24 minute read
Letters to Lisa
Monday, August 15, we woke to the shocking news over Twitter, one of the most powerful women in media was blindsided by a "business decision". Lisa LaFlamme's 35-year career as Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor for CTV National News came to an abrupt end, not by choice and with no final farewell.
Lisa's post "I have some news...." on Twitter has gone viral and has been seen by over 4.6 million people on Twitter alone. It is appalling and disappointing to see the #ageism and #sexism that exists. We applaud her dignity, courage and strength to speak. She speaks for so many.
"Today With a range of emotions. For the past 35 year I have had the privilege of being welcoming into your homes to deliver the news on a nightly basis.
On June 29, Bell Media made a "business decision" to end my contact bring to an end a sudden close my her 35-year career. I was blindsided and I am still shocked and sadden by the news. I want you to know what these last years have met to me, everything" This is a trust I have never taken for granted as a reporter and as anchor. I am forever grateful to you, such loyal viewers for sharing in the belief that news delivered with integrity and truth strengthens our democracy.
At 58, I thought I would have more time to tell more of the stories that impact our daily lives. Instead, I leave CTV humbled by the people who put their faith in me to tell their story. This is my sign off from CTV. I want to express my deepest gratitude, This is my sign off from CTV so want to send my deepest gratitude to all of you.
While it is crushing to be leaving CTV National News in a matter that is not my choice. Please know reporting to you has truly been the greatest honour of my life. I thank you for always being there." Lisa is an award-winning journalist. She is a pioneer and highly respected in the media industry. She is a brave, outspoken and powerful female leader who embodies the word role model.
Lisa’s calm, professional presence as the nightly news anchor has been the credible voice we trusted to report on every catastrophe and world event. Lisa is a role model to women of all ages. We want her to know she has an army of people behind her. It is time to drive change.
We would love to honour Lisa LaFlamme for her life's work, as a female role model, trusted journalist, humanitarian and dedicated news correspondent. Imagine receiving letters from the people whose lives you have touched, impacted or motivated you?
Over the past 35 year's Lisa has touched the lives of many people. We invited a handful of our readers to share a Letter to Lisa as a tribute. Regardless of the level of success, being recognized for your work, by your peers and the people you touch is incredibly meaningful.
We look forward to seeing Lisa back doing what she does best, telling the stories and sharing the news that impacts our daily lives.
Dear Lisa, You have been a staple in the living rooms of Canadian audiences for years. Watching the nightly news with you, we saw the events of the world through your eyes and we learned. Your absence is noted. You are missed. May you find a way to continue to make a contribution as a journalist. - Donna P. Dahl
Dear Lisa, Thank you from the bottom of my gray roots for standing up for those of us who are less public in our work. You have made my day make sense for so many years. National news is an important representation of our country's values and priorities. Now you are letting the world know that Canada will not tolerate ageism and discrimination against those who have grey hair. We demand equality now just as we have for years. Please sue for discrimination and demand that you get your job back. It will serve as a precedent in the judicial system for all of those who are experiencing the same treatment. Money is the only way to reach the cold heart of the media and the corporate world that has long ignored our brilliance. Bravo. You go girl. We are all watching you as you bring fairness and justice to the forefront of the limelight that we deserve. Grey hair matters. - Michelle Daines
Dear Lisa, We appreciate your effort and your work has inspired many women. Don't give up, great things are coming your way. - Maryben Omollo
Dear Lisa, Thank you for your unwavering professionalism and keeping us informed on the daily basis with some incredible stories and what's going on in the world. You are in inspiration for all, men and women. Thank you and wishing you the very best. - Barbara Beler
letters to lisa
Dear Ms. LaFlamme, I watched with admiration as you ascended in a male-dominated field. You represented the best of our news media in Canada as CTV's National News anchor and chief editor. Your years of hard work and thoughtful delivery of our most compelling stories earned you the trust of Canadians. In your brief but poignant message informing us that your departure wasn't your choice, you stated "A trust I have never taken for granted". Unfortunately, this is precisely what has been lost. A collective loss of trust in media isn't just about fake news. Michael Melling is now on leave from his position as head of CTV News; as a co-conspirator perhaps Karine Moses should also be held to account. Doing so could provide a measure of satisfaction albeit without being able "to make things right" as some letter writers have called for.
This debacle provides an interesting opportunity to take a hard look at our bottomed-out culture where a distinguished Canadian media icon was somehow expected to go quietly into the night. How does a boardroom of purported intelligent people get it so wrong?
People are voicing their disgust and asking for this blight to be exposed. We want a culture of accountability and won't simply accept that the trust is broken.
I will miss your natural on-camera grace. Thank you for never taking our trust for granted, for delivering news we could trust, and for being a role model for me and women across the country.
