Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for London

Sir Adam Beck was born in 1857 in Baden, Ontario to German immigrants Jacob Beck and Charlotte Hespler. A true visionary and leader, Beck was instrumental in bringing hydro-electricity to the people of Ontario. He became a wealthy and influential civic business leader, as well as a respected politician.

Working as a teenager in his father’s foundry, Adam later established a cigar-box manufacturing company with his brother William. He moved the company from Galt (now Cambridge, Ontario) to London, Ontario in 1885, where it soon flourished.

Beck was elected mayor of London in 1902, and a few months later was also elected to the Ontario legislature as the Conservative member from the London riding. He was re-elected mayor in 1903 and 1904 while simultaneously serving as a member of the provincial legislature (which is no longer permitted). Already a wealthy man, Beck donated his salary to charity while serving as mayor.

In 1903, Mr. Beck joined a 21-member committee that would form and operate Ontario Hydro. Two years later, he became the unofficial Minister of Power, chairing a board of enquiry on the matter of private vs. public electricity grids. An early advocate of publicly owned electricity grids, Beck opposed the privately owned companies he felt did not serve the needs of the public adequately, and put forth the slogan, “dona naturae pro populo sunt” (Latin for “the gifts of nature are for the public”).

In 1906, the legislature passed a bill introduced by Beck, officially creating the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, the first publicly-owned utility in the world. Beck was promptly elected as Chairman, and went on to oversee the first production of hydroelectricity in the province of Ontario. On October 11, 1910, Beck held the first ceremonial “switch-on” in Berlin (now Kitchener). Pressing a switch, Beck stood back as a street sign that announced “For the People” lit up and the town cheered.

Donating admirably to a number of causes, Beck was particularly supportive of the medical community. In 1900, he founded the London Health Association, which would later develop into the University and Victoria Hospitals. Having married his wife Lilian in 1898, their daughter Marion was diagnosed at a young age with tuberculosis. Her condition prompted him to found the Queen Alexandra Sanitorium in 1910, a medical facility for long-term illness that was quite advanced for its time.

In 1914 he was knighted by the King of England, earning him the nickname “The Power Knight.” While he passed away in 1925, we can remember and be thankful for Sir Adam Beck’s legacy every time we flick a switch.

Gerald Heffernan is a world leader in the development and successful adaptation of new technologies to the steel manufacturing industry. Trained as a metallurgical engineer at the University of Toronto, Heffernan pioneered the efficient self-contained steel production facilities known as a “mini-mills,” which now account for 200 million tons of the world’s 700 million ton steel output.

In the spirit of true engineering entrepreneurship, Gerald Heffernan has used his technological expertise to establish six steel mills based on advanced electric arc furnaces and continuous casting technology. He also built an industry-leading Canadian steel-making company, Co-Steel, which has employed more than three thousand people in three countries.

Throughout his career, Heffernan has placed both his business and scientific talents at the disposal of his country.  He served as a Director of the Business Council on National Issues, a Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, a member of the Ontario government Committee on Government Productivity, and a member of the federal government’s Neilson Commission.

Heffernan has served as Chairman of Texas Industries, Inc., as an active Director and Shareholder of Clairvest Group, NRI Industries, and Cesaroni Technology, as Vice-Chairman of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and as President of G.R. Heffernan & Associates Ltd.

Gerald Heffernan holds several awards and designations, including the AIME Benjamin E. Fairless Award for leadership in new design and steel-making techniques, the APEO Gold Medal, Officer of the Order of Canada, and the U.K.’s Institute of Metals Bessemer Gold Medal for technological innovation in the steel industry. He belongs to the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame, and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1987. He is recognized as a highly skilled engineer and scientist.

