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Canada News

How Much Can Business Influence the Environment?

December 17, 2012 By Jim Harris

Our first blog, How Sustainability Can Save Business, reframes the common purpose of traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practitioners — that of “saving the environment.” Our premise: Given the social and economic frameworks and institutions of our society, more can be accomplished (and faster) by viewing sustainability as an economic opportunity relevant to business, compared to viewing it as an environmental initiative in isolation of business. Therefore the goal of “saving the environment” may be more appropriately framed as “saving business.”

Our perspective is pragmatic; that the worthy purpose of “saving the environment” is destined to be ineffectual, and at best immaterial, if environmental initiatives are pursued in isolation of the economic engines and structures of our society — that is, capitalism, business, government and the active participation of other organizations and individuals within this framework. It is within this framework that companies are applying a central guiding principle to their business sustainability strategies — “derive economic benefits from improved environmental and social outcomes.” Why? Because it delivers results.

We do not argue the desired outcome of healthy people and a healthy planet, and an economic framework that includes a broader social purpose. Indeed, we align on these values. After all, Jim was leader of the Green Party of Canada and Tyler used to earn his living as a conservation biologist in the forests of British Columbia, Alaska and the Northwest Territories.

It’s just that we don’t really think we have time to wait for traditional approaches to environmentalism to be successful. Similarly, we do not argue the value of traditional environmentalism and the vital role it continues to play within our society; rather, we simply note that traditional approaches to environmental objectives have failed to deliver results at the scale that’s required and in the time frame that’s required. In short, traditional environmental methods have not been successful enough, fast enough.

During the interim, some businesses have demonstrated that they can implement and scale the environmental benefits far better traditional approaches to “saving the environment” while also delivering shareholder value. For example, Canadian Tire estimates that they have accumulated an annual benefit stream of approximately $25 million in cost avoidance since launching its Business Sustainability Strategy in 2008 and reduced its transportation and real estate greenhouse gas footprint by 9 per cent while actually growing — increasing their tonne-km of product shipped by 22.5 per cent and the amount of real estate area by 9 per cent!

This applied eco-capitalism favours free market principles to achieve environmental objectives. Which is convenient, since business will find itself in an economic context in which sustainability issues will increasingly influence financial performance and global trade.

As such, our observation is this — for profit seeking companies, sustainability is most successfully employed as a strategic framework for innovation, value creation, employee engagement and organizational improvement — while generating environmental benefits. What’s excites us most about this approach, is that it would appear that Canadian business also shares this view.

Companies are informed and engaged; some even track, manage and mitigate their GHG emissions with internal rates of return (IRRs) at multiples of the cost of capital. And some incorporate internal carbon pricing into management discussions and decision-making. Many have discovered that business sustainability issues are production issues, supply chain issues, marketing, sales and customer issues, and post-consumer use issues. In short, they are economic issues in addition to being environmental issues, and we say, engage them as such.

As we noted previously, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) has urged Canada for a “national approach to climate policy and carbon pricing” in a policy paper — Clean Growth 2.0: How Canada can be a Leader in Energy and Environmental Innovation — highlighting how Canada can build a more competitive economy and a more sustainable society while ensuring adequate public finances to fund Canadian’s way of life.

Most recently, Perrin Beatty, the president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, has echoed this opportunity in a policy paper on strategic partnerships among Canada and Mexico, noting that carbon pricing is an area that may be ripe for bilateral Canada-Mexico collaboration. It is interesting to note that Beatty served as a Member of Parliament for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada for 20 years (1972-1993) and served as a Cabinet Minister.

Change is afoot. The environmental community knows it; the business community knows it. All we need is for Canada’s government to know it — to recognize the opportunity and collaborate with business and the rest of society to build the policy framework that will enable us to participate in the greatest entrepreneurial imperative of our time, the creation of economic benefits from social and environmental leadership.

Which brings us to the original question: Will business influence Canada’s approach to environmental issues? We think they already are. And perhaps the question should be: How successful will business be in influencing Canada’s approach to environmental issues?

We are going to take some time over the holidays. So all the best for the holidays and Happy New Year to all our readers. Thank you so much for your support, feedback, and getting the word out about this blog! So this will be our last blog for 2012. When we return in 2013, we’ll continue to highlight how Canadian business is innovating from the inside out to begin to address many social and environmental issues.

Original Article

Filed Under: Magazine Articles Tagged With: Business Strategy, Canada News, Canadian Council Of Chief Executives, Canadian Tire, Carbon Pricing, cleantech, climate change, Climate Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Eco-Capitalists, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, innovation, Internal Rate Of Return, Mexico, Supply Chain, sustainability, Sustainable Business

Harper Conquers Canada, One Robocall at a Time

February 27, 2012 By Jim Harris

This robocall scandal is not just about some inconvenient phone calls, it’s about subverting our democracy and altering the outcome of the election. And it’s about Harper remaking Canada in his own image.

