Speaking of Business with Goldy Hyder – Détails, épisodes et analyse

As the fourth generation leader of a family business, Galen Weston recognizes the responsibility he shoulders – to his employees, his country, and his great-grandfather’s legacy. Weston’s Real Home-made Bread began in Toronto in 1882. Today, George Weston Limited is one of Canada’s largest private sector companies, with more than 200,000 employees.

“It makes you think in decades, not in quarters,” he says. “You think about what is this company going to be not just a year from now, but 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now.”

In a frank and revealing conversation with Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business podcast, Weston discusses what he calls “patient capital” – his long-view approach to ensuring the company remains strong and vibrant for generations to come. 

It’s a mindset he says Canada needs to adopt as a country, calling on public policymakers to think about how to create long-term prosperity. And he urges business leaders to be part of the discourse. “That unguarded dialogue about what's in the national interest could pay some meaningful dividends,” he says.

Listen to the full interview, including his reflections on inflation, food prices and the challenges of leadership in the face of public scrutiny, on the Speaking of Business podcast.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

When Elio Luongo started working for KPMG in Canada in the 1980s, artificial intelligence was the stuff of science fiction movies. Remember when The Terminator hit the big screen? Now, as Luongo prepares to retire as CEO, AI is no longer the purview of sci-fi imagination. It’s increasingly the day-to-day reality in a modern workplace.

Luongo is encouraging all KPMG employees to experiment with and learn from AI.

“Businesses need to help their people develop skills around AI,” he says. “That is probably one of the most fundamental things that we can be doing right now.”

In an interview on the Speaking of Business podcast, Luongo reflects on what he has learned and how he has adapted to technological change during his decades-long career.

Effective leaders, he says, open doors for employees to develop their skills, continually. “This is what's going to change the productivity and the prosperity for people in Canada and we all have that responsibility to help develop our people's skillset.”

Listen to the full interview – including why he describes leaders as HEPA filters – on the Speaking of Business podcast.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

Iggy Domagalski is a big believer in having fun at work. “Work can be enjoyable,” he says. “When people know that they can have a bit of fun and that they can take five minutes to spend some fun time with their peers, I think that sends them back to their desk smiling.”

Domagalski is the President and CEO of Wajax, a Canadian industrial products and service company. With 3000 employees working in 120 branches across the country, a strong corporate culture that embraces positivity is a big priority for him. That’s why you might run into a foosball table or an impromptu basketball game at a Wajax office.

“You spend more than half your waking life with your teammates at work,” he says. “Why can't that be enjoyable?”

Domaglaski believes happiness and fulfillment at work can permeate into the larger community. “Business can be a real power for good.”

In a wide-ranging conversation with Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business podcast, Domagalski discusses his approach to leadership, how he embraced entrepreneurship at an early age, the importance of mentors and why Wajax is dedicated charitable giving.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

Conversations with Canadian innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Join host Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, as he sits down with some of the most successful and fascinating people in Canadian business.

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Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

François Poirier and his co-workers see themselves as problem-solvers.

The problems are many, and familiar to anyone who follows North America’s energy industry. 

• The need to reduce emissions from traditional energy sources like oil and natural gas. 
• The need to transition to lower-carbon sources without raising prices for consumers. 
• The need for energy security in a world that is increasingly unpredictable.

It’s a tall order, but Poirier – President and CEO of Calgary-based TC Energy – is optimistic that his company and others in the industry can meet the challenge. Not only that, he’s convinced that Canada can play an outsized role in solving the world’s energy problems. 

In a conversation with Goldy Hyder in the Speaking of Business podcast, Poirier points to Canada’s natural resources, private sector leadership and energy expertise as key ingredients that can help countries around the world lower greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, Poirier says Canada’s energy sector has a lot to contribute to a coordinated North American energy strategy. “It's through collaboration, cooperation, and commerce that North America can underpin the security and the prosperity of billions of people,” he says.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Poirier also explains why mental wellness is a priority at TC Energy, why he enjoys competing in triathlons, and what career advice he’s shared with his two sons.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

Twenty-seven years ago, WestJet took to the air with just three aircraft and five destinations. Today, the Calgary-based airline serves more than 100 cities across four continents.

Overseeing the operation is CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech. He's a newcomer to Canada but not to the industry, having spent two decades working for and running airlines in Europe. 

When he arrived in Canada last year, he was struck by the country’s rugged geography and “sheer size”, which brought home to him the importance of air travel. 

“In Europe, if you want to get from city A to city B, you have tons of options,” he says, including air, rail and road. “You can even take a bicycle in many cases. [Cities are] not very far apart.” That’s hardly the case in Canada, where the alternative to air travel is often a journey lasting several days. 

“Aviation and airlines are an absolute essential service for thousands and thousands of communities … This is just a geographical fact,” he tells Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business podcast.

