TORONTO, Nov. 6 /CNW/ - The Board of Directors of Canadian Tire
Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC.A, CTC) ("the Company") today announced the
appointment of Stephen G. Wetmore as the Company's next President and Chief
Executive Officer, effective the beginning of 2009. He will succeed Tom Gauld
who is retiring from that role at the end of this year, and will continue as a
member of the Company's Board of Directors.
    Wetmore, 55, is an experienced chief executive officer who has led large,
complex businesses in different industries, including telecommunications,
information technology and transportation. He has been responsible for
regional, national and international business operations. Most recently, he
served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Aliant Regional
Communications Income Fund, one of North America's largest regional
telecommunications providers. He has led a number of other public companies
and has served as an independent member of Canadian Tire's Board of Directors
since 2003.
    Maureen Sabia, Chairman of Canadian Tire's Board of Directors, said
"We're delighted to have secured someone of Stephen's stature and experience
as our next President and CEO. This appointment reflects our Board's ongoing
focus on succession planning and we are extremely pleased with the result.
Stephen has a deep knowledge of Canadian Tire through his service on our Board
and its committees. With an enviable record of leading public companies, he
has successfully created new and market-changing organizations, built brands,
managed complex relationships and distribution channels and, perhaps most
important of all, has shown a proven commitment to customer service and to
productivity. In his new role, Stephen will continue the execution of our
current strategy and enhance the Company's relationships with its customers,
shareholders, dealers and employees across Canada. Our shared goal is to
enhance the power of our brand and to make Canadian Tire the best it can be in
meeting the needs of our customers, every day."
    Sabia added that, "Tom Gauld has made a valuable contribution to Canadian
Tire. He has driven our business strategy, helped to instill a culture of
accountability and invested in initiatives for the Company's long-term growth
and success. He also worked with the Board in identifying Stephen Wetmore as
the right person to succeed him at this time. We are pleased that Tom has
accepted the Board's invitation to continue as a member of our Board of
Directors following the leadership transition."
    "This is about seizing opportunity when it comes knocking," said Tom
Gauld, "and it's about getting the right person for the long term. Stephen
announced late in the summer of 2008 that he would be leaving Bell Aliant. I
had intended to continue in my present role a little longer. However, the
opportunity to recruit someone of Stephen's stature to lead the Company beyond
that timeframe led me and the Board to revisit our succession timetable. I am
delighted with the outcome."
    Stephen Wetmore said, "I am truly honoured to join this great Canadian
icon. I have admired Canadian Tire for many years. My role as a Board member
has only increased my appreciation of the strength and responsibility
associated with one of Canada's most recognized and trusted brands. I look
forward to working with the men and women of this great organization in
achieving its continued success."

