Our leadership

Bill Chinery was CEO of BlackRock Asset Management Canada until early 2013. During his 13 years with BlackRock and its predecessor Barclays Global Investors, Bill was a Managing Director in both the Toronto and San Francisco offices with various responsibilities including heading the Latin America and the Americas Institutional Business.

Cathy Cranston is an independent public company board Director for Toromont Industries Ltd. She chairs Toromont’s Audit Committee, and sits on the Nominating & Governance Committee. Cathy is a former Treasurer of BMO Financial Group (BMO), where she was a senior executive with 32 years of experience.

Patti Croft has extensive expertise in global macroeconomics and the financial sector. She began her career at Burns Fry before moving on to CIBC Wood Gundy. Patti has been the Chief Economist with RBC Global Asset Management; Phillips, Hager and North; Sceptre Investment Counsel and TD Canada Trust.

Monika is an experienced C-suite executive with an extensive career in the financial services industry and in 2019 was a recipient of the Top 100 Canada's Most Powerful Women award by Women's Executive Network (WXN), for her efforts to advance women in leadership by breaking down barriers for future generations.

Prior to her retirement, Ms. Forbes was the Global Chief Analytics Officer for Manulife and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She has spent over 35 years with Manulife including six years as Chief Actuary subsequent to holding senior finance roles in the company’s Asia, Reinsurance, Investment and U.S. divisions. As Chief Analytics Officer, she built Manulife’s global predictive modelling and machine learning function that successfully created value for the company’s operations.

Lise Fournel was Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer at Air Canada until early 2017. She is a technology expert with a global perspective in marketing and revenue management and e-commerce. Over her more than 35-year career with Air Canada, Lise has held increasingly senior positions in Technology, Strategic Planning and Passenger Commercial. She was also President of Destina.ca.

Gene Lewis started his career as an elementary school teacher in Ontario and was later appointed principal. He served as General Secretary of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario from 1998 until his retirement in 2013. During his career, he was an active participant on the Ontario Teachers' Federation Executive and on its Board of Governors. Gene gained extensive experience and expertise in the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan by serving on committees such as the Ontario Teachers' Sustainability Workgroup and the Partners' Consultative Committee.

George Lewis enjoyed a thirty-year career as a professional and executive leader with RBC, one of Canada's largest financial institutions, before retiring in 2016 to focus on serving as a corporate director.

Steve McGirr was Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer of CIBC until 2007. Prior to that, he was President of CIBC World Markets, and held a number of key leadership positions over a 24-year career at CIBC World Markets and Wood Gundy.

John Murray served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 until his retirement from the Bank in 2014. As a member of the Bank's Governing Council, he shared responsibility for decisions on monetary policy, financial system stability, and strategic direction. John joined the Bank of Canada in 1980 and held progressively senior roles in his 34-year career.

Kathleen O'Neill is an experienced corporate director, and is currently on the boards of Finning International Inc. and ARC Resources Ltd. She was Executive Vice President, Personal & Commercial Development and Head of Small Business Banking at BMO Bank of Montreal until January 2005, and a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers prior to that.