talisman in 1993 and is responsible for the Company's worldwide legal affairs, corporate projects and acquisitions and is secretary to the board. Corporate communications, investor relations and corporate responsibility are also her responsibilities.

In the past five years, we have taken our expertise further and opened up new opportunities. In North America, we acquired a foothold in Appalachia and rapidly became the largest natural gas producer in New York state. In Canada, we are building a new core area in the Outer Foothills region of Alberta.

In the North Sea, Talisman continued to acquire assets where there was potential for development upside. We expanded into Norway, acquiring the Varg and Gyda fields, and became the third largest acreage holder in the country. The Company also made a significant discovery at Tweedsmuir, which was tied back to the Piper B platform, and has recently made an exploration discovery at Cayley. Southeast Asia has become our fastest growing core area, with first production from PM-3 CAA and growing volumes at Corridor. In addition, the Company acquired a very prospective exploration block off the coast of Vietnam. Talisman recently announced three successful exploration and appraisal wells in Vietnam and has an active drilling program planned for 2008. In addition, we were awarded two deepwater blocks offshore in Indonesia with drilling set to begin in 2009.

2007 was largely defined by ongoing asset sales, which had a significant impact on Talisman’s headline production, cash flow and earnings numbers. Over the past two years, we have sold 57,000 boe/d of non-core assets (producing approximately 28,000 boe/d in 2007), using the proceeds to repurchase approximately $1.6 billion in shares.

Production averaged 452,000 boe/d in 2007, down 7% from a year earlier. Production volumes were down primarily due to asset sales, while production from continuing operations was down slightly, reflecting a number of project delays.

Cash flow for the year was $4.3 billion, down 9% from 2006 and cash flow per share was down 4%, reflecting the repurchase of 46 million shares in 2007. Excluding cash generated by discontinued operations, cash flow was unchanged at $4.2 billion.

Michael (Mike) Waites

2008-06-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer - Canadian Pacific (CPR)

Mike Waites joined CPR in 1997 as Vice President and Comptroller, bringing to the railway more than 20 years of broad-based financial experience.

He was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2000. In 2003, Mike was also appointed Chief Executive Officer of CPR's US Network, developing and implementing strategies with respect to CPR's US properties.

Prior to joining CPR, Mike was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Chevron Canada Resources. While with Chevron, Mike spent six years at Chevron's world headquarters in San Francisco, California, working in the exploration and production end of the oil business, as well as in the refining and marketing sectors. Mike was extensively involved in Chevron's acquisition of Gulf Oil Corporation in 1985. Upon returning to Calgary in 1986, Mike played a key role in developing the operating, fiscal and project financing arrangements for the development of the Hibernia oil field project off the east coast of Canada. Also, while with Chevron in Canada, Mike acquired responsibility for oil and gas exploration and production operations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and southern Alberta.

Mike is a Director of Finning International Inc. and a Governor of the Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island. Mike holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Calgary, an MBA from Saint Mary's College of California, and a Master of Arts, Graduate Studies in Economics from the University of Calgary. He has also completed the Executive Program at The University of Michigan Business School.

Mike Ashar

2008-06-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Irving Oil Executive - former Executive Vice-President - Suncor Energy

Irving Oil has scooped up a senior executive from Suncor Energy Inc.'s ranks, with plans to put him into a senior slot at the privately held New Brunswick-based refining and marketing company. Mike Ashar's resignation from Calgary-based Suncor was announced internally on Monday, and is effective on July 4, Suncor spokesman Brad Bellows confirmed yesterday. Mr. Ashar was most recently Suncor's executive vice-president of strategic growth and energy trading. He also served as executive vice-president of refining and marketing in the United States, and as Suncor's executive vice-president of oil sands through the company's Millennium upgrader expansion. Irving declined to disclose precisely what Mr. Ashar will do when he moves to the company's head office in Saint John, but did note that he has extensive experience in refining and marketing on both sides of the border.

Mel Rhinelander

2008-06-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Vice Chairman - Extendicare Inc. former CEO

Mr. Rhinelander has held a wide range of senior leadership positions since joining the Corporation in 1977. In August 1999, he was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Extendicare Inc. Immediately prior to that he served as Executive Vice- President. Mr. Rhinelander holds degrees in Economics and Education from the University of Western Ontario. He is past President of the Ontario Long Term Care Association.

Mr. Rhinelander is based at Extendicare's U.S. headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Extendicare is one of the largest operators of long-term care facilities in North America. The Corporation operates 298 facilities with capacity for 29,200 residents in the United States and Canada. Extendicare also provides medical specialty services in the United States, including subacute care and rehabilitative therapy services, as well as home health care and rehabilitative therapy services in Canada.

Dominic D'Alessandro

2008-06-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - Manulife Financial

President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Financial since January 1994, Mr. D’Alessandro has led the Company to its 14th consecutive year of record financial performance, resulting in Manulife being among the most profitable life insurance companies in North America.

Mr. D’Alessandro led the successful demutualization and conversion of the Company to public company status in September 1999. This important accomplishment set the stage for the Company to become a world leader in the financial services industry. In 2004, he managed the largest cross-border transaction in Canadian history with the successful completion of the merger with John Hancock Financial Services, creating the second largest life insurance company in North America and the fourth largest in the world.

Mr. D’Alessandro continues to endorse and promote Manulife’s values, established under his leadership in 1994, common to all business divisions around the world. These values are summarized by the acronym PRIDE, which stands for Professionalism, Real Value to Customers, Integrity, Demonstrated Financial Strength, and Employer of Choice. Manulife is widely recognized for putting these values into practice. In 2007, it once again received first place ranking in the Globe and Mail's Corporate Governance survey. In addition it was named as the top Canadian Brand on the list of the world's 250 most valuable brands as well as one of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures. In early 2008 it was cited as a Best Employer of New Canadians.

Being a good corporate citizen is an integral part of the Company’s values. Donation and sponsorship commitments to the communities where the Company does business have increased considerably. Mr. D’Alessandro is also personally committed to citizenship. He is currently co-chair of the Montreal Neurological Institute’s fundraising campaign, a five-year, $40-million initiative to invest in people and expand facilities and services. He was Campaign Chair for the Salvation Army, Ontario Central Division’s first Capital Campaign. He was also Campaign Chair for the Greater Toronto United Way Campaign in 1998 and, in 1996, served as Co-chairman of the Corporate Fund for Breast Cancer Research Campaign.

Mr. D’Alessandro is a Vice Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and is a Director of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. He also Co-Chairs the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council. As President of Manulife, Mr. D’Alessandro is a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee.

As well as receiving numerous other awards, Mr. D’Alessandro was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in August 2003. He was named ‘Canada’s Most Respected CEO’ for 2004 and ‘Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year 2002’ by his peers for his contribution to business and the community. In November 2006, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper named Mr. D’Alessandro to the Advisory Committee on the Public Service of Canada, and in June 2006 appointed him to NAFTA’s North American Competitiveness Council. In July 2008, he will be inducted into the International Insurance Society Hall of Fame. Mr. D’Alessandro received honourary doctorates from the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University in June 2008. He received the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award from the University of Manitoba in June 2007, and has also received the Canadian Business Leader Award from the Alberta School of Business in March 2007, an Honourary Doctorate from York University in June 2006, a 2005 Horatio Alger Award, a Special Lifetime Management Achievement Award from McGill University in February 2005, Concordia University’s Loyola Medal in May 2004, the University of Toronto’s Arbour Award in September 1999, and an Honourary Doctorate from Concordia University in June 1998. Mr. D’Alessandro was also made a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1993.

