Source: National Post

Canada’s newest media company, Postmedia Network Inc. revealed its board of directors Monday, including several top Canadian executives from within the news business and beyond.

Postmedia Network is Canada’s largest publisher of paid English language newspapers. Last week, the company closed a $1.1-billion sale with Canwest to acquire 11 major dailies, including the National Post, and 26 community papers.

The company said the eight appointees will also serve on the board of parent company Postmedia Network Canada Corp.

The new board includes:

Ron Osborne, chairman: Mr. Osborne also serves as chairman of the board at Sun Life Financial Inc. Before his recent appointment at Postmedia Network, he served as president and CEO at Ontario Power Generation Inc., president and chief executive officer of Bell Canada and executive vice-president and CFO of BCE Inc. Mr. Osborne also held various positions at Maclean Hunter — including president and CEO — at the time, one of Canada’s preeminent media and communications companies.

David Emerson, director: Mr. Emerson is a senior advisor at CAI private equity. Previously, he held a number of senior cabinet positions in the Government of Canada, including Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Industry and Minister of International Trade. Mr. Emerson also spent more than five years as CEO of Canfor Corp., one of Canada’s largest forest products companies.

Paul Godfrey, director: Mr. Godfrey is also the president and CEO of Postmedia Network. Prior to his appointment, he served as president and CEO of the National Post, president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club and president and CEO of Sun Media Corp. He also spent a record four terms as the chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. He currently serves on various other boards, including the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, among others.

John Paton, director: Mr. Paton is currently the CEO of the Journal Register Company in the United States, which publishes more than 300 print and online products. Previously, he was with impreMedia LLC, a media company that he co-founded in 2003. He served as chairman, CEO and president with the company during his time there. Mr. Paton also served as the CEO of Canoe Inc., as well as being vice president of Sun Media Corp. He is the former publisher and CEO of the London Free Press and the Ottawa Sun.

Graham Savage, director: Mr. Savage recently retired as chairman and founding partner of merchant banking firm Callisto Capital. Prior to that, he served as a senior officer at Rogers Communications Inc. for 21 years. He is currently a director of Canadian Tire Corp., Canadian Tire Bank and Cott Corp.

Steven Shapiro, director: Mr. Shapiro is a founding partner and portfolio manager at GoldenTree Asset Management, and a member of its Executive Committee. Before he joined GoldenTree, Mr. Shapiro was a managing director in the High Yield Group at CIBC World Markets, where he headed Media and Telecommunications Research.  He sits on the boards of various corporate and not-for-profit entities, including Source Home Entertainment, Inc., Southern Community Newspapers, Inc. and James Cable, LLC. 

Peter Sharpe, director: Mr. Sharpe is the president and CEO of Cadillac Fairview Corp., a company he has been with for over 25 years. Prior to his appointment, he served as vice president operations for Fidinam Realty Ltd. Mr. Sharpe has board affiliations that include International Council of Shopping Centers, Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation and Multiplan. He graduated from Waterloo Lutheran University with an honours degree in Economics and Business Administration.

Robert Steacy, director: Mr. Steacy retired in 2005 after spending more than 16 years as the senior financial officer of Torstar Corp.  He is currently a director and chair of the Audit Committees of Domtar Corp. and Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund, and a director of CIBC.

© National Post