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#6 IN THE WORLD (QS TopMBA) #8 IN THE WORLD (The Economist) School of Management Zander Sherman, the great-grandson of Dofasco's founder, tells the tale of his family's downturn DEPARTMENTS

2 Feedback

5 The Rant How come Donald Trump gets to shamelessly hog credit for a recovery engineered by Barack Obama?

9 The Exchange JP Gladu, the CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, has a game plan to plug Indigenous peoples directly into the 21st-century economy

12 Panorama ’Tis the season for advertisers to shoot snowy holiday scenes K

ZA for Christmas in JC

TA the summer heat RA 14 Trichur ANNE

JO Fuelled by a pipeline construction boom, Houston is all fired FEATURES HERMAN)

(S up. Calgary is not.

EL; Canadian politicians 18 Trash talking 26 Forged by fire SS might want to think The Sherman family WE Although smelly, collecting about that founded Hamilton’s

HLEA garbage can be highly Dofasco and built it AS profitable. And in just over a BY 15 McGugan into a steel-making Say goodbye to those decade, GFL Environmental’s powerhouse. Then

GAZINE bungalows and lawns. Patrick Dovigi has become one gradually, tragically,

MA To make housing and sometimes B of Canada’s highest-paid CEOs.

RO affordable, big cities bizarrely, they lost R How can he top that? By taking

FO need to do away with everything. Y single-family zoning theents company public. /By Jason Kirby /By Zander Sherman USIVEL

CL 44 Last Word EX

T Shopping-mall and The 2019 Executive Survival

SHO media magnate Guide: International Edition

APH Robert Fung on how Our comprehensive annual compilation of all

GR to keep calm and you need to know about Canadian universities’ TO make your fortune nt EMBA and MBA programs, plus an etiquette PHO deliberately—even in primer on how to deftly apply everything VER speculative booms you’ve learned abroad. CO

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 1 co September 2019, Volume 36, No2 Editorial Feedback Editor, Report on Business DEREK DECLOET Salad daze Assistant Editor DAWN CALLEJA Joe Castaldo’s profile of health-food chain Senior Editor JOHN DALY Copy Editor LISA FIELDING, MICHAEL Freshii asked how much responsibility BARCLAY the company’s brash CEO, Matthew Corrin, Research CATHERINE DOWLING, bears for its 80% stock decline ANNA-KAISA WALKER Art Art Director DOMENIC MACRI nothing has happened since then, Associate Art Director and nothing will likely happen Send us your thoughts at BRENNAN HIGGINBOTHAM now. —mayo615 robmagletters@ Director of Photography globeandmail.com, CLARE VANDER MEERSCH - This article explains a lot. The tweet us @ idea was great, the execution— - Who cares if Canada is gold, robmagca and Contributors not so much. It also highlights silver or bronze? This go-for-gold follow us on STEVE BREARTON, JOE CASTALDO, TREVOR Instagram @ COLE, SARAH EFRON, TIM KILADZE, JASON the fundamental problem with thing is so American. It’s about rob_magazine KIRBY, IAN MCGUGAN, JOANNA PACHNER, publicly traded companies: sustainable private-sector job JUDITH PEREIRA, RITA TRICHUR, LUIS MORA Once shareholders come first, creation, whether it be making Advertising customers come last. I won’t widgets or supercomputers. This Chief Revenue Officer, VP Advertising be spending any of my money fixation with being No. 1 is just ANDREW SAUNDERS Managing Director, Creative Studios feeding this guy’s outsize ego. ego. —partway and Ad Innovation —Anne Johnson TRACY DAY Senior Manager, Special Products - This reads a lot like Elon Musk ANDREA D’ANDRADE Product Manager and Tesla. —M. Kalus RYAN HYSTEAD Production - The problem is a classic case of Managing Director, Print Production a business now needing to move Shopify is a true SALLY PIRRI to professional management Production Co-ordinator and being unable to do it due to Canadian success story. But ISABELLE CABRAL the original owners not having hope it doesn’t go the way of Publisher PHILLIP CRAWLEY the skill sets. Not at all hard to Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail fix with the right people, as the others—Nortel, Blackberry, DAVID WALMSLEY underlying business is great. Managing Director, Business Bombardier. and Financial Products Biggest problem: Will the CEO —YRon GARTH THOMAS with the ego allow it? If not, then watch as a great business gets Report on Business magazine is published screwed up. —Ronster G 10 times a year by The Globe and Mail Inc., 351 King Street E., Toronto M5A 0N1. Telephone 416-585-5000. Slack nation Letters to the Editor: [email protected]. Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke said The trouble with tourists The next issue will be on Sept. 27. Copyright 2019, Canadian companies lack global Brian Milner makes the case for The Globe and Mail. ambitions. shunning mass tourism. Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index. Advertising Offices Head Office, The Globe and Mail, - Tobi has hit a vulnerable nerve - My wife and I were two of these 351 King Street E., Toronto M5A 0N1 with his painfully accurate hordes of tourists who descended Telephone 416-585-5111 or toll-free comment that Canada has a on Croatia, Greece, Switzerland 1-866-999-9237 Branch Offices “go-for-bronze” mentality. and London in April and early Montreal 514-982-3050 He is not the first to point out May this year. We were astounded Vancouver 604-685-0308 the emperor’s lack of clothing at the number of tourists so early Calgary 403-245-4987 Email: [email protected] with regards to innovation, in the season. I concluded that United States and countries outside of UL entrepreneurship and exits. He tourists are ruining tourism. North America: AJR Media Group, 212-426-5932, PA + joins Richard Florida and others —People Republic of Vancouver [email protected] in making similar observations. Publications mail registration No. 7418. In a great irony, Tobi’s remark - Don’t forget, there are lots of The publisher accepts no responsibility for SHALAN unsolicited manuscripts, transparencies or other that we need an “Own the places in Canada that are not material. Printed in Canada by Transcontinental UTKE) Podium” program for Canadian bucket-list destinations, and Printing Inc. Prepress by DMDigital+1. (L Report on Business magazine is electronically available innovation was first proposed by staying in the country lessens APH through subscription to Factiva.com from Factiva, former UBC president Arvind your carbon footprint. GR

at factiva.com/factiva or 416-306-2003. TO Gupta years ago. Predictably, —Ambrose99

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For more cruise details and to book your cabin call Scenic at 1-855-863-8683 or visit GLOBEANDMAILCRUISES.COM ILLUSTRATION ERIC CHOW this month In ex deep Ji ot Re (tha tion Po mm Inst ic pect American ag go liticians t pl wo . an wo y ea ve Th an ed Ca uld d, or uld rnmen ink fo tha rt , America’ r st co er be endles politics, t of eer act nv ’s onc a ho t er leg deca the as policie e w sel s s acy Donald U. closel tr if ec the de y, ad S.S. . the onom ho So ag idea e s— w wa y o Ec , y Tr on in the ha st y onom rs tha good ump agfla has Tr , election ve isola 19 t ump the 80s mot a y Dumb go tion or int se tionism pr t pr boom or ba his t o esident and esidential night ed of the d—ha hands le along ro high is and ve ba cks. helms as rs ve ck on deep Th socia quit unemp ye to a in e the ar the e lo st Ra te cu No s), smoothl t eer wh d nt ec ts lo le ve it with luck eel, yment ss onom to wa the mber immig imp s his y, Ro widel ec y thank sa 20 runs nald act cha- onom ra nk 16 y - on y the ment ar in yo unint has the tha ra as SEP e ther u the t near ec TEMBER the enjo ec ve sheer is errupt onom onom ry co than at y ye all-time untry se much, re 20 political d co e 19 re ed its y, y fit rd / inf than the REPOR long has. gr ev highs, . lo or Bu ow ws en Tr will ce T est St we t , th ON ump if and in the ock unemp can str lit ev BUSINE think re the tle et er notion alit pric pr shape ch . else U. esi- SS lo Bu y, es of y- S. 5 t Stuck in low gear Booms and busts have always been part of Canada’s economy, but since 2000, growth has downshifted, and the best efforts of four governments have not pulled Canada out of its long, slow grind

ANNUALIZED found that the economy had fared CHANGE U U Y U IN REAL AKER better under Democratic presi- URENT ON ONE GDP* UDEA UDEA TIN UDEA LA dents than Republican ones. More . TR TR MPBELL TR KING ST DIEFENB PEARS P. CLARKP. TURNERMULR CA CHRETIENMAR HARPER J. important, they found that the 14% difference in performance could 12 largely be chalked up to four fac- tors over which the administra- 10 tions had little control, like more favourable oil prices, positive pro- 8 ductivity shocks like advances in technology, a more vibrant global 6 economy and bursts of consumer 4 optimism. In other words, for a president 2 to be considered a good steward of the economy (or not), a whole 0 lot comes down to timing. Or, as the two economists put it: “just -2 good luck.” But wait, the MAGA crowd -4 seethes, this is just another exam- -6 ple of critics not giving Trump his 7 7 7 7 3 3 9 11 71 15 19 due. The economy has done so 75 79 19 1951 1991 20 19 19 196 194 198 1955 195 198 1963 1995 20 1999 20 200 200 well, they argue, not despite the *QUARTERLY DATA President’s bull-in-a-china-shop style, but because of it. There’s just dency can finally put to lie that myth. one problem: The performance of Contrary to all the promises campaign- Trump decried the the U.S. economy under Trump is ing politicians in the U.S. and Canada bank’s ultralow rates almost indistinguishable from his make about jobs and growth, and the predecessor’s second term, which worry and hope voters invest in them, when he was on the Trump has variously described as who’s in charge matters very little to campaign trail. Now “disastrous” and a “total failure.” how an economy unfolds during their he aims his barbs Whether it’s real GDP, real wages, time in office. job creation or even Trump’s In the U.S., the biggest proponent at his hand-picked favourite barometer, stock prices, of the president-as-helmsman theory choice to reverse the trend lines have been remark- these days is the president himself, those policies ably similar. who’s never met a positive data point The two signature measures of he wouldn’t pat himself on the back Trump’s first term have been pro- for. “The Economy is the BEST IT HAS tectionism and tax cuts, yet for EVER BEEN! Even much of the Fake News is giving me credit for that!” all the disruption they’ve caused, he tweeted back in June, after one economic release or another. the benefits have been marginal. In reality, the $20-trillion U.S. economy is simply too vast, complex and For instance, the employment fluid to be immediately impacted by any one administration’s policies, gains from steel tariffs—a measly good or bad. Booms and busts are a natural part of capitalist economies, 1,400 steel jobs have been added and are driven by things like supply and demand, investment and the since Trump came to office— availability of credit, none of which can be isolated and controlled by got cancelled out by cutbacks at Y KIRB

political leaders. manufacturers contending with N SO

Arguably the biggest factor driving the economy since the end of the higher steel prices. Some busi- JA

Great Recession has been low interest rates. Presidents don’t control nesses took their corporate tax A; monetary policy, but they do pick the central bankers who do. Trump has cut windfall and reinvested it NAD CA endlessly berated his own selection for Federal Reserve chair, Jerome back into their operations, nudg- S TIC

Powell, to reverse some of the Fed’s five hikes since 2017, but Powell has ing business spending as a share IS AT steadfastly defended the Federal Reserve’s independence from political of gross domestic product back to ST interference. The Fed did switch gears with a rate cut in July; however, it its long-term average. But many LINK; likely won’t be alone—some observers believe central banks in Europe, also just used it to buy back their T EC the U.K. and Canada may follow suit. own shares. As for the personal OJ PR

A few years ago, the economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson ana- tax cuts, they are temporary mea- CE lyzed decades of presidential history and economic data. Their paper sures and so will have little effect UR SO

6 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS this month on long-term growth. ate a plethora of new and sustainable jobs. Liberals can point to some What Trump’s first term shows policy measures that moved the needle, such as the drop in child pov- is an economy that’s as resilient erty rates after the Canada Child Benefit was introduced. But the fact to negative political shocks as it is remains that outside shocks—whether it was the 2008 global financial resistant to efforts to goose it. crisis, the 2014 oil crash, Trump’s war on NAFTA or the Bank of Cana- We’d do well to remember this da’s rate hikes—have done far more to define how Canada’s economy lesson ourselves in Canada as has unfolded over the past decade than anything Stephen Harper or federal party leaders of all stripes Trudeau did. Ultimately, when the U.S. booms, Canada booms. When promise prosperity and jobs, the U.S. busts, so do we. while offering dire warnings For all their supposed differences in policy, average economic growth about what will happen if the rates during Harper’s last term and Trudeau’s first term (as of the first other side wins. quarter) were similarly middling—2.3% versus 2%. As with past elections, surveys It’s not that politicians can’t affect long-term change. The different show Canadians rank the economy approaches Trump and Trudeau have taken to immigration, for instance, and jobs at or near the top of their will be felt as aging populations on both sides of the border become a list of priorities, and candidates drag on growth. And policies around health care, regulation and interna- and the electorate seem more than tional relations can all nudge the path an economy takes over the course happy to play along with the idea of decades. But with voters focused on the immediate future, as they that whoever wins will inherit a worry about their jobs and paycheques, the best-intentioned economic set of levers and pulleys to steer policies will be overtaken by events beyond any president or prime min- the economic ship as they see fit. ister’s control. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau With the current economic expansion in both the U.S. and Canada came to office on the promise growing long in the tooth, it’s inevitable the cycle will eventually turn. that large and directed govern- When it does, you can be sure political leaders will claim to have a plan ment spending would reshape to steer the economy back to growth. The best thing voters can do is the Canadian economy, and cre- ignore them. /Jason Kirby Congratulations to theserecent appointees

Phillip Crawley, Publisher & CEO of The Globe and Mail, extends best wishes to the following individuals who were recently featured in the Report on Business Section of The Globe and Mail newspaper. Congratulations on your new appointments.

Pierre Frappier Stéphane Lespérance Alain Brunet, Siegfried Kiefer Randy Reichert Kirk Francis Terrance McKibbon to President and to President, FSA, FCIA to President and to Vice-President, to Managing to President & CEO Chief Operating Commercial Risk to Board of Directors CEO, Operations Director, Platinion Bird Construction Officer and Health Assuris Canadian Utilities B2Gold Corp. BCG Inc. AMJ Campbell Inc. Solutions, Canada Ltd. Aon ATCO

Ziad Hindo Alka Gautam Daniel Henry Colin Gruending Laura Sayavedra John Whelen Vern Yu to Board of Directors to Chair of the to Vice-President, to Executive to Senior to Executive to President & Cadillac Fairview Board of Directors Business Vice-President Vice-President, Vice-President Chief Operating Canadian Life and Development & Chief Financial Projects, Safety & & Chief Development Officer, Health Insurance Desjardins Insurance Officer Reliability and ERP Officer Liquids Pipelines Association (CLHIA) Enbridge Inc. Enbridge Inc. Enbridge Inc. Enbridge Inc.

