Tim Falconer

Windfall: Viola MacMillan and Her Notorious Mining Scandal

Viola MacMillan had it all: success, money and respect. Influence, even. 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 Windfall Oils and Mines, a company she and her husband controlled, traded for around 56 cents. Then one day, the stock took off. In the absence of any information from the company about what it 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. This led to significant changes at the Ontario Securities Commission and the Toronto Stock Exchange—and consequences for MacMillan.

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