Adieu, Montreal

Sun Life shifts to Toronto

The 26-story granite headquarters of the Sun Life Assurance Co. in Montreal was once the largest office building in the British Empire, the secular cathedral of the English-speaking business elite in the world's second largest French-speaking city. Now it is a symbol of panic in the face of Quebec's threat to separate from the rest of Canada. Last week Sun Life's 1 million policy holders voted by a 5-to-1 ratio to transfer the headquarters to Toronto, Canada's bustling financial capital. Sun Life (assets: $5.5 billion) thus became the biggest company to move out of Quebec, although it has promised the federal government to delay any large transfer of staff for two years. Eventually, the move could cost Montreal 1,800 Sun Life jobs.

When the plan was first announced last January, Sun Life blamed the Quebec government's determination to make French the official language of business; beginning July 1, even display advertising will have to be in French. Later, managers admitted that their main desire was to improve business prospects. Said President Thomas Gait: "The uncertainty that has arisen as a result of the policies of the current Quebec government to some degree has undermined confidence."

Quebec politicians described Sun Life's move as "economic blackmail"; the federal government protested it would hurt "national unity." Still, some small companies have already quit Quebec entirely, and many big firms, including the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, Northern Telecom Ltd. and the Royal Trust Co., have simply moved key departments. As long as managers worry about the possibility, however remote, of one day waking up to find themselves marooned in a small nation, some will continue to flee. qed

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