CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
SITEWIDE QUICK LINKS
GOVERNANCE
Assented to on June 11, 1998, during the First Session of the Thirty-sixth Parliament, the Canada Marine Act is “an Act for making the system of Canadian ports competitive, efficient and commercially oriented”. Among other things, the Act establishes the governance model for the board of directors, setting criteria for the qualifications, terms of appointment, eligibility, and other related matters.
Board of Directors
-
The governing directors of the Saint John Port Authority are appointed by four bodies as follows:
Federal government appoints one member (direct appointment)
Federal government appoints four additional members, which are recommended to the Minister by port users* via a nominating committee**
Province of New Brunswick appoints one member (direct appointment)
City of Saint John appoints one member (direct appointment)
* A port user is defined as a person (including a partnership, an association, a body corporate or an individual) who makes commercial use of, or provides services at, the port.
** The Nominating Committee is an advisory committee that provides advice to the Minister of Transport with respect to four director positions appointed by the Governor in Council. The Nominating Committee consists of four voting members representatives of certain classes of users of the Port within the domain of the Saint John Port Authority.
-
In accordance with the Government of Canada’s new appointment process announced early in 2016, the selection process of user-group nominated candidates will be transparent and merit-based, as well as striving for both gender parity and to be representative of Canada’s diversity.
The Letters Patent for Saint John Port Authority outlines a process to be followed by the Nominating Committee in soliciting and recommending candidates to the Minister (Schedule D of Letters Patent). The process includes receiving nominations, vetting them for eligibility against the criteria described in the Canada Marine Act and Letters Patent and then making recommendations to the Minister of Transport.
-
Once appointed to the board, members have a fiduciary obligation to represent the best interests of the Saint John Port Authority. The seven members of the board of directors offer a broad range of experience and expertise and have several roles:
Set direction and guide the port authority in fulfilling our mandate.
Approve the corporate vision, mission, values, and goals.
Set goals and objectives for corporate performance.
Review performance against goals and objectives.
-
Terms are not more than three years. Two re-appointments are permitted for a maximum of nine years.
-
The board of directors meets six times per year, usually for one full day.
Each director sits on at least 1 committee. Each committee has its own schedule, and the number of committee meetings varies, but typically meets at least once per quarter.
-
The Code of Conduct establishes clear conflict of interest rules and board members must disclose any potential or real conflicts of interest.
Board members
-
Federal
-
Jack Keir was appointed to the Board of Directors at Port Saint John in July 2019.
Mr. Keir was elected to the Legislative Assembly of NB to represent the electoral district of Fundy-River Valley in the 2006 election. He was appointed to cabinet and served as Minister of Energy from 2006-2010.
He has since served as the Director of Issues Management within the Office of the Premier, and as Executive Director of the Regional Services Commission.
He has also served in executive positions on the Saint John Harbour Bridge Authority and the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission.
Mr. Keir is founding Chair of the Regional Facilities Commission. He has served on several boards including being a past Board member of Enterprise Saint John and Co-Chair of LivingSJ.
JACK KEIR
Chair
-
Federal
-
Donna has acted as a strategic advisor to some of the top businesses and most innovative nonprofits in the region. Working with a team of talented marketing and communications professionals, she helped grow Bonfire Communications into one of New Brunswick’s most respected agencies. The company was acquired in 2022 and she is currently working with Inclusion NB as Senior Advisor, Stakeholder Relations.
Her skills have proven to be complementary to the nonprofit world. Donna has held senior roles in this sector notably as the Vice President of Philanthropy and Communications at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick, the Vice President of the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation and Executive Director of Living Saint John, a community-based initiative to tackle generational poverty in the port city.
She is very active in the community and is currently serving as a Director with the Horizon Health Network as well as a Director on both the YMCA’s endowment and operational boards. In 2022, Donna was named as one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business
DONNA GATES
Vice Chair
-
Federal
-
Thomas G. O’Neil, P.Eng, K.C. is a Lawyer with the law firm McInnes Cooper in Saint John. Mr. O’Neil’s practice focuses on complex disputes involving commercial, corporate, construction and products liability. He is also a professional engineer.
