Team - Organizational Chart

André Tremblay

Hailing from La Baie, in the Saguenay region of Quebec, André Tremblay graduated in law from Université Laval and worked for the firm of Cain, Lamarre, Casgrain, Wells from 1978 to 2004. He later worked on various major files – as negotiator and spokesperson for the Government of Quebec in the renewal of the collective agreement of Quebec’s wildlife conservation officers in 1982; and as negotiator and spokesperson for the management negotiating committee of the Quebec Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux upon the renewal of the collective agreement of the Fédération des infirmiers et infirmières du ) in 1986.In 1989, when Consolidated Bathurst acquired a stake in the family business of Scierie Saguenay, Mr. Tremblay agreed to head the Board, which he did until 2004. At that point, members of the management of Donohue, which had been newly acquired by Abitibi-Consolidated, took over the company’s sawmill activities and merged four mills to create Produits forestiers Saguenay. Mr. Tremblay was General Manager of the new company until 2010.

He has served as President and CEO of the QFIC, the voice of the forest industry in Quebec, since January, 2011. He represents Quebec’s softwood and hardwood lumber industry, as well as its veneer, pulp, paper, paperboard and board manufacturers. The forest industry, with its approximately 140 sawmilling and veneer mills, 25 plants manufacturing pulp, paper, paperboard and boards, and more than 160 associate members, is at the heart of the economic and social development of Quebec’s regions. It generates some 190,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs, representing wages worth more than $3 billion.

Hellen Després

Hellen Després, administrative assistant to the President-CEO, is responsible for managing the agenda, coordinating travel, overseeing follow-up of files, preparing numerous PowerPoint presentations, acting as an effective link between management and Council members, participating in the planning and organization of the Annual Convention, as well as being responsible for the invitations, agenda and minutes for Board and Executive Committee meetings.

Ms. Després has been with the QFIC (previously the QFIA) since 1990. Prior to this, she worked as an administrative assistant in the Université Laval Department of Chemistry , as executive secretary at the nursing branch of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université Laval, as executive secretary at Roche Ltd., Consulting Group for the Vice-President, Mines, Geology and Construction, as executive secretary at the Madeleine Bergeron School, and as executive secretary for the executive director and human resources manager of the Centre Cardinal-Villeneuve.

Ms. Després holds a college diploma in arts from the Cégep de Sainte-Foy and the Cégep de La Pocatière, and a diploma in professional secretarial studies. She has also completed continuous training in office automation and is currently pursuing a certificate in administration.
 

Laurence Drouin

Laurence Drouin is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of all of the QFIC’s communication and promotional activities. She works closely with the members, partners and other key stakeholders to promote awareness and education regarding the forest sector. She is also responsible for media and public relations. In addition to external communications, she oversees the coordination of internal communications, including publications, Web site, etc.

Before working as QFIC’s Assistant Communications Director, she was a communications consultant. She was also responsible for public relations and communications for the Société Alzheimer Laval and for communications for Université Laval’s Rouge et Or program.

Laurence Drouin holds a Bachelor's degree in political science, a certificate in college teaching from Université Laval, and a certificate in public relations from the Université de Montréal. She is currently pursuing a graduate program in environmental management at the Université de Sherbrooke.

Cynthia Bolduc-Guay

Cynthia Bolduc-Guay is responsible for managing the QFIC and cecobois publications. She thus ensures the production, editing and proofreading of these in addition to writing various editorial content. Her role also consist of supporting the Communications and Pulic Affairs Direction.

Before working for QFIC, Miss Bolduc-Guay has been an editor for several companies, as well as Communications Officer for the Quebec Landlord Association (CORPIQ) and was part of the reading committee of Editions de Mortagne.

Cynthia Bolduc-Guay holds a bachelor’s degree in French Literature from the University of Montreal. As part of this curriculum, she completed an internship in a publishing house in addition to choosing to follow an extracurricular course in Marketing Communication.

Germain Gaudreault

Germain Gaudreault is responsible for legal and regulatory matters regarding human resources, occupational health and safety, and industrial relations. He represents the forest industry on various committees, including technical regulatory review committees and sectoral manpower committees. He is also responsible for the administration and management of human resources at the QFIC.

Mr. Gaudreault heads the Administration, Industrial Relations, and Human Resources unit at the QFIC. He previously held a number of management positions, including general manager of the Quebec Outfitters Federation, human resources manager for Donohue, and head of human resources at the Hôpital de La Pocatière.

