Weston, Garfield
George Weston, owner of the Torontobased George Weston Ltd. bread company, did not want his eldest son Garfield going to war. Garfield had left school after his principal at Harbord Collegiate berated the boys for not being in uniform. He wanted to enlist, but being under 19 — the minimum age for overseas service — he couldn’t do it without parental permission. His parents refused. Finally in February 1917, a few weeks before Garfield’s 19th birthday, George Weston relented. Garfield enlisted with the Signals Corps and drove a six-horse wagon laying telegraph cables in France.
While most Canadian soldiers used their leaves from the army to frequent London’s music halls and shows, Garfield spent his touring England’s biscuit factories. He thought there was a market for British-style cookies in Canada, and after his return in 1919 he convinced his father to give it a shot. The Westons imported biscuit ovens and equipment from England, and in 1922 launched Weston’s English Quality Biscuits. They were a best-seller — the plant on Peter St. ran 24 hours a day to keep up with demand.
George died in 1924, and 26-year-old Garfield took over, turning the company into an international food empire. He was also a British MP during the Second World War and a strong supporter of the British and Canadian war effort. Today, George Weston Ltd. is best known as the parent company of the Loblaw supermarket chain.
He thought there was a market for British-style cookies in Canada “He offered as justification that his company was in the business of business, rather than that of philanthropy.”
MICHAEL KLUCKNER
ON JOSEPH FLAVELLE