Paul James Phelan, (1917 – 2 Sep 2002) was a Canadian businessman, yachtsman, and wartime RCAF Squadron Leader.

Life and career

Phelan inherited his father's Canada Railway News Co. (founded in 1883), expanded it, then renamed it Cara Operations Ltd when he took it public in 1968. The company had started as The Canada Railway News Company and initially sold tomatoes . Under Phelan, the company opened refreshment rooms at hotels and hubs along the rail line. He opened its first Swiss Chalet diner in 1954. In 1977, Phelan engineered a takeover of the Swiss Chalet franchisor, Foodcorp, a $50 million business, with 97 food outlets between its Swiss Chalet and

Harvey's Harvey's is a fast food restaurant chain operating in Canada, with locations in every province except British Columbia. It serves hamburgers, poutine, hot dogs, french fries, onion rings, and other traditional Canadian fast-food fare. The chain i ...

brands. Cara provided food for Air Canada late last century. Phelan controlled through it Swiss Chalet, Harvey's,

Second Cup Second Cup Café, is a Canadian restaurant chain, coffee retailer, and roaster which operates more than 190 cafes nationwide. Its headquarters are in Pierrefonds, Québec. Its stores sell hot and cold beverages, pastries, snacks, pre-packaged foo ...

, Kelsey's Neighborhood Bar & Grill, and Montana's Cookhouse at the time of his death. In 2010, his heirs were diluted by

Fairfax Financial Holdings Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a Canadian financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, which is engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company operate ...

. Fairfax subsequently re-diluted them in 2013. In April 2015, when his heirs were forced back into the stock market, they were part-owners of a corporation that controlled 837 food outlets, and sold $1.7 billion in food. It was the third largest restaurant chain in Canada after

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...

and

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

. At the time, it had 26,000 employees across Canada. In 2016, sales were over $2 billion.

Family, legacy and honours

Phelan married Helen Gardiner. Together they raised Gail, Sharon, Paul David, and Rosemary, who gave them a dozen grandchildren. His funeral services were at Holy Rosary Church in Forest Hill, Toronto. Phelan, who sailed Dragon-class yachts, was a past Commodore of the RCYC, president of the CYA from 1961-1963 and again in 1990-91, and was presented the 1986 Sail Canada Rolex Sailor of the year award for his merger of two rival Canadian bids for the 26th America's Cup, when he funded a merger between them for $14 million. Phelan was a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

. The B'nai Brith Foundation presented him their Award of Merit, while the ISAF gave him their Long Service Gold Medal. In 1993, he was awarded the ISAF Beppe Croce Trophy for his outstanding voluntary contribution to the sport of sailing. Through his ownership of the yacht ''Red Jacket'', he helped introduce "new sailors who might not otherwise get a chance to become involved in yacht racing" to the sport, including many women. Phelan also served on the

IYRU World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) be ...

as chairman of the Youth Committee, and contributed to World Youth Sailing Trust. The P.J. Phelan Sailing Foundation continues Phelan's philanthropy to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Paul James Canadian chairpersons of corporations Canadian people of World War II Members of the Order of Canada Canadian sailors 1917 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Canadian philanthropists