Gilbert Landry

Gilbert Landry is the QFIC’s assistant director of finance and administration. He is responsible for producing the financial statements, for managing accounting systems and ensuring compliance with internal control procedures. He provides support to senior management in planning the QFIC’s strategic directions and developing budget estimates. He supervises accounting for the various operations and produces financial and accounting reports. He is also the QFIC’s financial controller.

Mr. Landry joined the QFIC in October 2000. Previously, he worked as customer services manager at National Bank of Canada and assistant manager of members’ services at CAA Québec.

Gilbert Landry holds a Bachelor's degree in business administration from Université Laval.

Guylaine Côté

Guylaine Côté is an accounting technician, responsible for accounting entries, statements of activities, accounts payable and accounts receivable. She provides support to the Administration, Industrial Relations and Human Resources unit in in terms of budget monitoring and financial statement generation. Ms. Côté is the primary resource person for billing, payment and all requests for information regarding the general administration of the QFIC. 

Ms. Côté has worked for the QFIC (previously the AMBSQ) since 1987. She has completed the Université du Québec’s remote training program in business administration.

Pierre Vézina

Pierre Vézina is responsible, as the head of the Energy, Environment and Services unit, for monitoring the major issues affecting the energy and environment sectors. He also provides counsel to QFIC members on their corporate positioning and works to influence decision-makers with regard to desirable strategic directions for the forest industry so that it can maintain, and even improve, its contribution to the sustainable development of Quebec.
He is the QFIC’s main point of contact with the Régie de l’énergie (Quebec’s energy regulatory agency), mainly on electricity pricing issues. He also coordinates the QFIC’s activities in regulatory matters.

Mr. Vézina came on board the QFIC (formerly the QFIA) in 1995. e Prior to that time, and for more than 10 years, he held a number of positions in the consulting-engineering sector, where he worked on major projects in the energy field and major construction projects.

Mr. Vézina holds a Bachelor's degree in anthropology and a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, both from Université Laval. He has also completed several courses in business administration and is a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec.

Rachel Thibault

Rachel Thibault is the QFIC’s assistant director, Environment. She is responsible for matters related to the environmental aspects of lumber, pulp, paper and paperboard production, both in terms of air emissions and GHG emissions, effluents and waste and hazardous materials, as well as land and water contamination. The thrust of this work is, obviously, to reconcile environmental, social and economic considerations, but it also involves seeking viable rules and taking pragmatic approaches so as to achieve real benefits for the environment. Another of her tasks consists in documenting improvements in the environmental performance of plants in the forest sector.

Ms. Thibault joined the QFIC in 2003 after working for 16 years as a consulting engineer at SNC-Lavalin, mainly in the environmental field.

Rachel Thibault holds a Bachelor's degree in geological engineering and is a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec. She is currently taking a short post-graduate program in sustainable management of forest carbon at UQAC.

Denis Rousseau

Denis Rousseau is responsible for quality management, and for overseeing the work of the team of inspectors who assess and advise QFIC members on product quality, in compliance with national and international standards. Mr. Rousseau sits on several joint government-industry committees dealing with the development and monitoring of sawmill standards and phytosanitary control of wood products. He represents the QFIC in dealings with Canadian and U.S. authorities that govern lumber grading rules (NLGA, CLSAB and ALSC). He also oversees annual training workshops aimed at improving industrial practices.

Mr. Rousseau has been working for the QFIC since 2005 as quality control director, previously as assistant director, forest operations in the Forestry unit. He has held various positions in planning, forestry management and forestry operations for Abitibi-Consolidated of Canada.

Denis Rousseau holds a Bachelor's degree in forest resource management from Université Laval and a Master's degree in project management from Université du Québec à Chicoutimi.

Jean Michaud

Jacques Dubé

Jacques Dubé has been working for the QFIC since 1972. He mainly serves the regions of Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie as a quality inspector of forest products. 

He was previously head inspector for more than 10 years. He provides support to the Quality Control unit, advises QFIC members and carries out monthly inspections and training with respect to the quality of regular and special forest products.

In the performance of his duties, Mr. Dubé also works in the grading of white pine, hardwood and cedar shingles, log scaling, inventory for the syndics (lumber), destination inspection, and inspection of commercial buildings. He gives talks on lumber to buyers and sellers, and helps in the implementation of various training projects for QFIC members.

He previously held several different positions connected to his training, at Vaillancourt and Chouinard, Matériaux Blanchet in Saint-Pamphile, and for the John Breakey Company.

Jacques Dubé is a member of the Association des mesureurs diplômés du Québec and a member of the Ordre des technologues professionnels du Québec. He also sits on the management committee of the Duchesnay forestry school.

