Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) Pays Tribute to Thomas J. Bata

September 2, 2008

The Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) today paid tribute to Thomas J. Bata, an exemplary Canadian entrepreneur and builder of one of the world’s largest family-run business empires.

A 10th-generation shoemaker, the Czech-born Mr. Bata established his first Canadian factory in 1939 and moved the headquarters of the Bata Shoe Company from Czechoslovakia to Toronto in the 1960s.  He joined the CCCE in 1990 and was an active member of the Council’s Entrepreneurs’ Circle since its inception in 2002.

“In Canada and around the world, Mr. Bata earned respect and admiration for his pioneering spirit, energy and drive for excellence in everything he did,” said Thomas d’Aquino, CCCE Chief Executive and President.  “He was someone I turned to many times for advice on international business matters.  His experience was deep and his judgment invaluable.”

“In person, he was as charming as he was astute. His wife, Sonja, a brilliant business leader in her own right, once described him as a capitalist with a social conscience.  A true humanitarian, he gave generously to the communities in which his company operated, and was among the first CEOs in Canada to fully embrace the concept of sustainable development.”

“With his passing, Canada has lost a giant.  The members of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives salute his memory and offer heartfelt condolences to Sonja Bata, their four children and nine grandchildren, and members of their extended family.”

Founded in 1976, the CCCE is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the goal of making Canada “the best place in the world in which to live, to work, to invest and to grow.”

CCCE members lead companies that collectively administer $3.5 trillion in assets, have annual revenues of more than $800 billion, and are responsible for the vast majority of Canada’s exports, investment, research and development, and training.

The members of the CCCE’s Executive Committee are: Chair, Gordon M. Nixon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Bank of Canada; CCCE Chief Executive and President Thomas d’Aquino; Honorary Chair Richard L. George, President and Chief Executive Officer of Suncor Energy Inc.; and Vice Chairs Dominic D’Alessandro, Paul Desmarais, Jr., Jacques Lamarre, Hartley T. Richardson and Annette Verschuren, the chief executives respectively of Manulife Financial, Power Corporation of Canada, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., James Richardson & Sons, Limited and The Home Depot Canada and Asia.