Career Highlights
Mr. D’Alessandro graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Mathematics from Loyola College, Montreal. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1971. Mr. D’Alessandro has an extensive and varied background in the financial services industry. From 1968 to 1975, he was employed by Coopers & Lybrand, where he also spent time in the firm’s Paris office.

In 1975, Mr. D’Alessandro joined Genstar Ltd. During his six years with the firm, he worked in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia as Director of Finance and subsequently General Manager, and was later based in San Francisco as Vice President of Genstar’s Materials and Construction Group.

Mr. D’Alessandro joined the Royal Bank of Canada in 1981 where he held a number of positions including Executive Vice President, Finance.

In November 1988, Mr. D’Alessandro was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Laurentian Bank of Canada.

Gordon Nixon

2008-06-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - RBC Financial Group

Gordon Nixon is president and chief executive officer of RBC Financial Group, the brand name for Royal Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries. He is also a director of Royal Bank of Canada and chairman of RBC's Group Executive.

Mr. Nixon began his career in 1979 at Dominion Securities in Toronto where he worked in Global Markets and subsequently the Investment Banking division. In 1986, he transferred to Tokyo to assume responsibility for the firm's operations in Japan. Dominion Securities was acquired by Royal Bank of Canada in 1987 and Mr. Nixon returned to Toronto in 1989 as a Managing Director of Investment Banking. In 1995, Mr. Nixon was appointed head of Global Investment Banking and in 1999 became Chief Executive officer of RBC Capital Markets and a member of Royal Bank's Executive Committee. He was appointed President of Royal Bank of Canada on April 1, 2001 and Chief Executive Officer on August 1, 2001.

Mr. Nixon is Chairman of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, and is on the Board of Directors of The Hospital for Sick Children, the International Monetary Conference and MaRS Discovery District for which he will become Chairman in 2009. He is also on the Canadian Advisory Boards of Daimler/Chrysler, Catalyst and Queen's University School of Business.

In 2007 Mr. Nixon was invested into the Order of Ontario and was the recipient of Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year Award. He has an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Queen's University, and is a recipient of the CIJA/UJA Words and Deeds Leadership Award, the Rotary Foundation's Paul Harris Fellowship, a Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, a Learning Partnership Champion of Public Education Tribute and an American Banker Innovator of the Year Award. Born in Montreal in 1957, Mr. Nixon attended Queen's University where he received an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree. He and his wife live in Toronto and have three children.

Rank:1

Age:49

Tenure:5 yrs., 10 mos.

Salary:$1.4 mil

Bonus:$5 mil

Gordon Nixon received $14.9 million in total compensation last year, the most ever paid to a Canadian bank CEO. But Canada's largest bank also had a record 2006 under his leadership, earning a $4.7-billion profit, the biggest yet for a Canadian bank. The Montreal-born, Queen's University — educated Nixon led the growth by signing off on five U.S. acquisitions, including the first retail takeovers since fall 2003, when the bank paid US$80 million for a group of Florida branches owned by Provident Financial Group. On tap? Nixon said in March he wants to continue finding even more American banks to buy.

Sheldon Inwentash

2008-06-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Chairman and CEO - Mega Uranium

Sheldon Inwentash is responsible for the overall strategic vision and direction for the Company. Mr. Inwentash and his management team have built Mega Uranium into one of the fastest growing junior mining companies globally, by identifying and acquiring quality uranium properties. Mr. Inwentash brings more than 20 years of experience in the investment industry and a deep understanding of progressive investment and financial management strategies. He is currently an Ontario finalist for the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award. A Chartered Accountant, Mr. Inwentash is also the Chairman and CEO of Pinetree Capital Ltd., a Canadian investment company with a portfolio of investments primarily in the resource and energy sectors.

In 1992, Pinetree was founded by Sheldon Inwentash to be a venture investor in early stage, emerging technology companies. It was initially capitalized with approximately $4 million in order to acquire a 30% stake in a Montreal-based biotechnology company called BioSignal Inc. which was subsequently acquired by Perkin Elmer.

In 1994, Mr. Inwentash founded Genevest Inc. to be a venture investor in early stage, emerging biotechnology companies. Its initial capitalization was also about $4 million, and that money was used to start Visible Genetics Inc. (“VGI”). VGI was the world’s first company specializing in pharmacogenomics, went public on NASDAQ in 1996, had a peak market value of over US$1 billion and was eventually sold to Bayer. Genevest’s profits on this investment totaled over $35 million.

From the mid-1990s to 2004, Pinetree specialized in early stage technology investing while Genevest focused on early stage biotechnology investing. Both companies thrived in these arenas, which require a long term view and excellent vision.

In 2001, both companies emerged intact and strong after the bursting of the tech bubble.

Allan Markin

2008-06-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

Chairman of the Board - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.

Markin and his partner at CNRL, Murray Edwards, are responsible for building one of Canada's largest oil and natural gas producing companies, said University of Alberta President Dr. Rod Fraser.

"[Markin's] strong commitment to his community and a vision to build a better world is embodied through his continuing philanthropy and personal support of community organizations in the province," Fraser added.

When he became chairman of CNRL in 1989, the company was struggling and had only six employees. Now, the company's current revenues exceed $3 billion annually.

Markin, who graduated from the U of A in the late sixties with a degree in chemical engineering, has received numerous awards for his business savvy and philanthropy, including the Alberta Pinnacle Award of Business and the Oilweek Producer of the Year. For several years, he has been a recipient of the Wall Street Journal Gold Award for outstanding achievement among Canadian Oil Producers.

Philanthropically, Markin helped to establish a distinguished writers program and the development of a sports medicine facility at the University of Calgary. As well, he is one of the principal supporters of the foundation and development of Calgary's Saint Mary's College. This past December, Markin and CNRL jointly committed to providing $6 million to the U of A to support the construction of the $65 million Natural Resources Engineering Facility, a research building that will focus on resources development.

"When I graduated thirty years ago, it would have seemed remote--implausible--to know that I would be here today. And now, imagine how wonderful it would be if each of you was standing here in thirty years to receive your own honorary degrees," Markin said in his address Tuesday afternoon to the U of A's 2002 graduating class of engineering, medicine and dentistry students.

"Certainly, I had no idea that the road I was about to follow after I graduated would lead me back to this place today," he said. "And I could not have predicted then all the challenges, problems, heartaches and joys that I would experience as I traveled that road."

Ron Brenneman

2008-06-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer - Petro-Canada

As President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Brenneman is a member of the Board of Directors and leads Petro-Canada’s Executive Leadership Team. He is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the Corporation, and its sound management and performance.

Mr. Brenneman assumed this position in January 2000. Prior to joining Petro-Canada, Mr. Brenneman had a successful 31-year career with Imperial Oil Limited in Canada and its parent company, Exxon Corporation, in the United States and Europe. His experience includes roles in both the Upstream and Downstream segments of the business, as well as senior corporate roles. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Brenneman was President of Imperial Oil Limited. In 1994, he became Chief Executive Officer of Esso Benelux, a large Exxon affiliate in Europe. From 1997 to 1999 he was General Manager of Corporate Planning at Exxon's head office in Dallas, Texas.

