Messages from the CEO

Check out the latest COVID-19 updates and messages from Black & McDonald CEOs.

  • Published On: December 23, 2021

    Everyone, Well, that didn’t take long.  In the two weeks since my last message, Omicron has laid siege to the world and new cases are exploding at growth rates unseen at any moment of [...]

  • Published On: December 6, 2021

    Hello Everyone, You will not be surprised to know that I am all-in on the promotion of words. In case you missed it, the dictionary people Merriam-Webster announced their Word of the Year recently. [...]

  • Published On: September 7, 2021

    Everyone, Summer’s end is always bittersweet. Labour Day isn’t really end of summer. Astronomically speaking, that would be the fall equinox that occurs this year on September 22 here in the northern hemisphere. But it [...]

  • Published On: June 30, 2021

    I sometimes hold it half a sin To put in words the grief I feel; For words, like Nature, half reveal And half conceal the Soul within. But, for the unquiet heart and brain, A [...]

  • Published On: May 19, 2021

    Everyone, Over this past weekend, we suffered our darkest hour of the pandemic as a company and a community. A gentleman who worked for us in our Western Industrial group died Saturday in a northern [...]

  • Published On: April 15, 2021

    Everyone, And that’s where the hornet stung me, and I had a feverish dream. I imagine most Canadians my age recognize that lyric from The Tragically Hip’s “Ahead by a Century”. A memorable song written [...]

  • Published On: March 5, 2021

    Everyone, It has been a while since my last update. It is not that I consciously decided to skip February. It just turned out that way. I prefer to strike a hopeful tone in my [...]

  • Published On: January 5, 2021

    Everyone, I am not big on New Year’s resolutions during the best of times. Not that I don’t have plenty to improve upon. It’s just that smaller, simpler and more frequent plans have always worked [...]

  • Published On: December 18, 2020

    Everyone, I recently came across a newspaper recap of the pandemic crisis entitled “COVID-19 Year One”. I didn’t read the article. I never made it past the title. The “COVID-19” part was hardly surprising. I [...]

  • Published On: November 24, 2020

    Everyone, It is safe to say that COVID-19 is currently laying a beating on us. A bad one. Case counts are exploding in many of our communities in Canada and the United States. It is [...]

  • Published On: November 11, 2020

    Everyone, So much of our conversation during this pandemic has focused on sacrifice. The ongoing actions, large and small, that we are collectively and personally required to do to stop the spread of this coronavirus [...]

  • Published On: November 2, 2020

    Everyone, Halloween was effectively cancelled here in Toronto this past weekend. The trick-or-treating was deemed imprudent given the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases. There were still pumpkins and decorations and some kids prowling round in [...]

  • Published On: October 9, 2020

    Everyone, We celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend here in the Great White North. Technically speaking, the holiday is on Monday but no one gets too fussy about when the celebratory meal occurs. Though transformed by modern [...]

  • Published On: September 21, 2020

    Everyone, It has been nearly three weeks since my last update and the hard realities of this pandemic are coming to the forefront once again. In B&M, we experienced four new infections during this time, [...]

  • Published On: September 1, 2020

    Everyone, It happens every year. I still feel that same tinge of dread and nervous excitement that I experienced as a kid on the first of September. That old program, etched there in my memory, [...]

  • Published On: August 14, 2020

    Everyone, Apologies for skipping a week but I took some time off and tried to keep the laptop closed. I did reasonably well. We are now at Day 157 since Canada experienced its 100th case of [...]

  • Published On: July 31, 2020

    Everyone, We continue to experience new cases of COVID-19 infection within our B&M ranks. My last message did not account for two other emerging incidents. To get everyone caught up, I can tell you that [...]

  • Published On: July 20, 2020

    Everyone, We have two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the B&M ranks since my last update. Both have occurred in our Kansas City operation and fortunately the individuals are recovering without serious issue thus [...]

  • Published On: July 10, 2020

    Everyone, “Are we there yet?” There aren’t many of us who haven’t uttered these words from the back seat of the car on a long journey or fielded this question while at the wheel. This [...]

