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Leadership Team
Arthur R. Price
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Art Price, born and raised in Alberta, has always brought a global outlook to the businesses in which he was involved. He joined Axia in 1995 with the vision of creating a company that would meet the full spectrum of Internet Protocol-based communications needs for businesses and consumers.
Art, trained as an engineer, held a number of senior executive positions in the oil patch, serving as Husky Oil's president and chief executive officer from 1984 - 1993. After leaving Husky, he spent two years as special advisor to Li Ka-Shing, Chairman of the Board of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., focusing on international investments.
He also maintains active ties to his family's agricultural roots, sitting on the board of the Sunterra Group of Companies.
Murray Sigler
President Axia Canada
Executive Vice-President Axia NetMedia Corporation
Murray Sigler is responsible for Axia's Alberta SuperNet business and Axia's business development initiatives in Canada and is the Executive Vice-President of Axia's Corporate Group.
Since September 2005, Murray has been the Managing Director of the Government of Alberta's UK Office. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, and had an extensive career in the aviation industry, including having led Canadian Airlines Corporation as President and COO of Canadian Airlines International and CEO of Canadian Regional Airlines. He holds degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Alberta. He is a member of the Law Society of Alberta and also a graduate of Harvard University's Graduate School of Business in the Advanced Management Program. In the past, he has served on various Corporate Boards of Directors in the aviation, tourism and energy sectors. He has also been active throughout his career as a Board member and Chair of numerous community and professional organizations in Alberta and nationally.
Peter McKeown
Chief Financial Officer
Peter McKeown is Axia's Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for merger, acquisition and divestiture activities.
A seasoned chartered accountant, Peter's previous start-up experience with oil and gas companies and his business acumen in all facets of financial reporting and planning were invaluable throughout Axia's fast-paced growth.
Prior to joining Axia, Peter co-founded and served as a director of Jordan Petroleum Limited.
Mark Blake
Vice-President, Global Business Development and Marketing
Mark Blake brings extensive international experience to his role as Axia’s Vice-President of Global Business Development and Marketing. He has worked in information technology in the oil patch, as a management consultant, handled software solutions for the capital markets and financial services sectors and was a contract program manager in the banking sector. He has worked from Alberta to Australia, with stops in the Pacific Rim, Europe, the Middle East and the Eastern United States.
He started his career working in IT for Shell Canada, moved to Deloitte Touche management consultants, and was then approached by EFA Software, a Calgary based company that created the first electronic trading application for the Alberta Stock Exchange. “The chance to join EFA happened at a good time,” he says. “There was a strong and growing demand for online services.” EFA gave Mark the opportunity to manage projects in more than a dozen countries including Japan, Nigeria, Palestine and Romania. He also spent 18 months in Australia, managing projects and handling business development in Southeast Asia as well as implementing projects in Saudi Arabia.
EFA was expanding into the U.S., and Mark was sent to New York City to set up an office there. He later transferred to EFA’s Toronto office before joining Axia in the fall of 2006.
Mark holds a BSc in Computer Science and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business.
Corinne Hua
Vice-President, Finance and Controller
Corinne Hua brings a strong grounding in technology to her position as Vice-President Finance and Controller. She joined Axia from the IT management software firm CA, where she was VP Finance. Prior to that she held the same position with Control-F 1 (bought out by CA); with Baseline Technologies, which provided integrity data management systems to the pipeline sector; and Big Picture Technologies, an e-business software development firm where she was VP Finance and Controller.
Corinne holds a BA in Economics from the University of Calgary, as well as her CMA (Certified Management Accountant) and CPA (Certified Public Accountant) designations.
Jim Lindberg
Vice-President, Alberta Operations and Finance
Jim Lindberg has overseen the financial operations of organizations in several industry verticals, including aerospace and forestry.
He worked as divisional controller for Sunpine Forest Products in Sundre, and was finance manager for the maintenance division of Canadian Regional Airlines in Calgary before he joined Axia in 2001 as Controller of Axia SuperNet Ltd., the division tasked with designing, building and operating the Alberta-wide Real Broadband network. He brought an eye for detail, a commitment to thoroughness and a strong sense of ethics to his role as “watchdog” for the project, ensuring that all expenses were tracked, confirmed and justified, and contributing to the project being delivered as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Jim, who holds his CMA, now applies those skills at the corporate level. While he maintains his focus on day-to-day operations, he also works with the leadership team to help set Axia’s business direction and evaluate new opportunities.
Drew McNaughton
Chief Technology Officer
Drew McNaughton started his career in Axia as Chief Operating Officer for Axia SuperNet Ltd., managing Axia’s implementation of the Alberta SuperNet for the province of Alberta. A professional engineer with a BASC in Systems Design from the University of Waterloo, he has worked for a variety of companies and on many types of projects, both as an employee and as an independent consultant, in his 30-year career. Most of Mr. McNaughton's experience has been with building, managing or operating large information technology programs or networks. Before joining Axia, he was an executive with Nortel Networks, managing Nortel's global information network and all of their internal network services.
With the Alberta SuperNet completed and Axia providing Real Broadband™ services to the provincial government and to service providers, Mr. McNaughton moved to France to implement Axia’s business model in a joint venture with VINCI Networks.
Mr. McNaughton’s current role is Chief Technology Officer responsible for information systems, security and technology direction. He also chairs an Alberta technology industry association called WiTec Alberta, which is focused on fostering innovation, networking and enabling technology commercialization in the province, and serves on the executive of the ICT Council of Alberta.
Dave Mullins
Vice-President, Alberta Sales and Marketing
Dave Mullins leads the team responsible for selling Axia's bandwidth and value-added network services. He joined Axia after 31 years at IBM, where he held a variety of increasingly senior roles in a number of locations. Over the course of his career he developed a broad range of experience in sales, marketing, sales management and product marketing, and served as a sector sales executive for industries including distribution, government, petroleum, health care and telecommunications.
Dave was General Manager of IBM's operations in Calgary, as well as IBM Global Services Sales Executive. He also spent five years focusing on services delivery within the Government of Alberta and Calgary Health Region accounts.
Jean-Michel Soulier
President, Axia Networks France
As President of Axia Networks France, Jean-Michel Soulier is responsible for all of Axia’s business development, technical and operational activities in France. He also is responsible for the growth and financial performance of Covage, a 50-50 joint venture partnership with VINCI Networks for pursuing network opportunities in France, and for developing our partnerships with VINCI.
Jean-Michel has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications sector, in France and in the United States. He has worked for large organizations such as France Telecom, Bouygues and Telecom Italia in financial, marketing and product development. He also created and led World Online, an Internet provider in France. As managing director for the “Alice” Internet access service business in Telecom Italia, he created and managed a very successful DSL product launch in France.
Nicole Springer
Vice-President and General Counsel
As Vice-President and General Counsel, Nicole provides oversight, guidance, and direction on the wide array of legal matters encountered across AxiaŐs business units.
Nicole joined Axia from a national law firm where she practised in the business law group specializing in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and commercial work in the oil and gas and technology industries. Her practice included advising private and public company clients on equity financings, including private placements and public offerings, continuous disclosure and mergers and acquisitions.
Nicole received her LLB from the University of British Columbia and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan. She is a member of the Law Society of Alberta, the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association.
Dawn Tinling
Vice-President, Investor Relations and Communications
Dawn Tinling is an experienced senior communications professional with extensive media, investor and government relations experience in a variety of corporate and environmental positions. Prior to joining Axia in 2003, she was Manager, Corporate Communications for Canadian Pacific Limited.
Dawn has a MA in Political Science from the University of Calgary. She is actively involved as a volunteer for a number of non-profit organizations. Currently, she is a Board Member and chairs the Communications Committee of the HomeFront Society of Calgary, an organization committed to ending the cycle of domestic violence through a co-ordinated community approach.