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Saturday, October 10, 2009 04:08 AM
Investment forum slow off the mark
It was billed as a conference to bring together investment fund professionals in a way they had never done before - but seems things didn't work out.
The ifiFORUM'09 was to take place Oct. 15-16 at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, featuring a keynote address by Jim Flaherty and an appearance by Bernie Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos.
But sponsorship dollars weren't an easy sell, it appears, and the event was cancelled on short notice. Organizers are now aiming for next spring, and putting a positive spin on events. "Rescheduling the event to spring ... is a direct response to calls for longer timelines, for even wider industry participation and timely opportunities for potential sponsors to hop on board," a spokeswoman said.
Roll up those sleeves
Calin Rovinescu knows that changing Air Canada's corporate culture won't happen overnight, but the CEO would like the company to be more nimble and agile. "A large company like Air Canada often gets mired in bureaucracy," he told employees in a recent YouTube address. "While there are rules, there are possibilities of creating exceptions where people can use their discretion."
He urged them to be "capable of rolling up our sleeves to get the job done quickly, delegating to the front people decisions that can be made on the front lines, giving them greater authority."
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Link to this postThursday, October 1, 2009 03:06 AM
Liberal Party fundraising shifts into high gear
Tonight Tom Bitove is set to host a fundraiser for Michael Ignatieff's Liberals deep in the kingdom of Bay Street at Scotiabank Plaza.
Mr. Bitove is a scion of the Bitove restaurant family and is a business partner of Wayne Gretzky, as well as executive chairman of moving van company AMJ Campbell.
This year, the federal Liberals are having rather more success raising dough than last year.
National director Rocco Rossi tells us that in the first two quarters of 2009, the party has garnered about $6-million - which was the amount of cash raised in all of 2008.
Mr. Rossi took his current job in January and at that time party memberships stood at about 40,000.
Today they are over the 100,000 mark.
A big event planned for Oct. 1 is a tribute dinner for former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien, who will appear alongside Mr. Ignatieff.
It takes place far from the downtown core, in Woodbridge, Ont., north of the city, but likely will see its share of movers and shakers.
Organizers include Ramesh Chotai, co-chairman of the Canada India Foundation and president of Bromed Pharmaceuticals Inc., and investor and philanthropist Aditya Jha, who is president of Karma Candy Inc. and a co-owner of Yorkville resto Prego.
Museum's new CEO lauded
Gail Asper, the guiding light and chief fundraiser for the under-construction Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, has sent around an e-mail to "Friends" of the museum lauding the appointment by the federal government of Stuart Murray as its first chief executive officer.
"We are very pleased," she wrote.
Mr. Murray has had an eclectic career - everything from road manager for the rock group Blood Sweat and Tears to novice leader of the Conservative party in Manitoba for five years to, most recently, CEO of St. Boniface Hospital and Research Foundation.
Ms. Asper says Mr. Murray is a major donor to the museum, an institution that originated as a dream of her father, the late broadcasting mogul Izzy Asper.
It is scheduled to open in 2012.
Thursday, September 24, 2009 03:10 AM
A missing museum chief and an unhappy union
Well, it's one way to deal with a labour dispute. When many of the 420 striking workers at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum barraged museum CEO Victor Rabinovitch with e-mails in early September requesting that he negotiate a fair contract with them, they received an unusual e-mail back: an automated "out of office" message because the top executive was away from the office until Sept. 22.
Yesterday, the museum workers "welcomed" Mr. Rabinovitch back from his trip with a huffy press release. Talks between management and the Public Service Alliance of Canada broke down in August and the museum workers voted 92 per cent for strike action on Aug. 27.
Last week, management and union members spent three days with a federal mediator to try to solve sticking points, including issues on salary and contracting out.
One museum employee, Melissa Ferland, who is an actor and interpreter, told Nobody's Business: "His negotiation team reports back to him just like our team reports back to our local president ... Perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference but ... when you have 420 employees it's pretty appreciated when you're there for them."
The museum's public affairs spokeswoman, Chantal Schryer, told us Mr. Rabinovitch was in Japan for the opening of a major exhibition of Canadian aboriginal artifacts and also met with Japanese museum leaders to sign an agreement on collaboration.
