Peter MacDonald, President and CEO of four auto dealerships on Prince Edward Island, became the 77th Chairman of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association at the Board of Directors’ meeting in Winnipeg, Man. in October.
MacDonald takes over the Chairman role from Marc Bourassa, who stays on the CADA Board as the Immediate Past Chairman.
MacDonald moves into the Chairman’s seat from his previous role as the association’s First-Vice Chair. Apart from many years of experience on the CADA Board, MacDonald has also served as President of the Prince Edward Island Automobile Dealers Association (PEIADA).
The new Chairman can look forward to a busy and challenging term, as he oversees many of the association’s key files in the coming months. This includes the battle over HST on insurance products, getting vehicle recall legislation passed, the fight against small business tax changes, ensuring CADA’s voice continues to be heard in Ottawa, monitoring interventionist legislation regarding zero-emission vehicles, and a new Auto Career Start initiative to help spark more interest in dealership careers.
“We would like to thank Marc Bourassa for his leadership as Chairman, and look forward to having him continue to serve on our Executive for two more years,” said President & CEO John White. “I’m pleased to welcome Peter MacDonald as the new Chairman. Peter brings with him extensive knowledge as the head of several dealerships in PEI, and an abundance of experience having participated in several dealer-related activities and industry groups. This will help him guide the association through its endeavours on behalf of dealers.”
MacDonald graduated from the University of Prince Edward Island with a Bachelor of Business Administration Major in Accounting. He started his career in public accounting before moving into management in the private sector. In 1984, he decided to work for and buy the family Ford dealership in his hometown of Summerside. In 2006 he purchased the Ford dealerships in Charlottetown and Montague, and several years later he opened Summerside Hyundai with his brother.
He is also on the Board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation in Charlottetown, PEI, and a council member and Past Chair of the PEI Canadian Forces Liaison Council. MacDonald has been involved in a variety of organizations, including being the President of the Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce, Director of the Worker’s Compensation Board of PEI, Director of the Summerside Regional Development Corporation (SRDC), and the Past President of the Ford Dealer Roundtable Association of Canada (FDRA), among other things.
These roles have provided MacDonald with a well-rounded background in accounting, management and retail sales, and skills in developing budgets and creating department objectives. His expertise in this area, along with his experience planning, organizing and chairing work and taking part in volunteer program committees and executive meetings, makes him well-suited for the position of CADA Chairman.
MacDonald is a former recipient of the Maclean’s Dealer of Excellence award for Prince Edward Island. He was also awarded the 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year for the Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce, and he was nominated twice for the “Edsel B. Ford II Salute to Dealers” international award recognizing dealers contribution to their community.
Beginning in 1973, winning a provincial Junior Men’s Curling Championship and continuing on through to 2013, Peter MacDonald made his mark as a competitive curler on PEI. As one of a talented curling family, many of his 17 provincial titles came while competing with family members as teammates. In all, he had ten appearances at the Brier, three at the Mixed, two at the Seniors, one Juniors appearance, and one at the Canada Games. His extensive volunteer activities over many years supporting curling, and his ongoing corporate sponsorship, together with his significant achievements on the ice were recognized on October 24 2016 when he was inducted into the PEI Curling Hall of Fame as a Curler/Builder.