J. William Billes and Alfred J. Billes built the automotive supply company, Canadian Tire Corporation. The brothers introduced dealer-owned and operated stores, employees’ profit sharing and Canadian Tire money. Together, they revolutionized the car tire and auto parts business.

Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Alfred and William began their working partnership with the sharing of a paper route. William studied accounting before taking a job as sales manager at the Hamilton Street Tire and Garage Company in east-end Toronto.

After the death of their father, the boys experienced some very difficult times. Their luck changed in 1922, when the brothers pooled their resources to buy Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd. Their merchandise included tires, auto parts and an assortment of hardware items. With relocation to new premises at Yonge and Davenport came the mail order business of direct sales to the customer.

In 1927 the company was incorporated as Canadian Tire Corporation Limited. Setting their sights high, the brothers published the first Canadian Tire catalogue the following year. Eighty years later, the Canadian Tire catalogue is published annually in both French and English, and is distributed to almost 9 million households.

Canadian Tire flourished during the Depression, since car owners were more likely to repair than replace their vehicles during this time. Distribution and merchandising became priorities when dealer-owned stores opened in 1934.

Sadly, William died unexpectedly in 1956, and his brother Alfred took over as President. The company only continued to grow over the next fifty years, and as of 2008 it is said that nine out of ten adult Canadians shop at Canadian Tire at least twice a year. In addition, a Canadian Tire store is within a 15-minute drive of 85% of the Canadian population. The company’s success remains a tribute to William and Alfred’s innovation and spirit.

When asked about their success, William’s brother Alfred remarked, “We started young and worked hard. You can accomplish a lot when you work hard.”

Founder, J.M. Schneider Inc.

John M. Schneider, built J.M. Schneider Inc. into one of Canada’s leading food processors.

Born in 1859, young John helped his German immigrant father clear and cultivate their farm near Berlin, Ontario, now called Kitchener. He attended school only when farm chores permitted.

John was a salaried employee at a button factory until an injury forced him to stay home. While recuperating, the 27-year old married man decided to help out with family finances by selling sausages door to door. Made from his German mother’s country style recipe, the sausages were an instant success.

Within three years J.M. was involved full time in a meat business which had rapidly expanded from his home into a nearby factory. In 1895, several new products were offered when Schneider hired a German trained butcher. One product that became a top seller was the Wiener, made famous as the “Hot Dog” at the St. Louis Worlds’ Fair in 1904. Insistent on a product made from only the best quality meat resulted in the Schneider advertising slogan, Famous for Quality.

In 1912, a reorganization shifted the business from J.M. to his sons. New products and the quality commitment continued to expand the company into one of Canada’s leading national food processors. In 1990, J.M. Schneider Inc. celebrated its centennial.

J.M. was highly respected by his employees and within his community. He was devoted to family and church and remained a modest man despite his success.

R. Howard Webster, a master craftsman of commerce and Chairman of his family owned Imperial Trust Company.

Reginald Howard Webster was born in Quebec, the son of Senator Lorne Webster, patriarch of the family owned Imperial Trust Company. Following graduation from McGill University, Howard was given the task of solving the financial woes of Imperial’s Holt Renfrew. The assignment led Howard to Detroit and Annis Furs, a small company with excellent earnings, but too little capital. He persuaded his father to buy the company and Howard became its manager, commuting for the next 20 years between Detroit and Montreal.

Howard was 45 when he successfully outbid. E.P. Taylor and publishers Roy Thomson and Jack Kent Cooke for the Globe newspaper. For 25 years Howard was a natural at combining the responsibilities of newspaper owner and Chairman of Imperial Trust. In 1979 Thomson chain was successful in their bid for the Globe and, out of respect, Howard continued to serve as honorary Chairman.

Howard augmented Imperial’s base into oil, shipping, mining and lumber. His control and influence guided the company’s investments in real estate, Montreal’s Windsor Arms Hotel, Quebecair and Burns Foods.

An avid environmentalist, Howard funded the Wetlands Research Station in Manitoba. His great interest was sports. He was a cofounder of the Montreal Expos and spearheaded the group that founded the Toronto Blue Jays.

According to a friend and advisor, “Like a champion chess player, Howard could take on a bunch of opponents at the same time.”

