Chapter Board of Directors

Martine Turcotte

Ad. E., B.C.L., LL.B., MBA

As Vice Chair, Québec for BCE Inc. and Bell, Martine Turcotte was responsible until her retirement in January 2020 for driving the company’s business, government and community investment initiatives across Québec.
 
Appointed to this role in July 2011, Mme. Turcotte was an accomplished leader with more than 30 years of strategic, legal and regulatory career achievements at Bell.  
 
In 1999, Mme. Turcotte was the first woman to be named Chief Legal Officer of Bell and the youngest to join the ranks of the executive team.
 
Ms. Turcotte is a member of the board of directors of Empire / Sobeys (since 2012) and also chairs their Corporate Governance Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee. She is also a board member of CIBC (since 2014) and sits on both the Human Resources and the Corporate Governance Committees. She is also a member of the board of ICD (Québec) and sits on the IT Committee and the  Bicentennial Campaign Board as well as on the Faculty Advisory Board of the Faculty of Medecine of McGill University. She was appointed in June 2020 Chairperson of the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission for a 4 year term.
 
Ms. Turcotte graduated from McGill University with Bachelors in Civil Law and Common Law and holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the London Business School.
 
Her career has earned significant recognition including the first Canadian General Counsel Lifetime Achievement Award, the title Advocatus Emeritus from the Québec Bar Association for professional excellence, and induction into the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) Hall of Fame after being named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women multiple times. She was awarded both the Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals in recognition of her contributions to Canada.

Claude Delage

ICD.D

Claude Delâge is Co-Manager/Co-Head of the Transatlantic Fund, a unique investment fund between Canada and France, co-managed by Desjardins Capital and its European partner, Siparex, which is mainly active in France. She provides support for French and Belgian businesses expanding to North America, primarily through Quebec, and fosters the growth of Quebec businesses in European markets, mainly via France and Belgium.

She has just returned to Quebec, after having moved to France for more than 3 years to start the Transatlantic Fund.

She sits on the boards of French businesses supported by the fund in France. Before leaving Quebec in late 2018, she sat on the boards of directors of Quebec businesses. She was a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Centraide of Greater Montreal.

Having recently returned, she has just been appointed to the Board of Directors and as Governor of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), for the Quebec chapter.

Abe Adham

Arun Bajaj

B.C.L, LL.B.

Arun Bajaj was appointed on the Board of Directors for Cogeco Inc. in August 2019. He joined Gildan Activewear Inc. in October 2019 as Chief Human Resources Officer and was recently appointed to the role of Executive Vice-President, Chief Human Resources Officer & Legal Affairs in March 2021. In this role he leads the global human resources function and oversees legal affairs. Mr. Bajaj has over 16 years of extensive experience in those two functions. Prior to joining Gildan, he held the position of Senior Vice-President, Chief Human Resources Officer at Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. He also held several positions in Canada, the US, and Asia with the Nissan Motor Corporation. During his career at Nissan, Mr. Bajaj worked in human resources leadership roles of increasing responsibility with an emphasis on global talent management. Prior to working in human resources at Nissan, he held the role of General Counsel, Nissan Canada, following eight years in legal roles at the Ford Motor Company, based in Oakville, Ontario.

Martin Bernier

FCPA

Martin Bernier is a partner in the Assurance group at PwC Canada’s Montreal office. He also leads the Montreal office’s corporate directors and alumni programs.

Bernier has more than 28 years of experience in accounting, internal controls, financial reporting, mergers and acquisitions, as well as finance and governance for several large companies headquartered in Montreal. Bernier also lead the Assurance group in Quebec for a five-year term.

Bernier is actively involved in the community, in particular as part of the global initiative He for She and Jeunes Professionnelles de PwC, where he uses his mentoring skills to further the careers of women in business. He also runs training activities geared towards corporate directors. Over the past few years, he has organized over 15 conference panels made up of experienced directors. He sits on the board of the St. Lawrence Economic Development Council (SODES). He was a member of 24h Tremblant's executive committee for three years and was treasurer for five years at Le Boulot vers..., a Montréal-based non-profit organization focusing on social and professional reinsertion in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district.

Martin graduated in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in business administration from HEC Montréal. In 1993, he received his chartered accountant designation. In 2012, he was presented with the CA Emeritus award by the Montérégie CAs. In 2018, he received the prestigious title of Fellow for his contributions to the accounting profession.
 
 

James C. Cherry

FCPA

James Cherry was born and raised in Montreal and is a proud graduate of McGill University. He is a chartered professional accountant with over 40 years of experience in general management, and more specifically, in project and financial management in the international aerospace, defence and rail sectors.

