Léo-Paul Lauzon (born November 27, 1946) is an author, researcher, accountant, professor, and social activist in Quebec. He is best known for his work in seeking corporate social accountability.
Early life and education
Lauzon was raised in a low-income household in Montreal. His father abandoned the family in the late 1950s, when Lauzon was twelve, and he was forced to work as a delivery boy for a pharmaceutical company to support his mother and two sisters.Irwin Block, "Candidate touched by poverty picks NDP over Bloc: Independantiste in Outremont," Montreal Gazette, 14 December 2005, A12. Lauzon has said that the poverty of his early years helped him develop a strong social conscience, adding that he "didn't have the time or the luxury of being a political revolutionary" while attending school."Put it on his account," Windsor Star, 27 February 1989, C10.
He is a chartered accountant, having placed first among all students in Quebec's 1970 examination. He also finished first among 1,778 candidates in Canada's 1974 certified management accountancy examination.Peter Hadekel, "Professor causes stir with accounting clean-up crusade," Montreal Gazette, 14 September 1990, C1. This has not prevented him from criticizing his profession; in 1991, he said that "accounting is closer to the occult sciences than to exact mathematics."Kevin Dougherty, "Guerrilla Prof Takes on 'Quebec Inc.'," Financial Post, 29 November 1991, Vol. 4, Issue 172, p. 40. He has called for accounting students to be given a more humanistic learning approach, with the intent of creating independent thinkers who are effective at creating social change.Fina Scroppo, "Academics urged to take a humanist approach," CA Magazine, October 1994, Vol. 127, Issue 8, p. 14.
Lauzon has a Master of Business Administration degree from the HEC Montréal and a Ph.D. in management sciences from the University of Grenoble in France. He joined the accounting sciences department of the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1973 and founded the university's chair of socio-economic sciences in 2006.Canada Votes 2006: Ridings and Candidates: Outremont, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, accessed 8 April 2011.
Social accounting Lauzon published a book entitled Social Accounting in 1974, promoting a system of evaluating companies in terms of social responsibility. Since then, Lauzon examined several companies in areas such as environmental protection, human relations, equal opportunities and consumer interests, making extensive use of corporate annual reports.
In a 1989 interview, he said, "Being an accountant is an excellent training to criticize big business. I know how corporate executives think because I have the same mentality myself. The only difference is that I have a social conscience and most of them don't." He added that he was "blacklisted in many business circles" and said that some of his colleagues were afraid to work with him because of his reputation."Put it on his account," Windsor Star, 27 February 1989, C10. Later in the same year, however, Lauzon said that his research was gaining mainstream acceptance and that Le Journal de Montréal and the Quebec Management Accounting Association were funding some of his work.Mia Stainsby, "The accountant who calculates Canada's corporate conscience," Vancouver Sun, 8 September 1989, B6.
Lauzon has said that he is not anti-capitalist and supports private enterprise. He describes himself as a social democrat.Peter Hadekel, "Professor causes stir with accounting clean-up crusade," Montreal Gazette, 14 September 1990, C1.
Studies of corporate culture Francophones in Quebec business Lauzon released a report in 1986 that showed strong disparities between Quebec businesses as regards the number of francophones in key decision-making positions: most "decision makers" in some companies were francophone, while in others they represented less than ten per cent of the total. The study has been interpreted as showing the rise of a new francophone business culture in Quebec, rather than francophone integration into traditionally dominant anglophone companies.Graham Fraser, "A new self-confidence emerges as public support for Quebec sovereignty grows, but insecurity lurks just beneath the surface; Changing face of nationalism," Toronto Star, 5 October 1990, A4.
Women in business In 1987, Lauzon oversaw a study indicating that less than three per cent of top management jobs in Canadian companies were held by women, despite the fact that more women were entering the workforce. At the time of the report's release, he said, "If you listen to representatives of the private sector, then we're in the best possible world, and women hold important positions. [...] This research is based on facts that show clearly that reality is very different." He added that there was no valid reason for the numbers to be so low and that private sector firms were afraid of change in this field.Elisabeth Kalbfuss, "Women hold fewer than 3% of top posts: study," Montreal Gazette, 9 September 1987, C7.
Follow-up studies found that female representation in top management had increased to only 6.7% in 1990 and 7.2% in 1992."Women making slow progress in reaching top of the ladder," Vancouver Sun, 30 June 1992, A3; "Women remain underrepresented in corporate boardrooms," Canadian Press, 25 February 1995. Lauzon noted that even these increases were misleading, in that some female executives held positions that were created solely to give a misleading impression of gender integration.Donna Nebenzahl, "Common cause; Section aims to do its part for women magazine's strength," Montreal Gazette, 22 March 1993, C5.
Securities commissions Lauzon criticized the securities commissions of Ontario and Quebec in 1989, saying that they were well-intentioned but largely ineffective and overly dependent on "self-serving" regulations developed by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.Bertrand Marotte, "Disclosure policies tightened," Ottawa Citizen, 5 December 1989, A14.
