Mr. Gray is an exploration geologist who, for the past 50 years, has been engaged in the oil and natural gas exploration business in Western Canada. In 1973, Mr. Gray co-founded Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd., one of Canada’s larger natural gas producers. Over the 28 years of his involvement with Canadian Hunter, he served in the positions of Executive Vice President, President and CEO, and Chairman until the company was purchased by Burlington Resources in December 2001 for $3.4 billion.

Mr. Gray has participated in a wide range of community activities and projects. Among his current activities, he is Chairman of the Calgary Academy, Honourary Chair of the Canada West Foundation and an Honourary Life Director of the Calgary YMCA.

Mr. Gray is a member of the Board of Directors of Atlanta Gold Inc., Brookfield Asset Management Inc., Brookfield Renewable Power Inc., Phoenix Technology Income Fund and Resin Systems Inc. He is also Director Emeritus of Canadian National Railway and non-executive Chairman of Temple Energy Inc., a private Calgary oil and gas exploration company. Mr. Gray most recently became a member of the Alberta Premier’s Council for Economic Strategy.

Mr. Gray was awarded an Honourary Doctor of Laws degree in 1991 by the University of Calgary, the YMCA Fellowship of Honour in 1995, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995. In March of 2001, Mr. Gray received the Energy Person of the Year Award from the Energy Council of Canada. He was inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame in October 2001. In October 2002, Mr. Gray was invested as a Member of the Alberta Order of Excellence, and was inducted into the Calgary Business Hall of Fame in October 2004.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1910, St. Clair Balfour was the son of St. Clair Balfour II and Ethel May Southam (the daughter of William Southam, founder of Southam Newspapers).

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Trinity College in 1931, and then started working for The Hamilton Spectator, a Southam newspaper. He would remain at Southam, one of the largest communications and information companies in Canada, until retiring as Chairman in 1985.

During World War II, he served in the Royal Canadian Navy in the North Atlantic and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

After the war, he returned to The Spectator becoming its publisher in 1951. In 1954, he was appointed executive vice-president and managing director of the Southam company, where he became President in 1961, and in 1975 was appointed Chairman.

During his legendary 50-year newspaper career, Mr. Balfour built a reputation as a fierce advocate of editorial independence, freedom of the press and protecting Canadian publications form foreign takeover. He established the Southam Fellowship, a scholarship for working journalists that provides for a year of study at the University of Toronto.

In 1988, Mr. Balfour was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his status as one of the “most highly respected newspaper publishers in Canada”.

Class of 2004 David P. O’Brien is Chairman of the Board of EnCana Corporation, North America’s largest independent oil and gas company. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of several distinguished Canadian businesses, and has received many awards over the year. Beginning his career as a lawyer, O’Brien has a Bachelor of Economics from Loyola College (Montreal) and a Law Degree from McGill University. O’Brien held various management positions at Petro-Canada from 1978-1989, eventually becoming Executive Vice-President. He was Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Pacific Limited from 1996 until 2001, when Canadian Pacific was broken up into five public companies. In 2002, EnCana Corporation was created as a result of O’Brien’s successful negotiation of a merger between PanCanadian Energy Corporation and Alberta Energy Company Ltd. He then became Chairman of the newly formed company in April 2002. David has received honourary degrees from Bishop’s University and Mount Royal College in Calgary. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary for six years, and was the recipient of their 2001 Distinguished Business Leader award given jointly with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. O’Brien is Chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada, and serves on Boards of Directors of TransCanada PipeLines Limited, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Molson Inc. and Inco Limited. His past positions also include Chairman of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and Chairman of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (formerly Business Council of National Issues). David O’Brien is married with three children, and lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Gerald Schwartz is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba and was born in 1940. He received his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Manitoba, and his M.B.A. degree from Harvard University. Schwartz co-founded CanWest Global Communications Inc. in 1977, only to follow it with an equally impressive achievement, the founding of Onex Corporation in 1983.

As Chairman and CEO, Gerald Schwartz has expanded Onex into a global corporation and one of North America’s most successful private equity firms. In over 24 years, Onex has completed more than 210 acquisitions. Its principal businesses include electronic manufacturing services (Celestica), movie exhibition (Loews Cineplex), customer management services (ClientLogic), metal engineered buildings (MAGNATRAX) and automotive parts (Dura Automotive and J.L. French Aluminum Castings).

In addition to his accomplishments at Onex, Gerald Schwartz is a Vice Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of Mount Sinai Hospital, an Honorary Director of The Bank of Nova Scotia, and a director of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. He has developed a reputation as a steadfast supporter of the State of Israel, with Z Magazine calling him “one of Canada’s leading Israel lobbyists.”

Gerald Schwartz has given of both his time and money to a wide variety of causes, yet it is his commitment to education that stands as a true inspiration. The Gerald Schwartz School of Business and Information Systems at St. Francis Xavier University is named in his honour, in recognition of his donations to the University. He has also supported a unique exchange program between the University of Waterloo, Canada and the University of Haifa, Israel.

