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The Citizen, 1991-08-07, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7,1991. PAGE 5. / New idea doesn't smell right The burgundy BMW (vanity plate EGO 1) squeals to a stop directly in front of the NO PARKING ANYTIME sign. Vaulting from the driver’s seat, a slim, tousle-haired businessman checks his Rolexed wrist, hefts a slim attache case in one hand and a Toshiba laptop computer in the other as he jogs easily towards the glass doors leading to an exclusive-looking condominium tower. A liveried doorman opens the door, bows and touches his cap to our hero, who flashes a Kennedyesque smile of acknowledgement. “Have them wash the car, will you Johnson? I'll need it again at 7:30.” The young man, still smiling, disappears in a hiss of closing elevator doors. Sound like anybody you know? Well, if he's not in your life now, he will be soon. Here's a little more data so you'll recognize the chap when he shows up: He flies business class, likes Greshwin music, has a TV in his bathroom and keeps A look at Canada from afar BY RAYMOND CANON A great many Canadians, since the demise of the Meech Lake Agreement, have been going through a rather tortuous and not always pleasant bout of introspection but, as is generally the case in such situations, they are too close to the trees to realize that they constitute a forest. Accordingly over the past year I have been holding discussions, both written and oral, with those of my acquaintances who are not living in Canada but who have a relatively good knowledge of the country; certainly enough to form opinions. During my last trip to Europe I held a few final conversations and what I present below is the gist of their opinions. I might add that there was a remarkably high degree of agreement in their observations. One of the most important points was that by and large Canadians were not ready for trade liberalization such as the recent free trade agreement since they were too busy practising protectionism in their own country. What this means is that we still have far too many barriers between provinces to be able to compete effectively on world markets. This has the effect of making an already small market that much smaller and companies who compete in small markets are ill equipped to compete on world markets. Recommendation No. 1 was, therefore, to get rid of provincial protectionism at the earliest possible moment. I made, in my question, specific reference to the position of Quebec in or outside a Canadian confederation; I think that you will find the answers revealing to say the least. One question was answered by another question. “How do you expect a linguistic minority to act when they find themselves as his laptop in his study. He plays the stockmarket - and the field, having several amours on the go at all times. He also works out with a personal trainer and wears white Jockey briefs under those top-of-the line custom-tailored suits. This...person...is also, I am happy to report, the overcooked figment of a gaggle of advertising copywriters working on the Chanel perfume account. They made the guy up. It's all part of a campaign to promote Egoiste, a brand new perf - sorry, “men's fragrance” due to be launched this fall. According to a company spokesman, Chanel's doing fine in the regular perfume trade. “The place left to develop the business is in the men's area.” Seems to me Chanel is a bit late off the mark - Brut, Old Spice and Canoe have been trying to spiff up male spoor for a few decades at least, but butter late than no show, I suppose. Besides, it's not as if it's a flamingly radical idea or anything. Ancient Greek and Romance males routinely doused themselves with everything from cinnamon to oil of quince. The emperor Nero spent the equivalent of $200,00 on rose oils and rose petal for a single celebration. The Roman Empire may have crumbled into ashes, but it smelled good on the way out. Romans had perfumes for their arms, perfumes for the hair, perfumes for the chest - even perfumes for the eyebrows. The elders of the up and coming Christian church looked on with extreme and flinty disfavour. five million people in a sea of about 275 million English speaking people in North America?” A certain amount of paranoia is bound to creep in. In addition, you have only to look at the history of Canada to realize that both linguistic groups have done a magnificent job of ignoring each other. The average English speaking Canadian probably knows more solid facts about the United States than he or she does about Quebec. Nor is the knowledge about the rest of Canada any more profound in Quebec. One suggestion that I liked was that we might start by twinning ourselves with Quebec communities and then start acting as if it meant something. Get the young people doing student exchanges on a large scale. There is nothing more wrong with the French spoken in Quebec than there is with the English in Canada. As far as the British and French are concerned, we both speak with a decided accent. One theme that ran through the answers was that we should spend more lime looking at and developing our strengths since we have a number of them that are decidedly marketable. Our education system should be spending more time developing young people in the field of technology since there is bound to be a continuous drain of non­ skilled or even semi-skilled jobs. One of my informants asked me what the drop-out rate was in Canadian high schools; I had to reply that it was too high and that studies were currently being done to find out why this was so. I also replied that most students I Letter to the editor policy Letters to the editor must be signed and the name must also be clearly printed and the telephone number and address included. While letters may be printed under a pseudonym, we must be able to verify the iden­ tity of the writer. In addition, although the identity of the writer may be withheld in print, it may be revealed to parties directly involved on per­ sonal appearance at The Citizen's offices. When the Roman Empire finally expired, so did the male perfume business. And