Vincent Mercier Jane Gavan Marian Hoffmann Stephen Jenkins Sharm Powell Bambina Marcello Dr. Dianne Gereluk to Board Chair to Director to Senior to Senior to Board of Trustees to Chief Commercial to Dean, Pathways to PrairieSky Vice President Vice President and SmartCentres REIT Officer Werklund School Education Canada Royalty Ltd. Sionna Investment Portfolio Manager The Toronto Region of Education Managers Sionna Investment Board of Trade University of Calgary Managers

SEPTEMBER 2019

To make arrangements for an Appointment Notice, please call 1-800-387-9012 or email [email protected] View all appointment notices online at www.globeandmail.com/appointments PHOTOGRAPHS STEF & ETHAN The JP As Gladu’ he jus ad t s path cheer mis of the sion on Ca Indigenous is nadian to by Th find to e Tr Council Ex co evor change busine rpor prosperity Cole at fo e sses r Aboriginal champions but hir e Bu who them sine wo ss n’ , t bec member 1. wa Sinc fr it gr ne 30 has s om Th co ow ame arly s sta se , in e e rpor fo and n 180 gr ve Gladu CC ff 198 rmed 800 fr CE ow I I’m In menu. Co to peop Be Why? int Ont the gi co My Where cr go to to Re last Do (TR busines deserv Ca co pa Th af de of to mor re be thr million does mor re ship n has om at SEP AB will it O, ve to to te ack ok lentles sear 3. nscious mmunities ve th ve busines Indig the action, n e cause the s co na er uncil spent e wnie ough . leaning co TEMBER re r ario spotlit C), e e s CCA rnment’ lopment ests to char les. ncilia dians at media, ed cr ne time time serv untry wo ch, se I’v es do pr eng meeting lea no dines District, in busines not fo We home—he and s. edit miles enous . , ve an ve fo pr I sl I Fo wh on of rk e cr B ge r wh Of osperit he you To ca e just s, 20 y r r der of time tion og n and tr ne champions moments to aging ey r (1) met edit just to its is or of ev Aboriginal o helping to making has jobs 19 at tc sports av ye s the ro tha ile not the ra ve oft do elid with carv co used s, up seaf do der st en / h pr co go the the the Indig elling nt ar mone Co ses REPOR ms, cheer to r Gla at s of at t, at it co es, mes en wh TR omot mor mmunities, needs t y and that? s o’ in done to with and Gla te ed ood. wa and all ba mmis e Tr Pu st his Tr Ca re llecti sinc thr s Air bu a and ev because du the er northern C’ the nding their ock enous the Indig Distillery T ck ce ut few in udeau y co e. lle re the than to ec na du t e sear ough ents ON s ow es Indig bec busines spends should Ca e wh h it. hir ntl Bu subject Gla mmitment at and 94 Busines last ye onomic la Spirits museums. dian pr ve sion case his JP and BUSINE the time. of n, ow te na enous y No e o ome t ching es ly he bo calls on and du Gla Gla enous fo them. hit his night. will fridg Gor da— he s cause n ar . tha a r 92 SS s du du a d has s, d t , e. 9 this month

I caught a bunch of pickerel. I’ve enough. First Nations politics are It must be hard to come up with never bought it, ever. quite tough sometimes. And then a strategy that covers all these It couldn’t compare to what you’ve this job came up. different circumstances. experienced. How are First Nations politics It’s really difficult. Education and I don’t look like it, but I’m a tough? economy are two fundamentals prolific outdoors person. I can A chief’s job has got to be one of that are going to elevate our still go into the bush, harvest the toughest jobs. One day they communities. We need to be a moose, field-dress it, quarter are negotiating multimillion- self-sustaining with our own it, pack it out, and cook it for dollar deals, the next day they economy. The challenge is that myself and my friends. I’ve been are dealing with community those who are lucky enough to dropped off by float planes in the members who need home repairs. get educated become doctors, northeast Rockies. My reserve Because of the way the Indian engineers, lawyers, technicians. is on Lake Nipigon, north of Act is structured, we can’t own But they want to earn a living. If Thunder Bay. You can still drink the land on reserve. If you don’t there’s no economy to draw them the water out of the lake. Fishing own your own home, then you are back home, it’s very difficult. A lot is no problem, although there is reliant on the government, so if of our communities are suffering some mercury buildup because something breaks— because a lot of our talent exits of inundation from previous That’s why people on reserves reserves to the cities. dam flooding. We talk about can’t get proper loans. What’s your main role in acts of reconciliation—Ontario I earn a good living, and I can’t regards to Aboriginal business? Hydro dammed our reserve in the get a loan from a bank without Are you promoting the cause early 1900s, flooded our lands, the support of my community or facilitating deals? some of our burial grounds. backing me to own a home. Both. We build a space for And now I sit on the board of the So, they will take on the risk of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal company that did that. Ontario the mortgage. If I default on it, businesses to come together to Hydro split into Hydro One and then the band has to cover it. create opportunity for both. Front Ontario Power Generation, and The Indian Act is incredibly and centre for us right now is our I sit on OPG’s board. debilitating. Procurement Champions work. How often do you remind them Could the Indian Act be Mark Little, the CEO of Suncor, of that? changed or— was my first co-chair. Mark and I’ve only reminded them a couple Disassembled? [Laughs] We’ve I called on corporations in of times. [Laughs] They know. been talking about that as Canada to do better when it And I’m pleased to be on that leaders for a very long time. comes to procurement from board. But some communities are still Aboriginal businesses. Suncor Was it your father who taught you very dependent on the Indian last year spent $700 million-plus how to hunt and dress a moose? Act. There’s such a range of on Aboriginal businesses. 3. According Yes, and moose call. I’m a good circumstance. Some First Nations to a 2018 An example would be what? moose caller. are in total disrepair, others are report by Bouchier—they are a road- the Montreal Can you do it here? building million-dollar malls. Economic construction civil engineering A bull sounds like this… [He cups Some communities are in the Institute, company in Alberta. (2) They his hands around his mouth and middle of the boreal forest with First Nations started with $250,000 in the hole people nose, and emits short, nasal grunts] no mine or oil and gas activity, or employed on and one piece of equipment. And then the cow is… [The sound too far north for forestry. How do gas pipelines Last year, they did about $155 is higher pitched and drawn out] you build an economy out of that? earned million. A staff of 900, and 37% more than Wow. So what got you into There’s only so much tourism $200,000 are Indigenous. You look at the business? that can go around. per year. socioeconomic effect that has on I’m actually a recovering a community. Like Fort McKay entrepreneur. I’ve had a First Nation, their average salary few businesses. When I was is about $73,500. (3) You compare working for my First Nation for that to the $50,000 of the average a few years, I was negotiating In 2015-16, Albertan. What do you think that deals—forestry, wind, mining, Alberta community output is? Higher hydro agreements with other education. Their youth have great communities—and I figured, I’m companies programs. They’ve got beautiful kind of earning an informal MBA, spent homes. Paved roads. A hockey but I could be smarter, sharper. So $3.3 BILLION rink that attracts partners. I did the Queen’s executive MBA, All as a result of business success. while I was working. Shortly after on Aboriginal Does spending on Indigenous I got my MBA, I decided I’d had businesses business have a greater impact on

10 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS pressing issues more if we had empowerment in the Indigenous economy, and I wish we would spend more time talking about it. So let’s talk about the Trans Mountain Extension. Is that an issue? [Chuckles] There are at least two Indigenous groups vying for an equity piece of TMX. (6) Do you have a philosophical preference for equity participation or revenue-sharing? When you’ve got skin in the a community than spending in a According game, when you’ve got equity, non-Indigenous community? to Ottawa, you’re forced to learn quickly and You’ve got to look at the starting develop your business acumen. point. Many of our communities procurement Then you can transfer that skill have been managing poverty for spending for set to all sorts of issues. It’s great 150 years. Economic reconciliation 81 departments to have revenue. I’m not knocking comes when our communities communities that do it. But if the are managing wealth. In order of the federal economic model makes sense to manage wealth, you’ve got to government for your community to do equity, generate it. Communities that totalled philosophically that’s what I have been embracing economic believe in. development are proliferating. $20 BILLION Do you ever encounter a You can see the impact that has on in 2015 community that doesn’t want to the community. The challenge is embrace the modern economy? that the federal government could Yeah. You know, for a long time be doing way more to influence treaty rights weren’t recognized their supply chains. They spend commitment to the issue? 5. In 2017, or respected. Now we win over less than 1%, some years only No. I think he’s really committed. according 90% of the court decisions. to the 0.3%, of their total spend (4) I know both sides get frustrated. CCAB, those A good, long-term-thinking on Aboriginal businesses. So I’ve talked to a lot of Indigenous businesses Indigenous leader, in my opinion, we are advocating for 5%—1% leaders, and many are frustrated could have knows how hard to pull on that met a 5% per year to get to 5%—which with the speed of progress. But federal treaty lever. Sometimes when I’m is commensurate with our I’ve seen changes. You see the procurement sitting with Indigenous leaders, population. That would increase boil-water advisories coming demand in 84 particularly ones with treaty of 92 North their spend from an average of down. You see the investment in American rights, my advice to them is, once $65 million to $1 billion a year. (5) education and health. Industry Code you get to the table, release the In your view, how has the Were the caucus ejections of categories. treaty lever and start pulling like Trudeau government handled Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane 6. Project Re- hell on the business lever. I think Indigenous issues? Philpott a setback for relations? conciliation, we get into challenges when a formation I’m generally positive. There I think it was a setback for our of Indigenous leaders keep pulling on the treaty has been a lot more investment country. And the Liberal party. groups lever until the economic model in communities. They’re taking Have you talked to Trudeau from across doesn’t make sense and you can’t Western a much broader approach to about it? Canada, do business because you’re asking Indigenous relations. Often in You know what? I have not met wants to buy for too much. In negotiations, the past it would just be, “That’s the Prime Minister since he has 51% of TMX. there is always a breaking point. A group of Indian stuff; Indian Affairs will been prime minister. First Nations Some communities are very do that.” Now we are engaging That seems significant. and Métis in treaty focused, and I don’t fault with six or seven departments. I’m a little disappointed. A lot Alberta, called them. But playing both tracks is Iron Coalition, It’s an opportunity for us to of the policy and funding is is organizing where the opportunity is for our actually build relationships, very reactionary. There are so a competing communities. which is fundamental. If you many tough issues. Suicides, our bid. don’t understand each other, young people, clean drinking Trevor Cole is the award- how the hell are you going to water, a $30- to $40-billion winning author of five books, including The Whisky King, work together? deficit of infrastructure in our a non-fiction account of Are you one of those who communities, education rates. Canada’s most infamous doubts Trudeau’s personal But we would get at those mobster bootlegger.

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 11 12 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS $0 100 200 300 400 SPENDING ON 2014 COMMERCIALS 2015 SHOT IN 2016 TORONTO 2017 ($MILLIONS) 2018

Panorama Christmas in July

he snow is snowing. The wind is blowing. But there’s no real winter in this storm. The “snow” is foam spewing from a hose, and the wind is from a six-foot fan. The temperature is over 30 C, the air is soupy, and the ground is covered in grass. Nearby, kids attending summer camp in this Toronto park take cover in the shade. The illusion is for a Canadian Tire Christmas TV spot. A stinking-hot day is an odd time for a toboggan ride. But plenty of holiday shoots take place at this time of year, because advertisers don’t finalize their plans early enough to shoot during the preceding winter. “We have created winter outdoors with snow dressing and spraying the trees, or 11 we’ve created [computer-animated] SQUARE icebergs and cabins,” says Adam Ball, METRES Size of a group account director at Taxi, the ad screen hoisted agency behind this commercial. by crane to Foam and white blankets that look block out the like duvet innards are spread on summer sun and provide the ground. They provide texture a more that will help the sub-zero scene wintry light completed in post-production with computer animation look more real. 4 As elaborate as the setup seems, Number of making the spot in winter wouldn’t treats trainers be much less complicated. give the dog per take “The issue with Canadian winter as rewards is, it’s unpredictable,” says Canadian Tire’s VP of marketing, Eva Salem. 25 She recalls a shoot in North Bay Takes needed that was meant to show trucks with for the winter tires on a frozen lake. When toboggan- temperatures unexpectedly rose, they ride scene had to rewrite the script on the spot.

KEITH So, it makes sense to pack two actors wearing coats and mittens

MMY 5-6

TO SECONDS onto a sled in July—along with one Estimated APH length of astonishingly co-operative border GR the scene, collie. Until a summer rainstorm rolls TO depending through, anyway. PHO on editing /Susan Krashinsky Robertson

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cally improves financial performance. Yet companies sometimes find there’s just not enough talent in the pipeline, and that’s where business education comes in. Of course, many people in Canada with the interest and the ability to learn have insurmountable barriers to getting a higher degree. But being able to complete an MBA on your own time and anywhere with high-speed internet can help some people make it happen. Distance learning is a boon for parents, in particular. “It’s not work-life balance; it’s work plus life,” says Shungur, who worked on his stud- ies during breaks at his full-time job — which runs all hours — plus evenings and weekends. He learned to be “fluid and agile,” switching between school, work and family. There were numerous single parents in his class. “I don’t know how they did it,” he admits. Often, women have difficulty going to school because of family responsibilities, so being able to study at home, any time, helps open up access for this group. For Shungur, the flexibility of this type of Online MBAs help level the education suited how he likes to work. Because distance learning can happen at any time, it playing field in Canada opens things up for people with different learning styles, or who have learning disabilities or who Distance education gives a wider range of students are neuroatypical. access to advanced business degrees, and the chance to “We allow for individuals with different learning preferences access to explore the materials in complete them on their own time ways that meet their needs,” Hurst says. People have more time to consider their responses, for instance, which can make all the difference. “For those students who may have barriers to access- IN THE MIDDLE of completing his MBA, Rae array of learners,” says Deborah Hurst, dean of ing and being successful in traditional university- Shungur’s second child was born. The added the faculty of business at Athabasca University level education, the opportunity to learn online responsibility, combined with Shunger’s full-time (AU), which specializes in distance education, means that all can participate.” job at an engineering and technical recruitment offering a range of courses and degree programs Ever-improving technology, meanwhile, is company, meant that distance education was the online. “We provide an opportunity to access a helping universities make their online learning only practical way to finish his degree. world-class business education, no matter where modules better over all, and more suitable for dif- “If I was doing an MBA where I had to be at students are in their lives.” ferent kinds of learners. Shungur was impressed university by 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, It’s certainly not the only solution, but online that any time a student had feedback about the it wouldn’t have worked; it wouldn’t have hap- MBAs can help level the playing field for talent course material or its delivery, the school quickly pened,” he says. in corporate Canada. Companies need more made adjustments. “They worked at the speed of Now 47, Shungur finished his MBA at diversity, especially in leadership and board light,” he recalls. Edmonton-based Athabasca University in 2013, roles — and people facing an array of barriers MBAs continue to be the gold standard for and recalls that many of his classmates also to higher education need a smoother path to the achieving success in business. Distance education needed the flexibility of an online degree. Single upper ranks. can help people who might not otherwise find parents and those who lived in rural communities, According to Statistics Canada, women hold just their way to this elite degree finish a program, for instance, were part of his graduating class. 35.1 per cent of management roles at Canadian and gain access to opportunities. Many lived overseas. Few were as close to the companies. It worked for Shungur: He’s still with the same university as Shungur, who’s based in Calgary. Further, more than half of top company boards in organization, helping his clients find talent and The flexibility of online education let Shungur Canada fall short when it comes to diversity, with solve business problems, but his degree helped finally fulfill his dream of getting an advanced 15 per cent having no women on their boards at him see the bigger picture and contribute more. degree, more than a decade after earning his all. Just 5.9 per cent of board members say they “I wanted to understand their pain,” he says of bachelor of arts from the University of Calgary. are visible minorities, 1.3 per cent are LGBTQ, and his clients. “We’re in a world where everybody “I just felt there was more I could do, a little less than 1 per cent have a disability, according has a customer, and I saw value in learning more more mental stimulation compared to what I’d to a recent report by the Canadian Board Diversity about my clients’ customers. My MBA taught me done in school previously,” he says. “But you can Council. Indigenous representation is poor too, at about my customers in a way that was special, put it off and talk about it for a decade, I learned.” less than 1 per cent. and I can’t be thankful enough to have that For Shunger, being able to complete his MBA “If there is underrepresentation at the executive information.” through distance learning was the difference level, we will never achieve representation at the And it also has led to more personal success for maker. Indeed, online education gives a wider board level,” the council states in its 2018 annual him. Shungur now has the title of enterprise solu- range of students access to advanced business report card. tions executive, along with the raise that came degrees, and the chance to complete them on That could be a problem for the bottom line. with it and is part of a small, new team helping their own time. Various studies, including a report from McKinsey his organization try out a new strategic direction. “We work to remove barriers for a diverse & Co., show that diversity in leadership roles typi- “We get to carve out a new path.” mba.

