CEOs will help grow trade and investment ties with Brazil that will benefit Canadian businesses and workers, International Trade Minister Ed Fast says
(No. 4 - January 5, 2012 - 10:20 a.m. ET) The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced the six Canadian business leaders who will take part in the new Canada-Brazil CEO Forum to foster trade and investment between both countries.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced the CEO Forum and its co-chairs—Rick Waugh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scotiabank, and Murilo Ferreira, Chief Executive Officer of Vale S.A.—during the Prime Minister’s official visit to Brazil in August 2011.
“The Canada-Brazil CEO Forum will help us to identify practical ways we can grow the trade and investment ties between our countries,” said Minister Fast. “Both our governments look forward to hearing from the forum on a wide range of matters that will help us deepen the Canada-Brazil partnership.”
“It is important for Canadian companies to continue to expand trade opportunities with high-growth and economically significant markets like Brazil,” said Mr. Waugh. “Canada and Brazil are linked by a history of cooperation, and this private-sector-led initiative will build on that by facilitating ongoing discussions among leading Canadian and Brazilian companies.”
The six new Canadian appointees to the CEO Forum are:
- James L. Balsillie, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Research In Motion;
- Pierre Beaudoin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc.;
- Tye W. Burt, Chief Executive Officer, Kinross Gold Corporation;
- Charles Cartmill, President and Chief Executive Officer, LED Roadway Lighting Ltd.;
- Ray Castelli, Chief Executive Officer, Weatherhaven; and
- J. Bruce Flatt, Senior Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
“Brazil is a neighbour in the Americas, a major global economic player and a priority market for Canada,” said Minister Fast. “It is important that we further develop our broad, dynamic and multi-faceted commercial relationship. Increasing and deepening trade and investment between Canada and Brazil will directly benefit Canadian workers, businesses and their families by creating jobs and prosperity and promoting economic growth, while also strengthening Canada’s competitive position within the global economy.”
The six participants were selected based on their ongoing interest in the Canada-Brazil commercial relationship, and commitment to strengthening the Canada-Brazil ties that will benefit businesses and workers in both countries. The Brazilian participants will be announced shortly.
The Canadian Council of Chief Executives, represented by its president and chief executive officer, the Honourable John P. Manley, will also participate in the forum as secretariat to the Canadian participants.
For more information about the forum, see PM announces Canadian co-chair of Canada-Brazil CEO Forum.
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A backgrounder containing biographical notes on the appointees follows.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Adam Taylor
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Ed Fast
Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway
613-992-7332 or 613-790-6287
Trade Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-996-2000
Follow us on Twitter: @Canada_Trade
Jim Balsillie, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Research In Motion
Since 1992, Jim Balsillie has been co-CEO at Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry. At RIM, Mr. Balsillie is responsible for driving corporate strategy, business development, marketing, sales and finance.
In 2001, Mr. Balsillie founded the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a world-class global research institute focused on the restructuring of international governance. In 2007, Mr. Balsillie announced the creation of the Canadian International Council, of which he is the chair. In 2008, he founded the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
Mr. Balsillie is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
Pierre Beaudoin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc.
Pierre Beaudoin has been with Bombardier for over 25 years. He joined Bombardier’s Marine Products Division in 1985 and was named vice-president of product development for Bombardier’s Sea-Doo/Ski-Doo Division in 1990. Since then, he has served as president and chief operating officer of Bombardier’s Recreational Products Group, president of the Business Aircraft Division at Bombardier Aerospace, president and chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace, and executive vice-president of Bombardier Inc. He became president and chief executive officer of Bombardier Inc. in June 2008.
Mr. Beaudoin studied business administration at Brébeuf College and industrial relations at McGill University in Montreal.
Tye W. Burt, Chief Executive Officer, Kinross Gold Corporation
Tye Burt has broad experience in the global mining industry, specializing in corporate finance, business strategy, and mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Burt was appointed president and chief executive officer of Kinross Gold Corporation in March 2005.
Prior to joining Kinross, Mr. Burt was vice-chairman and executive director of corporate development at Barrick Gold Corporation. Before joining Barrick, Mr. Burt enjoyed a 16-year career in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. He was president of Cartesian Capital Group LLC; was chairman of Deutsche Bank Canada and Deutsche Bank Securities Canada, and global managing director of Global Metals and Mining for Deutsche Bank AG; and held various positions in his 11 years with BMO Nesbitt Burns.
Mr. Burt is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Guelph.
Charles Cartmill, Chief Executive Officer and President, LED Roadway Lighting Ltd.
Charles Cartmill is a lifelong entrepreneur. He started his first business, C.S.A. Enterprises Ltd., in 1974 as a technical sales and marketing company in the lighting and industrial electrical products fields. In 2002, Mr. Cartmill started C-Vision Ltd., an electronics manufacturing company. In 2007, he formed LED Roadway Lighting Ltd. This company focuses on LED-based street- and area-lighting technology.
Ray Castelli, Chief Executive Officer, Weatherhaven
Ray Castelli’s prior business career includes serving as the president and CEO of Naikun Wind Development Inc. He was co-founder and senior vice-president of Quadrem, Inc., a global procurement services company owned by 19 of the world’s largest mining and metals companies, as well as director of corporate development (Mergers and Acquisitions) for Alcan.
Before moving to the private sector, Mr. Castelli served for six years in the Canadian government as deputy chief of staff to the prime minister and chief of staff to the minister of national defence.
Mr. Castelli is an alumnus of the INSEAD and Simon Fraser University business schools.
J. Bruce Flatt, Senior Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
Mr. Flatt joined Brookfield Asset Management in 1990 and served in a number of roles in the investment and operating businesses. He was named senior managing partner and chief executive officer in February 2002.
Mr. Flatt holds a Business degree from the University of Manitoba.
The Honourable John Manley, P.C., O.C., Chief Executive Officer and President, Canadian Council of Chief Executives
Mr. Manley is a former deputy prime minister of Canada. First elected to Parliament in 1988, he was re-elected three times. From 1993 to 2003, Mr. Manley served under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as minister of industry, foreign affairs and finance, in addition to being deputy prime minister.
Mr. Manley returned to the private sector in 2004. From 2004 to 2009 he served as counsel to McCarthy Tétrault LLP, a leading Canadian law firm.
After leaving government, Mr. Manley remained active in public policy as a media commentator, speaker and adviser to government. In 2003, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty asked him to lead a review of the province’s electricity sector. In 2005, he co-chaired the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America for the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-partisan think tank based in New York. In 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named Mr. Manley to chair an independent panel on Canada’s future role in Afghanistan.
Mr. Manley was appointed to his current position as chairman and chief executive officer of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives on January 1, 2010.
Mr. Manley graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and obtained his law degree from the University of Ottawa.
