Rolf Hougen’s Curriculum Vitae
As of November 2013
NAME: Rolf B. Hougen, O.C.
MARRIED: Margaret Vandyke (six children, 18 grandchildren)
BUSINESS INTERESTS
Chairman/Past President
The Hougen Group of Companies
Whitehorse, Yukon
Hougen's Ltd. was founded in 1944. Through expansion and acquisition, it grew to become the largest retail organization in the Yukon, with over 75,000 square feet of retail space in Whitehorse, and approximately 150 full and part-time employees. Today, Hougen's Limited is essentially a real estate company; however, family members still are very much engaged in several successful retail and other business ventures.
Chairman/Past President
Klondike Broadcasting
Whitehorse, Yukon
Founder, Past President and current Chairman. CKRW commenced broadcasting in November 1969, and was the first commercial radio station "North of 60". The station broadcasts 24 hours daily in Whitehorse and to other towns and cities throughout the Yukon and via satellite across Canada. It has 14 employees. In 2004, it began to broadcast in FM in addition to AM.
President
Northern Television Systems
Whitehorse, Yukon
WHTV commenced operation in 1958 with one black and white channel operational four hours a day with pre-recorded programming that was six months old. Today it is a multi-channel service receiving all Cancom channels plus Pay TV and others. WHTV is the largest cable company in the North, employing 12. In 2007, the company was sold to Northwestel, a Bell Canada company.
Chairman
Whitehorse Motors Ltd.
Whitehorse, Yukon
Acquired the existing Ford-Mercury dealership in 1969. Relocated and expanded the facilities to the point where the dealership is now the largest automotive outlet in the Yukon employing 50 people. In 2009, the company was sold.
Founder and Director
Canadian Satellite Communications Ltd.
(CANCOM)
Toronto, Ontario
Started in 1978 as a basis for delivering multi-channel television services to under served regions of Canada through a satellite delivery network, Cancom obtained its license from the CRTC in 1980. Today Cancom services all communities in Canada providing multi-channel television and dozens of radio signals. It also provides data communication services and satellite mobile tracking for truckers. Shaw Communications acquired control and now operates as a division of Shaw. In January 2000, Rolf retired from the board.
Chairman and Director
Regional Vision Inc.
A company based in Montreal with 127 licenses to serve communities of 10,000 households or less with wireless LMCS (cellular vision) technology. The company has since sold its licences.
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DIRECTORSHIPS
Director, Finning Ltd. (1980–1999)
B.C., Yukon, Alberta, NWT, U.K., Poland and Chile. Since Rolf left the board in 1999, the company has expanded to Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay.
Director, Alberta Power Ltd. and Yukon Electrical Col. Ltd. (1969–1999)
Edmonton, Alberta and Yukon
Director, Cominco Ltd. (1980–2002)
Vancouver, B.C. A worldwide mining and smelting company now known as Teck Resources Ltd.
Director, NorthwesTel (a BCE company) (1979–1999)
Whitehorse, Yukon. A telephone company serving the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon and northern B.C.
Director, NorthwesTel Cable Inc. (1979–1999)
Yellowknife, NWT. A cable company serving the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon and northern B.C.