"It was hugely important for us to be there to open the exhibit," she said, adding he was "on top of things" by phone every day. She said the museum CEO was in Japan for five days, plus the weekend and travel. "I don't have the exact days."
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 03:28 AM
PR pro stickhandles his way into new position
The career move last week by big-deal Montreal-based public relations strategist Luc Lavoie to a firm controlled by Andrew Molson surely has Montrealers savouring a delicious irony. Mr. Lavoie, of course, is known for his crisis management skills and was Pierre Karl Péladeau's right-hand man at Quebecor Inc. for many years until he took a break a year ago.
Mr. Péladeau led a consortium last spring (other members of his group included an investment arm of the Quebec Federation of Labour and the business entity of Celine Dion and her husband René Angélil) to buy the Montreal Canadiens hockey club and its arena. The other - and ultimately successful bidders - were the three Molson brothers, Geoffrey,Justin and Andrew, and some partners that include Quebecor business competitor BCE Inc.
Much wrangling ensued between the two bidders over what role provincial government loans would play in financing the purchase of the fabled team. The deal closed a week or so ago, and Mr. Péladeau is believed to be very unhappy about losing the fight. So much so, he has mused about bringing an NHL franchise to Quebec City.
Indeed this month, online sports blogs are full of excited speculation at the prospect. If successful - and it's likely a long shot - the move by Mr. Péladeau would recreate the glory days of a storied rivalry, that of the Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques in the 1980s and 1990s.
OUT ON THE TOWN
Convicted Toronto entertainment entrepreneur Garth Drabinsky is out of jail while he appeals his seven-year sentence from the Livent fraud trial. And he is out and about on the city's social scene. During the just-concluded Toronto International Film Festival, a relaxed and casual-looking Mr. Drabinsky was spotted at the premiere of The Informant - making the film's star Matt Damon not the only celebrity turning heads at the event.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 10:58 AM
A terse Taleb speaks of luck in life
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of bestseller The Black Swan, spent the anniversary of Wall Street's collapse Tuesday evening pontificating for a group of 100 birds of a feather from Toronto business and political life at a Grano Speakers Series dinner. Burgundy Asset Management's Richard Rooney introduced Mr. Taleb to the crowd, joking, "To err is human, to be paid for it, divine." As it happens, Mr. Taleb ended up giving the shortest talk in the series' history and then opened the floor to questions - which he sometimes answered and more often did not. Perhaps picking up on the evening's theme of randomness (both the book's subject and the style of the author), Bill Downe, CEO of Bank of Montreal, asked a refreshingly un-CEO-like question: "What's the role of luck in life?" Mr. Taleb's answer in a word: huge. "We often mistake it for skill or design."
OLD PROS LAND PR GIG
PR giant National Public Relations landed two big hires this week - Bruce Anderson and Luc Lavoie - which caused a stir in the business and gives the shop some momentum. "We chose them, but they also chose us," National's managing partner John Crean told us. Mr. Anderson was CEO of Decima Research until 2008, and earlier was a founder of Earnscliffe Strategy Group. Mr. Lavoie is a well-known crisis management guru, former chief of staff to prime minister Brian Mulroney and later top communications executive for the Péladeau family's Quebecor. He also worked at National from 1993 to 2000. National is owned by Res Publica Consulting Group, which is controlled by Andrew Molson of Montreal. Mr. Lavoie responded to National's wooing after taking a year off since leaving Quebecor, because he "wanted to try other things, which I did." He wrote and commented on politics for Quebec media organizations. But, he told us, "The media is not what it used to be. There's not that much work left in the media."
Friday, September 18, 2009 03:26 AM
On parole, but with a few twists
Peter Atkinson, one of the Hollinger Four, convicted in the U.S. of various mal-deeds, notably fraud, is out of the Big House. He was transferred to a Canadian prison in June to serve out his 24-month sentence after doing some time in a U.S. jail. In July, he won early parole from the National Parole Board - with some interesting conditions attached. The former chief legal counsel at Hollinger International must make full financial disclosure to his parole officer not less than once a month. He is not permitted to take a job - paid or volunteer - where he has access to the financial records of others or manages the finances of another person, company or charity. And finally, Mr. Atkinson cannot hang out with his old friends from Hollinger - that is, the "certain associates or individuals" also convicted during the Hollinger trial - without special approval in advance from his parole officer.
