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By: Tim Falconer
The fascinating true story of Viola MacMillan and the scandal that transformed the Toronto Stock Exchange
Viola MacMillan had it all: success, money, respect … and even influence. But in 1964, after three decades in the mining industry, one of the most fascinating women in Canadian business history was the central character in one of the country’s most famous stock scandals.
MacMillan was a prospector who’d gone on to put together big deals, develop lucrative mines, and head a major industry association — all at a time when career women were a rarity. But she still dreamed of “a major discovery.” Early in July 1964, shares in her company, Windfall Oil and Mines, took off. In the absence of any information about what Windfall had found on its claims near Timmins, rumours and greed pushed the share price to a high of $5.70. MacMillan stayed quiet. Finally, after three weeks of market frenzy, Windfall admitted it had nothing. When the stock crashed, so many small investors lost money that the Ontario government appointed a royal commission to examine what had happened. Meaningful changes at the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Ontario Securities Commission followed.
Windfall: Viola MacMillan and Her Notorious Mining Scandal is biographical history at its finest: the unlikely story of a trailblazer who, although convicted and imprisoned, would later receive the Order of Canada.
The fascinating true story of Viola MacMillan and the scandal that transformed the Toronto Stock Exchange
Viola MacMillan had it all: success, money, respect … and even influence. But in 1964, after three decades in the mining industry, one of the most fascinating women in Canadian business history was the central character in one of the country’s most famous stock scandals.
MacMillan was a prospector who’d gone on to put together big deals, develop lucrative mines, and head a major industry association — all at a time when career women were a rarity. But she still dreamed of “a major discovery.” Early in July 1964, shares in her company, Windfall Oil and Mines, took off. In the absence of any information about what Windfall had found on its claims near Timmins, rumours and greed pushed the share price to a high of $5.70. MacMillan stayed quiet. Finally, after three weeks of market frenzy, Windfall admitted it had nothing. When the stock crashed, so many small investors lost money that the Ontario government appointed a royal commission to examine what had happened. Meaningful changes at the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Ontario Securities Commission followed.
Windfall: Viola MacMillan and Her Notorious Mining Scandal is biographical history at its finest: the unlikely story of a trailblazer who, although convicted and imprisoned, would later receive the Order of Canada.
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