TIME FOR MY CAREER

TIME FOR MY MBA

After graduating from AU's MBA program, I have a high-level understanding of how businesses operate and make decisions. I have become a more holistic provider and a more engaged listener, allowing me to rise through the ranks of my company.

Rae Shungur, MBA ‘13 2019 1994 1995 1997 1999 2000 2004 2006 2009 2013 2014 2015 2018

1.800.561.4650 firstonlinemba.ca TRASH TALKING

SINCE PATRICK DOVIGI BURST ONTO THE SCENE IN 2011 WITH A LOWBALL BID FOR TORONTO’S GARBAGE ROUTES, THERE HAVE BEEN WHISPERS ABOUT HOW HE DID IT. NOW GFL IS POISED FOR ONE OF THE BIGGEST IPOS IN CANADIAN HISTORY

BY JASONKIRBY PHOTOGRAPHS BY ASHLEA WESSEL SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 19 CANADA’S KING OF GARBAGE is, at this moment, standing shin-deep in the stuff. Patrick Dovigi, the CEO of GFL Environ- mental—the fourth-largest waste manage- ment company in North America—clam- bers over a pile of stained mattresses, crushed plastic bottles and rotting wood at the company’s waste transfer station in in nine provinces and 23 U.S. states. The company’s unmistak- northwest Toronto. Dovigi may be doing all able lime-green trucks now service more than 100 municipali- this for a photo shoot, but as he hops into ties in Canada, including parts of Toronto, Hamilton, Halifax and the bucket of a front-end loader and ges- Edmonton, plus hundreds more in the U.S., from bigger cities like tures with upturned hands for the driver Detroit and Nashville to small centres such as Alamance County, to lift him higher—higher, he signals—it’s North Carolina, and Rochester Hills, Missouri. clear this is a man very much in his ele- GFL, which stands for Green for Life, has an even larger busi- ment, foul-smelling as it may be. Never ness in hauling waste away from companies, office towers and mind that his brown suede shoes seem apartment buildings. There are also divisions that collect and utterly ruined, that there’s a smear of white process liquid waste and contaminated soil—all services GFL sludge across the back of his black sweat- combines and sells, the way telecom companies bundle wireless, shirt, or that in less than half an hour, he’s internet and TV packages. Last year, GFL’s revenue topped $2.7 scheduled to meet with an executive at one billion, with half of that flowing from the U.S.; the company saw of GFL’s largest investors, the $190-billion its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. “It’s okay,” more than double, to $660 million. Dovigi says of the stains. “This is the gar- Dovigi’s elbows-up style, penchant for debt-fuelled acquisi- bage business.” tions—he’s completed more than 100 since 2007—and sharp eye It’s unlikely any of his investors would for marketing have earned him a reputation as a disrupter in the complain about a bit of trash. Outside the once staid trash business. Now GFL is gearing up to go public this world of tech unicorns, few companies in fall in what could be the largest Canadian initial public offering Canada have grown so massive, so fast. in years, driven by extreme anxiety over the mountains of waste In a little over a decade, Dovigi has trans- North Americans produce and investors’ voracious appetites for formed GFL from virtually nothing into a waste management companies. GFL hopes to raise $1.98 billion, trash empire with more than 9,500 employ- money it intends to use to repay debt and accelerate its expan- ees collecting waste, recycling and organ- sion across Canada and the U.S. ics from more than four million households Even before the IPO, Dovigi was, if you’ll pardon the pun, stink-

20 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS goalie, a stint in automotive leasing and a failed venture alongside Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, create such a vast fortune from nothing? Dovigi has heard the rumours. “People like to think it’s like an episode of The Sopranos. Given my last name, there’s been some suspicion,” he told an interviewer in 2012. Tony Soprano, America’s favourite garbageman mobster, had only been off the air a few years when Dovigi splashed onto the scene in Toronto. Reflecting on the talk now, he laughs. “People would always say, ‘Who is this kid? How’s he doing this? It must be the Mafia that’s involved,’” says Dovigi, whose stocky six-foot frame and dark hair would certainly get him an audi- tion for the part. “The things people were saying were just insane. It was funny. It’s all just noise.” The real story of Dovigi’s journey to waste tycoon is one of aggressive deal making, audacious bets and an intense competitive streak that has seen him go to unconventional lengths to get an edge over his rivals. This is a crucial moment for Dovigi. After operating largely away from the public eye for more than a decade, GFL will undergo a level of scrutiny with its IPO that he has never experienced. While the compa- ny’s private equity shareholders—which include Teachers, London’s BC Partners ing rich. Having turned 40 in July, he owns several properties, and GIC Group, Singapore’s US$100-billion including a luxury home in Toronto’s exclusive Rosedale neigh- sovereign wealth fund—may have been bourhood, a private island in the Muskoka Lakes district, north of ever-present observers, Dovigi will now the city, and property on B.C.’s West Coast. He and his Brazilian have to contend with analysts and investors wife, Fernanda, who have five children between them, regularly chasing short-term results. Then there’s appear in fashion and society photo spreads, and were spotted the squad of activist short sellers who have courtside during the Toronto Raptors championship. On the day made an art out of crusading against high- of our photo shoot, Dovigi arrives in a sleek black Lamborghini flying Canadian companies with rich valua- SUV, which he’d bought three months earlier and planned to tions and aggressive growth strategies. swap for another set of wheels three months later. “I don’t smoke, In other words, GFL. I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs. I don’t have any vices except for one—cars,” he says. “Every six months, I get a new one.” With the IPO, depending on the valuation GFL receives, Dovi- HE STAKEOUTS BEGAN at the crack of dawn. gi’s stake could be worth up to $2 billion, and the company’s pro- Each weekday morning for close to two spectus shows that in fiscal 2018, his total pay package was $47. 5 months, Dovigi waited outside a yard filled million, making him one of the highest-paid CEOs in the country. with City of Toronto garbage trucks. As the “It’s too much money,” he quips when the numbers are read out crews set out on their collection routes, he’d to him. “I have to give it away.” (In June, he donated $5 million for fall in behind, taking notes as they picked up a new sports medicine clinic at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital.) trash. Careful not to draw attention, Dovigi, Yet, Dovigi remains something of an enigma in corporate Can- then 31, regularly swapped vehicles—a Ford ada. From the moment he and GFL arrived on the waste manage- F-150 one day, a Range Rover the next. The ment scene in 2011—by beating out far larger rivals with a low- half-dozen GFL executives who helped out ball bid to privatize residential garbage collection in a wide swath did the same. Their purpose was recon: of west Toronto—there have been questions, uttered darkly in They needed to know how long it took each anonymous corners of the internet, about how he did it. How city truck to leave the lot, how often trucks could a man whose résumé includes a stab at becoming an NHL emptied their loads, and how many hours it

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 21 election mous af se Fo ba we dr nue ye co District to to Pe in lect secur 22 holds to ac lier ba hug tiz Bu tiful, this, cit se ove to the st co to ho short do the nanc a cles GFL wh be wh cr as cit do tha to and the and re It Bu Do Th ok ew ve ve aw quisition te ge ntr the see w ge rd y, ke ar pa ed y llect t el the To tw re it done SEP ile ich t the other e. r sa lot winning sult, ” in do wa re ra ra wa r did. I t man the e is , vigi ep s co to s with deep bright rts n-ou pickup the high. o Re ro act, ed Do “I ans co TEMBER bef me Do can Do cr Humber ho still the in a l onl fuelling l cr skies, wn meant the old, wa until s uld long co job st oc nt co or ha ba ack 2—an gion, llection of pa co vigi ew w during cit vigi pr wh spring vigi’ as or y we the He e lot anal hand, he y t llect o. do full s 85 casions, to , d mp ckup s. ye we GFL, tw ntr omise cit sumed strik and Hamilt ge ir e Do y wo s with gr fo of this ha r: scandal at . 20 Th in the lines af Lak sha re morning an chart ha Th ar sa clock last amalg s ha t anies o all een ys y re rmed swe a ’s of acts 19 Tu vigi’ ar ne rke te ga anal d its , Eto Ri calls ys ove ro ything. d carried cr lot. ye re es trucks is. d opportunit it / then ve kno lef e the To e 20 ea r upk rb alr a few ve rtle xt smell REPOR . ugh in trucks ew trucks ep cy to d 11 Ont trucks ar 9 his ha of on st bic ering “If by ed pr d To co s to rnight. t 11 ys ro ag ama fr r, vying 0 , during a.m. wn dormant ea da cling door s to aha ak wa eep the pri anothe s , d of ob ha er unting trucks, om nt is fo and e ok Island co ri cit and ou trucks I ario ensur and s aw the oper ” T y, also dy on fr es va ur can o ou the d fuel rev lem. tc va and y, ON tion e, l- ve as y t moment. in a and om ar Lik re Yo co didn ay ro ma ls hing fr at tiz . t wh st to helic hicles, BUSINE Th GFL ealed Ci Ca at quiring ya y all ea. the om lling ntr suc ta must ng e r andb 36. To fr ew 5 af de trucks up Re e 16 with to ta ed, each to re ich ty $2 he rd each ke e na p. ’t om maint e tr te act 5, ke slack Ma ce St da cy pu , pa ise full go upshot opt . m., wa St n do of 000 ev ash da’ SS million rnoons landed sinc GFL he fa So wa y. eeles ha ss ytime. cling ir t ove ove od re wo , the He To than yo en st 40 da y To s 85 er s GFL, maint s the full the he to ve he needed s et enanc pickup -j er under- house- lar one ha ro uld on y. e r pri ro co r r beau- kne aw lea to ve learn done inf , sa we Av to y Ro cit Th ga ga ge ear nt cit d wa job and nt the uld the va his hi- of ys As on fly on do ed ok be ve of to a- e- e- w st st o. r- r- o b y y e e s - - f , , 1 CA ES PER ANNU TIMA TO NAD CA AL A PIT TED Leag 19 he rick To mother ern born also ye his to media, field co entr met ha Te a north.) NHL leap by ey cant ra cust “c ba il ou furnitur ga him, OV y much 96 Amid Th “T te hief rb e ar ve re ntr d tw WA ro mention IGI’ go house the NNE bid. Ont aphor wh omer hea sho epr bones ag Manziaris, ha ow nt sho int pr ose so to ue pl int or gr t act, A Hall S ent e an o. Ed t en aye opos ks ant , Wi the o and ario I To ned we o eneur d les When ws e wa PA truck cries ev wh joined Do ST the the IN of with an mont ag he ert ac busines me co of ro r th ed). d s TH entuall structur re s him , fic my o al ent vigi bef int tw co glamor skill and mes app a nt st ainment its lar Fa ,” gional tr ha es, wa thr of to E TS I’v ole unts o an o’ on enches ense the wo he or mer ge and wh ex and him. ve wa chains his s de the bet na sa ou s e ough N e option s. rk sa posed Oiler y aw It cit $3 o wa ev re ys sn ing kno To hood. ro of ve selling e. tur s ous fo Tu tr alian a pa gu we being mo “T ys ” sk ethic ga .5 gr Phil ay As sults y fi ’t er ri ag loper om r Do It tc ro of all re . rning ys is epticism it ha million ew w” rb one va ce en Do co abo ve s “I S hed Va of a e has fic seen, nt nts Do brick vigi. , and y wh as co ag fo l t , wa (GFL and d uncil wh fr of fr go the vigi, mor ughan go to sports o Tu tr er in we to ha . ve r hour-long e mmunit om sou vigi om a Ex we Do just at ad t st co Po .” tw alie o Do the not busines d rtle “W GFL. go the posts, scar re mixing To e and and e ce sets kno ’s les Manziaris ed re wh vigi’ ntr th my int ne o opponents aw co vigi—he alie than ex fr 20 rev e ny main pt ex hit one- co mid-rise both ba s Island ve to chi-chi ed busines busines ing ing he speaks ti we bet pl to o push om act, llection w duct pl fo fa ar I’v than Manziaris changing him s y on peop ve Esposit calls and ealed, rs mp r an in aye pl ther ains r their s rise the ded ’v and in co 20 we it e happened ye . the s some GFL, int politicians, to ay hea te this yo he e 19 “I wo Sa up—a seen all an mes 0 and, ap wh the ar r ,” ok acher en Re go le shar St ervie 97 him kno ne abou ’s fo re times. go the Do ult sa , or dquart gi sa y’ Yo rk art. local the s co s GFL re da . ” an . t ile wo o, cy r se aliz sit , of periods: ys ne t s ys Michael’ Sometimes ga int , acr ving and he of to a vigi bl the St a yo w ntr ne rk es the y, my import GFL ve and cling Yo To s, mone he hour still ting w, “H t re rk xt pri nic Do lot Do ows e. ’s ed his ville o co yo his wa the u os sa mar a ra though act flection ing uT Ont bef lo er Marie pl ro he wa e’ fa br infr $1 the the kno va vigi. ys vigi ’s ntinue s u l he I an of ls gr ri s handles willingnes we pl ac s ’s mil in turns. at 7. int ube ains nt lik fo co liquid ke co other y s . tiz re or the va in ario is anc (w ow 5-million-a- ans neighbour Th “Y them, wa dri e s in astructur ou se w, ce r U. st o int the ts uldn e pea uld o Yo caught y e—no ls at co loca , Major its a hich ou his clip his ve in ntr a th e sa tr s ve t bidder a smart S. fr wh bet e ex To fo of ion, ung ervie and uld Ho int ex dr He hock hock ee ts signifi- CEO— om bo dri ” No co of n- te initi ’t r e wa kno pa ” fa to te te GFL ro en some te ecu af Dur- fr o GFL, “y ck with ic ye the llit rpo- bea sa ar ther eas- tha ve ens, Pa d wa one rth- s s nd- not r. nt the om the the te my st his est e. ou he ey ey ey . ys ” d- w, ar to in in a- w t- t- ’s d o y e e e a s - t t

