{"id":502443,"date":"2026-02-25T05:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T05:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502443\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T05:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T05:08:08","slug":"caat-interim-executive-vice-president-resigns-adding-to-turnover-at-pension-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502443\/","title":{"rendered":"CAAT interim executive vice-president resigns, adding to turnover at pension plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

There has been rapid turnover in the senior ranks of CAAT as the $23-billion retirement fund faces a governance crisis.Merle Robillard\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Another senior executive has left the CAAT Pension Plan, adding to the rapid turnover in the senior ranks of the $23-billion retirement fund that has been reeling from a crisis over governance.<\/p>\n

Scott Blakey resigned from an interim job as executive vice-president overseeing operations and human resources on Feb. 20, one month after he took the job in a period of turmoil at CAAT. <\/p>\n

Mr. Blakey was previously a long-serving member of CAAT\u2019s board of trustees. He stepped down from that post on Dec. 12, 2025. <\/p>\n

CAAT spokesperson Stephen Hewitt confirmed Tuesday that Mr. Blakey resigned from his role. \u201cWe have no further comment on why he chose to leave CAAT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Blakey did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n

The payout and relationship that led to crisis at a pension plan<\/a><\/p>\n

On Jan. 20, when then-chief executive officer Derek Dobson announced the abrupt departure<\/a> of three of the pension plan\u2019s most senior executives, he named Mr. Blakey to the temporary role in a staff memo. <\/p>\n

Mr. Dobson told employees the three senior leaders \u2013 chief investment officer Asif Haque, chief financial officer Michael Dawson and chief pension officer Evan Howard \u2013 left the pension plan \u201con good terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, The Globe and Mail reported that those three executives flagged concerns over governance in a November letter<\/a> to CAAT\u2019s board. They raised several issues that they said shook their confidence in the CEO\u2019s leadership, creating a standoff that ultimately led to their departure. <\/p>\n

As CAAT faced the fallout, which damaged employee morale, CAAT\u2019s board chair was removed. Then, on Feb. 13, Mr. Dobson was put on administrative leave and the vice-chair of the board stepped down. A new board chair and vice-chair were named from the existing group of trustees.<\/p>\n

Long-serving CAAT executive Kevin Fahey was appointed as acting CEO to stabilize the plan\u2019s leadership, three weeks after he was promoted to chief investment officer to replace Mr. Haque. Chief strategy officer Jillian Kennedy remains in her role. <\/p>\n

But Mr. Blakey\u2019s resignation adds another gap to fill in CAAT\u2019s senior executive team, which is still without a CIO, CFO or top pension officer. <\/p>\n

Mr. Blakey\u2019s appointment to the temporary executive role drew scrutiny over potential conflicts given his recent departure from the board. <\/p>\n

CAAT CEO received $1.6-million vacation payment despite internal policy limits<\/a><\/p>\n

In November, when the three executives sent their letter to CAAT\u2019s board, Mr. Blakey was a trustee and co-chair of the board\u2019s audit committee. At the time, the board was being urged to investigate possible failures in governance. Those included the approval of a $1.6-million vacation payment to Mr. Dobson, and the decision to allow the CEO to carry on a personal relationship he was having with a CAAT employee.<\/p>\n

Mr. Blakey was also chair of CAAT\u2019s board when Mr. Dobson received vacation payments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each on two previous occasions, three sources said.<\/p>\n

The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources because they are not authorized to discuss internal company matters. <\/p>\n

Initially, the board stood by Mr. Dobson. In early February, CAAT said in a statement that the board continued to have confidence in his ability to lead the plan.<\/p>\n

But in mid-February, new board chair Audrey Wubbenhorst said that the decisions to place the CEO on leave and change the board\u2019s leadership are in the \u201cbest interests of the plan and are necessary to restore stakeholder trust in CAAT s leadership, governance and plan management,\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: There has been rapid turnover in the senior ranks of CAAT as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[3793,3782,64,63,3794,1348,3774,3795,99,2065,3773,3787,3788,3784,3775,3772,164,2555,75,69,186,3781,3805,3776,3777,3786,3783,1625,2289,3796,3779,3800,3801,3803,3798,3802,3797,3799,184,185,3778,3790,3791,84,3789,2111,635,105,3792,3785,3780,1346,3804],"class_list":{"0":"post-502443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-bc","13":"tag-breaking-news","14":"tag-breaking-news-video","15":"tag-british-columbia","16":"tag-business","17":"tag-canada","18":"tag-canada-news","19":"tag-canada-sports","20":"tag-canada-sports-news","21":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","22":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","23":"tag-canadian-news","24":"tag-economy","25":"tag-education","26":"tag-environment","27":"tag-federal-government","28":"tag-finance","29":"tag-foreign-news","30":"tag-globe-and-mail","31":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","32":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","33":"tag-government","34":"tag-life-news","35":"tag-lifestyle","36":"tag-local-news","37":"tag-manitoba","38":"tag-national-news","39":"tag-new-brunswick","40":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","41":"tag-northwest-territories","42":"tag-nova-scotia","43":"tag-nunavut","44":"tag-ontario","45":"tag-pei","46":"tag-personal-finance","47":"tag-personalfinance","48":"tag-photos","49":"tag-political-news","50":"tag-political-opinion","51":"tag-politics","52":"tag-politics-news","53":"tag-quebec","54":"tag-sports-news","55":"tag-technology","56":"tag-travel","57":"tag-trudeau","58":"tag-us-news","59":"tag-world-news","60":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}