Saving Capitalism from the Bell Approach to Business

Part five of a five-part series on my departure from iHeartRadio/Bell Media

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Do you have a manager or supervisor you'd say is a good boss? Somebody who makes your job better?

I had a boss like that up until last November. The former program director for Toronto's Newstalk1010 radio station, Mike Bendixen.

Mike made sure that station staff felt heard. We could share what we think. He didn't push his political views onto anybody, and he welcomed diversity of thought.

Of course, the self-assured geniuses at Bell Media fired Mike after twenty-plus years on the job. He was let go just a couple of months before me.

Bell has a different philosophy today. From the top of the organization, Bell's political agenda produces hostility toward employees who are insufficiently liberal or progressive. Surely, corporate officers will tone down their social activism just enough to avoid alienating conservatives and centrists from buying high-priced internet and phone services. But there’s no room at Bell for true diversity in any meaningful way.

I believe we need more Mike Bendixen's in Canada. We need business leaders who see their role in a democracy as one that promotes mutual respect.

The Bell Approach to Business is Unsustainable

Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the Ottawa trucker convoy, a growing number of businesses are choosing to show hostility to citizens who don't share their political agenda.

GoFundMe was the first company to strike against the truckers by freezing donations made to the convoy. This is the same GoFundMe that unapologetically fundraised for illegal Antifa and Black Lives Matter activities in Seattle in 2020. 

After GoFundMe’s decision, the trucker convoy turned to another fundraising platform, GiveSendGo. A data breach at GiveSendGo revealed the names of some trucker convoy donors. Shockingly, Twitter allowed this illegal, hacked private information to circulate on its platform. Less shockingly, corporate media outlets like the Toronto Star piled onto convoy supporters by publishing "So your worker joined the convoy protests. Can you fire them?"

These businesses aren't even hiding their biases. And who could blame them for being so confident? Companies like Bell continue to profit from rising stock prices. Still, clear-eyed observers can see that the Bell approach to business is unsustainable over the long haul.

Without a course correction, two (not mutually exclusive) outcomes are possible:

1. Our economy could become as polarized as our culture wars, and we'll have at least two of every business: one for the left side of the political spectrum and another for the right. Radio host and entrepreneur Ben Shapiro has noted that, in response to cancel culture, an alternative right-wing economy is emerging in the US. Shapiro's Daily Wire has entered the film industry as a conservative-friendly alternative to hyper-partisan Hollywood.

2. Enough citizens could be so fed up with businesses that governments will create new checks and balances on the social activism of for-profit companies and their investors. Earlier this month, the National Post published my thoughts on public policy options to rein in corporate power.

Businesses that make short-sighted decisions to please today's activists risk colliding with a citizenry that's far more diverse than the typical corporate boardroom. To avoid such a collision, it would be wise to focus on the public benefits of capitalism, such as innovation, economic growth, and efficiency, and keep away from needless division.

A Way Forward

Since opening up about the circumstances that led to my departure from iHeartRadio/Bell Media, I've spoken with dozens of business leaders in Canada and the US. Many of them have encouraged me to work with the business community to address the problems posed by stakeholder capitalism and wokeness.

Inspired by these conversations, I have started to identify some guiding ideas that, if applied correctly, can help business leaders proactively steer clear of becoming political organizations.

• Non-partisanship means welcoming employees, customers, shareholders, and suppliers with differing political views, so long as they have respect for human rights.

• In a free and democratic society, citizens will often disagree. It is not the proper role of a business to fan the flames of division.

• Adhering to Good Governance principles (e.g. principles of effective collaboration, performance orientation, openness, transparency, and integrity) is necessary for a business to fulfill its role and responsibilities in a democracy.

In the coming weeks and months, I will share more about potential solutions that involve the business community, and explore public policy responses to excessive corporate power. My hope is to advocate for a way forward that can save capitalism from the Bell approach to business.

Thanks for being part of this journey.