Corporate reporting Lauzon led an academic study in 1990 that argued most Canadian companies did not supply enough information about their financial affairs and social performance in corporate annual reports. He said that only fifty of the approximately three hundred companies his team examined had "acceptable or better than acceptable" reports, covering items such as market and regional analyses, charitable donations, environmental records, and employment statistics. Most companies, he said, reported only "the strict minimum required by law."Carolyn Adolph, "Quebec firms rapped for annual reports," Montreal Gazette, 14 February 1990, D8.
"Quebec Inc." Lauzon has strongly criticized the Quebec government's track record in building a provincial corporate sector. He argued in February 1992 that the province had given away $1.5 billion in tax incentives to create a brokerage industry, with meagre results.Barrie McKenna, "Quebec aid to brokers assailed 30-year-long government policy a 'fiasco,' professor tells analysts," Globe and Mail, 21 February 1992, B15. See also Peter Hadekel, "The Quebec Stock Savings Plan dream: an adventure that went sour," Montreal Gazette, 3 August 1993, D1. In the same year, he accused the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec of propping up francophone entrepreneurs with little business experience, who in turn produced minimal financial returns.Sandro Contenta, "Last of two parts 'Quebec Inc.' cushions recession's blow," Toronto Star, 5 April 1992, B1. He has also accused the Caisse of being subject to political manipulation and of making decisions "without foresight or vision."Andrew McIntosh, "The Caisse de Depot controls an empire worth $41 billion in stocks, bonds, real estate, mortgages and other securities," Montreal Gazette, 26 July 1993, F8.
Lauzon has clarified that he is not against government support for socially beneficial business ventures. Rather, he opposes subsidies that "boost only the bank balance of government-favoured entrepreneurs."Jan Bryan, "When it comes to handouts, some firms seem to get more than they deserve," Montreal Gazette, 19 November 1991, E1. In 1993, he called on Quebec to follow Ontario's example and require public disclosure of the salaries and perks of the province's top five public sector executives.Andrew McIntosh, "Quebec to decide soon on executive-pay disclosures," Montreal Gazette, 16 October 1993, D1.
Pulp and paper sector Lauzon issued a report for Greenpeace in August 1992, arguing that Canada's pulp and paper industry was more prosperous than Canadians had been led to believe. As such, he argued that the sector should not be allowed to escape its financial obligations to clean its environmental pollution.Kimberley Noble, "Greenpeace report attacks pulp firms' profit figures," Globe and Mail, 1 September 1992, B1. The Canadian Pulp and Paper Association strongly criticized the report, saying that its language was "offensive and unfounded."Francois Shalom, "Pulp-paper industry slams Greenpeace report," Montreal Gazette, 2 September 1992, F1. In 1995, Lauzon issued another report accusing Canadian pulp and paper firms of being much less efficient than their American and Scandinavian counterparts.Rob McKenzie, "The belligerent bean counter," Canadian Business, June 1995, Vol. 68, Issue 6, p. 22; Jan Ravensbergen, "Maverick UQAM prof takes a shot at pulp companies," Montreal Gazette, 22 September 1995, C1.
Alcohol and tobacco In 1994, Lauzon released a report arguing that privatizing provincial liquor boards would result in increased levels of alcoholism, higher prices, and more smuggling. He concluded that privatization would compromise government efforts to combat alcoholism.Francois Shalom, "Selling off SAQ not worth it: maverick prof," Montreal Gazette, 3 February 1994, C6. In another study issued the same year, he accused cigarette makers of investing record windfall profits outside of Canada as their domestic clientele died. Saying there was "no worse corporate citizen" than the tobacco industry, he called for higher tobacco taxes in both Canada and the United States of America.Jeff Heinrich, "Tobacco firms poor corporate citizens: Lauzon," Montreal Gazette, 10 June 1994, E1. Imperial Tobacco responded to Lauzon's report with its own study; one of its conclusions was that the premature death of some smokers yielded savings to the Canadian health sector. Not surprisingly, this statement was widely criticized.A spokesperson for Imperial Tobacco later said that their study was intended as part of an academic discourse and was not meant to be made public. Carolyn Adolph, "Tobacco firm report says smoking deaths save money," Ottawa Citizen, 1 September 1994, A1; "Report on tobacco-related deaths offensive, critics say," Canadian Press, 1 September 1994.
Municipal services Lauzon issued a critical report about Montreal's parking services in 1996, arguing that a recent decision to privatize the sector had been beneficial for some leading executives and harmful to everyone else. Lauzon wrote that municipal revenues from privatization were less than expected, while drivers were required to pay more in parking rates.Monique Beaudin and Elizabeth Thompson, "City aims to privatize Green Onions," Montreal Gazette, 25 October 1996, A3. The following year, he oversaw a study that argued installing water meters in Montreal houses would be costly and not necessarily provide an environmental benefit.Aaron Derfel, "Meters don't conserve water, study finds: And would hurt poor the most," Montreal Gazette, 4 April 1997, A5.
Pharmaceutical drugs