2) Business is Critical to Solving Today’s Toughest Challenges

More effort to advance Indigenous reconciliation is seen as a necessity if Canada is to have any hope in effectively tackling inequalities, inequities, and systemic racism. On top of that, the lack of advancement of Indigenous reconciliation is argued to be contributing to the lack of trust and social cohesion in the country. Further, a few Survey Participants make the argument that Canada’s colonial past and lack of Indigenous reconciliation in the present will affect its ability to exert global influence on questions of human rights in the future. Moreover, one Accelerator brings forward the idea that by advancing Indigenous reconciliation, Canada would be better positioned to learn from the Indigenous knowledge of the lands and environment passed on from generation to generation which would assist in the fight against climate change.

Business leaders have clearly identified pressing global challenges: the question then becomes: will they take action to help overcome them? Fortunately, the Survey Participants voice numerous arguments as to why business leaders should act.

2) Business is Critical to Solving Today’s Toughest Challenges

“Global climate change is probably the toughest problem we’ve ever had to face, beyond any world war, because solutions are extremely complicated, they are global in nature and they call for cultural, economic, and political change and there’s no single jurisdiction that can solve it.” – Martin LeBlanc, co-founder and CEO of Caprion Biosciences

Survey Participants point out that there is a need for a holistic and concerted effort to solve the global challenges facing this generation as they are complex and consequential. For these reasons, many Survey Participants argue there needs to be a full-court press in order to have a chance to overcome these challenges.

The logic is clear: to tackle great complex challenges, the world will need to enact great holistic collaboration. Upkar Arora, CEO of Rally Assets, is of the opinion that “The problems we’re trying to solve cannot be solved by one party, alone.” Michael Trebilcock, Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Toronto, is of the same point of view, “The challenges we face are so daunting - which will have such an impact on the economy and employment - it’s up to people, governments, and corporations to mitigate the negative impact of these challenges.”

There is rarely unanimity among the Survey Participants. Arguably the closest the Survey Participants come to reaching a unanimous consensus is on the fact that businesses need to play a role to combat climate change and reduce inequalities and inequities. This is a departure from the traditional view that it is the responsibility of governments to tackle societal challenges while businesses devote their efforts to generating wealth and innovation. Michael Sabia opines that the world cannot wait for governments to solve these problems and that everyone needs to step up, “This is more a thousand points of light than it is two silver bullets”. Lisa Kimmel declares, “Government alone can’t solve all of the ills of society.”

Danny Murphy, the President of D.P. Murphy Inc., advocates for an approach in which governments and businesses collaborate, “Businesses and government need to work together more so than ever before for the betterment of society.”

Chris Coulter, the CEO of GlobeScan, admits the solutions to what he ranks to be the world’s greatest challenge – climate change - would ideally come from government, but that governments’ track records in leading the transition to sustainability are too “spotty”. Vic Huard, former Executive Vice President for Customer Experience and Stakeholder Relations for Federated Co-operatives Limited, affirms that it is not so much that the public has more trust in business; it just perceives business to be more competent than other groups namely governments. Either way, Marcelo Lu, President of BASF Canada, is of the view that “A huge opportunity exists for business to drive social change. We operate with agility and sense of urgency, which helps to meet social challenges that the public sector alone cannot meet.”

Martin LeBlanc, for his part, observes that giants in their respective industries can have huge impacts. Marcelo Lu concurs with this principle, “Corporations play an important role in contributing to the well-being of communities in which we operate. If we continue doing the right things, and can also be seen to do the right things, we can move the needle.”

Chris Coulter goes further and states it will have to be the big global businesses that step up to essentially ‘save the world’. Chris Coulter estimates 70-75% of global impact takes place through business. With the timeline science says humanity has to fix climate change, Chris Coulter suggests it will be up to “disruptive startups and radical incumbents” of the business community to act boldly and swiftly.

Similarly, according to Suzanne Bergeron, President of Sodexo Canada, the challenge of inequality and inequity must be tackled by businesses or it will get worse, “If we don’t act, the gap will continue to grow because of us ignoring it and not addressing it. There may be more success, but only for a very small part of the population while it makes it a lot tougher for a large part of the population.”

