Five Years in Canada and Elsewhere
Where I spent days on end in New Delhi
I drove up to Canada with George Baughman, head of North American Sales to meet my future colleagues. A lot of them spoke with English or Scottish accents, but there were many who had been born in Canada. Without exception they were all very nice people. Until a house could be built, I was to commute up and down from Warren, Ohio every week and stay at the Holiday Inn in what was then Hespeler, just a few miles up the road from the plant and near Hwy 401 running between Windsor and most points east. There were three major steel companies in Canada at that time, but it was decided, much to my annoyance, that I was not to be the lead sales contact for any of them and should handle the rest of the industry, such as it was.
Canada had a very active Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce in Ottawa, promoting exports from Canada, and it was not long before I was contacted by their Andy Morrison to introduce himself. Wean USA had sold a complex process line to the Tinplate Company of India; the project was to be financed by the US Export Import Bank. It transpired that the US had upset India and vice versa related to China and Pakistan and various other affronts, as a result of which the Exim financing offer was withdrawn. I must have mentioned this to Andy Morrison as the idea of transferring the project to Canada and financing it from Ottawa was born. Briefly: the Canadian Export Development Corporation offered to finance the project. I went to India to present the plan to the customer in Calcutta and to the authorities in the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi. They felt the terms were a little stiff–4% rate 5 year grace, 10 year term–and I returned to Canada to see if a better deal could be obtained. With Andy’s help the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA, was prevailed upon to offer a 0% interest rate for 20 years with no payments for the first 10 years. Unbelievable! I jetted back to India; presented the new offer; the Indians sniffed and said it might be acceptable, but they’d have to think about it. And so began and strengthened my 'never ever again' relationship with India! It was to last for about 20 years, until my career moved me on.
Canada had a very active Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce in Ottawa, promoting exports from Canada, and it was not long before I was contacted by their Andy Morrison to introduce himself. Wean USA had sold a complex process line to the Tinplate Company of India; the project was to be financed by the US Export Import Bank. It transpired that the US had upset India and vice versa related to China and Pakistan and various other affronts, as a result of which the Exim financing offer was withdrawn. I must have mentioned this to Andy Morrison as the idea of transferring the project to Canada and financing it from Ottawa was born. Briefly: the Canadian Export Development Corporation offered to finance the project. I went to India to present the plan to the customer in Calcutta and to the authorities in the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi. They felt the terms were a little stiff–4% rate 5 year grace, 10 year term–and I returned to Canada to see if a better deal could be obtained. With Andy’s help the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA, was prevailed upon to offer a 0% interest rate for 20 years with no payments for the first 10 years. Unbelievable! I jetted back to India; presented the new offer; the Indians sniffed and said it might be acceptable, but they’d have to think about it. And so began and strengthened my 'never ever again' relationship with India! It was to last for about 20 years, until my career moved me on.
A Skoda similar to Dedecek's
The move to Canada brought another major change which was to set the course for the remainder of my life. Perhaps due to my almost continuous travel overseas my marriage did not fare well and it was discontinued. In the meantime, just around the corner from our house lived a young and beautiful Czech girl. In late 1974 it was determined that I should travel to Prague, on one of my return trips from India to meet the parents. The atmosphere in then Czechoslovakia was not wonderful and my knowledge of Czech was totally absent as I arrived in dark, depressing Prague. Arriving in the flat on Ulice Krymska in Vrsovice, Prague 10, I was introduced to Pilsener Urquell and, several half liters thereafter, was obliged to learn a very important word in Czech. Having spent a day or so touring Prague at the normal high speed of Babicka, we boarded Dedecek’s old Skoda and drove up to Doubravice, some 90 kilometers from Prague. As unchanged as the house and property were from thirty or so years previously, when I first set eyes on it, I fell in love with it. In 1975 Zdenka and I married and we adopted our number one daughter, who was just four years old when we got together. We did a dramatic modernization of the Doubravice house in 1995. In 2004, when I retired we continued to do a bit here and a bit there until it is now our favorite place on earth and equally appreciated by our children and grandchildren. But, more on that later…
At some point, maybe 1973, Andy Morrison told me about a large project in Peru, bigger and more comprehensive than the one in India. I was not quite sure where Peru was located, but found out soon enough that even though it is on the west coast of South America surprisingly it is east of Toronto. I received permission from Pittsburgh to go for it, despite its location not being exactly in Canada–my assigned territory. This time, with Ottawa’s EDC financing we were awarded the contract and, in the process, I was forced to become fairly competent in Peruvian Spanish–at least for the purposes of negotiating the commercial contract. The project was a success for Wean and the last electrolytic tinning line they built in South America.
