meet the board
These 15 members of the Bell board are among Canada’s most corporate elite who together have slashed thousands of jobs.
Not surprisingly, many of them come from money – banks, investment firms, grocery giants and corporate law firms.
Gordon M. Nixon
Chair of the Board
- Spearheaded largest mass layoff at Bell in 30 years.
- Slashed 6,100 jobs in just 8 months.
- Hiked RBC stock price by +164% during time as CEO.
- Forced to apologize for foreign worker scandal.
At the end of the boardroom table is Gordon M. Nixon, a banker by background he is Chair of both BCE and Bell Canada. Under Nixon, Bell eliminated 1,300 jobs in June 2023 and cut an additional 9% of its workforce by terminating 4,800 workers in February 2024.
In 2023 alone, the company paid out $3.7 billion in dividends, an all-time high.
Nixon was President, CEO and Director at RBC between 2001 and 2014, where, upon his retirement, he made more money for his company than any CEO in Canadian history at that time. He enriched shareholders with a 164% increase in share prices. He was forced into a public apology when RBC employees lost their jobs to temporary foreign workers, prompting scrutiny of his ethics and the company’s practices.
Nixon is also Lead Director of George Weston Limited, a major landlord through its rental property company Choice and grocery giant as the holding company for Loblaw. During this time, Loblaws jacked up prices during an affordability crisis and clawed back the $2 pandemic pay for workers.
He is Director at American multinational Blackrock, Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, with $10 trillion in assets as of 2023
Mirko Bibic
President and Chief Executive Officer
- Paid $13.4 million in 2023.
- Pocketed a 42% pay increase between 2020 and 2023.
- Fired thousands of workers despite billions in profits.
As President and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, Mirko Bibic was paid $13.43-million in 2023, including a $2.96M ‘bonus’. While he took the cash with one hand, he handed out pink slips to thousands of workers with the other.
The COVID years were very good to Mirko as he pocketed a staggering 42% pay increase between 2020 and 2023.
In four short years in his position, Bibic has reduced BCE’s workforce by thousands of workers while continuing to rake in billions in profits and consistently increase shareholder payouts.
In the last nine months alone, he has terminated more than 6,000 workers. Bell boasts he is supporting the Bell team and our communities toward a sustainable future – except there won’t be one if Bibic keeps slashing jobs.
A lawyer and professional board director, Bibic also sits on the boards of Royal Bank of Canada and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
David F. Denison
Director
- Board Chair of Hydro One when it was sold off and executive and board member salaries skyrocketed.
- Divests from people and public services.
- Advisor to the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
Corporate Director of Bell since Oct. 2012. David Denison oversaw the privatization of Ontario’s Hydro One. As Hydro One Board Chair, in 2018 he received a $70,000 raise to earn $330,000 for the part-time job.
An investment banker through and though as former President and CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and President of Fidelity Investments Canada Limited.
Denison serves as an Advisor to the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, which manages most of the financial assets of the Singapore government that has ruled the city state for 65 years. He also advises Sagard Holdings, an asset management firm controlled by Quebec’s Desmarais family.
Robert P. Dexter
Director
- Former Chairman of grocery giant, Sobeys.
- Built billion-dollar luxury golf course and estates in Halifax.
- Director of High Liner Foods Inc. and CEO of Maritime Travel Inc.
A Bell Director for almost a decade, Robert Dexter is the former Chairman of grocery giant Sobeys Inc. and Empire Company Limited and currently sits as a director of High Liner Foods Incorporated and CEO of Maritime Travel Inc. He has worked his way up the board food chain serving as a director of Maritime Tel & Tel Limited prior to joining the Aliant, and later the Bell Aliant boards.
Dexter is a developer of a swank ‘lifestyle and golf real estate community’ in Nova Scotia where he is President of The Links at Brunello.
Katherine Lee
Director
- As former GE executive Lee does not ‘Bring Good Things to Life’.
- Instead, as part of the BCE board, she pulled the switch on workers by moving work offshore and terminating thousands of Bell jobs.
A Director of BCE and Bell Canada since August 2015. Katherine Lee is a former president and CEO of GE Capital Canada and previously worked in the Corporate Insolvency & Restructuring Group at Ernst & Young. During her time as a BCE Board member, Bell has cut thousands of jobs and outsourced work. Lee is also a director of Colliers International Group and Public Sector Pension Investments.
Monique F. Leroux
Director
- Senior Advisor to CEO’s at Fortune 100 companies around the world.
- Ties to multi-billion-dollar accounting and financial services groups including Desjardins and Ernst and Young.
- Former Senior Vice-President at RBC, Canada’s biggest bank.
A Director of BCE and Bell Canada since April 2016. Leroux recently became a Senior Advisor at Teneo, a global firm that advises CEOs and senior executives of the world’s largest companies on ‘investor relations’ and ‘restructuring’ among its areas of expertise.
If things don’t work out at Bell, Monique Leroux has back up gigs as a corporate director for Michelin and Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Leroux has plenty of corporate friends from her past as a managing partner at Ernst and Young, CEO of Desjardins Group, CEO of Québecor Inc. and a senior vice-president at Royal Bank of Canada.
