Natural Resources >> CEO Interviews >> May 17, 1999
BERNARD LEMAIRE is Chairman of the Board and President and CEO of
Boralex Inc. He is also Chairman of the Board of Cascades Inc., the
paper company he founded with his father and his brothers, Alain and
Laurent, in 1964. The oldest of 5 children, born in 1936, Bernard
Lemaire joined the family business Drummond Pulp and Fibre in 1963,
after four years of engineering studies at Sherbrooke and McGill
Universities. The Lemaires started Cascades Inc. by first taking over a
disaffected mill in Kingsey Falls, Quebec. Under the aggressive
leadership of Bernard Lemaire, Cascades Inc. went through a rapid
expansion in the 1980's to become a multinational corporation active in
six countries with 12,000 employees and assets and sales of CDN$2.5
billion. Mr. Lemaire retired from Cascades Inc. as President and CEO in
1992 but is still active as Chairman of the Board and devotes a lot of
time to his latest venture, the independent power production company,
Boralex Inc. Mr. Lemaire sits as a member of the Board of other public
companies and cumulates an impressive list of titles and recognition for
his contribution to the Canadian business world. He holds two Honorary
doctorates from University of Sherbrooke (1986) and University of
Montreal (1995). He was named Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988,
Officer of the Order of Quebec in 1995 and Chevalier de la L_gion
d'honneur of France in 1998. Father of two sons and one daughter, Mr.
Lemaire is a long time hunter, fisherman, skier and more recently,
golfer. Profile
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