Dany Bouchard

Dany Bouchard has worked since 1994 as a quality inspector of forest products with the QFIC. He mainly serves the sectors of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte-Nord. He provides support and advice to the Quality Control until, in addition to making monthly inspections and giving training to QFIC members on the quality of forest products and phytosanitary control of lumber products.

He also contributes to the implementation of various development and training projects with QFIC members.

Mr. Bouchard previously held the position of grader for factory quality control as well as team leader at Donohue Forest Products.

France Gervais

François Gendron

François Gendron is the QFIC’s economic advisor for the Forestry, Supply and Markets unit. He is responsible for economic files and provides continuous, precise and objective monitoring of the softwood and hardwood lumber markets for all of North America. He is also responsible for editing the Pribec publications, the Bulletin économique and the Statistiques brochures. He provides support to QFIC senior management on economic issues related to structural shifts in the forest sector.

Prior to joining the QFIC, Mr. Gendron worked for the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in market analysis particularly in relation to statistics and publications on residential construction.

François Gendron holds a Bachelor's degree in economics from the Université de Sherbrooke.

Gilles Therrien

Gilles Therrien has been a forest product quality inspector with the QFIC since 1999. He works mainly in the Lanaudière and Capitale-Nationale regions. He provides support and advice to the Quality Control unit, makes monthly inspections of forest products and special products, and conducts phytosanitary audits. He also collaborates in the writing and correction of quality manuals (phytosanitary, special products and environmental traceability), and gives training to members on basic grading and special products. In addition, he is a consultant regarding chains of custody (FSC, CSA, SFI).

Previously, Mr. Therrien was a quality controller with lumber companies such as Forex and Donohue, a technical director (laboratory) in a plant manufacturing OSB board and a superintendent in a lumber mill producing truss materials. 

Gilles Therrien has earned a Diploma of Collegial Studies in the processing of forest products at the Cégep de Sainte-Foy. He is currently pursuing a certificate in business administration at UQAM.

Sylvain Lalumière

Guy Paré

Guy Paré has worked for the QFIC (previously the AMBSQ) since 1973 as a forest product quality inspector for. He primarily serves the Beauce and Estrie regions. He provides support and advice to the quality control management, in addition to making monthly inspections and giving training to QFIC members on the quality of forest products and phytosanitary control of wood products.

Mr. Paré also advises members on the grading of hardwood and pine. Previously, he occupied the position of grader for the purpose of factory quality control.

Lucie Charette

As an administrative assistant, Lucie Charette is responsible for the compilation, analysis and production of reports resulting from inspections (including the “Performance” program). She participates in the various standing committees of the Quality Control unit, coordinates the annual activities of workshop-conferences on wood drying and processing, manages grader applications (updating, renewal, issuance of grading permits, competence certificates, etc.), and oversees directory updating, membership management and Outlook books (including Pribec).

Ms. Charette has been serving the members of the QFIC (previously the AMBSQ) since 1977.

Lucie Charette holds a commercial secretary diploma, with a medical specialization. She has also completed continuous training in office automation.

Yves Lachapelle

Yves Lachapelle, as head of the Forestry, Supply and Markets units and assistant to the President-CEO, is responsible for all forestry-related files. He collaborates on the analysis of strategic issues and the identification of key challenges, potential solutions and their implications. He coordinates the industry’s efforts in the areas of forestry, supply and markets. He is also active in ensuring implementation of the new Sustainable Forest Development Act and in negotiations surrounding the future of the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement, an issue of highest importance. He is also responsible for maintaining productive relationships with other organizations in the forest sector (industry associations, forest managers, operators, carriers, research and development, education, wildlife, environment, etc.) and supports the activities of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.

He joined the QFIC in 2005 after a period of 11 years spent in several professional associations, namely the Ordre des ingénieurs forestiers du Québec (OIFQ) as deputy secretary, and the Quebec Forest Industries Association (QFIA) in the capacity of intermediary between industry, government and various interest groups.

Yves Lachapelle holds a Bachelor's degree in forestry and is a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec.

Florent Boivin

Florent Boivin is responsible for the hardwood and pine, veneer and sawmilling sector at the QFIC. He supports the Forestry unit and is responsible for files relating particularly to industry issues involving hardwood and pine. He also sits on various committees, including the scaling committee and the hardwood committee.

He has been assistant manager for veneer and sawmilling of hardwood and pine since 2005. Previously, he held the post of general manager and general secretary of the Association de déroulage et sciage de feuillus du Québec (ADSFQ), and assistant manager to the vice-president of development for the crown corporation known as Rexfor.

Nicolas Fortin