Accelerate the switch to a green economy mission

Mr. Nolet brings more than 15 years of experience in renewable energy and climate-related issues. Between 2008 and 2021, he held various positions at the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), including Vice President, Public Policy, Government and Public Affairs. In this capacity, he played a key role in the development of public and regulatory policies favourable to the support and establishment of the wind, solar and energy storage industries in Canada. A renowned strategist, he has worked throughout his career in developing and implementing government relations and public affairs strategies on energy and climate issues at the national and international level.

Mr. Nolet holds a B.A. in Political Science from McGill University and studied at École nationale d’administration publique in Montreal. He currently serves on the board of Nergica, Switch Alliance, the Conseil des entreprises en technologies environnementales du Québec (CETEQ) and Advanced Biofuels Canada

Gildas Poissonnier is Director, Sustainability and Responsible Finance, at Desjardins Group. His team of experts supports the different entities of the financial cooperative – including banking, lending, P&C and life insurance, and investment – in two areas: 1) Moving towards the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into its decision-making and its operations, and 2) Supporting the development of responsible finance products, in line with Desjardins’ commitment to tackle climate change issues and to foster a fair energy transition. By focusing on the long-term socio-economic development of members and communities, he integrates circular economy perspectives and life-cycle assessment into his analysis. Gildas is also part of the Disclosure Technical Expert Group from the Sustainable Finance Action Council, led by the Government of Canada. Before Desjardins, Gildas worked for 11 years at Deloitte, where he led the Sustainability and Climate Change team in Quebec. He holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in agronomy from AgroParisTech and an MBA from HEC Montréal.

Arnaud is the Vice President of Public and Governmental Affairs at the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ) since December 2021. He previously held the position of Director  from September 2020 and Senior Advisor in Public Affairs in 2019.

 He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and politics from the University of Montreal and has nearly 10 years of experience in active politics, international organizations and in sports on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

 Arnaud participates in and facilitates several discussion groups related to the environment, including the CPQ’s internal committee on sustainable development.

Marc-André has worked as a political strategist at various levels of government. First on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in various capacities, including as Senior Press Secretary in the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition. He then worked as Director of Communications and Senior Government Relations Advisor in the Office of the Mayor and Executive Committee of the City of Montreal. He joined Équiterre in 2019, where he leads the public policy and government relations team. He is Équiterre’s representative on the Board of Directors of SWITCH.

Two-time graduate of the London School of Economics, Mr. Richard Fahey is a lawyer and Vice President of AppEco. He oversees the General Management of SWITCH, l’Alliance pour une économie verte au Québec.

For 20 years, Mr. Fahey has held senior management positions in public affairs, communications, strategic planning, legal, operations and human resources at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the McGill University Health Center (MUHC), Energir, Tembec or the Québec Government. A dynamic leader, he led multidisciplinary teams, most often in sensitive socio-political or regulatory contexts.

Denis Leclerc is co-President of the Board of Directors of SWITCH.  Since 2009, he is the Founding President and CEO of Écotech Québec, the cluster representing the Québec cleantech ecosystem.  He is also the Chairman of CanadaCleantech Alliance and of the International Cleantech Network, based in Copenhagen (Denmark).

During his 20 years in the natural resources sector, Leclerc held several senior management positions, including that of Vice-President, Sustainability and Environment for AbitibiBowater. He has been involved of many projects and strategic decisions for companies with operations in Canada, the United-States, Europe and Asia.

On top of her responsibilities at Cycle Capital Management, Catherine Bérubé public and government relations for the Ecofuel Accelerator and sits on the Board of Écotech Québec, Quebec cleantech cluster.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Université du Québec à Montréal and a Master’s degree in Public Communication from Université Laval, for which she also completed an exchange at École supérieure de journalisme de Lille in France.

Mr. Frédéric Krikorian is Vice President, Sustainability, Public & Government Affairs at Énergir since June 2018. He worked in government sectors and with associations before joining Énergir in 2005 where, among other roles, he has been responsible for the development of renewable energy projects from 2012.

Mr. Krikorian has a master’s degree in Corporate Social Responsibility from Nottingham University Business School in the United Kingdom. He has participated in conferences and written articles on implementing social responsibility practices and strategies for companies in the energy sector.

He co-chairs the board of SWITCH, the Alliance for a Green Economy, and sits on the board of directors of Ruelle de l’avenir, Quebec Business Council on the Environment (CPEQ) and Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO).

Jean Simard is the Canadian aluminium industry official representative and spokesperson with governments, sectoral associations, NGOs and the media, as well as with international organizations linked to the industry.  He possesses extensive professional experience in public and government relations, mainly in sustainable development, energy and environmental affairs.

Martin Vaillancourt is Director General of the  Regroupement national des Conseils régionaux en environnement du Québec.  He has been contributing to the CRE network since 2012, first as an administrator and then, since 2015, as Executive Director of CRE Chaudière-Appalaches (CRECA). He previously held the position of Senior Advisor in Regional Development at the Conférence régionale des élus de la Chaudière-Appalaches from 2003 to 2015 where he actively contributed to the implementation of sustainable development at the regional level.

Martin Vaillancourt is an expert facilitator notably in matters involving government stakeholders, local decision-makers, organizations and citizen groups. He has developed an expertise in mobilization and awareness in the fight against climate change and energy transition. With a Master’s degree in Business Administration, he has also contributed to the governance, management and development of numerous organizations.

Pauline D’Amboise is Secretary General and Vice-President of Governance and Sustainable Development at Desjardins Group, the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world. She oversees the organization’s governance, ethics and sustainable development initiatives. She and her team advise Desjardins’s governing bodies and the President and CEO on their roles and responsibilities. Pauline also oversees Desjardins’s contributions to the shift to a greener economy and the cross-sector integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and climate issues into the organization’s business model. She manages the Desjardins Foundation and the Alphonse Desjardins Historical Society.

Pauline holds a master’s degree in organizational ethics from Université de Sherbrooke and the title of Administratrice de sociétés certifiée (ASC) from Université Laval. She is the chair of the board of Université Laval’s Institut en environnement, développement et société (EDS) and chair of the Carbone Scol’ERE ambassadors committee.  She is one of L’effet A’s program leaders and a member of the steering committee of CIRIEC’s Écosystème de laboratoires d’accélération en économie circulaire.

Geneviève Brisson has been working in the energy sector for over ten years. She is currently Senior Director, Global Government Affairs at Enerkem, after having worked at Energir  and Hydro-Québec.

 Prior to joining the energy sector, Geneviève worked in the political sphere on Northern Development and Aboriginal Affairs files in the House of Commons and the Quebec National Assembly, as well as for the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

 She began her career at the Délégation générale du Québec in London in the Finance and Public Affairs teams.

 Geneviève obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a focus on policy analysis from the Université du Québec à Montréal and pursued Nordic studies at Stockholm University.

 She was also co-chair of the Yukon Innovation Panel at the 2015 Governor General’s Leadership Conference, and is an alumni of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP); the themes of her participation were “Arctic Natural Resources – Stewardship and Governance”.

She sits on the Board of Ecotech Quebec: the Cleantech Cluster, the Alliance SWITCH, the Quebec Association for the Production of Renewable Energy (AQPER)  and she co-chairs of the Board of Directors of the Conseil des entreprises en technologies environnementales du Québec (CETEQ).