News with integrity and truth strengthens our society. If we don't want to accept that trust is broken, we need to take a stand, cause a ruckus, make a change, and be a part of something bigger and greater because it's the right thing to do. (This is a personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion of the people, institutions, or organizations that I am associated with in a professional or personal capacity.) - Ronda Parkes
Dear Lisa, I was dismayed as with all other Canadians to see your twitter announcement. I am shocked by Bell Media's behavior against such an esteemed journalist that we have trusted with our news for decades. As a female tech CEO, I cannot believe this disrespect. We will not be tuning into the CTV National News any time soon as we no longer trust them with our news. Thanks again for being such an incredible role model and journalist for so many decades. - Kindest regards, Dr. Sue Abu-Hakima, CEO Alstari
Dear Lisa, Thank you, Lisa, for the talent, grace, professionalism and strength you demonstrate for women of all ages. We should be allowed to be ourselves, have a voice, and be VALUED for it. You inspire more of us to follow suit. May you find the respectful salute you deserve as you begin this new chapter. - Becky Lynn
Dear Lisa, When I think about a person who embodies trust to give me the news of the day in a way that exemplifies perfect journalism I think of Lisa LaFlamme. She is one of the reasons why I watched the news. Her perfect delivery, her style, empathy, just everything about her made me feel comfortable with whatever she had to share, good or bad when delivered in the inimitable Lisa LaFlamme way. Matter of fact, unbiased and brilliant, a trailblazer, role model and leader for so many of us who have in our industries experienced sexism and ageism, she stood out as a beacon of light, gracefully transitioning through the stages of life as we all try to do. Her very presence every night was a comfort, a place of stability in this ever evolving and unstable world. What happened to Lisa was unconscionable, but the strength, dignity, and conviction she has shown against the face of such blatant bias has energized me and multitudes of women across the country, to stand together to continue to drive change. - -Patti Janetta
The Secret to Success: People
JIMMY PATTISON
CEO of The Jim Pattison Group At 93 years of age, Jim Pattison shows no signs of slowing down. Recently, I had the honour to interview Jim Pattison, CEO of The Jim Pattison Group, at his Vancouver office tower overlooking Burrard Inlet. Jimmy is known as the Warren Buffet of Canada, a self-made multi-billionaire, philanthropist and SupportHER™ at heart. The Pattison story is remarkable. Jimmy is a humble man who attributes his success to the diversity of his businesses and the people he employs.
Under his leadership, Jimmy has 49,000 employees spanning twenty-five divisions with eight major industry verticals across Canada and the USA with sales over 12.7 billion. The Jim Pattison Group and its people value quality, integrity, and commitment. As Jimmy would say, everything we do is about the people. The Jim Pattison Group is known for its great culture, its benefits, its work life balance, its opportunities to gain experience within the company and the autonomy of its leaders to make decisions. Jimmy believes people should love their jobs and love coming to work.
Jimmy cares about each employee in his company to be successful. During our interview, he took me for a tour of his office sharing the special memories with the influential female leaders that had met and inspire him; some he met with on more than one occasion. It was impressive to see hundreds of the world’s most influential business leaders grace the walls of his office tower halls. He was most proud to share his friendships with Margaret Thatcher, Nancy Reagan, and Oprah just to name a few.
Before we started our interview, Jimmy had a list of questions about the Universal Womens Network™ and the story behind this single mom and her big vision for the company. He was down to earth, kind, and as eager to learn about me as I was about him. As Jimmy shared, “Today there is more women in business than I have seen in my lifetime. This is a good thing.”
I was thrilled to meet and interview Maureen Chant, Jimmy’s executive assistant who has been with Jimmy for 61 years. Read Lifetime of Achievement as we put the spotlight on Maureen as the woman behind the scenes who has been with Jimmy from the beginning as a trusted advisor and his “right hand woman.” Their mutual respect and admiration are evident.
I left the meeting inspired by Jimmy’s work ethic, his desire to make a difference in the world and his love and respect for the women in his world together with the 49,000 people in the company that make The Pattison Group an enviable and profitable company. I told him to save a spot for a photo of us as I was going to accomplish great things. What follows is edited excerpts from our conversation.
It is an honour to have the opportunity to meet with you. You are one of the most influential business leaders in Canada as Today, there is more the CEO of The Jim Pattison women in business than I have seen in my lifetime. Group made up of strong and diverse operating divisions. Your companies span the automotive,
That is a good thing. advertising, media, agricultural equipment, food and beverage, entertainment, exporting, financial, real estate and periodical distribution industries. Today there are twenty-five divisions of
The Jim Pattison Group. Yes, we are highly diversified.
With 51,000 employees? We’re down two thousand. With this COVID deal, the last number we had was 49,000 in place.