SOURCE WORLD BANK Along the way, Dovigi was drafted 41st by the Oilers but was memorable colour for GFL’s trucks, he never signed. After trying out unsuccessfully for the Detroit Red reached out to industrial paint maker PPG Wings, he decided to hit reset. “Sometimes in the sports world, for swatches of its brightest, ugliest greens. you feel like a piece of meat,” he says. “I wanted to do something When Dovigi settled on a colour, he asked where I could control my own destiny.” PPG for a commitment: Once GFL’s fleet After attending a business management program at Ryerson hit 1,000 trucks, PPG would change the University, he went to work for Brovi Investments, a real estate name of the hue to GFL Green. It reached investment firm controlled by Toronto entrepreneur Romeo that target in 2012, the year it began collect- DiBattista. It was Dovigi’s first exposure to the waste business, ing trash and recycling in western Toronto. though he might just as easily have wound up in Hollywood— GFL Green was born. one of Brovi’s investments was a broadcast venture with Kiss’s As for that Toronto contract, it lived up Simmons called No Good TV; Dovigi spent time in California to its promise of cutting costs for the city, with the rocker and sat on the company’s board, but it was a bust. despite a rocky start that included delays, NGTV eventually declared bankruptcy. missed pickups and, as one city councillor Brovi also held a mortgage for 310 Waste, a shuttered waste put it, GFL trucks leaking “garbage juice” transfer station in Maple, Ontario, that was overloaded with everywhere. “Look, when you put on 100 garbage. Dovigi was dispatched to quickly clean up the site and new drivers, there’s going to be speed reopen it. But just as crews began to move material, a massive bumps,” Dovigi says, noting that the com- fire broke out that burned for two weeks, spewing black smoke plaints largely went away after the first over Maple and nearby Vaughan. (Three men who operated the few months. Over GFL’s initial seven-year site before Dovigi’s arrival were ultimately found guilty under term, the contract is estimated to have Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act of causing or permitting saved Toronto $78 million. contaminants to be released into the environment; they were There are still many who argue the con- sentenced to 11 days in jail.) tract should revert to unionized city work- A two-month cleanup became a two-year project, during ers. “I still believe we would be offering a which, Dovigi says, his eyes were opened to opportunities in the better public service and treating workers industry. The North American waste business was and remains better if we kept garbage collection in- highly fragmented, with a few big players at the top, and hundreds house,” says city councillor Gord Perks, of small and mid-sized haulers below. Dovigi knew many mom- a longtime critic of privatization. “The and-pop operations would soon go on the block as their owners people who work for GFL don’t enjoy the retired, but the big guys were too lumbering to be interested in same level of job security, health and safety such tiny deals. By using the Maple transfer station as a base, he protection, and all the benefits public sec- believed he could stitch together some of these smaller solid and tor workers enjoy.” (The company says liquid waste shops, and bundle their services for customers. it places a high priority on the health and Before he could put his plan into action, Dovigi says he was safety of its workers.) Perks says he’ll once pushed out by the DiBattista family. “That was not a pleasant again vote against contracting out garbage experience for me,” he says. “You live and you learn.” collection when the matter next comes up. With his consolidation plan in hand, Dovigi lined up a meeting In the meantime, GFL has grown so much with Chris Payne, a managing partner at Genuity Capital Part- since winning the Toronto contract that it ners, now called Hawthorn Equity Partners. Payne recalls being accounts for only a fraction of its business. impressed by Dovigi’s pitch. Because of his own background as an entrepreneur—Payne co-founded an online bank with Elon Musk that became part of PayPal—he says he has learned to rec- ognize “the characteristics of someone who can make something HOTOGRAPHER Edward Burtynsky is out of nothing.” He saw that in Dovigi. “He was very confident, renowned for capturing humanity’s impact very fact-based and measured in setting expectations,” says on the natural world. Dovigi and his wife Payne. Over two years, the private equity firm invested about $30 are fans: They’ve collected at least 18 of million in GFL. “Our return from first dollar in 2007 to our exit in Burtynsky’s large-format prints. If Dovigi 2018 was 24 times our money,” he says. sees the irony in acquiring the artwork of Dovigi used the funds to merge three small companies in 2007 a photographer whose work documents and 2008, and while the initial plan was to grow the company the horrifying effects of waste, he doesn’t to $50 million in revenue over five years and then sell it, Dovigi show it. blew past that target in the first year. “Patrick was very good at Readers of design magazine OBJEKT©In- unearthing an abundance of opportunities,” says Payne. ternational got a peek inside House Dovigi Early on, Dovigi realized the importance of building a brand in 2017, when it devoted a spread to the cou- that would unify his acquisitions and stand out, even in the ple’s Ritz-Carlton penthouse. (It has since unglamorous world of garbage. He settled on Green for Life been sold for $13 million.) The photos show because most of his rivals had the word “waste” in their titles, some of the Burtynskys, along with a six- and “we wanted to be seen as a greener alternative.” Seeking a by-six-foot print of Heath Ledger’s face by

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 23 didn Ca siz 24 wh ha phot vious dr married period the ealist dis “t with the A leng their re her pr an “W fo Island, the Island ex built ta Do (I houses fo co home fr some “Some Musk fo an se pur ing as the a suit lak pos to ar bought Do om shopping t errib ge Do Indeed. Someho r ot ound wn ve al r oc en, isting ye d uncil d na ed a vigi ey vigi e e’ SEP appoint o has design, sue al. Su ab co co $2 time lights pri with ” so ra ’t est eeding home re og e, ar re wh vigi’ li da e Razi. locals. ex and peop TEMBER sculpt wa co st including le tt pr up re re .8 l ve Tr ok as ld ason. fo and ra le home va ar a sold peop la at and sinc the Ca ag citing a at wh ich pa wh to la uncil eme turn. fo Do 3, s le bit r million s ue ” Mo pher se bet th te side e. gu te a we ue s es One 800-squar w, sold tionship a nif ” nding building r in le bl decision with bl ich is ile ed. sa At r, ve s ac re er mall, vigi used Ov he pr e or his st of 7, ing to Re 20 3. we jdeh in le Th ll. of Do “E az ock don f should Co me the Ca in re 500-squar e ect Do ar- been quisiti n Do 5-acr 19 hustle: vo se Island, the Martin a Mar operties. pr er sa his ef he His Musk lik e fi ve homes en a no Opponents e wif vigi urt ye tw Ro / modern lif tha one ve ” ga vigi ’t, built ys ve te oject pric vigi’ br fo the REPOR to securit Razi, case pl Island the in a ry e va wr bought ar ” ornia. To time o mo c sedale d n zing . e ood. rth and ne an daught and of e sold.) them, t he be other Th has e-f Si 20 bo ting ta tha s night ok ve months fr ha ag ot e. launched re ro s St cust ye on de ve w Ca Schoeller T ja ag dr ke wa we om ad ow an in on oot e at e dar 13 a. ainst and de ve , nt ar ON my e- is ar a str t n. also -f ve Th y 7, fo fa Do ew fa na one o, - the a . mits. In “Some s pl Fo o lef nt int daught ve to n ast, 800-squar s, od no gu BUSINE mil r mil k Fe loping se er in co eak to da, e wif ha and ac vigi nearb an $9 stif re lopment, 86 he 20 (a t pl all ac erior w sa ar y fo rnanda’ ve Do Do pr co tt the y, no y’ e re ve him go st t e wh ea co a 11 me ag d und and million ” as ar f has n-bedr ex egnant s in tt the Ca SS night) no vigi’ vigis, called has w leg and re he -big , Hill. sa by er ow ded fi mmoda e ag ea y ich summer Razi bright and te designer Ont va sist lak lif ve y bit on di co al bought time sa er ac wa Do n nds ultr an of e-f I s ornia. s te a vides st sided . ys e, chal- te tt with No chil- “c ha anc with Re ario ce oom wh pr sell- pr Th lif y vigi and and and yl lef ag ey oot the it the . fo rly ar- ot ve to to as o- ss to e- te e- ef w e, o e e e e a r t - . , OF IN END CA % LANDFILL NADIANS THE UP While re turn re with ag Re with In da int his and tion. ing wa co ents hauler in th stumb ex ge to er ka dri ha bi st did Ye dier ta yo ETWEEN PLAS a suing doub chase sho pub clear emails ve at rg ns Darry In Aside Th al ce ce e ts. tc es sts. pa ve y under u t an sear o s ving 20 capit go Wi and in ions Do r ets, pu manag he . might ss bl sent rev ss jet, crisis nded co 20 e to In rtl Riz its a minions GFL lining “N lic 18 ou ve Do To led. ockbust ion-pr thin . CEO ions wa led rc vigi st the ch, the uld a y 16 , other ealed Tw with per depr of jet on and rnment mar al tside de st fo zo fr or ab l ro enc Mo vigi hase $1 af FIGHT ’s , n, USE Mc and its om TIC sa r GFL ting infusion e ne ement Wa wa the bt nt -billion mode. as a le is imp o te sua re ta gr is in ev meets and ke od pur of ed ecia ys ye oo Do o. at we r sume re w GFL king ou signed, cases, le st Co een to tha ou la st idenc GFL er of the co ts, by de tribu co ’s ar y’ it act Lu ach. ar in f. ve gu to e w S vigi sues tlook. e eks cust Fo t be tion s , ubr is mp deals siz t S Riz ound with manag ve When mp with of ke its GFL doing Industries ls, He them ar busines machines. and firm mor st all do per ’s the IP x ro Do at by Ma st te e e. the d ar Riz ock af arison Pe omer st zo an bigg wh Cr the ey O. of wng and the this ck or mo s to jump swe il ye equit sixf and and sonall the ound te vigi Th ne Th vic co e ea nonetheles co Te ove losi, ybe the y and the y y , eek, zo int et Inst s En p ich to ar this—it’ ement peop r than of sa y to an ws dy we mp ve tt est ma e e will acher old e he lled ra came s s ’s the , echelons, ce old Dec scienc we angib r higher vir ag has me st y co it it risk, deal ve wh its on in d GFL fo in ea to busines re ded ar small the y re diet Albert an anal ntr de wa ay ac re wa er re Armed incr re to of le ntinent rsa fiv re onment Ca with fr , be deal gu d, e ports de int er ember the looking ty y’ lit capi . quisition s, s, sa port indus e s om ou ’s its aw nsic at pa s bu les, Michig sa Raleigh, (T ca e s a s e pe GFL ar . na bt e, of tle wa er ev ys co of BC ease just y, chief los Pa s abilit co few ye gr busines ys t st the ta y d ar he a, bu near da, closed, fir lo est appear ta $2 of entuall ed small urt t just the s, wh an in tc ound, trick mmunities time ar we pult les s audit fiv e ’s Mc bu Pa with try ad liz looking with y a st t .5 20 on quickl to hing on-the- al, months of fr 20 high s he fo a char it’ ich ma financial FBI ba y ove e all s re an . rtner ly billion at t air af om 18 fo in net Co “pur Be r ed the is ye the s 17 to ye stuf a along No met himself tt ion, fo wa te ” all dif pl ses or , tte ed ra re pu ar did.) y and line prison. ra Detr re les to tw t: CEO ubr sugg GFL ge Ve sa co ar manag end r 20 r it ac y los co y co fe e rth co fe s chase st r to of f, tt re the ll la we the ys s gr s fo re een rruption st see with it int non-cash 17 of rit es int la and and re to ing e re ey nv rruption. the ha s ti to ad mp and de busines GFL ’s or scr ound r pl lik , oit with esting Pe also te of He fo Ca co ve of nc time closed, nt, Chuck to o due , $3 $6. as .” ok wa o ac ict ve y long acing Dec ho e bt is r, fic y e r e in an losi. pr Do een GIC, -ar the pric mp ly municip e $611 .7 to ro the ” build quisition other their ’s also it ed 3 the Est its pr st In tha dr ove w er , -billion ra ad sa y’ let a opert billion. re the re lina, in pl bef ac vigi ea ember announc e -t anies, oduc it ama , s lot ve industry’ ting e GFL ys of liabilities. emp “W in ev ded U. describes sear t s, te sist million, ung its busines erm it indus quisition r Bo fo pa Riz ac so wa “T br ga a or tr ve ga stment ems. an, rs bribery Do pri da financ S. it’ of llo e sw y do co rt, trucks wh ticall ansf mb ought he ant e it rb s rb e e stig al hea lo to ch zo don man- s fr y- flips, with time de vigi. va GFL pur- pur- 20 Last we se Sa unt int wn- ung wa les ta to ye ag not ag try cli- om sil- ich ” to ar- B3 ed he Jr er bt v- to v- te a- 17 s- r- s. ’t o d y e e e e a a s s s - - . .

SOURCE DELOITTE bage business is booming. Investors have driven valuations to record highs. Dovigi hopes to tap that enthusiasm with GFL’s IPO. Assuming it goes ahead as planned, the company’s subordinate-voting shares will trade on both the TSX and a U.S. exchange (yet to be determined). Meanwhile, this being Canada, GFL also has a class of shares worth 10 votes apiece. Dovigi will own all of them, giving him roughly 40% garbage, forcing waste companies to compete harder on price. voting control of GFL. However, an inves- GFL is sensitive about the perception of its debt. “We don’t tor-rights clause means that as long as BC have crushing levels of debt. We have private-company levels of Partners owns 15% of the company, Dovigi debt, and once we go public, we will have public-company levels must vote in line with the directors it nomi- of debt,” says Pelosi. “That’s the way these things work.” nates to GFL’s board. If all goes well, GFL has a significant opportunity to replicate in This raises a question: How long will the U.S. what it has done in Canada, says Effram Kaplan, a man- GFL’s existing investors stick around? “You aging director of U.S. investment bank Brown Gibbons Lang & always have to be skeptical when you have Co. who specializes in waste management. He says no company private equity investors who are looking in the U.S. is consolidating across different types of waste col- to exit within a year of investing in a com- lection—in particular, liquid waste and industrial services—as pany,” says McCoubrey, the Veritas analyst. intently as Dovigi is. “It’s a very fragmented marketplace here,” That’s not the case here, insists Dovigi, says Kaplan, who has advised businesses in transactions with who says none of the current investors are GFL. “What Patrick is doing is forward-thinking.” cashing in on the IPO. “This is all growth capital for us to continue growing GFL,” he says. (Interestingly, GFL’s prospectus says OVIGI NOW SEES an opportunity in the global the company intends to use the proceeds shifts of the garbage trade. For decades, Asian “to repay certain indebtedness.”) But he markets, particularly China, couldn’t get admits that over time, BC Partners will sell enough of the world’s empty plastic bottles, old its shares. The prospectus includes a lad- newspapers and aluminum cans, which could dered scale for how many directors the be cheaply remade into new goods. It didn’t firm can appoint should it reduce its hold- matter that much of that recyclable material ings from more than 30% to 5%. (Its exact was contaminated with garbage and organics— stake is not yet public.) an abundance of cheap labour kept the boom A bigger question is how Dovigi will going. “China made up for our laziness,” says adjust to life under the watchful eyes of Manziaris. But last year, China slammed the the market, analysts and regulators. Payne, door shut on imports of recyclable junk. Now whose private equity fund sold its stake in Western countries face a glut of scrap, com- GFL after 11 years, says analysts will want to modity prices for recyclables have collapsed, see exactly how GFL’s frantic pace of acqui- and cities are confronted with soaring bills to sitions are leading to synergies and quar- dispose of the stuff. terly improvements in productivity. “I don’t Despite its green name, recycling has been think Patrick’s been subject to that scrutiny a relatively small part of GFL’s revenue—just to date,” says Payne. “It’s a bit like Elon 5.6% in 2018. Most of the recycling it collects is with Tesla—eventually, the story and the taken to municipal facilities. But that’s chang- results have to sync up, and if there’s skep- ing as the company foresees the emergence of ticism, the markets can go the other way, a more sustainable domestic recycling indus- and access to capital becomes diminished, try. Federal and provincial governments have and it becomes self-fulfilling that you stop begun to mandate that companies take respon- growing because you’re not buying things.” sibility for “end-of-life management” of both The flip side, says Payne, is that if the mar- products and packaging. “There are markets ket gives GFL a premium valuation, Dovigi where there are opportunities for us to have our will have access to lots of cheap capital that own cradle-to-grave solutions,” says Dovigi. could fuel a whole new era of growth. Toronto is one of them. In July, GFL acquired As Dovigi himself notes: “Canada doesn’t Canada Fibers, which handles 60% of Ontario’s have a lot of mainstream corporate cham- blue-box recycling. pions in the world.” Now we’re about to There’s some irony in the fact that as the find out if investors are ready for one that’s Western world faces a garbage crisis, the gar- big, green and smelly.

