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Corporate Governance

The Directors of Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated, the Board of Directors of CS ManPar Inc. (the managing partner of Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership), and the management team of Clearwater are committed to a high standard of corporate governance. Effective corporate governance requires specified reporting structures and business processes, a strategic planning process, and a commitment to work according to these. We believe that sound corporate governance contributes to unitholder value and to trust and confidence in Clearwater.

Learn more on Corporate Governance in our 2019 Management Information Circular.

Ian D. Smith | Chief Executive Officer

Ian D. Smith is the Chief Executive Officer of Clearwater Seafoods. Mr. Smith joined Clearwater in May 2010 with over 29 years of international experience in the food and consumer products industry. Prior to joining Clearwater, Mr. Smith held senior leadership positions at the Campbell Soup Company within Canada, the United States and China. Prior to his time at Campbell’s, Mr. Smith held various international marketing, sales and business development positions with Allergan, Colgate-Palmolive and the Gillette Company.

Mr. Smith participates on a number of boards and advisory groups focused on international trade and public policy. He is a graduate of McGill University (BA Economics, MBA) and a former Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve.

Teresa Fortney | Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Teresa Fortney joined Clearwater in March 2016 as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Teresa is responsible for financial and management reporting, treasury, taxation, investor relations and information systems and technology. With over 30 years of senior leadership experience in the consumer foods industry, Teresa has spent most of her career working in growth oriented, multi-site manufacturing and distribution environments. Prior to joining Clearwater, Teresa held a variety of financial leadership roles at Wescast Industries, Maple Leaf Foods, Schneider Foods and McCormick Spices. These roles have provided her with extensive operational, capital markets, international and mergers and acquisition experience.

Teresa is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants Association of Canada (“FCPA, FCMA”) and a University of Waterloo mathematics graduate.

Teresa has been a board member for numerous charitable and professional organizations and is currently the chair of CPA Canada’s Foresight Committee providing strategic guidance as the profession broadens its competencies and expertise.

Christine A. Penney | Vice President, Sustainability and Public Affairs

Christine joined Clearwater in 1995 and is responsible for the oversight of corporate sustainability programs, including fisheries research and management of each of our core fisheries and 3rd party certification programs. She is also responsible for public affairs and corporate communications. Christine has been on the Board of Trustees for the Marine Stewardship Council (Co-chair of Stakeholder council) since 2009 and serves on the board of directors for several industry associations including the Fisheries Council of Canada, Seafood Producers of NS, and the Association of Sustainable Fisheries. Christine is a graduate of Dalhousie University where she received a BS and a Masters in Marine Management.

Dieter Gautschi | Vice President, Human Resources

Dieter Gautschi is accountable for Human Resources globally. He works with the business to drive organizational performance and Clearwater’s organizational capability and capacity. Dieter joined Clearwater in July 2015 bringing over 15 years of global experience in senior Human Resource roles in the food and retail industry. Prior to Clearwater, Dieter was Vice President of Leadership Planning and National Director of Human Resources for Sobeys Inc., he also held senior roles in Human Resources with Coca Cola in Europe. A Canadian citizen and native of Switzerland, Dieter holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a degree as Naval Architect.

Tony Jabbour | Vice President, Fleet Operations

Tony Jabbour began his career with Clearwater in 1993 after studying Business Administration at St. Mary’s University in Halifax. He continued to expand his skills both academically and professionally through extensive training courses and hands-on global experience. In 2003 he accepted the role as General Manager of Clearwater’s lobster division where he oversaw restructuring of the European lobster operations and played an instrumental role in the research & development of high-pressure shucking technology for lobsters. In 2010, Tony transitioned to Fleet as Senior Operations Manager, working directly with the Vice President, Managers and Captains to advance a continuous improvement culture and harvesting automations onboard, which included things such as commercialization of Clearwater’s Auto Shucking Technology. Now, as Vice President of Fleet Operations, Tony is responsible for Clearwater’s global harvesting operations in Canada, Argentina and Scotland (Macduff) & leads fleet gear and processing R&D.