In 2005, Gerald Schwartz was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2006 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Gerald is married to Heather Reisman, Chief Executive of Indigo Books and Music. Together they reside in Toronto, Ontario and have four grown children and seven grandchildren.

Richard F. Haskayne was raised in Gleichen, Alberta, and received a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Alberta in 1956. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1959, and went on to become a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors, a Member of the Financial Executives Institute, and a Member of the CICA Commission to Study the Public’s Expectations of Audits (Macdonald Commission).

He was also Chairman of the Board of Governors, and Board Chair Emeritus, of the University of Calgary, held the title of President of the Calgary Petroleum Club, and was named a Life Member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Probably best known as Chairman of TransCanada Corporation, Haskayne was also the Chairman of NOVA Corporation when the company merged with TransCanada PipeLines Limited (TCPL). He was Chairman of TransAlta Corporation, MacMillan Bloedel Limited (when it was acquired by Weyerhaeuser Company) and Fording Inc.

Prior to 1992, Mr. Haskayne was Chairman, President, and CEO of Interhome Energy Inc., and spent more than twenty years with Hudson’s Bay Oil and Gas in various positions, before being elected President of that company in 1980. He also served as a Director of EnCana Corporation, Weyerhaeuser Company, and as Director Emeritus of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

In 1994, he received the Canadian Business Leader Award from the Faculty of Business at the University of Alberta, and subsequently received Honorary Doctorates of Laws from that institution, as well as from the University of Calgary. The Institute of Chartered Accountants awarded him their Distinguished Service Award in 1995, and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

The University of Calgary honoured him with The Richard F. Haskayne Chair in Accounting in 2001, and in 2002 the Faculty of Management was renamed the Haskayne School of Business.

Mr. Haskayne was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1997.

John L. Bragg was born in 1941 and is a native of Springhill, Nova Scotia. He launched Oxford Frozen Foods in 1968 with a production capacity of 2 million pounds of wild blueberries per year. Today, Oxford has the world’s largest berry farm with 14,000 acres of wild blueberry properties in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Maine. The company also owns six processing factories, with a daily production capacity of more than 3 million pounds.

From the beginning, Mr. Bragg focused on developing lucrative business relationships. Most of the wild blueberries processed by Oxford today come from independent farmers who have been dealing with the company for many years. Customers are just as loyal – Oxford’s wild blueberries are recognized as a benchmark worldwide. Over the years, Bragg has developed markets for Oxford all over the world, including large customers in Japan, Germany, France and the United States.

Seeking diversification, Mr. Bragg has ventured into many other businesses and products, including frozen carrots, battered products, building supplies, and telecommunications. EastLink, his telecommunications company, was established in 1970 and is the largest privately owned cable television company in Canada, serving most of Nova Scotia and all of PEI. Delivering state of the art digital video and high speed internet services to urban and rural customers alike, Bragg has displayed his distinctive entrepreneurial flair by successfully launching a local residential telephone system over the cable network, establishing a new business that is unique to Canada.

Mr. Bragg has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Education from Mount Allison University, and became its Chancellor in 2004. He is a director for several well-known Canadian companies, including Sobeys Inc., the Empire Company Ltd., and Canada Bread Ltd. In 1999, Bragg was acknowledged with the Atlantic Canadian Philanthropist of the Year Award.

John Bragg shows few signs of slowing down. In 1994, he was awarded the National Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Governor General of Canada, Ray Hnatyshyn. Soon after, Mr. Bragg was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996. Oxford Frozen Foods continues to provide many opportunities in small town Nova Scotia, demonstrating his commitment to community.

The Honorable John W.H. Bassett was born in 1915 in Ottawa, Ontario to Margaret Avery and John Bassett, publisher of the Montreal Gazette. He would become founder and President of Baton Broadcasting Limited, a company that has since expanded and transformed into today’s CTVglobemedia.

Graduating with a B.A. from Bishop’s University in 1936, Bassett’s career as a reporter began with the Toronto Globe and Mail. Enlisting in the Canadian Army in 1940, he returned at the end of the war to a brief career in politics as a staunch Conservative.

His media acquisitions began with his father’s newspaper The Sherbrooke Daily Record, followed in 1952 with the Toronto Telegram. Baton Broadcasting was founded in 1960 to establish CFTO-TV, Toronto’s first private TV station. It was Bassett’s objective to eventually take over the CTV network, and he succeeded in his goal in 1997.

Bassett also expressed a keen interest in Canadian sports, owning the Toronto Argonauts from 1957 until 1979. He was also one of the “Silver Seven,” who in 1957 oversaw the Toronto Maple Leafs. A major shareholder in both teams, John became chairman of Maple Leaf Gardens’ board of directors in 1964, and President in 1969.

John Bassett’s philanthropy was bestowed generously upon medicine, the arts, and causes for religious tolerance, through such organizations as the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, the Stratford Festival, and the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. A friend of Robert F. Kennedy, Bassett was a pallbearer at his funeral. In 1985, John Bassett was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 1992 he was elevated to Companion, the highest rank of the Order of Canada. His appointment to the Order of Ontario was made in 1988.