it pretty much stayed that way for several centuries. Now, Chanel hopes its new line, Egoiste, will reawaken the dormant dandy in us all. I don't think it's going to work. Not for me, anyway. I don't know anybody like the mythical Chanel critter who opened this column - and if I did, I wouldn't brag about it. I think if men's perfumes are going to take off, perfume makers will have to offer more attractive essences. I don't know any guys who want to smell like tangerines, crushed almonds or the scent gland of a civet cat. Personally I’ve never had any desire to smell like a spilled spice rack or an old English saddle, either. No, what we need are perfumes that reflect manhood. Authentic aromas. Essential essences. Plan common scents, if you will. Such as ... oh, I don't know - Eau de Lumberjack, perhaps? How about Truckers Toilet Water? Cabbies' Cologne? I'm sure Toronto jocks would snap up Blue Jay Bath Salts - and I'll bet men's wear stores in Edmonton wouldn't be able to keep Eau de Oilers in stock. There's a future for men's perfume alright, but not for me. I won't be dabbing any Egoiste behind my ears or on the back of my wrists. Just the usual soap and water. The world will have to take me as I am. Eau natural. had at both the college and university level and who had just come out of high school were ill equipped to compete in a modem world. Also criticized were such things as the level of our research and development, our high deficits at both the federal and provincial level and our high wages compared to productivity gains. On the other side of the coin favourable comments were made about our national health program, the Canadian companies such as Northern Telecom, Bombardier, McCains that were world-class, our participation in world affairs such as peace-keeping duties and our high and pleasant standard of living. One comment was that, if we could only get our act together, we could live in a veritable Garden of Eden. Nobody felt competent to comment on native affairs; they found the whole Oka affair incomprehensible. Without exception there was the belief expressed that we would be far better off with Quebec within Confederation rather than outside. We certainly had the ability to solve our internal problems, it was felt; whether we had the will was another question. In the light of the Economist's recent comment that English Canada could well end up as part of the United States, none of my informants went this far. They were unanimous in their belief that we have a superior standard of living here and it would be a pity, if not a tragedy, if we let it escape. To that I can only say “Amen!” Letter from the editor Giving business a bad name By Keith Roulston If business has a bad name in Canada, people like Victor Rice helped eam it. Victor Rice is the head of Varity Corp., what remains of the once proud Massey-Ferguson company that was synonymous with Canadian business. Last week Mr. Rice got his wish when the shareholders of the company approved the transfer of the company to Buffalo from Toronto where is has operated for 110 years. Mr. Rice is fond of saying that "We have become a U.S. company with a Canadian address". The move, simply confirmed that point and is expected to make more money for the shareholders by providing a higher profile in the U.S. The move is expected to increase the value of the company's shares by $50 million, including adding an extra $394,000 to Mr. Rice’s share. All of which is perfectly legitimate, even if it does mean a blow to the Canadian psyche except that Mr. Rice wasn't saying it was an American company with a Canadian address a few short years ago when he was attempting to gel federal and provincial money to save his financially-troubled company. Back in 1980, with debts of $1.6 billion, Mr. Rice was approaching the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau in Ottawa and the Progressive Conservative government of Bill Davis in Ontario for loans to bale out the company. It was a tough job. According to Peter Cook in his book Massey at the Brink, the federal government was not enthusiastic. Cabinet ministers felt the company had deliberately downplayed its Canadian roots over the years and pointed out that less than 7(XX) of 47,000 jobs of the company's worldwide payroll were located in Canada, compared to 17,000 in Britain. The government also wondered why the Canadian taxpayer should bail out the company's lenders, including many foreign banks. Mr. Rice had to point out the benefits to Canada. After all, Massey was part of the fabric of the land. Then there were the Canadian jobs to be protected. And the part about the heritage of the company in Canada was right. Massey was part of the opening of the prairies. The familiar red and yellow colours were a part of every rural community. Ils combines had made their way around the world. Faced with the loss of jobs and, with an election coming on in Ontario, the federal and provincial governments agreed to pay off $200 million of Massey's loans. Everybody felt good about saving this "Canadian” institution. But then in 1986, Mr. Rice closed the Canadian plants of Massey Ferguson and changed the name of the company to Varity. The Canadian jobs that had been guaranteed, evaporated. Earlier this year when Mr. Rice began to talk about moving the company to the U.S., Canadian governments started talking about a law suit. They finally reached an agreement to accept $21 million for revising the job guarantees and voting with the management on the move to the U.S. Canadians, for their $200 million investment, get that $21 plus about $37 million in slock. Mr. Rice has, through his maneuverings, probably saved his company and his move to the U.S. may increase profits for his shareholders. That, for many in business, is all that counts. But playing both sides against the middle, exploiting taxpayers and workers and breaking agreements in order to save the company gives business exactly the kind of bad name businesspeople don't want. Canadian taxpayers can only wish their governments had been as ruthless as Mr. Rice and let his company die, thereby saving them $150 million.