Board of Directors and its committees
The Board of Directors and its committees oversee the activities of the Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal in accordance with its constitutive law and regulations.
The Board of Directors
The Board consists of eleven (11) members appointed by the government with previous consultation with Ville de Montréal and with socio-economic and cultural bodies active throughout Québec or at a regional level. The Chair of the Board is an ex-officio member of all committees.
In order to assist the government in appointing the best candidates, the Place des Arts has set out a profile of the expertise and experience required for its directors (in French only):
The main role of the Board of Directors is to advise and support management in complex operational and strategic matters, in addition to day-to-day affairs.
The committees of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is supported by four (4) committees who oversee the management and administration of the Société and assist its management team:
- the Governance, Ethics, and Social Responsibility Committee;
- the Audit and Risk Management Policies Committee;
- the Human Resources Committee;
- the Capital Assets and Business Affairs Committee.
Louise St-Pierre is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Société de la Place des Arts, as well as an administrator on the boards of the Fondation de la Place des Arts, Transat A.T., and Vins Arterra Canada, and an angel investor at Anges Québec. She was Chair of the Board of the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix from 2017 to 2020 and has sat on about a dozen other boards throughout Canada. She was the President and CEO of Cogeco Connexion from 2013 to 2016, after having held several Vice-President positions at the company from 1999 to 2013. She began her career at IBM before moving on to DMR. In 2015 and 2016, the Women's Executive Network (WXN) recognized her as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women. In 2014, she received the Mercure Germaine-Gibara Leadership award from Quebec’s Federation of Chambers of Commerce. She sponsored the McGill-HEC EMBA program in 2018 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Administrative Sciences from McGill University. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Loyalist College of Ontario in 2016, in recognition of her career in technology and communications. In 2020, she obtained her ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Éric Gosselin Éric Gosselin is a lawyer, partner, and national leader in the Business Law Group at the law firm of McCarthy Tétrault, where he has practiced since 1995. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Culture pour tous, in addition to sitting on the board of the Fondation de la Place des Arts. He is also Chair of the Advisory Board at the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill University (Macdonald Campus), from where he holds a Bachelor of Science degree. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1995 and has been a member of the Ordre des agronomes du Québec since 1998. He earned his Law Degree (LL.L) from the Université de Sherbrooke.
Pierre Bernier is Vice-President of Finance and Corporate Services with Processia Solutions. In the cultural sector, he sat on the Board of Directors of SODEC from 2009 to 2013, where he held the positions of Vice-President of the Board of Directors and President of the Audit Committee. He was President of the Consultation Committee of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP) and Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the West Island of Montreal Chamber of Commerce. In the business community, he previously served as CEO of JJ Buckley Fine Wines, CEO of Intelligent Cellars Inc., Executive Vice-President, Operations with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Vice-President, Finance and Administration of Airborne Entertainment Inc., and Vice-President and CFO of Yellow Pages Group.
Ms. Stacy Cavery is Director, Digital Strategy, at public relations firm CASACOM. She has developed an extensive base of experience in digital strategy development, with her vast knowledge of this sphere giving her an integrated view of current digital issues. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Quebec and holds a master’s degree in E-commerce from the Université de Montréal, as well as a master’s degree in International Commerce.
Annie Derome is Vice-President of Development and Acquisitions at Prével. She is recognized as a multidisciplinary executive manager with over 25 years of experience in the cultural and entertainment spheres. With extensive expertise in managing steering and finance committees, as well as in business development at an international level, she worked for Cirque du Soleil for 12 years and spent 7 years with GSM Project. Her professional career has allowed her to distinguish herself through her creativity, her analytical sensibilities, and her ability to develop and implement new business models in the cultural industry, as well as in the digital realm and in e-trade. Annie currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership. She holds a Bachelor of Actuarial Science degree from Université Laval, as well as a university certification in corporate governance from the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés.
