Yearly Archive: 2011

Last Thursday I was at the public wolf howl in Algonquin Park with good friends Bob and Menna Weese and I can tell you that it was a wonderful evening. But first, a little background. Naturalists studying wolves in Algonquin found they could attract howls from packs in the wilds if the naturalists howled first. A notice in a park bulletin in August 1963 attacted 650 people and the program – now the largest naturalist-led interpretative program in the world – was well and truly launched. The public howls are scheduled in August because that’s when the wolf packs, averaging...

It was my maternal grandfather who first got me interested in stocks. Robert R. Work was a retired druggist living in Toronto when I was a boy growing up in Guelph. I was about twelve when he told me that he owned some shares in a gold mine called Couchenour-Willans. “If it doubles, I’ll sell it, and give you half the proceeds,” he said. Soon after, he announced that he’d sold it and gave me $300. There was no advance arrangement about what I was to do with the money, but reinvestment in the market seemed appropriate. My father subscribed...

This year’s nominees for The Canadian Business Hall of Fame have recently been announced and all are most deserving: Aldo Bensadoun, Guy Laliberte, Seymour Schulich, and Galen Weston. It’s a nice mix of old money and entrepreneurs, mining and entertainment. Over the years about 150 individuals have been inducted, both living and dead, and it’s a great list. And yet. The closer you look, the more questions arise. For a time, it seemed the committee that chooses the winners would pick some who were living and also name one dead inductee. But dead people don’t buy tickets for the awards...

Margaret Atwood doesn’t need my help. Last I saw, there were 27,000 people who’d signed up to support her fight to keep Toronto library branches open. The battle was launched by Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother and alleged brains of the family, sounding off about how there were too many library branches. When Atwood protested, he said, “I don’t even know her. If she walked by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is.” What a silly man. The Toronto Public Library system is a wonderful resource and among the best-used in North America. I take out dozens of...

Some things in life are immutable. Conrad Black is among them. You have to admire the force of his personality even as he heads back to prison flinging emails to inquiring journalists that resonate with phrase-making from on high. The sentence was no surprise; I look forward to prison; my efforts have changed the system; my wife is fine. I first met Black in 1978. I had just joined Maclean’s as business editor when his purchase of Argus Corp. became public and thus began his rise to fame and fortune. He was refusing all interviews. For my first story in...

Among all the senior bankers of recent vintage, Don Fullerton possessed the most grace and the quickest wit. As a sometime thorn in the side of the banks, I had been particularly scathing in my books and magazine pieces over the years about Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) where Fullerton was chairman and chief executive officer from 1985-1992. As far as I was concerned, CIBC was the worst run and the most political – a toxic combination – of the Big Five Banks. CIBC always seemed to be the last bank in the door with the biggest wheelbarrow full...

Sandy, my wife and high school sweetheart, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. Sandy was the loving mother of Mark (Andrea Whiting) of Toronto, and Alison (Ken McLeod), of Hamilton; beloved sister of Robert Illingworth (Sharon) and John Illingworth (Elizabeth) of Thunder Bay; proud and fulfilled Pippa of Molly and Emerson. Sandy was a woman of high spirits, eternal optimism, common sense and an old soul with the touch of a rebel. If anyone needed a friend, they could always turn to her knowing that she would not only listen but also offer wise advice. Sandy lived...

I read books. I write books. I read bestseller lists. My books have appeared on bestseller lists. Every week I read the list of Bestselling Business Books in Tuesday’s Report on Business and shake my head. Most such lists include books you might have heard about, books that you’ve read, and books that have been on the list for weeks. It’s always interesting to see who has just arrived, who’s clinging by a thread, or who’s been there forever. The New York Times has recently added e-books to its roster of bestseller lists. This Tuesday list, supplied by Books for...

With the election a week away, it’s a tough call. No one predicted the rise and rise of Jack Layton. The last time I saw this phenomenon was during the 1972 election when I was press secretary to Robert L. Stanfield, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, as it was then called. As soon as the election was under way, and we began travelling, surprise issues began bubbling up from the street. There was an unhappiness across the country that almost cost Pierre Trudeau his job as prime minister. Trudeau ran a campaign that has similarities to Stephen Harper’s current...

Everything I read about PlayBook, the new tablet from Research In Motion that’s about to be launched, says it isn’t quite ready. In technology, when did this begin to matter? Microsoft sold software for years that had glitches, fixing them on the fly. RIM has been through this before with the launch of the BlackBerry itself. Dave Castell, just recently graduated from University of Waterloo was put in charge of a team in 1998 to create what would become BlackBerry. Until that point, RIM had in essence been making two-way pagers. One of the books that Castell’s group found helpful...

I tried to watch the entire two-hour debate, I really did. Steve Paikin was a good host, the format was workable, the questions pointed, but Gilles Duceppe eventually drove me away. At times he spoke gibberish. Let’s cut off the Bloc’s public money. Canada has a history of regional political parties becoming national parties but the BQ has been around twenty years without showing any interest in growing beyond Quebec’s borders. All they do now is prevent a majority government. Without the multi-million dollar annual subsidies they would wither away as well they should. Jack Layton had the best one...

Why have force-fed mentoring and fast-track programs meant to propel women upward in their careers failed so abysmally? Aren’t women trying hard enough? Do they need more help? Or are forces beyond their control stopping them? As Marlo Thomas famously said: “A man has to be Joe McCarthy to be called ruthless. All a woman has to do is put you on hold.” The term “glass ceiling” was first coined in the mid-80s. That metaphor, which suggested a barrier through which career women could not rise, has recently been replaced. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Alice H. Eagly and...

With the federal election under way, it’s time to predict the outcome. I think Stephen Harper will gain a few seats, but not enough for a majority. Here are my numbers: Conservatives up seven seats to 150, Liberals down three to 74, Bloc up three to 50, NDP down three to 33, and one Independent. Michael Ignatieff resigns and the next Liberal leader is Dominic LeBlanc, the MP for the New Brunswick riding of Beausejour. Jack Layton steps down and the next leader of the NDP is Olivia Chow, Layton’s wife and the MP for the Ontario riding of Trinity-Spadina.

Research In Motion’s financial results reported yesterday were excellent by any measure. In the fiscal year ended February 26, the company shipped 52 million smartphones, up 43 per cent from the previous year, revenue rose 33 per cent and earnings per share jumped 47 per cent. But the devil’s in the details, say the all-powerful analysts who follow RIM. Earnings per share in the fourth quarter were $1.78, better than the consensus of analysts at $1.76. But revenues were $5.56 billion, slightly less than consensus of $5.64 billion. The company’s guidance for the next quarter was lower than consensus but...

Of all the sectors where you might expect to see foreign ownership rules relaxed, I’d put Canadian book publishers last on the list. But apparently, Ottawa is considering ending the policy banning foreign firms in the business, according to John Barber in The Globe and Mail. There is even support from the likes of Lionel Koffler of Firefly Books. Of course, several major foreign houses – Penguin and Random House – are already here but they have to provide benefits to Canada. Nationalist though I am, I agree it’s time to open the borders to all comers. It’s clear that...