The CEO of Hydro-Québec, Michael Sabia, traveled to Nigeria last week to attend a meeting of the board of directors of the Mastercard Foundation – a trip that sparked internal reactions.
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“He went all the way to Africa and returned home in 72 hours,” Newspaper a Hydro spokesperson, Marc-Antoine Pouliot.
Mr. Sabia retained his position as director of the Mastercard Foundation, which he has held since 2020, when he was appointed head of the electricity giant last year.
According to information communicated to the American tax authorities, Michael Sabia and the other directors of the Mastercard Foundation, including Quebecer Louise Arbour, devote an average of three hours per week to the organization. None of the board members are paid.
Wikipedia
Mr. Pouliot assured that Mr. Sabia’s commitment to the Mastercard Foundation in no way harmed his work at Hydro-Québec.
“Extremely high pace of work”
“His extremely high work rate is public knowledge,” he said. With all respect, speculating on his ability to engage in a social cause while fulfilling his responsibilities as CEO of Hydro-Québec is not credible.”
The state-owned company did not pay for Michael Sabia’s trip to Nigeria, the spokesperson said. He was unable to say on Thursday whether Mr. Sabia had made other similar trips since taking office in August.
In September, 37 young African social entrepreneurs won a competition organized by the Mastercard Foundation and the American organization Resolution Project.
Photo taken from the Mastercard Foundation LinkedIn page
Michel Séguin, professor at UQAM and specialist in ethics, does not see any particular problem with the fact that Michael Sabia is absent from his position at Hydro for an external occupation.
“What we have to look at is what are the objectives that the board of directors of Hydro-Québec set for Mr. Sabia and at the end of the year, did he meet these objectives? If he hasn’t met them, well, that’s for the board to wonder [pourquoi]», Estimates Mr. Séguin.
The expert emphasizes that in 2024, it is easy for a manager traveling abroad to stay in touch with his colleagues and even to “resolve files”.
“Before, we had a performance management approach where presenteeism was something fundamentally important, whereas today, teleworking brings a new way of approaching performance,” he added.
Michael Sabia is not the first Hydro boss to serve as a director of an external organization. Her predecessor, Sophie Brochu, earned more than $200,000 per year as a board member of the Bank of Montreal.
Sophie Brochu in 2022
Archive photo, Pierre-Paul Poulin
Worries in 2021
Michael Sabia’s presence on the board of the Mastercard Foundation got him into trouble in 2021, when he was federal deputy minister of Finance.
Due to his position as administrator of the largest foundation in Canada, Mr. Sabia had to recuse himself from any decisions affecting charitable organizations. However, the Trudeau government was then preparing a reform of the sector which resulted, in 2022, in a significant increase in the minimum sums that organizations must spend each year for charitable purposes.
Created in 2006, the Mastercard Foundation’s mission is to help young people living in Africa and in Canadian indigenous communities to “access dignified and fulfilling work”.
The organization’s CEO, Reeta Roy, is paid more than US$1.1 million per year.
The Mastercard Foundation in brief
Creation: 2006
Headquarters: Toronto
Assets: $40 billion (2022)
Funding for charitable activities: $1.76 billion (2022)
Administrative expenses: $66.7 million (2022)