Sudbury

"The bus company was the focus of Desmarais’s business life, and he did nothing extraordinary. He managed his business to make it grow and prosper, which reinforced the reputation he had established in Sudbury as a man who could run a bus company efficiently and profitably and who paid his bills and debts fully and on time. He also put his earnings to good use, investing them in growth opportunities."

"So the Copper Cliff run was Desmarais’s nemesis, but also the bargaining chip that would save his bus company. All he needed was someone with whom to bargain. Logically, that was Inco’s manage¬ ment, which needed reliable transportation for its many workers living in Sudbury who didn’t own cars and had to make the daily 19 km round trip."

"When Sudbury Bus Lines gave notice to city council that it was ready to fulfil the terms of the franchise by expanding service through the enlarged Subdury, city council decided it wouldn’t hold Sudbury Bus to the letter of the agreement. Council was worried that the other bus companies would be forced out of business and then seek com¬ pensation. Council feared it would have to pay the bill or, worse, that Sudbury Bus would pay, then run into cash-flow problems and approach the city for help handling even bigger bills. So Sudbury was effectively rendered an open city for bus transport, which meant that any operator could run busses anywhere. Transportation anarchy was averted by an informal arrangement among the four existing operators not to encroach upon the territory each had serviced at amalgamation."

"His only problem was with the key man in the scenario — the mayor of Sudbury. Targeting the key man has always been a Des¬ marais strategy: he finds the person who has a vested interest in helping him get what he wants. The mayor was not one of those people, and Desmarais finally had to call it quits on Sudbury and make another characteristic move — a quick, clean break, with no recourse to arbitration, conciliation or outside interference."