Financière agricole du Québec
Développement international

Team

Collaborators

Alain Pouliot, Vice-President, Insurance and Income Protection, FADQ 

Mr. Pouliot holds a science degree. He is an agronomist (member of the Ordre des agronomes du Québec) and has thirty years of experience in the design, development and management of agricultural income assistance and protection programs for agricultural enterprises. While employed by the Québec Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, he worked in porcine production and in technical management. He has also been regional director in charge of the management of financial assistance to agricultural enterprises and he supervised counseling services to these same enterprises. He has been director of research and development for the crop insurance and income stabilization programs at the Québec Agricultural Insurance Board as well as at Financière agricole du Québec. Since January 2008 he is Vice-president, insurance and income protection at Financière agricole du Québec and is in charge of the management of products in connection with these sectors.

Denis Maheux, Director of Information Resource, FADQ 

Mr. Maheux has more than 25 years of experience as a professional and manager within the Quebec public service. He works mainly in a context of organizational change and implementation of new technologies. He performs assignments concerning strategic planning, operational diagnosis, review of business processes, design and implementation of electronic portals. He has worked in the area of systems development as well as for the implementation of material and software infrastructures. He has also been involved in international projects, especially in Peru.

Rénald Levesque, Director of Program Integration, FADQ 

Rénald Levesque holds degrees in agriculture and in public administration. His diverse work experience allowed him to acquire expert knowledge and competency in design, operation, development, management and implementation of agri-insurance programs. His know-how is mainly characterized by his ability to identify and apply solutions to rapidly settle major problems in connection among other things with natural and economic risks in the area of agriculture. Since 2000, he is director of program integration at La Financière agricole du Québec.

Richard Couture, Director of Financial and Material Resource, FADQ 

Richard Couture is a social science graduate. Throughout his career, he has performed duties involving the analysis of administrative procedures and financial auditing mandates. He acted as the head of the Budget, Purchasing and Payroll Branch at the Régie des assurances agricoles du Québec from 1990 to 2001. In February 2003, he became the general manager of the Budget and Accounting Branch at La Financière agricole du Québec and, since April 2006, has directed the Financial and Material Resource Branch for the agency. Among his duties, he oversees the planning, organization, direction and control of all the administrative operations involving budget preparation and follow-up and preparation of financial statements.

Annie Lafrance, Territorial and Regional Director, FADQ 

Annie Lafrance holds a bachelor's degree in bio-agronomy. During her career she has developed expertise in all the steps of planning and implementation of agri-insurance and financing programs. She has managed agricultural enterprises in the private sector. She has been deeply involved in the re-deployment of the network of regional services of La Financière Agricole du Québec. She has made several national visits to agricultural producers and to financial institutions for the purpose of the implementation of new Quebec and federal agri-insurance programs. As territorial and regional director she has had the opportunity to train new employees and to give numerous training sessions to an agricultural clientele as well as other stakeholders such as accountants, bankers or input suppliers.

Gérard Blais, Regional Director, FADQ 

Gérard Blais has been trained in agroeconomics and hold a degree in management. He has very good knowledge of financing matters. He worked as a financing advisor for regional service centres of the Société de financement agricole for a period of ten years. Mr. Blais then held the position of Regional Director in service centres of this organization. When La Financière agricole du Québec was founded, he was called on to coordinate the transition of service centres under his responsibility. Because of his functions in management since twenty years, Mr. Blais has in-depth experience in management.

Robert Wagner, Economist, FADQ 

Robert Wagner holds a Master's degree in economics from the University of Sherbrooke, specializing in international development. With a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency, Mr. Wagner completed his Master's thesis on the socio-economic impact of farm cooperatives in the Dominican Republic. He worked for over ten years on the board of directors of a non-government organization (NGO) in international cooperation. For several years, he has been involved in developing sales for certified fair trade products and in the increasingly important role of fair trade for NGOs in their support for initiatives by small-scale producers to improve their marketing networks. The various mandates that Mr. Wagner carried out for La Financière agricole du Québec have given him expertise in the use of options and futures in a market risk management program. In this respect, he worked with various Québec-based NGOs to use futures markets in their support program to improve the marketing practices of small-scale producers, particularly coffee and cocoa producers. Finally, as director of treasury management for La Financière agricole, Mr. Wagner has solid experience in the negotiation of the various financial products found on money markets.

Suzanne Pion, in charge of production insurance, FADQ 

Suzanne Pion holds degrees in biology and in project management. She had been involved in the field of agri-insurance since twenty years. She has conducted several research projects in entomology. She has worked for the Quebec Agri-insurance Board in the area of yield assessment, loss adjustment, and measuring of insurable area. She has worked on the development and implementation of case history database. Ms. Pion has contributed to the implementation of various measures and programs in connection with individual and collective agri-insurance. She has also been involved in the installation of weather stations using the climate derivative approach, as well as with the methodology of rating agri-insurance premiums. Since 1998, Ms. Pion is in charge of production insurance.

Daniel Morin, in charge of agri-insurance and income protection programs, FADQ 

Mr. Morin holds a degree in agriculture from Université Laval and is a member of the Ordre des agronomes du Québec. A skilled populariser, he has 25 years of experience in the development and management of agri-insurance programs and in income protection. He has accomplished many international development projects as a commercial advisor in Cameroon for the World Trade Organization and he has also taught agricultural management to garden vegetable producers in Senegal. He has put together and taught several courses to foreign delegations invited by Développement international Desjardins. Presently, Mr. Morin is supervising a team of six professionals in charge of the administration and popularization of various agri-insurance and income protection programs at La Financière agricole du Québec.

Étienne Pouliot, Agronomist 

Étienne Pouliot is a graduate in agrology. He worked at the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) as a manager in the Cattle Meat Branch. At the Régie de l'assurance récolte du Québec, he worked on the application of insurance programs (damage appraisal and compensation) and as a manager to implement services for farm producers in a new created region (Beauce Appalaches). From 1992 to 2007, Mr. Pouliot was the assistant manager and then manager of MAPAQ for the Chaudière-Appalaches region, the second largest agricultural region in Québec. He supervised the delivery of advisory services and technical expertise in agri-environmental matters, agricultural establishment and the start-up of new agricultural productions. During that period, Mr. Pouliot was the departmental spokesperson for the entire Québec territory for the national agri-environmental strategy. Mr. Pouliot has a variety of work experience abroad in Senegal and Cameroon.

Update : 2009-05-28