A Canadian, Mr. Brenneman graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Chemical Engineering, and has a Master of Science degree from the University of Manchester. He has also completed the Senior Executive Program at the Sloan School of Business, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Siegfried Wolf

2008-06-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Co-Chief Executive Officer - Magna International

Mr. Wolf, age 49, serves as the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Magna. In addition to serving on Magna's Board since March 8, 1999, Mr. Wolf serves as a supervisory board member of Verbundgesellschaft (Austria Hydro Power) (Vienna: VER); Österreich Industrieholding AG (Republic of Austria holding and privatization agency); Siemens AG Österreich (Siemens Austria); and HGI Beteiligungs AG. He also previously served on the Boards of Decoma International Inc., Intier Automotive Inc. and Tesma International Inc., until their privatization in 2005

Steve Laut

2008-06-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

President & Chief Operating Officer- Canadian Natural Resources

As Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s chief operating officer, Steve Laut was a key player in stickhandling the company's massive $10.8-billion Horizon Oil Sands project through five years of planning, regulatory hurdles and shareholder approval. Convincing investors might have been the easiest task as the company announced record production, revenues and profits for fiscal 2004, which led to an increased dividend and a two-for-one stock split after shares more than doubled in value during the year. Once built in 2008, Horizon will add 110,000 barrels per day to the production capacity of Calgary-based Canadian Natural, now the country's second largest independent oil producer. The company also increased its presence in the heavy-oil business by purchasing a 66% stake in Petrovera Resources in February 2004. As a reward, Laut was named Canadian Natural's president in May 2005 as well as earning $6.7 million in salary and exercised stock options in 2004.

James (Jim) Buckee

2008-06-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

former CEO of Talisman Energy Inc.

Talisman Energy Inc. is Canada's largest independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Proven reserves stood at 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2000. Talisman's main areas of operation are Canada, the British North Sea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sudan, with additional operations in Algeria, Colombia, Trinidad, and the United States. The company's involvement in the Sudan has been controversial because of the political situation in that war-torn African nation. Talisman emerged in 1992 after its former parent, British Petroleum Company plc, sold its 57 percent interest in the Canadian concern, which had been known as BP Canada. Since becoming independent, Talisman Energy has grown rapidly through a series of acquisitions under the leadership of James W. Buckee.

Early History of Supertest Petroleum and BP Canada

Talisman's roots can be found in the Supertest Petroleum Corporation, established on December 17, 1925, with the opening of a corner gas station in London, Ontario. The company immediately began building a network of gas stations, and in 1926 it bought the gas and oil interests of Ensign Oil Company, based in Montreal. Growth for Supertest was slow during the economic depression of the 1930s, when unemployment and persistent economic downturns affected the ability of Canadians to buy and drive cars.

The rival British Petroleum Company plc (BP) made its first large foray into the Canadian market in 1953. BP, headquartered in London, England, had its earliest roots in the Middle East, where extensive gas and oil interests were found and exploited, in Iran and Saudi Arabia in particular. As early as 1926, the company considered expanding outside of the Middle East. Specifically, Arnold Wilson, who succeeded F.G. Watson as managing director of D'Arcy Exploration Company, a division of BP, told company directors that disappointment with drilling in Asia and Africa led him to consider drilling opportunities in Canada or South America. As it happened, BP did much to explore new opportunities before it entered the Canadian market in a substantial way. Between 1927 and 1930, company geologists showed considerable interests in possible fields in British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Alberta. The geologists, however, could not agree on whether potential gas and oil reserves in the Canadian hinterland warranted further investment toward drilling.

In 1953, BP bought a minority stake in Triad Oil Company, a small exploration company based in Calgary with large exploration holdings in western Canada. Four years later, BP entered the Quebec market. By 1960, when the company's first refinery opened for business in Montreal, BP had over 800 service stations in the French-speaking province. Now operating as rivals, both companies expanded during the 1950s and 1960s. Earlier, in 1959, Supertest merged into its own operations those of Reliance Petroleum Ltd., also based in Calgary. In 1964, BP bought the eastern Canadian interests of Cities Service, comprising 750 retail gas stations and a refinery at Oakville, Ontario. This acquisition brought to just under 1,800 the number of retail gas stations that BP had in Ontario and Quebec and added to its sales and service teams for home heating and the agricultural, commercial, marine, and aviation industries.

In 1969, BP's holding company in Canada was renamed BP Canada, and the principal marketing company was renamed BP Oil Ltd. Put another way, BP's Canadian operations now had two arms, an upstream arm (oil and gas exploration and production) and a downstream arm (refining and marketing). A year later, all BP's marketing and refining interests in western Canada were put under the corporate umbrella of BP Oil and Gas Ltd., including the interests of the former Triad Oil Company.

1971: Merger of BP Canada and Supertest

The discovery in August 1969 of giant oil reserves at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, convinced BP headquarters in London that it had a significant future in northern Canada. In August 1971, BP Canadian Holdings Ltd., then BP Canadian Ltd., and a division of BP in Britain offered to buy a controlling interest in Supertest. The British parent exchanged for shares all of its petroleum marketing, refining, and exploration interests in Canada. These entailed all the outstanding stock of BP Oil Ltd.--an associate company mainly engaged in marketing and refining in eastern Canada--and a 65.9 percent interest in BP Oil and Gas Ltd. The BP offer was accepted by Corlon Investments Ltd., which then held an 83.7 percent stake in Supertest. It sold its entire stake for $10 a share. By November of that year, BP had bought 97.8 percent of Supertest, having paid $16.50 per share for that holding.

Immediately upon buying Supertest, the new company, BP Canada Ltd., set about securing new oil and gas acreage holdings in the Arctic Islands region of Canada. The idea was to explore for possible oil and gas reserves in the regions adjoining the 1969 Alaskan oil and gas discoveries. Once located, substantial oil and gas reserves would be extracted from the earth via drilling rigs and then refined downstream before being sold to consumers through a network of gas stations. Other oil companies tended to be specific about identifying and taking aim at specific oil targets. BP Canada, on the other hand, had a "shotgun," as opposed to a "rifle," approach. It explored in many places in search of leads and eventual discoveries.

Total acreage in 1970 for BP Canada amounted to 26.7 million gross acres, up from 19.3 million gross acres held a year earlier. Of particular interest was a 1.2 million acre tract of property purchased for exploration on Vanier, Emerak, and Prince Patrick Islands where actual drilling was to commence in 1971. BP Canada's net production of crude oil and natural gas in 1970 amounted to 18,582 barrels daily, up 17 percent on production a year earlier. Sales of natural gas had jumped 24 percent to an average of 62.4 million cubic feet per day, compared with production in 1969. In 1971, the company drilled its first Arctic well on Vanier Island, and labeled it "BP et al Panarctic Hotspur J-20." It then added two more, one on Prince Patrick Island ("BP et al Panarctic Satellite F-68") and the other on Graham Island ("BP et al Graham C-52"). BP Canada also purchased considerable acreage holdings in northern Alberta and British Columbia for possible exploration and drilling in those regions.

A year later, the former offices of Supertest Investments and Petroleum in Calgary had been closed as management of the new company was moved to the Montreal-based headquarters of BP Oil and Gas Ltd. Production for the company jumped substantially in 1972. Sales of petroleum products averaged 94,400 barrels daily, whereas production of crude oil and natural gas was posted at an average 22,132 barrels daily. To accommodate this increased production, the company announced plans in 1972 to add a further 40,000 barrels per day of refining capacity at its Trafalgar Refinery facility in Oakville, Ontario. Products produced there would be marketed under the BP and Supertest brand names.

