Five years ago, when he was presented with an honorary degree at the University of Calgary, Dick Haskayne lectured a graduating class about the importance of developing relationships with mentors and role models such as the late U of C president, Murray Fraser, Haskayne’s own friend and role model.

There’s another role model he could have mentioned.

Dick Haskayne.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
Dick Haskayne has donated $16 million in cash and land to the U of C.

Haskayne is one of the oilpatch’s most respected and revered executives, having built a fortune on values such as integrity and ethics.

Haskayne’s lifelong passions – education and the oilpatch – were fittingly interwoven last week when the U of C’s business school was renamed in his honour, the Dick Haskayne School of Business.

Haskayne, the gentlemanly 67-year-old former U of C chairman, and his wife Lois have donated $16 million in cash and land to the U of C.

Ironically, the prominent Calgary businessman – who was preaching ethics in business long before it became fashionable – was thrust back into the limelight at the same time as a series of shocking scandals was shaking the foundations of the business world.

And no doubt that’s a good thing, particularly if students model their ethics after the man whose name graces the marquee to their classrooms.

1. How did you spend your youth in Gleichen?

“My dad (Robert) was a butcher who came here from England in 1913. I had an interesting upbringing working at the butcher shop. We killed our own cattle. I worked in the butcher shop from the time I had to put a box behind the scale so I could see the prices on the butcher scale.”

2. How did that experience prepare you for your business career?

“People ask me: ‘How did you do well in business?’ I say: ‘Look, I’m not being corny but, if I know anything about business, I learned as much from my old dad with a Grade 8 education running the butcher shop as I have learned subsequently, taking commerce (at the University of Alberta) and my CA (chartered accountant) courses. I also had a very strong mother (Bertha) who was wonderful. I had a chance to go play with the Medicine Hat Tigers (junior hockey), which was the ultimate. But my dad, God bless him, made me stop that and go to university in 1953. He was right.”

3. What drew you to the oilpatch?

“After graduating in commerce, I articled for a chartered accountant. The firm I was with did a lot of auditing of the big oil companies. I found that the oil industry paid well, the offices were so nice and the people were so interesting, so when I graduated with my CA in 1959, I joined Hudson Bay Oil & Gas as supervisor of corporate accounting.”

4. To what do you attribute your success in the oilpatch?

“First of all, you have to work hard. I know it sounds like preaching, but I really honestly believe that good ethics is good business. You never know in this world who is looking at you, and that group is broader than you think.

“I see people doing things that are cute and sly, and they think they’re getting away with something. But you never know . . . . I don’t want to moralize, but I really believe that (ethical approach). It’s been beneficial to me. I’m not saying I did everything right. I sure as hell have tried. And I’ve had some good luck too.”

5. How has your accounting training helped you succeed?

“It has been very helpful because I don’t have a technical background (in oil and gas). When you understand accounting issues, you have a better grasp than others.”

6. What’s the best advice you’d give a commerce or accounting student entering the workplace?

“I think too many people, particularly in the world we live in today, are too materialistic and it causes problems because they think that money is everything or position is everything or status is everything. My sense is that if you’re good at something, it’s usually because you like it, or if you like something, you’re good at it. I don’t know how that works, but they’re interrelated.

“So, if there’s something you do reasonably well and, in addition, it’s fun, you should do that regardless of whether you’re an artist or an accountant or whatever. If there’s something that appeals to you, I think the other things will tend to follow, be it stature or money or whatever.

“I see too many kids become doctors because their dads were doctors even if they don’t like it.”

7. Was it an easy decision choosing the University of Calgary for your generous donation?

“I’ve been associated with the U of C for such a long time and I became particularly influenced by the dedication of the university while I was chairman there for six years. And Murray Fraser (the late U of C president) was one of the most ethical, most honest and nicest men I’ve ever met. I feel that we should have one of the best-ranked business schools in Canada with the second most head offices in Canada.”

8. Have you always been a strong believer in giving back to your community?

“I’ve always done that. I learned that from my mother. She was one of the most generous and wonderful persons in the world. We probably fed and financed a lot of people through the 1930s. So that was part of the ethic I grew up with.

“I didn’t want the publicity (over the U of C donation), because I didn’t want people to know my net worth. So I found it embarrassing to do that, as did my wife (Lois). Finally, I said: ‘We really need to do this because it’ll be found out some time.’ ”

9. How does it feel to be able to make such an impact in the community?

“I think that it’s important that when we talk about what people do for a community, that we don’t just stress the cash that they give. There are a hell of a lot of people who don’t have the cash who are wonderful (volunteer) workers, and that’s why Calgary is such a good place to live. I don’t like to see too much emphasis put on a high cash number because I think it downgrades other people who are doing wonderful things that money can’t buy.”

10. You’ve termed the standard of business conduct and ethics as shameful. Do you believe that greed is at the heart of the recent accounting and corporate scandals concerning Arthur Andersen Accounting, Enron and others?

“I have no doubt about that. It is stock options (to executives) and greed. Even Murray Fraser, as an old dean of law, would likely say it’s not whether it was legal, but whether it was right that’s important.”