Over the years, he has held various senior management positions at companies such as Bombardier Inc., Oerlikon Aerospace Inc., CAE Inc. and ALSTOM Canada. He was the President and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) from June 2001 to December 31, 2016.

Cherry now works as a Strategic Aviation Consultant for Arup and is a director at the following companies: Logistec Corporation, Cogeco Inc., Cogeco Communications Inc., PSP AviAlliance GmbH, the Infrastructure Bank of Canada and the McGill University Health Centre.
 

Isabelle Courville

F.ICD

​Isabelle Courville, an engineer and a lawyer by training, is Chair of the Board of Directors of Canadian Pacific Railway.

Ms. Courville was active for 30 years in the Canadian telecommunications and energy sectors. She served as President of Bell Canada’s Enterprise Group and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Nordiq Group. Following that, Ms. Courville was President of Hydro‐Québec Distribution and was also President of Hydro-Québec TransÉnergie.

She is currently a board member of SNC-Lavalin, Canadian Pacific Railway and Veolia Environment.

In 2007, Isabelle Courville received the McGill Management Achievement Award for her contribution to the business world and community involvement. In 2012, she was selected amongst Fortune Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. In 2010, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec awarded her the Prix Hommage for her exceptional contribution to the engineering profession. In 2017, she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montreal.

André Dugal

FCPA, ICD.D

André, a KPMG member, has more than 30 years of experience and serves as a specialist on auditing, accounting and board governance matters. Throughout his career, he has led several IPO audits for large companies in the United States, Canada and France, as well as bond audits throughout North America. André also works with a wide range of small, medium and large businesses (private and public) in many industries including insurance and energy.
 
André is responsible for all accounting advisory services for Quebec and is a member of the Professional Practice - Audit. He shared responsibility for transitioning over to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and assisted with all related advisory services, as well as certification services for internal control over financial reporting.
 
Since 2006, André has worked with the McGill Executive Institute as an instructor for the Directors Education Program at the Institute of Corporate Directors. He has been a speaker and guest panellist at several events related to audit committee governance, accounting and auditing.
 
He was a member of the Ordre des CPA du Québec board of directors from 2012 to 2019, vice-chairman of the board from 2014 to 2016 and chairman of the board from 2016 to 2018. He was also chairman of the monitoring committee and a member of both the human resources and professional inspection committees. He is currently the treasurer and a member of the Fondation Autiste et majeur board of directors founded by Mathis, Sophie and Charles. He was a member of the F.D.M. Faites de la Musique and the Institut d’assurance du Québec board of directors. André is a recipient of the Quebec Interprofessional Council’s Merit Award.

Nathalie Francisci

CHRP, ICD.D

Nathalie joined the Gallagher team in March 2021 and has been the Regional Executive President since July 2021. In her new role, she will support the growth and expand the presence of Gallagher and the region's business practices by helping to foster a culture of engagement and professional growth.

She has a history of involvement with executives and board members of public and private companies as well as crown corporations for all governance, leadership development, and executive recruiting matters.

Recognized as a leading player in Quebec in the executive recruiting industry, she has received a number of awards and distinctions underscoring her entrepreneurship and, in 2001 and 2007, she received the Prix Jeune Entrepreneure du Québec et Entrepreneure Moyenne Entreprise and the Arista award in 2009. She was named “Indispensable Woman in Human Resources” by Premières en Affaires magazine in 2012. She is also a sought-after columnist and speaker who has been regularly read and heard in Quebec’s business forums, including the newspaper Les Affaires for over 15 years.

Governance, leadership and talent development, and diversity are central to her areas of interest and expertise. From 2006 to 2016, she was involved with Quebec’s Institute of Corporate Directors, where she served as Chair and then as Co-Chair of the Board. Today, she serves as Governor. She is a faculty member at McGill University for the Directors Education Program, where she teaches CEO Evaluation and Succession Planning. She also sits on the boards of Innergex (TSE: INE), Sphère Média Inc., and a number of advisory committees.

Nathalie Francisci is a marketing graduate from the Université de Paris 11 and has a Masters in Human Resources from the Institut de Gestion Sociale in Paris. She holds both the CHRP and ICD.D accreditations.

Pierre Gabriel Côté

ING., ICD.D

Pierre Gabriel Côté has acquired extensive experience as CEO of organizations in several key sectors of the economy: natural resources (pulp & paper, mining and energy), agri-food (consumer products), aeronautics and finance. He has led private companies listed on the stock exchange as well as the Investment Québec, a government corporation.  He is back from London since July 2021 where he held the position of Agent General of Quebec. Mr. Côté holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Université Laval (1982), a Corporate Director certification (2009) and has acted as a director for several corporations and non-profit organizations.

