Since 2011, as Senior Vice President, Wholesale at Bell Canada, André Beaulieu leads a business unit that generates over $1 billion revenues through a sales force in Canada and abroad that serves more than 700 telecommunication companies in 180 countries.

Since joining Bell in 2007, André held a variety of management positions at Bell, including Vice President, Corporate Strategy, SVP Corporate Services, including Security and Realty Services, and chief procurement officer and SVP value creation. André is also President of BCE Nexxia, which owns the Bell network in the U.S.

Before joining Bell, André held various management positions with Bain and Company in Boston and Paris, and at A.T. Kearney in Paris and Monitor Group in Toronto. André has also worked with the Privy Council Office of the Government of Canada and with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

Born in Rimouski, André received both his BA (Honours) and his B.C.L/LL.B from Montréal's McGill University. An active member of the community, he sits on the boards of Equitas, and the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. He is also a co-founder of the Banff forum. 

In September 2019, Hubert Bolduc was appointed President of Investissement Québec International. 

Prior his appointment, M. Bolduc was President and CEO of Montréal International, an organization whose mission is to attract foreign investment, international organizations and strategic talent to Greater Montréal, since January 2016.

Before becoming the head of Montréal International, Mr. Bolduc worked as an international affairs manager in charge of Benelux and as Project Manager, Europe and the Middle East, for Investissement Québec, gaining valuable experience in attracting foreign investment.

From 2004 to 2012, he was Vice-President, Communications and Public Relations, at Cascades before being appointed to the senior public service position of Deputy Secretary General, Government Communications, Ministère du conseil exécutif, a position he held until 2014. He also worked as an advisor for public relations firm NATIONAL from 1998 to 2000 and as a press attaché to the Québec Premier from 2001 to 2003.

Holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Université du Québec à Montréal, a Master’s degree in Communication from the University of Stirling in Scotland, and an MBA from HEC Montréal, Hubert Bolduc began his career as a spokesperson for CHUM (the University of Montréal hospital centre) and a Communications lecturer at Université du Québec à Montréal.

Mr. Bolduc has served as Chairman of the Board of Jour de la Terre and Chairman of the Board of Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec, and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Fondation de l’Entrepreneurship du Québec. He also sat on the Board of Directors of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal, Fondation de l’UQAM and Forces Avenir.

He has been presented with the Prix Reconnaissance award by Université du Québec à Montréal and the Prix Relève d’excellence award, Large Business category, by Réseau HEC Montréal. Mr. Bolduc also made Marketing Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list in 2001.

Bernard Colas has over 28 years of experience in international trade law acquired in Montreal, London and Paris advising companies operating at an international level, as well as foreign governments.

Before co-establishing  Colas Moreira Kazandjian Zikovsky, he practiced law with large business firms in Montreal and Paris, and has worked as a legal advisor to the International Federation of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms (IFPI) (London) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (Paris).

He also is a consultant to foreign governments. He acted as a specialist in commercial law in projects funded by CIDA related to the accession of Lithuania and Algeria to the World Trade Organization (WTO),  as mission leader for projects financed by the World Bank for the drafting of laws on telecommunications and postal services in Togo, the Comoros and Mauritania.

Marie-Josée Desrochers is the President and CEO of the Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal. With over twenty years of management experience in arts and culture, she has held executive roles with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, actively taking part in the organization’s growth and the implementation of new initiatives, successively leading the Marketing-Communications and the Artistic Planning and Operations’ departments, before being appointed Chief Operating Officer from 2015 to 2019. Actively involved in her field, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership and of the Conseil des relations internationals de Montréal (CORIM). She also sat on the Board of Orchestras Canada, was President of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal’s Pedagogical Orientation Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Conseil québécois de la musique. She holds a Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from McGill University-HEC Montréal.

Mathieu Gaudreault has been Director of Public Affairs for Quebec and Francophone Communities for Canadian National since 2021. He previously held the position of spokesperson for the Société des alcools du Québec from 2018 to 2021. Prior to that, he held a number of positions in various ministerial offices in the Quebec government from 2007 to 2018, notably with the Ministère de Transports de la Mobilité durable et de l'Électrification des transports; the Ministère des Forêts de la Faune et des Parcs; and the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation. Mathieu Gaudreault holds a degree in political science from Université Laval.

Pierre Marc Johnson is counsel and acts as lead counsel and strategic advisor to international partnerships during trade negotiations with respect to investments, new information technologies, the biomedical and entertainment sectors, and financial products.

Former Premier of Quebec, lawyer, and physician, Mr. Johnson is known for his expertise in the fields of international trade, negotiation, international partnerships, environmental law, health law, and public policy. He also has extensive experience in international negotiations for the United Nations on environmental and development issues.

Since 2009, he has acted as chief negotiator for the Government of Quebec in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union (CETA) as well as in the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States.

