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Robert Poirier (businessman)

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Robert Poirier, OOnt, is a Canadian businessman, and a 2022 recipient of the Order of Ontario, for his work on infrastructure, environmental sustainability and community benefits.[1]

Career

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Poirier served as managing director of pensions, trusts and alternative investment servicing at State Street from 2006 to 2016 before joining in 2017 the board of Northern Trust Company, Canada. Previously he held senior financial services strategy roles at Bell Canada and Bank of Montreal and as senior advisor to members of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce.

Poirier was awarded the Order of Ontario in a ceremony in Toronto on November 21, 2022.

Following a 1992 rule change by members of the Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration of the Senate of Canada, Poirier worked on Parliament Hill as the first policy researcher to be hired directly by members of the Senate and, in 1995, as senior advisor to members of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, where he served until 1999 and was responsible for many bills, motions and reports including Senate Motion No. 45 where he guided the same motion in the House of Commons leading to the eventual abolition, by the then federal finance minister, Paul Martin, of the foreign content rule on deferred registered income plans and advised on Bill C-78, An Act to establish the Public Sector Pension Investment Board[2] and governance provisions to establish the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investment Board).[2]

Following the 1993 federal election, Poirier served as a policy researcher to members of the newly established Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons to review Canada's defence policy culminating in a report entitled, Security in a Changing World, tabled in both chambers on October 21, 1994.[3][4] Poirier then served members of the Senate Banking Committee until 1999.

In 2017, as chair of PortsToronto, including Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Poirier oversaw the sale of the historic Toronto Harbour Commission Building to the Oxford Properties Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $96-million.[5][6] In June 2022, he received the Professional Land Economist (PLE) designation by the Association of Ontario Land Economists (AOLE).[7]

Since 2019, he has operated his strategy and governance advisory firm, NeuState Advisory.[8]

Board work

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In 2009, as a result of changes to the Canada Marine Act increasing the size of the board of directors, Poirier was appointed[9] by the then federal transport minister John Baird to the Toronto Port Authority which owns and operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. In 2015, he was elected chair of the board of directors[10] composed of individuals appointed by all levels of government – city, provincial, and federal, and after almost 12 years, he left in 2021 due to legislative term limits, making him one of its longest serving board members.[11] Prior to leaving in 2021, Poirier oversaw a process to identify a financial investor that would be interested in operating Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport under lease "to reduce PortsToronto’s overall debt position, restore and enhance liquidity; enable ongoing and future infrastructure investment; and ensure the Airport’s long-term viability."[12] Poirier is said to have helped transform Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport into one of the most successful, community-oriented, and environmentally sustainable urban airports in North America.[13]

In 2017, Poirier received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and joined the board of directors for the Northern Trust Company, Canada and currently serves as chair[14] and was elected to the board of directors of the Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority and in 2020, he was elected chair.[15] In 2019, he was appointed by the Ontario Minister of Transport to Metrolinx, where he served as chair of the Real Estate Committee, and in 2024, as chair of the Capital Oversight Committee, overseeing an annual capital budget of approx. $6.8 billion and more than $75 billion worth of new transit projects.[16][17] In 2022, Poirier was appointed by the Ontario Minister of Finance to The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and serves as the chair of the Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.[18]

Published articles

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In 2020, Poirier published an article in the Financial Post, Supercharge the economic recovery with small- and medium-sized businesses,[19] and in 2021, in Renew Canada, Electric Ferry a First for Island Airport on the conversion of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport passenger and vehicle ferry to electric power using Canadian technology.[20]

Personal life

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Poirier resides in Oakville, Ontario with his wife and family.[21]

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce cum laude from Ryerson University, where he was elected to its governing body, the Senate, and the Student Union as Vice President representing the Business School.

References

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  1. ^ "Order in Council 1028/2022". November 7, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Committees (44th Parliament, 1st Session)". SenCanada. Senate of Canada.
  3. ^ "About - Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs (40th Parliament, 1st Session)". SenCanada. Senate of Canada.
  4. ^ "Special Study Reports". SenCanada. Senate of Canada. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  5. ^ "PortsToronto's historic headquarters sold". The Globe and Mail. May 1, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  6. ^ "PortsToronto to Sell Head-Office Property at 30 Bay Street to Oxford Properties and CPPIB". May 1, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  7. ^ "Membership Directory | Association of Ontario Land Economists". www.aole.org. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  8. ^ "NeuState". NeuState. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  9. ^ "Appointments to the Toronto Port Authority". www.canada.ca. Transport Canada. September 2, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Robert Poirier Becomes Chair of PortsToronto". PortsToronto. August 21, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "PortsToronto Announces New Board Chair". PortsToronto. April 14, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  12. ^ "PortsToronto Releases Request For Interest". May 30, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  13. ^ "Former PortsToronto Board Chair, Robert Poirier, Appointed to Order of Ontario". November 9, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "Northern Trust Canada Appoints New Board Director". www.businesswire.com. October 24, 2016.
  15. ^ Turchet, Jess (June 25, 2020). "Robert Poirier Elected Chair of the Authority's Board of Directors". RPRA.
  16. ^ "Metrolinx welcomes 6 new directors to its board". www.metrolinx.com.
  17. ^ "2023-24 Metrolinx Business Plan" (PDF).
  18. ^ "Robert Poirier". OLG. April 5, 2022.
  19. ^ Poirier, Robert (May 14, 2020). "Supercharge the economic recovery with small- and medium-sized businesses". Financial Post. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  20. ^ Poirier, Robert (July 22, 2021). "Electric Ferry A First For Island Airport". ReNew Canada. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  21. ^ "Two Oakville residents appointed to Order of Ontario". Oakville News. November 4, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
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