Darren Bowen | Vice President, Supply Chain

Darren Bowen is the Vice President of Global Supply for Clearwater Seafoods. Darren joined the Clearwater organization in 2015 with over 25 years of senior leadership experience within the fast-moving food and consumer products industry. Darren is a recognized industry leader in global supply chain management and has held senior transformational leadership roles at Estée Lauder, Kraft Foods, Mars and Clorox, all with a focus on driving product, process & people innovation, operational excellence and supply chain & industry collaboration. Darren is a graduate of York University and Georgia Institute of Technologies and is responsible for building the global supply chain network and organizational capabilities for Clearwater Seafoods.

Telaina M. Kelly | Vice President, Legal & Corporate Secretary

Telaina Kelly is Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary for Clearwater, managing the Legal Department and overseeing the company’s legal affairs globally. Telaina is responsible for the legal and corporate secretarial functions, including securities reporting, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, enterprise risk management and support for a wide range of commercial and operational matters.

Telaina joined Clearwater in 2015 having held senior management roles in private sector and law firm environments.

Telaina holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calgary in Alberta. She also holds CIC.C (Certified In-House Counsel-Canada) designation from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Business.

She has served in various volunteer and board positions in the legal and business community and is a volunteer lawyer with the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. Telaina is actively involved in the Women General Counsel Canada (WGCC) Atlantic Chapter.

Colin MacDonald

Mr. Colin MacDonald co-founded Clearwater with Mr. John Risley in 1976 and has served in various capacities within Clearwater from that time. He is currently Chairman of the Corporation as well as executive VP of Clearwater Fine Foods Incorporated (“CFFI”) a company he shares equally with Mr. Risley. Prior to that Mr. MacDonald was the CEO of Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership (“CSLP”) until May 2010 and he is the former Chairman of CSLP from January 2009 – October 2011.
He has also been active in community related associations, including his former roles as Chair of the IWK Foundation, Chair of the Prince Charities Canada Event in Halifax in 2013. He has acted as Honorary Chair of UNICEF Dinner, the Phoenix House Dinner and other served charitable fundraising efforts as well as serving as Chair of Fund Raising Campaigns for Children’s Wish, Red Cross and others. In addition he has received a number of awards such as the Courage to Give Back Award, Top 50 CEO and Honorary Degrees for his charitable efforts, most notably Doctorate’s from Dalhousie University, St Mary’s University and University of Prince Edward Island. Colin holds a Bsc from Dalhousie and is a graduate of the Harvard University President’s Program on Leadership.

John Risley

John Risley is the co –founder of Clearwater Fine Foods Inc serving as Chairman and President. Clearwater Fine Foods is an active investment/holding company with its major investments in Seafood Harvesting and Processing, through Clearwater Seafoods Limited and Telecommunications, through its investment in Cable and Wireless PLC. John serves on the Board of Directors of both these public companies.

Mr. Risley was named an Officer of the Order of Canada and was inducted into the Nova Scotia Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 1997. He has received numerous awards, including Atlantic Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year and a Canada Award for Business Excellence in Entrepreneurship. He is also a graduate of Harvard University’s President’s Program and Leadership.

Jane Craighead

Jane Craighead is a Senior Vice President in Global Human Resources at Scotiabank. Her corporate experience also includes similar roles at Alcan and Rio Tinto, a large UK based mining conglomerate. Ms. Craighead is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and worked for many years in practice and in consulting. She holds a PhD in Management from McGill University. She is currently a director of CS ManPar Inc., the managing general partner of CSLP, a position she has held since May 2015.

Ms. Craighead joined the Board of Directors of Jarislowsky Fraser, one of Canada’s leading independent investment firms, in 2018. She has many years of experience on the Human Resources side of mergers and acquisitions as well as post transaction integration. Ms. Craighead is currently based in Toronto at Scotiabank’s corporate offices and has worked internationally. Ms. Craighead has published research on executive compensation and corporate governance. She has also been awarded one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network.

