Board of Directors
Sylvain Lafrance
Chair of the Board
Montreal, Quebec
With a career spanning more than three decades at CBC/Radio-Canada, Sylvain Lafrance has made his mark as an expert in the fields of media management and communications. Before leaving the organization in 2011, he served as Senior Vice-President of French Services, where he led the integration of the state-owned company’s radio, television and Internet services. Under his leadership, CBC/Radio-Canada launched innovative projects, such as the TOU.TV platform, marking the start of the digital era for the public broadcaster.
After which, Mr. Lafrance joined HEC Montréal as associate professor and director of the Media Pole, where he continues to influence the media landscape through his expertise. He is also director of the magazine “Gestion,” a quarterly and digital publication covering major trends in the world of management.
Mr. Lafrance also left his mark as President of the Conseil des arts et des Lettres du Québec and as a member of the Board of Directors of Attraction Médias. On the international scene, he chaired the Community of French-speaking public radio stations and was a member of the Board of Directors of TV5 Monde.
Mr. Lafrance has received several prestigious distinctions. He is notably a member of the Order of Canada and Knight of the Order of the Pléiade, the Order of Arts and Letters and the Legion of Honor of the French Republic.
Etoile Stewart
Vice Chair of the Board
Chair of the Nominating, Evaluation and Governance Committee
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Etoile Stewart is a highly effective, accomplished strategist with a proven ability to manage competing interests, personalities and issues to reach desired outcomes. (Skills that were first honed working in post-production for nearly a decade). Having worked in all levels of government, she is now a management consultant based in Winnipeg specializing in strategic planning and government relations for a diverse range of clients. Specific areas of expertise include strategic planning, project execution, government and stakeholder relations, governance and policy development and analysis.
Etoile is keenly interested in supporting people, organizations and decision making that foster and promote arts and culture in Canada and is deeply committed to creating and supporting opportunities for new voices and ideas.
Claude Doucet
Member
Ottawa, Ontario
Claude is Chair of the Board of Governors of The Ottawa Hospital (TOH). He is a seasoned executive who spent more than 30 years in the federal government. During that period, he held various executive positions. From 2018 to 2023, he was Secretary General at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), with responsibility for the secretariat function, as well as finance, human resources and IM/IT. He’s led communications teams at both the CRTC and Canadian Heritage. He has promoted and planned communications for high-profile events such as the Discoverability Summit held in 2016, the development of the logo for Canada’s 150th Anniversary, the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2015 Pan-American Games and Royal Tours in 2010 and 2011. He also has extensive experience in broadcasting and regulatory policy development, both at the CRTC and Canadian Heritage.
Claude is an active volunteer in his community. He joined the board of governors at TOH in June 2016 and since June 2022, he’s been Chair of the Board at TOH, as well as a director at The University of Ottawa Heart Institute. From 2009 to 2015, he served as an observer on the board of MediaSmarts, a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization that promotes digital and media literacy. From 2008 to 2019, he managed many house league hockey teams as his three boys were growing up in the west end of Ottawa. He enjoys sailing and nature photography.
Claude obtained his Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degree from Laurentian University in 1991 and his Certified General Accountant designation in 1996.
Deborah MacPherson, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D, CFP.
Member
Calgary, Alberta
Deb MacPherson is a CPA, business executive and experienced board director based out of Calgary, Alberta. Her career spanned over 3 decades as a senior tax partner with KPMG Canada, where she most recently was the Tax Business Unit Leader for KPMG’s Western region. Deb worked closely with her team in areas of recruitment and mentoring as well as process improvement through digitization. She is currently Board Chair of Special Olympics Alberta and is a proud supporter of individuals with an intellectual disability. She also serves on the boards of ApartmentLove and Alberta Commonwealth Games 2030 Bid Corporation.
Deb is passionate about championing women, gender diverse and other under-represented groups in Canada. Her grass root volunteer activities include crew coordinator for the Calgary Folk Music Festival and fundraising through the Tour Alberta. She enjoys cycling, running, reading and travelling.
Emmanuelle Létourneau, Lawyer, LL.M., CSA, C.Dir.
Governmental Affairs Committee
Montreal, Quebec
Emmanuelle Létourneau is a business lawyer, member of the bar in Quebec and Paris, and president of Létourneau Gouvernance Entreprenante, a governance consulting firm she founded in 2016.
She is a member of Telefilm Canada’s board of directors, chair of its communications and public and government affairs committee, and a member of its audit committee, a member of the ethics committee of the Ordre des infirmières et des infirmiers du Québec (Quebec order of nurses), a member of the executive committee of the Institute of Corporate Directors (Quebec), co-chair of its medium-sized business forum committee, and a governance mentor for a green technology start-up accelerator and for Femmessor. She is author of a number of books, including Gouvernance d’entreprise: perspectives juridiques et pratiques (corporate governance: legal and practical perspectives), published by Éditions Yvon Blais/Thomson Reuters.
Before launching her own company, she worked for Bombardier Transportation, the Autorité des marchés financiers (Quebec financial markets regulator), the National Bank of Canada, and Desjardins Capital.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Université Laval, a master’s degree in business law from Université de Montréal, and a certificate in corporate governance from the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés/Université Laval. She also studied international and European law at Université Paris II.
She is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Sean Ponnambalam
Member
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Sean Ponnambalam is a lawyer and consultant based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. He holds a BSc in psychology and a law degree from Dalhousie University. Sean is a long-time supporter of grass-roots mental health initiatives, being most closely involved with the Halifax Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association where he sits as Chair of the Board of Directors. He is a Past Chair of the Khyber Centre For the Arts and is the current Chair of the College of Occupational Therapists of Nova Scotia. He also acts as Treasurer for the Nova Scotia Board of Examiners in Psychology, where he is the founding Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is active in complaint investigations. An effort to include outside perspectives and marginalized voices in the decision-making process is a connecting thread throughout Sean’s work. In his spare time, he can be found surfing in both the sunshine and the snow.
Suzanne Guèvremont
Government Film Commissioner, Ex officio Member
Montreal, Quebec
In November 2022, Suzanne Guèvremont became the 17th Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada. Named to a five-year term, she is the third woman and first Francophone woman to hold this position.
With more than 25 years’ management experience in the higher education, culture and technology sectors, Ms. Guèvremont has been recognized for her significant contributions to the development and vitality of Quebec’s creative industries, particularly 3D animation, visual effects, video games, and immersive experiences. She was the Director of Montreal’s École des arts numériques, de l’animation et du design (NAD-UQAC) from 1999 to 2022, and under her leadership the school became a globally recognized university. Ms. Guèvremont signed several international partnership agreements, notably for a combined diploma program with Tianjin University of Technology in China. From 2018 to 2020, working with a mandate from the Quebec Ministry of Higher Education, she founded SYNTHÈSE – Pôle Image Québec, which promotes collaboration among the worlds of education, research, creation, and creative firms in the digital field.
Ms. Guèvremont has served on a number of boards of national organizations, including CBC/Radio-Canada and the Bell Fund, as well as Quebec’s Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) and the Alliance numérique. In addition, she is a sought-after speaker, both in Canada and internationally.
Ms. Guèvremont is a certified Corporate Director (C.Dir. – ASC, 2021), has a graduate diploma in business administration from HEC Montréal (1997), is a past member of the Barreau du Québec (1993–2012), and holds a bachelor’s degree in Legal Science from Université du Québec à Montréal (1992).