In April 1972, just months after the Supertest merger, company President Derek Mitchell, who had initially come to the position in 1966, outlined his business strategy to shareholders in the company's 1971 annual report: "Your company is now firmly established as a major marketer and refiner of petroleum products in Ontario and Quebec, is well placed as a producer of oil and gas in Western Canada, and has an important stake in the exploration activity rapidly gaining momentum in Canada's frontier areas." BP Canada was establishing upstream exploration and production facilities in western Canada to serve key downstream markets in Ontario and Quebec, where oil and gas products could be sold directly to consumers.

Surviving the Oil Shocks of the 1970s

By late 1972, the company was beginning to feel the effects of higher world prices for a barrel of oil caused by the efforts of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel. Essentially, a higher price paid for imported crude oil forced BP Canada to pay more for the energy reserves it required to replace petroleum products sold earlier downstream in the marketplace.

This trend worried Mitchell, who said in March 1973 in the company's 1972 annual report: "The comparative stability of the 1960s is giving way to a decade likely to be characterized by rising prices for petroleum and growing government interest in the industry's affairs, both at the political and at the technical levels." Mitchell's words were to prove prophetic. Throughout 1973, OPEC instigated production cutbacks and embargoes among its customers, which played havoc with the global oil industry. The price of oil on the global market went up, and the world supply seemed to be shrinking.

Turmoil and confusion gripped the oil industry. Responding, BP Canada began moving crude oil from western Canada to Montreal through the St. Lawrence Seaway, and later through the Panama Canal during the winter freeze-up. A thorn in the company's side was the growing involvement in the domestic oil industry by the Canadian government in Ottawa. Specifically, the government was calling on the industry to hold down anticipated price rises for Canadian oil products, which would grow costlier as they were affected by the rising world oil prices charged by OPEC member countries. Such restraint was meant to allow the government to develop a Canadian pricing policy to cushion the impact on consumers from rising world oil prices and provide an incentive for the domestic oil industry to develop new energy sources.

As a measure of the growing spread between domestic and world oil prices, a barrel of Canadian crude oil rose by 85 cents to around $4.50 in Toronto in the 12 months leading up to January 1, 1974. During that same period, the cost of imported crude oil rose by some $8 to over $11 a barrel in Montreal. BP Canada was making increased profits from selling petroleum products to consumers at higher prices, but it had to restore energy reserves it had sold off by buying imported crude oil at around twice the December 1973 level. According to the company, it was under-recovering its cost of crude oil by some $300,000 a day in the second half of 1973.

BP Canada might have been trading in crisis-ridden conditions in 1974, but it still managed to see profits rise 82 percent to $39.5 million that year. Even so, the company still found grounds to complain in its 1975 annual report about growing royalties and income taxes owed to Canada's provincial and federal governments. What is more, by the end of 1974, world oil prices had risen to five times the mid-1973 level. The unprecedented price hikes had led to increased production, and ultimately a glut in the world oil market. The net result: lower margins for BP Canada products in an ever more competitive market.

In 1975, the company began exploring for oil off Newfoundland, on Canada's easternmost seaboard. Also that year, the expansion of the Trafalgar Refinery was completed, but only after delays and cost overruns. A year later, BP Canada bought the remaining 65 percent stake in British Columbia Oil Sands Ltd. to take full control of the company. Paying $20 per share in the transaction, the company gained ownership of oil and gas acreage in the Yoyo, Kotcho, Cabin, and Louise gas fields of northeastern British Columbia. Cost-cutting measures that year included reducing the number of retail outlets selling BP petroleum brand products in Ontario and Quebec from just over 3,000 to around 1,800. The company also introduced BP no-lead gasoline at its remaining retail outlets.

Early in 1977, BP Canada signed an agreement with the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority that would see the government body contribute half the $18 million cost of testing a sequential steam heating system to extract heavy crude oil (thick sludge used as highway asphalt) in the Wolf Lake area of Alberta. These tarlike deposits are filled with impurities but can be upgraded to light, valuable crude oil; the process is worthwhile if there is a $3 to $5 spread between the light and heavy crude oil variants. At the time, the price of oil on the world market was rising too quickly, compared with the price for domestically produced oil, to fully justify the development of heavy oil upgraders. The Wolf Lake project was noteworthy for its incentives to develop new sources of oil and gas in Canada. Companies such as BP Canada often had to extract heavier crude oil reserves at greater than average expense and longer than usual lead times before it could deliver a refined product to consumer markets in a light crude form.

BP Canada in the 1970s continued its thrust into the rugged terrain of the Monkman area in northeastern British Columbia. It now held interests from 25 to 64 percent in 204,000 acres and 100 percent of 94,000 acres in the region, which was thought to hold vast natural gas reserves. The British Columbia Petroleum Corporation announced plans to build a pipeline and plant facilities to bring the Monkman area natural gas to market in 1980.

In 1978, BP Canada saw its profits rise over the $40 million mark for the first time. This record, however, was reached at a time when the industry as a whole was experiencing a market glut because of excess refining capacity and reduced consumer demand for petroleum products due to the unexpected success of conservation measures. The Iranian revolution in 1979 caused yet another jump in the price of oil on the world market. BP Canada saw its offshore supply drop substantially because of embargoes. To replace the shortfall, the company arranged to send Canadian crude oil from western Canada to northern-tier U.S. refiners, who in turn would divert their imported oil to the Montreal refinery.

At this time, BP Canada also faced a glut in the natural gas market, then a key earner for the company. Production in 1979 was 109.5 million cubic feet per day, down from 122.7 million cubic feet per day a year earlier. Purchasers had essentially been unable to take all the gas they had contracted to buy. Sales of natural gas continued slowly in 1980, but the company did manage to post profits of $63.1 million for fiscal 1979, up 93 percent from the year before. A jump like that had company Chairman and CEO Mitchell defending the company's performance, given its persistent calls for less government control over the oil industry. Suspicions abounded in the 1970s that the oil industry as a whole was manipulating the OPEC crisis for its own profitable ends.

Developments in the 1980s

Speaking to shareholders, Mitchell repeated his company's call for regulatory restraint in the company's 1980 annual report: "There is no doubt that given appropriate policies--higher crude oil prices, a fair and stable tax and royalty system which will allow adequate netbacks to the industry, a commitment to allow companies to reap the fruits of their endeavors, and the encouragement of fuels substitution and energy conservation--Canada can again become self-sufficient in oil." If Mitchell sought government restraint, he ended up with greater intervention still. The Conservative government, entering the 1980 federal election, had proposed an 18-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax, to subsidize more expensive oil imports. That proposed excise tax in part led to the Conservative government's downfall at the polls. The incoming Liberal government introduced the National Energy Program in October 1980. It painted foreign oil companies as profit-hungry conglomerates and gave support to Canadian-owned companies such as Petro-Canada.

Company Chairman Mitchell complained in March 1981 in the company's 1980 annual report: "The government is now hell-bent on putting on a circus for the benefit of the media and the public. ... The principal purpose will, doubtless, be to try to justify by propaganda and by 'trial' in the media the federal government's already well-demonstrated xenophobic prejudices against one of Canada's vital and most successful industries."

Although the Liberal government became a foul word in the BP Canada boardroom, the company's fortunes did not suffer. For the first time in 1980, gas from the Sukunka-Bullmoose area of northeastern British Columbia reached the market after many years of exploration. It was also announced that year that BP Canada's headquarters would move from Montreal to Toronto. The relocation served two purposes: it would remove the company from the separatist tensions then developing in Quebec and would place the headquarters in Ontario, where 70 percent of the company's assets were.

