When you think about Maple Leaf Foods, do you feel anger and hatred?  Do you resent the behaviour of a company that allowed the poisonous Listeria bacteria to reach consumers from coast to coast?  Are you disappointed and frustrated that this company’s mistakes led to the direct deaths of at least nine Canadians and severe illness for dozens more?  Probably not.  Why? 

When the Listeria crisis hit in the summer of 2008 the CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, Michael McCain, behaved in a manner that immediately set the cornerstone of what the company is all about; honesty, integrity and openness. There was no passing the buck.   Spinning the truth was not even considered by Mr. McCain, and his actions have not only saved Maple Leaf Foods, it has ensured that this company stands tall in the minds of Canadians, despite the tragedy caused by its products.

Within hours of the positive DNA-based identification that Maple Leaf’s products were the cause of Listeria-based deaths, Michael McCain began to appear in very frequent paid television and print advertisements.  The message was clear, the message was personal and the message was honest; this crisis and the many illnesses and deaths were the fault of Maple Leaf foods. Period. Mr. McCain gave a personal and earnest apology and told us what was being done to ensure that the problem was found and corrected, no matter what the cost, no matter how long it would take, Maple Leaf Foods would do the right thing.

A few weeks later Mr. McCain was again appearing in paid advertisements, updating Canadians as to what the cause of the contamination was and speaking frankly about what his company would do to ensure that this tragedy would never happen again.  He didn’t shift blame.  He didn’t minimize or marginalize the pain of victims and their families.  His company very quickly settled the multi-million dollar class-action lawsuit brought by some of the victims of this deadly contamination.

Mr. McCain spoke frankly, earnestly and honestly to Canadians; knowing that we deserve to be told the truth, no matter how difficult or embarrassing it may be.  Respect is something that we happily give back to those corporations that treat us with it.  Maple Leaf Foods has the trust and respect of millions of Canadians, not because of the tragedy of 2008, but because of how this company dealt with its failure, how it saw and treated the Canadian public as a legitimate partner in the pursuit of solutions, worthy of real honesty and openness.  We were treated with respect and dignity, and this is why Maple Leaf Foods is still in business today.

When you contrast the actions of Maple Leaf Foods against how EnCana has dealt with public opposition to its operations, you very quickly see that the behaviour, actions and corporate ethic is clearly set by its CEO.  When faced with incredible adversity, Maple Leaf’s Michael McCain reacted with integrity, honesty and openness to Canadians.  Earlier this decade, when faced with a rising chorus of opposition that risked the continued operation of EnCana’s drilling and production in northern Alberta, EnCana CEO, Gwyn Morgan opted to pursue a myriad of dirty tricks and public lies including conspiring with the RCMP to blow up some field facility equipment as a way to flush out its critics.

Since EnCana’s October 2000 fake bombing, the company has continued to behave in a way that was set by its first CEO, Gwyn Morgan; lies are tolerated, undermining critics in any way possible is encouraged and fighting against Canada’s commitment to stopping global warming is strongly funded.  Sure the propaganda continues and mock rewards for crime tips make for brief news bites, but the company remains steadfastly enshrined in a culture of combat, where the winner takes all, regardless of who is harmed in the pursuit.

It is time for real change at EnCana.

It is time for the company to renounce the culture that Gwyn Morgan gave it at birth and look to Maple Leaf Foods as an example of good corporate citizenship.  Imagine what EnCana would be doing with its daily operations, public communications and crime investigations if Michael McCain was its CEO.  We would see true leadership, one marked with real honesty to Canadians, dignity to employees and respect for the land and communities that lie above the resource that EnCana extracts. 

If EnCana were such a company, Canadians would be supportive of finding those who threaten public safety with bombs, rather than what they are doing now; quietly wondering if the real truth is that EnCana continues to damage its own equipment as a way to discredit the legitimate concerns of those who suffer the ill effects of the actions of a company that seeks its own good ahead of Canadians.

EnCana can change and can become a company that leads Canadian business by example in its ethics and behaviour, but this change has to be very public and it must begin at the top.