Seeing as it’s hard for us to not turn most conversations to the topic of business or industry, there has been a great deal of debate over the value of the industry that is getting married.

It starts before it even begins. The engagement ring industry goes to great lengths to sell us diamond rings, with millions of dollars being spent on rings every year.

The wedding industry truly is a recession-proof industry. Every year there are approximately 150,000 wedding performed in Canada at an average cost of $22,000.

According to the National Mail Order Association ( a marketing and consumer analyst group )

The average engagement in the lasts 15 months.

During the engagement period, couples buy:

• $1 billion in furniture
• $250 million in house wares
• $100 million in tableware

$19 billion is spent buying presents at wedding gift registries.

The average amount spent on a bridal gown is $800.

Tuxedoes are typically purchased 5-6 months after the wedding gown.

Bridesmaids’ gowns are general purchased 3-4 months in advance of the event.

One third of engaged couples retain a wedding consultant.

Now that the cap is covering the leak and the problem is “fixed”, BP can put all the blame on Hayward and then move forward with a new CEO, as if to say “oil spills will no longer be a problem, now that that idiot Hayward is gone.”

Had they fired Hayward when Obama recommended they do it, which was almost two months ago, the new CEO would have still had to answer for the continued oil leakage. But now BP can wrap the issue up in a neat little box with Hayward’s name on it, and the new guy, John Browne, will come in looking squeaky clean.

(Don’t think I feel sorry for Hayward, by the way. He will get the golden parachute and secretly meet with the Board of Directors for golf in years to come.)

PR fail.

Sir Richard Branson personally made one of the first deliveries in Toronto to unsuspecting Virgin Mobile Member Adam Morrison. “I don’t even know what to say right now. I can’t believe you guys did this!” said Morrison. “I got my new phone right away and Richard Branson is here. He’s the coolest delivery person ever - and I didn’t even have to tip him!”

“Virgin Mobile is taking the idea of service to a whole new level and delivering it right to our Members’ doorsteps… literally,” said Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group.

Feel challenged yet? Service-based companies should look to Virgin as a benchmark. Thinking outside the box is certainly his trademark, but there’s no reason companies can’t follow Branson’s lead.

According to an internal memo obtained by Canwest News Service, CP’s three biggest members — CTVglobemedia, which owns the Globe and Mail, Torstar Corp., which runs the Toronto Star, and Gesca, which owns La Presse — would become equal partners in a for-profit entity, to be called Canadian Press Enterprises.

The restructuring of the co-operative is a result of financial troubles — the news service struggled after CanWest Global Communications Corp. ended its subscription in 2007 and Quebecor Inc., owner of Sun Media Corp., left this year, the newspaper said. The new agreement is not final and would be subject to federal government approvals, it said.

We all understand the need to stay afloat, but I struggle with this move. CP is already fairly partisan on the side of the liberal party and the deal only confirms it. Partisan news is sticky, in my opinion, and undercuts the objectivity that news sources should aim for. Thoughts?

This is obviously great news. As is the company’scommitments to green business practices.

Question: Does local CSR cancel out practices that neglect the needs of the international community?

“If Ontario wants to help us down in Louisiana, it can do so by helping itself at the same time,” said Mr. Ringo. “We must all stop sending our money to oil companies to take ever bigger risks like offshore drilling and mining tar sands, and instead create jobs at home by powering our vehicles with clean energy.”

Mr. Ringo is a longtime U.S. Gulf advocate, a former Board member of the National Wildlife Federation, and past President of the Apollo Alliance, a group dedicated to the next ‘moon shot’ - the transition to clean energy. “I know from first-hand experience that what is happening in the U.S. Gulf is a heartbreaking tragedy, but an even bigger tragedy will be if we fail to learn from this and don’t chart a pathway off oil,” he said.

I would love to see this happen in my lifetime. But as a daily oil consumer (like the rest of us), I don’t see how this is viable. Most people can’t walk to work (especially in the GTA) and electric cars are expensive. I’m interested to hear Ringo’s ideas.

Back in April, when George Media attended the G8/G20 Business Summit in Gatineau (coverage can be found at www.cbj.ca) I witnessed some of the most enlightened business leaders in the world present the reasons to do business, together. It took me some time to let the real impacts of this event sink in, but alas, here we are and I’m really coming to grips with the messages conveyed at the Summit—just in time for the Leaders’ Summits later this month.

Along with other politicians, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the stage, for quite some time on the second day of events. Normally, Harper is a PM whom I’m fine to support—provided his platform is based on solid fact. For the most part, he did a great job in Gatineau. Harper was quick to illustrate, during his panel discussion with John Manley and Perrin Beatty, that Canadian society is just as well-balanced as its economy.

However, much to my chagrin, he also made a very contentious general statement about Canadian society. I count this as a massive PR mistake, despite the fact that I was likely one of only two or three people that took issue with Harper’s statement (if they heard it).

“I think something has to be said about the Canadian society itself. It’s not that we try to tell our foreign visitors that this country is perfect, but Canada has, in a sense, the first truly globalized population. It is a country where we have people from every background, for the most part successfully integrated, and we have none of the deep social tensions and cleavages that mark so many other societies” Harper said—surely much to the disappointment of anyone in the audience of First Nations origin, or anyone from Quebec. I’m sure there were other audience members who felt alienated…but who am I to say anything? I just think whoever prepped him did a half-baked job.

