Leadership

Mr. Rana Sarkar

President and Executive Director

Rana Sarkar is the President and Executive Director of the Canada-India Business Council. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Munk Centre for International Studies and is the Co-Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board at the new School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.  Based in London from 1996 - 2008, Rana was a co-founder and director of Rawlings Atlantic Limited, a cross border advisory firm.  In 2005, Rana co-founded Content Partners, one of Europe’s fastest growing media promotions agencies. Previously Rana served as the lead strategist at Europe’s leading digital agency and a consultant at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants based in London and New Delhi. Rana helped establish the Roland Berger office in New Delhi  (1997-1998) spending more than a year based in India working for a variety of leading global and Indian corporate clients.  He has been a regular visiting lecturer at both the London School of Economics and the CASS Business School, Patron of the Guardian Hay Literary Festival and is a media and clean tech focused investor and board director. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Queen’s University at Kingston and is on the advisory boards of the Literary Review of Canada and the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation.

Mr. Henry Lotin

Executive Vice President

Henry Lotin is Executive Vice President of the Canada-India Business Council. His appointment is a reflection of the Government of Canada’s material commitment to nurturing Canada-India bilateral trade and investment relations. A career Foreign Service Officer with over twenty-five years government experience, his international postings include Canadian High Commission in New Delhi and Canadian Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna. Henry’s assignments have spanned economic and trade policy, innovation, competitiveness and trade strategies for business and government, as well as Canada’s bilateral relations with India.  As Researcher and Adviser to the Chair of Industry Canada’s Expert Panel on Commercialization, industrialist and philanthropist Joseph Rotman, he explored the links between innovation, commercialization, competitiveness and public policy. Henry is a recognized contributor to the international public affairs, economic and trade policy community in Toronto.

Henry earned an M.A. in Public Administration, B.A. Honours Administration and Economics for the University of Toronto, and a Graduate Executive Masters Certificate on the EU, from the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium. He has guest lectured at Carleton University, Ottawa and Webster University, Vienna. Henry also brings to the C-IBC family small business experience spanning clothing retail to hospitality, and field business development and advisory experience for aboriginal businesses in Ontario.

Board Members

Hon. Roy MacLaren, P.C.

Chairman

The Honourable Roy MacLaren was a Member of Parliament from 1979 through 1984 and again from 1988 to 1996. He served as Minister of State, Finance; Minister for National Revenue; and Minister for International Trade. During twelve years with the Canadian Foreign Service, Mr. MacLaren served in Vietnam, Prague, at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and with the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa. He left public service for the private sector in 1969, becoming Director of Public Affairs, Massey Ferguson Ltd. In 1974 he was named President of Ogilvy Mather, Canada and in 1977 assumed the position of President and Publisher with CB Media Ltd. Mr. MacLaren returned to diplomatic life in 1996, serving as High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland until the year 2000. Mr. MacLaren is a former director of Standard Life, Brookfield, Canadian Tire, Algoma Central, Patheon and Pacific Safety Products. He has been an advisor to British Petroleum, Computing Devices of Canada, the Bank of Nova Scotia and AMEC. He is the Chairman of the Canada-Europe Business Round Table and the Canada-India Business Council and the former Chairman of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs and the Atlantic Council of Canada.

Mr. Gary Comerford

Vice-Chairman

Mr. Comerford first entered the financial services business in 1977 as a Branch Manager for Canada Permanent Trust Company (now TD Canada Trust) and progressed to Vice-President of Marketing for Canada Trust. In 1986 Mr. Comerford joined Sun Life Financial as Vice-President of Marketing in the Corporate Office. Between 1989 and 2002 he held Vice-President positions in Individual Marketing, Agency Sales, Marketing for the Canadian Operations and International Marketing. In 2002, he was appointed Vice-President, International and General Manager, India for Sun Life Financial Asia, where he was responsible for Sun Life’s joint venture companies in India. Mr. Comerford is a director of Aditya Birla Minacs Worldwide Inc., the Canada-India Business Council, and the Shaw Festival. He is a past director of Birla Sun Life Insurance, Birla Sun Life Asset Management and Birla Sun Life Distribution in India. He is currently the Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer at RGA International.

Mr. Peter Sutherland

Vice-Chairman

Peter Sutherland is Senior Business Advisor, Asia to Aird & Berlis LLP in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Sutherland joined Aird & Berlis LLP in 2007 after a distinguished diplomatic career which included serving as Canada’s High Commissioner to India and ambassadorial appointments to Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Yemen and Nepal. He also served in various capacities at Canadian missions to the United Nations in New York, Ivory Coast and Hungary and as an attorney in the Inter-American Development Bank, Washington. In Canada, Mr. Sutherland held senior positions, including Director General, International Business Operations in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Director General, International Trade Policy in the Department of Agriculture and Food and Director, Crown Investments in the Department of Industry. Mr. Sutherland is currently Vice-Chairman of the Canada-India Business Council, a Charter Member of The indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and a member of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce and the Canada-Arab Business Council.

