While her successor doesn’t seem to have been found yet, outgoing CEO Sophie Brochu will attend her final meeting with the state-owned company’s directors tomorrow.
• Also read: Hydro-Québec big bosses’ pay increased nearly 40%
Hydro-Québec is being redesigned. Not only will a new CEO take office on April 11, but another key person will need to be replaced, Jacynthe Côté, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. She announced that she would not renew her mandate after May 14, 2023.
Without knowing the agenda, the appointment of Hydro-Québec’s next CEO is likely to be the focus of discussions. Remember that Sophie Brochu’s mandate ends on April 11th. By law, the Executive Board is charged with proposing a list of possible candidates for government.
Deputy CEO?
Is it ready yet? Is it done on Friday? Impossible to get answers as both Hydro-Quebec and the government are refusing to answer questions at this time. But everything indicates that no candidate has yet been chosen and an interim CEO could take office on April 11.
The Executive Council ministry, effectively François Legault’s bodyguard, confirmed to the Journal that no outside recruiting firm was involved in the “hunt” for the next CEO of Hydro, the government’s most profitable cash cow. In fact, it will pay a $3.4 billion dividend to the Quebec government this year.
It moves in CA
Of the current 17 board members, five have to extend their terms of office until September.
Jacynthe Côté, CEO of Hydro-Québec
After the CEO, the priority replacement is for the Chairman of the Board. Jacynthe Côté was the first woman to serve on Hydro-Québec’s board of directors. Her term ends on May 14, 2023, and she has already announced that she does not intend to extend it. Ms. Côté received total compensation of $119,360 in 2022, up 10% from the previous year.
This key individual acts as an intermediary between the board and the management team and is accountable to the relevant minister for Hydro-Québec’s decisions.
Quebec appoints the chairman of the board of directors for a maximum term of five years, renewable twice consecutively or not.
Silence at Hydro
It should be noted that in December 2022 Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon “placed” one of his own, Deputy Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy David Bahan, to Hydro-Quebec’s board of directors.
According to Pierre Fitzgibbon, the new CEO must work with the Department of Energy and follow its main directives. Like François Legault, he will certainly have a say in the election of the future CEO of the state-owned company.
Five vacancies on the Hydro-Québec Board of Directors
- Jacynthe Cote, Chairman of the Board | Closing date: May 14, 2023
- Sophie Brochu, Managing Director | Deadline: April 2, 2023
- Genevieve Brouillette, Chief Financial Officer, ALDO Group | Closing date: September 4, 2023
- Lucy Doyon, Business Manager | Closing date: September 4, 2023
- Helene V Gagnon, Vice President – Public Affairs and Global Communications, CAE Inc. | Closing date: September 4, 2023
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