Cogeco's strategic direction and ongoing operations are governed by an experienced Board of Directors, mostly made up of independent members who contribute to Cogeco's continued development.
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Louis AudetEng., MBA, C.M., O.Q.Chairman of the Board
Louis AudetEng., MBA, C.M., O.Q.ReduceMr. Audet has been Board Chair of Cogeco and Cogeco Communications Inc. since September 1, 2021, after holding the position of Executive Chair from September 1, 2018 up to August 31, 2021.
Mr. Audet joined Cogeco in 1981 and held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogeco Communications Inc. from 1993 to August 31, 2018. Under his leadership, Cogeco has become a leading Canadian communications company, operating internationally.
Mr. Audet is Chair of the Old Brewery Mission since 2022, a major organization which provides emergency, housing and other services for homeless people in the Montreal area. He is also a member of the Boards of Directors of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP). He previously sat on the Boards of Directors of Cablelabs, Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, Clarica, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Corporation de l'École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Association canadienne de la radio et de la télévision de langue française. He served as Governor of the Council on Canadian Unity. He chaired the Fondation et Alumni de l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. He also chaired the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf Development Fund for 10 years.
Over the years, Mr. Audet has often been recognized by both the business and philanthropic communities for his numerous achievements. Amongst his contributions, he acted as co-Chair of the 2017 campaign for Centraide of Greater Montréal and as Chair of the 2014-2020 fundraising campaign for the Old Brewery Mission Foundation.
Mr. Audet was inducted in the Canadian Business hall of fame in 2024. He was named Member of the Order of Canada in 2013 and Officier de l’Ordre National du Québec in 2022. In 2018, he was chosen by the United Nations Association in Canada as its annual Global Citizens Laureate. That same year, he received two Honorary Doctorates from Université de Montréal and Université du Québec in Trois-Rivières. He has also been inducted into the Club des entrepreneurs du Conseil du patronat du Québec, and was awarded the Order of Merit from the Université de Montréal Alumni Association, as well as the Merit Award from École Polytechnique Alumni Association.
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Mary-Ann BellEng., M.S.c, ASCDirector
Mary-Ann BellEng., M.S.c, ASCReduceMs. Bell is a corporate director. She has pursued her career in telecommunications for more than 30 years at Bell Canada, from 1982 to 2006, and at Bell Aliant Regional Communications ("Bell Aliant"), from 2006 to 2014, including as Senior Vice President, Québec and Ontario from 2009 to 2014. As part of the executive team, she has led various operational functions including engineering, field services and customer services, and was in charge of a group of affiliates. She also served on various private boards as a Bell Canada or Bell Aliant representative.
She sits on the Board of Cogeco Communications Inc. (a reporting issuer, subsidiary of Cogeco Inc.), and is a member of the Human Resources Committee. She also sits on the Board of AtkinsRéalis (an engineering and project management company) which is a reporting issuer and where she is a member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Human Resources committee. She was until 2024 on the Board of mdf commerce.com inc. (a SaaS solutions company) which was a reporting issuer and where she was the Chair of the Audit Committee. She was until 2019 a director of Valener Inc. (a corporation which serves as the investment vehicle in Énergir Inc., formerly known as Gaz Métro), which is a reporting issuer, where she was a member of the Audit Committee. She was also a director and Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Pension Fund Committee of Énergir Inc., a large private corporation and a key energy-sector player in Québec and Vermont.
Ms. Bell is a director of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP), a centre for excellence in governance created by HEC Montréal and Concordia University - The John Molson School of Business, the Stephen Jarislowsky Foundation and the Autorité des marchés financiers. She also serves on the Board of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Ms. Bell has served until 2023 as a director of NAV Canada (a non-profit corporation which owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation service), where she was Chair of the Safety Committee and served as a member of the Human Resources and Royalties Customer Services Committees. Ms. Bell was also a director of Cominar Real Estate Income Trust from 2012 to 2018, where she was Chair of the Compensation Committee and member of the Audit and Investment Committees.