  • Published On: July 2, 2020

    Everyone, Happy Canada Day ! Mask up. To protect others. Please. Bruce

  • Published On: June 26, 2020

    Everyone, I had a good week. I visited two of our locations – our Southern Ontario hub at Pullman Court in Toronto and our Southwest Ontario office in Stoney Creek. Both are relatively short drives [...]

  • Published On: June 20, 2020

    Everyone, We experienced a new confirmed case of COVID-19 amongst our employee group in the past week. It is a cautionary tale that highlights the dangerous and unpredictable nature of the virus. An FM site [...]

  • Published On: June 12, 2020

    Everyone, As I promised in a prior message, here is a more “business-y” update further to the recent completion of our year-end forecasts and a lookback on our first 100 days since Canada and the [...]

  • Published On: June 5, 2020

    Everyone, Complacency is a silent and relentless adversary. It impedes our ability to perform effectively, to adapt and improve ourselves, and to do things right. With respect to safety, we strive to be free from [...]

  • Published On: May 30, 2020

    Everyone, “What if these are the good old days?” This wry observation was made by comedian Conan O’Brien recently. It isn’t most uplifting of thoughts but I think the underlying message is important: we will [...]

  • Published On: May 22, 2020

    Everyone, It has now been over two months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and health authorities across North America began instituting social distancing rules and public restrictions everywhere we live [...]

  • Published On: May 15, 2020

    Everyone, We have witnessed many encouraging signs in the past week. The pandemic math is improving in the majority of our communities. We remain safely at work. We have no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 [...]

  • Published On: May 9, 2020

    Everyone, In the past week, we confirmed a new case of COVID-19 within our ranks. An employee in Quebec tested positive and remains ill at home with at present. This individual is on temporary layoff [...]

  • Published On: May 2, 2020

    Everyone, When people ask me how the company is doing, I have been using the following analogy of late: “we made a controlled descent to a lower altitude but our aircraft and our flight plan [...]

  • Published On: April 24, 2020

    Everyone, I am pleased to report that we have no new COVID-19 infections within our staff over the past week.  Three of the five previously reported cases are fully recovered and the other two are [...]

  • Published On: April 18, 2020

    Everyone, Let’s start with the good news.  We have no new COVID-19 infections within our staff over the past week.  All five of the previous cases are recovered or well on their way to recovery. [...]

  • Published On: April 10, 2020

    Everyone, Earlier this week, someone thoughtfully asked me how I am doing and how I am coping.  Quite honestly, I am not sure I am doing or coping better than anyone else but I am [...]

  • Published On: April 4, 2020

    Everyone, Here is my update as of midday Saturday. We have 3 known cases of COVID-19 infection within the company and 1 case in a joint-venture company to date.  Fortunately none of these people have [...]

  • Published On: April 1, 2020

    Everyone, Today I want to share some thoughts about the safety of our field workforce as it relates to COVID-19 exposure. During a normal workday, B&M’ers in both the field and office manage a wide [...]

  • Published On: March 29, 2020

    Everyone, Clearly the flaw in this weekend is that the week has not yet ended for many.  I understand and truly appreciate how hard everyone is working, day and night, to put the pieces of [...]

  • Published On: March 25, 2020

    To All, The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has materially changed the way that we live and work. Black & McDonald has responded admirably thus far and we are so proud and grateful for the tireless effort [...]

  • Published On: March 23, 2020

    On behalf of Black & McDonald’s COVID-19 Crisis Management Team (CCMT), I am providing this update for all employees of Black & McDonald, its subsidiaries and joint ventures as of Monday, March 23, 2020. We [...]

  • Published On: March 20, 2020

    Everyone, Much has happened since my message on Monday but the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the health and wellbeing of our people and our company remains consistently serious. I assure you that [...]

  • Published On: March 16, 2020

    To the Black & McDonald community, The COVID-19 pandemic is a complex, extraordinary and dangerous crisis that is changing rapidly hour by hour. While much remains unknown about the virus and uncertain about the outbreak, [...]