About Us / Corporate Governance / Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Good governance starts with our board of directors. The board assumes responsibilities for overseeing the management of our business and affairs. Directors are appointed based on their wide-ranging experience, knowledge and insight. The majority of the board of directors, including its chairman, are independent.


DONALD A. WRIGHT

Independent Chairman of the Board of Directors
EX-OFFICIO MEMBER OF ALL BOARD COMMITTEES
Mr. Wright joined the Board of Directors of RF Capital Group (formerly GMP Capital Inc.) in 2004, and was appointed Chairman of the Board in 2013. Mr. Wright is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of The Winnington Capital Group Inc. He is an active investor in both the private and public equity markets. Mr. Wright’s career has spanned over 40 years in the investment industry. He has held a number of leadership positions, including President of Merrill Lynch Canada, Executive Vice-President, director and member of the executive committee of Burns Fry Ltd., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TD Securities Inc., and Deputy Chairman of TD Bank Financial Group.

Mr. Wright currently is a non-executive Chairman of Wildbrain Ltd., Richards Packaging Income Fund, Metrolinx, and Cinaport Capital Inc. He is the lead director of Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. and a member of the board of Bank of China (Canada). As well, he was the past Chairman of the board of directors of VIA Rail Canada, and was a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children. He also actively supports numerous charitable organizations.

NATHALIE BERNIER, FCPA, FCA

Independent Board Member 
MEMBER OF AUDIT COMMITTEE
Mrs. Bernier brings extensive experience and expertise in the areas of transformation and implementation of innovative growth strategies as well as strong financial, governance and risk acumen acquired over a distinguished career that spans more than 30 years at global multi-services professional firms and one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers. Most recently, Mrs. Bernier was Senior Vice President, Strategic and Business Planning and Chief Financial Officer for The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) until her retirement in 2019. Prior to this role, Mrs. Bernier spent nearly 30 years as an Audit and Advisory Partner at Andersen and KPMG from 1986 to 2015, including serving as Regional Managing Partner (Québec) from 2008 to 2015 and as a member of KPMG’s Canadian Leadership team. She is a member of the board of United Way Foundation of Greater Montréal and she served on other not-for-profit boards including the Montréal Board of Trade, United Way of Greater Montréal and on the advisory board of the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University. Mrs. Bernier received several awards including Canada’s CFO of the Year and Québec’s CFO of the Year from the Financial Executives International Canada and Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100. Mrs. Bernier has a bachelor of commerce from McGill University and is a Fellow CPA, CA.            

DAVID G. BROWN, CPA, CA, LL.B

Independent Board Member 
MEMBER OF GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
Mr. Brown is Managing Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Richardson Capital Limited, the private equity division of Richardson Financial Group Limited (RFGL). He has held that position since 2007. Mr. Brown is the former Corporate Secretary of James Richardson & Sons, Limited and a former partner in the independent law and accounting firm, Gray & Brown. Mr. Brown has over 25 years of experience in advising family businesses and investment companies in the areas of taxation, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, corporate reorganizations, financings and estate planning, and has been involved in the vast majority of investments made by the Richardson Family. Mr. Brown is a graduate of the University of Manitoba, is a practicing lawyer and Chartered Professional Accountant.

MARC DALPÉ

Board Member
Mr. Dalpé’s career in the investment industry started in 1981 as an investment banker, after graduating from Montreal’s École des hautes études commerciales (HEC) with a major in finance. Mr. Dalpé’s career as an investment advisor began in the fall of 1990 at Lévesque Beaubien Geoffrion Inc. Since 1998, he has co-led the Dalpé-Milette group. Mr. Dalpé has been a part of Richardson Wealth since he joined in November of 2011 and is currently a Portfolio Manager at the Company. During his academic years, Mr. Dalpé was awarded many prizes, one of which was a medal of excellence for academic achievement bestowed by the Financial Executive Institute. He has received awards by the Montreal Chamber of Commerce and the École des HEC for his leadership, innovation and decision-making qualities. In 1999, he was selected as the National Winner of the Investment Dealers Association - Association canadienne des courtiers en valeurs mobilières (IDA-ACCOVAM)’s prestigious Award of Distinction. This is a “national award program that recognizes outstanding investment advisors who exemplify the highest standards of dedication and professionalism in the securities industry.” In 2002, Mr. Dalpé obtained the title of Canadian Investment Manager and, in 2003, became a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI®). He was a member of the retirement and investment committees of the École des HEC. He also served as a member of the national advisory committee and board of directors of the Quebec chapter of the IDA-ACCOVAM, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada predecessor organization.

VINCENT DUHAMEL

Independent Board Member
MEMBER OF GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE, AND MANAGEMENT RESOURCES AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE
Mr. Duhamel was Fiera Capital’s Global President and Chief Operating Officer until 2020. He was also a member of Fiera’s Global Executive Management Committee, responsible for all corporate units such as Legal and Compliance, Risk, Technology, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, and Human Resources. As the Chair of Fiera’s Strategic Development Committee, he also played a major role in strategic acquisitions while overseeing the firm’s development outside of North America. In addition, Mr. Duhamel sat on the boards of directors of Fiera Capital’s Canadian, U.S., European and Bel Air divisions. Before joining Fiera Capital, Mr. Duhamel was Partner and CEO at Lombard Odier in Asia. From 1997 to 2011, he worked in Hong Kong, first as Chief Executive of State Street Global Advisors Asia, then as the Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Asset Management Asia. During his time in Asia, Mr. Duhamel played a key role in the market intervention and disposal of assets by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority during the Asian crisis, in addition to managing a project to help the Social Security Fund of China develop its investment processes and policies. Since the early 1990s, Mr. Duhamel has served on numerous boards and committees, including Chairman of the Board of Governors at the CFA Institute, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

