2017 Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame Inductees
David G. McLean led one of Canada’s iconic corporations, CN Rail, through its most transformative period
Ross J. Beaty
Executive Chairman, Alterra Power Corp. Chairman, Pan American Silver Corp.
Ross J. Beaty is a geologist and resource company entrepreneur with over 41 years of experience in the international minerals and renewable energy industries. Mr. Beaty is the founder and Executive Chair of Alterra Power Corp., a mid-sized clean energy company with geothermal, solar, hydro and wind power operations in BC, Iceland and Ontario. Mr. Beaty also founded and serves as Chairman of Pan American Silver Corp., one of the world’s leading silver producers, and since 1985 has successfully founded and divested a number of other public mineral resource companies.
Mr. Beaty is also President of the Sitka Foundation, one of Canada’s leading environmental foundations, patron of the Beaty Biodiversity Center at the University of B.C. and Director of a number of environmental NGO’s, including Panthera and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Mr. Beaty is a past President of the Silver Institute in Washington, D.C., a Fellow of the Geological Association of Canada, the Society of Economic Geologists, and the Canadian Institute of Mining, and a recipient of the Institute’s Past President’s Memorial Medal. In 2007 Mr. Beaty received the Association of Mineral Exploration of B.C.’s Colin Spence Award for excellence in global mineral exploration, the 2008 Mining Person of the Year award from the Mining Association of B.C. and the 2008 Natural Resources &
Mr. Beaty was inducted to the Resource Hall of Fame in 2015
Energy Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Ernst & Young. In 2010, Mr. Beaty was awarded the prestigious Viola MacMillan Award by the Prospector and Developers Association of Canada and was selected as Mining Person of the Year for 2011 by Canada’s Northern Miner newspaper. In 2014 Mr. Beaty received the CIM’s Vale Medal for Meritorious Contribution to Mining and in 2015 was inducted to the Resource Hall of Fame. In 2016 Mr. Beaty received the Vancouver Aquarium’s North Medal for Ocean Conservation and the Alumni Award of Distinction from UBC’s School of Law.
Mr. Beaty was born in Vancouver, Canada and educated at the Royal School of Mines, University of London, England, M.Sc., Distinction (Mineral Exploration) 1975 and the University of British Columbia, LL.B. (Law) 1979 and B.Sc. (Honours Geology) 1974. He and his wife have a son and four daughters.
David G. McLean, O.B.C., LL.D, F.ICD
Chair, McLean Group of Companies
Chair Emeritus, Canadian National Railway Company
Through his entrepreneurial spirit, business leadership skills, and commitment to community, David McLean has built a large and diverse family enterprise, The McLean Group of Companies; led one of Canada’s iconic corporations, CN Rail, through its most transformative period; and contributed generously to many worthy community causes.
Born, raised, and educated in Alberta (BA, LL.B, University of Alberta), Mr. McLean moved to Vancouver in 1968 to practice law and expand his business interests. Over the next several decades he completed numerous residential and commercial real estate projects in Vancouver and throughout North America, including a 35-acre land assembly in east Vancouver, now the home of The McLean Group’s Vancouver Film Studios (VFS). A major player in the North American film and television industry, VFS hosts annual productions valued at over $500 million. Other operating companies in The McLean Group include Blackcomb Aviation, a charter helicopter company, and Signal Systems Inc., a company specializing in voice-over-internet, wireless, and radio communications systems. Operational leadership of The McLean Group has been successfully transferred to Mr. McLean’s sons, Jason and Sacha.
Mr. Mclean was a Director of CN Rail from 1979 to 1986, and returned as Chair of the Board of Directors from 1994 to 2014. He is the longest-serving Chair in the company’s history, and was named Chair Emeritus on his retirement. He helped lead the company through its transition from a Crown corporation to a private corporation, which was completed in November 1995. At $2.26 billion, it was the largest Initial Public Offering in Canadian history. His fellow Directors re-elected him as Chair each year thereafter, and the company’s market capitalization has multiplied 29 times to $68 billion today. During Mr. McLean’s time as Chair, CN transformed itself from a money-losing Crown conglomerate, to become North America’s most streamlined, profitable and efficient freight rail operator, a model for the industry.
Mr. McLean has chaired and served on several corporate boards in addition to CN. He was Chair of Concord Pacific Group Inc., Coastland Wood Industries Inc., and Westech Information Systems Inc. He was a director of DeHavilland Aircraft of Canada and Nu West Development Corporation.
Mr. McLean has played an active role in community development, especially in the fields of business, education and healthcare. He has chaired the Vancouver Board of Trade, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the UBC Board of Governors, the Board of the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation, the Capital Campaign of the University of Alberta, the Canadian Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Canadian Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Charter for Business. His family’s McLean McCuaig Foundation has made many generous donations to education and healthcare institutions in B.C. and Alberta and other parts of Canada.
Mr. McLean has received numerous awards and honors including: Honorary Degrees from UBC, SFU, University of Alberta and Royal Roads University; the Order of British Columbia; Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors; The Rix Award for Engaged Corporate Citizenship; an original inductee as a Distinguished Alumni of The University of Alberta; the Distinguished Leadership Award from SFU; and inductee into the Alberta High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
He has written a book on his life published in 2014 titled “A Road Taken.”