To the same effect, Scott Banda, CEO of Federated Co-operatives Limited, is of the opinion that the lack of trust and social cohesion is a challenge that needs to be addressed by businesses, “There is a lot of discomfort, a lot of uncertainty, some real, some not. People are looking for comfort somewhere in their lives, and business has an opportunity to restore that confidence, and in some cases, that’s happening and in other cases, it’s making the problem worse.”

Several Survey Participants affirm that the business community has a vital role to play in the advancement of Indigenous reconciliation. Vicki Wallace-Godbout, an entrepreneur and lawyer from the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation outlines a number of ways in which business can help with Indigenous reconciliation. She advocates that businesses should: make significant efforts to be aware and informed about Indigenous reconciliation; train and hire Indigenous people as this will provide employment opportunities along with an implicit message that the business is more open to working with Indigenous people; work with Indigenous communities which starts with the need to understand the challenges and opportunities of the communities; and consult with Indigenous people which should include having more Indigenous people included in the decision making process of the business.

A few Survey Participants argue that businesses need to do more to be positive contributors to society considering the challenges of climate change, inequalities, and inequities are the direct result of the current role of business in society and the way in which the global economic system is set up.

Jerry Dias, National President of Unifor, believes this to be the case and states, “We’ve ended up in this predicament because of greed”. Brianna Brown, co-founder of Decade Impact Strategy, agrees but tries to see the glass as half full, “Businesses are the biggest contributor and represent the biggest opportunities to address these challenges.”

Marc-André Blanchard, Executive Vice-President and Head of CDPQ Global at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and former Canadian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (Marc-André Blanchard was interviewed prior to his role with the CDPQ when he was a UN representative), argues businesses have helped create the circumstances where they are the only ones that can, “For 40 years, people in business have wanted fewer regulations, fewer taxes and have said government needs to stick to its core mandate. The results? Climate change and inequalities. Once you have fewer taxes as a government then businesses need to step up. We have decided to leave capital in the hands of businesses.”

Cathy Glover, former Change-maker in Residence at Mount Royal University, is of the view that climate change is an outcome of values, beliefs, and actions. She adds that multiple systems must be disrupted to create change and different outcomes. Similarly, when asked to identify what are the largest challenges facing the globe, Peter Wrinch, CEO of Hollyhock, responds “I could just say climate change, but I think climate change is just a symptom of this disconnection [between business and society].”

Darcy Riddell, an instructor in Simon Fraser’s University’s Social Innovation Certificate, forcefully conveys the point of view that the current role of business in society and the economic system are root causes of the challenge of climate change, “Unless work is happening in ways that also can affect cancerous underlying economic assumptions and incentives that are incompatible with planetary thriving, it’s not enough, given our moment in history. We can’t just continue to showcase the relatively small actions of a handful of leaders — I personally feel it’s not ethical to engage anymore in incremental change efforts with the business community.”

Further, Kasha Huk, Country Manager of B Lab – Canada, laments that the economic system plays a role in producing disparities, “Not everyone is included in the way that the economy is set up.”

Many Survey Participants hypothesize that the degradation in trust and social cohesion has been picking up steam in Western democracies on account of the financial crisis of 2008. Consequently, the lack of trust and social cohesion could be linked to the current role of business in society and the fact that it is - or is perceived by the public to be - exacerbating the challenges of climate change, inequalities, and inequities instead of helping address them. Sean Drygas, President of Bullfrog Power and Executive Vice President of Sustainability Solutions at Spark Power, observes, “business is seen as complicit in the challenges of climate change and inequality.”

Chris Coulter acknowledges it will not be easy for business to be credible catalysts of change. He nevertheless believes it is possible, “Given the perniciously low levels of trust in businesses, the only way to build social capital is through bold, progressive moves that signal to stakeholders that companies can be a part of the future we all want and are critical to achieving it.”

Shayna Bleeker, co-founder of and Partnerships Manager for 7 Generation Capital Corp, notes that it is probable that in order to convince business people to get on board with a new way of viewing the purpose of business, there is most likely a need to start with an economic argument. Dr. Marie Delorme, CEO of the Imagination Group of Companies, is of the same view, “Business cases that focus on altruism to the exclusion of financials will not capture the attention of decision-makers.”

Thankfully, as the following pages note, Survey Participants voice many arguments as to why it is in the best interest of business leaders to instill a purpose within their organizations that will positively contribute to societal efforts to address societal challenges.