Rupert Duchesne

President and Chief Executive Officer, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Rupert Duchesne is President and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Duchesne spent twelve years in strategy and investment consulting around the world before he joined Air Canada in 1996 as Vice President, Marketing and in 1999 was promoted to Senior Vice President, International.  During that year, he served on the Executive team which defeated the Onex take-over bid, and was appointed Chief Integration Executive, overseeing the integration of Canadian Airlines and Air Canada. He was appointed to the position of President and CEO of Aeroplan in August 2000.  Mr. Duchesne holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor Honours degree in Pharmacology from the University of Leeds, both in England. He is a member of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Board of Trustees, where he is Chair of the Photography Committee and is a member of the Finance and Development Committees.  He was appointed in late 2008 to the Board of Directors of Greenwood College School.  He is also chair of the boards of the NeuroScience Canada Partnership, and NeuroScience Canada Foundation, chair of the NeuroScience Canada Governance Committee, a board member of Dorel Industries Inc., the Canadian Business for the Arts, the Luminato Festival; as well as the Université de Montréal’s Centre for International Studies (CÉRIUM).

David L. Adams

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

David L. Adams was appointed Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Aeroplan in July 2007.

Upon completion of the reorganization of Aeroplan Income Fund into Groupe Aeroplan Inc. on June 25, 2008, he was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Groupe Aeroplan.  Mr. Adams has executive responsibility for the overall financial strategic direction, control, reporting and financial monitoring of Groupe Aeroplan’s operations. He also oversees the organization’s access to and engagement with global capital markets. Before joining Aeroplan, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Photowatt Technologies Inc. Prior to Photowatt, he acted as Senior Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer of SR Telecom Inc. Mr. Adams previously held a variety of executive finance positions at CAE Inc. a global market leader in the production of flight simulators and control systems. Prior to these roles, he held a number of progressively senior roles with the Bank of Nova Scotia and Clarkson Gordon (Ernst & Young). Mr. Adams is a CA and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Finance Degree from the University of Toronto and has completed the Stanford Executive Program.

Jeff Balagna

President and Chief Executive Officer, Carlson Marketing
Executive Vice President, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Jeff Balagna is President and Chief Executive Officer of Carlson Marketing and Executive Vice President, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

With more than 27 years of experience, Mr. Balagna is a seasoned executive with broad marketing and general management expertise. His career spans multiple industries and includes stints at prominent brands including GE, Ford, Medtronic and Carlson. Before joining Groupe Aeroplan, Mr. Balagna was Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Carlson Marketing. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Carlson Restaurants, which included the TGI Friday's brand. He also was a board member of Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Carlson Restaurants Worldwide. Before that, Mr. Balagna served for four and a half years as Chief Administrative
Officer at Medtronic, the world's largest medical device company, where he managed global and quality operations, oversaw the creation of a shared services organization, and served as the companies first Chief Information Officer. Prior to Medtronic, he was with GE as General Manager-Operations of its US$4 billion Medical Systems Americas division and directed that group to greater than 20 percent per year record growth. He also has held executive roles at Ford Motor Company, and was the founder and CEO of DataComm, Inc. Additionally, he currently serves as a board and audit committee member of Tennant Company, and is a past board member of Minnesota Public Radio and the Minnesota Orchestra. Mr. Balagna holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He is also a graduate of the GE Executive Development program at Crotonville, in Ossining, New York, and is a certified master black belt in Six Sigma and Lean operations.

Liz Graham

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Liz Graham was appointed Chief Operations Officer, Aeroplan in June 2007.

Upon completion of the reorganization of Aeroplan Income Fund into Groupe Aeroplan on June 25, 2008, she was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Groupe Aeroplan. In her current role as Chief Operating Officer of Groupe Aeroplan, Ms. Graham is accountable for the operational integrity of the processes and tools deployed to ensure appropriate levels of integration, collaboration and oversight across the operating businesses of the Corporation, including integrated business planning and performance monitoring. Ms. Graham additionally leads post-transaction business integration. Ms. Graham joined Aeroplan in November 2000 as Vice President, Customer Service. Prior to Aeroplan, she spent 27 years with Air Canada in increasingly complex and senior operational roles, including General Manager − Call Centres & Aeroplan, Senior Director – Customer Service Support, Senior Director – Business Development Alliances & Regionals, General Manager – Customer Service Europe. In 1998, Ms Graham was appointed Vice President, Airports where she was responsible for all airport and cargo operations in North America. She holds the Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation.