Profits for 1980 were posted at $104.3 million, a 56 percent advancement over the previous year. The rate of return on investment was 17.3 percent, a company record. Despite the government's aim to restrain foreign oil companies in Canada and support the domestic sector, the multinationals were doing better than ever.

Company Chairman Mitchell died suddenly on October 29, 1981, and was replaced by R. Hanbidge as president and CEO. A year later, BP Canada shelved plans to proceed with developing the Sukunka coal mine in northeastern British Columbia. Low coal prices on the world market accounted for the strategic move. The company in 1984 completed work on its Wolf Lake project, which came onstream five months ahead of schedule and with a price tag of $110 million. Full production of 1,100 cubic meters of fuel per day was achieved in September 1985, and expanded production at Wolf Lake was forecast at 5,600 cubic meters per day by the end of the decade.

The falling price of oil on the world market hit BP Canada's earnings in 1985. Cash flow fell by 17 percent, and net profits fell by 55 percent to $20 million, compared with results for the year earlier. Continuing success at energy conservation during the 1980s also cut into production at BP Canada. In 1985, sales of light and medium oil were down by 10 percent on sales a year earlier, and 15 percent of production was lost during the first quarter of 1987. Also that year, production at the Wolf Lake project stood at 1,140 cubic meters per day, not far above production figures when the project came onstream in 1984.

For these reasons, the company attempted to curb its operating costs to maintain profitability. M.A. Kirkby, president of BP Canada, told shareholders in the 1987 annual report: "While we cannot control the worldwide prices of oil, gas and metals, we are constantly working to reduce our costs and to improve our netbacks within the market." Cost-cutting measures helped boost BP Canada's net profits to $44.6 million in 1987, an all-time high. But the very next year, net profits were down to $10.3 million. The main reason: world oil prices fell by 27 percent in 1988.

In 1989 David Claydon replaced Kirkby as president of BP Canada. That year, he ordered environmental audits of all BP Canadian operations in response to growing concerns about possible environmental damage from oil exploration and refining. The company also announced plans to boost its natural gas exploration and reserves, recognizing that natural gas was a clean-burning fuel considered more environmentally sound by consumers than oil or coal.

Early 1990s: From BP Canada to Talisman Energy

In 1991, mounting debt and losses prompted a management shuffle and a worldwide review of operations by the head office of British Petroleum in London. By mid-1992, BP announced it would sell off its 57 percent stake in BP Canada through a secondary offering of shares. The Financial Times of Canada reported that Canadian employees responded with a burst of applause on hearing the news. To sell its stake in a highly profitable company with prospects that greatly encouraged Canadian and American investors, BP in London clearly had priorities elsewhere.

Upon being sold in June 1992, Talisman's share price stood at C$13.00. At the end of July 1993, the share price had climbed to C$26.50. The company now had Jim Buckee at its helm as president and CEO. The British-born businessman, Oxford-educated and with a Ph.D. in astrophysics, transformed Talisman in the 1990s into a smaller company focused on oil and gas exploration and production. For example, the company sold its Wolf Lake oil sands assets to Amoco Canada Petroleum Company in April 1992. Talisman then bought Encor Inc. the following year, gaining a company that held the oil and gas assets that once belonged to TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. The purchase price comprised C$239 million worth of treasury shares.

No longer subservient to a British multinational parent, Talisman was now free to seek international operations. The company had already gained Encor's foreign activities in Algeria and Indonesia, but Buckee was seeking more substantial overseas holdings to balance Talisman's domestic operations. Bow Valley Energy Inc. was quickly identified as a prime target, and with a willing seller in the form of 53 percent owner British Gas PLC, a deal was soon struck. Talisman completed its acquisition of Bow Valley in August 1994, through a C$1.82 billion transaction consisting of C$627 million in cash, C$899 million in stock, and C$297 million in assumed debt. The purchase made Talisman the third largest gas producer in Canada but more importantly gave the company substantial properties in the British North Sea and in Indonesia, some of which were already in production and some of which were still at the prospecting stage. To reduce debt in the wake of the deal, Talisman sold off some assets, including a group of oil and gas fields in southwestern Saskatchewan inherited from Bow Valley.

During 1996, Talisman substantially increased its North Sea holdings through three transactions. In January, Goal Petroleum plc was acquired for C$275 million. The deal doubled Talisman's oil production from the North Sea to nearly 39,000 barrels of crude oil per day, nearly equal to its production in western Canada. Later in the year, Talisman purchased a 52 percent stake in the North Sea's Ross field, which was expected to come onstream in the late 1990s with 20,000 barrels per day for Talisman. In the third deal, the company paid British Petroleum more than C$100 million for controlling stakes in three North Sea fields, adding another 16,000 barrels a day to Talisman's production.

Late 1990s and Beyond: Controversy over Involvement in Sudan

Continuing its aggressive approach to expansion in 1997, a year in which the company gained a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, Talisman made a hostile C$1.56 billion bid for Wascana Energy Inc. The deal would have doubled Talisman's oil and gas properties in western Canada, but Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. stepped in as a white knight with an offer that topped Talisman's, scuttling the bid. Talisman succeeded, however, with a C$605 million purchase of Pembina Resources Limited from Loram Corporation. Completed in October 1997, the transaction included Pembina's oil and natural gas operations in western Canada and Ontario with daily production of 10,000 barrels of oil and gas liquids and 92 million cubic feet of natural gas.

One year later, Talisman acquired Calgary-based Arakis Energy Corporation for C$277.5 million in stock. Already operating in such politically risky areas as Indonesia and Algeria, Talisman now gained Arakis's 25 percent stake in a major crude oil production and pipeline project in Sudan. Arakis had been attempting to develop the project since the 1990s but had been unable to raise the funds necessary to move the project forward because of the turbulent situation in Sudan, which was in the 42nd year of a civil war pitting the Islamic government of the north against mainly Christian and animist groups in the south. In late 1996, Arakis had brought partners into the project--China National Petroleum Corporation, which took a 40 percent stake; Malaysia's Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn. Bhd. (30 percent); and Sudapet Ltd., owned by the Sudanese government (5 percent). Ominously for Talisman, just three days after the company announced that it would purchase Arakis, the U.S. government launched cruise missiles at a purported nerve gas factory in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Talisman shares soon plunged by nearly a third before recovering, and the deal was completed. In managing the crisis brought on by the missile strike, Buckee emphasized the long-range potential of the project and that the revenues from the oil fields could help to alleviate some of the strife plaguing Sudan.

Talisman completed a noncontroversial acquisition in September 1999, purchasing Calgary-based Rigel Energy Corporation for C$1.12 billion--C$735.8 million in stock, C$57 million in cash, and C$329.4 million in assumed debt. This deal significantly increased Talisman's natural gas production in western Canada and its oil production in the North Sea. It also helped to catapult the company into the top spot among Canadian oil and gas production companies in 2000.

