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 five (5) committees who oversee the management and administration of the Société and assist its management team:
- the Audit and Finance Committee;
- the Human Resources Committee;
- the Strategic Planning and Development Committee;
- the Governance and Ethics Committee; and
- the Executive Committee.
Jean Laurin is President and Chief Executive Officer of NKF Devencore. He is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Montréal International, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Foundation, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Fondation de l’Université du Québec à Montréal. He is also a member of the Fondation de la Place des Arts and of the Cercle des présidents du Québec.
Éric Gosselin is a Partner in the Business Law Group of the McCarthy Tétrault law firm in Montréal. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Fondation de la Place des Arts and Festival TransAmériques and Chairman of the Board of Culture pour tous. He is also an External Member of the Arts & Philanthropy Committee of the Conseil des arts de Montréal. Mr. Gosselin was one of the three mentors of the Go-C.A. project, a peer-matching program that seeks to enhance the boards of directors of arts & culture organizations with new members from the fields of business and communications. Mr. Gosselin was called to the Québec Bar in 1995 and has been a member of the Ordre des agronomes du Québec since 1998.
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.
Marc Blondeau is President and CEO of the Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal. In this capacity, he plays an active role in Montreal’s cultural life, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles. He is also a member of several international organizations in the arts and entertainment fields. He was formerly the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Theatre School of Canada. A well-known figure in the field of media and communications, he held several management positions with Télémédia Communications, Groupe TVA and Rogers Media before joining Place des Arts.
Sylvie Chagnon is closely involved with the management of corporate donations at Lallemand Inc. She is a member of the Boards of Directors of the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation and the Fondation de la Place des Arts. She was formerly associated with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal as a member of the Board of Directors and Chairwoman of Les Amis des Grands Ballets. She sat on the Board of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation and is co-founder of the Serenity Program. She has taken an active part in major fundraising campaigns for these organizations.
Nancy Cleman is a lawyer and partner with the firm Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon LLP, where she practices corporate commercial law with a focus on intellectual property and information technology. She is an accredited mediator. Active in the community, she serves on the Boards of Directors of Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation and the Canadian IT Law Association. In the past, she has served on the boards of directors of several arts organizations involved in dance, theatre and visual arts including la Fondation Jean-Pierre Perrault and the Saidye Bronfman Centre.
Hugo Delorme joined Canadian National in July 2016 after over 11 years at NATIONAL, a public relations’ firm, where he was a partner and director of the Public Affairs group at the Montreal office. As Senior Director of Corporate Services at CN, he works closely with the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer. In 2009, he founded the Fondation de la Place des Arts’ Young Patrons Committee and he’s now Vice-President of the Fondation. He holds an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Canadian Public Relations Society and is a Chartered Administrator.
Annie Derome is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer at the firm GSM Project, as well as a partner with investment fund XPND Capital. She previously worked for Cirque du Soleil, where she was actively involved in the development of several shows and partnerships in various countries. Trained as an actuary, she has worked for such companies as Videotron, RBC Dominion Securities and Aon, where she acquired significant experience in the area of international business development. She is a member of the Board of Directors of X3 Productions.
Danielle Laramée is a Partner and Leader of Human Capital in the firm Ernst & Young. 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. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the UQAM Foundation and a Chartered Administrator.
Michel Ohayon is a Senior Consultant with Shore & Associates, Executive and Legal Search. He has worked in the professional services and human resources industry since 2003, beginning his career with Willis Towers Watson, a global human resources consultancy. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of la Caisse du Complexe Desjardins and Hillel Montréal, a non-profit organisation. He has been closely involved with the Segal Centre for Performing Arts for several years and takes pride in helping build and strengthen ties between communities.
Louise Poissant holds a PhD in philosophy and is the Scientific Director of Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC) since 2015. She was Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) from 2006 to 2015. She was professor of aesthetics and theory at the École des arts visuels et médiatiques at UQAM from 1989 to 2006 where she led the Groupe de recherche en arts médiatiques (GRAM). From 2001 to 2006, she led the Centre interuniversitaire des arts médiatiques, Hexagram-CIAM. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada. She is the author of numerous books and articles in the field of media arts published in various journals in Canada, France, Brazil and the United States.