Michael McCain’s rant oversteps boundaries of good corporate governance

The demonstrators in Tehran know the truth about who caused the deaths of 176 passengers. So should Canadians and their corporate executives

The thousands who took to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities on Sunday to protest against the Iran military’s downing of a civilian aircraft and the deaths of 176 passengers obviously had not viewed the Twitter feed from one of Canada’s leading food companies.

The unfortunately misguided protesters, cut off from Twitter by the oppressive Iran internet censors, called for “Death to the Liars” who control the terror-sponsoring Iran theocracy, and “Death to the Dictator” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — as if the Iran state might be responsible for deaths.

But back in Canada, a Twitter stream from Maple Leaf Foods — usually a dozy harbour of self-promotion, declarations of carbon neutrality and cute stories about pigs and kids — lit up with claims from CEO Michael McCain that put the blame for the Iran airline deaths, not on the Iran military or government, but squarely on the “narcissist in Washington,” President Donald Trump.

According to McCain, whose family owns about 38 per cent of Maple Leaf Foods, the downing of the airline is the “collateral damage of this irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behaviour” in Washington.