Class of 1989 Albert Jean de Grandpré took a sleepy telephone company and built it into an aggressive empire that garners over a billion dollars a year in profits. Jean’s first contact with Bell was in 1964. As a well known lawyer, now in private practice, he represented the company before the Canadian Transport Commission, then Bell’s regulator. In 1966 Executive Vice President, Robert Scrivener offered him a job in the legal department.  Jean said he was interested, but only if he was guaranteed a shot at the “top job.” Scrivener agreed and at age 45, de Grandpré became Bell’s General Legal Counsel. The same year he was made a Vice President. Seven years later, he would hold the “top job.” In 1977, Bell’s international consulting arm won a billion dollar contract to help build a telecommunication system in Saudi Arabia. Consumer groups in Canada argued that the profits should be used to hold down domestic phone rates. Bell counter argued, but the CRTC ruled against Bell. In response, de Grandpré reorganized the company, making the phone business and its associated operations subsidiaries of a newly formed holding company, Bell Canada Enterprises, knows as BCE. For Albert Jean de Grandpré, the formation of BCE represented the highlight of his career. What frustrated him most was dithering. “If I have one quality,” he said, “it is decisiveness. The worst decision is the one that is never taken.”

Jack Cooper took his company, and country, to the forefront of leather goods and protective sports equipment manufacturing.

At the age of 16, Jack joined the T. Eaton Company. It was while working at the Queen Street Store that Jack approached one of Eaton’s suppliers, R.H. Cameron, owner of General Leather Goods.  He and Cameron struck a deal, and Jack ended up with a sales territory that covered the entire country.

By 1946 Jack and co-worker Cecil Weeks made an offer to take over General Leather Goods. They changed the company’s name to Cooper-Weeks Limited. Ten years later, Jack bought his partner out and pushed ahead to improve and expand the company’s line of products.

It was hockey’s growing popularity during the Sixties, however, that took Cooper to the position of the world’s leading supplier of protective equipment. Jack Cooper always took great pride in the fact that his products helped prevent serious injury.

One of Jack Cooper’s few interests outside of work was the military. During World War II, he stood in reserve with the 8^th Army Signal Corps. Today he is Honorary Colonel of the 709 Communications Regiment and an active fundraiser for the cadet movement.

John (Jack) V. Clyne was a Supreme Court Judge, a successful businessman in the forest products industry, and a loyal alumnus of the University of British Columbia.

Born in Vancouver in 1902, Jack spent his summers working as a cowboy, sawmill laborer, deckhand and placer gold miner. As an undergraduate at UBC he played leading roles in the theatre, athletics and student politics. Graduating in 1923, Clyne studied marine law in the U.K. and was admitted to the British Columbia bar at age 25.

In 1947, Clyne was appointed Chairman of the Canadian Maritime Commission and moved to Ottawa, where he oversaw the transition from war time shipping to peace time use. In 1950 he returned to British Columbia, and as a Supreme Court Judge headed Royal Commissions and Inquiries for much of his seven year tenure. He resigned in 1957 at the age of 55 to become Chairman and CEO of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd., Canada’s largest forest products company. In this role, Clyne was a vital player in elevating the financially troubled company, and transforming it into a thriving business.

Jack retired from MacMillan Bloedel in 1973, and went on to dedicate his time to numerous charities and institutions, as well as serving on several corporate boards. Clyne’s record of public service also includes the creation of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, as well as six years served as Chancellor at the University of British Columbia. His many honours included a knighthood in the Order of St. John in 1959 and a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1972.

Describing himself as a “Jack of All Trades,” Clyne thrived on change. “You live more vigorously,” he said, “when you’re not always doing the same thing.”

Sir James H. Dunn, banker, financier and Chairman of Algoma Steel.

James Dunn first visited a struggling Algoma in 1907 at the request of his friend and owner of the company, Francis Clerque. The 33 year old Dunn became a reluctant partner when he assisted his friend by raising funds and buying a few shares. Several years later, Algoma would fall under Dunn’s total control.

Born in New Brunswick, James graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1898. As a young lawyer he established a brokerage firm in Montreal before moving to England. There a partnership in a merchant banking house earned Dunn his first million. The title Baronet was bestowed on James in 1931 after his war service.

In 1935 Clerque defaulted leaving Dunn, at 61, as controlling shareholder of idle furnaces and a bankrupt Algoma. Returning to Canada, Dunn raised capital by negotiating bank loans, selling his beloved art collection and taking stock instead of income. Dunn’s rigorous financial management guided Algoma through a gradual growth that culminated in lucrative production contracts to supply western allies in the war.

Dunn was the ‘ironmaster’ and Algoma, under his stewardship, became one of the most efficient steel producers on the continent. With a vastly improved balance sheet, Dunn diversified Algoma into coal, limestone, and steamship lines.

Sir James generously supported his communities through scholarships and funding of hospitals. In his native New Brunswick, his holdings were turned into a game sanctuary and his estate founded The Canada Council.

Sir Samuel Cunard, pioneer of ocean steam navigation and founder of the Cunard Line.

