Our builders
A forward-looking organization, Bâtirente is also very proud of its roots. At the 2020 annual general meeting, Pierre Patry, then Chair of the Board of Directors, unveiled the creation of an honour roll as a tribute to the organization’s Builders. The honour roll highlights the Builders and their exceptional contributions that have enabled Bâtirente to successfully carry out its mission today. Bâtirente was created through the will of CSN activists who, in the 1980s, remained committed to the idea of offering a group retirement plan to the affiliated members of the CSN. This honour roll, titled Nos Bâtisseurs et Bâtisseuses (Our Builders), was established to pay tribute to these key individuals.
Léopold Beaulieu
Chair of the Board (1987-1999)
Board Member (2000-2020)
Léopold Beaulieu was the first nominee inducted into the Builders’ Honour Roll. Mr. Beaulieu, one of the three founders of Bâtirente and former President and CEO of Fondaction, left the Board of Directors in 2020 after serving for 33 continuous years, including his role of Chaiman from 1987 to 1999. Léopold Beaulieu’s nomination is an evocative demonstration of his place in Bâtirente’s history.
Before his retirement in January 2020, Léopold Beaulieu was President and CEO of Fondaction, the Fund for cooperation and employment of the CSN, since its inception in 1996. Treasurer of the CSN from 1976 to 1996, he was instrumental in the creation of several of the CSN’s economic intervention tools, such as the Caisse d’économie solidaire Desjardins, MCE Conseils, Bâtirente and Fondaction. From 1988 to 1995, he was Bâtirente’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, and has since remained on the Board as a representative of the CSN. He is President of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Information on Community Enterprises (CIRIEC-Canada) and Honorary President of CIRIEC International. First Vice-President of the Caisse d’économie solidaire, he is also a member of the Table de concertation et de proximité of Group Caisses within the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec and Secretary of the Foundation pour l’éducation à la coopération et à la mutualité.
Claude Rioux
Board Secretary (1987-2004)
Claude Rioux was inducted into the Builders’ Honour Roll in 2021. Mr. Rioux, one of the three founders of Bâtirente, served as secretary of the board from 1987 to 2004.
Jacques Allard
Board Member (1987-2001)
Jacques Allard was inducted into the Builders’ Honour Roll in 2021. Mr. Allard, one of the three founders of Bâtirente, served as a board member from 1987 to 2001.
Daniel Simard
Chief Executive Officer (1995-2021)
Board Member Ex-Officio (1995-2021)
Board Member (1988-1995)
Daniel Simard was named to the Honor Roll of Builders in 2022. A member of Bâtirente’s Board of Directors since its establishment in 1988, Mr. Simard was ensuring its general co-ordination from 1995 to 2021.
From 1978 to 1995, he worked within the CSN in areas of collective bargaining, benefit plans and labour court representation. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) from 2006 to 2015. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of SSQ Life Insurance Inc. from 1994 to 2005, where he was called upon to chair both the Audit Committee and the Ethics Committee.
Pierre Patry
Chair (2004-2021)
Pierre Patry was named to the Honor Roll of Builders in 2023. He chaired the Bâtirente Board of Directors from 2004 to 2021.
Mr. Patry was Treasurer of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) from 2004 to 2020. He previously held the positions of President of the Saint-Félicien College Teachers’ Union, then Secretary-Treasurer and President of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ). He has also served on the boards of directors of MCE Conseils, Filaction and Fondaction.