Board of Directors

Chair of the Board of Directors, Member of Audit Committee, Human Resources and Governance Committee, and Health, Safety & Environment Committee

Member of Audit Committee and Human Resources & Governance Committee

J. Richard Bird retired from Enbridge Inc. in early 2015, having served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Development, and various other roles, including Executive Vice President Liquids Pipelines, Senior Vice President Corporate Planning and Development, and Vice President and Treasurer. Mr. Bird has 30 years of experience as an officer of several public companies. He is the Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer of the Ptarmigan Charitable Foundation. He is the past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Alberta Investment Management Company. He was named Canada’s CFO of the Year for 2010. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba, a Master of Business Administration, and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Chair of Audit Committee

Karyn A. Brooks retired from BCE and Bell Canada in March 2014, having served as Senior Vice-President and Controller for 11 years. Ms. Brooks has almost 20 years of executive experience as an officer of several prominent Canadian public companies. She currently serves on the Boards of Aspenleaf Energy Limited, the Calgary Zoological Society, where she chairs the Audit and Risk Committee, and the Calgary Zoological Foundation. She previously served on the Board and Audit Committee of Information Services Corporation from 2016 to 2022, and on the Board and Audit Committee of Queen’s University from 2007 to 2014. In 2009, she was elected a Fellow of CPA Ontario and named one of Canada's Top 100 Women by the Women’s Executive Network. Ms. Brooks has contributed significantly to accounting standards setting and oversight in a volunteer capacity, both domestically and internationally. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Queen's University.

Member of Audit Committee and Health, Safety & Environment Committee

Paul A. Charette joined Bird in 1976 as a Project Coordinator and progressed to President and Chief Operating Officer in 1988 and President and Chief Executive Officer in 1991. Mr. Charette was appointed as Chair of the Board in 2001 and served as Chair until 2021. In September 2008, Mr. Charette retired from his position as Chief Executive Officer of Bird. He is a past Director of the Colleges and Institutes Canada and the past Chair of the Canadian Construction Association (“CCA”). In 2004, Mr. Charette was named Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year in Real Estate/Construction by Ernst & Young LLP. In 2010, Mr. Charette was chosen as CCA’s Person of the Year. Mr. Charette has a diploma in Civil Technology from Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Chair of Human Resources and Governance Committee, Member of Health, Safety & Environment Committee

Bonnie D. DuPont is retired from Enbridge Inc., where she served for 12 years as the senior executive responsible for information technology, human resources, public and government affairs, corporate governance matters, and corporate social responsibility. She holds a Bachelor’s degree (Great Distinction) from the University of Regina and earned her Master’s degree at the University of Calgary. She has been a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) since 2015, is a 2006 graduate of the ICD Corporate Directors’ Education Program, and has lectured in the Directors’ Education Program offered by the ICD. She is also a Certified Human Resources Professional and is a member of the International Women’s Forum.

Ms. DuPont was named to the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada list each year from 2001 to 2006, and in 2007, she was inducted into the Top 100 Hall of Fame. In 2008, she was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Regina. In 2011 was presented with an Honorary Bachelor’s Degree in Technology by the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Ms. DuPont also received an Honorary LLD from the University of Calgary in 2017, and she is the past Chair of the Board of Governors at the University of Calgary. In 2019, Ms. DuPont was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence, the highest honour accorded an Alberta citizen. Ms. DuPont serves as Chair of the Public Health Group within the O’Brien Institute of Public Health at the University of Calgary. She also serves on the Board of NavCanada, is the Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and serves on the Governance Committee

Member of Human Resources and Governance Committee and Health, Safety & Environment Committee

J. Kim Fennell is a veteran Silicon Valley executive, Board Director and angel investor/advisor with over 35 years’ experience in the technology industry. He was a CEO for 16 years at three companies and has 21 years of board experience (public and private). Mr. Fennell was at Uber Technologies in San Francisco for five years, most recently as the Global Head of Product Partnerships and Business Development for the US and Canada until December 2019. He had previously been CEO of deCarta, a leading mapping software company, before its acquisition by Uber in March 2015. Prior to deCarta, he held CEO positions at Pinnacle Systems and StorageWay Inc. He was an early executive at Octel, a global leader in voice technologies, where he opened subsidiaries in Canada, Europe, and Asia. He ran Octel after its acquisition by Lucent Technologies, where he also became a corporate VP. Prior to Octel, he was with ROLM Corporation.

