TheEditorial Desk

Letters from my Father

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- By Patricia Lee & Hubert Beyer

Hubert Beyer, one of Canada's most well read Columnists passed away in 2007.  Working with him at the Legislative Press Gallery in Victoria, BC, was Daughter Patricia Lee, a Reporter covering BC Politics for 40 newspapers.

With Hubert's archives, we're taking assignments, making calls and publishing the editorial conversation between Hubert and Patricia that would take place today. 

The most recent column appears to the right. Open the book for previous articles.
Having trouble reading the interactive book?
Past columns are posted below.

Dear Patricia

In October 1997 I covered a speech by (then) President and CEO of Noranda Inc., Courtney Pratt.

In his speech, Pratt suggested it’s possible we’ll get used to people living in the streets and using food banks, and perhaps we should look to Big Business and Corporations to help with that.

Could you do a follow up?

Dear Hubert,

I found your 1997 column on Pratts speech. Here's a quote that struck me:

"Food banks are accepted as a necessity. And in our streets the plight of the extreme have-nots is increasingly visible to us all. We are not used to seeing so many people living in the streets, so many people asking for money.

"If you are like me, you find it profoundly disturbing. The real danger is that we become used to seeing these people, accept it as a fact of life, and we stop being disturbed."

These were shocking words to discover Dad; I believe we’ve arrived (if not passed) that point of “profoundly disturbing” Pratt spoke about, so I thought I’d give him a call.

What would he tell his 27 year ago self going into that speech; would he even bother?

“Oh yes, absolutely, Pratt said, I’d have made it even stronger. Here we are; we’re even managing to get mad at these people now. It’s just incredible what’s going on”

According to numbers provided at Statista, 20% of Canada’s workforce is earning less than 40,000 per year right now. There are a number of Government funded programs and tax credits but is that enough? Do public programs absolve big business of their social responsibility?

“The need for Corporations to give back to their communities is far more notable than 27 years ago” Pratt suggests, yet the challenge is not being met.

“The notion of Corporate responsibility has faded from the visions and goals of our organizations” he said, adding at the time though, his speech was certainly very well received by them.

According to Pratt, over these past 27 years more individuals are taking the responsibility of giving quite seriously though.

“There is a smaller number of people giving every year, but the total is going up, the real philanthropists are giving generously.

That’s good news indeed Hubert, but as a society we’re letting Corporations off the hook by being appreciative of the numbers while ignoring from where they come. Pratt agreed.

Let’s first give a little credit where it’s due. Pratt indicated Telus is a unique and generous donor to Community and Programs and it was certainly not an exaggeration. Telus has donated 1.7 billion since 2000, and contributed over 1.5 million volunteer hours in 2023 alone.

From Rural Connectivity and Health to Indigenous Reconciliation, there's an impressive list of social concern topics Telus funds.

“... last month we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the TELUS Student Bursary,” said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO recently in a recent news release.

But that’s one corporation in a country fraught with shareholder systems focused solely on the bottom line with disregard for the communities around them.

Can Social Media play a roll in bullying these Corporations back into the Philanthropy ring?

“Absolutely Pratt laughs. Social Media has tremendous power.”

With 2.1 million people in Canada living in low income families, and a lack of housing added to the mix, it’s become clear the country can only benefit from actively reminding Corporations of the responsibility they have to society.

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