Mark Hounsell

Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Mark Hounsell was appointed Vice President & General Counsel of Aeroplan in October 2006 and Corporate Secretary in November 2006.

Upon completion of the reorganization of Aeroplan Income Fund into Groupe Aeroplan on June 25, 2008, he was appointed Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Groupe Aeroplan. He has overall responsibility for the development and management of the legal framework for Groupe Aeroplan's various businesses, as well as leadership of the enterprise's corporate secretariat and governance portfolios. Prior to joining Groupe Aeroplan, from 1997 to 2006, Mr. Hounsell held various senior positions within the BCE group of companies, most recently as Assistant General Counsel for Bell Canada. In this role, Mr. Hounsell was responsible for managing Bell's legal commercial group to service the needs of Bell's Québec enterprise operations. Mr. Hounsell's previous work with BCE concentrated on M&A, financing initiatives and corporate governance, as well as various counsel positions at Bell Canada International Inc., including the position of Vice-President, Law and Corporate Secretary. After having received his degree in law at the Université de Montréal in 1991 and having been called to the Québec Bar in 1992, Mr. Hounsell worked in private practice as a corporate commercial lawyer specializing in securities prior to moving in-house.
 

David Johnston

President and Chief Executive Officer, Groupe Aeroplan-Europe
Executive Vice President, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

David Johnston was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer, Groupe Aeroplan Europe and Executive Vice President Groupe Aeroplan in January 2010.

In his role as President and CEO for Groupe Aeroplan Europe, he has full responsibility for driving the expansion of Groupe Aeroplan's businesses in Europe including Nectar and Nectar Italia. Mr. Johnston is also responsible for RMMEL, the operator of Air Miles Middle East, and for I&C. Mr. Johnston joined Groupe Aeroplan from PepsiCo where he spent 13 years in Marketing and General Management. Most recently he ran PepsiCo's Quaker/Tropicana Business Unit in the UK, driving significant market share and profit growth across the portfolio. Prior to this role Mr. Johnston has had extensive global experience in PepsiCo in Europe, Latin America and in PepsiCo's global headquarters in Purchase, New York. He holds an Honours Degree in Business from Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom.

Melissa Sonberg

Senior Vice President, Corporate Services, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Melissa Sonberg previously held the position of Vice President, Corporate Services, Aeroplan.

Upon completion of the reorganization of Aeroplan Income Fund into Groupe Aeroplan on June 25, 2008, she was appointed Senior Vice President, Corporate Services of Groupe Aeroplan. Mrs. Sonberg is responsible for the corporate affairs portfolio, overseeing all aspects of Groupe Aeroplan's human resources, corporate communications, and corporate social responsibility programs. She has hands on experience in the private and public sectors. She has previously held a number of senior management positions at Air Canada, including Director of Organizational Learning and Director – Customer Service Communication, Employee Involvement and Training. Mrs. Sonberg has also had key leadership roles in Québec's health and social services sector. Mrs. Sonberg's expertise in her field has been noted in the Who's Who of Canadian Business, the Who's Who of Canadian Women, the Who's Who of Canada, as well as Women in the Lead, the directory of qualified Canadian Women for Board Appointment. Mrs. Sonberg holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from McGill University and a Master's of Administration from the University of Ottawa. She currently guest lectures at McGill University, and other institutions. She also offers her expertise through involvement and Board membership of various organizations such as The Women's Y and The Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation. Ms. Sonberg is a graduate of the Director's Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds the designation ICD.D.

Vincent R. Timpano

President and Chief Executive Officer, Aeroplan Canada and Executive Vice President, Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

Vincent R. Timpano is President and Chief Executive Officer of Aeroplan Canada and Executive Vice President of Groupe Aeroplan Inc.

In this role, Mr. Timpano has full accountability for leading and growing the Aeroplan Canada business. Previously, he served as President, Coca-Cola Ltd. in Canada where he led the organization in the development and expansion of Canada's leading non-alcoholic beverage portfolio. Prior to holding that position, Mr. Timpano served as President and CEO for The Minute Maid Company Canada Inc., an operating unit of The Coca-Cola Company. In this role, he successfully oversaw all activities associated with the company's juice and juice drinks business. In addition to his broad general management experience, Mr. Timpano has a proven background in creating high value customer partnerships and stewarding globally and nationally recognized leading brands. He currently serves with the United Way, Toronto as member of the board of trustees, the Administration and Audit Committee as well as the Operations and Technology Committee. He is also the past Chair and former member of the board of directors of The Grocery Foundation. Mr. Timpano holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.