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Press Room
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The government appoints Jean Bazin, Q.C., to the position of Chairman of SGF
Montréal, September 12, 2007 — Counsel-lawyer Jean Bazin was today appointed Chairman of Société générale de financement du Québec by the Québec government. Mtre Bazin has been a member of SGF’s Board of Directors since February 26, 2004. He is the first person to hold this position since the adoption of the Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises (S.Q. 2006, c. 59), which provides for separation of the position of SGF’s Chairman from that of its President and General Manager, which will continue to be held by Pierre Shedleur.
Mtre Bazin has been a lawyer since 1965 and a counsel-lawyer since 2006. He was President of the Canadian Bar Association in 1987-88. He also served as a member of the Senate of Canada from 1986 to 1989. He sits on the boards of several companies, including Laurentian Bank, Miranda Technologies, First Air and Lambert Somec.
SGF’s President and General Manager Pierre Shedleur welcomed Mtre Bazin’s appointment as Chairman. “I have no doubt that Jean Bazin will be equal to the governance challenges we will have to rise to as a state-owned enterprise. He will provide leadership to ensure that rigorousness, integrity and transparency are central to the decisions made by SGF, as required by the new Act. I wish him every success and I offer him my personal support, as well as that of all SGF officers and employees,” Mr. Shedleur stated.
Under the Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises, SGF’s Chairman presides at meetings of the Board and sees to its smooth operation. In the case of a tie vote, he has a casting vote. The Chairman also sees to the smooth operation of the Board’s Committees. The Chairman evaluates the performance of the other Board members according to criteria established by the Board. He also assumes any other function assigned by the Board. The Québec government determines the compensation of the Chairman and the other Board members.
SGF has already revised a number of its operating procedures to comply with the Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises. It has created three committees that report to the Board: Investment, Audit and Human Resources. Moreover, although SGF was not obliged to comply with the provisions of the Act regarding the content of its 2006 Annual Report, it decided to respect the spirit and main principles of it. In addition to a report on the Board members’ attendance at meetings, SGF therefore published this year a report on the attendance of the Board’s three committees, as well as a report on their activities.
Starting on January 1, 2008, as stipulated by the Act, all control mechanisms will be in place at SGF, and the 2007 Annual Report will contain all the information and disclosures provided by the Act.
Société générale de financement du Québec ( sgfqc.com), an industrial and financial holding company, has a mission to carry out economic development projects, with emphasis on the industrial sector, in co-operation with partners and on standard profitability conditions, in accordance with the Québec government’s economic development policy.
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Source:
Marie-Claude Lemieux
Senior Adviser
Communications and Media Relations
Société générale de financement du Québec
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