    CONFERENCE CALL

    Canadian Tire will conduct a conference call to discuss its third quarter
earnings, which were issued under a separate news release this morning, and
related matters at 4:30 p.m. EST today. The conference call will be available
simultaneously and in its entirety to all interested investors and the news
media through a webcast at http://investor.relations.canadiantire.ca, and will
be available through replay at this website for 12 months.Stephen G. WetmoreStephen Wetmore is an experienced chief executive officer who has
successfully led a number of Canadian public companies. He has managed complex
businesses in different industries, including telecommunications, information
technology and transportation. He has been responsible for regional, national
and international business operations. These organizations have ranged from
those with a regional focus to those with global mandates. They have included
fledgling companies as well as iconic corporations that have been operating
for more than a century. He has successfully created new and market-changing
organizations, built brands, managed relationships and distribution channels,
and balanced the pursuit of growth with improvements to organizational
efficiency. In each of these roles he has shown a deep commitment to customer
service and to increasing productivity.
    The depth and breadth of Mr. Wetmore's business experience have been
shaped by his varied executive responsibilities. As President and Chief
Executive Officer of NewTel Enterprises, the telecommunications company
serving Newfoundland and Labrador, he doubled the size of the organization. In
that role he subsequently led the first four-way merger of public companies in
Canada, uniting the telephone providers of Atlantic Canada to form Aliant Inc.
Mr. Wetmore served as the new company's first President and Chief Executive
Officer, successfully integrating four organizations, their management teams,
employees and strategies.
    This record of achievement continued during Mr. Wetmore's subsequent
service as Vice Chairman, Corporate and as Group President, National Markets
of Bell Canada and as Executive Vice President of BCE Inc. In these roles he
was involved in virtually all facets of an extremely complex multi-division
organization. He oversaw operations in western Canada (Bell West), northern
Canada (NWTel), northern Ontario and Quebec (Bell Nordiq), and Atlantic Canada
(Aliant), as well as Telesat Canada. He also led such corporate functions as
finance, marketing, regulatory and purchasing.
    He then helped to create, and served as the first President and Chief
Executive Officer of, Bell Aliant, one of North America's largest regional
telecommunications providers and one of the largest publicly-traded business
income trusts in Canada. In this new role Mr. Wetmore successfully combined
telecommunications and information technology businesses in Atlantic Canada,
Quebec and Ontario that operate through a number of operating entities serving
millions of customers in six provinces and the United States.
    Mr. Wetmore's appreciation of local markets and communities was also
demonstrated earlier in his career as President and Chief Executive Officer of
the regional carrier, Air Atlantic. During this period he led that airline's
successful restructuring and return to profitability.
    Mr. Wetmore's international focus was first shaped during his previous
service with Scotia Holdings PLC, an Anglo-Canadian health care company. He
rose through a number of increasingly senior roles in Canada and the United
Kingdom to the position of Managing Director. He helped grow the business
considerably, a strategy that entailed the creation of purchasing and
distribution channels in more than 30 countries.

    Professional experience: Includes ten years in telecommunications and
information technology, ten years in healthcare, seven years in public
accounting and two years in transportation.2006-2008   Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund - President
                and CEO

    2002-2006   Bell Canada - Vice Chairman, Corporate; Group President,
                National Markets

                BCE Inc. - Executive Vice President

    1999-2002   Aliant Inc. - President and CEO

    1998-1999   NewTel Enterprises - President and CEO

    1996-1998   Independent Consultant

    1993-1995   Air Atlantic - President; Finance Director

    1983-1993   Scotia Holdings PLC - Rose through a number of increasingly
                senior roles in Canada and the United Kingdom to the position
                of Managing Director

    1976-1983   PricewaterhouseCoopers (predecessor companies) - Chartered
                Accountant

    Education

    1979   Chartered Accountant - Canada

    1976   Bachelor of Business Administration (accounting and finance),
           Acadia University

    Personal

    -  Born 1952, Campbellton, New Brunswick
    -  Married with one daughterCanadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC.a, CTC), operates more than
1,180 general merchandise and apparel retail stores and gas stations in an
inter-related network of businesses engaged in retail, financial services and
petroleum. Canadian Tire Retail, Canada's most shopped general merchandise
retailer, with 473 stores operated by dealers across Canada offers a unique
mix of products and services through three specialty categories in which the
organization is the market leader - Automotive, Sports and Leisure, and Home
Products. www.canadiantire.ca offers Canadians the opportunity to shop online.
PartSource is an automotive parts specialty chain with 82 stores designed to
meet the needs of purchasers of automotive parts - professional automotive
installers and serious do-it-yourselfers. Canadian Tire Petroleum is one of
the country's largest and most productive independent retailers of gasoline,
operating 269 gas bars, 262 convenience stores and kiosks, and 74 car washes.
Mark's Work Wearhouse is one of the country's leading apparel retailers
operating 364 stores in Canada. Under the Clothes that Work™ marketing
strategy, Mark's sells apparel and footwear in work, work-related, casual and
active-wear categories, as well as health-care and business-to-business
apparel. www.marks.com offers Canadians the opportunity to shop for Mark's
products online. Canadian Tire Financial Services has issued over five million
Canadian Tire MasterCard credit cards and also markets related financial
products and services for retail and petroleum customers. Canadians can also
access Financial Services online at www.ctfs.com. More than 57,000 Canadians
work across Canadian Tire's organization from coast-to-coast in the
enterprise's retail, financial services, and petroleum businesses./NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on
    the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca.
    Additional archived images are also available on the CNW Photo Archive
    website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited
    members of the media/%SEDAR: 00000534EF