Eaton, Fredrik Stefan

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1983
FREDRIK STEFAN EATON
to be Doctor of Laws

I began my task this afternoon with Henry the First and I must end with Fredrik the Fourth. Fred Eaton is the fourth in the direct line of his distinguished family to be President of the T. Eaton Company, the fourth to serve as a Director of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, and the fourth to serve as a Trustee of the Toronto General Hospital. He carries on and maintains a high tradition of public service, first initiated by his forebears, in such roles as Governor of the Eaton Foundation, Member of the Ontario Cancer Institute and the Conference Board in Canada, and Director of the World Wildlife Fund.

Notwithstanding all this, his nativity does present a special challenge to the Orator. Dr. Blenis was a Yankee, Dr. Silversides was born in Manitoba, and Dr. Frazee was a "Bluenoser," but Mr. Eaton is an Upper Canadian who had his early education at Upper Canada College. Nevertheless much may be said in his favour. He bears the christian names of an Icelandic maternal grandfather from Winnipeg, and he has had the wisdom to take his Bachelor of Arts from this University in 1962. Much may be forgiven a man who is already one of our own, and we simply seek to honour his many achievements and to bind him yet more closely to our hearts.

Fred left UNB in the year of my arrival; I do not believe that there was any connection, but my unfortunate timing meant that I did not see him in his starring role in that great English drama, Gammer gurtons Nedle. I learn from the list of "Speakers in this Comedy" that he played "Diccon, the Bedlam" and I learn from others then present that he was memorable in the part. For those few of you who may be inexpert in the mysteries of early English drama, Diccon was the "Vice," the figure who drives the plot and moves the action, and sometimes in the process does create something of a bedlam.

I do not for a moment suggest that Fred Eaton has continued in his hit part as a Vice, but I do say that he has remained a figure of abundant energy, and a man whose astuteness and leadership have won him wide respect, not only in Upper Canada but in all the Canadas which make up our sometimes reluctant nation. He is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the best-known, largest, and most important retail business in Canadian history, a Canadian institution with, until only a few sad years ago, an insatiable appetite for paper. He has maintained a keen interest in and commitment to UNB, and he must surely be one of our most distinguished alumni, but he is first and foremost, and above all else, a Canadian who will speak to us today about our Canada.

Insignissime Praeses, amplissima Cancellaria, tota Universitas praesento vobis Fredericum Stephanum Eaton ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradem Doctoris in Utroque Jure in hac Universitate.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2