In 1974 I crossed paths with Steve Roberts again. Steve had left Head Wrightson and emigrated to Canada, while I had gone further south. Steve and his wife to be in the future had opened channels for Canadian exports to China and hoped that Wean United would be one of those suppliers. Our manufacturing facility in Canada was not designed to produce the type of equipment originally required by the Chinese and it was not a perfect fit. However, our friendship remained and continues to this day fifty years after we first met. While working in Canada there were contacts to both Chinese and Soviet Russian delegations, but, being a subsidiary of a US company, the political climate between the USA and those communist nations was a strong inhibiting factor.
Just after Christmas 1975 my two girls and I were seated in the kitchen on a crisp Canadian morn, when the phone rang and it was my leader, Jack Wean, enquiring as to my plans for the next week. We had all planned to travel to England that next Friday, to introduce my parents to my new family; the girls would stay in England for just over two weeks, while I nipped over to India for some meetings, which had been scheduled; I would return to England, spend the weekend and all of us would return to Canada. Jack had other plans for me. I was to go to Brazil, very definitely not Canadian territory, to form a consortium to submit a tender for two very large electrolytic tinning lines to the Brazilian National Steel company, CSN, and arrange Canadian Government financing. With whom should I form a consortium, I asked? Jack replied that if he knew the answer to that, he would not need me in the first place; thus was I incentivized to take up the mission.
A quick change of ticketing and the girls were off to England with limited experience in the language and somewhat deterred by the whole plan.
Meanwhile, a general manager of the Canadian company had been appointed and he was deputed to go to India in my stead. It took me another five years to straighten out the mess he created with the customer and about a ten percent reduction in the escalation money I was negotiating for. Never send an amateur to do a professional's job!
At some point, maybe 1973, Andy Morrison told me about a large project in Peru, bigger and more comprehensive than the one in India. I was not quite sure where Peru was located, but found out soon enough that even though it is on the west coast of South America surprisingly it is east of Toronto. I received permission from Pittsburgh to go for it, despite its location not being exactly in Canada–my assigned territory. This time, with Ottawa’s EDC financing we were awarded the contract and, in the process, I was forced to become fairly competent in Peruvian Spanish–at least for the purposes of negotiating the commercial contract. The project was a success for Wean and the last electrolytic tinning line they built in South America.
In 1974 I crossed paths with Steve Roberts again. Steve had left Head Wrightson and emigrated to Canada, while I had gone further south. Steve and his wife to be in the future had opened channels for Canadian exports to China and hoped that Wean United would be one of those suppliers. Our manufacturing facility in Canada was not designed to produce the type of equipment originally required by the Chinese and it was not a perfect fit. However, our friendship remained and continues to this day fifty years after we first met. While working in Canada there were contacts to both Chinese and Soviet Russian delegations, but, being a subsidiary of a US company, the political climate between the USA and those communist nations was a strong inhibiting factor.
Just after Christmas 1975 my two girls and I were seated in the kitchen on a crisp Canadian morn, when the phone rang and it was my leader, Jack Wean, enquiring as to my plans for the next week. We had all planned to travel to England that next Friday, to introduce my parents to my new family; the girls would stay in England for just over two weeks, while I nipped over to India for some meetings, which had been scheduled; I would return to England, spend the weekend and all of us would return to Canada. Jack had other plans for me. I was to go to Brazil, very definitely not Canadian territory, to form a consortium to submit a tender for two very large electrolytic tinning lines to the Brazilian National Steel company, CSN, and arrange Canadian Government financing. With whom should I form a consortium, I asked? Jack replied that if he knew the answer to that, he would not need me in the first place; thus was I incentivized to take up the mission.
A quick change of ticketing and the girls were off to England with limited experience in the language and somewhat deterred by the whole plan.
Meanwhile, a general manager of the Canadian company had been appointed and he was deputed to go to India in my stead. It took me another five years to straighten out the mess he created with the customer and about a ten percent reduction in the escalation money I was negotiating for. Never send an amateur to do a professional's job!
Down in Brazil, I had discovered a very good Franco-Brazilian engineering company, which understood what was to be done and, as a third member of the consortium, a Rio-based fabricator. Thus I set established a work space for myself in the offices of Fives Caille do Brasil, in the business section of Rio, and residence at the Hotel Trocadero on the beach in Copacabana. I commuted via luxury (air conditioned) bus, which was quite comfortable.
