One Molson fires, another Molson hires. Paul Wilson, the former vice-president of Groupe CH and the Canadiens, had his head cut off when we fired Marc Bergevin and Trevor Timmins. His only crime was to be too close to Bergevin. He paid top dollar.
But the Molsons are too smart to let a man of his caliber wander from small contracts to small contracts while waiting for a big offer from a competitor.
It is done. National, the Res Publica holding firm, chaired by public and government relations giant Andrew Molson, will announce today to its 1,000 employees that Paul Wilson is returning to National as Senior Vice President, Head of CRE Organizations and Parties stakeholders. He will replace André Bouthillier, a former employee of the defunct daily Montreal-Matin, who becomes special adviser to the president.
Since Paul Wilson is paid until September 1 by the Canadiens, he will take office on September 6.
He will join another former journalist colleague, Valérie Beauregard, daughter of Luc Beauregard, a founder of National and former editor of the daily. In another life, Valérie was the pearl of an economic section. Today, Ms. Beauregard is Executive Vice President on the Board of Directors of Res Publica.
A SECOND STAY
This is Wilson's second return to National. He had worked at National from 1988 to 2000, then from 2010 to 2018. In the meantime, he had become vice-president at Labatt, then vice-president at the Canadian Grand Prix, under the enlightened direction of Normand Legault.
We then found him at the Canadian, where he was stuck by cuts due to the pandemic and especially by the paranoia of his friend Marc Bergevin. How to be an excellent vice president of communications when the boss hides and does not want to say a word by pushing himself?
We all know that the book he will write when he retires will be very exciting.
How was Carey Price going to rehab? Paul knows it.
How were the last weeks of Bergevin lived under the orders of Geoff Molson who no longer spoke to him while being unable to dismiss him? Paul knows it.
Then there must be a couple of good stories about Bernie Ecclestone, about Denis Coderre, about Renaud Lavoie, about Trevor Timmins...
A bloody good book. A bestseller.
AN UNTENABLE SITUATION
Paul Wilson experienced an unmanageable situation at the Bell Center. He first had to live amidst complicated relationships within senior management at Group CH. In addition, this man trained to collaborate with the media and especially to subtly direct their research could not use the tenth of his human and professional qualities in his functions.
Paul is the son of Larry Wilson, a great friend of Serge Savard and former president of the Liberal Party of Quebec when it was a powerful party.
It was with Larry Wilson that Savard sent Petr Svoboda to board when he arrived at the Canadian.
Paul Wilson then learned a lot about hockey... and life.
