RIMS Ontario Chapter (ORIMS) presented the Donald M. Stuart Award to Michel Rodrigue, Director, Risk Management and Insurance for Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil. Presented each year at RIMS Canada Conference, the Donald M. Stuart award is widely recognized as Canada’s highest honour within the risk management field. Since 1979, the annual award celebrates Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to the risk management profession.
“You can probably imagine that no two days at Cirque du Soleil are the same,” said Mr. Rodrigue. “Captivating audiences around the world, employing hundreds and partnering with thousands of vendors presents a wide-range of challenges, but there are also countless opportunities to be creative, to contribute to the success of new ventures and have a lot of fun. I am humbled to receive this prestigious award and thank everyone who has supported me through my risk management journey.”
Mr. Rodrigue is responsible for implementing strong and reliable risk management practices across the international organization that has entertained more than 100 million spectators in over 300 cities around the world. To successfully identify and assess all of Cirque du Soleil’s worldwide operational risks, his work engages both internal and external partners, supports strategic planning and delivers efficient contractual, claims and insurance processes that align with the corporation’s business core and projects.
“Michel has successfully created a corporate culture at Cirque du Soleil that realizes risk management’s true value and its ability to support innovation,” said ORIMS President Valerie Fox, Corporate EHS Manager at NPL Canada, a Division of Centuri Construction Group, Inc. “His career is marked with many outstanding achievements and includes his commitment to giving back to Canada’s risk management community. We proudly present him with this honour and thank him for all that he has done to support RIMS.”
Mr. Rodrigue has been a member of RIMS and QRIMA (RIMS Qu bec Chapter) since 2000. He joined QRIMA's Board of Directors in 2000 and held various board positions including serving as its president from 2002-2004. Mr. Rodrigue also served on RIMS Canada Council (RCC) from 2005 to 2008. In line with RIMS’ commitment to continuing education, he has delivered numerous presentations at RIMS Canada Conferences and at his local chapter that explore a range of topics including workers’ compensation, contractual risk transfer and business continuity planning.
He holds an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Sciences from Quebec City’s Laval University where he came back, 20-years later, to promote the risk management profession to students. In December 2015, Mr. Rodrigue was honoured by QRIMA with the Excellentia Award for promoting the advancement of risk management.
Fred H. Bossons Award
Also presented at RIMS Canada Conference was the Fred H. Bossons Award. Each year, the award honours the risk management professional who earns the highest average mark on the three examinations required to attain the Canadian Risk Management (CRM) designation. This year’s winner is Ann Marie Gillingham, Head of Risk – Vanguard Investments Canada.
The CRM designation provides risk professionals a foundation of knowledge and skills needed to identify, assess, monitor and limit risks. The award is recognized by RIMS and awarded by the Global Risk Management Institute (GRMI).