William Shurniak

Mr. William Shurniak was born in Limerick.  Upon completion of his high school education, he embarked on a career in banking, which spanned a period of 35 years.  During that time, he gained wide banking experience, which included five years in Hong Kong where he headed up the CIBC’s operations in the Asia-Pacific Region.  In 1984, William left banking to become an Executive Director and Group Finance Director of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, a publicly listed, diversified conglomerate in Hong Kong, with operations in over 40 countries.  Although he retired on December 31, 2007, he remains a Director of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, as well as a Director and Deputy Chairman of Calgary based Husky Energy Inc., and a Director of several other Hutchison Whampoa group companies.  Additionally, he served on the Advisory Board of the Richard Ivey School of Business from 1996 through 2008, and is currently an Emeritus member.

In July 2000, William moved to Adelaide, South Australia to assume the position of Director and Chairman of ETSA Utilities, the distributor of electricity in the State of South Australia.  During his five years in Australia, he was also a Director and Chairman of Powercor Australia Ltd. and CitiPower Pty Ltd., distributors of electricity in the State of Victoria; a Director of Envestra Ltd., Australia’s largest distributor of natural gas; a Director of the Helpmann Academy, and a Councillor of the South Australian Chapter of the Australia Business Arts Foundation.

After having spent 28 years residing and working overseas, William moved back to Canada in 2005 and now resides at the family home in Limerick.  Coincident with his move back to Canada, he was appointed Director and Chairman of Northern Gas Networks Ltd., a distributor of natural gas to approximately 2.5 million customers throughout northern England.  He has also become a Director of the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts.  His passion for art resulted in his building a gallery in Assiniboia to house his growing art collection.  William holds Honorary Doctor of Law degrees from both the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Western Ontario.  He was awarded the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal by the Lieutenant Governor at the official opening of the Shurniak Art Gallery in July 2005.