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 25 26 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS FORG ED

BY

ZANDER SHERMAN’S GREAT- GRANDFATHER CO-FOUNDED DOFASCO, THE COMPANY THAT

BUILT STEELTOWN. ZAK HE AND HIS BROTHER JC TA LIVED IN A FAIRY- RA TALE HOUSE, WITH EVERYTHING MONEY ANNE

COULD BUY. JO BY

THEN AHS GRP

THEIR TO HOUSE PHO BURNED DOWN, 27 AND SO DID EVERYTHING ELSE.

~ PART I ~ EXTRACTION — Have you heard of us? We made the steel in your refrigerator. We also made the steel in your car, bicycle, office building and washing machine. The steel in your home. The steel in your workplace. In Hamilton, Ontario—Steeltown— you may have seen our name on a park or street sign. Or maybe you’ve heard of Dofasco, the company my great-grandfather and great-great-uncle built, and over which my grandfather presided. It’s that factory across the Skyway bridge, the one billowing smoke and fire. That’s us, killing the ozone layer. But also employing a city! The city that built the middle class. We’re basically the Carnegies of Canada. Have you heard? It’s my brother. It’s my mother too. All of us, really— the whole Sherman family. Today, we’re more like the Kennedys than the Carnegies: more cursed than blessed. It started in 1994, when my grandfather died. Neither one of his sons succeeded him. (My father, Jamie, worked at Dofasco for a summer; my Uncle Frank put in 20 years, but never became president.) My grandfather’s estate—a mansion, cars, an island, stock—has since evaporated. My father’s half was halved in 2002, when my parents split up and our house burned down. (The power was out, and the backup generator sparked. The insurance company called it an “act of God.”) In 2006, Dofasco was acquired in a hostile takeover. Then it was the 2008 recession, and whatever money we had left was nearly gone. My house, my father said. And we were the perfect family. brother, Joshua, didn’t take kindly to the news and At night, our mother would read to Joshua and me— tried to sue us. We don’t talk to him anymore. tales of adventure, bravery and knights in shining Along with my brother, my two cousins and I are armour. But it was our father’s stories that stayed with the Sherman family’s fourth generation. They live in us. He told us about all the places named after us, the the city, and I live in cottage country, three hours and crowds that would part whenever he and his brother a million miles north. People say I’m like my grand- passed. “We were princes of Hamilton,” he would say, father: cold on the outside, molten within. Not that it which meant Joshua and I were what? Dukes? Lords? matters. At this point, the only trace of Dofasco left To us, that seemed more incredible than any fable. in our family is in my steely-eyed stare. I’ve seen our Money. Success. Fame. We had been born into a family fortunes change, our lives go up in smoke. I’ve seen where all the things people spent their lives pursuing my brother lose his mind, my family lose everything. were already ours. Have you? Wealth makes you feel invincible—like nothing can None of this was supposed to happen. We were hurt you, nothing can pierce your skin. But all wealth Shermans: No substance in the world was stronger does is shield you from adversity. It keeps you trapped than us. We were the family that went everywhere, in a fantasy, where nothing bad can happen. Then the did everything. Joshua and I had seen six of the seven money runs out, and there isn’t anything to protect wonders by the time we were teenagers. We wrote you from the world except your own constitution. stories, played piano, made puns in Latin. And our That’s when you realize you’re not made of steel, but house! Its creation, like its destruction, was a super- dirt. And this dirt has been extracted, assembled and natural event: built with no expense spared, no detail mixed together. It will be subjected to various pro- overlooked. The architect wanted to keep it for him- cesses: hammered, beaten. Some members of your self, but my father, with his powers of persuasion, was family will make it out of that fire and be stronger than able to convince him to sell it to us. It was the perfect before. Others never will.

28 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS TOP TO BOTTOM THE WRITER’S GRANDFATHER, FRANK ~ PART II ~ H. SHERMAN, POSES FORMATION WITH A PAINTING OF — HIS THOROUGHBRED Steel is in my blood. My great-great- Sherman became the flagship of the company’s fleet, RACEHORSE; THESE grandfather operated a steel foundry with an iron ore capacity of 22,000 tons. (Today, 30% CUFFLINKS, MADE in New York State. His sons, Clifton of all cargo-carrying ships that pass under the Bur- OF IRON ORE FROM (C.W. ) and Frank (F.A.), worked in the lington Canal Lift Bridge are destined for Dofasco.) THE SHERMAN MINE, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Buffalo steel In 1959, my grandfather was promoted from executive WERE PRESENTED industry. By 1914, my forebears had vice-president to president, becoming the third Sher- TO PIERRE TRUDEAU moved to Canada to start their own man to run the company. DURING A VISIT TO castings company. The Dominion Workers treated the succession of F.H. as if he were DOFASCO IN 1974; Steel Castings Co. Ltd.—eventually one of their own. After all, in the “Dofasco family,” F.H. SHERMAN AT THE known as Dofasco—was capitalized everyone was equal, and the promotion of a new CEO MINE IN TIMAGAMI, at $6 million in 1917. A labour studies was applauded just like the promotion of a line worker. ONTARIO, CIRCA professor at McMaster University, This unique culture separated Dofasco from other 1965; DOFASCO Robert Storey, estimates that “the manufacturers, especially its hometown rival, Stelco. CO-FOUNDER F.A. majority” of the assessment—some Founded around the same time as Dofasco, Stelco SHERMAN; MAKING $100 million in today’s money—went received similar contracts and employed roughly STEEL THE OLD- to my family. twice the workforce. Unlike Dofasco, Stelco was FASHIONED WAY But my great-great-uncle and unionized—which was widely considered a prerequi- great-grandfather weren’t like other site for success. But Stelco was behind in other ways. It bosses. As one former employee recalled, “The Sher- was late in switching to basic oxygen steelmaking and mans worked right out on the floor with the men. began to lose its competitive edge. Eventually, Dofasco They were even bumming cigarettes off the guys.” It became the more innovative and successful company, was the beginning of the “Dofasco Way,” a corporate largely because of its people-first approach. philosophy that prioritized hiring immigrants and the In time, our family became as ubiquitous as the family members of current employees over skilled product we made: There was Sherman Avenue, Sher- workers, and shared a percentage of the company’s man Falls, Sherman Mine, Sherman Lodge. (Sherman annual profits with its workforce. In this way, Dofasco Falls is located on an estate that once belonged to my kept an “open,” or non-unionized, shop, eventually forebears, known as Shermanor Farm.) Eventually, reflected by its iconic slogan: “Our product is steel. Dofasco opened the F.H. Sherman Recreation and Our strength is people.” (One hundred and seven Learning Centre, a 150-acre park in Hamilton. Accord- years later, Dofasco remains non-unionized.) ing to Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey, whose book, In 1937, Dofasco hosted the first of what became Cold Steel, chronicles the takeover of Dofasco, the known as “the world’s largest Christmas party,” complex featured seven baseball diamonds, two NHL- attended by tens of thousands of workers, their fami- sized skating rinks, a soccer field, a driving range, an lies and friends. (C.W. and F.A. handed out presents.) In 18-hole mini-putt course, a double gymnasium, tennis 1939, F.A.’s son—my grandfather—joined the company courts, six training rooms and “facilities to accommo- from Queen’s University. Born in 1916, Frank Jr., or F.H., date the 45 separate clubs that fall under the recre- was a young metallurgist. He was tasked with creat- ational umbrella.” ing and developing Dofasco’s armaments department. When prime minister Pierre Trudeau visited Under his guidance, Dofasco made armour plate, a Dofasco in 1974, he was presented with a pair of cuff- new material used to protect Canadian soldiers dur- links made of iron ore from the Sherman Mine. By then, ing the Second World War. (Though Dofasco steel was my family wielded significant influence in both busi- used in tanks, the Sherman tank is not named after us.) ness and politics: C.W. had advised Mackenzie King My grandfather soon turned to other projects. One during the Second World War, and my grandfather sat was the introduction of a process called basic oxy- on the board of the Bank of Nova Scotia. In 1978, my gen steelmaking. Historically, steel was created in grandfather received an honorary doctorate of law open hearths, a time-consuming and labour-intensive from Hamilton’s McMaster University. In 1986, he was method. In 1952, Austrian engineers commercialized recognized with an engineering award for introduc- a new technique that involved spraying oxygen over ing oxygen-based steelmaking to North America. And molten iron, creating a higher-quality product in less in 1992—two years after retiring, at age 74—he was time. (The same amount of steel that took more than inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. six hours to make in an open hearth could now be If the leadership of Dofasco was going to pass to made in under 30 minutes.) Dofasco produced North another Sherman, it would have been my uncle. The America’s first batch of oxygen steel in 1954. By the first son of F.H. and Catharine, my grandmother, time Austrian president Franz Jonas visited Dofasco he was the third Frank Sherman in a row. He joined a decade later, oxygen-based steelmaking had been Dofasco shortly after graduating from Michigan Tech- adopted worldwide. nological University in 1970. He held a number of posi- Dofasco continued to grow steadily, expanding its tions, including general manager, and director of busi- campus and reclaiming land from the waters of Ham- ness and process quality systems. But in 1992, he left to ilton Harbour. In 1958, a 681-foot freighter ship was pursue various entrepreneurial endeavours. christened in my great-grandfather’s honour. The F.A. My father’s path was more circuitous. He worked

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 29 in the company’s hot-rolled steel sales department for the summer of 1968, before attending Humber Col- lege that fall. He was supposed to study public rela- tions and then get a longer-term job at Dofasco. He and my uncle would have been like F.A. and C.W. —an introvert-extrovert duo that appealed to the masses. But after stumbling into the wrong classroom, he switched to media arts and graduated in 1971. The fol- lowing year, he met my mother, Sharon. (He had gone into a bookstore where she worked, searching for Walden, my mother’s favourite book.) In 1973, my parents bought a 100-acre farm near Bancroft, Ontario, and moved out of the city. For the rest of the 1970s, they lived a Thoreauvian life, rais- ing their own livestock and going “back to the land.” My father had become interested in glass-blowing, an ancient craft that involves heating glass to molten temperatures. (My grandfather was a photographer and patron of the arts. As disappointed as he may have been that neither of his sons followed in his footsteps, he seemed to appreciate the parallels between steel- making and glass-blowing.) My brother, Joshua, was born in 1983. When my mother was still pregnant with me, in 1986, our family moved to Muskoka. You should have seen our house! A two-storey Craftsman at the end of a road, at the top of a hill, leaves canopying the driveway, like something out of a fairy tale. At the top, there were gardens, a basket- ball court and six acres of Muskoka bush that backed

1910 FINANCIER 1912 BROTHERS 1936 THE UNITED 1937 DOFASCO 1964 DOFASCO MAXWELL AITKEN CLIFTON W. AND STEELWORKERS HOSTS ITS FIRST PRODUCES NORTH A (LATER LORD FRANK A. SHERMAN UNIONIZE STELCO, GALA EMPLOYEE AMERICA’S FIRST BEAVERBROOK) FOUND DOMINION BUT FAIL AT CHRISTMAS PARTY. BATCH OF OXYGEN MERGES FIVE FOUNDRIES AND PATERNALISTIC MEN GET $10 AND STEEL, WHICH BRIEF SMALL COMPANIES STEEL (DOFASCO) DOFASCO A CIGAR; WOMEN CAN BE MADE TO ESTABLISH GET A FOOD BASKET. FASTER THAN STEEL THE STEEL CO. OF (BY THE 1980S, PRODUCED IN OPEN HISTORY CANADA (STELCO) MORE THAN 30,000 HEARTHS PEOPLE ATTEND) onto a nature conservancy. Inside, a set of stained glass special occasions: cash, cars, jewellery. doors led from the dining area into the living room, The money bought us freedom, and with it, we went which was filled with plush furniture. Above the fire- travelling, sometimes vanishing for months at a time. place hung a painting of my grandfather’s thorough- We’d rent an RV and drive to the American Southwest, bred racehorse, and in the corner was a built-in story a place that inspired my father’s art and many of our nook, where we kept albums filled with photos of all homeschooling lessons. We would learn geography as the trips we’d taken: Europe, Africa, the Middle East. we wound down the interstate, glean history from our Neither of my parents worked at a conventional guidebooks, count the number of KOAs with swim- job. After Joshua and I were born, my mother home- ming pools. My mother was our teacher, and our father schooled us around the kitchen table. For most of the was our entertainer, driver and guide. As we hunkered 1990s, my father reproduced ancient glass artifacts for down in our bunk beds each night, he would tell us the Royal Ontario Museum. He was one of Muskoka’s about the distant land, shrouded in smoke, where he most successful artists, but we didn’t depend on his and his brother were princes and their father was king. income. It was my grandfather we counted on: In 1986, The stories might have stayed that way—sweet he helped my father buy our house. That same year, he nothings, thoughts to think before bed—had we not paid for the construction of my father’s glass-blowing seen my grandfather’s world first-hand. In July and studio, a cathedralesque, 1,500-square-foot building August, we’d boat across Lake Joseph to my grand- with stained glass windows. There were more gifts on father’s private island. And on December 25, we’d

30 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS TOP TO BOTTOM JOSHUA (LEFT) AND ZANDER SHERMAN ON A STOP IN NEW MEXICO IN 1992, PART OF A SPRING ROAD make the six-hour round trip from My father and uncle inherited my grandfather’s TRIP WITH THEIR Muskoka to Hamilton. Christmas estate. They split everything in half and liquidated PARENTS; JOSHUA was my grandfather’s favourite day, what they didn’t want. That included the family cot- AND ZANDER EATING and he would hire a design team to tage, which sold for $625,000. (Today, it’s worth as CARROTS FROM make his house look movie-perfect. much as $5 million.) At the urging of investment advis- THEIR MOTHER’S The outside would be wrapped in a ers, my father also sold his Dofasco shares, which ORGANIC GARDEN giant bow. Inside, there were maids made up the vast majority of my grandfather’s port- IN MUSKOKA; THE and a cook. (When my grandfather folio. At the time, the shares were worth less than $20 BOYS ATTEND CUB became infirm, his staff grew to apiece. Ten years later, they reached an all-time high SCOUTS IN NEARBY include a live-in nurse.) of more than $72. BRACEBRIDGE IN Looking back, that’s when my By the early 2000s, European companies had started 1993; THAT SAME brother must have begun to truly looking at Dofasco as a way to break into the North YEAR, THEY WON believe what should have always American automotive market. One was Luxembourg- FIRST PLACE AT A remained a fiction: that we weren’t based Arcelor. As Cold Steel author Bouquet told me: LOCAL FAIR FOR THEIR like other families, even ones who “Dofasco very much didn’t want to be taken over by GIANT SUNFLOWER had accomplished great things. That Arcelor. I’m not entirely sure they wanted to be taken at a molecular level, we were some- over by anybody.” Dofasco was then one of the world’s how better. Stronger. Unbreakable. most successful steel companies and had rebuffed countless outsiders. Arcelor knew Dofasco’s board would never sell. ~ PART III ~ So it appealed directly to shareholders with a hos- SUBJECTION tile bid that traded cash for loyalty. The shareholders — accepted, and in March 2006, Arcelor bought the com- In 1988, Dofasco purchased Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. pany for $5.6 billion. Three months later, an Indian Marie, Ontario. The $560-million deal was supposed to firm called Mittal Steel, owned by Lakshmi Mittal, the turn Dofasco into Canada’s largest steelmaker. (It had world’s 91st richest man, according to Forbes, bought often been the most profitable; now it would employ Arcelor for US$34 billion. ArcelorMittal is now the the largest workforce too.) Two years later, in 1990, the world’s largest steel and mining company. My grand- economy tanked. Demand plummeted, and Dofasco father’s prophecy had come true.

