Royal Canadian Mint’s new master appointed to five-year term

A new master of the Royal Canadian Mint was recently appointed by Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

Marie Lemay, who has extensive experience in public policy and served in senior leadership positions within the government over the past two decades, was appointed to a five-year term. The order-in-council authorizing Lemay’s appointment listed her annual salary range between $271,000 and $318,800. Her first day was this Monday, Feb. 18.

“Her background in public policy and substantial experience in providing strategic advice and making decisions on complex and sensitive issues make her an ideal fit for this important role,” said Morneau. “I am certain that the Mint will benefit from the breadth of her expertise, and I wish her great success in her new position.”

Lemay is leaving her post as deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, for which she was the top bureaucrat working on the problem-plagued Phoenix pay system. A Senate finance committee estimated it would cost the feds $2.2 billion to fix the system by 2023, reports the Globe and Mail. The Trudeau government pledged an additional $431 million in the 2018 budget to fix it, and $16 million to begin replacing it.

The appointment was apparently made under the Government of Canada’s “new approach” to governor-in-council appointments, according to a statement released by the Mint earlier this year.

“This approach supports open, transparent and merit-based selection processes that strive for gender parity and reflect Canada’s diversity, to support Ministers in making appointment recommendations for positions within their portfolio by providing them with information and referrals,” reads the statement.

Lemay succeeds interim president and CEO Jennifer Camelon, who was at the helm of the Mint since last summer, when Sandra Hanington suddenly resigned three years into her five-year term, citing the need for an improved work-life balance.

The order-in-council for Hanington’s appointment in 2015 listed her annual salary between $306,300 and $359,300.

WHAT IS THE ‘MASTER’ OF THE RCM?

As the Crown corporation’s chief executive officer, the master of the Mint reports to the board of directors and is responsible for providing leadership and direction in all aspects of the corporation’s activities, business performance and strategic development. The board of directors is accountable to Parliament through the finance minister.

EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE

Lemay recently served as deputy minister and deputy receiver general with Public Services and Procurement Canada, to which she provided advice and support to Minister Carla Qualtrough and undertook the day-to-day management of the department’s 12,000 employees and $6-billion budget.

Lemay has held several other senior leadership government positions and has extensive experience managing human resources and organizational budgets.

She is also a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and of Professional Engineers Ontario as well as a Fellow of Engineers Canada. She is a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and has served on several boards.

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