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Robin BienenstockM.A., B.A., ICD.DDirector
Robin BienenstockM.A., B.A., ICD.DReduceMs. Bienenstock is a corporate director and the Canadian representative of Resource Capital Funds, a mining-focussed alternative investment firm. From 2017 to 2021, she was the founder and investment partner of RBMP Capital LLP (an investment advisory firm), founded in London, United Kingdom. She was a partner at Marlin Sams Fund LP from 2014 until 2016, and a senior research analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC, Research Division from 2007 until 2014. Prior to that Ms Bienenstock also worked at McKinsey & Company as an Associate Principal.
Ms. Bienenstock currently serves as an external member of Resource Capital Funds’ (“RCF”) Fund VII Investment Committee. She has served on the board and was Chair of the Safety and Corporate Social Responsibility and member of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees of Torex Gold Resources (an intermediate gold producer and public issuer), from 2020 to 2021 and on the Board and Chair of Compensation and member of the Governance Committees of Pretivm Resources (a gold producer and public issuer), from 2018 to 2021.
Ms. Bienenstock served on the Board of Cogeco Communications Inc. (a reporting issuer, subsidiary of Cogeco Inc.) from 2020 to 2023, and served as member of the Audit Committee from 2021 to 2023, member of the Corporate Governance Committee in 2022 and member of the Strategic Opportunities Committee in 2023. Ms. Bienenstock has also served as a non-executive director, and a member of the Audit Committee of Sunrise Communications Group AG, a Swiss telecommunications provider, from 2016 to 2020. She has previously served as a member of the Supervisory Board, and a member of the Audit Committee, of Tele Columbus AG, a German cable provider, and as a director of Oi S.A., the largest telecommunications company in Brazil and South America. During her directorship at Oi S.A., Ms. Bienenstock chaired the committee responsible for internal audit, risks and contingencies.
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James C. CherryB.Com, FCPALead Director
James C. CherryB.Com, FCPAReduceMr. Cherry is a corporate director. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) from 2001 to 2016. He has over 40 years of experience in general management and more specifically in project and financial management in the international aerospace, defense and rail sectors. Over this period he has worked in senior executive positions with Bombardier Inc., Oerlikon Aerospace Inc., CAE Inc. and ALSTOM Canada.
He is the lead director of Cogeco Communications Inc. (a reporting issuer, subsidiary of Cogeco Inc.) and a member of the Human Resources Committee. Mr. Cherry also serves as a director of Nieuport Aviation, the operator of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, as a director of Aerostar Airport Holdings, the operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport of San Juan, Puerto Rico and as a member of the Advisory Board of World Airport Partners, a subsidiary of PSP Investments.
He served on the Board of Logistec Inc. (a reporting issuer with activities in marine and environmental services) for 10 years, until May 2021, where he was Chair of the Board from 2019 to 2021 and previously chaired the Audit Committee. He was also a director and chair of the Human Resources and Governance Committee of Voti Detection Inc. (a reporting issuer with activities in security screening technology) from 2017 to 2022. Mr. Cherry is a director of the McGill University Health Centre and of IAS Quebec. He co-Chaired the 2017 campaign for Centraide of Greater Montreal.
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Samih ElhageMASc, BSSc, BAScDirector
Samih ElhageMASc, BSSc, BAScReduceMr. Elhage currently serves as a corporate director. He has more than 30 years of senior experience in the telecommunications industry. After several years within Bell Canada, he joined Nortel in 1998 for over 10 years where he held various leadership roles, including Vice President of Corporate Business Operations from June 2007 to July 2008. From 2008 to 2010, he was President of Carrier Voice over IP and Application Solutions. He then worked as Senior Advisor to leading private equity and global management consulting firms from January 2011 to March 2012, including McKinsey, Madison Dearborn Partners and Apollo Global Management. In 2012, he joined Nokia Siemens Networks as COO and member of the Executive Board and then assumed the combined role of CFO and COO and member of the Executive Board in Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia Solutions Networks and Nokia Networks. In his last role with Nokia, Samih was President of Mobile Networks Business Group and member of the Group Leadership Team up to May 2017.