DAVID C. FERGUSON, MBA, FCPA, FCA

Independent Board Member
Chair of Audit Committee
From 1999 until retiring in 2012, Mr. Ferguson was Executive Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of BMO Capital Markets, the wholesale banking and institutional brokerage pillar of BMO Financial Group. He also served as Chief Financial Officer and a member of the board of directors of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. during this period. Mr. Ferguson's previous experience includes practicing public accounting for 25 years, including 16 years as an audit partner and a period as National Director of KPMG's investment dealer practice. During his career, Mr. Ferguson co-developed the Broker/Dealer Training program for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Mr. Ferguson was a long-standing member of the board of directors of the Canadian Opera Company, and served as its President from 2006 to 2008 and Chair from 2008 to 2010. Mr. Ferguson holds Bachelor of Commerce and MBA degrees from the University of Toronto and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.

KISH K. KAPOOR, CPA, CA

Board member
Mr. Kapoor currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of RF Capital Group (TSX:RCG).  Mr. Kapoor is also currently a director of Richardson Financial Group Limited (and a member of its Audit Committee), Richardson Wealth and Morneau Shepell Inc. He also serves as a director of Equitable Group Inc. (chair of its Audit Committee and a member of the Risk and Capital Committee). Until 2011, he was President of Wellington West Holdings Inc., the parent company of a number of subsidiaries that provided wealth management and corporate finance services to retail and institutional clientele in Canada. Previously, Mr. Kapoor was Executive Vice-President of Corporate Development at Loring Ward International Inc. He co-founded Assante Corporation, previously one of the largest wealth management firms in Canada, and served as its Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development from 1994 until 2003. He also served as a director of Manitoba Telecom Services and Chair of its audit committee from 2006 to 2017. Mr. Kapoor has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Manitoba and is a Chartered Professional Accountant and former tax partner with KPMG LLP.


JULIE A. LASSONDE

Independent board member
CHAIR OF GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE; MEMBER OF AUDIT COMMITTEE; AND MANAGEMENT RESOURCES AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE
Ms. Lassonde joined the Board of Directors of RF Capital Group (formerly GMP Capital Inc.) in 2018. Ms. Lassonde has more than 20 years of experience in the banking and mining sectors in senior executive and board roles. In addition to her corporate background, Ms. Lassonde has extensive leadership experience on several of Canada’s largest non-profit boards. She is currently on the boards of the Royal Ontario Museum, National Gallery of Canada Foundation, Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation and York University. At York, she is on the Executive Committee and Chairs the External Relations Committee, at the National Gallery she chairs the Investment Committee overseeing the Foundation’s Endowment and sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of the Investment Committee at the ROM. She is also currently the President of the CEMF and oversees the organization’s Foundation. Ms. Lassonde has also served on the Board of the Pierre Lassonde Family Foundation, for over 20 years. The Foundation is one of Canada’s largest private foundations and has supported major initiatives at York University, Musée National des beaux-arts du Québec, the University of Toronto and the University of Utah. Ms. Lassonde’s involvement at the Foundation focuses on major giving projects and investment oversight.

Ms. Lassonde holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University and a joint Executive MBA from Brown University and IE Business School in Madrid.

DAVID LEITH

Independent board member
MEMBER OF GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE, AND MANAGEMENT RESOURCES AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE
Mr. Leith joins RF Capital’s Board following a distinguished career as an investment banker and corporate director, serving on numerous public and private boards. Most recently, he served as Lead Director of Hudson’s Bay Company until March 2020. From 2009 until 2017 he was the Chair of the Board of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. until the company’s acquisition by Bell Canada. Mr. Leith was also the inaugural Chair of the Board of the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), which provides fund management services to clients in the broader public sector in Ontario, from 2016 to 2019. Mr. Leith is also the Chair of the Treasury Risk Oversight Committee of the Province of Manitoba.  Mr. Leith spent over 25 years with CIBC World Markets, based in Toronto and London, England, and has extensive experience in debt and equity markets, government finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Until 2009, he was Deputy Chairman and Managing Director and Head of CIBC World Markets' Investment, Corporate and Merchant Banking activities. From 2009 until 2011 he served as Special Advisor to the federal Minister of Natural Resources on the restructuring of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).   Mr. Leith holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto and an M.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge University.


JANE MOWAT

Independent Board Member
MEMBER OF AUDIT COMMITTEE AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
Ms. Mowat is a Corporate Director and a former information technology executive who, since 2003, has worked as an independent consultant, advising clients on acquisitions in the software industry, as well as providing advice on corporate finance, borrowings and business valuations. She previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Centrinity, a TSX-listed software company, from 2001 to 2003 General Manager of IBM’s financing business in Canada and the United States, from 1996 to 2000, and as Chief Financial Officer of ISM Information System Management Corporation from 1990 to 1995. Ms. Mowat has considerable governance experience, having served on the boards of both private and public companies, and as committee chairs and lead director. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and earned her Chartered Accountant designation while employed with Price Waterhouse.

H. SANDFORD RILEY

Board Member
CHAIR OF MANAGEMENT RESOURCES AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE
Mr. Riley is President and CEO of Richardson Financial Group Limited, a financial services affiliate of James Richardson & Sons, Limited. Prior to 2003, he was the Chair, President and CEO of Investors Group Inc., a personal financial services organization. Mr. Riley currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Western Bank, The North West Company Inc., and Molson Coors Brewing Company. He is also Chair of the Board of Directors of the University of Winnipeg Foundation. Mr. Riley received a Bachelor of Political Science from Queen’s University and a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School. Mr. Riley was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2002.