The purchase of Rigel received little notice compared to the reams of negative publicity that Talisman was receiving over its Sudanese operations--publicity that increased in intensity in 1999 when oil began flowing through the completed pipeline and the government of Sudan began receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in oil revenues. Talisman was accused of helping to fund the government in its war against the rebels in the south, a government that was widely accused of committing human rights violations against its own citizens. Among the allegations, the government was accused of condoning slavery and forcing villagers to relocate to make way for the oil project. Human rights and religious groups called for the U.S. and Canadian governments to place sanctions on Talisman and put pressure on investment firms to withdraw their investments in Talisman. The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Talisman in February 2000--banning the refinement of Sudanese oil in the United States--but the Canadian government elected not to impose sanctions, despite a scathing report by a government-appointed special investigator, John Harker. In his report, Harker wrote that "Sudan is a place of extraordinary suffering and continuing human rights violations, and the oil operations in which a Canadian company is involved add more suffering." Talisman continued to maintain that its involvement in Sudan would lead to improvements in the human rights situation and help bring peace, and it also signed the International Code of Ethics for Canadian Business and in early 2001 released its first corporate social responsibility report on its Sudanese operations.

By the end of 2000, Talisman Energy's annual revenues were approaching C$4 billion, and its proven oil and gas reserves had reached 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, up from 485 million barrels in 1995. In May 2001, Talisman acquired Calgary-based Petromet Resources Limited for C$765.9 million in cash and the assumption of C$57 million in debt in a deal that further expanded the company's natural gas operations in Canada. Then in August of that same year, Lundin Oil AB was acquired for C$434.6 million in cash and $70.2 million in assumed debt. Based in Sweden, Lundin had oil and gas interests in the North Sea, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea that were conveyed to Talisman. Crucially, Lundin's operations in Sudan, Russia, and Libya were divested prior to the completion of the purchase.

Pressure on Talisman to exit from Sudan increased following the events of September 11, 2001, particularly because the Sudanese government was accused of harboring and aiding the Al Qaeda terrorist network. The U.S. Congress began serious consideration of a bill that would strip Talisman of its New York Stock Exchange listing, a potentially devastating blow to the company. Then in November 2001 human rights activists in New York filed a class-action lawsuit against Talisman on behalf of southern Sudanese alleging that the company was complicit in human rights abuses in Sudan. Around this same time, Talisman announced that it had made major oil discoveries in Trinidad that could be as large or larger than its Sudanese operations. The Trinidad discovery, combined with the international operations newly acquired via the Lundin purchase, provided the potential pretext for the company's exit from Sudan. It appeared likely that Talisman could divest itself of its Sudanese operations without suffering a drastic reduction in oil output or revenues. It was unclear, however, whether the company would take advantage of this opportunity to rid itself of its Sudanese albatross.

Principal Subsidiaries: Talisman Energy (U.K.) Limited; Talisman North Sea Limited (U.K.); Talisman (Greater Nile) B.V. (Netherlands); Talisman (Corridor) Ltd. (Barbados).

Principal Competitors: Imperial Oil Limited; Canadian Natural Resources Limited; BP Canada Energy Company; PanCanadian Energy Corporation; Alberta Energy Company Ltd.; Nexen Inc.; Husky Energy Inc.; Petro-Canada; Conoco Inc.; Shell Canada Limited; Suncor Energy Inc.

Wayne Brownlee

2008-06-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer- PotashCorp

As the head of PotashCorp's expansion and development efforts in the 1990s, Wayne Brownlee was instrumental in the acquisition of more than US$ 4 billion in assets. The company now has the world's largest integrated production capacity for the three primary nutrients.

Mr. Brownlee was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of PotashCorp in 2006 after serving as Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer since 1999. Prior to that, he held the titles of Senior Vice President, Expansion and Development, Vice President, Expansion and Development and Director, Business Development. He also coordinated the privatization of PotashCorp in 1988, which transformed the company from a provincial Crown corporation to a publicly traded entity.

Before joining PotashCorp, Mr. Brownlee served in the Department of Finance for the Government of Saskatchewan, including three years as Associate Deputy Minister of the Treasury Board Division. He earned a bachelor's degree in Science and a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Saskatchewan.

Mr. Brownlee is a director of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, the world's largest potassium nitrate and iodine producer, with operations in Chile, and in which PotashCorp owns a 32 percent equity interest. He is also a director of Great Western Brewing Company.

Brownlee's Potash Corp. impishly called the 2007 proxy circular that details executive pay "Enriching Food, Enriching Life," but forgot to add "Enriching Executives' Lives." Brownlee's $521,586 salary represented 3.7% of his total payout after options and bonuses last year.
Not to be confused with... The low-to-no-profile Potash Corp. executive shares his name with former Ottawa fire chief Wayne Brownlee, who would have made a paltry $151,252 last year were he still on the job.

Nadir Mohamed

2008-06-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

President and Chief Operating Officer - Rogers Communications Inc.

Mr. Mohamed joined Rogers Wireless in August of 2000 as President and Chief Operating Officer. In July 2001, Mr. Mohamed was promoted to President and CEO of Rogers Wireless Inc., and, under his leadership, Rogers Wireless saw 13 consecutive quarters of double digit network revenue growth, 14 consecutive quarters of double digit operating profit growth, and improved free cash flow from in excess of negative $800 million in 2001 to over $270 million positive in 2004. As well, during his tenure as CEO at Rogers Wireless, the Rogers Wireless stock price increased from $26.10 on July 1, 2001 to $54.56 at the end of 2004. In addition, Mr. Mohamed led Rogers Wireless through the acquisition of Microcell Telecommunications in November 2004, making Rogers Wireless the largest wireless carrier in Canada with more than 7.3 million customers from coast to coast.

In May 2005, Mr. Mohamed was promoted to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer of the Communications Division of Rogers. As President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohamed is responsible for the wireless, cable and telecom divisions, as a group representing approximately $9.1 billion in revenue and over $3.6 billion operating income.

For the nine months ending September 30, 2006, the Communications Group delivered 30% in revenue growth and 35% in operating income growth.

Mr. Mohamed is on the Board of Rogers Communications. Mr. Mohamed is also on the Board of Governors for Ryerson University and TD Bank Financial Group.
51 years old

Nadir H. Mohamed, resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and has been a director of RCI and President and Chief Operating Officer, Communications Group since May 2005. Mr. Mohamed joined Rogers Wireless in August 2000 as President and Chief Operating Officer and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from July 2001 to May 2005. Prior to joining Rogers Wireless, Mr. Mohamed served as President and Chief Operating Officer of BC Tel Mobility from August 1997 to January 1999. Between February 1999 and August 2000, Mr. Mohamed was Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales for Telus Communications Inc. Mr. Mohamed is a member of Ryerson University's Board of Governors. Mr. Mohamed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia and is a Chartered Accountant.

Randy Eresman

2008-06-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

President & Chief Executive Officer of EnCana Corporation

Randy Eresman oversees one of North America's largest natural gas and oil companies. Randy joined one of EnCana’s predecessor companies in 1980. In 2002, he was named EnCana's Chief Operating Officer, and became President & Chief Executive Officer of EnCana on January 1, 2006.

A petroleum engineer, Randy received his technical education from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, Alberta and the University of Wyoming, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering.

Randy is a member of The Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta, the Young President's Organization and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. Randy was born and raised in the Medicine Hat area of southeastern Alberta. He and his wife Shelly Eresman have two children.

Rank:5

Age:49

Tenure:1 YR., 5 mos.

Salary:$1.25 mil

Bonus:$1.6 mil

Born near Medicine Hat, Alta., Randy Eresman has worked in the energy industry since age 14, when he took an after-school job at a gas services company. Seven years later, he was testing gas wells for Alberta Energy Co. After earning a B.Sc. in petroleum engineering from the University of Wyoming, he rejoined AEC in 1984, working his way up to COO in 2002 when the company's merger with PanCanadian formed EnCana. In 2006, Eresman's first year at the helm, EnCana made US$5.7 billion, the biggest profit in Canadian history, but problems at its oilsands operation in Q1 forced the company to cut its production goal slightly for 2007.