• President and Chief Executive Officer of Fibrek (SFK Pâte), President of Bombardier Aerospace's Business Aircraft Division and President and Chief Executive Officer of Sucre Lantic.
• Mr. Côté held various leadership positions in the forest industry allowing him to increase the scope of his operations management responsibilities and to build his leadership.  The forest industry is highly dependent on rail transportation in North America.  Living and raising his family in two vast resource-regions of Quebec has given Mr. Côté knowledge and operating experience in region.
• Result-oriented seasoned change manager, he has been responsible for numerous corporate and operational transformations such as the merger between Roger Sugar and Lantic Sugar in an income trust with ONEX, the controlling shareholder, the implementation of the Toyota system at Bombardier Business Aircraft and a Lean / customer experience transformation at Investment Québec.  Mr. Côté led many transformational strategic plans across different industries.
• Crisis manager, he has led companies having faced unique situations: an hostile takeover offer at Fibrek in 2012 and a natural disaster (Saguenay flood) at Stone Consolidated in 1996.
• An industrial passionate about innovation and technology, M. Côté led the Manufacturier 4.0 initiative launched in 2016 by Investment Québec.  After frequently traveling through all regions of Quebec, the initiative generated $8.5 billion in manufacturing automation/digitization projects over a four-year period.
• Agent General of Québec in London, M. Côté was able to implement his manufacturing and financial experience to increase Québec's exports to the territories for which they were responsible by 10%: the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries.  In particular, he put into concrete actions concepts of diplomacy of influence enabling the conclusion of promising projects for the Government of Québec.
• In 2019, as part of its 100th anniversary, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec highlighted Pierre Gabriel Côté's contribution to the profession, alongside eleven other engineers.

In November 2022, he was nominated for the Summa career award from Laval University, science and engineering faculty.

Jean Houde

F.ICD

Jean Houde has served as Chairman of the Board of National Bank of Canada since April 2014. He has also served as Vice-Chair and as member of the board of directors of Université Laval since February 2021, as member of the board of directors of the Institut du Québec since May 2020 and as member of the board of trustees and the Audit Committee of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts since September 2019. He served as Chairman of the Board of Energir Inc. from December 2011 to November 2020 and as member of the Human Resources and Corporate Governance Committee, which he chaired from 2012 to December 2017. From 2010 to 2014, he served as Chair of the board of directors of Finance Montréal, Québec’s financial cluster, and, from 2012 to 2014, as Vice-Chair of the board of directors of JOA Groupe Holding and member of the Audit and Human Resources Committees. In 2010 and until January 2011, he was a business development advisor with the accounting firm Samson Bélair/Deloitte & Touche LLP. He was Deputy Minister of Finance of Quebec from 2005 to 2009. Prior to that, he served as Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer of Investissement Québec. From 1990 to 2003, Jean Houde held various positions at the Bank, including Senior Vice-President, Human Resources, Senior Vice-President, Retail Banking, and Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, a position he held when he left. He has a law degree and an MBA from Université Laval. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Jean Houde is a member of the Québec Bar, which awarded him the title of Advocatus Emeritus.

Anne-Marie Hubert

C.M., FCPA, LL.D

Anne-Marie is Eastern Canada’s Managing Partner and she has a proven track record of helping people and organizations grow.

She assists her clients in the effective review of their business models and in building a stronger foundation that capitalizes on people and disruptive innovations for long-term growth and competitive advantage, while also managing the risks of failing to deliver results.

Having served on EY's Global Advisory Board and EY Canada's Executive Committee, Anne-Marie Hubert is known for challenging the status quo to enable teams to better create value for all stakeholders and positively impact our economy and communities.

Anne-Marie was named Knight of the Ordre national du Québec in May 2021.
 

Susan Kudzman

A specialist in risk management and also an actuary, Susan Kudzman has recently retired as Executive Vice-President, Chief Risk Officer and Corporate Affairs at Laurentian Bank of Canada. In this role she had oversight of consumer and commercial credit, legal affairs, compliance, risk management and HR.

She has previously held the position of Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. In addition to risk management, she was responsible for depositor services, performance calculation and analysis and strategic planning.

Ms. Kudzman is Chair of the Board of Directors of Yellow Pages Limited, a leading digital company in Canada. She sits on the Board, the HR committee and the audit and risk committee of Medavie, an insurer and health services company. She is also a member of the Board of Directors, the Human Resources Committee and the Risk Committee of Transat A.T. Inc, a tour operator and airline based in Canada. She is a Board member at Financeit, a Canadian fintech and Nomad Royalty cie as well as PSP, a large Canadian pension fund.

Susan is involved in several community and philanthropic activities, she is a member of the Board of Directors of IAS (Institut des administrateurs de sociétés) and the Board of Directors of the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC).

Ms. Kudzman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science and the titles of Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA), Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and Certified Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA).
 

