The Board of Directors of The Authority is committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance, and regularly reviews and updates its corporate governance systems in light of changing practices, expectations and legal requirements, so that the Authority achieves the purposes in the Regional Airports Authorities Act (Alberta).
Responsible for fostering the long-term success of the Authority, the Board undertakes a number of governance activities to ensure compliance with applicable laws and for promoting ethical conduct, integrity and transparency.
The Board has adopted an annual strategic planning process that considers the long-term enhancements of the terminal and the overall airport experience, ensuring that people development, innovation and strategic partnerships are the core values of the airport’s success.
The Board also oversees management, who are responsible for the day-to-day conduct of the business, with the fundamental objective of ensuring that the Authority meets its obligations and operates in a safe, secure and efficient manner. Directors regularly meet in camera at both Committee and Board meetings.
The Board is composed exclusively of independent Directors who are expected to carry out their duties honestly and with integrity.
Each Director annually signs the Authority’s Code of Business Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy and follows the procedures with respect to disclosure of any potential conflict of interest.
The Authority has a number of systems in place to identify, manage and mitigate various risks, including:
Enterprise Risk Management
The Board and Management of the Authority are committed to a disciplined approach to enterprise risk management. The Authority regularly assesses enterprise risk management capacity and processes, which includes reference to risk appetite and tolerance statements, an enterprise risk matrix and identification of its principal risk profile.
The composition of our Board reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, through the experience, skills and gender of our Directors. Our Board consists of prominent leaders in finance, business, commerce, law, government, engineering, air transportation and aviation from both local and global for-profit and non-profit businesses. These leaders have the business acumen and experience to provide governance over the affairs of the Authority.
The Directors are appointed by four organizations:
Our Directors are appointed to a four-year term and are eligible for re-appointment for one additional term for a maximum of eight years.
Board of Directors (as of Aug. 8, 2021)
Matthew R. Heffernan, Board Chair Jina Abells Morissette David C. Blom, CA, TEP Randolph Charron Donald G. Cormack, CPA, ICD.D Andrea Goertz Heather E. Kennedy, P.Eng, F.C.A.E. Grant B. MacEachern James M. Midwinter Manjit Minhas Lisa Oldridge, CFA, ICD.D Andrea J. Robertson Phillip Scheibel Sheldon Schroeder, P. Eng. Murray Sigler
Composition of Management
The Board appoints the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and sets and reviews the annual goals for the CEO. Succession planning, including the appointment, training and evaluation of senior management, is regularly monitored by the Governance and Compensation Committee of the Board. The Board appoints the Corporate Officers.
Corporate Officers (as of Dec. 31, 2020)
Bob Sartor President & Chief Executive Officer
Carmelle Hunka General Counsel, Vice President, People, Risk & General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Chris Miles Vice President, Operations & Infrastructure
Robert J. Palmer Vice President, Commercial, Strategy & Chief Financial Officer
The Board strives to ensure it collectively has the skills and experience needed to maintain the health of the organization and to guide its long-term success. Our Board Skills and Experience Matrix allows us to identify the needs for both mandated and strategic skills, and to assist our Appointers in making their appointments.
Our Board consists of prominent leaders in air transportation, aviation, finance, business, commerce, law, government, and engineering, from both local and global for-profit and non-profit businesses and have the business acumen and experience to provide governance over the affairs of the Authority.
Each new Director receives a comprehensive orientation, which includes a meeting with the President and CEO, corporate counsel, as well as facility tours and information regarding Board and corporate operations, and ongoing education on relevant topics.
The Board meets as often as is required to carry out its responsibilities in addition to maintaining three standing committees, which are ultimately accountable to the Board. The committees and their respective chairs as of Dec. 31, 2020 were:
Committee and Chair
Each of the three committees have a Board-approved terms of reference, an annual due diligence work plan and a Chair who reports back to the Board on the committee’s activities. The Board’s Chair and Governance and Compensation Committee ensure the Board’s independence is respected and preserved.
When Matthew Heffernan takes the role of Chair of the Board of Directors,a new Chair for the Planning & Development Committee will be selected.
> 2020 Comittee Descriptions (PDF)
The Authority strives to achieve an optimal level of public and stakeholder accountability through a communications and stakeholder relations program, which includes processes associated with communicating to the general public, industry stakeholders, governments, Appointers and Authority employees. The processes involved in achieving this level of accountability include:
The Authority reports on contracts in excess of $130,000 (adjusted periodically by Consumer Price Index (CPI) from an original threshold of $75,000) that were not awarded through a public tender process. In 2020, the following awarded contracts met this criteria:
> 2020 Awarded Contracts (PDF)