Nancy Gélinas, Commission President

Nancy Gélinas is the first woman in Université Laval’s history to hold the position of Dean of the Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics. She is also a research professor of forest economics.

Ms. Gélinas was educated entirely at Université Laval. Her multidisciplinary academic path includes qualifications from three different faculties: a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, a Master’s degree in Science and a Ph.D. in Forestry Sciences.

She obtained a position as a professor at Université Laval in 2004, having begun her academic career at the University of Moncton (Edmundston) in 1997. Before being appointed as Faculty Dean, she was Vice-Dean of Studies for four years. Her research projects have a multi-resource focus, cover the environmental, social, economic and governance aspects, and involve participation by actors from a variety of fields.

Her fields of expertise are environmental economics, economic development and forest economics.

Clément D’Astous, Commissioner

Clément D’Astous has more than 34 years of experience in Québec’s civil service, including more than 16 years as a State administrator.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economic Sciences and a Master’s degree in Economic Sciences from the University of Ottawa, as well as a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Université Laval.

Among other things, he has been Deputy Minister at the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, and has worked at Retraite Québec as a Vice-President. In addition, he has been an Associate Deputy Minister at the Ministère des Finances and an Associate and Deputy Secretary at the Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor.

In 2019 he was a member of the Remuneration Committee for Criminal and Penal Prosecuting Attorneys.

Florent Gagné, Commissioner

Florent Gagné has more than 37 years of experience in the Québec and federal civil service, including more than 22 years as a State administrator. 

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and pursued graduate studies in the same subject. He also has company directorship certification from the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés.

From 1983 to 1994, he was an Associate Deputy Minister and then Deputy Minister at the Ministère des Affaires municipales. 

From 1994 to 1998, he was Deputy Minister of Public Security and was subsequently appointed as Director General of the Sûreté du Québec, a position he held until 2003. From 2003 to 2005, he was Deputy Minister of Transportation.

Since 2006 he has consulted on various issues relating to public administration and policy. In June 2006, for example, he was appointed by the Government to chair the board of directors of Québec’s provincial horse-racing body, the Société nationale du cheval de course, where he completed the privatization of Québec’s racetracks. In 2009, he also chaired the Municipal Ethics Working Group. He is currently the chair of the board of directors of Revenu Québec. He has also been a member of various other boards of directors, as well as a government negotiator for certain indigenous issues.