Wayne Sales

2008-06-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

former CEO of Canadian Tire Corp

Looking back, it was perhaps too easy to underestimate how Wayne Sales would perform as CEO of Canadian Tire Corp. Chosen in August 2000 from the ranks of the iconic countrywide chain, where he was vice-president of retail, Sales had little profile with analysts and investors. And while he was respected by those who directly worked with him--including outgoing CEO Stephen Bachand--his soft-spoken, quiet demeanor didn't give strong voice to his talents. Combine this with the fact that the fire seemed to be going out on Canadian Tire's revitalization plan at about the same time as Bachand's departure, and it's not difficult to see why the financial community greeted Sales's appointment with muted enthusiasm. "Everyone took a show-me attitude," says Jennings Capital analyst Cynthia-Rose Martel.

But almost five years later, 55-year-old Sales has managed to convince retail watchers that he has the goods. The company's non-voting stock, now trading at about $60, has quadrupled from a low of about $15 during his tenure thanks to steadily improving results. Analysts who cover Canadian Tire say they now have more certainty about its future. "Canadian Tire has been going from strength to strength," says David Brodie, retail analyst at Research Capital. He adds Sales has been instrumental in encouraging better disclosure, which makes the financial community more willing to believe his plans for the company.

Indeed, Sales's recent unveiling of Canadian Tire's growth plan for 2005-09--he says it's "designed to enable us to grow from our strengths, and to develop new ones"--was met with confident enthusiasm from the investment community. Rose-Martel recalls that when the retailer's previous five-year strategy was presented to investors in September 2001, she "doubted, as did most of the Street, that the company could execute its plan." The stock, which by then had inched up to about $22 after his first 12 months, reflected "several years of lacklustre performance." But under Sales, Canadian Tire came through, she says, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rising to $710 million in 2004, from $497 million in 2001. The new plan may be similar to the previous one, says Rose-Martel, but "the difference is we are confident that the company can deliver."

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Sales, a former Kmart executive, joined Canadian Tire in 1991. He became its chief executive following an exhaustive international search that led right back home. At the time, the search committee's decision to go with an internal candidate disappointed those looking for a "superstar" CEO to follow Bachand, who was retiring after seven years at the helm. A fellow American with a strong personality, Bachand had developed a bold, capital-intensive strategy for reviving an ailing Canadian Tire. Its main feature was engineering a major retrofit of retail outlets. Bachand ended up becoming the "face" of Canadian Tire to the financial community; those working under him didn't have the same visibility. The result, says Brodie, was that Sales "was underexposed, and with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps underappreciated."

Canadian Tire's plan under Bachand hit a major snag--a $58-million writedown for the fourth quarter of 1999--that sent shares plummeting. Then Bachand left, cashing in stock options worth $15.5 million and pocketing a retirement bonus worth more than US$7 million. However, Sales, as CEO, stuck to Bachand's basic strategy--he even embellished on its core concept of making stores better through renovation and a stronger assortment. Bachand, now living in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., credits Sales for making the plan work. "Once you've got a good strategy out there and have figured out how to take the competition on, it then turns to another phase, which is execution," says Bachand. "Wayne was always very strong in executing strategy."

Bachand says Sales is "very much a team player" in his management style, adding "his ego never got in his way." To that end, Brodie says that at the regular Investor Day seminars the company puts on, the vice-presidents and executives responsible for specific divisions all get a chance to make presentations and develop a profile with analysts and investors. "The face of Canadian Tire now has a lot more facets," he says. Should its next CEO come from the ranks, there's less chance he or she, like Sales, will be similarly underestimated. Z.O.

In May of 2006, Mr. Sales was replaced by current President and CEO Tom Gauld

Aldo Bensadoun

2008-06-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

President, Chief Executive Officer and Founder -The Aldo Group Inc

As anyone who has ever attended McGill knows firsthand, the University's not-so-secret weapon is the city it is located in and the unique and abundant charms Montreal has to offer. Case in point: Aldo Bensadoun.

In 1959, Bensadoun, the Moroccan-born son of a French shoe merchant and the grandson of a cobbler, began his studies at Cornell University in the U.S. Following a weekend trip to Montreal, Bensadoun quickly fell under the city's spell and decided to transfer to McGill. Following graduation, Bensadoun returned to France to complete his military service and to briefly teach economics. He soon returned to Montreal, this time for good.

Aldo Shoes began in 1972 as a footwear concession within Le Château, operating in four stores. By 1980, Aldo Shoes was independent and began rapidly expanding, establishing its credo - "quality and cutting-edge trends at affordable prices, season after season."

Today, Aldo Group operates over 600 retail stores across Canada, the U.S. and Britain. In Canada, the company oversees the operation of several different retail banners (Transit, Globo and Pegabo are among the members of the Aldo family). Aldo has also set up shop in Asia and the Middle east, and Australia will welcome its first Aldo store next year.

Bensadoun's long-term goal is for the Aldo Group to become "the best footwear retailer in the world." Experts aren't betting against him. In 2001, the Retail Council of Canada presented Bensadoun with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

David Werklund

2008-06-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

Chairman and CEO - CCS

He is the founder of CCS and co-founder of Concord Well Servicing. He built CCS from a small oilfield service company based in northern Alberta. Mr. Werklund's current role at CCS as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer is to pursue long-term business opportunities. Mr. Werklund won the title of 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Mr. David P. Werklund is a successful and respected Calgary businessman. Dave Werklund has years of invaluable experience in the business world. Dave's amazing success won him the Industry Legend Award from the Energy TV awards in 2007 and the Ernst & Young's Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2005. He has also been featured in many publications such as Calgary Inc, the Globe & Mail, the Financial Post, the Calgary Herald and most recently Alberta Venture where he was listed as one of Alberta's 50 most influential people.

Despite his great success as an entrepreneur, Dave is most well known for his commitment to great leadership principles, life-long learning, strong values and unbendable ethics. He builds his organizations with a culture where everyone is empowered and where integrity, respect and teamwork are at the core of every action. Driven to create organizations that reflect his own principles, Dave Werklund has become a trusted industry partner and one of Canada's most compelling leaders.

Leslie Dan

2008-06-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Chairman- Novopharm,
(born November 26, 1929) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.

Born in Budapest, Dan came to Canada in 1947. As a Jewish man, he survived World War II by using false identity papers. He graduated from the University of Toronto School of Pharmacy in 1954 obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree. He completed his Master of Business Administration degree in 1959. In 1960, he founded a company which distributed over-the-counter drugs.

In 1965, he founded Novopharm. In 2000 when he sold the company to Israel's Teva Pharmaceuticals for an estimated $430 million, it had sales of $750 million and employed 3,000 people. He then started a new company, Viventia (formerly Novopharm Biotech), which specializes in the discovery and development of products for the treatment of cancer. He is currently the chairman.

Leslie Dan is Chairman of Novopharm Limited, one of Canada's leading pharmaceutical companies and Chairman of Viventia Biotech Inc. Prior to April 5, 2000, Mr. Dan was Chairman and CEO of Novopharm Limited.

Stephen Jarislowsky

2008-06-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

Stephen A. Jarislowsky (born September 1925) is a Canadian billionaire investor and philanthropist.

