12th Annual CEO Award a tremendous success

Wayne Sales, President and CEO of Canadian Tire Corporation, accepts the CPRS (Toronto) CEO Award from Gordon McIvor, APR.

The CPRS (Toronto) CEO Award of Excellence in Public Relations for 2004 went to Wayne C. Sales, President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, at a luncheon held in his honour on January 20 at the tony Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

During the Awards luncheon, Mr. Sales delivered a keynote address on the rapid changes transforming organizations today and the heightened focus on communication and accountability created by these changes.

Award founder Gordon McIvor, APR, also spent much time in his speech outlining the selection criteria and culled key sections from Canadian Tire's excellent nomination entry from long time member Scott Bonikowsky, APR.

"Wayne Sales has had an outstanding year in the communications arena, maintaining Canadian Tire's privileged position in an increasingly challenging and competitive retail market," said Mr. McIvor. "Using strong internal and external communications tools, this CEO is determined to ensure Canadian Tire is as meaningful and relevant to the collective psyche of consumers and Canadians as this venerable institution has ever been before."

"It is an honour to be CEO of an organization that has a unique and privileged relationship with Canadians and also to receive this recognition from CPRS. With 45,000 team members and operations in retail, financial services and petroleum, effective communication with all of our stakeholders is a key contributor to our success," said Wayne Sales, President and CEO, Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited.

The event also pulled out a record number of CPRS (Toronto) past presidents - 16 in total. And, with a total of 200 attendees, the event made a record profit in its 12-year history.

This was the 12th CEO award to be presented by CPRS (Toronto). Recent past recipients of the CEO Award include: Piers Handling, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival; Julian Fantino, Chief of the Toronto Police Force; Charles Baillie, Chair, TD Bank Financial Group; and Dominic D'Alessandro, President and CEO, Manulife Financial.