Mr. Kam Rathee

Director (Former President and Executive Director)

A leading authority on Canada-India business relations, from 2001 to 2004, Kam Rathee headed a Toronto-based international consultancy, assisting Canadian companies in India and Indian companies in Canada. From 1988 to 2001, as a legal executive at Canada Life, Kam was senior counsel for its group insurance operations in North America, U.K. and Ireland, and later as chief counsel for their international operations, looked after their interests in India, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Caribbean. Kam relocated to India and, from 1983 to 1988, practiced international law in New Delhi. From 1970 to 1983, he was a senior in-house counsel for Crown Life in Toronto. He has also served with United Way of Metropolitan Toronto, was chairman of Pickering’s Pine Ridge School Community Council, co-chair of Ajax-Pickering Transit Advisory Committee and was a member of the City of Pickering Library Board.

Mr. Hemant Shah

Director

Hemant M. Shah is currently Deputy Director Sales & Marketing, Asia & Northern Africa for the international underground mining equipment manufacturer, Cubex Limited. Mr. Shah has been the recipient of several awards both in Canada and India and has served for four years as a Board of Director for the Winnipeg Chamber Of Commerce and was the Chair of the India Trade Committee. He has consistently advocated for trade between Manitoba, Canada and India since 1978. He has successfully exported Canadian goods into India at times when the import license Raj duty was 150%, through to 1990 when the Indian market finally opened. The diverse products sold included mining equipment, agricultural cultivator equipment, special crops such as green and yellow peas, construction equipment, pre-owned twin engine aircraft, aircraft maintenance and commercial pilot training.

Mr. George Haynal

Director

George Haynal, Vice-President, Government Affairs, for Bombardier Inc., is a former Canadian diplomat and public servant. Prior to his retirement from the Canadian Foreign Service in 2002, Haynal was Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He last served abroad as Consul General in New York, with concurrent accreditation as Commissioner to Bermuda (1995-1998). He had earlier served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the OECD and Representative to the International Energy Agency in Paris. Prior postings include Lima and London. Among earlier DFAIT headquarters assignments he had been Head of the Departmental Policy Staff and Director General of Economic Policy. Mr. Haynal had also served as First Officer of the Priorities and Planning Secretariat in the Privy Council Office and, on Executive Exchange, as Acting Vice President (Corporate Banking) at the Head Office of the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto.

Mr. Marvin Hough

Director

Marvin Hough draws on 30 years of experience with Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s official export credit agency. During his tenure with EDC, he managed financing operations in both South Asia and Pacific North Asia. He was instrumental as well in assisting EDC to establish its first representation in China and has served as a Senior Trade Commissioner in New Delhi, India during a four-year interchange assignment with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. His responsibilities at EDC also included Latin America where he served as Regional Vice-President and oversaw business development activities throughout the entire region. In addition to his roles in Asia and Latin America, Mr. Hough also had significant experience with EDC in business development within Canada, having served in senior roles in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. Mr. Hough is currently an Executive - in - Residence at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa and serves on the Boards of Seneca Corporation, (a for-profit subsidiary of Seneca College), the Canada-China Business Council, the Canada-India Business Council and the Hong Kong Canada Business Association (Toronto Chapter). He has also taught international business at Seneca College and Algonquin College.

Mr. Subbiah Srinivasan

Director

Mr. Srinivasan serves as President and General Manager since September 2006. His professional career spans over 30 years’ experience in all aspects of project development, management and execution of mining, mineral treatment, mineral processing, iron ore, steel-making and metallurgical projects around the world. He joined Met-Chem in 1976 as a specification engineer and a year later, he was promoted to Chief Engineer-Planning, Scheduling and Specification. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Srinivasan held several leadership positions at Met-Chem, including Vice-President, General Manager and Managing Director, with overall responsibility for sales, management and execution of all Met-Chem projects.

Mr. Suresh Chawla

Director

Suresh Nath Chawla is President of S. Chawla & Associates Inc., which he founded in 1984. He specializes in the field of organizational planning, strategic and tactical marketing, including communications strategies. Suresh started his consulting practice in 1982 with one of the largest food companies in Canada. Since then, he has served more than twenty-five blue-chip organizations in the financial industry on various projects related to strategic planning, new business development, marketing research and marketing planning. He is also the key architect of the National Group Index, a biannual syndicated study on employee benefits which is used extensively by the insurance industry for optimizing business mix and profitability by market segment.

Mr. Raj Sahni

Director

Raj Sahni is a partner at Bennett Jones LLP where he leads the firm’s India Initiative. In addition, he practices in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency and corporate restructuring. In his practice, Raj acts for insolvent corporations, creditors, bondholders, shareholders, trustees in bankruptcy, monitors, receivers and landlords in a variety of restructuring and insolvency related matters. His experience includes international insolvencies, receiverships, bankruptcies, Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act restructurings and Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act proposals. Raj also acts for lenders and secured creditors in secured financing and asset-based lending transactions and reviews and opines on security and security enforcement proceedings. He is a member INSOL International and an instructor of Business Law for the University of Toronto’s Commerce program.

