Darren Entwistle replaces Telus CEO who won’t move to Vancouver

Outgoing Telus CEO Joe Natale and returning Telus CEO Darren Entwistle
Outgoing Telus CEO Joe Natale and returning Telus CEO Darren Entwistle

THE#BCBIZDAILY
Plus, presidential moves at UBC and traffic moves on Georgia Street

He’s back
Darren Entwistle, Telus CEO from 2000 to 2014, is back. He replaces Joe Natale, who replaced Entwistle just last year. Apparently Natale can’t move his family from Toronto to Vancouver, location of the Telus head office, anytime soon. Natale will serve in an executive capacity until the end of 2015. Dick Auchinleck, who replaces Entwistle as chair of the board, and Entwistle have agreed to serve in those capacities on a long-term basis, according to a statement from Telus.

He’s gone
Arvind Gupta, president of UBC, is also moving on after just a year in that position—to resume his academic career and leadership roles in the business and research community, according to a statement from UBC. Gupta, who has a PhD in computer science from the University of Toronto and was formerly CEO and scientific director of Mitacs, will focus on research at UBC’s department of computer science. Martha Piper, UBC president from 1997 to 2006, will serve as interim president from September 2015 to June 30, 2016 while the university conducts a global search for a new leader.

Street smarts
A Vancouver-based urban design and planning group called Slow Streets suggests speeding things up (though not for cars) on Georgia Street by instituting dedicated bus lanes. Georgia Street accounts for 16 per cent of downtown bus trips, yet during peak periods in July the average bus was delayed for two minutes on a single block, according to Slow Streets. Its report, The Case for Bus-only Lanes on Georgia Street, released August 7, argues that more people can be moved using simple, cost-effective solutions to reallocate road space on the street without requiring significant capital or time for planning.