1981 EMPLOYMENT 1993 IN A BRUTAL 2006 ARCELOR 2007 U.S. STEEL 2017 STELCO, 2019 DOFASCO AT STELCO REACHES DECADE FOR THE BUYS DOFASCO FOR BUYS STELCO WHICH IS DOWN TO AND STELCO ARE 26,000 STEEL INDUSTRY, $5.6 BILLION AND FOR $1.9 BILLION 2,200 EMPLOYEES, BOTH RELIEVED STELCO SLASHES ITS IS THEN ACQUIRED IN CASH PLUS EMERGES FROM WHEN THE TRUMP WORKFORCE, LEAVING BY INDIA'S MITTAL. ASSUMED DEBTS ANOTHER ROUND ADMINISTRATION IT WITH FEWER STELCO EMERGES OF CREDITOR EXEMPTS CANADA EMPLOYEES (9,700) FROM CREDITOR PROTECTION, GOES FROM 25% TARIFFS THAN TRADITIONALLY PROTECTION PUBLIC AND RAISES ON STEEL IMPOSED LEANER DOFASCO AFTER WIPING OUT $200 MILLION IN 2018 (11,400) SHAREHOLDERS IN AN IPO

had to return Algoma to its owners, writing off $700 In the middle of the Dofasco sale, my parents got million. Soon after, Dofasco initiated a restructuring divorced. Four years earlier, in 2002, my father had program that aimed to cut costs and reduce spend- moved out of our fairy-tale home and into town, occu- ing—otherwise known as the beginning of the end. pying a house that was supposed to be a renovation By the time my grandfather retired in 1990, Dofasco project. Not long after, Joshua, then 23, moved into my was in crisis. Over the next three years, it would lose father’s basement. The two of them were on one team, $900 million. Stelco was struggling too: In 1991, it relo- and my mother and I were on the other. cated its Toronto headquarters to Hamilton to cut Then came the fire. On September 10, 2002, a wind- costs, and the following year it laid off 800 workers. storm blew through Muskoka, ripping up trees and Its share price slipped to less than $1, giving Stelco a tearing down hydro lines. My mother was in the mid- market value barely equal to its land and equipment. dle of making dinner, and I needed the computer to do My grandfather died in 1994, at age 78. On his death- my homework, so we decided to start the generator. bed, the story goes, he made a prediction: The days of That had always been my father’s job. I stepped out- companies like Dofasco were over, and men like him, side—the sky dark, the wind howling—and crossed his father and his uncle were a dying breed. A new the driveway to the woodshed. The instructions were generation was coming to Steeltown, and they didn’t printed on the front: Prime the primer, choke the care about parks and street signs. They wanted their choke. How hard could it be? I pulled the cord, and names etched into history. the generator roared to life. I returned to the house,

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 31 flipped on the breaker and went back to my home- work. When I was finished, I walked down the hall to my mom’s bedroom. I was watching TV when I heard her scream into the phone: “Fire, fire, fire!” I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the small, white fire extinguisher above the refrigerator. I didn’t even know I knew where it was. I ran through the front door and saw the whole woodshed engulfed—a fireball 10 feet across and 15 feet tall. My mother appeared beside me. She had dragged over the garden hose and was thumb- ing the nozzle at the fire. I went back into the house and called my father. “The house is on fire,” I said. to provide, while our mother nurtured. That’s what “I’ll be right there,” he said. parents did. And of all parents, ours should have been My mother and I waited at the bottom of the drive- capable of doing their jobs. If they weren’t—if we were way. We had our dog, but not the cat. The cat was gone. now poor, as our father seemed to be saying—it was By the time my father arrived, the fire had travelled an undoing of everything Joshua had come to believe. from the woodshed to a corner of the house. The roof Not long after, our phone rang. “Someone blew was smouldering. He ran through the south entrance, crack smoke in my face,” my brother said. “I need to closest to the living room, where we kept the photos. A come home.” minute later, he was back, carrying a stack of albums. My brother moved back in with my mother and me. He dumped it on the lawn, turned around, and went Within days, he was lashing out. He would catch us back in for more. He ended up saving dozens of them. in the middle of a conversation and accuse us of con- By the time the first fire truck appeared, half the spiring against him. Or I would be in the office and house was engulfed. I couldn’t watch. I climbed the hill a shadow would fall beneath the door. He seemed to and sat, the heat still needling the backs of my hands. A know whenever our father was on the phone. few minutes later, my mother joined me. Someone had “You’re not allowed to talk to him,” he would say. “I given her a blanket, which she gave to me. forbid you from telling him anything about me!” We looked at the scene below us. Two months after moving home, in October 2010, “We’re going to rebuild,” she said. “Rebuild the Joshua was diagnosed with “drug-induced psychosis,” house, rebuild everything.” a brief loss of contact with reality. But there was noth- And we did: We built over the ashes of our home. It ing temporary about his condition. That winter, he took months, cost the insurance company $900,000, accused our mother of pushing our maternal grand- and led to a civil lawsuit. Just before the fire, Muskoka mother into a snowbank and then tried to blackmail had installed mandatory 911 signs, and our house— her into giving him money. Our father, he told us, was which straddled two townships—wasn’t in the system. a murderer. (The victim was a reporter who had alleg- Then the first fire truck had mechanical problems, and edly tried to investigate our house fire.) the second, according to my father, had no water. By He began making written appeals, telling people he the time the third truck arrived, it was too late. was “the single inheritor of a fortune.” This fortune, he When the new house was finished, it looked just like said, came from the sale of Dofasco to Arcelor. “Police the old one. But it was still just my mother and me. have been unresponsive and I have no monies for a lawyer,” he wrote. He signed his name and then added a postscript: “My grandfather owned (C.E.O.) Dofasco ~ PART IV ~ Inc., Hamilton, Ont. I am worth millions.” FORGED We tried everything to save Joshua. In a last-ditch — move, my mother sent him to the National Outdoor Shortly after the fire, Joshua moved to Vancouver Leadership School, an elite wilderness program in Island, and in 2006, he enrolled in a two-year program the United States. To do this, she took out a $10,000 at Selkirk College, in Nelson, B.C. (I never attended loan, which Joshua promised to pay back. He didn’t. A university, choosing to stay home with my mother.) few years later, the debt had grown to $50,000. Other According to the terms of our parents’ divorce, our attempts to help him were just as futile and prone to father was released from spousal support in exchange backfire. If we called him, he said we were harassing for giving our mother the house, but he paid for Josh- him. If we didn’t, it meant we didn’t care. ua’s tuition, rent and incidentals. Then the 2008 reces- A year into his illness, Joshua showed up at our sion happened. He kept writing cheques into 2010 father’s house. He said he’d been “denied my rightful before sending my brother and I each a letter: “At the inheritance,” which he was now going to collect, one current rate,” he wrote, “there will be zero [Dofasco] way or another. My father called me, and I showed up, money left in less than 10 years.” putting my body between my father and brother. To Joshua, the end of our father’s financial support The molten thing inside me spilled over, and was a betrayal of his paternal role: His job had been I screamed at Joshua to back away. “I mean it!”

32 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS LEFT ZANDER SHERMAN WITH HIS PARENTS, SHARON AND JAMIE, AT HIS CHILDHOOD I snapped. “I have a weapon on me, where she pointed out the Group of Seven paintings HOME IN MUSKOKA and I’m not afraid to use it!” Dofasco had purchased during my grandfather's ten- “I’ve never seen you act like this,” ure. Then she retrieved my great-grandfather’s top hat he said, suddenly tender. and a silver cigar box that belonged to my great-great- “Yeah, well. Get used to it.” uncle. These and other things were in a closet Verdun A few minutes later, we managed to get Joshua into affectionately called the “Dofasco archive.” the car. He sat in the back seat, and our father and I We walked to the main boardroom, where por- drove the car back to Joshua’s apartment. (I kept my traits of C.W. , F.A., and F.H. still preside over meet- backpack, which had a hunting knife, at my feet.) He ings. There was also a large antique clock. The com- didn’t take his sunglasses off and cursed at us the pany’s Italian workers had given it to C.W. in 1937, as whole way there. As my brother was climbing out of a symbol of Dofasco’s commitment to hiring immi- the car, our father tried to give him $100. grants. It stayed in the boardroom until 2005, when “I don’t want your f---ing money,” Joshua snapped. someone contacted my father to see if he wanted it. My father and brother haven’t spoken since. In 2014, With rumours of a takeover swirling, no one knew Joshua moved back to B.C., where he lived in a religious what would become of the clock—whether it would commune, then a homeless shelter, then a tent. He’s be sold or auctioned off. My father agreed to take it been in and out of hospitals, on and off medication. He to Muskoka. He says it worked perfectly until around won’t talk to me or see me. Sometimes, he’ll phone our the day the company was sold in March 2006, when it mother and tell her what a terrible parent she’s been. suddenly stopped ticking. Now it was back where it The last time they saw each other, she dropped off a belonged and seemed to be working fine. birthday cake and a few presents. “Don’t you get it?” My grandfather’s old office is occupied by Dofas- he screamed. “I never want to see you again.” co’s current CEO, Sean Donnelly. He and I stood in When I ask our parents how they’ve dealt with this, the doorway, talking business. Dofasco remains one our mother smiles sadly and then leaves the room in of ArcelorMittal’s most profitable mills. But its future, tears. Our father stares off into space. No one knows like my family’s, is uncertain. Trade wars, new envi- what to say, where to begin. But there’s no time to ronmental laws and obsolescence are constant threats. reflect. Our mother is fighting off tax arrears, credit The company has had bad years (such as 2015, when card debt, the $50,000 loan. At 65, she’s facing the pros- it lost US$8 billion), and many have said the industry pect of having to work for the first time in 46 years. itself is dying. Because she never paid into a pension plan, there’s After we finished at the main office, we suited up nothing for her to collect. Our father, nearly 70 now, is in safety gear and drove across the street. The bright fixing up his house, getting ready for the day he’ll have light faded away as we entered one of the plants, where to sell. Sometimes I think we’ll all end up like Joshua. men in tiny booths moved cranes and lifted ladles of Four people with no name, nothing. molten steel. Verdun told workers we met that I was Frank Sherman’s grandson. “Your family has meant so much to us,” Sanjay Sagar, an engineer, told me. ~ PART VI ~ When the tour was over, I drove up Hamilton Moun- STEEL tain, taking Sherman Access and Upper Sherman. In a — park overlooking the city, I saw everything my family One recent summer’s day, I drove from cottage coun- had built. It all looked so arduous—the product of such try to Hamilton. I hadn’t been back to the city since pain and punishment. But that’s steel for you. It’s cre- 2012, when my father, uncle, cousins and more than ated by the injuries inflicted upon it. The harder you 150 employees gathered on Dofasco’s front lawn to hammer, the stronger it gets. And when it finally can’t celebrate its 100th birthday. A letter from the prime take any more, steel is recycled. I could just barely see minister was read out loud, and a time capsule con- a pile of it from where I stood: a mountain of shiny taining various Dofasco artifacts was set aside to be scrap, waiting to be turned into something new. buried, with instructions to be opened in 2037. The whole time I was there, I kept wondering what had become of my family. Twenty-five years earlier, ~ PART VII ~ we were made of steel. How had we gone from that to AFTERWORD where we were now? Where would we be when the — capsule was opened? If my father or uncle had suc- This story was originally planned for the September ceeded my grandfather as the next Dofasco president, 2018 issue. As I was writing it—and after the pho- would any of the same things have happened? You tos had been taken—my mother ended her own life. weren’t supposed to think like that, but with so many I’m publishing this story now, a year later, as an act things lost, how could you not? of moving forward. Writing is what has provided me On this latest trip, I wanted to see more of the com- meaning, earned me an income and made my mother pany. At Dofasco headquarters, Marie Verdun, the proud. “Just keep going,” she would say. My father and company’s manager of corporate affairs, was waiting I get together every week and are getting by as best we for me. We took an elevator to the executive floor, can. If you see my brother, tell him he is loved.

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While Canadians tend to fill speakers and events offered by awkward pauses during meetings, the Japanese are okay with U of A’s Hunter Centre for Queen’s University and silence. So refrain from talking too much. Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Cornell University THINK GLOBAL Haskayne Smith School of Business BRAZIL The annals of business gaffery are filled with tales uses international travel to and Samuel Curtis Johnson of foreign executives speaking Spanish in Brazil—only to be teach about Calgary-based Graduate School of reminded that it is, in fact, a Portuguese-speaking country. companies and case studies. Management (Cornell-Queen’s Previous cohorts visited the EMBA Americas) Address your colleagues with the more formal “o senhor” (sir) Cosmo Oil Sakai refinery in Kingston and Ithaca, and “a senhora” (ma’am), especially if they’re older than you. Japan and the Hong Kong Stock New York Exchange. $139,865 | 148 | 12 CHINA Being humble is key, and that can be reflected in the LEADERS WANTED Haskayne years | 76-24 | 17 months phrases you use. When meeting someone, follow the formal offers leadership workshops GO HERE IF you want two version of “hello” (nın hao) with “so happy to meet you” in conjunction with the degrees, including one from an (hen gao xìng rèn shì nı). This is also a respectful way to set Canadian Centre for Advanced Ivy League institution known up a business card exchange. If you’re not sure of Leadership in Business, and as one of the world’s best someone’s name, politely ask “zen me cheng hu participants can pick the business schools. nín,” which translates to “how should I call you?” Pick up a few brains of executives like former PACK YOUR BAGS Offered in Then be sure to use their title and surname, such small gifts to WestJet CEO Gregg Saretsky more than 20 Canadian, U.S. as Manager Chen or President Yang. show your during in-class sessions. and Latin American locales, the appreciation SPECIALIZATIONS Finance and global business project takes FRANCE If you decide to practise your Grade 9 to your hosts general management. students to a destination of French, first apologize for your rusty linguistic (something their choice to work on a real business issue or opportunity. skills, then address your colleagues with the royal distinctly from ONTARIO your hometown GLOBAL ROLODEX Since team- “vous” in meetings and save the informal “tu” is a nice touch). McMaster University centred classes are shared by for close friends. (And don’t be offended if your A gift might DeGroote School of Canadian, American and Latin colleagues revert to English.) initially be Business (EMBA in Digital American participants, you’ll refused, as is the Transformation) stack your network with an HONG KONG Hierarchy and respect are important, polite custom Burlington and Palo Alto, international array of execs. so greet the most senior person first, and don’t in China, but California contradict your superiors in front of others. they are always $89,000 | 30 | 18 years University of Ottawa Always address your colleagues by their title and appreciated— | 67-33 | 14 months Telfer School of Management surname. When saying “thank you” for a gift, and sometimes GO HERE IF you manage digital Ottawa use the more formal “do jeh.” Keep the informal considered systems. This world-first $75,000 | 36 | 16 years “m’goi” for when a shopkeeper helps you. mandatory. program focuses on making | 61-39 | 21 months data-driven decisions, and GO HERE IF you value hands-on THAILAND Even if you’re speaking English, leadership and recruitment in learning—students solve real politely end your sentences with formal punctuation. For women, digital environments. challenges for clients in various that’s “ka”; for men, it’s “krub.” So a woman would say: “It was a PACK YOUR BAGS In 2019, industry settings. the Silicon Valley residency MAKING CONNECTIONS For its pleasure to meet with you ka.” And a man would respond: included site visits, tours and Signature Series of Six Business “Thank you for taking the time krub.” meetings with leaders from Consulting Projects, students companies such as Apple, work with one of 60 client UNITED ARAB EMIRATES When someone greets you with Macromedia, Kaiser Permanente, organizations. Candidates can “as-salamu alaikum” (peace be upon you), reply with “wa-alaikum Relay Ventures and Ideo. also begin working on a Project assalam” (and unto you, peace). Also, always greet the most PARTNERSHIP ALERT DeGroote’s Management Professional senior person in the room first and offer your business card with partner network—led by designation. your right hand (the left is considered unclean). theScore, CIBC, IBM, Rogers PACK YOUR BAGS Business