11. So, what must we be teaching commerce and accounting students that they aren’t being taught?

“I think we have to show them some of the consequences of some of these actions. I think there has to be some strong action taken against some of these people who have committed these crimes or unethical acts.

“Then we can say that (unethical business) isn’t going to pay. But, right now, you’re not seeing too many people going to jail or whatever and some of these are absolute thefts. We have to come down very much harder on these people and I’m not just talking about the law doing it. I’m talking about boards of directors, Goddammit. We as directors – and I’m a director of a lot of companies or have been – have a responsibility. What happened with Enron (the bankruptcy of the energy trader) is appalling. Absolutely shocking. Shameful!”

12. What’s your view of the controversy over the Kyoto accord and its repercussions for the energy industry?

“I’m supportive of what Ralph Klein is trying to do (in rejecting the federal government’s proposal and promoting an alternative plan).

"A lot of companies, including TransCanada Pipelines (of which Haskayne is chairman) have made good strides (in reducing greenhouse gas emissions). But to meet the targets that have been talked about and do that in the face of what is going on in the rest of the world I think is ludicrous. In terms of what we’re trying to achieve here, I think it’s lunacy.”

13. What’s your outlook for the energy industry?

“I’m very bullish. Don’t expect (natural gas) prices to be $10, but I’m very bullish because I think there’s a basic shortage of natural gas in North America. I think that$4 US (mcf) gas is a minimum price. I’ve always been positive on the oilsands and I think we’re in great shape with that.”

14. Is this business as much fun to you as ever?

“Yeah, it must be, because I could have retired years ago. Some of it has been fun, and some of it has been a little tough, but I must enjoy it. Obviously, I don’t do it for the income. But I’ve never really worked for that purpose.”

15. When hasn’t it been so much fun?

“We had some trouble with TransCanada. I took so much flak in that job (as chairman). Things weren’t working, so the actions we took had to be taken. We sold our assets in South America to get the balance sheet in shape. I’m proud of what we did, but I’ve got to tell you I took more flak than I’ve taken in all my corporate life. We had to cut the dividend, and the stock got pummelled. There were e-mails and phone calls saying what idiots we were. But now we look like heroes. Now TransCanada has the strongest balance sheet it has ever had in its life.”

16. How important is money to you?

“I like to be independent. My dad said: ‘The only independence you have in this life is your own.’ He didn’t like or trust big business. The banks were big businesses, and he didn’t trust them, because he didn’t like the lifestyle. He’d see a bank manager come to our town for two years and then be shifted to somewhere else. He didn’t want someone telling him what he had to do or how he was to live. So, I started investing at an early age – as a kid, actually – not because of a greed for money, but so I could be financially independent. That gave me independence and freedom of thought. I’ve given more (money) away in the last three or four years than I ever thought I would make.”

17. What other charitable causes are close to your heart?

“I had a bursary set up in my (late wife Lee’s) name when she died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1993. It provides $4,000 a year for 10 students from small towns. This is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. It’s called the Lee Haskayne Memorial Bursary. We have a pizza party every year for these kids. Kids from small towns have a competitive disadvantage (in enrolling at the U of C). It has been a godsend for these kids.”

18. When you reflect on your career, are there any regrets?

“I’ve had a great time. If I was out of here tomorrow, nobody needs to feel sorry. I’ve done more things and had more fun and hopefully left the world a little bit better than I found it. I’ve known so many wonderful people.”

19. What are your plans for age 70 when you reach mandatory retirement from the boards on which you serve?

“I’m ready to go. I’ve done enough. I’ve been a director on 18 boards and chairman of six boards. I’ll always find something to do. I love my investments. I’ll take more time to travel and golf.”

20. Are there any other aspirations you’d like to talk about?

“I love what I do now. I love the business. I read five papers a day. I keep in touch with a lot of people. The lease on this office (Haskayne & Partners) is for another five years and my target is to get to end of the lease before I croak.”

IN PROFILE: Dick Haskayne

* Born/raised/age: Calgary, Gleichen, AB, 67.

* Titles: Chairman, TransCanada PipeLines, Fording; director, Weyerhaeuser Co., Encana Corp. and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; chairman emeritus, University of Calgary.

* Education: Bachelor of Commerce, University of Alberta (1956), chartered accountant designation, 1959.

* Family: Wife Lois.

* Career: After four years as an accountant and articling student, Haskayne began a career in the oil and gas industry in 1960 as corporate accounting supervisor with Hudson Bay Oil & Gas, rising to president until the company was acquired by Dome Petroleum in 1981. He was president and CEO of Home Oil from 1981 to 1991, and at the same time served as president and CEO of Interhome Energy (1987 to 1991). Since then, he has been chairman of Interhome, Nova Corp., MacMillan Bloedel and TransAlta and director of many companies.

* Honours: Haskayne was recently honoured with the renaming of the University of Calgary business school to the Dick Haskayne School of Business. In 1997, Haskayne was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada. He has won the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Business Leader Award and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants Distinguished Service Award.

* Role models: His father; Murray Fraser (former U of C president).

* Passions: Philanthropy, golf.