At a recent Conference held in Toronto, the keynote speaker, Rob Brouwer, a Senior Auditor from KPMG, talked about Rebuilding Confidence. He said, "We are facing a crisis of confidence in our capital markets. It's come about, in part, as a result of some spectacular breaches of trust by a number of business leaders. As a result we are now looking at a new era."

We are indeed facing a new era and what we believe and encourage at ConnectUs is fostering this new era.........to quote Rob Brouwer, we are breeding a new culture .........."A Culture of Integrity".

Diversity and culture have been an increasingly important part of Canada’s growth – in fact it has impacted on our national identity. Canada’s population is a melting pot of men, women and children from countries around the world. We are a variety of colours and creeds. We have our special foods, our ways of celebrating and our history. Canada is learning a great deal from our new Canadians, the immigrants, who have chosen Canada as a place to live, work and raise their families. From these new Canadians we are learning about war, and hunger. We are learning about fear and lack of trust. We are no longer able to say, it doesn’t happen in Canada or North America, today we are living in a new era, in a world where diversity is no longer our first concern. Today we must be concerned with a new culture……….. “A culture of integrity”.

Over the past few years we have seen governments, big business and large corporations falter, the leadership questioned and the authenticity of their claims challenged.

Canadians, and indeed all of North America has become aware of the fact that trust is no longer part of the corporate package. We must earn it – and today, the playing field has been levelled.

The word transparency has been coined by government – what it means is that from now on, individuals in leadership roles must be willing to divulge information on any area of their life that might have an impact on the business or government they lead.

As Canadians, we now have the chance to let our voices be heard. We can object and we can question authority, if it appears to be tainted. Our new culture of integrity offers respect to those who earn it. At ConnectUs we encourage you to join us in welcoming this new era of trust, honour and ethics.