I had to ask myself, more than a few times, did he really just say that? Stay tuned for an article in CBJ about social tension and how it affects business relationships.

In the meantime, discuss.

Back in April, when George Media attended the G8/G20 Business Summit in Gatineau (coverage can be found at www.cbj.ca) I witnessed some of the most enlightened business leaders in the world present the reasons to do business, together. It took me some time to let the real impacts of this event sink in, but alas, here we are and I’m really coming to grips with the messages conveyed at the Summit-just in time for the Leaders’ Summits later this month.

Along with other politicians, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the stage, for quite some time on the second day of events. Normally, Harper is a PM whom I’m fine to support-provided his platform is based on solid fact. For the most part, he did a great job in Gatineau. Harper was quick to illustrate, during his panel discussion with John Manley and Perrin Beatty, that Canadian society is just as well-balanced as its economy.

However, much to my chagrin, he also made a very contentious general statement about Canadian society. I count this as a massive PR mistake, despite the fact that I was likely one of only two or three people that took issue with Harper’s statement (if they heard it).

“I think something has to be said about the Canadian society itself. It’s not that we try to tell our foreign visitors that this country is perfect, but Canada has, in a sense, the first truly globalized population. It is a country where we have people from every background, for the most part successfully integrated, and we have none of the deep social tensions and cleavages that mark so many other societies” Harper said-surely much to the disappointment of anyone in the audience of First Nations origin, or anyone from Quebec. I’m sure there were other audience members who felt alienated…but who am I to say anything? I just think whoever prepped him did a half-baked job.

I had to ask myself, more than a few times, did he really just say that? Stay tuned for an article in CBJ about social tension and how it affects business relationships.

In the meantime, discuss.

(Picking up where we left off  from the G8/G20 Business Summit)

Concluding the morning session at the G8/G20 Business Summit was a panel discussion with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, hosted by President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Honourable Perrin Beatty, and Honourable John Manley, President and CEO, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.

The panelists, including Harper, were candid with eachother, having all met in the House of Commons at some point. During a lighter part of the discussion, Harper even commented that he “wasn’t used to being peppered from both sides” with Manley and Beatty, quite literally, flanking his sides.

The gentlemen spoke at length about issues that would need confronting at the G8/G20 Leaders’ Summits, and expectations of the G20 to come through on agreements post-Doha.

Beatty asked the tough questions. First was his foray into the failure of international organizations to deliver on promised actions, and so he poised to Harper: “What degree of confidence do you have with the G20 on the agendas they have?”

Harpers comments were positive, and forgiving, as he explained that although the G20 is a powerful group, it is difficult to come to agreement with so many players around the table-referencing the failure of Copenhagen to bring about intended action with regards to climate change.

“So far I think the G20 has shown a capacity to arrive at decisions” Harper acknowledged. “I think the real test going forward now-particularly as we look at creating that longer-term framework for strong sustainable growth-is can we bring forward the same type of consensus and shared responsibility that existed from the economic crisis” he added.

“For the majority, everything I’m seeing so far indicates that all the players around the table want to make it work…I do see evidence that the big players are coming to understand the shared initiatives they have to pursue in order (not just only for the G20) to be successful, but for all of our interests to be protected.”

Harper reasoned that the larger the range of issues, the more difficult it is to deal with on a global front. However, he addressed Beatty’s underlying concern about the ability of the G20 to mobilize when he said his bet is that the G20 will be successful: “I’m optimistic on that.”

Harper went on to say that he say the need for governments not to quash growth, but rather to provide a systematic framework for the market to sustain itself on a global level-echoing the sentiments of the other speakers that day.

The G20: Moving the economy forward

Beatty was on the mark again with his query about the power of the G20 to being about economic change, as he asked if Harper saw the G20 as a “steering committee for the global economy.”

Harper’s response focused in on coordinated policies, and international stability. He explained that “the actions of the G20 truly diverted a world-wide depression-a pretty impressive achievement” and applauded international governments on their ability to curb the economic crisis.

Manley and Harper took the conversation further, speaking to issues about trade restrictions and the necessity for cooperation-not protectionism.

“I think it’s safe to say and fair to say that there has been no systemic widespread move towards to protectionism, and that is a significant achievement. We know from past downturns, that that has been the temptation in any number of countries. The fact that [protectionism] has not broken out as a systemic pattern, notwithstanding a number of individual cases, I think is an achievement” Harper said.

Harper and Manley both agreed that countries must keep the movement of growth forward, and that means pushing a free trade agenda forward.

Canada emerges, relatively unscathed

Harper spent much of his stage time talking about the strength of Canada’s economy, and how Canada can serve as a model for economic stability. “Look at the strengths of the Canadian economy: the biggest thing, we all know, is the financial sector. Not only do we have the strongest financial sector in the world, Canadian banks are some of the largest in the world. Canada has a strong financial position, and we entered this recession with (and by a significant margin), the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio of the G7″ he explained.

“Obviously, that will go up a little bit, because of the large scale economic stimulus programs we’ve been running-we will actually emerge from this recession in relative terms with an even wider lead in terms of the best fiscal position in the G7″ Harper continued, and went on to point out Canada’s well-balanced economy and the country’s advanced sectors.

“We’re going to be the place from which to do business in North America. We’re not trying to erect walls, not trying to trump up our strengths simply in isolation. We’re trying to contribute to the development of good global governance of good global policies” he concluded.