My rudimentary Peruvian Spanish was my major form of communicating with the Brasileiros, since Portuguese was evidently not my forte. From time to time Wean’s Rio-based Brazilian representative, unfortunately somewhat addicted to gin, and I would trek down the road to Sao Paulo along which, in the mountains, lay Volta Redonda and CSN. After the first transit to CSN, with Bob driving, I told him that I would drive in future and he could enjoy the warm glow of his breakfast gin; I discovered, very quickly, that apart from being permanently under the influence, Bob was never punctual. I was and still am uncomfortable if anything prevents me from being where I’m supposed to be a few minutes before the appointed time. The simple solution was to remind Bob frequently that we would depart at such and such a time, which was at least one hour before I wanted to go; this was relatively successful. Why did we have such a fellow? Probably because he spoke English, German and Portugese…
From time to time, in order to meet with our Brazilian lawyer, it was necessary for me to go to Sao Paulo, an amazingly large skyscrapered city with a ‘downtown’ airport perilously located in the midst of the high rises. Rio had a ‘downtown’ airport but the runway was just along the sea shore without any building to challenge the pilot; however, the runway seemed to be extremely short and I was always hopeful that we could become airborne or land borne but never seaborne. The route between Rio and Sao Paulo was called the Ponte Aerea–air bridge and it was exceptionally convenient for a quick trip without reservations, having service every 30 minutes each way. Since I disliked Sao Paulo at that time, I was quite a frequent traveller on the Ponte Aerea.
My rudimentary Peruvian Spanish was my major form of communicating with the Brasileiros, since Portuguese was evidently not my forte. From time to time Wean’s Rio-based Brazilian representative, unfortunately somewhat addicted to gin, and I would trek down the road to Sao Paulo along which, in the mountains, lay Volta Redonda and CSN. After the first transit to CSN, with Bob driving, I told him that I would drive in future and he could enjoy the warm glow of his breakfast gin; I discovered, very quickly, that apart from being permanently under the influence, Bob was never punctual. I was and still am uncomfortable if anything prevents me from being where I’m supposed to be a few minutes before the appointed time. The simple solution was to remind Bob frequently that we would depart at such and such a time, which was at least one hour before I wanted to go; this was relatively successful. Why did we have such a fellow? Probably because he spoke English, German and Portugese…
From time to time, in order to meet with our Brazilian lawyer, it was necessary for me to go to Sao Paulo, an amazingly large skyscrapered city with a ‘downtown’ airport perilously located in the midst of the high rises. Rio had a ‘downtown’ airport but the runway was just along the sea shore without any building to challenge the pilot; however, the runway seemed to be extremely short and I was always hopeful that we could become airborne or land borne but never seaborne. The route between Rio and Sao Paulo was called the Ponte Aerea–air bridge and it was exceptionally convenient for a quick trip without reservations, having service every 30 minutes each way. Since I disliked Sao Paulo at that time, I was quite a frequent traveller on the Ponte Aerea.
View over Volta Redonda, RJ
The development of tenders in accordance with CSN’s bidding procedures was expensive and very time consuming, requiring me, as the Consortium Leader to be in Brazil most of the time, with little business reason to be in North America. After a while, I became quite frustrated with the forced absence from my family and negotiated a ‘holiday’ in which the company would fly the girls down to Rio so that I could, at least, spend the weekends with them, while continuing to work on the Consortium’s tender. They were there for three weeks; so was number two daughter although she was several months away from opening her eyes on the world. Nancy, at six years of age, developed an amazing taste for pigeon eggs, which were always on the table in the Trocadero’s restaurant as an appetizer. Just as well. Despite our enthusiasm for getting Nancy to bed at a reasonable time and despite our turning up for dinner at seven o’clock only to be reminded that lunch had only just been cleared up, we never really got to eat until ten thirty or so and we were alone in the restaurant as this was far too early for the denizens of Rio. Apart from starting late it was not possible to complete dinner in much less than two hours; we got used to this quickly, since there was no alternative. Returning to Canada, we were very upset to have our food thrown at us and be finished in half an hour or so it seemed, but we got used to that again too.
Since I had spent so much time, and money, at the Hotel Trocadero, the manager asked if he could take us for lunch to a great fish restaurant in a place called Mangaratiba–on the coast road towards Sao Paulo. The food was great. The ambience in a smelly, backward, derelict railway station was ‘unusual’ to say the least; the door to the bathroom, adjacent to the bar, had long since been reassigned to some other purpose and location necessitating some innovation on my part to secure a little privacy for the ladies. On the way back to Rio we stopped at a beach with black sand. Nancy was keen to splash in the water and happily returned looking much the same as the sand; the Trocadero’s manager was resigned to his car being filled with black sand since it seemed to adhere to Nancy quite well.
Since I had spent so much time, and money, at the Hotel Trocadero, the manager asked if he could take us for lunch to a great fish restaurant in a place called Mangaratiba–on the coast road towards Sao Paulo. The food was great. The ambience in a smelly, backward, derelict railway station was ‘unusual’ to say the least; the door to the bathroom, adjacent to the bar, had long since been reassigned to some other purpose and location necessitating some innovation on my part to secure a little privacy for the ladies. On the way back to Rio we stopped at a beach with black sand. Nancy was keen to splash in the water and happily returned looking much the same as the sand; the Trocadero’s manager was resigned to his car being filled with black sand since it seemed to adhere to Nancy quite well.
