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Frank Vettese, managing partner of Deloitte Canada, which just moved into a new 44-storey tower in Toronto’s financial district and put its name on the parapet, chose in an interview to look at the bright side.

“I am very encouraged that 11 per cent of the business are truly bold,” said Vettese. “And one third of the companies we surveyed were on the cusp of being courageous.”

“We came to conclusions about Canada being risk-averse,” Vettese added. “Canada has got some serious work to do.”

Sarah Kaplan, a professor at the Rotman School of Management who grew up in the United States, said the notion that Canadian firms lack courage confirms her own perception that corporate Canada prefers everyone to just get along. That’s all very nice, she said, but disruption drives profits.

“It’s an interesting paradox about Canada,” Kaplan said. “I notice in my adopted country that there is a need to not do something that is offside, not to rock the boat. That peaceableness can get in the way of the friction you need to be innovative and to grow.”

She acknowledged that, “the reason the Canadian economy did well in the 2008 crisis was because of its conservativeness. You don’t want banks failing but you do want to encourage creative thinking.”

Canadians shy away from arguments, she added. “I want there to be more conflict at the boardroom table.”

She asked, “How do you be bold and courageous in a country that values cohesiveness?”

Among the examples of Canadian corporate courage celebrated in Deloitte’s report: