Cogeco Communications' strategic direction and ongoing operations are governed by an experienced Board of Directors, mostly made up of independent members who contribute to Cogeco Communications' continued development.
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Colleen AbdoulahM.B.A, APRDirector
Colleen AbdoulahM.B.A, APRReduceMs. Abdoulah is a corporate director. She was the only female CEO/Chair to have led a top-ten publicly traded cable operating company, Wide Open West (doing business as WOW!) in the United-States, which she did for 12 years, from 2002-2014 and was Chair until December 2015. Prior to joining WOW!, Ms. Abdoulah spent much of her career at a former cable company Tele-Communications Inc. ("TCI") in the United-States, where she served in a number of positions including Assistant COO and Executive Vice President of Cable Operations. Her professional career spans over 30 years in the marketing, advertising and telecommunications industries.
She currently serves on the board of Rocky Mountain PBS. She is former Chair of the Board of the American Cable Association, a lobbying organization representing the interests of independent cable operators. She also served on the board of C-SPAN (an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, an American cable and satellite television network), and is a former Vice President of the Executive Board of Women in Cable Telecommunications ("WICT").
In the nonprofit world, she currently serves on the board of World Pulse, a global social network dedicated to connecting, uniting and empowering women around the world. She is a former Chair of the Board for the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center as well as former Chairperson for the WICT Foundation.
Ms. Abdoulah is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce Top 25 Most Powerful Women Award; the American Cable Association’s PAC Individual Leadership Award; the Lifetime Achievement Award from Mount Royal University in Calgary; and was a Multichannel News Wonder Women honoree and an inductee to the WICT Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Walk of Fame.
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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 Communications Inc. and Cogeco 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 was named last 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 is a corporate director. During his executive career he has led global human resource, legal and communications functions in public companies. His previous positions include Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resource Officer and Legal Affairs of Gildan Activewear Inc., Chief Human Resource Officer of Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance and Chief Human Resource Officer of Nissan Motor Company. In his career he has operated in multiple geographies including North America, Asia and Europe.
Mr Bajaj served on the Board of Cogeco Inc. (a reporting issuer, parent company of Cogeco Communications Inc.) from 2019 to 2023, and served as member and Chair of the Human Resources Committee in 2021 and from 2022 to 2023, respectively, and member of the Corporate Governance Committee from 2021 to 2023.
Mr. Bajaj serves as a members-at-large of the Board of Governors of McGill University since July 1, 2023
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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 Inc. (a reporting issuer, parent company of Cogeco Communications Inc.), and is Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee and 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 and Chair of the Human Resources committee. She served on the board and chaired the audit committee of mdf commerce.com inc. (a software as a service (SaaS) solutions company) until its privatization in May 2024. She was also 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 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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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 Inc. (a reporting issuer, parent company of Cogeco Communications Inc.), and a member of the Audit and Human Resources Committees. 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. He was Chair from 2019 to 2021 and has in the past also 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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Pippa DunnLLBDirector
Pippa DunnLLBReduceMs. Dunn is the founder and director of Broody (an incubator for startups and accelerator to more established businesses) in a joint venture with British advertising agency Mother, since 2017. In this role, she is working with entrepreneurs to turn ideas and products into successful businesses. She originally qualified as a lawyer before switching careers and has almost thirty years of progressive experience in the marketing industry, including at Coca-Cola, NTL (now Virgin Media) and Orange which merged with T-Mobile in 2010 to create EE Limited (UK's largest cellular company). She was appointed Chief Marketing Officer with profit and loss (P&L) responsibility for the Consumer arm of EE in 2012 and led that organization until the successful sale of EE to British Telecom in 2016.
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Joanne FerstmanCPA, B. Com.Director
Joanne FerstmanCPA, B. Com.ReduceMs. Ferstman currently serves as a corporate director. She has over 20 years of progressive experience in the financial industry. Over an 18 year period until her retirement in June 2012, she held several leadership positions with the Dundee group of companies, which operated in wealth management, resources and real estate verticals. She was responsible for financial and regulatory reporting, risk management and involved in mergers and acquisitions and strategic development and held the position of Chief Financial Officer for many years and latterly held the positions of Vice Chair of DundeeWealth Inc. and President and Chief Executive Officer of Dundee Capital Markets Inc. Prior to joining the Dundee group of companies, Ms. Ferstman spent five years at a major international accounting firm.
She currently serves as Chair of DREAM Unlimited (a real estate company), on which she also serves as Chair of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Organization, Design and Culture and Leaders and Mentors Committees. She also serves as lead director, Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Human Resources Committee of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. (an intermediate mining royalty company) and as a director, Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Human Resources Committee of ATS Automation Inc. (an advanced automation solutions corporation), each of which is a reporting issuer. Ms. Ferstman was formerly a director of Osisko Development Corp.
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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 Inc. (a reporting issuer, parent company of Cogeco Communications Inc.), and is the Chair of the Strategic Opportunities Committee and member of the Corporate Governance Committee. 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.
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Bernard LordLL.B., B.Soc.Sc.Director
Bernard LordLL.B., B.Soc.Sc.ReduceSince 2016, Mr. Lord is the Chief Executive Officer of Medavie, a Canadian health company that oversees Medavie Blue Cross and Medavie Health Services. From 2008 to 2016, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association which is the wireless industry's main trade organisation. From 1997 to 2006, Mr. Lord held different elected positions, including Premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006. He has also practiced law and continues to be a member of the New Brunswick Law Society and the Canadian Bar Association.
He is the President of the Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans and the Chair of the International Federation of Health Plans. He was formerly Chair of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and of the Board of Ontario Power Generation, as well as director and advisor for several other corporations.
In 2000, Mr.Lord was named Grand Officier de l'Ordre de la Pléiade (La Francophonie). In 2007, he was awarded the Order of New Brunswick and in 2011, he was appointed Queen's counsel.
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Frédéric PerronDirector
Frédéric PerronReduceFrédéric Perron is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogeco Inc. and of Cogeco Communications Inc.
Mr. Perron has served as President of Cogeco Connexion since September 2020. 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. 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.
Mr. Perron has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University and a Master’s degree in Management from Queen's University.