‘Short-term economic threats’ distract from big issue: Maple Leaf chair

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This article was published 08/03/2025 (222 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Michael McCain, executive chairman of Maple Leaf Foods, was remarkably sanguine about the economic warfare that has erupted between his company’s two largest markets when he spoke last week to University of Manitoba students and industry.

“Well, you know, it’s a good news, bad news thing,” he said March 4, the same day the 25 per cent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration came into effect, two days before those tariffs were temporarily paused — again.

“It’s going to hurt, for sure, it’s going to hurt everybody … most importantly consumers across the country.”

In recent years, Maple Leaf has increased its sales to the U.S. through differentiated marketing as a company committed to sustainability. Today, 7.5 per cent of its revenues come from U.S. sales.

“Seven-and-a-half per cent is a lot, but some would say, ‘Well, it’s only 7 1/2 per cent,’” he said. “We are a predominantly Canadian business.”

McCain said while his company will have to pass along the costs of any tariffs to its U.S. customers, he hopes it can counter the impact on sales to some extent by leveraging the “Buy Canadian” movement that has swept the nation.

McCain is more concerned about how the current economic and political chaos is distracting attention from what he views as the most pressing issue facing humanity.

“We should all acknowledge the precarious moment that we find ourselves in right now,” he said. “Regardless of clear science, global inequities and rising human conflict, there seems to be a new world order emerging where shaping a sustainable future might not appear attractive in the short term.

“I think it behooves us all to look beyond this and focus on just doing what is right for the long term, including how we address these short-term economic threats.”

McCain was the keynote speaker for the annual Sustainability of Canadian Agriculture conference, so it wasn’t surprising to hear him focus on how Maple Leaf pursued its vision of becoming carbon neutral and the most sustainable protein company on Earth.

But it was refreshing all the same.

On one hand, McCain is proud of the progress.

In his words, in addition to becoming one of the largest companies in the world to become carbon neutral, Maple Leaf is a North American leader in raising animals without antibiotics. It is “well down the path” to sustainable packaging and has invested more than $60 million to eliminate sow gestation stalls from its vertically integrated supply chain. It has invested in reducing hunger in Canada through its Centre for Food Security. It’s looking at how anaerobic digesters could convert manure in its hog barns to natural gas and at ways to incorporate regenerative farming practices into its supply chains.

McCain said its vision is helping attract employees seeking a career with a purpose.

On the other hand, he remains frustrated by political missteps and a lack of consumer buy-in, which, while understandable given the economic stress for many families, is a key piece to success.

“The reality today is that consumers don’t care enough about sustainability,” he said.

McCain said the so-called carbon “tax” didn’t fail because it was bad policy; it failed because it was improperly framed and poorly executed.

“It shouldn’t have been described as a tax. It should have been described as a garbage-removal fee. That’s what it is … and the more garbage you have, the more it costs you to remove. Getting that paradigm into the head of consumers would have been reasonably easily understood,” he said.

By far his biggest worry is what he sees as society’s regression from the urgency to address the environmental issues that will define the future.

“The biggest myth is that we’re in it to protect planet Earth,” he said. “Planet Earth is going to be just fine, absolutely just fine.

“It’s humanity that’s going to suffer, not planet Earth. And as soon as we get that across and get people to understand that it’s our children and grandchildren that are at risk, not Mother Earth, the better off we’ll be.”

Laura Rance is executive editor, production content lead for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com