36 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS E T I Q S U S E E T T N I E

S consulting projects include two program gives students hands- U trips that leverage the Telfer on experience in three key B faculty’s network to secure health care clusters: Toronto, connections and meetings. San Francisco and Singapore. Last year’s class went to Silicon BEST IN CLASS Each module Valley and Malaysia. involves on-site experiences GET ENTREPRENEURIAL The with innovative health care and School your Startup program life sciences organizations. links students with emerging LAB PARTNERS Students in /By Eric Reguly, The Globe’s European bureau companies to create business the nine-month Creative chief, based in Rome plans and investor packages, Destruction Lab program and to pitch a panel of help mentor seed-stage investors. companies with support from ACCOLADES Last year, Financial entrepreneurs and leading Times ranked Telfer as one technologists. of the 100 best EMBAs in the world. Western University Ivey Business School University of Toronto Toronto Rotman School of Management $115,000 | 118 | 15 Toronto years | 68-32 | 15 months LATE IS EARLY Italians are notoriously late for everything. If you $113,775 | 58 | 15 years GO HERE IF you like hands-on show up precisely on time, no one will be there. A former Canadi- | 60-40 | 13 months learning: Ivey’s program is case- an ambassador to Rome once told me that Italian diplomat guests GO HERE IF you want to become based, where students dive would routinely arrive two full hours after the appointed dinner a better leader. Rotman’s into issues, make and defend time, when the meal was rather cold. For business meetings, 15 to Leadership Development decisions, and take real action. 20 minutes late is pretty much right on time. Practicum offers personal PACK YOUR BAGS Students get assessment, one-on-one a crash course in international DRESS FOR SUCCESS In a country famous for bella figura—loosely coaching, and a plan to create business during a one-week translated as “good impression”—looking good is important, es- emotionally intelligent and trip to China, India or Vietnam. pecially in Milan, the business centre, where cab drivers effective leaders. Students in the sustainability FAST FINISH At 13 months, course travel to Mexico City are better dressed than your average North American. Rotman’s EMBA is the shortest to attend IPADE University’s For any meeting, err on the side of conservative, but not program in Canada. International Week conference, stuffy. For men, dark suits; for women, fashionable pant- GET ENTREPRENEURIAL A with a focus on entrepreneurial suits or skirts. Lipstick is the law and, for men, shorts new capstone project offers solutions to poverty. will land you in prison. Remember that springs, sum- students a comprehensive CEO FACTORY Alumni include mers and autumns in Italy are warm to hot, so ditch the overview of the venture- Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz wools that you might wear in Canada or northern Eu- creation process, while paired (1997), outgoing TD Ameritrade rope. In the cooler months, a dashing scarf is always a with experienced investors. CEO Tim Hockey (1997) and good idea, for both men and women. ACCOLADES It’s the top-ranked former HBC vice-chair Bonnie Canadian EMBA program, Brooks (2008). KISSY, KISSY Italians are famously affectionate and physical, and according to Financial Times’ 2018 list. York University and there is little sense of personal space in the high-density cities. Northwestern University But for God’s sake, do not hug, kiss or air-kiss anyone on first University of Toronto Schulich School of Business encounter. A firm handshake is expected. After several meetings Rotman School of and Kellogg School of with the same people, the rules can be relaxed somewhat. Management (Global EMBA) Management (Kellogg- Toronto and Milan Schulich EMBA) WHAT WAS YOUR NAME? Business cards are still very much part US$100,000 | 30 | 12 Toronto and Chicago of the first-meeting ritual in Italy, so stuff a few in your pocket years | 60-40 | 18 months $125,000 | 45 | 15 years before you head out. As a sign of respect, glance at the business GO HERE IF you’re looking | 70-30 | 18 months cards given to you before you fling them into your purse or wallet. to develop expertise and GO HERE IF you want to expand contacts in global markets. your global reach—students LINGUA FRANCA Italians know that English is the language of busi- Students learn in the “home” get the chance to meet and ness—especially in Milan—and will not expect you to speak Ital- hubs of Toronto and Milan study alongside close to 500 ian to them. But to make an instant good impression, and to flat- (thanks to a new partnership leaders from around the world. ter them, learn a few words before you head to Italy. Buon giorno with the SDA Bocconi School PACK YOUR BAGS This two-in- of Management), and travel one program includes a 10-day (good day or hello), arrivederci (see you later), grazie (thank you), to Mumbai, San Francisco, stay at Kellogg’s EMBA campus è stato un piacere (it was a pleasure), buona sera (good evening) Copenhagen, Shanghai and São in Chicago and the opportunity and a few other terms will win you big points. You do not want Paulo to study topics ranging to study at Kellogg’s Miami to be the Ugly Canadian who can’t be bothered to learn simple from global negotiations to campus, as well as at partner Italian courtesies. mergers and acquisitions. schools in Germany, Israel DOUBLE DOWN Graduates China and Hong Kong. NO PRESSURE, PLEASE Italian businesspeople don’t like to be pres- receive degrees from both BREXIT BOON The Strategies sured, so don’t demand a commitment on the first meeting. If you Rotman and SDA Bocconi. for Growth course is taught do, they will suspect they are being railroaded into a bad deal. in London, U.K., and examines Initial meetings are get-to-know-you affairs, where pitches, per- University of Toronto how companies can scale their sonalities and trustworthiness are evaluated. Rotman School of businesses in the face of Brexit. Management (Global EMBA BONUS TIPS Italians almost never get drunk, but they almost al- for Healthcare and the Life QUEBEC Sciences) ways have a glass, maybe two, of wine with dinner, so enjoy. Busi- Toronto Concordia University ness meetings in caffè bars are not the thing to do. In Italy, a caffè $113,775 | 40 | 16 years John Molson School of is drunk quickly, then you leave. No one lingers, as you might at a | 50-50 | 18 months Business Starbucks. And drinking a cappuccino after about 10 a.m. is con- GO HERE IF you are a Montreal sidered the mark of the rube. A cappuccino is a breakfast drink, health care or life sciences $75,000 | 20 | 15 years never a lunch or dinner drink. So don’t embarrass yourself. provider, scientist, regulatory | 85-15 | 20 months professional or supplier. This GO HERE IF you want work-life

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 37 E T I Q S U S E E T T N I E

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U work and school—students B EMBA undertake case studies and can apply their EMBA work balance: Molson features a to a real project in their own family-friendly, one-day-a- organization. week schedule and a Healthy FROSH DAYS A new two-day Executive module that seminar helps incoming encourages a balanced lifestyle students get to know one /By Stephanie Nolen, within a high-performance another, and offers a refresher The Globe and Mail’s former Latin America correspondent work culture. on concepts like team PACK YOUR BAGS During the management and leadership. past three years, students TRIPLE THREAT The case-based PUCKER UP There’s a lot of kiss- have travelled to California, program is offered in English, Colombia, Chile, Hong Kong French and Spanish. ing and hugging in Brazil, even and China to meet business PACK YOUR BAGS UQAM’s in business settings. Men might leaders and tour facilities. program is offered in settle for a straight-up vigorous CLASS CHAMPION Each cohort is partnership with universities in handshake on first meeting with assigned a respected business 11 nations, including France’s other men, but if you know each leader who remains in contact Université Paris-Dauphine and other even vaguely, you will shake throughout the program. China University of Mining and with your right hand, while firmly clasping the person’s shoul- Molson Coors chair Andrew Technology. der with your left and leaning in a bit. If you have a professional Molson is a former champion. GET ENTREPRENEURIAL Students can take relationship that could be considered warm, be prepared to hug McGill University/HEC courses in innovation and with a lot of back-slapping. But for women greeting women, or Montréal entrepreneurship in partnership men greeting women, it’s kissing. In Rio, it’s two kisses, one on Desautels Faculty of with its engineering school. each cheek. In São Paulo, it’s one kiss (except when Paulistas sud- Management denly go rogue and do three kisses). Pay close attention, because Montreal Université Laval if you’re doing one and the other person is $89,000 | 47 | 18 years Quebec City planning two or three, you’re going to end | 51-49 | 15 months $19,500 | 29 | 18 years GO HERE IF you’re looking | 72-28 | 18 months up with your lips in someone’s ear, and let STEP-BY-STEP me tell you, it’s terribly awkward. If a col- for diversity; students aren’t GO HERE IF you value flexibility GUIDE TO THE typically sponsored by their and work-life balance. Laval’s league joins a meeting late, he or she will go AIR KISS employers and have diverse hybrid format features two around the room to kiss everyone and ex- backgrounds, from special days of class time and two change pleasantries. STEP 1: forces colonels to Indigenous online classes per month. Offer an leaders. Students spend just 45 days in MAKE SMALL TALK Never plunge right into enthusiastic “Lovely PARLEZ-VOUS FRANCAIS? This class during the entire program. business. Brazilians love to hear what you to see you!” as you bilingual program emphasizes PACK YOUR BAGS Students think of Brazil—it’s so big, it’s so beautiful, position yourself for the high professional standing spend a week at Babson people are lovely. This is a popular line of the greeting. of its participants and is College near Boston, ranked structured around research conversation that has the advantage of also No. 1 in the U.S. for entrepre- STEP 2: from Desautels management neurship. The 10th anniversary being true. Brazilians, however, also make Take hold of one guru Henry Mintzberg. of the program features a trade a national pastime of complaining bitterly or both of your GENDER PARITY In 2018, mission to Mexico. about how bad things are, and it will serve colleague’s upper 23 women and 23 men CAREER ADVICE Laval offers you well to know a bit about the never-end- arms (the elbow is graduated—a rarity among alumni two personal- ing corruption scandal known as Lava Jato fine too). EMBA programs. development coaching and the latest drama in Brasilia. As a foreign- EXECS WANTED More than 50% sessions and a 360-degree of students are vice-president psychometric assessment. er, you will have a damnably difficult time STEP 3: with licences, investing, hiring, and mov- or above, and one-quarter Lean in with your are president, CEO or general ATLANTIC CANADA ing money in and out, and Brazilians have face turned at an manager. a healthy appetite for hearing about it, and angle to the left. Saint Mary’s University will commiserate. Université de Sherbrooke Sobey School of Busines STEP 4: Longueuil Halifax HURRY UP AND WAIT Budget double what Lightly touch your $49,200 | 20 | 10-15 $52,000 | 13 | 11 years seems like a reasonable length of time to right cheek to the years | 60-40 | 18 months | 70-30 | 16 months get anywhere in either Rio or São Paulo, other person’s (or GO HERE IF you’re looking GO HERE IF you want a because traffic is outrageous and entirely just hover near it), for a competency-based reimagined EMBA focused on unpredictable. But if you arrive early, loiter pucker up and make approach to learning—instead future skills—in 2020, Sobey a soft kissing sound. of standardized courses, will deliver its program in a outside. Brazilian office meetings usually participants receive a hybrid online/in-person format, run more or less on time, but the concept STEP 5: customized curriculum focused but with the same focus on is much more fluid for social events. More In most European on developing the skills they evidence-based management. than once, I turned up at the polite Canadian countries, where need for their specific role. PACK YOUR BAGS Last year, 8:15 for an 8 p.m. invitation, and was greeted two kisses are de Individuals also receive a students went to Belgium and psychometric evaluation and Denmark on an international by alarmed hosts who had not expected me rigueur, repeat Step for another hour. personal development plan. trade mission. 4. In France, la bise PACK YOUR BAGS The program LOCAL FOCUS The pan- can include up to is also offered in Martinique, in university Change Lab Action MAYBE MEANS NO Brazilians are loath to say four kisses, so you partnership with the Chamber Research Centre is designed no or overtly disappoint. So don’t assume might just have to of Commerce and Industry. to support Nova Scotia something is happening or confirmed until wing it. communities to address social it’s actually done. If the assistant is assuring Université du Québec à and economic challenges. you Mr. da Costa really wants to make the Montréal ACCOLADES Sobey’s program meeting happen, but somehow you just can’t seem to nail down a Montreal was ranked eighth in the world time—Mr. da Costa does not, in fact, want to see you. $8,400+ | 110 | 9 years for sustainability by the 2018 | 60-40 | 24 months Corporate Knights Better World GO HERE IF you want to meld MBA ranking.

