Alissa Fingold

Alissa Fingold

Though the average Canadian may not know who Don Schroeder is, most will purchase at least one of his company’s products during their lifetime. Schroeder, the CEO of Tim Hortons, gave a talk about his life in business on Friday in the Bronfman Building.

Describing how he became involved with the company, Schroeder said, “I’m not sure if I should really be telling you this story.”

As a law student in 1976, Schroeder was out drinking when it occurred to him that it would be an excellent idea to own a Tim Hortons franchise. At the time, Tim Hortons was only a small donut and coffee chain in Ontario.

“It still seemed like a good idea when I sobered up,” he said.

In 1978, he bought the 45th Tim Hortons. Schroeder continued to own his franchise while practicing law and eventually joined the company full-time in 1991. He became CEO in 2008.

Instead of making a speech, Schroeder opted to have a discussion with Alex Brzostowski, an MBA student, followed by a question-and-answer session with Management students. First, Schroeder and Brzostowski discussed Tim Hortons’ business model, which is a “partnership” between the corporate administration and franchise owners, unlike the traditional “top-down” style structure. Schroeder said this scheme is the source of the company’s success and that his top priority is, “to make Tim Hortons as attractive an investment for the next generation as it was for the last two.”

In the future, the company plans to continue expanding into the United States and possibly open franchises on other continents. Schroeder emphasized that this process would deeply involve Tim Hortons within the communities where it wants to sell its products. This should be done “not simply to sell more coffee and donuts,” he said, “but to genuinely give back.”

The question-and-answer period saw some students raise more specific concerns. Artem Luhovy, a MD/MBA student, asked about Tim Hortons’ refusal to buy fair trade coffee. Schroeder answered that it rejects fair trade because the company sees flaws in the fair trade industry. He cited the $1,000 fee a farmer must pay to become fair trade certified—money many coffee farmers do not have. Schroeder said Tim Hortons has instead focused on efforts to provide farmers with tools and information that will make them more productive, regardless of whether or not they ultimately decided to sell their coffee to Tim Hortons. He added that Tim Hortons also has invested money in education for the children of coffee farmers in rural areas.

“Tim Hortons has a history of trying to do the right thing without patting ourselves on the back,” he said.

At the talk, Schroeder tried to communicate his company’s principles on a personal level, patiently listening to each student, supplying free donuts and coffee prior to the session, and providing Tim Hortons gift cards to every student who asked a question as well as to the McGill cleanup staff.

On coming to McGill, Schroeder said it was an “honour to be here at a great school,” and advised students to “find a job that they loved.” He added that a professor once told him, “You haven’t lived until you’ve read a good book, seen a good play, and done something you loved.”

Ryerson University and the National Hockey League Alumni have teamed up to move coaching from the locker room to the classroom. The new “BreakAway Program” offers current and retired hockey players the opportunity to enhance their business education for success off the ice by covering topics of finance, leadership, privacy law, marketing, and personal branding.  

According to Pat Flatley, the program’s director, the Ted Rogers School of Business Management at Ryerson and the NHL Alumni’s unique partnership is what makes the program so effective.  

“The BreakAway Program offers all current and former players the opportunity to work with one of the top schools in North America that truly understands the unique circumstances of professional athletes,” Flatley said.

Wendy McCreary of the NHL Alumni Association said that BreakAway’s main objective is to help players find a career in the world beyond hockey.  

“Their love is the game; that’s all they know,” McCreary said. She added that the program hopes to provide players with enough confidence to successfully transition into a post-hockey career.  

“We hope to give them the ability to pursue a different identity when they come out of the game,” she said.  

Program liaison and Ryerson marketing professor Marla Spergel believes the BreakAway Program is something from which all NHLers can benefit.  

“When players leave hockey, they are at a void,” Spergel said.  

The program will customize its courses to supply players with the specific tools they might need to fill the void created by a lack of formal business training.

The BreakAway Program consists of 15 hours of material and has a completion deadline of six months. Its online format is player-accessible and designed to accommodate their busy schedules and fast-paced work environment.  

“We wanted to produce a program that gives them the ability to educate themselves online at their own convenience,” McCreary said. Although the players do not receive a degree, Spergel provides guidance counselling to those players who wish to continue further studies with other university or college programs.  

“As an outsider I am pretty impressed that there is such a commitment from the alumni to want to really get them prepared for when they leave,” Spergel said. Although there are currently only a handful of students enrolled in the program, she notes that BreakAway is in the process of developing an extensive marketing plan to reach more NHLers.  

“Since it is all very new, a lot of players have no clue this thing exists yet,” she said.

McCreary declares that part of the program’s mandate is to also reach other universities. “A good portion of our constituency is based in Montreal,” she said. BreakAway will be asking McGill if it would like to start its own branch of the program some time in the future.

Anna Katycheva

Last Tuesday, Andrew Cohen­—one of Canada’s preeminent non-fiction writers and a McGill alum—delivered the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada’s 18th annual J.R. Mallory Lecture in Canadian Studies, discussing Canada’s cultural convergences with the United States.

Although things have changed over the years, Cohen said that many Canadians today still want to distinguish themselves from “belligerent, pompous” Americans. According to Cohen, medical care, poutine, and a fervent love for hockey have been badges of a distinctly Canadian identity. “But,” he said, “take away health care and other cherished identities, and what’s left for us, and between us?”

Cohen pointed to four subjects on which Canada and the U.S. have become indistinguishable: obesity, frugality, criminality, and multiculturalism. Although Canada once considered itself more fit than its southern neighbour, statistics show increasing obesity rates for both adults and children. In 2005, Canada was the fifth-most overweight nation in the world, while the U.S. was number one. But in a more recent poll, the U.S. has a 66 per cent obesity rate, compared to 60 per cent in Canada.

In terms of spending habits, Cohen said that “although [the idea that Americans spend more than Canadians] is true to a certain degree, [as Canadians] we are no longer frugal.” National debt continues to rise in Canada. Canada’s national household debt was a record $1.41 trillion in 2009 and has continued to climb. In addition, Canada’s income distribution gap is expanding, with the richest one per cent holding 34 per cent of the wealth.

Traditionally, Canadians have thought their country safer than the U.S., Cohen said. Granted, this is still true. But the American crime rate has dropped to levels that haven’t been seen since the 1960s. Also, capital punishment in the U.S. has become more moderate in the last 10 years. Not only have many states abolished capital punishment, but the states that still use it are issuing increasingly low numbers of death sentences. California, for instance, has not ordered one in five years, and Texas—notorious for executing criminals—only issued 17 in 2010, compared to 400 in 2000.

Chris Espamer, a U1 politcal science student from the U.S., said he sees a clear distinction between the two neighbouring nations.

“I think that Canada has some good traits from both American and European culture. They seem to be less obsessed about military strength, and are less corrupt politically in general.”

People often believe that Canada is more tolerant towards immigrants than the U.S.. Cohen suggested, however, that “the pot is no longer melting” and that the U.S. has become much more accomodating to its minorities.

Cohen also mentioned the cooperative relationship that has persisted over time between U.S. and Canada. Despite some disagreements, the two nations have generally worked in political, economic, and social harmony.

 “It was a very informative [lecture], and I was surprised at some of the differences,” said Kateryna Sherysheva, a U1 political science and international development student.

“This lecture has made me think deeper about the issue and reconsider different sides,” said Sherysheva.