Dominion board chair steps down
Three new board members selected to fill holes left by recent resignations
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, January 15, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The chairman for Dominion Diamond corporation announced he is stepping down due to the "medical challenges" he is facing.
In a news release issued Wednesday, Robert Gannicott stated he'll hand over the chairmanship to Jim Gowans in the near future. This isn't the first time Gannicott has stepped aside for medical issues. He took a leave of absence in November 2014 as chair and CEO of Dominion Diamond Corporation.
Former GNWT cabinet minister NWT Power Corporation chair Brendan Bell replaced him as CEO while board member Dan Jarvis took over as chairman. Gannicott returned last year as chair but ceded the CEO position to Bell.
His most recent announcement was made in the wake of two other resignations on the board. Fiona Perrott-Humphrey and Ollie Oliveira resigned in December, citing "personal reasons" in a news release issued Dec. 24, after shareholders of the Toronto-based corporation publicly called on company directors to deal with falling share prices. In the Wednesday news release, Gannicott stated that both he and the company are facing challenges.
"Both the company and I have faced certain changes recently," he stated. "For the company these represent opportunities but in my case they represent medical challenges."
Gowans is the former chair of the Mining Association of Canada, and will assume the role of non-executive chairman of the board before April 30. Josef Bejvoda - a former portfolio manager at K2 and Associates Investment Management Inc. - has also been appointed to the board on the recommendation of Dominion's shareholders.
The company has struggled to maintain its 2014 sales, gross margin, operating profit and earnings per share for the period ending Oct. 31 all well below performance for the same period the previous year. The company's operating profit fell to $7.1 million in 2014 from $65.5 million in the previous year - a reduction of 89.5 per cent.
In the Wednesday news release, Jarvis - now lead independent director of the board - stated the board is still looking for an additional independent director.
