Founding Patrons
| W. Galen Weston |
Chairman and President of George Weston Limited
W. Galen Weston is the Chairman and President of George Weston Limited, a company founded by his grandfather, George Weston, in 1882 that now processes and distributes food products throughout North America.
In the early 1970’s, during a particularly rough period in Loblaw’s history, Galen’s father called upon his help. By that time he had amassed experience well beyond his years, he owned and operated a chain of supermarkets, a chain of discount stores, and with the help of his new Irish bride Hilary, an upscale department store in the UK. “You like the retail business,” his father said to him in the spring of that year, “you’re doing well in it, so if you want to get into the family business by taking a shot at Canada and the United States, I’d be delighted.” The rest, as they say, is history.
He is the Chairman of Holt Renfrew (Canada), Selfridges (UK) and Brown Thomas (Ireland), as well as Vice-Chairman of Fortnum & Mason (UK). He is an Officer of the Order of Canada (1990), a member of the Order of Ontario (2005) and a Commander in the Order of St. John (1997). He holds a Bachelor of Arts and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario. He is Past Chairman of the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific (Canada), a past member of the International Advisory Council of Columbia University and an Honorary Trustee of The Upper Canada College Foundation.
Mr. Weston is also Chairman and President of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation (Canada), a family foundation that for four decades has made charitable grants in Canada for the benefit of Canadians, and which now directs the majority of its funds to organizations in the fields of education and conservation.
He is married to The Honourable Hilary Weston, the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. They have two children Alannah and Galen and four grandchildren. |
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| Jimmy Pattison |
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer The Jim Pattison Group Jim Pattison is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and sole owner of The Jim Pattison Group. The Jim Pattison Group is Canada’s 3rd largest privately held company and, in a recent survey by The Financial Post, The Jim Pattison Group was ranked as Canada’s 48th largest company. The Jim Pattison Group has more than 33,000 employees, annual sales of $7.2 billion and operations in 455 locations. With investments in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia, The Jim Pattison Group is involved in a wide variety of industries including: Food Services, Packaging, Distribution, Manufacturing, Communications, Entertainment, Transportation, and Export Services. The Jim Pattison Group began on May 8, 1961 when Mr. Pattison purchased a General Motors automobile dealership by borrowing $40,000 from the Royal Bank of Canada, and placing his home and life insurance policy with the Bank as collateral. Jim Pattison was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and moved with his parents from Saskatoon to Vancouver in 1935. He has lived in Vancouver ever since. While attending the University of British Columbia, Mr. Pattison paid his tuition and expenses by washing cars at a used car lot, and by selling cars to fellow students.
Jim Pattison has served as a Director on a number of Boards, and is currently a director of Canadian Forest Products ( Canfor Corporation ); Brookfield Asset Management, Sun-Rype Products, and serves as a Trustee on the Board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. He held the unpaid position of Chairman and President of Expo ’86, a world-class Exposition held in Vancouver, British Columbia from May 2, 1986 to October 13, 1986.
Mr. Pattison was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1987, and the Order of British Columbia in 1990. He is also the recipient of the Governor General’s Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canada. Mr. Pattison is an inductee of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and the Canadian Professional Sales Association Hall of Fame. He was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year – Lifetime Achievement Award in of 2000, the International Horatio Alger Award in Washington, DC in 2004,and the Young President’s Organzation Canadian Icon Award in 2007.
Mr. Pattison is married. He and his wife have three children, and in his leisure time, Mr. Pattison enjoys playing the piano, organ and trumpet. |
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| The Hon. Paul Desmarais |
Chairman of the Executive Committee of Power Corporation of Canada Mr. Desmarais was born January 4, 1927, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Desmarais obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa. He holds several honorary degrees and distinctions from Canadian universities. After his studies, Mr. Desmarais returned to Sudbury where, in 1951, he purchased control of Sudbury Coppercliff Street Railway. In 1959, he formed Transportation Management Corporation Limited which in 1960 purchased Provincial Transport Limited. In 1962, through Transportation Management, he obtained effective control of Gelco Enterprises Limited and, in 1963, purchased The Imperial Life Assurance Company of Canada. In 1965, he bought his first conglomerate, Trans-Canada Corporation fund. In 1967, Trans-Canada Corporation Fund formed Les Journaux Trans-Canada Ltée which, in 1968, purchased the major French-language newspaper La Presse (Montréal). In 1968, he acquired control of Power Corporation of Canada. Today, Power Corporation includes Gesca Ltée, which publishes La Presse and other daily and weekly newspapers; and Power Financial Corporation, which owns The Great-West Life Assurance Company, London Life Insurance Company, The Canada Life Assurance Company, Putnam Investments Trust, IGM Financial Inc., Investors Group Inc., Mackenzie Inc. and Pargesa Holding S.A., an international investment group based in Geneva. The Pargesa Group controls Imerys, is the largest single shareholder in Total and also has important investments in Suez, Lafarge and Pernod Ricard. Mr. Desmarais is Chairman of the Executive Committee of Power Corporation of Canada. He is also Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Pargesa Holding S.A. (Switzerland). He is Director Emeritus of Great-West Lifeco Inc. and IGM Financial Inc., and holds directorships in the following corporations: Gesca Ltée, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert S.A., Pargesa Holding S.A., Power Corporation of Canada, Power Financial Corporation and La Presse, Ltée. Mr. Desmarais is Founding Chairman of the Canada-China business Council. He is a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, a Companion of the Order of Canada, a Member of the National Order of Québec, as well as “Grand’Croix de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur” and “Commandeur de l’Ordre de Léopold II”. |
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