Pierre Péladeau is a graduate of the Université de Montréal, and is best known as the founder of Canadian media company Quebecor Inc. Péladeauu bought his first newspaper, Le Journal de Rosemont, in 1950 with $1,500 borrowed from his mother. Three years later he acquired his first printing press. In 1964, Péladeau launched le Journal de Montréal, which became the highest circulation French daily in North America. Two years later he launched le Journal de Quebec, and in 1985 he amalgamated his various businesses under the name Quebecor.

In 1987, Quebecor secured Donohue Inc., one of Quebec’s largest pulp and paper companies. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Quebecor multiplied its acquisitions in the printing industry. With the acquisition of World Color Press in 1999, Quebecor became the world’s premier commercial printer.

Through its subsidiary, Communications Quebecor Inc., the company publishes, distributes and retails books, magazines and recorded music. With the acquisition of the TQS network in 1997, Quebecor became active in broadcasting and new-media as well.

Over the years, Quebecor acquired or established a number of weekly news publications and distributors. In 1999, the purchase of Sun Media Corporation made Quebecor the second largest newspaper group in Canada. The company’s revenue exceeded 11 billion dollars, and Quebecor employed over 60,000 employees worldwide.

In addition to his thriving company, Péladeau remained a proud supporter of the arts. He was a founder of the Pavillon des Arts in Sainte-Ade¨le, and Chairman of the Montréal Metropolitan Orchestra.  He donated one million dollars to the Université du Québec é  Montréal’s efforts to build the Centre Pierre-Péladeau, dedicated to music and performing arts.

Pierre Péladeau also chaired and/or directed a number of organizations for the rehabilitation of alcoholics, including Pavillon Pierre Péladeau, La Maisonnee de Laval and l’Auberge du Nouveau Chemin. He was active with the Centre Immaculée-Conception, the Magnetothèque (as an honorary chairman), as well as many other worthy causes. In 1996, Péladeau made a one million dollar donation to the victims of the disastrous Saguenay-Lac St-Jean floods. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987, and an Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 1989.

Purdy Crawford is a native of Five Islands, Nova Scotia and the former non-executive Chairman of Imasco Limited, C.T. Financial Services Inc., and Canada Trustco Mortgage Company. A graduate of Mount Allison University, Dalhousie Law School and Harvard Law School, Crawford is currently Counsel at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, practicing primarily in the corporate/commercial area. He also continues to serve as the non-executive Chairman of AT&T Canada.

Crawford joined Imasco Limited in 1985, and in 1987 was named Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. He retired as Chief Executive Officer in 1995, but continued serving as non-executive Chairman until the sale of Imasco in February 2000.

In both Canada and the United States, Purdy Crawford has sat on the boards of several large public companies. He was Chancellor of Mount Allison University, where the Purdy Crawford Teaching Centre was named in his honour. In addition, Crawford is well known as an active fundraiser for several charities, especially for Centraide’s 1,2,3 GO! project for early childhood development.

Crawford’s contributions have been recognized by a number of organizations. In 1995 he was awarded the United Way Canada Volunteerism Award for outstanding contributions to Canadian society. He received the Friend of Education Award from the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education in 1996. That same year he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was later promoted to a Companion of the Order in 2007. In 1997 he was inducted into Junior Achievement’s Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame, and was honoured with a Fellowship in the Institute of Corporate Directors in 1999.

Purdy Crawford is known for his integrity and commitment to worthy causes. He continues to be an active and valuable member of his community.

On August 12, 2014 the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and Junior Achievement of Canada bid farewell to Mr. Crawford. He was a dear friend incredible supporter and ambassabor of Junior Achievement of Canada. His long history with the organization includes founding the Junior Achievement of Canada Foundation as one of three original directors and serving on its board for almost ten years.

Conrad M. Black was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1944, to a wealthy family originally from Winnipeg. For a time, Black was the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. As Chairman and CEO of Hollinger Inc. and Hollinger International Inc., he controlled more than 400 newspapers with a combined circulation of over 13 million.