Mr. Johnson has advised the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), an international organization created by Canada, Mexico, and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). In 2003, he chaired a similar effort for the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Co-author of The Environment and NAFTA — Understanding and Implementing the New Continental Law, published by Island Press, and of Beyond Trade: The Case for a Broadened International Governance Agenda, he has also penned numerous essays andarticles on international trade, globalization, and the environment. Hisexpertise and experience enable him to act as counsel for both domestic and foreign governments and institutions, to participate in the proceedings of advisory committees, and to speak on the phenomenon and impact of globalization.

Mr. Johnson has served as a director or member of advisory committees for some twenty major corporations. He currently serves on the board of directors of companies in the biopharmaceutical, motion picture, and mining industries.

Mr. Johnson holds honorary doctorates from Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, France, and Université de Montréal. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, recipient of the Grand Croix of the Ordre de la Pléiade, and Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec. He has also been recognized as one of Canada’s leading lawyers in the field of international arbitration in the 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 editions of The Best Lawyers in Canada directory (Woodward/White).

In March 2016, he joined the Board of Directors of CORIM (Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal) and he became Chairman of the Board in December 2017.

Senior Vice-President Small Business, Partnership and Head of Insurance, Julie Pottier’s mandate is at the core of how EDC serves Canadian companies as they grow their businesses internationally. 

Ms. Pottier oversees teams that deliver a wide range of services for every segment of EDC’s customer portolio, from small businesses only beginning their exporting journey, to those larger and established exporters seeking to take their next step toward international growth. Her responsibilities include small business sales, the insurance underwriting teams and working capital solutions, customer care, banking channels and strategic alliances. 

In addition to serving EDC’s mandate to grow Canadian exports, these teams have played a vital role in supporting our customers and partners throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to provide many critical services as Canada builds back toward economic recovery. 

Since joining EDC in 1992, Ms. Pottier has held a variety of leadership positions, and played a key role in a major system transformation within the organization. In addition to leading EDC’s national business development team, she has also served as Regional Underwriting Director, leading teams responsible for providing insurance, bonding and financing solutions to Quebec customers, and has led teams been a leader player in negotiating a number of EDC’s major strategic alliances.

Robert Racine has been in executive search since 2000. He co-founded Kenniff & Racine inc. in 2003. His considerable experience of both the public and private sectors, his knowledge of change management in the context of mergers, acquisitions and disinvestment in publicly-traded companies add important value to his professional work on behalf of his clients as well as with candidates. His practice concentrates on the following fields: communications, telecommunications, manufacturing, finance, services, engineering, associations and community groups. Since August 2018, he is Vice-president, Executive Search & Recruitment Solutions, at Optimum Talent.

As a member of the Board of Directors and the executive committee of the Greater Montréal Board of Trade from 2005 to 2007, of the Boards of Directors of Stationnement de Montréal from 2005 to 2010, of the Société de vélo en libre-service (Bixi) from 2009 to 2010, of the Quebec Arthritis Society since 2005, of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM) since 2007 and of the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (MCFR) since 2011, he has worked with many non-profit organisations over the years, not only in the healthcare and cultural fields but with business groups as well. 

Robert holds a degree in communications from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). He has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of public and governmental affairs as well as in financial communications. He gained this experience not only in Canada but abroad. Through his expertise in corporate affairs and organisational structures, he has built a solid professional reputation and a considerable business network. 

Between 1978 and 1999, he worked for the following organisations: Alcan, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC Financial Group), Canada Post Corporation, Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons, SNC and SNC-Lavalin.

Robert is fluent in French and English, both oral and written.

Professor Jennifer M. Welsh is the Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). She was previously Professor and Chair in International Relations at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy) and Professor in International Relations at the University of Oxford, where she co-founded the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict. From 2013-2016, she served as the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on the Responsibility to Protect.

Professor Welsh is the author, co-author, and editor of several books and articles on humanitarian intervention, the evolution of the notion of the ‘responsibility to protect’ in international society, the UN Security Council, and Canadian foreign policy. Her most recent books include The Return of History: Conflict, Migration and Geopolitics in the 21st century (2016), which was based on her CBC Massey Lectures, and The Responsibility to Prevent: Overcoming the Challenges of Atrocity Prevention (2015). She was a former recipient of a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship and a Trudeau Fellowship, and from 2014-2019 has directed a five-year European Research Council-funded project called “The Individualisation of War: Reconfiguring the Ethics, Law and Politics of Armed Conflict”. She is also a frequent media commentator on international affairs and Canadian foreign policy.

Professor Welsh sits on the editorial boards of the journals Global Responsibility to Protect, International Journal, and Ethics and International Affairs, and on the Advisory Boards of the Peace Research Institute in Frankfurt, The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, and the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation. She has a BA from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada), and a Masters and Doctorate from the University of Oxford (where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar).