2015 Inductee Biographies
In 1968, Peter Brown and his partner, Ted Turton, founded Canaccord Financial Inc. through the purchase of a majority interest in Hemsworth, Turton & Co. Mr. Brown built the firm into Canada’s largest independent investment dealer. Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is now a global investment bank listed on the TSX and LSE exchanges.
Mr. Brown is very proud of his British Columbia origins and throughout his career has given back to the industry and his province through his involvement with various organizations, including volunteer work.
Mr. Brown currently serves as Chairman of the Fraser Institute and the Vancouver Police Foundation; is an Honorary Chairman of the fund drive for Emily Carr University of Art and Design; sits on the Board Governors of the Business Council of British Columbia; is a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Federal Minister of Finance; is a Member of the Vancouver Art Gallery Selection Committee; and is involved with many other worthy organizations.
His industry involvement includes serving as past Vice-Chairman of the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC); past Chairman of the Vancouver Stock Exchange; and past member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada.
In 2003, Mr. Brown was awarded the Order of British Columbia in recognition of his fundraising efforts for various charities and organizations in BC and the vital role played in the financing of many BC businesses.
In 2010, Mr. Brown was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.
In 2012, Mr. Brown was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the IIAC in recognition of his contributions to the Canadian investment industry.
In May 2014, Mr. Brown was inducted to the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
Mr. Brown also holds Honorary Degrees from the University of British Columbia, The Justice Institute of British Columbia and Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Fred Ketchen, widely known as the “Dean of Bay Street”, retired from ScotiaMcLeod in May 2014, as Director, Equity Trading after a career in trading that spanned 57 years.
Mr. Ketchen joined McLeod, Young, Weir & Company Ltd. at the age of 22, in September 1957. In 1968, he was elected a Director of McLeod, Young, Weir and was appointed Vice President in 1975. Following the purchase in 1988 by the Bank of Nova Scotia, which renamed the firm ScotiaMcLeod, Mr. Ketchen was appointed Senior Vice President & Director of Equity Trading and subsequently Managing Director, Equity Trading.
In 1989, he was elected a Governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange and served two years as Vice Chairman before being elected Chairman of the TSE in May 1993 for a two-year term.
Over his career, Mr. Ketchen served as Director of the Design Exchange in Toronto and the Anglican Church Army in Canada, and Chairman of the Trillium Health Centre Foundation in Mississauga.
In 2012 he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Guelph/Humber, and was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) in recognition of his extraordinary career in the Canadian investment industry.
Donald A. Leslie was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in Ontario in 1966.
His early professional career progressed through increasingly responsible roles leading to partner at Ernst & Young (Formerly of Clarkson Gordon and Woods Gordon).
In 1967, Clarkson Gordon recommended him to the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA) as Chief Examiner for a period of three years.
In 1968, Mr. Leslie recommended the creation of a fund which would be used to protect investors in the event of the failure of a Member of the IDA, or one of the stock exchanges. As a result, the National Contingency Fund (NCF)—later renamed Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF)—was created. He served as National Examiner of the NCF and later as President and Chief Executive Officer of the CIPF. Under his leadership, the Fund grew from $20 million in 1989 to over $150 million in 1998.
Mr. Leslie’s career spanned over 30 years during which he served on many industry committees.
Mr. Leslie has been active in community service for several decades. He served three terms as President of the Canadian Hearing Society and was a founding director of the Hearing Foundation of Canada. For almost two decades he served as a member of the board of directors and treasurer of two local associations for the developmentally handicapped. He currently serves as a member of the Finance Committee of United Way Windsor Essex County and he is a major financial supporter of its programs.
In 1980, Mr. Leslie was awarded a Gold Medal by the American Accounting Association for his book Dollar-Unit Sampling in Auditing. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 1982. In 1990, he received the AAA Distinguished Service in Auditing Award for his outstanding contribution to the accounting profession. Shortly after his retirement in 1998 the RCMP invited Mr. Leslie to their biennial awards ceremony and presented him with an RCMP Partnership Pin and a special award of recognition for his contributions to the RCMP Commercial Crime Program over three decades.
In 2012, Mr. Leslie was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) in recognition of his contribution to investor protection.
Mr. Winograd retired from RBC Capital Markets in December 2008, where he served as Deputy Chairman from 1996 to 1998, President and Chief Operating Officer from 1998 to 2001, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2001 to 2008.
Mr. Winograd began his career at Richardson Securities in 1971 as an Investment Analyst and had several progressively senior positions with Richardson Greenshields and predecessor companies, becoming President and Chief Executive Officer in 1987 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1991 until it merged into RBC Dominion Securities in 1996.
During Mr. Winograd’s years at the helm, RBC’s investment banking business experienced tremendous growth. Gordon Nixon, past CEO of Royal Bank of Canada, stated: “Mr. Winograd deserves credit for both expanding the bank and protecting it from the worst of the credit crunch.” (Source: The Globe and Mail, September 25, 2008.)
Mr. Winograd is Chairman of the Board of Directors of TMX Group Inc. and a member of its Governance Committee and Human Resources Committee. He is presently on the Board of Talisman Energy Inc. and James Richardson and Sons Limited.
Mr. Winograd is a Director of Mt. Sinai Hospital and Chairman of its Business Development committee. He also serves on the Board of Pathways to Education Canada and is on the Advisory Council for Promoting Women on Boards. Mr. Winograd and his wife have been big supporters of the United Way. In 2007, the couple was recognized in the United Way’s Chairman’s Club.
Mr. Winograd served as a past Chairman of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada.
In 2012, Mr. Winograd was awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) in recognition of his contributions to the Canadian investment industry.
Posthumous Inductees
Jalynn H. Bennett was born in Toronto. She graduated from Trinity College, University of Toronto, with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1965.
After graduation, Ms. Bennett began her career with The Manufacturer’s Life Insurance Company as a secretary, and then went on to became Vice-President, Corporate Development reporting to the CEO.
In 1989, Ms. Bennett left Manulife after 25 years and established her own strategic consulting firm, Jalynn H. Bennett & Associates. As a woman in leadership, Ms. Bennett had a transformative impact on the lives of many women.
Over the course of her career, she served on numerous corporate boards: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Nortel Networks, Teck Cominco, Sears Canada, Cadillac Fairview, Bombardier, Rexel Canada Electrical, CanWest Global Communications Corporation, Ontario Power Generation, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, the Ontario government’s Public Accountants Council, and the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.
From 1989 to 1994, Ms. Bennett became and served as the first female Director of the Bank of Canada. As well, she served as Commissioner of the Ontario Securities Commission from 1989 to 1994.
Equally important to Ms. Bennett was giving back to her community which was reflected in her role as Chair of the Board of Trent University, and on the Boards of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation. Ms. Bennett chose the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society as the recipient of bequests upon her death as a way to contribute to Canadian society and to nation building.
In 2000, Ms. Bennett was awarded the Order of Canada in recognition of her impressive financial career. In 2003, Ms. Bennett was the recipient of Canada’s Most Powerful Woman Award. In 2004, Ms. Bennett was the recipient of a Doctor of Sacred Letters (Honoris Causa) from her alma mater.
At the age of 15, Rodolphe Forget started his financial career as an apprentice with his uncle, Louis-Joseph Forget, the founder of L.J. Forget et Compagnie, a brokerage firm, in 1876. During the 1880s, the Firm emerged as the most important brokerage in Montreal and gained recognition throughout Canada and abroad. In 1890, Rodolphe Forget became a partner in the Firm and it was his involvement in the Montreal Stock Exchange which steered his rapid rise in the business community.
Rodolphe Forget’s involvement in the financial industry was instrumental in the development of the Quebec economy. He made his mark with his work in mergers and acquisitions. In 1890, the Forgets started building a portfolio by acquiring Montreal hydroelectric firms and merging them into the Montreal, Light, Heat and Power Company, the predecessor of Hydro-Québec. The Forgets achieved the near-consolidation of the Montreal hydroelectric market. Subsequently, Rodolphe Forget devoted himself to repeating this feat with textile firms as well as Quebec City hydroelectric and railway firms.
While working at L.J. Forget, Rodolphe Forget accumulated senior executive and board positions with acquired firms. He was known as a businessman, a politician and a philanthropist.
Once he left L.J. Forget in 1907, he founded the Banque Internationale du Canada, a bank with Canadian and French investors and oversaw the establishment of a brokerage house in Montreal and Paris, France, that attracted investments for Canadian firms.
On January 1, 1912, Rodolphe was made a Knight Bachelor (Sir).
Rodolphe Forget was a successful Quebec businessman and was described as the “friend of the poor and the afflicted, the aged and the infirm. For their welfare and relief, he gives unsparingly.”* In 1904, he donated land worth $28,000 and $250,000 towards the construction of the Notre-Dame Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Montreal for the poor of the East-end.
*Sir Rodolphe Forget, Biographical Dictionary of Canada
Jean-Louis Lévesque was born on April 13, 1911, in Nouvelle, Quebec on the south shore of the Gaspé Peninsula. Mr. Lévesque attended St. Dunstan’s University in Prince Edward Island, ultimately graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from its affiliate—Université Laval.
In 1934, Mr. Lévesque began his career as a clerk at the Provincial Bank of Canada in Moncton, but quickly moved to the head office in Montreal where his position in the security loans department allowed him to begin learning about stocks, bonds and brokerage operations as well as develop a taste for the investment industry. In 1941, Mr. Lévesque launched Crédit Interprovincial Ltée.
In 1962, the financial landscape of Quebec was altered forever with Crédit Interprovincial’s acquisition of L.G. Beaubien & Co. Ltd.— the province’s largest investment dealer at the time, which had roots that traced back to the turn of the century. Mr. Lévesque saw important synergies between the two firms, and his vision was quickly realized with the creation of Lévesque, Beaubien Inc.
Lévesque, Beaubien Inc. was acquired by National Bank of Canada in 1988 following regulatory changes in the mid-1980s that allowed banks to enter the investment business, and its name was changed to National Bank Financial in 1999.
Over his career, Jean-Louis Lévesque sat on some fifty boards of directors, sharing his knowledge, wisdom and business acumen with dozens of corporations, charities and public sector organizations.
While Mr. Lévesque’s accomplishments as a builder of businesses were stellar, his role as a benefactor was equally impressive and just as important. His philanthropy supported many causes, but three were particularly close to his heart: education, health care, and the region in which he grew up—Gaspé and New Brunswick.
The Jean-Louis Lévesque Foundation was formed in 1961 with the aim of funding research aimed at improving both the education and health services available to Quebecers. Mr. Lévesque was also one of the main financial supporters of the Montreal Heart Institute—which named one of its pavilions after him. In recognition of his roots, he was also the principal donor to the Gaspé Historical Society, and was the prime mover in getting the Musée de la Gaspésie up and running on a sound financial footing. Mr. Lévesque’s understanding of the importance of education was behind his putting the financing together to create the Université de Moncton—New Brunswick’s first francophone university. He served as its Chancellor for several years, and gave generously to the endowment funds of many other universities.
Mr. Lévesque was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1976, named to the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 1981, and became an officer of the National Order of Quebec in 1991. Mr. Lévesque was also inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in honour of his huge contribution to the world of horse racing—one of his life-long passions.
Jean-Louis Lévesque passed away on December 28, 1994. Since his passing, National Bank Financial has made it a tradition each year to recognize the investment advisor deemed to have made the greatest contribution to the investment industry and who best represented the Firm in the community at large. This recognition takes the form of the Jean-Louis Lévesque Award—the Firm’s most prestigious honour.
Charles Edward (Ted) Medland was born and raised in Toronto. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1950. Mr. Medland retired from Wood Gundy Limited in 1988, where he served as President and CEO from 1972 to 1976 and Chairman from 1976 to 1988. “Mr. Medland’s 16-year turn at the helm of Wood Gundy—now CIBC World Markets—took in the highs and lows of a revolutionary period on the Street, as a dominant dealer of its era dealt with ‘upstarts’ such as Dominion Securities and Gordon Capital, and the entry of banks into the brokerage industry.” (Source: The Globe and Mail, April 19, 2008.)
During his years with Wood Gundy, Mr. Medland served as Chair of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada and served on many prominent Canadian boards. Mr. Medland continues to be recognized by the CIBC Youth Vision Scholarship Program through the annual Ted Medland Award. The program was created to help young people achieve their dreams by encouraging them to stay in school and complete their post-secondary education.
After his retirement from Wood Gundy, Mr. Medland continued his board service and entered into other business ventures. He was a founding director, and later served as chair of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Mr. Medland was appointed and served as the first outside board member for both the Thomson Corporation and Seagram Corporation. Mr. Medland also served as chairman of Cadillac Fairview, Abitibi-Price, Canadian Tire, Teleglobe Canada and Mulvihill Capital.
In addition to his many business accomplishments, he generously gave back to his community through his skills and experience. His wisdom and dedication benefited many community causes. Mr. Medland served as chairman of the Wellesley Hospital and the chairman for the fundraising of Roy Thomson Hall. Mr. Medland was also a great supporter of the Ronald MacDonald House of Toronto, the United Way, St. Michael’s Hospital, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Ballet of Canada. In 2003, Mr. Medland was appointed Member of the Order of Canada.