Editor and Publisher, Toronto Star

Joseph E. Atkinson is remembered most notably as the publisher of the Toronto Star, a dying newspaper he resuscitated in 1899 and successfully headed for half a century. Atkinson was also a crusader for the less fortunate, using his money and position to espouse his belief in social justice. Born near Newcastle, Ontario in 1865, Joseph born into a poor family and became an orphan at the age of thirteen. As a young man he was inspired by the works of Tolstoy, who argued for social reform. Atkinson’s difficult childhood also contributed to his career as a social activist.

Joseph had ambitions to become a banker until he joined the Port Hope Times as a clerk at age eighteen. Within two years he was writing the kind of human interest stories that would later make the Toronto Star famous. Soon earning a reputation as one of the best reporters in Toronto, Joseph went on to become the Ottawa correspondent for the Toronto Globe, and later the managing editor of the Montreal Herald.

When a group of Liberals acquired the Toronto Star in 1899, Atkinson was asked to turn the floundering newspaper around, with the expectation that the paper be used to promote the Liberal agenda. Though Joseph was a strong supporter of Liberal social policy, he was adamant that the Star be allowed to operate without interference from political or business interests. On these terms, he set out with great enthusiasm to turn the Star around. By the 1920s, the Toronto Star had joined the ranks of the country’s most successful newspapers.

Atkinson used the editorial page to champion the causes of family allowances, old age pensions, worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance. Social welfare legislation enacted by Prime Minister Mackenzie King occurred largely in response to the prominence these issues attained in Atkinson’s Star. As an avid advocate for the minorities, a number of today’s key social policies resulted in part from Joseph Atkinson’s actions. The Atkinson Charitable Foundation was established in 1942, and has since donated over $55 million to health, economic justice, culture, education and social welfare initiatives.

Atkinson ran the Toronto Star until his death in 1948, at the age of 82. A tribute to him was subsequently published in the Star, written by Prime Minister Mackenzie King and declaring Atkinson to be “a great journalist, a zealous reformer and a true Canadian.”

Maxwell W. Ward. From a bush-pilot – flying trappers and miners into the Arctic wilderness – he built his business into the nation’s third largest airline, with an international reputation for class and efficiency. Flying would be a life-long passion for Max. His training came in the airforce. Although he didn’t take well to military discipline, his skill as a pilot saw him graduate as an instructor.

In 1945, with two thousand dollars of his own and four thousand more borrowed from family and friends, Max made a down payment on his first airplane – a de Havilland Fox Moth. He established a charter service to Yellowknife and soon had more work than he could handle. His next plane was a de Havilland Otter. Wardair soon had a fleet of them flying out of Yellowknife.

Max decided to expand his business into international passenger charters in the early sixties. On June 22, 1961 he changed the company’s name to Wardair Canada Ltd. to indicate its new international ambitions. The first overseas charter took off in 1962 from Edmonton to Copenhagen.

Whenever people spoke of Wardair, they always cited its high level of service. That’s the part Max Ward is most proud of.

Max Ward and Wardair had achieved many things, but “possibly, Wardair’s greatest contribution,” says Max “was to demonstrate clearly to Canadians that they could be the world’s best and that the satisfaction of such an achievement is worth the effort.”

Arthur D. Ganong was President of Ganong Brothers for 40 years. The candy and chocolate manufacturing company was jointly founded in 1872 by Arthur’s father and uncle, James and Gilbert Ganong.

Arthur was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick in 1896, at age 19, he became an apprentice candy maker with the family owned business. Within two years, Arthur was managing the company. It was in 1906 when his innovative idea of fancy shaped candy boxes pushed the company into national prominence.

Arthur constantly impressed upon new employees that quality should never be compromised. Hew knew his product well, tasting pounds of it every day. When other manufactures moved to machine made candy, he resisted, firmly believing the Ganong hand made chocolate would be superior in taste.

In 1910, while planning for a trip, Arthur decided small slabs of milk chocolate, filled with chopped nuts, would be easier to carry than boxed chocolates. His slabs are credited with becoming the first chocolate bars.

Appointed President in 1917, Arthur directed operations for the next 40 years. He was first to introduce protective cellophane wrapping around candy boxes in 1920. New markets resulted following a bold move by Arthur to become the first candy maker to advertise on television and use colour magazine ads. At the height of the Depression, Ganong’s 700 employees continued to produce over a thousand products. A popular promotion, initiated in 1932 by Arthur, was the introduction of the first Valentine heart box.

When Arthur died at age 83, he was described as the man with “an inevitable chocolate stain on his collar, a gentle spirit with kind eyes, a man of mettle.”