Sheila A. Murray
Director
- Spent 25 years practicing securities law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganization.
- Helps Bell justify mass firing as corporate reorganization.
- Former President of CI Financial.
Director of BCE and Bell Canada since May 2020. Sheila Murray has roots in investment fund company CI Financial Corp., but before then, she spent 25 years at law firm Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, where she practiced securities law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and corporate reorganizations. Hmm, sounds familiar.
Louis P. Pagnutti
Director
- Reportedly paid $650 an hour as Laurentian University Chief Restructuring Officer during insolvency crisis.
- Former corporate director at Ernst and Young.
- Spending his retirement firing workers and offshoring Canadian jobs.
Director of BCE and Bell Canada board since November 2020. Louis Pagnutti is a corporate director at Ernst and Young, where he was an executive until his retirement in 2020. Now he is spending his golden years firing workers and contracting out work across Canada.
Reportedly paid $650.00 an hour to serve as Laurentian University Chief Redevelopment Officer during insolvency crisis that saw more than a hundred professors lose their jobs.
Calin Rovinescu
Director
- Former President and CEO of Air Canada: Took $52.7 million payday in mega Air Canada stock cash in.
- Received a 28% pay raise in 2018.
- Hiked annual salary to $12.8 million in 2019.
Director of BCE and Bell Canada since April 2016. Calin Rovinescu is a corporate director, venture capital investor and senior advisor to several corporations.
As president and CEO of Air Canada he enjoyed a 28% raise in 2018 to $11.5 million before hiking his pay to $12.87 million in 2019.
He was the Chair of the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board and has ties to the Board of Directors of the Bank of Nova Scotia and is a senior advisor to Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
In 2022, Calin Rovinescu’s annual Air Canada pension payout was $789,500.
Karen Sheriff
Director
- Sees herself as “one of life's worker bees”.
- In 2013, Sheriff's pension package at Bell Aliant was reportedly more than $5.5 million.
- Spent a decade at United Airlines and is a past director at WestJet.
Director of BCE and Bell Canada since April 2017. Karen Sheriff was previously CEO of Bell Aliant. Sheriff left Bell Aliant to become president and CEO of Q9 Networks Inc., a data centre services provider, that was subsequently bought out by – you guessed it- Bell. American by birth, she spent over a decade at United Airlines and is a past director of WestJet. Sheriff is also a director of Emera Inc., a multinational energy company.
Robert C. Simmonds
Director
- Multi-millionaire.
- Helped create Clearnet Communications which sold to Telus for $6.6 billion in 2000.
- Supported the elimination of hundreds of telco jobs.
Robert Simmonds is Chair of Lenbrook Corporation, a national distributor of electronics components and radio products. He was chairman of Clearnet Communications Inc., a former Canadian wireless company. If you can’t beat them join them. Simmonds has been a Director of BCE and Bell Canada since May 2011.
Jennifer Tory
Director
- Born into privilege.
- Paid millions per year as Former Chief Administrative Officer of Royal Bank of Canada.
- Earned $4.26 million at RBC in one year alone.
Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Jennifer Tory has been a Director of BCE and Bell Canada board since April 2021. Tory was formerly the Chief Administrative Officer of Royal Bank of Canada. Before then, she led RBC’s retail and commercial customer businesses and operations in Canada and the Caribbean.
It is a family business to sit on Boards. While Jennifer sits on the Bell Board her brother and former Toronto Mayor John Tory is set to rejoin the Rogers board.
Louis Vachon
Director
- Former President and CEO of the National Bank of Canada.
- Member of wealthy Vachon bakery family. Let the terminated Bell workers eat cake!
Director of BCE and Bell Canada since October 2022. Louis Vachon is an Operating Partner at J.C. Flowers & Co., a U.S.-based private equity investment firm. Previously, Vachon was President and CEO of the National Bank of Canada and President and CEO of National Bank Financial Group. He is a member of the Vachon family, which founded the famous Vachon Bakery.
Johan Wibergh
Director
- Has history of leading businesses through mass firings while rewarding top executives.
- Currently on 6 different company boards in the U.S. and Canada.
Director of BCE and Bell since November 2023. Johan Wibergh is the former Chief Technology and Information Officer of Vodafone, a global telecoms company. During his time there, Vodafone cut thousands of jobs while rewarding top executives millions more in annual compensation. You need a flow chart to keep track of Wilbergh’s current board positions at Trimble Inc., Inception Holding, Cohere Technologies, Avanci, Marconi and Vantage Towers and as a Member of the Executive Advisory Board of Arrcus, Inc.
Cornell Wright
Director
- Has deep ties to Loblaw and Choice Properties Real Estate Investment.
- Spent 20 years at Torys LLP, the Tory family law firm.
- Loblaw's lawyer during Shoppers Drug Mart acquisition.
Cornell Wright has been a Director of BCE and Bell Canada since April 2021. Wright is President of Wittington Investments, Ltd., the principal holding company of the Weston group of companies which owns grocery giant Loblaws and real estate operations Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust. He also serves as a director of the Weston group companies.
As a lawyer at Torys LLP and crony of the Weston family, Wright represented Loblaw in the 12.4 billion dollar acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart and in the spinout of Choice Properties.