The widening “robocall scandal” is deeply disturbing — as is its media coverage.

The language we use to describe a situation, the words that a journalist uses in their coverage of an issue, literally frame the issue and how we think about it.

This isn’t a story about “dirty tricks,” it’s about election fraud. This isn’t “stupid,” it’s illegal. This isn’t “folly,” it was a deliberate, systematic, strategic, targeted campaign to steal the election. This isn’t “voter suppression,” it’s stealing democracy.

We should not treat this as some petty misdemeanor. This is a grave threat to our very basic freedom. This is a threat to our democracy. This is corruption.

You would expect this in some tin-pot dictatorship–not in Canada.

The stakes are much, much higher than most people or commentators realize. Harper won his “majority” with 6,848 votes. That’s the difference between a Conservative candidate getting elected and the second place candidate in the 14 closest races that the Conservatives “won.”

For instance, in Nipissing-Timiskaming the Conservatives “won” the riding with a mere 18 votes. In Etobicoke Centre it was just 26 votes. Out of the 14.7 million votes cast across Canada that is an infinitesimally small margin for a majority — it’s 0.048 per cent.

What was the exact nature of the illegality? Liberal supporters in tightly fought ridings received pre-recorded messages on Election Day claiming to be from Elections Canada telling them that the location of their polling station had been changed. The Liberals claim it was a factor in losing 27 seats. The NDP is claiming it happened to them too. The Conservatives didn’t need to misdirect very many voters in very many ridings with tight races to steal the 2011 election.

What is the impact of this illegal action? With a “majority” Harper has eliminated the gun registry. He has appointed 48 Conservative so far in the 105 seat Senate, and four of the nine Supreme Court of Canada justices. This issue is not just about some inconvenient phone calls, it’s about subverting our democracy, it’s about altering the outcome of the election. And it’s about Harper remaking Canada in his own image.

This is the heart of the real story: It’s about the Conservative’s usurping the power of government.

There are a few important points to make about this scandal:

The Conservatives have proven they will happily break the law to win power

The Conservatives pleaded guilty to breaking campaign spending laws in 2006 in the election that brought Harper to power. The Conservative party violated election spending limits, exceeding the amount the party was allowed to spend by $1.3 million — through an “in-and-out” scheme.

In the end the Conservatives pled guilty and got a $52,000 fine.

There was no appropriate consequence for the Conservatives breaking Canada’s election law. The fine is a joke. The Conservatives spent $1.3 millionmore than allowed to by law, “won” the election, and paid a penalty of $52,000. The reward: gaining access to the levers of power and deciding how to spend the Government of Canada’s $270.5 billion budget.

The case took five years to be resolved. By this time the Conservatives had been in power for five years and had appointed 48 Conservatives to the Senate.

The Conservatives strategy is clear: break the law, deny any wrong doing, frustrate and stall any investigation — whether by Elections Canada or House of Commons committee — and when the final decision is about to be rendered, plea bargain and pay a fine.

But here’s the realpolitik of it: It’s five years after the fact, the media isn’t paying attention. It’s been covered already. Meanwhile the Conservatives have been enjoying power for five years. The consequences are, well, inconsequential.

The electoral fraud efforts were part of a systemic Conservative strategy

The Conservatives are trying to claim that a single individual, Michael Sona, was responsible. Sona has worked for Conservative candidates, for a Conservative MP, and for a Minister in the Harper Government. He is not some uniformed, neophyte newbie. He is, however, the sacrifice the Conservatives are more than willing to offer to try and put this illegal action to bed. So Sona was fired last week from his position in Conservative MP Eve Adam’s office.

Harper’s style is one of systematic command and control. No messaging, no strategy, is executed without the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) vetting and approving it. This has become crystal clear during Harper’s tenure. Lawrence Martin’s book Harperland documents this in detail.

Young Sona, having worked for a so many different Harper Conservatives would have had this drilled into him. The fact that it has taken Elections Canada and the RCMP almost a year — with their powers to investigate — to uncover this scheme shows to what great length the Conservatives went to to hide this.

The consequences for this electoral fraud should match the crime: Criminal charges should be laid and by-elections called for every riding where electoral fraud occurred. Any person or firm involved should be barred from working in any election campaign ever again.

Original Article

Filed Under: Authored Articles, News Tagged With: Canada News, Conservatives Robocall, Harper Robocall, Michael Sona Robocall, Robocall Conservatives, Robocall Harper, Robocall Michael Sona, Robocall Scandal, Robocalls Scandal, Scandal Robocall, Voting Rights

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Jim Harris
Focusing on disruptive innovation, digital transformation, strategic planning with executive teams and boards & leadership.


#1 International Bestselling Author, Management Consultant, Keynote Speaker and Strategic Planning Facilitator.
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