Saturday, October 3, 2009 03:26 AM
Food aroma may be the lure for Calgary hot property
A modest mid-rise office building on 17th Ave. in southwest Calgary is suddenly drawing some of the city's noteworthy financial players.
Located in an area undergoing a renaissance, the brown brick edifice is headquarters to investment firm Shaunessy Investment Counsel and to developer Guy Turcotte's Stone Creek Resorts. The former is onetime Bay Streeter Terry Shaunessy's firm; the latter is building a $1.5-billion resort in Canmore, Alta., called Silvertip.
Now comes word that Calgary entrepreneur W. Brett Wilson has purchased the property and is moving his Prairie Merchant Corp. offices to the seventh floor.
As well, we hear, another prominent, well-heeled Calgarian is considering an office there.
Why is this eight-storey building on 17th Ave. the home of some of Calgary's new guard? In Mr. Wilson's case, it may be because it's just down the street from his restaurant Brava Bistro. For others, perhaps it's the allure of the food across the street at the hip eatery Farm, run by food doyenne Janice Beaton.
She's no 'rainmaker'
A TV anchor in a long-ago life and currently the chairwoman of Ottawa's recession-beating panel, the Economic Advisory Council, Carole Taylor started her first day of work yesterday at the Vancouver law office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.
She's not a lawyer, but she will serve as a senior adviser on public policy, corporate governance, and economic and trade matters. Ms. Taylor's career stops have been many and varied. She has been chairwoman of CBC/Radio-Canada and, in 2005, she was elected to the B.C. legislature, subsequently taking the post of finance minister for the province. She tells Nobody's Business that she has been weighing her career options during the past year since she decided not to run again for office.
We asked her whether she would be a "rainmaker" for the firm - someone who uses her extensive contacts to bring in the big clients.
"No. My role will be different. I am bringing my experience."
Saturday, September 12, 2009 04:05 AM
A PETA pitch with wings?
Animal protection activists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are ready to buy ad space on Air Canada aircraft. The group is suggesting a photo of a seal be painted on airplane fins, along with a punchy slogan on the fuselage.
"PETA would like to offer funds to wrap planes flying between Canada and the U.S. with our 'Ground Cruelty: End the Seal Slaughter' ad," PETA senior vice-president Dan Mathews said in a letter to Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu. "At some point, Canadian leaders will realize that they are tarnishing the entire country's image. ... What better way to get their attention than by reaching out to tourists and business travellers?"
Mr. Mathews will be at Air Canada's headquarters in Montreal later this week, and the airline says it is open to the idea of letting him meet with an airline official to discuss unspecified issues, but Mr. Rovinescu won't be there. While Air Canada recently got animal friendly and allowed some small cats and dogs back into the cabin, count on the airline to politely shut the door on PETA's publicity pitch.
Lightening the load
Margot Sobers, a single mom who works in the downtown Toronto headquarters of Bank of Montreal, decided three weeks ago to act on her idea that kids in the most need could use new backpacks to inspire them at the start of a new school year.
Through her personal philanthropic vehicle, ProjectCLIMB, she set out to collect 50 backpacks and fill them with school supplies and a small chocolate treat. She then donated them to Kiwanis Boys and Girls Clubs and the Red Door Shelter.
She tapped her colleagues at the bank, and others. Fast forward to the first day of school yesterday and Ms. Sobers had collected donations of funds or supplies to give away 94 bags, and now has a new goal of 200.
"I'm a single mum myself; these single parents really need help. Not a hand-down or pity, we just need people to be kind-hearted," Ms. Sober told us.
Thursday, September 17, 2009 03:58 AM
The bank customer's new BFF
Let's see if Douglas Melville will have more success with Royal Bank of Canada than his predecessor did. Canada's new banking ombudsman was appointed this week, and in his first days he's talking a tad tough. His job is to push changes on how complaints from customers of banks and investment firms are handled by institutions.
Earlier this year, David Agnew stepped down as head of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) to take another job. Mr. Agnew's resignation followed the withdrawal of RBC from the recently reformed dispute-resolution process.
"I think it's unfortunate that they're [RBC] not with us," Mr. Melville told The Globe and Mail this week. "It's unfortunate for the system as a whole, but also for their customers."
Mr. Melville joined OBSI, an independent organization, in 2006, as senior deputy ombudsman for banking services. Before that, he held senior posts in the financial industry and worked as a consultant. Clearly, OBSI plays with a weaker hand without the country's largest bank, although the federal Finance Minister is looking at the issue. "The call as to whether or not they come back is entirely between RBC and Ottawa," Mr. Melville said.
what page am i on?
It's always amusing to play "spot the real characters" in a roman à clef, and members of Toronto's business and social elite may spend their time in coming weeks doing just that with a new novel by gossip columnist Shinan Govani hitting stores next week.
Mr. Govani has been busy attending a series of launch parties for his Boldface Names, including a "surprise" dinner for 15 the other night at One in the Hazelton Hotel, attended by media types, spin doctors and socialites. Among them was Canadian establishment chronicler Peter C. Newman, there to figuratively pass the baton to Mr. Govani. The two "social archivists" share an interest in Barbara Amiel Black.
Mr. Newman, now 80 and author of more than two dozen books, has written about her and her now-imprisoned husband, Conrad Black; Mr. Govani's romp features a character named Lady Ivory, who is crucial to the plot. The book has plenty of other familiar figures, some going by their real names (Jim Balsillie, Peter and Melanie Munk, Edward Greenspan and Adrienne Clarkson) and others in disguise, such as "the Formidable Authoress" and the "Richest Man in the Room/Country."
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ROYAL BANK OF CANADA
Thursday, September 3, 2009 03:02 AM
Is oil man buyer of Calgary manor? He's playing coy
Who bought a sumptuous Calgary mansion from former star Flames goalie Mike Vernon for a record price last month? At $10.3-million, it was the highest sale price ever in the city (eclipsing a precrash record of $7.5-million) and the house sold in less than four months.
The real estate agent has said there was more than one bid on the property. One rumour had cable scion Heather Shaw as a possible bidder. But the name thrown up by the city's rumour mill as the lucky buyer is that of Sveinung Svarte, the CEO of Athabasca Oil Sands Corp., which announced a $1.9-billion joint venture transaction with PetroChina this week.
Asked about the house purchase in an e-mail exchange, Mr. Svarte said: "I have heard those rumours ... as well. If you drive by my [current] house you will see signs for a development permit for adding a floor to my house. Those are my current housing plans in Calgary." Pressed further to say directly that he did not buy the property, he did not reply.
Mr. Vernon's former 13,000-square-foot home in the Elbow Park district is a beauty, though there were complaints from neighbours when the National Hockey League star proposed the building in 2004. Described in the listing as a "gracious sandstone estate home privately nestled on a 10,000-square-foot lot along the banks of the Elbow River," the custom-built residence features huge entertaining rooms with French doors that give on to river vistas, private courtyards and formal lawns, and a boat dock.
Mr. Vernon, an investor in the beleaguered Bear Mountain Resort near Victoria, has moved to a home in the Mount Royal area of Calgary.
that's a lot of green
A Gemini Award for a corporate branding exercise? Could happen. The "One Million Acts of Green" Web-based environmental project, partnered by Cisco in Canada and the CBC, is the first co-marketed program to be nominated for a Gemini. It's one of five contenders in the category of Best Cross Platform Project; the award will be presented Oct. 20 in Toronto.
The nine-month OMAoG campaign, launched last October, encouraged Canadians to register "green acts" on an interactive website. Almost two in every 1,000 Canadians registered and completed 1.8 million acts, equivalent to saving more than 100 million kilograms of greenhouse gases, campaign organizers said. Cisco has since taken the idea global.
The project is also in line for an Echo award from the U.S. Direct Marketing Association at its shindig in October, where Jay Leno will crack wise as emcee.
Nobody's Business Contributors
Patricia Best
Patricia Best tells tales from the Canadian business world. Everything from minor scandals to outsized personalities to amusing foibles are fodder for her column, Nobody’s Business—even the occasional good deed. She has written on business for Canadian, U.S. and British magazines and newspapers, is a former editor of Report on Business Magazine and is the author of three books, including one on the inevitability of a major financial panic entitled Fear, Greed and the End of the Rainbow.