APPOINTMENTS
Officer of the Order of Canada (1987)
Officer, Ordre National du Merite (France 1992)
Honorary Consul for France (since 1980); succeeded by Erik Hougen in 1999
Chancellor, Yukon College (a four-year term starting in September 2009)
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NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Past Chairman of the Board, Canadian Chamber of Commerce (1989-90)
Member, Vancouver Consular Corps
Member, Canadian Cable Television Association and many trade organizations
Member, National Council for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Canada
Member, Canadian Cable Television Pioneers Club
Trustee, Nature Conservancy of Canada
Member, Confrerie des Chevaliers Du Tastevin
CURRENT COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Member, Yukon Order of Pioneers
Member, Yukon Historical & Museum Society
Member, Yukon Parents for French
Member, Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1986: Yukon Businessman of the Year
1987: Tourism's Yukoner Award (Government of the Yukon and Yukon Chamber of Commerce)
1990: Honours List – Canadian Cable Television Association
1991: Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Certificate of Recognition
1992: Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Lifetime Achievement Award
1992: Canada 125th Anniversary Medal
1994: Commissioner's (Yukon) Award
1996: Vancouver Yukoners' Association, Lifetime memberships awarded to Rolf and Marg
1998: Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, Paul Harris Fellow
1998: City of Whitehorse, appointments of Rolf and Marg as Honorary Admiral for the HMCS Whitehorse
2000: Canadian Satellite Users Association, Outstanding Service Award
2003: Friends of the Yukon Archives Society, honorary membership (Rolf and Marg)
2004: Up Here magazine 20th anniversary issue cites Rolf Hougen as one of "20 Great Northerners"
2010: Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (CAFE), 2010 Family Enterprise of the Year Achievement Award
2010: Yukon Historical & Museums Association, Lifetime Achievement Heritage Award
2011: The Globe and Mail Business for the Arts Award, "Best Entrepreneurial Partnership" – presentation in Toronto, October 6, 2011
PAST ACTIVITIES
President and Founder, Young People Association (1945–1952)
Vice President, Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
President and Founding Member, Whitehorse Board of Trade
Founder and Chairman, Yukon Research and Development Institute
Chairman and Founding Member, Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous
Director, Canadian Chamber of Commerce (1960–61, 1978–82, 1985–91)
Founder and Chairman, The Yukon Foundation, now administering more than five million dollars
Banff School of Advanced Management (1965)
Director, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (1984–90)
Member, Canada Post Stamp Advisory Committee (1991–96)
Yukon Medical Services Foundation
Secretary, Yukon Fish and Game Association
Treasurer, Whitehorse Merchants Hockey Club
Emergency Measures Organization – Yukon
Treasurer, Yukon Ski Runner
Member, Yukon Science Institute
TRAVEL
1955: Four-month honeymoon in Europe
1962: Rome, Isle of Capri
1976–77: Lived one year in Grenoble, France with family
Other: Visits to People's Republic of China (1966, 1972 and 1987) and five times more. Several visits to Japan and Hong Kong. Visits to Caribbean Islands and Mexico; visited most countries of Europe including Hungary, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia while they were still under Communist control; travelled to South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, visiting mines, etc.; travelled to Australia and Papua, New Guinea; toured mines in Australia.
1989: Thailand, spoke in Bangkok on behalf of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce
1989–90: Bombay, New Delhi, Rome, Taipei, Hong Kong, Washington during term as Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce
1989: Accompanied Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to Moscow; dined in the Kremlin
1990: River cruise with family through Burgundy region, France
1994–96: Attended board meetings in Chile for Finning and Cominco
1995: Sailed from St. Lucia to Grenada with Craig and MJ Hougen
1997: Southeast Asia: Singapore, Kuala Lumpur – cruise
1998: Jersey, Guernsey, London prior to Finning board meetings
1999: Black Sea and Mediterranean cruise
2000: Sweden and Paris with Greta and Bob Gray
2001: New Zealand: three-week drive, touring both islands with Kelly and Heather Hougen
2002: Family of 32: Disneyland, Mexican Riviera cruise
2002: Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna, Prague – land tour by bus
2003: Family of 32: Paris, barge tour on canal, Riviera
2004: Family of 32: Alaska fishing (leased four boats)
2005: Family of 32: China, Korea, Japan, Vladivostok including cruise; Budapest to Amsterdam 12-day cruise
2006: Panama Canal cruise; Family of 32: Hawaii for Christmas, island cruise
2007: France, Brittany to visit Consul General and Marie-Noelle Defay with Karen Hougen-Bell and Jim Bell
2008: Sailing British Virgin Islands with Craig and Mary-Jane Hougen; Family Heritage tour to Holland and Norway
2009: Southern Spain, Morocco with Kelly and Heather Hougen
2010: Dubai, cruise to London via Suez Canal, ten days in Ireland
2011: Tahiti island cruise, Hawaii; St. Petersburg, river cruise to Moscow, one week in London