Director of CPIA Quebec steps down, Atlantic office closes

When the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) rings in the New Year it will do so without Pierre Fillion, the head of the organization’s Quebec office.

Fillion resigned his position in early December, and has been replaced by former CEO Pierre Dubois, who will serve as Quebec’s interim director general until a full time replacement is found.

“Pierre’s departure boils down to differences in vision between Quebec and the rest of the CPIA,” Serge Lavoie, CPIA president and CEO, explained to Canadian Plastics. “The Quebec members have a vision that involves a new structure giving them more autonomy. This has been an ongoing debate for some time now, and Pierre’s departure has exasperated this.”

“At the moment, there’s a question over the proper place for the Quebec branch in the CPIA structure,” Lavoie continued. “There is general agreement on the need for a new structure to satisfy Quebec, but no consensus yet on how to do it.”

Lavoie noted that Fillion’s departure does not affect the rest of the CPIA Quebec staff, which is still in place.

The CPIA has also announced that, as the result of restructuring, its Atlantic office close after the end of this year, and that henceforth all Atlantic-region files will be handled from CPIA’s headquarters in Mississauga, Ont. Duncan Cross, the Atlantic region’s executive director, will continue to serve the CPIA under a contractual arrangement, Lavoie said.