38 SEPTEMBER 2018 / REPORT ON BUSINESS University of Prince THE ART Edward Island Charlottetown OF WINING $34,670 | 12 | 12 years | 65-35 | 20 months EMBA GO HERE IF you’re interested AND in learning how to leverage research findings to make DINING BRITISH COLUMBIA more informed decisions— the program is a pioneer in Royal Roads University HONG KONG During a meeting, evidence-based management. Victoria and online tea will likely be served. Be sure NICHES Innovative management, $42,680 | 95 | 59-41 | biotechnology management to allow your host to take the WHO PAYS 10 years | 18-31 months and entrepreneurship. first sip. When he or she stops GO HERE IF you’re a full-time GET INTIMATE UPEI features the drinking, it might be a sign that THE BILL? manager looking for a blend of smallest class of any Canadian the meeting is over. online and on-campus learning. EMBA program, with just 12 CHINA Most meals will be served AUSTRALIA Whoever Royal Roads offers flexible students in their last intake. from communal dishes. Always financially benefits from admission, which is open to WHAT TO EXPECT Students take use the serving chopsticks to the meeting pays the professionals with at least four courses at once, spending 10 years of relevant working take food from the main dish, bill. nine hours per course per week, experience. plus another 15 to 20 hours for never your own. Dinner is not the GERMANY The host course and team work. time for talking shop, so don’t will pay, but he or Simon Fraser University be surprised if your counterpart she might do so with Beedie School of Business ONLINE invites you to a tea shop, massage cash—plastic isn’t Vancouver parlour or even a karaoke bar to universally accepted in $40,500 | 50 (full-time), Athabasca University discuss business. all businesses. 50 (part-time), 40 $27,267+ | 205 (management of technology CHILE Don’t touch your food with HONG KONG Paying | 9 years | 45-55 your hands—always use a fork MBA) | 19+ months the bill is considered an | 50-50 FT, 60-40 PT, and knife, even for French fries. GO HERE IF you want flexibility. honour and is usually 70-30 MOT | 5 years FT, Athabasca’s 24-hour online ITALY Mid-range restaurants don’t reserved for the person 12 years PT, 11 years MOT program has been around since always have side plates for bread, who invited everyone. | 16 months FT, 24 months 1994 and allows students to so it’s fine to put it directly on the Never offer to split the PT and MOT | 96% set their study hours, with table. Remember that bread is for bill. If you’re the host, GO HERE IF you want a one mandatory in-residence eating with your meal, to sop up let your server know personalized experience. course that can be completed any delicious sauce your pasta when you’re ready for Beedie’s programs follow a at sites across Canada or missed. the cheque—otherwise, cohort model, where small internationally. he or she won’t bring it. classes move through the GOODBYE, GMAT Solid KOREA Never pour your own drink. entire program together, taking management experience is a Instead, pour for your colleagues, INDIA At restaurants, the same courses, working in key criteria for admissions—no and they will do the same for you. the host usually pays. teams and developing close GMAT scores required. However, you might be networks that last. SPAIN Always accept a colleague’s ACCELERATED PROGRAM CPAs asked to a colleague’s invitation to a meal (even before and SCMPs can earn transfer home for lunch or Thompson Rivers or after your meeting). Food is an credits, and if you’ve done a dinner instead. When University important part of Spanish culture. business undergrad in the past the meal is done, don’t Kamloops and online decade (with a GPA of 3.0 or THAILAND Don’t ask for say “thank you,” which $22,302 | 134 (full-time), higher), you could qualify for an chopsticks if you’re eating a dish is considered insincere. 57 (part-time) | 51-49 accelerated program. | n/a | n/a with rice on a plate—just use the Instead, tell your host SCORE! Not only was Athabasca fork and spoon that are provided. GO HERE IF you want maximum the first online EMBA in the how much you enjoyed flexibility. TRU’s cutomizable Thai people think Westerners are world, but it’s the only one the meal. MBA is designed to meet strangely fixated on chopsticks. to offer a major in hockey KOREA When a higher- the needs of students from management. U.K. When out for drinks with ranking colleague all academic backgrounds. British counterparts, buy a round insists on paying Students can complete the University of Fredericton of drinks for each person at your the bill, let it happen program on campus or online, Sandermoen School of table. Everyone at the table will (although it’s polite to at part-time or full-time. Business take a turn. least attempt to pay). $29,500 | 178 | 16 years Trinity Western University | 56-44 | 30 months MEXICO Be polite Langley and Richmond; GO HERE IF you want maximum and offer, but Mexican and Tianjin, Shanghai flexibility and choice: Students NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE business people likely and Beijing can choose from six start dates embrace the local cuisine. won’t let you cover a $36,225 | 162 (B.C.), 120 Horse meat, for instance, per year, and the program is meal. (China) | 58-42 | n/a 100% online. might not be common | 14-22 months in Canada, The global UAE The host always GO HERE IF you’re seeking the PACK YOUR BAGS but it is in capstone program features pays, and it would be only Christian MBA program in countries like rude to even offer to a nine-day session in an Uzbekistan, Canada. The program offers international location. Kazakhstan and cover the meal as a three specializations: SPECIALIZATIONS Sandermoen’s Turkmenistan. guest. management of the growing program features eight enterprise, non-profit and specialty areas, including charitable organization social enterprise, health TIP management, and and safety, and real estate If you’re unsure about international business. leadership. This year, it’s the gratuity, it’s safer to launching a specialization in just leave a tip. But not University of British sales management, focusing on Columbia in high-end Japanese consultative selling, leadership Sauder School of Business strategy and sales-force design. restaurants, where it Vancouver would be an insult.

SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 39 TUITION | STUDENTS ACCEPTED | MALE-FEMALE RATIO | AVERAGE EXPERIENCE | DURATION | EMPLOYMENT AFTER GRADUATION

change-makers committed to $32,462 | 110 (full-time); MANITOBA Carleton University MBA making a long-lasting impact. 53 (evening part-time) Sprott School of Business | 65-35 FT, 72-28 PT, 55-45 University of Manitoba Ottawa $49,419 | 97 | 58-42 ALBERTA (accelerated) Asper School of Business $31,118 | 57 | 63-37 (full-time) | 6 years | 16 | 7 years | 20 months Winnipeg | 3.9 years | 16 months months | 81% University of Alberta GO HERE IF you’re looking $34,000 | 59 | 94% within 12 months GO HERE IF you want to go Alberta School of Business to specialize. Haskayne | 77-23 | 5 years GO HERE IF you want to make global. Students gain inter- Edmonton offers six unique specialized | 12-24 months (full-time), a difference in a changing national consulting experience $28,438 | 60 (full-time), degrees: entrepreneurship up to 72 months (part-time) world. Students benefit from via the mandatory Global 60 (part-time) | 61-39 FT, and innovation; finance; global | 83% after 3 months a world-class, collaborative Immersion Experience. 62-38 PT | 4.5 years | 20 energy management and GO HERE IF you want a learning environment built months FT, 44 months PT sustainable development; customized MBA. Students can on case studies, interactive University of Northern | 84% within 3 months marketing; project tailor their electives to their simulation and real-time, client- British Columbia GO HERE IF you want individual management; and real estate specific interests, selecting based projects. Internships are Vancouver and Prince George support from career coaches, studies. from specialty areas with high available. $6,850 tuition | 70 | 53- along with first-hand learning market demand. 47 | 10 years | 21 months opportunities, and experience SASKATCHEWAN Lakehead University GO HERE IF you need to work with outside organizations and ONTARIO Thunder Bay while you learn—with two partners. University of $18,557-$23,505 | 60 locations, you have plenty Saskatchewan Brock University | 41-59 | 3 years of flexibility. The program University of Alberta Edwards School of Business Goodman School of Business | 12-16 months allows you to specialize in an Fort McMurray Saskatoon St. Catharines GO HERE IF you want a general industry and business area $45,000 | 25 students $30,306 | 50 | 56-44 $12,070 | 101 (full-time), MBA to prepare for a wide that solves a real-world | 68-32 | 4.5 years | 6 years | 12-36 months 21 (part-time) | n/a range of management roles. business problem. | 36 months | 92.9% | 2.75 years The student-centred program | 84% within 3 months GO HERE IF you want a | 1-2 years FT, 4 years PT helps students develop University of Victoria GO HERE IF you’re looking for transformational experience. | 90% or higher analytical, decision-making and Peter B. Gustavson School of a global experience anchored The Edwards MBA provides GO HERE IF you want to communication skills, as well Business in Alberta. With half of the students with the people customize your MBA to as ethical considerations. $34,787 | 45 (full-time), class hailing from abroad and skills of management, such meet your career goals. 25 (part-time) | 70-30 faculty from around the world, as how to manage, how to What’s new this year: Laurentian University | 5.3 years | 16 months FT, Alberta MBA classes have an communicate effectively international double-degree Sudbury and online 24 months PT international perspective. and how to lead. Students opportunities where students $13,000 | 20 | 45-55 | 89% within 3 months participate in a one-week can complete an MBA with | 13 years | 11+ months GO HERE IF you care about University of Calgary intensive management- Goodman and a second | 90% within 6 months the planet. The UVic MBA in Haskayne School of Business skills retreat in northern master’s degree at an GO HERE IF you’re looking sustainable innovation is for Calgary Saskatchewan. international partner school. for flexibility. Students can Complete CANADA’S #1 MBA* in 1 Year

The newly redesigned McGill Desautels MBA program allows for the ultimate flexibility in program length, now available in 12, 16 and 20 month options. Addressing issues of sustainability in the core, our new program provides a global perspective which will help shape your future.

CASE STUDIES

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

REAL BUSINESS PROJECTS

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*2018 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education Ranking

mcgill.ca/mba E T I Q S U S E E T T N I E

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U University of Guelph B MBA Guelph and online $40,607 | 45 | n/a complete their MBA online, | 10 years | 24 months on-campus or a combination GO HERE IF you’re a mid-career of the two, building on a core professional who wants to business foundation. specialize in hospitality and tourism, food and agribusiness, /By Nathan Vander Klippe, McMaster University or sustainable commerce. The Globe’s Asia correspondent, based in Beijing DeGroote School of Business Burlington University of Ottawa $18,500-$41,500 | 250 | Telfer School of Management PERFECT THE BUSINESS CARD TWO-STEP Give and receive cards 2.5 years (full-time), Ottawa face up, with both hands. It’s a mark of respect. Once received, 8 years (part-time) | 56-44 $65,000 | 25-30 place cards in a visible place—a spot that has the added bonus of | 8-36 months | 97% | 65-35 | 15 years being glanceable if you find yourself searching for names. GO HERE IF you want choice. | 12-24 months DeGroote offers four programs, GO HERE IF you aspire to KNOW YOUR PLACE Most formal occasions will involve meeting including a new blended- lead. Telfer’s MBA equips in a U-shaped or circular format. The most important guests will learning part-time MBA and professionals with the take their place next to each other, with others seated in descend- the MBA with Co-op. With over competencies essential for ing rank from there. Take your cues 200 employer partnerships and high-performing managers to from those seating you—and don’t de- 8,000 alumni globally, students deliver in the infrastructure, cline an important seat if it’s offered. can build and strengthen their IT, health, defence, financial network throughout their and business transformation In a less formal setting, offer—per- career. sectors—all in a G7 capital with haps even tussle—to pay the bill, a world-class tech hub. but always let the host pay. Queen’s University Smith School of Business University of Toronto EAT LIKE A LOCAL Eating is one Kingston Rotman School of of the singular highlights of $83,000 | 80 | 63-37 Management commerce in a place that re- | 4.2 years | 12 months Toronto veres food. Beyond the simple | 97% within 3 months $92,500 | 300 | 64-36 necessities—use chopsticks, don’t hassle for silverware—culti- GO HERE IF you like working as | 4.6 years | 20 months vate a taste for new flavours. Let your hosts order, since menus part of a team, with members | 85% within 3 months can be long, and the least familiar dishes have a habit of being scattered across numerous GO HERE IF you’re committed the tastiest. At tables with a lazy Susan, take small portions when countries and time zones. The to personal development. Smith MBA offers valuable Apart from hard analytic skills, they arrive in front of you. Follow your senior-most host’s lead leadership skills through its students develop empathy, on when to begin eating. And don’t be afraid to slurp the noodles. team-based model, project- self-awareness and the ability BELLY UP TO BAIJIU While wine is far from a foreign based courses and problem- to motivate others into action based learning. through initiatives such as the If your phone concept in China today, many formal dinners still Self-Development Lab and starts ringing include baijiu—and sometimes, depending on the Royal Military College of Leadership Development Lab. during a meeting host, in large quantities. The clear liquor may be an Canada in China, pick up. acquired taste, but a good baijiu (pronounced BY- University of Windsor It’s actually more Online $12,770 | 48 | 77-23 joe) is every bit as smooth as a good whisky, and polite to answer Odette School of Business | 5-10 years | 12 months Windsor it rewards those willing to raise a glass with their a call and have (full-time), 2-5 years (part- $25,000 | 50 (full-time), hosts. To prepare for a baijiu-fuelled banquet, settle a conversation time) | 99% 25 (part-time) | 44-56 on some bon mots or even a song as a reciprocal than to ignore it. GO HERE IF you want a program | 2-5 years | 14 months toast—such tributes will typically be lengthier and in a variety of subject areas | 95% more flowery than a simple “cheers.” Flattery is a combining military, government GO HERE IF you want to work universal language, and a bit of baijiu stamina never and commercial viewpoints. beside leaders from corporate hurt as a show of business bravura. Faculty members are industry partners like Maple Leaf leaders and experts in their Sports and Entertainment, FIND COMMON GROUND Did your second cousin field, with both professional Avis and Crayola. Odette twice removed study in Shanghai? Did you recently experience and academic integrates real-world projects watch The Wandering Earth? There is a rich his- achievement. and personalized instruction tory of foreigners calling on tenuous connections through its Advanced Program in China (Canada’s Conservatives never shied away Ryerson University for Experiential Consulting from name-dropping Norman Bethune, an ideologi- Ted Rogers School of program. Students with no cal communist who happened to be a Canadian in Management business background are Toronto welcome. Mao’s good books). There’s good reason to do so: The Pacific is $22,328 | 65 (full-time), vast, and bridges bring people together. 65 (part-time) | 66-34 Western University COMMIT TO THE LONG-TERM In China, where courts are unreli- | 5 years | 12 months FT, Ivey Business School 24 months PT | 90% within London able, relationships, not contracts, tend to be the glue that binds. 6 months $83,250 | 154 | 67-33 Keep expectations modest for an initial meeting. Return trips GO HERE IF you like smaller | 5 years | 12 months show commitment and respect. class sizes to support more | 96% within 6 months meaningful collaboration with GO HERE IF you want an POLITICS AND PROFIT AREN’T FAR APART Chinese leaders like to peers, faculty and business intense curriculum to reach vaunt their support for private industry, and state-owned enter- experts. Executive coaches your career goals fast. Ivey’s prises make up only a small segment of the commercial sphere. provide customized career case-based experience But in China, everything is political, and the line between private counselling. The program keeps immerses students in an and public less distinct. Make a point of meeting, and returning to up with emerging trends and action-oriented learning see, local functionaries. But with business counterparts, politics evolving marketplace demands environment, with real-world is a minefield you’re not likely to navigate successfully. through electives such as cases and business issues. It’s sports media and social media a powerful learning approach analytics. with a global perspective.

42 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS continued on page 43 continued from page 42

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SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 43 there’s an almost identical tenant mix. So I had to go into a Last Word niche market. That’s why I called Aberdeen an Asian mall. Thomas Fung - Twenty-five years ago, when I started the media business, there were a lot of immigrants coming from Hong Kong. And Developer. Retailer. Media mogul. Founder and CEO a lot of them were not mingling with mainstream society, of Vancouver-based Fairchild Group. Philanthropist and I think that can be a problem. I said, “Well, maybe media can help them understand local traditions.”

- My father was a refugee from mainland China. He swam - I’m quite neutral in terms of religion and politics. And I across a river to get to Hong Kong. He later found work as quite believe in the Canadian system of the CRTC, of balance a bullion and currency trader, and his office had maybe 20 of opinion. Doesn’t matter whether I like it or not—I will people in it. After work, every one of those guys put their welcome the left side or the right side. chairs up on the desks, and then my father, my mother and his fellow workers would open folding beds and sleep in the - In preparation for opening our Saint Germain bakery, I took office. There wasn’t enough room for me and my brother, so a summer baking course with my manager. I don’t bake, we slept under the stairwell. but at least I can talk to the bakers and managers, and I understand what they say. - When my father started his own stock brokerage, it started to grow fast. He said the reason for that was because he was - I love the creativity side of making films more than the fair to all his partners, his customers and his family. business side. And I like to work with a team—no matter what business, the team spirit is a crucial part of the success - I came to Vancouver 50 years ago, when my brother and I formula. were in high school. We were bullied by some of the boys, because they didn’t understand us, and we didn’t understand - Prices in Vancouver have been inflated, and that’s why I them. So, my mission has been to help bridge that gap. didn’t go into real estate for the past 10 years. But now, with taxes and so on, they’ve cut down on a lot of speculation. - In the ’70s, when I graduated from NYU, where I studied Plus, China and Canada are not in the best relationship. So, film and commerce, I went back to Hong Kong to work for the coming year will be a good time to go into the market. my father. At the time, we were the largest stock brokerage in Asia. I saw the speculators. They would go into stocks, - The world is a lot more dangerous now in terms of the bonds, commodity trading, and they’d make a million dollars Americans, how they deal with trade, how they deal with O LIA overnight. And they would spend like kings. Then, all of a different countries. And even in Hong Kong, between the sudden, they’d lose their shirts. So, I said to my wife, I won’t local people and the mainland Chinese—they have different let that happen, at least to me. philosophies, and they can’t compromise. We have to stay GUOMAN

calm and to try to be reasonable. /Interview by Alex Mlynek APH - When I started our first shopping mall, the Aberdeen GR TO Centre, we could not compete with mainstream malls, where This interview has been edited and condensed. Read more at tgam.ca/r PHO

44 SEPTEMBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

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