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 Inc. 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 from 1984 to August 31, 2018. Under his leadership, Cogeco has become a leading Canadian communications company, operating internationally.
Mr, Audet has been named this year Chair of the Old Brewery Mission, a major foundation which provides emergency and other services for homeless people in the Montreal area. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of CableLabs, of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and a director of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP). He previously sat on the Boards of Directors of the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, Clarica, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Corporation de l'École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Association canadienne de la radio et de la télévision de langue française, and he served as Governor of the Council on Canadian Unity and chaired the Fondation et Alumni de l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. He was also Chairman of the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf Development Fund.
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 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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Arun BajajBCL, LL.BDirector
Arun BajajBCL, LL.BReduceMr. Bajaj has been Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer and Legal Affairs at Gildan Activewear Inc. since March 1, 2021. In this role he leads the global human resources function and oversees legal affairs. He previously was Chief Human Resources Officer from October 2019 to February 2021. Mr. Bajaj has over 25 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.
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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 member of the Human Resources Committee She also sits on the Board of SNC-Lavalin (an engineering and project management company) which is a reporting issuer and where she is a member of the Audit and Governance Committees and on the Board of mdf commerce.com inc. (a SaaS solutions company) which is a reporting issuer and where she is 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 about governance created by HEC Montréal and Concordia University - The John Molson School of Business, the Stephen Jarislowsky Foundation and the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Ms. Bell served as a director of NAV Canada (a non-profit corporation which owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation service) from 2014 to 2023 where she was Chair of the Safety Committee and serves as a member of the Human Resources and Royalties Customer Services Committees. She was 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. She also served as Chair of the Board of Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (the research-oriented branch of the Université du Québec) until May 2017.
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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 member of the Advisory Board of World Airport Partners, a subsidiary of PSP Investments.
He served on the Board of Canada Infrastructure Bank, a Canadian Crown Corporation, engaged in building infrastructure for Canada, from 2017 to 2022, and was the Chair of its Impact and Risk 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. He also served on the Board of Logistec Inc. (a reporting issuer with activities in marine and environmental services) for 10 years, until May 2021. He was Chair from 2019 to 2021 and has in the past also chaired the Audit Committee. 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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Patricia Curadeau-GrouB.Com, Finance, ICD.D.Director
Patricia Curadeau-GrouB.Com, Finance, ICD.D.ReduceMs. Curadeau-Grou is a corporate director. She held several positions within the National Bank of Canada from 1991 until her retirement in October 2015, including Strategic Advisor to the President and Chief Executive Officer from 2012 to 2015 and Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance, Risk and Treasury from 2007 to 2012. Prior to joining the National Bank of Canada, she held a number of key positions at major financial institutions, primarily in business development, risk management and corporate planning.
She sits on the Board of National Bank of Canada which is a reporting issuer and where she is a member of the Risk Management, Conduct Review and Corporate Governance and Technology Committees and on the Board of Pomerleau Inc. where she presides the Human Resources Committees. She was formerly a director of Cogeco Communications Inc. (a reporting issuer, subsidiary of Cogeco Inc.) from 2012 to 2019, Fairstone Financial (previously City Financial), la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Uni Select Inc.
Ms. Curadeau-Grou is also a director of a number of not-for-profit corporations. Since 2007, she has been a member of the Women’s Executive Network Hall of Fame for Canada’s most powerful women.
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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 private boards including Nokia Shanghai Bell (China) and QuickPlay (Canada).
Mr. Elhage currently serves on the Advisory Board of Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity investment firm focused on buyout and growth equity investing. In addition, he serves on the Advisory Board of McKinsey Transformation, part of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm.
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Philippe JettéEng.Director
Philippe JettéEng.ReduceMr. Jetté has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogeco Inc. and of Cogeco Communications Inc. since September 1, 2018.
Mr. Jetté was President of Cogeco Peer 1 from 2015 to 2018. Previously, Mr. Jetté held several positions within Cogeco, including Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. between 2013 and 2015 and Vice President, Chief Technology Officer from 2011 to 2013.
With more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Jetté combines practical technological know-how, mastery of complex network engineering, years of strategic planning, and global experience in marketing and sales with an extensive knowledge of the telecommunications market.
Prior to joining Cogeco, Mr. Jetté was President of PJCS Inc. (strategic ITC technology and marketing services) between 2008 and 2011. Before that, he held several technology, sales and marketing leadership positions with Bell Canada, Bell Mobility and Rogers Communications (Cantel).
Mr. Jetté acts as a Governor of the Alumni Association of École Polytechnique (Montréal).
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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.), and is the Chair of the Strategic Opportunities Committee and member of the Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Legault also currently 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.
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Caroline PapadatosBA, CAAP, ICD.DDirector
Caroline PapadatosBA, CAAP, ICD.DReduceMs. Papadatos currently serves as a corporate director. 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.