Mr. O’Neil has served on several boards including being a past Chair of Board for Service New Brunswick, a past Chair of Power Commission for the City of Saint John, and past President of the New Brunswick Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers.
THOMAS O’NEIL
Director
-
Municipal
-
Ralph Landers was appointed by the City of Saint John to the Board of Directors for Port Saint John in August 2023.
He served two terms on Saint John City Council, the first was serving under Samuel Davis (1977 - 1980) and then under Bob Lockhart (1980 - 1983) and was actively involved in the Development of Market Square and the Canada Summer Games.
Ralph has been involved in the construction industry since the mid 1970's and has served in many capacities such as apprentice, Journeyman, Foreman, Superintendent , instructor and for the past 25 years as Regional General Manager of Pro lnsul Limited.
He presently serves on several Boards such as the Province of New Brunswick Advisory Board for the Heat and Frost Insulator Trade, the Joint Apprenticeship Advisory Committee, Insulators Health, Welfare and Pension Board as well as the Saint John Construction Association's Negotiating Committee.
In recent years Ralph has dedicated countless hours in the advancement of diversity in the workforce, especially getting women in non- traditional skilled trades and is passionate about the need for improvement in the development of a safe work environment.
RALPH LANDERS
Director
-
Federal
-
Dr. Rinehart has over 18 years of experience as a leader in post-secondary business education at the University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ), serving in a variety of positions including Dean of the Faculty of Business, she has also held the elected position of Deputy Mayor for the City of Saint John (2012-2016).
While completing her academic studies and since achieving her current position as director of the MBA Program, Dr. Rinehart has served on numerous committees, boards and agencies, as well as written, collaborated, and reviewed dozens of academic articles on a wide range of topics in areas of marketing, public policy, and gender diversity.
An extremely active community volunteer with two decades of community service in a wide variety of organizations, Dr. Rinehart currently is involved in leadership roles with YMCA, Elementary Literacy Foundation, RPC, and she is an education consultant with the Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL).
SHELLEY RINEHART
Director
-
Federal
-
Peter McGuire has graduate degrees from Boston University and University of Toronto.
Within his 37-year governmental career he provided leadership to numerous innovative community mental health programs. In 2008, Peter was appointed by the Minister of Health to work in correlation with UNB Saint John to build the Promise Partnership Mentoring Initiative.
As a two-term Saint John City Councillor (2004-2012), he provided oversight for numerous civic projects including: civic pension reform, the building of police, justice and transit headquarters, and the completion of the Saint John Harbour Clean-up project.
Mr. McGuire has extensive governance experience and background with a number of community non-profit organizational boards. He has served on numerous committees, boards and agencies including the Saint John Police Commission, Crescent Valley Resource Centre, and Plan SJ to name a few.
PETER MCGUIRE
Director
-
Provincial
-
Shilo Boucher attended the University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ) and graduated from business administration in December of 1999. From 1999 to 2006, Shilo worked in a public accounting firm, where she obtained her chartered accountant (CPA) qualifications in 2002 and worked at Deloitte as a manager until moving to the YMCA in 2006. In addition, she previously, held positions as the Chief Financial Officer at the Saint John YMCA and the Moncton Y, and also Chief Operating Officer at the Saint John YMCA.
Since then, Shilo has become the President and CEO for the YMCA of Greater Saint John, which employees over 400 employees and 500 volunteers.
Shilo believes in supporting and being an active member in her community through building good governance and providing a helping hand when needed. Shilo recently ended her term as the Treasurer of the Saint John Airport Board of Directors. She has also served as President of The Resource Centre for Youth (the TRC), a director of Fusion and River Valley Recreational Center, Chair of the Board for Credit Counselling of Atlantic Canada, and the Treasurer for the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Saint John.