Charles E. Frosst, manufacturing pharmacist, and founder of Charles E. Frosst & Co.

Charles Frosst was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1867. A serious man, stern at times, lttle is recorded about his childhood or formal schooling. At age 25 he arrived in Montreal, Quebec to work as a salesman for American-based pharmaceutical supplier, Henry Wampole Company.

At age 32, Charles felt he had learned enough about the pharmaceutical trade to risk his name and limited assets and, in 1899, he founded his own company. Driven by a determination to make the Charles E. Frosst & Co. respected and successful, Charles developed his own formulas and acted as his own salesman. By necessity, he often designed the machinery needed to manufacture his products.

Pharmaceutical research and product development were priorities for Charles as he strove to replace old-time remedies with finished products. He received the first Canadian license, in 1928, to manufacture and sell synthetic Vitamin D2. Frosst’s development of the formulas for the well-known 222 and 292 tablets, revolutionized the industry.

Charles, and his three sons, worked together through two decades of major growth. Their multi million dollar enterprise employed hundreds of people. In the 1940’s, research expanded into products that would fight against bacterial infections and into veterinary medicines.

Charles retired in 1943 at age 76. In 1959, under the management of his sons, the company was listed on the Montreal and Toronto Exchanges. Six years later, American pharmaceutical giant Merck & Company took control. Merck-Frosst Canada remains a leading, fully integrated multi-national pharmaceutical company.

Frank H. Sherman moved to Hamilton, Ontario where his uncle and father had established a small foundry to produce steel castings for the rail industry. Frank joined Dofasco in 1939 with a degree in metallurgy from Queen’s University. During the war years he was largely responsible for the development and operation of the Company’s armaments department.

Frank Sherman rose quickly through the ranks. By 1949 he was Vice President and Works Manager – ten years later he was named President and General Manager. Frank took naturally to the Dofasco tradition of hands-on management. Like his uncle and father before him, he spent much of his time walking the floor of the mills and processing lines, observing and listening to his employees.

Under Frank Sherman’s guidance, Dofasco grew to a leadership position in the development and production of new products – but it was done without fanfare. Frank’s style was quiet. He always considered decisions carefully. He expected others to do the same, and admonished his managers to be sensitive to how their decisions would affect the people at Dofasco.

Henri Perron was a Quebec forestry entrepreneur who founded J.H. Normick and Co.

Born in La Mauricie area of Quebec in 1888, Henri spent most of his youth working as a farm hand in summer and as a lumberjack in winter. He launched his forestry career in 1912 with the purchase of government land at La Sarre in the Abitibi Temiscamingue region. He was a pioneer who quickly established himself as a hard working and fair jobber, a trade that hired workers for others.

By 1925, Henri was experiencing harsh conditions associated with opening up the virgin Quebec forests to commerce. When the Depression hit, he turned to horse trading to supplement his income.

At age 50 his dream of success was helped along when he became a logging contractor. His first sawmill, at the end of a trail in Val-Paradis, Quebec, opened the province and Henri to the many benefits that would follow. He innovated the process or recuperating waste poplar wood to manufacture plywood from the region’s abundance of Aspen trees.

By 1957, Henri and his four sons were partners in the family owned business, J.H. Normick and Co. Together, they spent the next 20 years building a forest products empire. The company became the largest poplar plywood manufacturer in Canada. Under the Normick banner, Henri’s factories and sawmills employed thousands of people.

Henri Perron participated in the birth and expansion of the Abitibi region and development of northern Ontario. A biographer wrote, “he was a man of subtle character who never completely revealed himself.”

Paul Paré spent most of the Second World War in the Navy. Discharged with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander he went on to McGill Law School. After graduation in 1949, he joined the law department of Imperial Tobacco. A quick study, hard worker, and a natural born marketer, he was soon appointed Assistant to the President.

His abilities were also noticed by Imperial’s competitor – Canadian Tabacofina. In 1962, Tabacofina sold its Canadian subsidiary to Phillip Morris. Imperial invited Paul back into the fold. In 1964, Paul Paré was elected to Imperial Tobacco’s Board. Soon after his arrival, Paul was appointed to the position of Executive Vice President. In the same year, after release of the U.S. Surgeon General’s report, Paul was convinced that the industry’s long term growth was in jeopardy. He pushed for diversification, i.e. the company was moving to food business. Imperial acquired S&W Fine Foods, Progresso Food, Grissol, and Unico. Paul Paré was appointed President and CEO of Imasco in 1969.

Among Paul’s greatest contributions are his high standards of business acumen, ethical practice and good citizenship. He exemplifies those qualities to this day.

