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Escarpment Magaz ine Winter
2012
i n conve r s a t i on
Escarpment:
The 41 years since Jozo Weider's passing have brought count-
less changes to Blue Mountain Resorts - how do you think Jozo would feel about
the transformation of his mountain as it is today?
Gord:
I've never actually asked the family this question but I think generally,
everyone believes that Jozo would be pleased with the evolution of the Resort.
Back in the late 60's Jozo produced a large sketch of a residential development
spanning across the base of the Mountain. Jozo's plan was fairly simple and
called for single family Ski Chalets —Austrian Ski Village architecture was the
popular theme in those days. He had already begun to implement his planwith
a subdivision at Blue Mountain’s south end which required the installation of a
private water system on the Mountain and a sewage lagoon Jozo also devel-
oped a sixplex condominiumwhichwas one of the earliest inGrey County. I re-
call seeing a sign posted at the Tranquility double chair, "Condominiums
$19,500". Not one sold. Condominium lawwas just being introduced and buy-
ers were relatively suspicious of the concept. We later built the 42 unit Cachet
Crossing on that site.
Jozo loved skiing and one of his primary goals was to ensure that BlueMountain
would always remain open to the public. In the summer of 1971 he opened
discussions with the Provincial Ministry of Natural Resources. Those discussions
went nowhere however, and it was shortly after that when Jozo died and now,
here we are forty years hence and it is still a public facility.
Escarpment:
Operating a family business can be complicated - why/how did
the Weider/Canning combination work so well?
Gord:
The circumstances forced us to come together as a family very
quickly. We really had no plan and none of us had any formal experience
in running a business. We received wonderful advice from our long-time
director and friend Urban Joseph. I had joined Jozo on a temporary basis
in April 1971 while I was working on an MBA. I knew math and 70's era
computers, George was teaching and Don McGillivray (married to Helen
Weider) was a medical doctor. Urban urged us to do nothing for a year.
Great advice.
one can not enter into a conversation about skiing at Blue Mountain
without considering the importance of Jozo Weider and his vision of
skiing in collingwood that began back in 1941. Jozo's untimely
death in 1971 placed the responsibility of running the resort on his
family.Jozo’s son GeorgeWeider,became President of Blue Mountain
resort and eventually went on to become chairman of the Board of
Directors in 1978.
at that time, Gordon canning, who was married to Kathy Weider,
Jozo’s daughter, assumed the Presidency - a role he maintained for
three decades.today, Blue Mountain resort is the largest mountain
resort in ontario offering 251 acres of skiable terrain, with an uphill
lift capacity of 21,690 skiers per hour, the largest snowmaking system
in canada,and is a top year round vacation destination.Gord can-
ning is now chairman and ceo at Blue Mountain resort — i chatted
with him at his office, in november.
escarpment
people
in conversation
BY DEENA DOLAN FINDLAY
GORD CANNING