Born in 1787 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, young Sam worked on his family’s square riggers and dreamed of the day he would cross the ocean by steamer. During his young adulthood, he earned a reputation for honesty and good business sense. His personal fortune was amassed through investments in coal and iron mines and timber tracks.

By the time ocean steamers became viable, Samuel was owner of a fleet of riggers and steamers that traveled between Halifax and Bermuda. In 1830, at age 43, he purchased a part interest in a new steamer, the Royal William. With Samuel aboard, it crossed the Atlantic entirely under steam.

While in England in 1839, Samuel’s successful bid to carry mail to North America by steamship gave birth to the Cunard Line. Through a Scottish shipbuilder, Samuel ordered four ocean steamers. In 1840 the first of these, The Britannia, carried the Royal mail to Halifax under the Cunard flag.

Passenger liners were added to the Cunard Line in 1847. The move positioned Cunard as a world leader in ocean travel. By 1907 millions of immigrants to the new land were arriving on Cunard ships, including the Lusitania and the luxurious Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary.

At 61, Cunard was knighted by Queen Victoria for making Cunard steamers available for allied efforts during the Crimean War. He eventually took up residence in London, but his financial influence remained prominent within Halifax charitable societies.

Stephen B. Roman, mining magnate, financier and founder of Denison Mines Limited and The Roman Corporation.

Stephen Roman was driven by his belief in the freedom of individuals to create their own destiny. He was just 16 and penniless when he arrived in Canada from Eastern Slovakia in 1937. He worked as a farm labourer near Port Perry, Ontario until 1946, when he staked a gold claim northwest of Sudbury, Ontario. A quick sale brought a modest profit which Stephen reinvested in the fields of Alberta and western United States.

In 1954, Stephen returned to mining when he bought a controlling interest in Ontario’s Denison Mines. His determination and focused strategy brought a renewed stability to an unsettled mining community that was experiencing tough economic times. Denison became a major international player with the discovery of the world’s largest single source of uranium at Elliot Lake, Ontario.

A slump in uranium sales in the 1960’s forced Denison to diversify into potash and oil and gas production. While aggressively seeking new contracts at home and abroad, Stephen entered the cement, paper and financial services markets through his newly founded company, The Roman Corporation. His tenacity secured strong consistent performances for his companies, resulting in profits in the billions of dollars.

Numerous corporations and foundations benefited from Stephen’s generous patronage. He was and active supporter of the Slovak community which led to his founding of the Slovak World Congress.

Camille Arthur Dagenais impressed by architecture and construction while he was growing up, decided to attend the University of Montreal’s Polytechnic School. Montreal’s Sun Life Building and the Jacques Cartier Bridge had a decisive influence on his career choice. After graduating in 1946 with a degree in civil engineering, Camille spent four years at Canadian Industries Limited. His next post was with H.J. Doran, an architect firm, where he spent three years as resident engineer on The Pine Tree Line Radar Stations.

In 1967 Camille Dagenais became President of SNC. By the time he became Chairman 10 years later, SNC was involved in the design and management of projects in 42 countries.

In 1973 Camille received his first in a series of honourary degrees including: The University of Toronto, The University of Montreal, Concordia, and The University of Waterloo. In 1981 he became Honourary Member of The Mexican Academy of Engineers and was named International Businessman of the year. He’s also an Honorary Chief of Montreal’s Beaver Club.

Ephraim Diamond was a co-founder of Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited, and served as its Chairman and CEO until 1979. He continued on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee until the company was sold in 1987. Whitecastle Investments, the family holding company, is now under the direction of his son, Carey Diamond.

Born to a poor immigrant family, Diamond graduated from Queen’s University in 1943 with an engineering degree. He entered the Royal Canadian Navy immediately, and spent the next three years serving as a radar officer – despite being chronically seasick. Once he was back on land, Diamond took a job in construction as a project engineer at Principal Investments. He stayed with the company for seven years before venturing out on his own. With two partners, Jack Kamin and Joe Berman, Diamond created Cadillac Contracting and Developments Ltd., the precursor of Cadillac-Fairview.

Diamond achieved lasting success with Cadillac-Fairview, which was once one of the largest real-estate empires in all of North America. His contributions to Canada were honored in 1994, when Diamond was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. In recognition of his life-long humanitarian work he has received the 1980 Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, in addition to the 1979 State of Israel Prime Minister’s Medal for Humanitarian Services.

His activities included membership on the Advisory Board of the University of Toronto Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, the Board of Governors of Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Board of Directors of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. He was also a Member and Honorary Director of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care.

Ephraim Diamond semi-retired in 1989, but continued to remain active in his business and community. He spent much of his new free time with his wife, Shirley, his four sons, and his grandchildren. Diamond passed away in 2008 at the age of 87.