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Charles Baillie Receives OPAS Visionary Award
On
Monday, November 25, A. Charles Baillie, Chairman and CEO of TD Bank Financial
Group, was presented with the 2002 OPAS Visionary Award. The event, sponsored
by Bell Canada, took place at Queen’s University and was broadcast
live to 22 university and college campuses in Ontario, British Columbia
and Alberta to approximately 3000 participants. The seminar was also simultaneously
webcast.
In his address, entitled From Vision to Reality – Our Country, Your Future, Mr. Baillie discussed the critical need for Canada to improve its standard of living. He cautioned his listeners to not be lulled into a false sense of security. "You need only look at our cities’ crumbling sewers, overburdened transit systems and rising homelessness levels to see how thin the veneer of quality really is."
Mr. Baillie went on to say: "If we want to keep head offices in Canada, we need to have a better educated, more productive workforce than the alternative choices." He also stressed the need for more partnership between academia and business. "The Office for Partnerships for Advanced Skills…is to be congratulated for doing precisely that, but we still have a long way to go."
In presenting the Visionary Award, OPAS Board Member, Terry Mosey, President, Bell Ontario, told Mr. Baillie "It’s a real privilege to rub shoulders with a man whose vision is exceeded only by his commitment to make good on his dreams…his foresight and tenacity are fine examples for every passionate believer in Canada."
This was the 6th annual Visionary Seminar, organized by the Office for Partnerships for Advanced Skills, to provide a forum for industry representatives, university faculty and students to join together to hear an informed vision of the future. Previous Visionary speakers have included Ted Rogers (CEO, Rogers Communications), Jean Monty (then Chief Executive, Nortel), John Sheridan (President, Bell Canada), John Cleghorn (then Chairman and CEO of Royal Bank Financial Group) and Mike Lazaridis, (President and Co-CEO of Research In Motion).
The Office for Partnerships for Advanced Skills is a partnership of all Ontario universities and leading Canadian companies, dedicated to advancing industry/university partnerships. It is an affiliate of the Council of Ontario Universities. To view a replay of the broadcast, visit the OPAS website at www.opas-partnerships.com and follow the link.
Photo: (right to left) Chamber of Commerce President Doug Armstrong; Trent Alum Kurt Whitnell, Vice-President of Enterprise Services; Sonja Panova, Admin Studies Student at Trent University; Pat Dunne, Bell Canada; Trent President Bonnie Patterson. Sonja was able to direct a question to Charles Baillie from Trent University and is seen here receiving a door prize from OPAS.
Posted November 26, 2002
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