Given that, von Hoensbroech says he’s surprised that government-imposed surcharges on air travel – including airport rent, security and navigation fees, and federal taxes
– are “far more expensive” in Canada compared to other countries.

“I’m surprised that the government is not putting more effort into making aviation more affordable,” he says. “Actually, they’re doing the exact opposite.”

Listen to Goldy Hyder’s full conversation with Alexis von Hoensbroech – including his thoughts on the Calgary Stampede, and which NHL superstar hails from his hometown in Germany – on the Speaking of Business podcast.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

If you filled up your car’s gas tank recently, or popped into a convenience store, there’s a good chance you visited a Parkland location. The Canadian company supplies fuel and operates convenience stores across Canada under many banners, including On the Run, Chevron and Ultramar. Founded in Red Deer, Alberta, in the 1970s, Parkland now operates 4,000 locations in 25 countries. 

The company has expanded quickly. “We're a 50-year-old company, yet 80 per cent of our employees joined us within the last four to five years,” says Bob Espey, Parkland’s president and CEO.

While Parkland is best known as a distributor and retailer of petroleum products, the company is preparing for the energy transition.

In the summer of 2021 Espey drove an electric vehicle from Calgary to Vancouver, stopping five times to recharge the battery. Each stop took between 15 and 30 minutes.

That charging time might be a problem for some, but Espey saw opportunity.

“What became apparent is the consumer experience is underserviced,” he tells Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business podcast. “You hear things like range anxiety and time-to-charge anxiety, and there's an opportunity there that – as we see more EVs come into the market – we can address.”

Espey recognizes the change will happen gradually and will vary depending on the country in which Parkland operates. “We have some markets like B.C. which are starting to transition quickly and others where it’s not on the agenda yet.”

Listen to Goldy Hyder’s conversation with Bob Espey on the Speaking of Business  podcast.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

Growing up in rural Saskatchewan, Tracy Robinson liked to watch the trains roll by. Little did she know then that trains would have a lasting impact on her life.

She spent 27 years working at Canadian Pacific Railway before switching to the energy sector for almost a decade. Last year she returned to her roots when she was appointed President and CEO of CN, a job she calls “the best in the world.”

Overseeing 30,000 km of track across Canada and the United States, Robinson understands the integral role rail plays in North America’s complex supply chain.

“We need the supply chains to be effective, highly performing, and resilient,” she tells Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business podcast.  “Things are moving quickly. Trade flows are changing quickly. And if we want to be able to participate the way we know we can as a country, we need to be able to move with it.”

Robinson sees great opportunity for Canada to share its resources and its ingenuity with the rest of the world provided the country adopts a more ambitious approach to economic development. Among other things, that means ensuring greater regulatory certainty and predictability for infrastructure investments. “Whether it be economic or whether it be climate, environment, we are part of a much bigger community and we can be a much more important part if we step into it.”

Listen to Goldy Hyder’s full conversation with Tracy Robinson on the Speaking of Business podcast.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

Rania Llewellyn spent 26 years working at Scotiabank before making a move she describes as a “big leap and a big change” – becoming President and CEO of Laurentian Bank. And yet she says the hardest part of that transition was joining a new institution in the middle of a pandemic.

The inability to walk through the office and meet people created unique challenges, she says. “Organizations are made of people. You need to be a really good listener to be a good leader.”

In a wide-ranging conversation with Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business podcast, Llewellyn discusses how she built a new culture at the Bank despite a remote work environment, and how it contributed to the development of a digital first strategy. 

“We flipped the conversation. [Rather than saying] ‘let's go back to the office and figure out what tasks we do at home,’ it was ‘what is it that we need the office for?’"

Thinking differently and challenging the status quo is something Llewellyn has done throughout her career, because, as she says, “why fit in when you can stand out?”

Listen to the full conversation with Rania Llewellyn, including her experience as an immigrant to Canada and her hopes for the country’s future.

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts

When Deanna Zumwalt became President and CEO of Coril Holdings in 2021, she took on responsibility for an organization with a rich Canadian legacy. The Calgary-based company, with roots in the railway industry, has evolved considerably since its beginnings nearly 125 years ago. Now Zumwalt is looking ahead to the next century.

“Being a family enterprise for 125 years, we think across generations – we think in 25-year chunks,” she tells Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Businesspodcast.

Zumwalt challenges her team to be bold when charting the company’s future. “Whatever we're doing today, we won't necessarily be doing in the future. We’ve got to figure out what that future looks like.”

Zumwalt discusses her hopes for her company, the transformation she’s seeing in her hometown of Calgary, and her vision for Canada – one that embraces diversity and difference. She also speaks candidly about the lessons she has learned from her four children, three of whom were adopted from Haiti. “I always say to my children, ‘Listen for, not against.’ Listen for what you believe in. Listen for something that's in common and then build on that.”

Revealing conversations with influential innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Listen to more episodes here: thebusinesscouncil.ca/podcasts