Joseph Vachon revolutionized the pastry making industry by the application of production line techniques and mechanization principles closely observed by him while working for the Ford Motor Company in the early 1920’s. He was an innovative man whose initiative, natural mechanical ability and extra ordinary vision transformed a small bakery founded by his mother in Ste. Marie de Beauce in Quebec into an enterprise which today produces and markets some 600 million individual cakes annually.

Joseph Vachon set the trend in Quebec for corporate compensation packages including health programs. He always acknowledged that his success was due to the talents of his employees.

Founder, Canfor Corporation

L.L.G. “Poldi” Bentley fled Austria with his family in 1938, evading the Nazis but abandoning his business as well as most of his possessions. Arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia with little more than imagination and determination, Poldi set out to make a name for himself in this new country.

Just a few months after settling in Vancouver, Bentley formed Pacific Veneer with his brother-in-law, John G. Prentice, who had also fled Austria. Their small furniture and paneling veneer company grew quickly, expanding into the forest industry and becoming a supplier of plywood for aviation and marine applications during WWII. The company was renamed Canadian Forest Products Ltd. in 1947; the company and its affiliates are known today as Canfor.

From humble beginnings, Canfor grew to become the world’s largest exporter of softwood lumber, employing over 10,000 people with sales of approximately $3 billion. Bentley passed away in 1986; the company remains a monument to his entrepreneurial spirit.

Throughout his career, Poldi Bentley adhered to a basic business philosophy: “If your word is good, you don’t need a contract in business. If your word isn’t good, you shouldn’t be in business.” There were contracts, of course, but honesty and integrity remained Bentley’s trademarks throughout more than four decades of Canadian business history.

Grant McConachie learned to fly in a Gypsy Moth in 1927, thus launching a life long association with flying. His early air freight companies led to the formation of Yukon Southern Air Transport.

He dreamed of polar routes to the Orient as early as 1940. When CPR acquired Yukon Southern in 1942, McConachie joined its air services division and was appointed President of CPA in 1947. Routes across the Pacific were inaugurated and his vision of polar routes to the Orient and Europe was realized.

Grant McConachie once stated, “We must not be satisfied merely to recognize the superiority of our free enterprise system. We must renew our dedication to it as a positive and dynamic faith.”

James Armstrong Richardson was born into the grain business established in 1857 by his grandfather. He brought his enthusiasm, foresight and organizational ability to a well planned diversification of interest such as his far sighted move into the field of investment securities in 1926.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s he pioneered in commercial aviation and radio. Even so, his first, best and last love was wheat. Farmers in Western Canada and millers throughout the world benefited from the force of his work and personality.

Jean-Louis Lévesque began to carve out a reputation as a first rate bond salesman throughout Quebec early in his career thus nourishing the entrepreneurial spirit that was to become his hallmark. He became immersed in the world of stocks and bonds by 1935 and with his remarkable perceptions, he subsequently formed an intricate network of diversified companies with dissimilar interests, such as life and general insurance, a department store, an exhibition and mall complex, race tracks and others. In 1963, his investment firm, Crédit Interprovincial Inc. Acquired L.G. Beaubien and Company and became Lévesque, Beaubien Inc. Jean-Louis never cherished the limelight but his loyalty to his people and his love for his country are well known.

Right Hon. John Molson became the sole owner of Montreal brewery in 1786. He was a vital force in the development of steamboat transportation in North America having launched the “Accommodation” in 1807. His “Swiftsure,” launched in 1812, was the first steamboat in the world used for military purposes.

Although Molson was a compelling force in many elements of the commercial and industrial community of Montreal, the brewery was the focal enterprise which had originally financed his other ventures. John Molson was a discerning and energetic businessman who combined an imaginative boldness with an unyielding adherence to conservative business practices. First and foremost he was a brewer.

Muriel Sprague Richardson became the fifth President of James Richardson & Sons Limited in 1939. During the 27 years of her leadership, real estate, pipeline construction, and other enterprises were added to the company and its grain and financial interests were expanded across Canada.

Mrs. Richardson was among the earliest business leaders in Canada to demonstrate concern for company personnel by introducing a pension plan, group life insurance and other benefits.

Her unobtrusive generosity was extended to a wide range of artistic, educational, charitable and public service organizations, many of which also benefited from her practical wisdom and good judgment.

Lord Thomson of Fleet

Roy Herbert Thomson once said, “Everyone wants to make money but not enough people want it badly enough to work for it.” His gospel was hard work. He purchased the Timmins press in 1934, acquired four more Ontario newspapers by 1944 and ultimately became a publisher on the world scene with newspaper purchases in the United States, Britain, Canada and elsewhere. Service to its community was a principal requirement of his publications.

By 1970, the complex Thomson organization also included an airline, travel, books and magazines, investment and insurance organizations. He formed a consortium in 1972 which discovered two major North Sea oil fields.

Lord Thomson’s appropriate motto on his coat of arms is, “Never a backward step.”

Co-founder, Desjardins Group

Alphonse Desjardins was impressed by a debate concerning legislation designed to protect people from excessive interest charges. He conceived a new form of co-operative savings and credit institution where people would become both the owners and the clients.

The first Caisse Populaire was organized in 1900 in Levis, Quebec, his place of birth. The initial deposit was 10 cents, and deposits for the first day totaled $26.40. But the seed had been planted, and the harvest was to come in abundance. Caisses Populaires and credit unions were subsequently established throughout North America. More than 9 million Canadians and 44 million Americans are now involved in their own savings and credit co-operatives.