Born Berlin, Germany, the step-son of a steel mill owner in Germany who was ousted by the Nazis for harbouring Jews, Jarislowsky emigrated to the United States in 1941 after attending public and high school in the Netherlands and France. In Asheville, North Carolina, he attended preparatory school, and then studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University. With the US entry into World War II, he served in the US Army. He finished basic training and studied Japanese at the University of Chicago before serving in counter-intelligence in Japan after the war.

He returned to the University of Chicago in 1946 and graduated with an MA in Asian Studies and Phi Beta Kappa Honours. This was followed by a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1949. For the next three years, he worked as an engineer for Alcan Aluminum in Montreal. He briefly returned to the United States, but by June 1955 he returned to Montreal where he started Jarislowsky, Fraser & Company Limited.

Called by publisher Jean Paré the Warren Buffett of Canada[1] , he is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and former President of Jarislowsky, Fraser, which he built into one of the largest and most successful investment management firms in Canada, by 2005 managing assets of over C$54 billion [2]. His personal wealth has been estimated at $1.2 billion, making him the 25th richest person in Canada.[3]

He is a Director of the influential C.D. Howe Institute and has also been active in numerous other corporations besides his own including SNC-Lavalin, Canfor, Southam, Swiss Bank Corp., Velan Valve Inc., Abitibi and Goodfellow Lumber Inc. He has participated in educational, cultural and charitable activities, and with his wife Gail, to date has endowed eleven eponymous university chairs in Canada including those in Environment and Health (McMaster, established 2003); Families and Work (Guelph University, 2003); Religion and Conflict (Assumption University, Windsor); Public Sector Management (University of Ottawa, 2003); International Business Administration (Laval, 2000); Urology (McGill); Finance (University of Alberta, School of Business); Biotechnology (Saskatchewan, 2004); Technology and International Competition (École Polytechnique de Montréal); History (Concordia); and Public Sector Management (Ottawa, 2005). “All these chairs are concerned with excellence,” he is quoted as saying, "something Canadians have never really espoused". [4]

Cultural contributions include The Stephen A Jarislowsky Dance Studio in Vancouver, and the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art, established in 2001 at Concordia University in Montreal.

In 2002 he co-founded (with Claude Lamoureux) the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance to further this cause, focusing on such contemporaries as Frank Stronach and Conrad Black for their corporate excesses.

Recently, Jarislowsky's firm which owns 18% of the shares of Canfor, was embroiled in a bitter proxy fight with tycoon Jim Pattison, who owns 25%. Pattison won and ousted CEO Jim Shepherd over Canfor's poor performance and declining share price, replacing him for the interim with Jim Shepard.[5]

Jarislowsky is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Grand Officer (promoted from Knight) of the National Order of Quebec. He has Honorary Doctorates of Law from a growing list of Canadian universities including Queen's University, University of Alberta, McMaster University, Université Laval, Concordia University, the University of Windsor,the Université de Montréal [6]and the University of Ottawa.

He is married and has four children.

Tom Katinas

2008-06-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

President and Chief Executive Officer- Syncrude

Tom Katinas joined Syncrude as its President and Chief Executive Officer in 2007.

Mr. Katinas brings with him extensive experience from around the world working at various ExxonMobil facilities. He has a long history as a champion of change within the ExxonMobil refining circuit, with a strong emphasis on aligning and engaging employees to improve value for the company’s shareholders. His most recent assignment was the ExxonMobil Fawley Refinery where he spent the last four years. It’s the largest refinery in the United Kingdom and one of the most complex in Europe.

Mr. Katinas’ career in the petroleum and petrochemical company started in 1976 when he joined Mobil as a Process Engineer. He took on a wide variety of assignments in operational and technical roles at several of Mobil’s U.S. refineries. In 1992, Mr. Katinas was assigned to Saudi Arabia as General Manager of SAMREF Refinery, a joint venture between Mobil and Saudi Aramco. He took on a short-term assignment in 1997 to help set the future direction of the company’s refining system.In 1999, Mr. Katinas became manager of Mobil’s Jurong Refinery in Singapore. Upon the merger of Exxon and Mobil, he was assigned to merge the operations of the combined company’s two refineries in Singapore. The merged refinery is ExxonMobil’s largest capacity plant.

Mr. Katinas holds a Master of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He lives in Fort McMurray with his wife Lily and their young daughter.

Purchase: www.tomkatinas.com today.

Robert Deluce

2008-06-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Chief Executive Officer - Porter Aviation Holdings Inc.

Robert Deluce is one of Canada’s most knowledgeable and respected airline owners and operators. He brings to the industry over 50 years of Deluce family experience in successfully owning, financing, restructuring, operating and managing a number of regional airlines in Canada.

His involvement in the aviation industry includes White River Air Services, norOntair, Austin Airways, Air Creebec, Air Ontario, Air Manitoba, Air Alliance and Canada 3000 Airlines.

He has been President of Deluce Capital Corp. since 1987, and is currently President and CEO of both Porter Aviation Holdings Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Porter Airlines Inc.

Purchase: www.robertdeluce.com today

Eric Sprott

2008-06-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer - Sprott Asset Management

Eric Sprott has accumulated 35 years of experience in the investment industry. After earning his designation as a chartered accountant, Eric entered the investment industry as a research analyst at Merrill Lynch. In 1981, he founded Sprott Securities, which today is one of Canada's largest independently owned securities firms with offices in Toronto, Calgary and Montreal. After establishing Sprott Asset Management Inc. in December 2001 as a separate entity, Eric divested his entire ownership of Sprott Securities to its employees.

Eric's investment abilities are well represented in his track record in managing the Sprott Hedge Fund L.P., Sprott Hedge Fund L.P. II, Sprott Offshore Fund, Sprott Canadian Equity Fund, Sprott Energy Fund and Sprott Managed Accounts. In December 2004, the Sprott Hedge Fund L.P. was the winner of the Opportunistic Strategy Hedge Fund Award at the Canadian Investment Awards. In addition, the Sprott Offshore Fund, Ltd., won the 2006 MarHedge Annual Performance Award under the Canada-Based Manager category. Furthermore, in October 2006, Eric was the recipient of the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Financial Services) and the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario. In December 2007, Eric was named Fund Manager of the Year by Investment Executive, a widely circulated publication for Canadian financial advisors.

Eric's impressive predictions on the state of the North American financial markets have been captured throughout the last several years in an investment strategy article that he authors titled "Markets At A Glance” (available at www.sprott.com).

Rupert Duchesne

2008-06-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

President & Chief Executive Officer, Aeroplan

Rupert's role is to provide his team with the vision for the company's growth; to hire talented, innovative and creative executives; to challenge everyone to do their best; and, to hold the team accountable to deliver on every stake holder's expectations as we evolve and expand Canada's premier loyalty company.

Rupert joined Air Canada in 1996 as Vice President, Marketing, and in 1999 was promoted to Senior Vice President, International. During that year, he served on the Executive team which defeated the Onex take-over bid, and was appointed Chief Integration Executive, overseeing the integration of Canadian Airlines with Air Canada. He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Aeroplan in August 2000.

Rupert holds an MBA from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor Honors degree in Pharmacology from the University of Leeds, both in England.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Art Gallery of Ontario where he was recently elected Vice President of the Board, is a member of the Executive Committee, and chairs the Public Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the Boards of the NeuroScience Canada Partnership and NeuroScience Canada Foundation.

Thanks!

2007-08-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your submission!

Someone will get back to you as soon as possible. If you'd like to read some marketing rants and learn more about Andrew Kinnear, visit http://blog.andrewkinnear.com

Best Regards,

-Andrew