Enbridge adds Poloz to its boa rd
Insight into workings of Ottawa
CALGARY • North America’s largest pipeline company Enbridge Inc. notched a major win Thursday with the board appointment of Stephen Poloz, who had left his job as the Bank of Canada governor on Tuesday.
“I think Steve brings a very unique skill set and insight,” Enbridge president and CEO Al Monaco said after Enbridge announced Poloz would join the Calgary-based company’s board of directors.
Poloz, who spent most of his career at the Bank of Canada, briefly left for two years to run the Export Development of Canada, before returning to take the helm of the central bank in 2013.
Calgary executives and analysts said the appointment gives the energy infrastructure company expertise and insight into interest rate policy and, potentially, policy views inside Ottawa. Many executives in the oilpatch feel the industry has been ignored in recent years in the capital.
Poloz likely made a few friends in the oilpatch after he moved swiftly in January 2015, with a surprise interest rate cut to support the sector amid plunging oil prices and recession in oil- producing provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Monaco said interest rates, capital markets and global financial institutions are areas where Poloz’s appointment will help the company, but the former governor’s broader experience and his decision- making ability on a range of complex topics will be especially beneficial.
“It ’ s not specifically for ( interest rates) but his knowledge generally around global aspects of the energy market, capital markets is going to be very helpful,” Monaco said.
Poloz has extensive business and financial experience, as well as expertise in global economics and public policy, Enbridge chairperson Greg Ebel said in a company release.
“He will be an excellent addition to our board and we look forward to his contributions,” Ebel said
There will be some restrictions on Poloz, as a former civil servant, contacting or lobbying decision- makers he may know in the federal government. So hopes inside the oilpatch of better access to halls of power in Ottawa are unlikely to come to fruition, said one observer.
However, his contacts at every major bank on Bay Street and many international banks gives Enbridge an edge, said Jack Mintz, the president’s fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy and a longtime director on the board at Imperial Oil Ltd.
“I think it’s a great statement for the energy industry that the former governor of the Bank of Canada will be associated with oil and gas,” Mintz said, calling the news a “first-class appointment” for the company.
The bigger advantage to Enbridge, which holds $63.5 billion in long-term debt, will be Poloz’s insight into how the new Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem intends to weave climate change considerations into future policy, Stifel Firstenergy analyst Ian Gillies said.
“If you think about Tiff ’s appointment and you think about how he’s talking about incorporating climate change into decisions, I think Poloz might bring a really interesting view on how that might affect Enbridge,” Gillies said.
More broadly, Poloz will be able to help Enbridge understand the financial markets’ increasing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.
“You’re starting to see central banks weigh in and be very, very focused on sustainable investing and ESG reporting. You’re starting to see trends in that regard in Germany and Spain and other countries,” said Adam Legge, president and CEO of the Business Council of Alberta.
“To have someone who can provide insight in terms of what’s happening at global central banks will be hugely beneficial,” Legge said.