Robert Plamondon
With a passion for Canada's prosperity, unity and security ...
Robert Plamondon FCPA FCA, ICD.D is a consultant, independent board member, economist and author. He has expertise in public policy, strategic planning, finance, organizational transformation, performance and risk management, and Canadian history.
Bob currently serves on Senate Standing Committee on Audit and Oversight as one of two external members. He is also on the board of OPTrust, a defined benefit pension plan that holds $23 billion in assets that funds and administers the pension plan for Ontario’s unionized public servants. Bob is the Vice-Chair of the Government of Ontario Internal Audit Committee and is the former Chair of the Community Services Sectoral Audit Committee.
A key project for Bob is the transformation of the University of Ottawa Professional Development Institute into Canada's preeminent institution for applied governance and leadership development. This includes serving as the Director for the Comptrollership Leadership Development Program and the CIO Institute. The author of five bestselling books about Canada, Bob is the founder and leader of The Prime Ministers Series – a partnership of the University of Ottawa and the Canada School of Public Service. He also serves as a senior advisor to the Equality Fund, which is driving cultural, economic and political change to advance gender equality around the globe; and, to the Métis Nation of Ontario as it implements self-government.
Bob a le plaisir de travailler en français.
Experience
Plamondon’s recent board work includes the National Capital Commission where he was the chair of the audit committee and was a member of the executive committee. Bob was elected interim NCC chair by his fellow board members. Bob has sat on numerous other boards including for the world’s largest running and triathlon timing company.
Bob has taught on a full and part-time basis at three universities and is the author of numerous public policy studies and reports. He has been frequently published in the Globe and Mail, The National Post, Policy Options, Inside Policy, The Ottawa Citizen and academic journals.
Bob’s extensive experience in public sector management includes leading governance evaluations of the board of directors of VIA Rail and EDC. He also conducted an evaluation of the governance regime for Canada's national debt under the shared authority of the Bank of Canada and Finance Canada. Bob is the author of Ten Steps to a governance Checkup for the Boards of Crown Corporations and Government Agencies.
Over his career, Bob has led significant organizational and nation-building initiatives, including:
A leader in a multi-year resource optimization initiative for the University of Ottawa that delivered $33 million in annual savings while also improving the staff and student experience in a unionized environment. He also led the transformation of the campus facilities unit that provided oversight of all capital projects and the asset maintenance system
A breakthrough agreement on the $3 billion Ottawa light rail system that saved a billion dollars, protected the riverfront, added 60% more green space and will lead to the construction of a $30 million world-class park
In a senior strategic advisory role at the City of Ottawa ($4 billion budget with $15 billion in assets) developed and implemented a suite of financial and management reforms including a fiscal framework, budget challenge process, operational reviews that delivered tens of millions in savings, design of a performance management system, and innovations in the transparency of financial reporting.
A key member of a small team at Finance Canada that designed the GST. He also built the business case that transformed Revenue Canada into Canada Revenue Agency.
Undertook the background work that changed the way provinces interacted with the federal government in the assessment of personal income tax and that contributed to the implementation of single administration of corporate income tax in Ontario
Key contributor to the design of the governance structure for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Bob is a sought-after contributor and facilitator for public policy discussions.
Guest of historian Margaret MacMillan on a BBC Radio documentary on the October Crisis
Host for the Prime Ministers Series with the Rt. Hon Jean Chretien
Federal budget analyst and commentator
Keynote speaker for meetings and conferences of national associations
Regular contributor to "The Week in Politics" on CPAC
Credentials
Bob is a graduate of Carleton University with a Master of Management Studies and a Bachelor of Commerce (marketing). He became Chartered Accountant in 1983 and was elected a Fellow in 2003. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and completed the Rotman Directors Education Program to earn the ICD.D designation.
In 2012 was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Community Works
Plamondon currently sits on the boards of the Portrait Gallery of Canada and the Ottawa chapter of the Sir Winston Churchill Society. He also sits on the advisory board of the Digital Academy of the Canada School of Public Service, which deals with issues around digital transformation, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
In 1988, Plamondon ran for federal Parliament as a Progressive Conservative. He was one of the longest-serving board members of the Sierra Club of Canada. In 2012, he led a campaign that resulted in the renaming of the Ottawa River Parkway to the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. In 2018, Plamondon launched an initiative to establish the Wellington National Mall in the Parliamentary Precinct and a public transit loop along Confederation Blvd. to connect Ottawa and Gatineau transit systems. An avid runner, Plamondon also supports literacy programs in public schools, local writers' festivals, and minor hockey.