Robert Dutton

The first 35 years of Robert Dutton’s career are intertwined with the history of RONA, where he joined as a marketing analyst in 1977. His meteoric rise to prominence was accompanied by major operational and structural changes within the company. As CEO in 1990, this man with deeply rooted human values changed the face of RONA. He turned around labour relations, established a climate of responsibility and respect, and changed the management philosophy, all the while increasing sales from $500 million to nearly $5 billion by the time he left the organization in 2012. Under his leadership, RONA became the leading hardware company, first in Quebec and then in Canada, and the largest retailer and distributor in the country.

Today, Robert Dutton is an expert and influential leader among Quebec entrepreneurs. He puts his experience to work for La Coop fédérée as a director. He is also a director of several private businesses in various stages of development.

His vision of business and his deep conviction to allow Quebec entrepreneurs to take their place have always guided him in his choices and strategic decisions. With strong observational skills and an emotional intelligence that has made his reputation for many years, he brings his know-how to businesses and entrepreneurs.

Very involved in the entrepreneurial community, he is also a professor at HEC Montréal, co-director of the HEC Entrepreneurial Pole and a mentor in several organizations. He also writes regularly for the newspaper Les Affaires. He published his autobiography, Mise à niveau in 2018.

Mr. Dutton is also involved in the community. He is Vice President of the Board of Directors of Accueil Bonneau and a member of the Board of Directors of Les Impatients.

Robert Dutton holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from HEC Montréal (1977) and an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal (2012).

Éric Salobir

Éric Salobir is President of the Human Technology Foundation, which brings together several thousand researchers, entrepreneurs, and technology developers. This network conducts research projects in practical ethics and assists public policy makers and entrepreneurs in assessing the impact of technologies.

An outstanding lecturer and popularizer, Éric Salobir is also the founder of OPTIC, an international research and action network that places people at the heart of technology development. A priest with degrees in theology and philosophy, he is also an expert for the Holy See and is the author of the book God and Silicon Valley.

Eric Salobir is a graduate of the ISC Paris business school and has worked at the French Embassy in Prague, in the Economics and Trade section, and at Crédit Lyonnais in the investment banking department, in Paris.

Laure Waridel

Laure Waridel is a PhD ecosociologist, an associate professor at the Institut des sciences de l’environnement of UQAM and an advisor to the law firm Trudel, Johnston & Lespérance.

Ecosociologist, lecturer and communicator well known for her social and environmental commitment, she is interested in the emergence of an ecological and social economy in Quebec, the subject of her doctoral studies at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva.

Co-founder of Équiterre, an organization that encourages citizens, organizations and governments to make ecological, equitable and solidarity-based choices, she is also a columnist and author of several books, including her most recent, La transition, c’est maintenant.

Laure Waridel has received numerous distinctions, including an honorary doctorate from the Université du Québec à Rimouski, the Insigne du mérite de l’Université de Montréal, the Order of Canada, the Order of Quebec and the title of Chevalier de l’ordre de la Pléiade from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.