Leadership & Governance

Stewart Bacon has been Chair of Purolator’s Board of Directors since 2010.

His expertise leans on his 15-year career with Canada Post where Stewart held a series of progressive executive positions, including President and CEO. Before that, he held a number of senior-level executive positions at Philips Electronics, Comterm Inc., Atkinson, Tremblay & Associates and IBM Canada.

Stewart attended Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, and holds a bachelor of applied science and civil engineering degree from École Polytechnique de l’Université de Montréal.

John Ferguson is the President and CEO of Purolator.

Before joining Purolator, John worked as an executive at global companies such as PBB Global Logistics, Schneider National and SCI Group for over 25 years.

Steering Purolator’s $1B Delivering the Future growth and innovation strategy, John is committed to leading the market by expanding and automating the network. With a “people first” philosophy, he believes a strong team is the cornerstone of a strong brand.

John serves as a director on a number of boards, including the Trillium Health Partners Foundation, SCI and Innovapost. He has a degree in business economics from Brock University and has completed executive programs in supply chain management at Georgia Tech, Wilfrid Laurier University and the Thunderbird School of Global Management (Arizona State).

Lloyd Bryant is the Chair of Purolator’s Human Resources and Compensation Committee.

For the past 35 years, Lloyd has been committed to the Canadian information technology sector. He spent 29 years at Hewlett-Packard with the final two years as its President and CEO.

Lloyd has applied his expertise to multiple boards. He is a founder and past Board Chair of the Electronic Products Recycling Association and past Board Chair of the Ontario Electronic Stewardship. In addition to being an active member of Purolator’s Board of Directors, Lloyd is also a member of the World Wildlife Fund Canada, Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation and Merry Go Round Children's Foundation boards.

Barry is an aircraft maintenance engineer and the founder and CEO of KF Aerospace, Canada’s largest commercial aircraft maintenance organization.

Starting out at a small aircraft repair business servicing the British Columbia interior from a panel van, Barry used his entrepreneurial spirit to build KF Aerospace into a respected air cargo operator. In its five decades of business, the company has grown to be an engineering maintenance and modification provider, a pilot-training organization for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and an aircraft leasing company.

Barry has served on dozens of public and private boards over the years, including Purolator, of which he is minority owner.

Tom Escott has almost 45 years of experience in the global logistics industry. Since 1992, he has been primarily devoted to advancing third-party logistics.

Among many roles in his career, Tom was president of Roadway Logistics, CEO of GeoLogistics and president of Schneider Logistics, where he led the launch of operations in China.

Since 2010, Tom devotes much of his time to serving on both corporate and community service boards of directors. In addition to serving on the Purolator board, Tom has served on the boards of BDP International, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Wisconsin and The First Tee.

Tom has a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from Princeton University, and a master’s degree of business administration from Harvard Business School.

Suromitra has an extensive career in litigation and senior corporate positions.

Most recently, Suromitra established a consulting practice to lead First Nations consultations across British Columbia, and provide strategic advice in the financial, utilities and transportation sectors. She was also the B.C. and Yukon Vice President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and Vice President, Corporate and Government Relations at Partnerships BC.

A seasoned corporate director, Suromitra was appointed Canada Post’s Interim Chair of its Board of Directors in October of 2020 and sits on all its committees. She is also a Board Director of Travel Alberta and is a member of the Royal Bank Global Asset Management Independent Review Committee.

Suromitra has a bachelor of law from the University of Ottawa and a bachelor of arts from the University of Victoria.

Michèle Desjardins is President of Koby Consulting Inc., a management consulting firm.

A certified management consultant and a fellow chartered administrator, Michèle’s breadth of expertise is applied on the boards she serves. In addition to her work with Purolator’s Board of Directors, she sits on the board of the ADF Group Inc., a publicly traded steel manufacturing company, where she chairs the Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Michèle also serves the Human Resources and Audit Committees of the Board of Directors of Canassurance Insurance Company.

Michèle holds a forest engineering degree and master’s degree of business administration. She is a fellow in the Family Firm Institute and holds a certificate in family business advising. She is also a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and an institute-certified director.

Sharon Sparkes has over 30 years of executive management experience in both the private and public sectors, primarily in the consumer packaged goods industry.

Sharon was most recently the President and CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, and she currently serves on its Board of Directors.

She is a past member of the Audit Committee of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, a former director of the Canadian Association of Liquor Jurisdictions Board of Directors and is a past Chairperson of the Association of Liquor Licensing Authorities of Canada. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants.

Sharon has a master’s degree of business administration and a bachelor of commerce (Hons.) from Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and an institute-certified director.

Doug is Canada Post’s President and CEO.

An accomplished senior executive with a strong focus on customer service, Doug has more than 30 years in the consumer packaged goods industry. As Chief Commercial Officer for Canada Post from 2016 until his appointment as CEO in 2019, Doug led Canada Post's parcels, direct marketing and transaction mail businesses. He also chairs the board of Innovapost.

Before joining Canada Post in August 2016, Doug led well-established companies through complex business transformations at organizations such as Scotsburn Dairy Group, Ganong Bros. Limited, Parmalat, Nestle and Coca-Cola.

Doug earned both a bachelor of commerce degree and a master’s degree of business administration from Dalhousie University.

John is recognized as one of Canada's leading labour and employment lawyers.

As one of the founding partners of the Toronto office of global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, he grew the employment and labour law practice and the firm's transition to a global practice.

In 2016, John became Canada Post’s senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. He returned to Norton Rose Fulbright in 2019 as a senior advisor.

John represented large public and private sector clients across Canada in corporate reorganizations, collective bargaining and litigation. He speaks at legal conferences and industry associations on key employment and labour law issues. He is also a certified specialist in labour law by the Law Society of Ontario.