Page 15 - Suncor 360 - Summer 2017

Kris Smith
EVP, Downstream
Suncor is a great company to work for with an amazing 50-year history. Looking back, I’m most proud of how we have taken a company once described in the early 1990s as one of the most unlucky companies around because of how tough the oil sands business was, and through hard work and determination, transformed it into Canada's largest integrated energy company by value. We’re a true Canadian energy champion.
Since joining Suncor in 2000, I’ve had many memorable positions and opportunities, but my favourite
memory is heading to Denver with a small team to open Suncor’s rst U.S. of ce after we purchased the Commerce City re nery.
Even though we were taking over an established business, our small team had the feeling of a start-up company where the sky was the limit. We worked long hours and things were not always easy, but the people (both the Canadian expats and our new U.S. employees) were fantastic and it was some of the most fun I’ve had in my career.
Hometown: New York City. “My father was on assignment in the U.S. when I was born so I am both an American and Canadian citizen.”
Signature Canadianism: “I know how to curl.” Tims order: Large with milk
Favourite Canadian team: Calgary Flames Favourite Canadian icon: Romeo Dallaire
Paul Gardner
SVP, Human Resources
Suncor has a big position in Canada, which has grown in the 10 years I’ve been here.
The importance of a company in this industry, thinking of sustainability, the environment, the social and economic well-being of people and communities where we do business is critically important. Suncor has a space and voice to lead in Canada.
My favourite memory is the merger with Petro-Canada in 2009. It was a huge, intense effort that reshaped this
organization and the oil sands industry. The memories I have of all the people and effort and tireless energy around it are absolutely incredible. What an unbelievable learning experience it was for all of us.
When I look back at our history, I’m most proud of our pioneers. If you think about this organization and its 50-year oil sands celebration, you think ‘wow, there were people who were literally pioneers trying to gure this out and truly being leaders.’
As a pioneering company, Suncor is iconic today and will be even more so in the future. The last 50 years were about being a leader, delivering technology solutions, continuous improvement, operational excellence, and thinking about the environment differently. The next 50 years will continue those themes in a different context. The business will shift because the world is shifting. We’ll have to be agile, but are well-positioned for decades to come. It’s an exciting time.
Favourite Canadian team: The Ottawa Senators, his hometown team Favourite Canadian band: “The Tragically Hip, but I also have a soft spot
for Leonard Cohen.”
Favourite Canadian delicacy: “It has to be poutine! But I’d also
add my mom’s brewis (pronounced “brews”), a traditional Newfoundland dish consisting of hardtack bread soaked in water over night, then boiled and fried in mounds of butter or pork fat. It sounds horrible, but it was a welcome Sunday morning family breakfast ritual.”
Signature Canadianism: “I grew up playing hockey and spent every Saturday night glued to the TV for Hockey Night in Canada. And I love bacon and maple syrup.”
In B.C., Kris hauls in a Tyee, a Chinook salmon that weighs over 13 kg (30 lbs).
Paul has lived and breathed hockey his whole life.
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