Mr. Fennell’s current board of directors roles include WhereIsMyTransport (Cape Town) and SalesBoost (Dallas). Mr. Fennell was on the board of directors of Ritchie Bros. (TSX, NYSE: RBA) from 2017 to 2022. His non-profit boards include the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation and C100, which supports tech entrepreneurs in Canada. Originally from Oakville, Ontario, Mr. Fennell graduated from Queen’s University with a B.A. (Honours) and the Stanford School of Business Executive Program.

Member of Human Resources and Governance Committee and Health, Safety & Environment Committee

Mrs. Koury has over 35 years of professional experience, holding various senior executive positions with BHP Billiton from 2011 to 2017. Part of her responsibilities included the development of BHP Billiton’s total rewards program for executives and employees of the Petroleum World-Wide Business. Before that, she was Vice President of Corporate Services for Enerplus Corp. from 2006 to 2011, where she was responsible for all Executive Compensation, Human Capital & Culture and Facilities Management. Jennifer also held senior management positions with Imperial Oil/Exxon Mobil. Ms. Koury currently serves as a Director and Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee (“HRCC”) for Crescent Point Energy, and a Director and HRCC Chair for the Calgary Zoo. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Alberta and the ICD.D designation granted by the Institute of Corporate Directors.

President & Chief Executive Officer

Member of Human Resources and Governance Committee and Health, Safety & Environment Committee

Gary Merasty is currently the CEO of the Peter Ballantyne Group of Companies (PBGOC), the investment arm of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. Before joining PBGOC in 2021, he was an Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer with the North West Company, a publicly-traded company headquartered in Manitoba. He was responsible for the construction and project management division, sustainable development reporting, governance, communications, and community relations. He also served on the Board of Directors of the North West Company for seven years before joining the executive team in 2018. Mr. Merasty held a similar role with Cameco Mining Corporation as Vice President of Corporate Responsibility from 2008 to 2013.

He was the Grand Chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council, establishing them as one of Canada's most progressive and successful Tribal Councils. In 2006, Mr. Merasty was elected to Canada's 39th Parliament as a Member of Parliament. One of his proudest achievements was tabling a motion in the House of Commons apologizing to the survivors of the residential school era, which passed unanimously in 2007. In addition, Mr. Merasty has served on numerous boards, including the Saskatoon Airport Authority, Northern Career Quest, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Corporation, West Wind Aviation, Sustainable Development Technologies Canada, and Institute of Research and Public Policy Canada.

Chair of Health, Safety & Environment Committee,  Member of Human Resources and Governance Committee

Luc J. Messier is currently the President of Reus Technologies LLC, a company focusing on the development of new technologies. Between 2007 and 2015, Mr. Messier served as Senior Vice President for ConocoPhillips, where he was responsible for global projects and the global supply chain with the addition of global aviation in 2012. Before joining ConocoPhillips, Mr. Messier served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Technip USA. Prior to joining Technip, Mr. Messier was Managing Director of Dragages Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Bouygues, and held engineering and project management positions at Bouygues Construction and Pomerleau. Mr. Messier also serves on the Boards of Sodexo SA, a French food services and facilities management company, and Greenfield Holdings, an integrated agricultural infrastructure company. He holds degrees in civil engineering from the University of Sherbrooke and enology and viticulture from UC Davis, and studied business administration at INSEAD.

Member of Audit Committee and Health, Safety & Environment Committee

Arni C. Thorsteinson has been the President of Shelter Canadian Properties Limited, a private Canadian diversified real estate development and management company, since 1990. He joined a predecessor company in 1976. He is also a Director of Onex Corporation and a member of the Board of Advisors of Onex Real Estate Partners. Mr. Thorsteinson is a trustee of Lanesborough Real Estate Investment Trust and was the Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Mr. Thorsteinson holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from the University of Manitoba and a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.