Larry Hood

Larry Hood, Chair of the Audit Committee, is a retired assurance partner, having spent his entire 35 year career, with the accounting firm KPMG. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary’s University and is a Chartered Accountant. During Larry’s career he served many clients, gaining extensive experience in the fishing industry. He has been involved with many community projects and in 2014 he retired from the Board of Governors of Saint Mary’s University having served for 17 years on the board as well as chairing and participating on various committees.

Brendan Paddick

Brendan Paddick is the founder and chief executive officer of Columbus International Inc. Columbus provides digital video, broadband internet, IP voice, wholesale capacity and IP services, as well as cloud-based corporate data solutions and data center hosting throughout 42 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central American and Andean region.

Mr. Paddick holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business Administration from Memorial University of Newfoundland and graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. Mr. Paddick has extensive capital market experience and was selected as one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 in 2000. He was named Ernst & Young’s Atlantic Canadian Business-to-Business Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011, is a member of the Atlantic Business Hall of Fame and was honoured as Memorial University’s Alumnus of the Year in 2013.

Mickey MacDonald

Mr. MacDonald has an Honorary Doctorate of Commerce from Saint Mary’s University and has won numerous business and personal awards including the 2008 Nova Scotia Humanitarian of the Year, 2007 Halifax Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year, 2006 was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame by Atlantic Business Magazine as a five time winner of the Top 50 Atlantic Canadian CEO’s, 2005 Nova Scotia Philanthropist of the Year, 2004 Newfoundland Philanthropist of the Year, and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Stan Spavold

Stan Spavold, FCA, CPA (California) joined Clearwater Fine Foods Incorporated as Executive Vice-President in November of 2002. Working alongside the President of CFFI, Mr. Spavold provides a broad oversight role at Clearwater serving on the Boards of the public and private companies over which Clearwater has significant influence or control. Stan serves on the Board of Directors of Columbus International Inc., FP Resources Limited, Coastal Shellfish Limited Partnership, Norvista Capital Limited Partnership, BIOX Corporation and BIOX Canada Limited. He is active in a number of community not-for-profit organizations.

Jim Dickson

Jim M. Dickson, Q.C., P.Eng. – Mr. Dickson is a Partner with the law firm Stewart McKelvey practicing primarily in the areas of mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance and securities. In addition to practicing law, he is a professional engineer and a Registered Trade-mark Agent. Mr. Dickson is a member of the CBA, NSBS and the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia. He is the Chair of the Board of Regents Mount Allison University and past Chair of the IWK Health Centre Foundation.

Vicki McKibbon

Vicki McKibbon is the President of Transportation with Armour Transportation Systems, based in Moncton, New Brunswick. She is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), with several years of experience in the negotiation and execution of acquisitions, as well as post-transaction integration. Vicki holds a Bachelor of Science, First Class Honors in Chemistry from Mount Allison University, in addition to a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Queen’s University.
Vicki is a Regent on the Board of Regents at Mount Allison University, where she currently serves as Chair of the Audit Committee. She’s also a Director on the Canadian Trucking Alliance Board and currently serves as Past Chair on the Board of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association. Vicki helped lead several change management initiatives, including significant system implementations and most recently a corporate-wide transportation management software transition

Karl W. Smith

Karl W. Smith is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Fortis. Mr. Smith’s career with the Fortis Group spanned nearly 30 years working in various capacities for FortisAlberta, Newfoundland Power and Fortis Inc.
Mr. Smith earned a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and is a member of the Association of Chartered Professional Accountants of Newfoundland and Labrador. He has served on the boards of CH Energy, FortisOntario, FortisAlberta, Caribbean Utilities, UNS Energy and FortisBC, all Fortis utilities. He is also Chair of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty of Business Administration’s Advisory Board, and serves on the boards of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council and Junior Achievement of Newfoundland and Labrador.

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