You’ve created an incredible empire that is so diverse. How do you decide what businesses to invest in and bring into your group? We are in the people business. Our business is highly diversified. Everybody needs transportation. Everybody needs food. People need packaging. We are in the packaging business. We have two interesting companies. “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” is entertainment for young people in particular. We also have the Guinness World Records headquartered in London and that is a different category. So, we try to get into businesses that we think that have a long life and we can grow.
Where did it all begin? What have been the
keys to your success? I started my first business on May 8, 1961, at the age of nineteen when I purchased my first car dealership with a bank loan from the Royal Bank for $40,000. We made money on that business, and we wanted to grow the business. I like going to work and it is important that the people that we hire, they like their jobs. From there we try to grow the business, whatever business that we are in.
The culture that you have created is quite exemplary. How did you create the culture?
Well, it is all people, and it is all leadership. If we have a company, the key is the top person and his team, because nobody does it by themselves. Of course, it is all people, the selection of people and Maureen Chant, the lady you just me. Over the years in our company, we have never hired top people that she and I did not decide together who it was. Maureen has been with me since the first car dealership 61 years ago.
How important is it for women to be in leadership roles and men to be SupportHER™
allies? We do not look at female or male; it is the quality of the person that is best suited for the job. We like to give people opportunities to succeed. In my case, I have had three strong and influential women in my life. My mother, my wife Mary who I met when I was thirteen, (we have been married now 71 years), and Maureen who has been with me 61 years. Today there is not any important person in our company that Maureen and I are not involved in the decision if he or she is the right person for the job. My wife raised the children because I was never home. I worked on the used car lot till 10 o’clock at night, except Saturday night and Sunday. Sundays we went to church. We have had a stable life.
What is the secret to that longevity of those
relationships? Well, the key is the selection in the first place. I mean, we all meet a lot of people and in our case, the key people that run our companies is by far, the most important decision we make is who is the person that is going to run the company. But you know that everything is people. People have different qualities that they are good at, and the key is getting the right people in the right place to do the job that you want to get done.
You have met so many influential business leaders. Who are the some of the most inspiring
women you have met? Well, certainly right at the top of that list would be Margaret Thatcher from England who we got to know. A very, very impressive woman. Oprah’s another lady that we got to know…Oprah, she came from a very humble family and has been remarkably successful.
Tell us about the gift you received from Nancy
Reagan with a special message. After Ronald Reagan died, his wife sent me one of the bullets from the 21-gun salute which I appreciated and still hang on to as a souvenir of our relationship. Ron Reagan put me on his board of trustees, and I am still on his foundation.
Would you say being a servant leader is one common thread of the world’s best leaders?
You know, you raise a good point. I had not really thought of that, but the best people, the leaders I have met without exception, people like Ronald Reagan, he was not full of himself…and Margaret Thatcher, she was not full of herself. They treated me like just an ordinary person and were always so kind. The people I have met in the world who have been most impressive, have been people that were very humble.
Humble and kind. Those are the two words that I would use to describe you as a leader. With all your successes, what are you most
proud of? I am most proud of the fact that we have been able to start the company. The Royal Bank loaned me $40,000 to get started and we have managed to grow the company to where it is today, a large private company with just less than 50,000 employees. I still have no partners or shareholders or relatives in the ownership of the company.
That is incredible, and that has not been easy. So, what are those tough decisions that
you have had to make along the way? Well, it is all people. Then we decide what businesses. We started in cars, used cars and then new cars. Then we got into the leasing business, and we were big advertisers on radio. So, then we got into radio, today we have twenty-eight radio stations in Western Canada, we started with one. We then we got into groceries. Our market share was 2% in British Columbia, today it is 22% in British Columbia, and we have gone into Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and they have just gone into the state of Oregon with groceries. We just bought a company in the state of Oregon. Oregon is a good place, and it is close to where we are. We keep looking for new opportunities. We have Guiness World Records headquarters in London, but where we are spending a fair amount of our energy and effort right now in the whole organization is Sweden in the lumber business.
What does the future look like for you
regarding your expansion? We have two people in the United States that do nothing but look for opportunities for us in various businesses. We are in a number of different businesses all the way from used cars to food and entertainment. We are in the aquarium business. We are open to things where we have a rough idea about how it works.
You say the secret to success is people and choosing the right people. As the saying goes, your network is your net worth. Do
you believe that Is true? I do not know whether it is true. All I know, is that everything is people and today women are much more. When I was growing up, there were no women as hosts on Air Canada. And it was all men. This goes a long ways back. I asked them, “Why don’t they have women?” because everybody working onboard was a man. When I asked the question, “Why don’t you have women as stewards? They said, “Because it’ll take a job away from a man.”
Unbelievable. The time are changing, but not
fast enough. That’s an absolutely correct answer to a question. I then went to an executive of Air Canada. I said, “Why don’t we have women?” They said, “Because it’ll take a job away from a man.” And that is when I was in my late teens.
