Finalists announced for Counsel Awards

There are 36 finalists in the running to receive one of the eight 2017 Canadian General Counsel Awards at this year’s black-tie gala.

The awards, founded by The National Post and ZSA Legal Recruitment, will be presented June 15 in Toronto at the Fairmont Royal York.

One award has already been announced. The late Stephen Sigurdson, executive vice- president and general counsel of Manulife, has been named recipient of this year’s lifetime achievement award.

Sigurdson, widely regarded as an outstanding l awyer, passed away l ast November at age 56.

GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE YEAR

Harry Andersen, vicepresident, legal and general counsel, Pembina Pipeline Corp.; Linda Beairsto, chief general counsel and corporate secretary, Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.; Mirko Bibic, chief legal and regulatory officer and executive vice- president of corporate development, BCE Inc. & Bell Canada; Jonathan Cullen, vice- president of legal affairs and general counsel, Pfizer Canada; Gordon Davies, executive vicepresident, chief legal officer and corporate development, Open Text Corp.; Jeffrey J. Ellis, chief legal officer and corporate secretary, Canadian Pacific Railway

BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT

Marni S. Dicker, executive vice-president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Infrastructure Ontario; Jim Nikopoulos, chief operating officer, ECN Capital Corp.; Duncan Osborne, executive vice-president of investments, The Cadillac Fairview Corp.

DEAL- MAKING

Linda S. Beairsto, chief compliance officer ( f ormerly chief legal counsel and corporate secretary), Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.; David C. Bennett, executive vice- president, chief legal Officer and corporate s ecretar y, Fortis Inc.; Martin Cossette, vicepresident, Legal, BCE Inc.; Susan C. Jones, senior vicepresident and chief legal officer, Agrium Inc.; Bruce Marchand, chief legal and compliance officer, Emera Inc.; Tara Rosenblatt, direc- tor and associate general counsel of investments, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board

LITIGATION MANAGEMENT

Sandro Cellucci, general counsel and principal director of l egal affairs, Hydro- Québec; Delbie Desharnais, associate general counsel, Telus Corp.; Pascale Elharrar, associate general counsel of litigation, BMO Wealth Management, BMO Financial Group; Jeremy Millard, legal director, Canada, Uber Canada; Richard Pfohl, general counsel, Connect Music Licensing

MID- MARKET EXCELLENCE

Gillian Akai, Executive vice-president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Postmedia Network Canada Corp.; Arthur Einav, general counsel, Sprott Resource Holdings Inc., Sprott Inc.; Katherine Gurney, general counsel, Northleaf Capital Partners; Vivian Leung, general counsel, BlueCat Networks Inc.; Sabah Mirza, executive vice- president of business affairs and general counsel, Sunwing Travel Group Inc.; Joel Schuster, chief legal officer, senior vice- president and corporate secretary, Avigilon Corp.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Fernando Garcia, general counsel, government affairs and corporate secretary of Nissan Canada; Edie Hofmeister, vice- president, corporate affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary of Tahoe Resources Inc.; Melissa Kennedy, executive vice- president, chief legal officer, public affairs and executive sponsor for sustainability, Sun Life Financial; Dorothy Quann, vice- president and general counsel, Xerox Canada

TOMORROW’S LEADER

Siobhan Galbraith; legal counsel, Canada, Schlumberger Canada Ltd.; Jennifer Manning, vice- president and general counsel, NRStor Inc.; Shaun A. Miller, chief counsel, Aon Canada Inc.; Ingrid Minott, legal counsel, Deloitte LLP; James Rickert, senior vicepresident of Infrastructure Group, Brookfield Asset Management