Dr. Norman B. Keevil founded Temagami Mining Co. after discovering one of the highest grade copper deposits in Northern Ontario. A geologist and mining giant, he pioneered airborne geophysical techniques to mineral exploration.

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Norman spent the Depression years pioneering mapping in the Prairies and Northwest Territories. That experience piqued a life long interest in geology. A doctorate from Harvard in 1937 and post doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology preceded his teaching of geophysics at the University of Toronto. In the 1940’s, while still teaching, Dr. Keevil became a consultant to the mining industry during the post war exploration frenzy.

In 1946 he became a full time consultant in mining geophysics. An entrepreneur with a keen mind, he was first to apply submarine aeromagnetic tracking techniques to finding mineral deposits. In 1954 while conducting an airborne survey with partner Dominion Gulf Company, a copper deposit was found in the Lake Temagami region. When Dominion chose not to explore, Norman independently revisited the site and found one of the richest copper strikes in Canadian mining history.

Temagami was incorporated in 1954 and Norman spent the next several years acquiring control of young mining companies. The mid 1980’s brought mergers with the industry giants, Tech-Hughes Gold Mines Ltd. and Cominco Ltd. His business operations, with earnings in the millions, were involved in minerals, oil and natural gas. His company, Moli Energy, developed the world’s first rechargeable lithium battery.

When asked, Dr. Keevil offered his keys to success, “enjoy hard work, act quickly, inspire and encourage those with whom you work.”

Edouard Lacroix was a lumber industrialist who founded Maison Edouard Lacroix et Frères Limitée.

Twelve year old Edouard left his Quebec home to work in the U.S. lumber camps along the Maine border. Intrigued by what he saw, he learned all he could about lumber cutting rights, custom laws and building wooden roads.

Returning to St. George in 1905, Edouard worked for a lumber company until forming la Maison Edouard Lacroix in 1911. Shortly after its opening, his first saw mill in Cochrane, Ontario was destroyed by fire. Undaunted, Edouard was back in business a few months later, this time in partnership with his brothers. Edouard’s many contacts from his lumber camp days brought much of the early business to Maison Edouard Lacroix et Frères Limitée.

By 1918 Lacroix’s company owned three saw mills. His reputation for solving problems helped Edouard win choice contracts to haul pulpwood from mountainous U.S. border areas. His inventive solutions included development of a rough terrain card and canal like sluices for transporting wood over uneven land. He also introduced caterpillar type tractors to the industry.

With his forest investments prospering, Edouard expanded his holdings through partnerships with existing pulp and paper companies throughout eastern Canada. Never indifferent to others’ needs, he built a woolen mill in St. George to create jobs for the depressed region. In 1933 he founded his New York based Port Royal Shipping company. During this period of growth, Edouard actively pursued his political interests, serving as a member of Parliament in Ottawa.

Edouard Lacroix was one of Canada’s forestry pioneers whose entrepreneurial undertakings employed thousands.

Murray B. Koffler is best known for creating the Canadian pharmacy retailer, Shoppers Drug Mart. Born in Toronto, Ontario in 1924, Koffler took over his father’s two drug stores when he was just twenty years old. He would eventually develop the family business into the largest drug store chain in Canada and one of the most recognized names in Canadian retailing.

“I disliked the business in those days,” Koffler said, referring to the 1920s. “We were like a general store. We sold a bit of everything. We had a soda fountain and a grill – and delivered – even when people called in just for a pack of cigarettes and a carton of Coke.” Graduating from The Ontario College of Pharmacy, Koffler set out to create the kind of drug store he envisioned. At considerable risk to the business, he got rid of the soda fountain and free delivery and moved the dispensary to the front of the store. He also created a new name – Koffler’s Drug Store became Shoppers Drug Mart, projecting an image of value and economy to customers. The store was converted to self serve, a technique that was soon copied by pharmacies across the country.

Murray Koffler has always shared his success with the multi ethnic and racial communities of his native Toronto. His work in the community has resulted in the formation of the Canadian Council of Drug Abuse, Canadian Council for Native Business, as well as the founding of the University of Toronto’s Koffler Institute for Pharmacy Management. He has also contributed significantly to Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science.

Appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1977, Koffler was promoted to Officer in 1995. He was awarded the Order of Ontario in 1992. He also received the Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Award in 1986, presented by the Retail Council of Canada. The Murray Koffler Urologic Wellness Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto is named in his honour.

Still going strong, Shoppers Drug Mart celebrated the opening of its 1,000 store in April 2007. According to Koffler, “What is most rewarding is that every store…approach customer service the same way we did 45 years ago: personally, professionally and with a true commitment to every person that walks through the door.”