We have made progress, but it is not fast enough. Everyone one plays a role to champion for women. Well, I have lived it. I have lived it from what I just told you to today, 70 years later. Women today… you look at people like Margaret Thatcher and the strength of Oprah, people like that, it is incredibly positive. It is important to have strong role models for women.
But why do you think it is so hard for women
to break through the barriers? We are making progress. In our own company, we certainly have women that are in key leadership jobs. You just met my secretary, Maureen, who has been with me 61 years. She reads people very well. Better than I do. I never made a decision on hiring anybody that I have not gone to her and asked her, “What do you think about this?” You must build a team around you that you trust.
So, how would you define success? I define success to be whatever you believe. Successful living is doing what you like to do, and you enjoy doing it.
So just be happy. Happy’s important, and in my case, I was taught to believe in God and the Christianity. I was raised in that environment and so we have always supported Christian causes.
Yes, of course, faith. Faith, belief, hard work and opportunity. Some people do not get the opportunity that others do. So timing is important.
When we talk about opportunity, women do not ask for what they want. Do you see that
as a barrier? Well, that is true of men, too. I have lived through a part of my lifetime where nobody ever thought of women being in the workforce, except for a schoolteacher or a nurse. I did not know of or see any women in business. Today there is more women in business than I have seen in my lifetime. This is a good thing.
And the other thing is also true of racial equality if you like. Today, we never think of what culture you are from. At one time it was different. But today in my world, we do not ever think about culture or race because we hire based on what we think the person can contribute to the job we are looking to fill. That’s the key. Match the person with the job. Usually, the person who is successful, likes what they are doing.
I heard a rumor that you still come to the office six days a week. Do you ever think of
slowing down? I hope not. I come to the office seven days a week. Every week unless I am traveling. We have two people in the USA and always looking for new business opportunities.
What is the secret to the passion for your work and having that motivation to still come to the office seven days a week? Most people are counting down the days to retire.
Oh no, if you do not enjoy your job, you are in the wrong job. If you do not like your work, you should get a new job. Because if you like your work, you are usually good at it.
Has there ever been a time that has been challenging for you? That you have made
mistakes? Oh, all the time. Still do. The question is when you make a mistake, understand you have made a mistake and do not try to prove you are right. Take the hit and move on.
Sage advice, Jimmy. The fear of failure is real for many people. Have you ever worried
about failure? I have never worried about failure, because if I cannot accomplish it, then I will do something different.
Imposter syndrome is a hot topic usually tied to fear of success or failure. Have you ever
experienced imposter syndrome? No, I think I can only speak from my own experience. I used to sell garden seeds door to door when I was seven, eight years old. My family did not have money to give money to their children. I could not have had better parents. We rented a house furnished because we did not own the furniture. And I sold garden seeds door to door when I was seven, eight years old. I knew that if I was going to get something, I had to go work for it. I have worked all my life, but I have always liked what I do.
If you work seven days a week, what do you do for joy? In my downtime, I have a boat. I do not know whether it is in the day. Let me see whether it is in or not. No, our boat’s out. It is right at the end of this dock. It is out, and it has people on it. It goes out every week. Marine runs the boat and the airplanes. And we also have, I bought Frank Sinatra’s house in Palm Springs, and so we entertained people down there. I bought it from Frank Sinatra quite a while, years before he died.
Wow. That sounds like a wonderful way to
spend your downtime. Downtime is coming to work. I like what I do. If you like what doing, it is not work.
Well, I am super thankful that you have given
me so much of your time. You’re welcome. SupportHER™. Now I will tell you, I know where I am going to take this SupportHER™ mug. My wife, Mary, is not well. I am going to take this home, and I am going to have her use it. We got married in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1951 and have been married for 71 years. Amazing. We wish her well. So, I do not change my women much.
...if you do not enjoy your job, you are in Well, that is a good thing, Jimmy. the wrong job. If you That is a good thing. Before our do not like your work, interview, I mentioned that you should get a new
my son is 16 years old. What words of advice would you give the 16-year-old Jimmy? Find job. Because if you like your work, you something you like and do good at are usually good at it. it. It is that simple. I have hired so many people over the years. The biggest thing is to get something you like, and it is not work if you like doing it. If you do not like coming to work in the morning, it is the wrong job.
Well, I have to say, from the people that I have met at The Pattison Group they love what they do. They do not just like it, they love it.
Well, that is good. And if you are talking to those people, they are also good at what they do. And they like it, and they are good at it, and that is why they got a good job. I do not know anybody that works for us that does not like coming to work.
Thank you again for sharing your time, the tour of your beautiful office, sharing your wisdom and the stories. Was there anything you wish
to add? You let me know if there is anything you think that we can do to help you do what you want to do. We are in the people business.
Thank you again, I look forward to continuing the conversation.