Mr. Denis Couture

Director

Denis is Senior Vice President, Corporate and International Affairs. He was previously Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications.  Prior to joining Brookfield in November 2006, Denis was Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Communications and Public Affairs of an international mining company controlled by Brookfield for seven years. Prior to this, Denis was Vice President, Communications and Government Relations for a Montreal-based paper company. Denis holds a law degree from Université de Montréal.

Hon. Baljit Singh Chadha

Director

The Honourable Baljit Singh Chadha is president and founder of Balcorp Limited, an international trade and marketing firm. He is also a well-known philanthropist and a prominent figure in he Sikh community in Canada. Baljit graduated with B.Sc. degree at Bombay University. He founded Balcorp in 1976 before building it into a $50 million venture with offices in Montreal, New Delhi and Mumbai. His international trading company has varied interests that include agricultural food products, processed foods, forestry products, and minerals. In 2003, he was appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which provides an external review of the operations of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, as well as to the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

Mr. Kevin Dougherty

Director

Kevin Dougherty is the President of Sun Life Global Investments (SLGI). SLGI is focused on the evolution of the asset management business underlying its global operations, and accelerating the company’s continued growth in wealth management . Prior to assuming this position in January 2008, Kevin led Sun Life Financial’s Canadian business operations as President, Sun Life Financial Canada.  He joined Sun Life, Group Marketing and Sales in 1994.  Kevin is the Chair of the National Quality Institute’s Board of Directors, and an active member of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute and the United Way of Greater Toronto. Kevin holds an MBA (International) from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Mr. Subrata Bhattacharjee

Director

Subrata Bhattacharjee is co-chair of Heenan Blakie’s National Trade and Competition group and a partner in the firm’s Toronto Litigation Group. Subrata has extensive experience in providing counsel on merger clearance, cartel and other contentious and compliance matters under the Canadian Competition Act, as well as having an extensive foreign investment practice. Subreta is past chair of the Criminal Matters Committee of the Canadian Bar Association Competition Law Section and Vice Chair of the Competition Law and Policy Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Subrata is also Chair of the Distribution and Franchising Committee of the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association.

Mr. Akhilesh Tripathi

Director

Akhilesh Tripathi is Canada Country Manager Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) . Previously, Akhilesh served as Head of Enterprise Solutions and Techmology Practices for TCS in North America. In a twelve year career with TCS he has also held leadership roles in the e-business practice, and in the management of strategic alliances with software vendors, serving on the partner advisory councils of several strategic vendor partners. Akhilesh is on the Board of Operation Eyesight Universal. Akhilesh holds  an MBA and BA in Electronics.

Mr. Dezsö J. Horváth

Director

Dezso Horvath is the Dean, and holds the Tanna H. Schulich Chair in Strategic Management, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto. He has taught at the school since 1977.  After an early R+D career with the Swedish multinational ASEA (now ABB) in the electronic industry, he accepted senior academic appointments at Swedish, then Canadian universities.  Since becoming Schulich’s Dean in 1988, he has worked with stakeholders to position Schulich as “Canada’s Global Business School”TM. Dean Horvath has published numerous books and articles on strategic management and international business. He is currently Director of Inscape Corp., Samuelson & Co. Ltd, and Westport.  Dean Horvath is also on the International Advisory Council of the Guanghua School of Management, Beijing University. He was chosen as a member of the Order of Canada in July 2008. Dean Horvath holds an electrical engineering degree as well as degrees in management (MBA, Licentiate, PhD) from Swedish Universities.

Mr. John Farrow

Director

John Farrow is Chair of LEA Group Holdings Ltd, an international transportation, civil engineering, urban planning and management consultancy with over 900 employees in India. In India, LEA has 14 offices and 40 major projects. Previously he was Canadian Managing Partner for The Coopers and Lybrand Consulting Group, President of Toromont Energy Ltd and CEO & President of the Canadian Urban Institute. He has undertaken projects on city planning, city management, economic development and institutional strengthening in 10 countries, working in the private sector with Honda, General Motors, Mazda, Spar Aerospace, Bank of Montreal, Bentall Capital and a number of real estate companies. He serves on the Boards of West Northamptonshire Development Corp. UK, and the Canadian Urban Institute.

Mr. Yezdi Pavri

Director

Yezdi Pavri is the Managing Partner for Deloitte in the GTA, with overall responsibility for delivering on the Strategic Priorities of the firm in the Region. He is a member of the Firm’s Management Committee and the Client Council. Prior to this appointment in June 2004, Yezdi was the National Leader of the Enterprise Risk Services (ERS) Practice, where he guided the highly profitable growth of that business in Canada from revenues of $10 million to $80 million, over an eight year period. Yezdi serves some of the largest Financial Services clients, specializing in Operational and IT Risk Management & Governance.

Mr. Nav Bubber

Director

Nav leads the Scotiabank Private Client Group’s Operations team as Director.  In the past he’s worked in the engineering industry and has also run his own small business.  Over the past five years with Scotiabank he has served in a succession of roles with the Professional Banking Unit which provides both retail and business banking services, at the Executive Project Office as part of the Multicultural Banking Strategy Development team and, more recently, with International Banking.  He holds an MBA from Queen’s University and an ME from Cornell University.