Black bought his first newspaper, the Eastern Townships Advertiser, in 1966 when he was still a student. With friends David Radler and Peter G. White, Black formed Sterling Newspapers Limited in 1971, a holding company that went on to acquire a number of small Canadian regional newspapers. In 1978, Black acquired control of Argus Corporation and restructured the company, consolidating its assets into Hollinger Inc. After several years of international expansion, the takeover of Southam newspapers and the purchase of the Financial Post, Black launched Canada’s National Post in 1998.

In addition to his involvement with the Hollinger Inc., Conrad Black has acted as director of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Edperbrascan Limited, and Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. He has been a member of the Chairman’s Council of the Americas Society, the Trilateral Commission, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Steering Committee, Bilderberg Meetings. He was also once a Patron of the Malcolm Muggeridge Foundation.

As Chairman and Founder of The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc, Jean Coutu controls one of Canada’s largest and most powerful pharmaceutical retail chains.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1927, Coutu studied medicine and then pharmacy at the University of Montreal. After graduating, Coutu worked for a cousin who had his own pharmacy and by 1959 the two were partners in three pharmacies.

In 1960, Coutu sold his interest to his cousin and used the proceeds to open his own store. Always sensitive to new trends, Coutu capitalized on the changing perception of drug pricing to open Quebec’s first discount pharmacy. By the end of the 1970’s Coutu’s concept of a discount drug store had become the norm in Quebec.

In 1969, Coutu capitalized on the growing popularity of his stores to start one of Quebec’s first pharmacy franchise operations. Since then his company has grown to become a leader in several regional markets including: Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and the North Eastern United States.

In addition to his involvement with The Jean Coutu Group, Mr. Coutu is the Founder of the Marcelle & Jean Coutu Foundation. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and was named to the Order National du Québec in January 1993. He has also received numerous awards for public service and business excellence.

A spirited entrepreneur and humanitarian, Mr. Coutu’s mantra is, “Take care of the details and the rest will follow.”

Ronald V. Joyce. As Senior Chairman and Co-Founder of The TDL Group Ltd., Ron Joyce operated Canada’s largest coffee and fresh baked goods chain – Tim Hortons. Mr. Joyce is also Chairman and Founder of the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation and became the single largest shareholder in Wendy’s International, Inc.

Joyce was born in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, in 1930. After five years of service in the Canadian Navy, he moved to Hamilton, Ontario, where he joined that city’s police force in 1956. In the early 1960’s, Joyce bought into a local Dairy Queen and soon fell in love with the quick serve restaurant business. From there, his entrepreneurial spirit began to take over.

Ron Joyce and NHL hockey legend Tim Horton co-founded The TDL Group, which opened its first store in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964. Following Tim Horton’s death in February of 1974, Mr. Joyce purchased all shares of the company and became the sole owner of the chain, which at that time had 40 stores. By 1999, Tim Hortons had grown to approximately 1,800 stores, with locations throughout Canada and the United States.

With the view in mind of assuring an orderly succession of the Tim Hortons chain, in the mid 1990’s Joyce sought a merger with Dublin, Ohio’s Wendy’s International, Inc. When the deal was officially signed on December 29, 1995, Joyce became the largest single shareholder in the Wendy’s organization. He was elected to the Wendy’s International Board of Directors at its annual meeting in March 1996, and subsequently became Senior Chairman of the Tim Hortons chain.

In addition to his involvement in the TDL Group, Mr. Joyce established the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation in 1975, and the Ron Joyce Foundation in 1998.

Mr. Joyce was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1992 and has received numerous awards for both his commitment to public service, and his business excellence.

Theodore P. Loblaw has been described as “a merchant prince, a prominent and revered citizen, and a philanthropist”. He was the founder of Loblaw Groceterias Ltd., the precursor to the Loblaws grocery chain.

Born on a farm in southern Ontario in 1872, Theodore was orphaned at the age of 15 and raised by his grandfather. By age 17, he had moved to Toronto, where he worked for three dollars per week as a grocery clerk, where he discovered his love of the grocery business, and met his future partner, J. Milton Cork.