John LeBoutillier

C.M.

Estelle Metayer

Advises CEOs and their boards of directors on how to avoid strategic blind spots in their strategic and competitive initiatives.

Entrepreneur, trend hunter, speaker (Davos in 2012 on identifying weak signals). Facilitator of strategic workshops on future trends and disruptive industries. Associate Professor, McGill University (Canada). Lecturer at IMD (Switzerland), and in joint programs with MIT (USA), IMB (India) and INSEAD (France), and the Institute of Corporate Directors (Canada). Formerly with McKinsey & Company (Canada), CAE (Canada), ING Bank (Netherlands, Poland), GMP-Bouygues (France, UK).

Independent director, member of the Audit Committee, BRP Inc. (TSX:$DOO-Canada, NASDAQ: $DOOO). Independent director, member of the Strategy Committee, member of the Human Resources Committee and Chair of the Investment Committee, Audemars Piguet (Switzerland). Member of the Board of Directors, the Sustainable Development Committee and the Governance Committee, Agropur Cooperative. Member of the Board of Directors, the Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee, Ivanhoé Cambridge. Member of the Board of Directors and of the Audit Committee, Martur (family automotive business, Turkey), representing the IFC (World Bank). Member of the Advisory Board, Ricardo Media (Montreal, Canada). Member of the Advisory Board, Groupe Sélection (developer and operator of retirement homes, Canada). Member of the Advisory Board, LifeScore (Music and Artificial Intelligence, UK). Member of the Board of Directors, ICD-Quebec. Formerly, independent director, Ubisoft Entertainment SA (Euronext: $UBI-France), Zag Bank (Calgary, Canada), and Blockstream (blockchain technologies, Silicon Valley).

Drs and MBA, Nijenrode University, The Netherlands. Speaks French, English, German, Italian, Dutch, and is learning Arabic and Turkish. Airplane pilot (commercial license) and certified flight instructor.

When not flying, Estelle can usually be found on Twitter www.twitter.com/competia.

Suzanne Rancourt

CPA, ICD.D

Suzanne Rancourt is a corporate director with more than 30 years of experience in consulting and management in finance and information technology. From 2006 to 2016, she was Vice-President, Internal Audit and Enterprise Risks. Since her arrival at CGI in 1985, Ms. Rancourt held increasingly senior positions in consulting, strategy and information technology, business development, project management and corporate functions in a multinational environment. Prior to her arrival at CGI, Ms. Rancourt began her career as an auditor and worked in operations, finance and accounting in distribution, retail and financial industries.
 
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Université du Québec à Montréal and an ICD.D designation from the Institue of Corporate Directors. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA). Ms. Rancourt sits also on the board of directors of WSP and iA Financial group.

Franziska Ruf

Franziska Ruf is a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg. Global clients trust Franziska’s advice on their Canadian and international public and private acquisitions, divestitures, securities issuances, investments and joint ventures, as well as corporate governance matters. She frequently advises international clients on their investments in Canada. Public and private sector clients of all sizes, across diverse industries, turn to Franziska for her responsive manner and dedication.

Known for her expertise in corporate governance, Franziska regularly advises boards of directors, special committees, senior management and shareholders on a wide range of transactions, public disclosure issues and corporate governance matters.

Among the many prestigious awards, Franziska is recognized by Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Corporate/M&A and by Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Corporate/Commercial: Québec (Band 1).

Franziska is a member of the firm’s Management Committee as well as a member of the Montréal Talent Management & Evaluation Committee. She is the former Chair of the International M&A Subcommittee of the American Bar Association as well as a member of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee of the International Bar Association. She is also a director and a member of the Corporate Governance and Human Resources Committee of Saputo Inc. and a director and the corporate secretary of La Fondation Le Chaînon.
 

Geneviève Tanguay

Geneviève Tanguay has more than 20 years of experience in Investment and has participated in the completion of numerous transactions in several innovative sectors, particularly in Life Sciences. She was Director of Investments at the Fonds de Solidarité from 2008 to 2017, the largest Quebec network for development and venture capital investment in Quebec. In August 2018, Geneviève was appointed head of corporate development at Biron Groupe Santé and in October 2020, Geneviève became the first woman to hold the position of CEO of Anges Québec.

Her various functions have enabled him to sit on several boards of directors of private companies and to invest in the strategy and development of these companies. Very involved in her community, Geneviève has sat on several boards of directors of non-profit organizations, including that of the prestigious Institute of Directors of Companies I.A.S. Finally, she has been a Member of the Board of Directors of VIA Rail since August 2017 and, among others, a Member of the Audit Committee and of the Stakeholder Relations Committee.

Geneviève holds a bachelor's degree in finance from HEC Montréal.