Marie-Josée Desrochers is the President and CEO of the Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal. With over twenty years of management experience in arts and culture, she has held executive roles with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, actively taking part in the organization’s growth and the implementation of new initiatives, successively leading the Marketing-Communications and the Artistic Planning and Operations’ departments, before being nominated Chief Operating Officer from 2015 to 2019. Appointed President and CEO of Place des Arts a few months before the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Desrochers distinguished herself by her collaborative leadership among the cultural community and by serving on several recovery committees. She also made sure to maintain Place des Arts’ ecosystem vitality throughout the crisis, in addition to ensuring its collaboration and active participation in numerous recovery efforts. Actively involved in her field, she is Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership and member of the Board of Directors of Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (MCFR), Synapse C and Fondation de la Place des Arts. She is also a member of The Alliance for downtown Montreal, an initiative of Downtown Business Development Corporation (SDC), of Montreal University Faculty of Music’s Consultative Committee and of the International Women’s Forum of Canada (IWF). Ms. Desrochers holds a Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from McGill University-HEC Montréal. 
Marc Gilbert is Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he has worked in the field of consulting for over twenty-five years. He leads the Montreal office, where he is focused on improving the competitiveness of Quebec and Canadian businesses at the national and international level. He is the global leader in geopolitics and trade impact within BCG’s Global Advantage practice. He is also a core member of the Industrial Goods and Consumer practices. In addition, Mr. Gilbert is an active member of BCG’s Centre for Canada’s Future, which aims to convene leaders from the business, government, and non-profit sectors to achieve impact by working together. In this role, he helps move Canada forward by providing insight and expertise on the country’s most important issues. As a board member at Scale AI for over three years, he is also dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence in Canada. Prior to joining BCG, Mr. Gilbert worked at Merck & Co. He holds both Bachelor and Master of Engineering degrees from McGill University, as well as an MBA from INSEAD.
Danielle Laramée (ASC, FCPA, FCA) is a Partner and the People Advisory Services Leader (Canada) at EY. She is a Fellow of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec. As a leader in her field in Canada, she has been very active in the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, and the Association de planification fiscale et financière. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Standards Council of Canada, the UQAM Foundation, and the Fondation des Amis de l’enfance. Ms. Laramée possesses a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from UQAM and is a certified corporate director.
Alain Michaud is Chief Financial Officer of WSP Global since February 2020. He was previously Senior Vice President, Operational Performance and Strategic Initiatives for the same organization. Before joining WSP, Mr. Michaud was a senior partner at PwC Canada for over 20 years and a member of both the Canadian and Quebec Leadership Teams. Mr. Michaud holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Sherbrooke. Mr. Michaud was also appointed Fellow of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec in 2022.
Andrée Noël was a member of the Québec Bar from 1974 to 2018. She began her career as an in-house counsel for various private corporations such as A. Janin and Company Limited, Henry Birks and Sons Limited, Transcontinental Group G.T.C. Limited, and Fonorola Inc. Ms. Noël has over 30 years of experience in the regulation of broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada. She was President of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and Regional Advisor for Quebec on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). She sits on the Board of Directors of Maison Saint-Gabriel and has served as a member on the boards of Canal Savoir, the Bureau du cinéma et de la television du Québec, Jean-Talon Hospital, and the Philippe-Pinel Institute, and was a member of the Conseil du statut de la femme. Ms. Noël holds Bachelor of Arts and Law degrees from the Université de Montréal.
Véronique Rankin is the Executive Director of Wapikoni Mobile. Before joining the Wapikoni team, she was involved in creating the Indigenous organization Puamun Meshkenu, working alongside Dr. Stanley Vollant, and held the position of General Director of the organization. Since the beginning of her career, Ms. Rankin has mainly worked for Indigenous organizations and the federal government. These positions allowed her to acquire a solid background in the areas of organizational development, risk management, and performance and quality management. The cultural safety and narrative sovereignty of Indigenous peoples are at the core of her approach to managing organizations. She also sits on the board of directors of Menuentakuan Productions and is a research associate at the École nationale d’administration publique’s Observatoire des administrations publiques autochtones (Indigenous Public Administrations Observatory). Ms. Rankin holds a master’s degree and a postgraduate diploma in Public Administration from the École nationale d’administration publique.