Bassett died in 1998 at the age of 83, survived by his wife Isabel Macdonald, Ontario Minister of Culture and Citizenship, and his five children. He was inducted posthumously into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2000, and will be remembered as a prominent figure in Canadian business, sports and journalism.

Richard J. Currie was born in Saint John, New Brunswick and attended the University of New Brunswick, and the Technical University of Nova Scotia graduating with a degree in Chemical Engineering.

Following a career at Atlantic Sugar Refineries, he graduated from Harvard Business School, and joined the management consultants McKinsey & Company, based in New York, until he went to work for Loblaw Companies in Toronto in 1972.

He has served on the Boards of many educational and charitable institutions, including Mount Allison University, Bishop Strachan School, the Canadian Stage Company, The Art Gallery of Ontario and the Historica Foundation of Canada.

Currie’s commercial affiliations have included Directorships of CAE Inc., Staples Inc., Imperial Oil Limited, and as a member of the International Advisory Boards of RJR Nabisco in Atlanta and Jacobs Suchard in Zurich. He also sat as Chairman of the Board of Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE, Inc.), as well as holding the positions of President and Director of George Weston Limited, and Loblaw Companies Limited.

Under his leadership, the market value of Loblaw increased from $40 million to $14 billion, and became Canada’s largest food retailer, with 650 corporately-owned locations and over 400 franchised stores, and during his tenure as President of George Weston Limited, that company grew to be the second largest and most profitable baker in North America.

Other postings included Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Richard Ivey School of Business Administration at the University of Western Ontario, Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick, and as a Member of the Visiting Committee to the Harvard Business School.

The Canadian food industry awarded him its highest award, The Golden Pencil, and the American supermarket industry its highest honour, The Rabb Award. The Retail Council of Canada named him their Distinguished Retailer of the Year in 1997.

In 1997 Currie was appointed to the Order of Canada, and in 2001 was chosen as Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year.

William M. Mercer’s early career as an economist at the Powell River Company led to an assignment to establish the company’s pension plan. After struggling with no guidance to gather the necessary information, Mercer realized that there must be a market for the knowledge he’d gained. He subsequently set up William M. Mercer Limited in Vancouver, in 1945.

Bill Mercer’s vision lay in recognizing the value of knowledge and how it relates to pensions as the wave of the future, and in keeping his company independent of any financial interest about which type of pension it recommended. He managed to do so in spite of much pressure and the heated objections of many insurers.

He sought out the best people to work in his new company. As he famously said, “Never be afraid to hire people smarter than you are. Having them snapping at your heels will keep you on your toes.”

Bill was also very involved with the Canadian Institute for the Blind; and donated funds to begin construction of a new library in Nanaimo, in memory of his father.

André Chagnon was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1928. The son of an electrician, Chagnon established his own electrical contracting business, Chagnon Electric, at the age of 29. Seven years later he sold his company and entered the cable television industry. Chagnon founded Le Groupe Videotron in 1964, and under his leadership the company grew into one of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies.

Le Groupe Videotron won international acclaim for its innovative contributions to the field of pay television and telecommunications. The company grew significantly, with substantial holdings in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Its success can be attributed to Chagnon’s vision and perseverance, and he is recognized as a groundbreaker in the industry.

Following the purchase of Le Groupe Videotron by Quebecor Media in 2000, Chagnon began to devote his time and energy to charitable pursuits. He established the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon, dedicated to fighting chronic poverty and promoting preventative healthcare. With over $1.4 billion in assets, it became the largest foundation in Canada.

His outstanding efforts have been recognized in many forms. Chagnon was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992, and an Officer of l’Ordre national du Quebec in 2003. He was also named a co-recipient of the Medal for Exceptional Contributions to Early Childhood Development in 2003, awarded by the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development.  In 2005, he was granted the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

Michel Patry, director of the HEC Montreall business school, has described Chagnon as a visionary, a “bold and tireless entrepreneur who has left a major industrial and commercial legacy in Quebec.” Patry is also one of the many to have also praised Chagnon’s “profound social and philanthropic commitment.” It is certain that André Chagnon’s contributions will continue to influence lives for years to come.

Charles Lake Gundy was born the day his father co-founded Wood Gundy Ltd., one of Canada’s leading securities and investment firms.

Charles joined the firm at age 21, upon graduating from the University of Toronto, and in the course of his 52-year career worked his way up from mail clerk to Chairman of the Board.

Between 1941 and 1945, Gundy served with the Toronto Scottish Regiment in Canada, England and Egypt, rising to the rank of major.

A highly involved supporter of children’s healthcare, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children for twelve years, and was the instigator of many important studies into the causes of mental illness.

He was a Director of many Canadian companies, including the Abitibi Paper Company, Simpsons Ltd. and Massey Ferguson Ltd.