Mr. Elhage was formerly a director of Alcatel-Lucent France (a telecommunications services company). He also served on private boards including Nokia Shanghai Bell (China) and QuickPlay (Canada).
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Normand LegaultB.B.A.Director
Normand LegaultB.B.A.ReduceNormand Legault is a corporate director. He is also President of GPF1 Inc., a consultancy firm in professional sports, live entertainment and communications. He was Chairman of Groupe Solotech Inc. from 2013 to 2017 and its Chief Executive Officer from 2015 to 2017. He held several positions from 1989 to 2009 within the Grand Prix F1 of Canada, including being President and Chief Executive Officer from 1996 to 2009. As an entrepreneur, he was also involved in launching various entreprises in the graphic design, live events and access control industries.
Mr. Legault sits on the Board of Cogeco Communications Inc. (a reporting issuer, subsidiary of Cogeco Inc.). He was Chair of the combined Strategic Opportunities Committee of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. Mr. Legault also serves on the board of Dorna Sports, a Madrid-based sports management, marketing and media company that manages the Moto GP FIM world championship.
He has served as a director with numerous corporations, both private and public, including, among others, Global Logic, a digital products engineering company from San Jose (California) from 2018 to 2021, Aéroports de Montréal from 2010 to 2019, where he served as Chairman from 2015 to 2019, as well as GDI Inc. from 2007 to 2011, Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau, Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal and Montréal International, where he served as Chairman, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal, where he served as President and Chairman, and Société Générale de Financement.
As a long-time businessman, Mr. Legault brings extensive experience in strategic planning, marketing, global markets and mergers and acquisitions. His understanding of the larger business environment and deep knowledge of the media part of the business make him a valuable member of the Corporation’s Board of Directors.
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Caroline PapadatosBA, CAAP, ICD.DDirector
Caroline PapadatosBA, CAAP, ICD.DReduceMs. Papadatos currently serves as a corporate director, and Chair of the CGO HR Committee. She is an experienced sales and marketing executive, recognized as a leading expert in designing transformative customer management and loyalty solutions for global companies. She has held leadership positions in diverse sectors, including retail, telecommunications and publishing. She was on the Executive Committee for most of her almost 20-year tenure at LoyaltyOne (parent company of AIRMILES), and past executive roles include Senior Vice-President International, Chief Knowledge Officer and Senior Vice-President of Marketing for the AIR MILES Reward Program. She also previously held the positions of Senior Vice-President of Marketing for Rogers Communications Inc. and customer relationship management (CRM) Leader at Sears Canada.
Ms. Papadatos was formerly a director of Cogeco Communications Inc. (a reporting issuer, subsidiary of Cogeco Inc.) from 2020 to 2022, and was a member of the Audit and Human Resources Committees. She has been an active board member and strategic partner of the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) and was recognized with an Honorary Lifetime Member award by the CMA for her contributions to marketing in Canada. She has also served as a Board Member and Head of the Marketing Committee for Ronald McDonald House Toronto, and has been an active fundraiser for Covenant House Toronto.
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Frédéric PerronBCom, MscDirector
Frédéric PerronBCom, MscReduceMr. Perron has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. since March 11, 2024.
Mr. Perron was President of Cogeco Connexion from 2020 to 2024. During his tenure, he successfully repositioned Cogeco’s Canadian broadband business by building a high-performing team, step-changing execution, accelerating customer growth, completing three important acquisitions, scaling a digital flanker brand, and expanding Cogeco’s high speed network.
Prior to joining Cogeco, Mr. Perron led T-Mobile’s consumer business in Poland, held executive roles at Vodafone in the UK and Czech Republic, and ran customer base management at Rogers Communications Inc. He has a proven track record as a change agent with broad experience in broadband, wireless and the credit card industry across five countries leading marketing, sales, customer service, operations, digital, product, network, IT, and legal.