Talk:Michael McCain

Promotional language
"As CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, McCain's handling of the 2008 listeria outbreak with frank and open communications made him a role model for crisis management.14"

This is clearly promotional language and the source given is dead. This is a Wikipedia article, not a resume. Feel free to quote an external source regarding the handling of the listeria outbreak, but don't state it as fact without any source.

Bleepenvoy (talk) 22:54, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

BLP and date of birth
Today an IP removed McCain's birthdate, stating "Michael McCain requested that his date of birth be removed." McCain doesn't own the page even though it's about him, and WP:DOB guides the privacy of birthdates of people deemed notable.

Having said that, I worked to cite the 1951 birthdate and couldn't find it. I discovered he was actually born in 1958 and confirmed the actual day. Sources are somewhat light but I'm confident between the two, which are highly reliable. Putting it here in case there's further discussion necessary. tedder (talk) 17:09, 16 January 2020 (UTC)


 * WP:DOB states "If a subject complains about our inclusion of their date of birth, [...] err on the side of caution and simply list the year." That seems fair to me; I can't foresee any potential good in knowing his birth month and day that would justify keeping it up against his wishes. Bleepenvoy (talk) 04:02, 17 January 2020 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I'm fine with that. I wonder if the objection was because it was wrong. But I wouldn't complain if it was reduced to year/age. tedder (talk) 05:57, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Source Issues on Listeria Crisis
Globe and Mail has too many ties to Maple Leaf Foods to be considered a credible source here. Furthermore, many of the articles cited here have circular connections to firms like Veritas Communications or Smithcom and even the case studies of the event in question have research performed by Smithcom employees which retained Maple Leaf Foods as a client. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bleepenvoy (talk • contribs) 11:34, 17 January 2020 (UTC)


 * In what way are they tied? I saw one board member. I don't know, the current text seems fine to me. tedder (talk) 17:01, 17 January 2020 (UTC)


 * Their current chairman of the board was CEO of Woodbridge, which owns Globe and Mail as well as the majority of Thompson Reuters. Another board member works directly for Globe and Mail. Which makes the overwhelmingly positive press regarding a preventable food safety epidemic that killed 23 people seem a little less genuine. It raises issues with neutrality and objectivity to cite praise that very well may be artificial PR maneuvering. Not to mention that the positive quotes that circulated came directly from PR firms and not Canadian citizens or food safety groups. Bleepenvoy (talk) 02:15, 18 January 2020 (UTC)


 * WP:COISOURCE provides the guidelines for handling this. It follows that those who have board involvement with the newspapers will respond favorably to the action of the member of a company they also have board involvement with. The case study used in the article has research performed by the PR firm which was working to restore Maple Leaf Foods image after the listeria crisis. These are both conflicts of interest that warrant their disinclusion. The best independent third-party source we have here is the Weatherill report . The quote from The Conversation doesn't present any new or useful information and serves only as promotional language.


 * The amount of background information necessary to properly inform the reader of the conflicts of interest that exist here go beyond the scope of the article. Wikipedia is an independent source of information that is not beholden to corporate interests. A series of quotes that describe McCain favorably provide no new information to the reader, especially when those quotes come from parties with a vested interest.


 * For the time being, I think it's best to keep things couched in objective fact. Bleepenvoy (talk) 09:57, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

The canonical discussion of this issue has been on the Biographies_of_living_persons/Noticeboard/Archive296. Consensus has formed there. tedder (talk) 21:24, 22 January 2020 (UTC)