During the weekends in Rio we visited various important sightseeing locations, ranging from Corcovado to the Botanical Gardens; we spent a lot of time on the beach and learned how to get into the water and out again without being smashed to pieces by the great waves pounding in. The Canadian style bikini, with which we were equipped looked absurd on Copacabana Beach and a quick visit to the shopping square was required to obtain some minute triangles of cloth appropriate, for there, but not for the north. Rio was a wonderful city and still safe at that time.
At the end of their visit to Rio, I had to go across to Peru for some meetings, so we all went across in good time to arrive only five hours after the military curfew imposed in an attempt, by the Peruvian Government, to control the activities of the Sendente Luminosa. It was not a safe time and communism was becoming very popular in Peru after years of control by the military. Nevertheless we survived after being stopped by a very untrustworthy looking military patrol with submachine guns thrust through the window of our taxi and arrived at the hotel hours late, but alive. While I had my meetings, our partners in Lima had arranged a guide for the girls to do some sightseeing around the city. Not much to see and what there is is far from beautiful as it never rains in Lima, never. The city is always grey, the weather is gray and is devoid of vegetation except with constant irrigation. Since the only rain falls on the other side of the Andes, irrigating flower beds and trees is not a well established practice. We did see some museums; Nancy had to be left outside as the displays of the innovative reproductive practices of ancient Peruvians were really not suitable for a six year old. Apart from that we saw some unique things and were impressed by the many talents of the Inca’s.
At the end of their visit to Rio, I had to go across to Peru for some meetings, so we all went across in good time to arrive only five hours after the military curfew imposed in an attempt, by the Peruvian Government, to control the activities of the Sendente Luminosa. It was not a safe time and communism was becoming very popular in Peru after years of control by the military. Nevertheless we survived after being stopped by a very untrustworthy looking military patrol with submachine guns thrust through the window of our taxi and arrived at the hotel hours late, but alive. While I had my meetings, our partners in Lima had arranged a guide for the girls to do some sightseeing around the city. Not much to see and what there is is far from beautiful as it never rains in Lima, never. The city is always grey, the weather is gray and is devoid of vegetation except with constant irrigation. Since the only rain falls on the other side of the Andes, irrigating flower beds and trees is not a well established practice. We did see some museums; Nancy had to be left outside as the displays of the innovative reproductive practices of ancient Peruvians were really not suitable for a six year old. Apart from that we saw some unique things and were impressed by the many talents of the Inca’s.
On another visit to Peru my good friend and Wean’s representative, John Trevena, and I had gone into the foothills of the Andes to a restaurant called the Blue Chicken–Pollo Azul. The restaurant is in one of those areas where the underground springs break out of the mountains and the result is spectacular tropical vegetation and blue skies, a complete contrast with Lima. We all enjoyed another visit there together and to a friend of John’s beautiful villa in the same mountainside oasis.
Our consortium really did not stand a chance of winning the contract from CSN; we were competing against a consortium of Japanese tinplate producers and equipment suppliers. Technically we might have been about equal, but we could not afford, nor was it legal for us to arrive for meetings with CSN’s decision makers and forget to walk out with a briefcase stuffed with cash, or so it was alleged. We lost the bid and I returned to a normal life in Canada as Jacalin progressed towards her arrival in March 1977.
Shortly after Jacalin was safely delivered, I received a call from Jeremy Thomas in Pittsburgh who announced that I was to be transferred to the company’s headquarters in Pittsburgh and work for him in the International Sales Department. Evidently the same Mr. Wean, who had dispatched me to Brazil and other places was wondering why someone who was permanently involved in something on the far side of the world was working from Canada and not from corporate HQ! Jeremy called on a Friday afternoon and I was slightly surprised that he expected me to start my new job on the very next Monday morning. And so began another chapter of my life.
Our consortium really did not stand a chance of winning the contract from CSN; we were competing against a consortium of Japanese tinplate producers and equipment suppliers. Technically we might have been about equal, but we could not afford, nor was it legal for us to arrive for meetings with CSN’s decision makers and forget to walk out with a briefcase stuffed with cash, or so it was alleged. We lost the bid and I returned to a normal life in Canada as Jacalin progressed towards her arrival in March 1977.
Shortly after Jacalin was safely delivered, I received a call from Jeremy Thomas in Pittsburgh who announced that I was to be transferred to the company’s headquarters in Pittsburgh and work for him in the International Sales Department. Evidently the same Mr. Wean, who had dispatched me to Brazil and other places was wondering why someone who was permanently involved in something on the far side of the world was working from Canada and not from corporate HQ! Jeremy called on a Friday afternoon and I was slightly surprised that he expected me to start my new job on the very next Monday morning. And so began another chapter of my life.