The President and CEO of CF Montreal, Kevin Gilmore, is a French-speaking Quebecer whose mother is a Dame Tremblay from Saguenay. His passion for sport dates back to Arvida, and continued thereafter in Sainte-Foy. Kevin is one of the few Quebecers, if not the only one, to have held leadership positions with teams from the NHL, Major League Baseball and MLS, not to mention Disney.
What city are you from?
I am a native of Arvida, Saguenay, and thanks to my parents, I am perfectly bilingual. I spoke with my mother in French while with my father it was in English. The family meals with my parents, brother and sister were actually language lessons.
Your father was a good athlete.
He didn’t break into the NHL, but he played with Jacques Plante, Herb Carnegie and Jean Béliveau. He was a soccer coach in Chicoutimi and he won the championship in his first season.
Your mother was forward thinking.
Mom, at 17, inquired about studying at the Polytechnique de Montréal. I have the response letter informing her that there were no student girls yet at the time and encouraging her to make a formal application, but she chose another career.
Did you like playing sports when you were young?
I lived in Sainte-Foy. It was in baseball that I excelled the most. I also played hockey, basketball and soccer, but my soccer talent was limited to scoring goals.
You were a teammate with Pierre Vercheval and Michael Fortier.
I worked with them and faced them in different sports: former Alouettes Pierre Vercheval was a teammate on the baseball field and opponent on a basketball court; and renowned businessman Michael Fortier was a baseball teammate.
Describe your first jobs to me.
I was going to Champlain St. Lawrence Regional College in Quebec. I worked in bars on the Grande Allée, even though I was under the required age, also as a kitchen attendant in girls’ camps, and a mover for English-speaking families.
Did you want to be a gamer agent?
Throughout my youth, I wanted to work in sports. It is for this reason that I chose to study law.
Were you keen on studying in French?
I had analyzed the possibility of studying at McGill, but I wanted to pursue a career in French in Quebec. I finally chose the University of Ottawa, and for the first time, I had to study in French.
Tell me about your college life and your car.
Let’s start with my college finances. I paid all the costs myself and had $ 25 a week to eat, and occasionally pay myself a small expense. So, as you can see, I couldn’t afford a car.
You were an intern in Montreal at the Martineau-Walker law firm, which has since become Fasken.
I was lucky because my parents lived in Saint-Lambert, so again no car needed, but once in California I finally made enough money to get a brand new Jeep.
Have you been awarded a prestigious honor awarded by the Supreme Court?
Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa, in Civil Law and Common Law, in 1987, I was the recipient of the Chief Justice Brian Dickson Award of the Supreme Court of Canada for the highest mark of the last year of my studies.
On the way to California …
I had received job offers from law firms in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I finally opted for the offer from the Latham & Watkins office in Los Angeles, and then for that of Disney. Imagine the little guy from Arvida with his accreditation to enter the Disneyland site with his car, and be able to access the park through a secret door just behind a big merry-go-round.
Did Disney open the doors to the world of sport for you?
Without a doubt. Disney bought the NHL roster from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. I worked with Pierre Gauthier, who became GM of the Canadiens, and with Tony Tavares, the last president in the history of the Expos.
You also worked with two other teams from California.
I had the pleasure of working with the Los Angeles Kings and Angels baseball roster. When I watch an Angels game I take pride in leading the stadium renovations and working with Bill Bavasi whose father, Buzzie, had been involved with the Montreal Royals.
Describe a difficult decision that you had to come to terms with.
The day I realized that I would never be a GM of an NHL team, despite the fact that I had interviews with three teams. However, it opened doors for me across the world of sports.
Montreal has its place for you in the world of sport.
It is a big city of sports. I had good years with the Canadian, and now with CF Montreal.
Your meeting with your future wife is quite unique.
I went regularly to the Monkland Tavern in Montreal because I found one of the customer service representatives to be charming. In fact, I was wrong about the position she occupied, because she was not an attendant, but one of the co-owners.
What does a great family evening consist of for you?
Sharing a good meal with my wife and my three children is without a doubt a beautiful moment in my life, a moment that is repeated often these days, but we are all looking forward to an evening at Stade Saputo.
