Purdy Crawford named Maple Leaf non-executive chairman

TORONTO — Maple Leaf Foods Inc. posted a $14.8-million loss in what the company concedes was a “very difficult” first quarter, but CEO Michael McCain described the problems as both “transitory” and “self-correcting.” “This was a very difficult quarter, with lower earnings in our protein business overshadowing good improvement in our bakery results,” McCain said.

[AP] - Wallace McCain, the mogul and philanthropist who helped turn a small New Brunswick french fry plant into a multibillion-dollar frozen foods empire and later went on to control meat processor Maple Leaf Foods, has died.

Wallace McCain, who spearheaded the growth of McCain Foods and Maple Leaf Foods, two Canadian corporate icons, died on May 13 at age 81 after a 14-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

TORONTO (AP) -- Wallace McCain, the mogul and philanthropist who helped turn a small New Brunswick french fry plant into a multibillion-dollar frozen foods empire and later went on to control meat processor Maple Leaf Foods, has died. He was 81....

Co-founder of McCain Foods, who later led Maple Leaf Foods, emerged as generous philanthropist

Facing scrutiny, company takes unusual step of amending stock prospectus to address allegations regarding director’s ties to McCain family

Financial Post’s Diane Francis talks to CEO Michael McCain about Maple Leaf's recovery from the 2008 product recall and its five-year plan

In the last week, foreign media outlets have expressed unusual interest in Canada’s failure to emblazon its $20 bill with the correct kind of maple leaf (a botanist from Atlantic Canada claims the leaf depicted is from a Norway maple). At the best of times there is foreign bemusement at Canada’s choice of foliage as a national symbol, but the Bank of Canada’s leafy “controversy” has spurred a rarely-seen level of international interest in Canada’s favourite leaf.