By 1910, Loblaw had acquired enough money and experience to open his own grocery business, and by the end of the decade had established a chain of 19 stores in Toronto and Southern Ontario. However, he still sought out greater challenges.

In 1919 Loblaw sold off his original chain, and in that same year established Loblaw Grocetrias Ltd., in partnership with Cork. With this venture, Loblaw pioneered the concept of self-serve grocery merchandising in Canada.

Then in 1924 he incorporated an American company in New York State under the name of Loblaw Groceterias Inc., which he expanded into the Chicago market four years later.

At the time of his death in 1933, Loblaw headed companies operating 107 supermarkets in Ontario, and 90 in the United States.

Loblaw was also instrumental in the establishment of the Toronto Western Hospital, as well as the Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston, Ontario (as a tribute to the grandparents who raised him).

In his later years, Loblaw devoted substantial amounts of his time and financial resources to charity.  In particular, he never forgot his own experience as an underprivileged youngster, and left a large portion of his estate to the Kiwanis Club of Toronto to help in its efforts to provide young people with a better start to life.

Colonel John Bayne Maclean, was the founder, president and chairman of the Maclean-Hunter Publishing Corporation. Born in Guelph, Ontario, he attended Queen’s University and got his start as a $7.00 a week cub reporter for the Toronto Mail. He received a promotion from reporter to editor when he was 25 years old.

Throughout this time, he invested his savings in the stock market and was soon able to publish his own magazine, The Canadian Grocer. He built his business slowly by re-investing the profits in publications, machinery and buildings. He started the Canadian Press clipping service in 1902, published the first issue of Macleans Magazine in 1905, and the first issue of the Financial Post in 1907. By 1927, Maclean had set up a commercial printing department and entered the US marketplace.

Through the Great Depression, Maclean was able to claim that he had not had to lay off anyone. At his death in 1950, his company was helping to define Canada’s vision of itself through the 34 different periodical titles it published and through the writers and editors who contributed to it.

George A. Cohon is Founder of McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited and Founder of McDonald’s in Russia. In addition, Mr. Cohon is the Founder of Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities here in Canada and in Russia.

He graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1961, and in 1967 as the licensee of McDonald’s Corporation for most of Eastern Canada, he immigrated to Toronto with his wife and two sons. He was responsible for the rapid expansion of McDonald’s Canadian operations and in 1971, after McDonald’s Corporation reacquired his license, Mr. Cohon became Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited – positions he held until July 1992.

In 1976, Mr. Cohon embarked on a 14 year long odyssey to bring McDonald’s to what was then the Soviet Union. This difficult process finally culminated in the opening of the first McDonald’s in Moscow in 1990. Today, Mr. Cohon continues to actively support the Russian operations.

Mr. Cohon is actively involved in a variety of charities, and has received numerous awards for public service. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992. He has received the Order of Ontario for his charitable endeavors. He was awarded Russia’s Order of Friendship (one of Russia’s highest public service award) from Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He has received the Israel Prime Minister’s Medal (Israel’s highest public service award).

Mr. Cohon’s autobiography, To Russia With Fries, was published in 1997. All royalties from the sale of the book are being donated to Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities of Canada – which he founded in 1982.

Isadore Sharp, Q.C. founder, chairman and chief executive officer is the driving force behind Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts’ international success.

The Canadian businessman and entrepreneur began with one property in 1961 and developed the company into the world’s leading operator of luxury resorts and hotels. Sharp received the Ruth Harman Frankel Humanitarian Award for his work on behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society. He initiated the corporate sponsorship program to support the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope, and founded the annual Terry Fox Run which has raised over $200 million to date for cancer research worldwide.

In 1992, he was selected CEO of the Year by the Financial Post Magazine and appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in the following year. Sharp and his wife, Rosalie Wise who is an accomplished interior designer, live in Toronto.