uncharted.ca

That's $15 million by my math Agent Mulder. But Kelly only paid $9 million for the fleabag. What was the other $6 million for? Closing costs?

So basically, the pension fund owns the hotel and is financing it. That's what this looks like to me. On the surface it looks like they're lending money to some other company but it's really the same crew of guys who own the hotel and the companies flowing the money to the hotel. This sounds pretty fucked up to me.

I was at Land Titles today searching the Keele Street hotel. Crap, wait'll you hear this: When the place went bankrupt in 91 it was heavily indebted to a company called Castor Holdings. Here's the lowdown on them: http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/04/08/castor000408.html . This alternative media site http://web2.uwindsor.ca/flipside/vol3/apr00/00ap12b.htm says the guy who ran this financial empire robbed the Chrysler employee pension plan. Read the two articles and
you'll see how he did it. This why the Triumph went bankrupt. It wasn't the recession. It was part of Stolzenberg's mega-fraud scheme.

And there's something else too. You remember those two Propco companies that loaned Kelly $15 million when he bought the hotel? We thought it was kind of weird that he got a loan of $7 million in October 92 and another $8 million in May 93, even though he only paid $9 million for the place. Well this is even stranger still.

According to Land Titles records, the day Kelly bought the hotel he borrowed $7 million from Propco 14 and $7 million from the CIBC Bank. This is the first time that I've heard of this loan. On May 23, 1993 he paid off the CIBC loan and borrowed $8 million from Propco 16. What the hell was that about? The first loan should have been sufficient to buy the place (if you recall, he told the Toronto Sun that, "He risked everything -- his life savings, his inheritance, his condo. Family matched his $200,000 stake and he pulled together financing from banks and pension funds." I don’t think he would have needed another $7 million to close the deal or even to cover his initial operating costs. What was the other $7 mil for? I wonder if he was using it to some other purposes and putting the hotel up as collateral. But since the place was only worth about $9 million (maybe a bit more as a going concern) the value of the loans ($15 million) would have far exceeded the value of the property. This just gets stranger and stranger.

You're not going to believe this but I dug up some shit on Ron Kelly. Get this – he's a former Catholic priest and convicted pedophile. Back in 1979 he copped to 10 counts of molesting young boys in a small town in Newfoundland where he was the parish priest.

He got a suspended sentence and was shipped off by the church to Toronto, where he quickly rose through the ranks of the Archdiocese becoming the Minister in charge of "temporal affairs" (I think that means "affairs of this earth" – good gig for a friggin' pervert). He bailed out of the priesthood abruptly in 1989 after his name came up in the Mount Cashel enquiry into sexual abuse of kids by Catholic clergy on the east coast.

There's a book by Michael Harris (he writes for the Ottawa Sun) about the Mt. Cashel horror. I got a copy from amazon.com and there's as whole chapter devoted to Father Ronnie. I'll copy and email it to you but here's a snip that kind of tells the story:

After talking to the first complainant, who had been fourteen when the priest sexually assaulted him, the RCMP investigators also realized that in all probability one of Father Kelly's favourite community pursuits was young boys. Sitting alone with these boys in their squad car, LeBreton and Urquhart listened in disbelief as a parade of Father Kelly's male victims described their sexual encounters with the often drunken priest.

One sixteen-year-old described how Father Kelly had called his house at 4 a.m. in the fall of 1978 summoning him to the rectory. When he arrived, Kelly who had already been drinking gave his young guest two glasses of rum before taking him upstairs, ostensibly to watch television. Dragging the boy to the bed, the priest tried to put his hand into his reluctant companion's pants. Unsuccessful, Kelly then groped at the boy's privates through his jeans, exclaiming rather quixotically, "I do not love that, but I love your heart."

Another boy told police about an incident that had taken place during De Grau's annual Garden Party in August 1978. The boy was sent home by his parents for fighting. A little while later, Father Kelly showed up and got into bed with him. Almost immediately, the priest tried to force his hand into the boy's pants. Kelly's own pants were undone and he thrust his exposed penis near the face of his prone companion. The boy pretended to be asleep, and half an hour later Father Kelly got up and left. When the boy later told a friend what had happened, he was advised not to repeat the story to anyone, "because a Priest is a high man" and no one would believe him.

A fifteen-year-old who had been with Father Kelly on at least three separate occasions told police that he and the priest had performed mutual fellatio in the rectory, after which the boy was given five dollars. On one of these occasions, Father Kelly showed no signs of having been drinking.

Perhaps the strangest case involved a young boy who had been sexually assaulted by Father Kelly on a number of occasions with the inadvertent blessing of his mother. After showing up drunk at the boy's home one night, Father Kelly was put to bed by the lady of the house. The priest then asked that her thirteen-year-old son be sent to sleep with him. His hostess obliged, and no sooner had the boy got into bed with the priest than Kelly began fondling his genitals. Kelly told the boy how much he loved him and how much money he had in the bank and that it was the anniversary of his entering the priesthood - all the while continuing his unwelcome stroking.

On another occasion, the same boy was awakened at three or four o'clock in the morning by muffled conversation between his family and Father Kelly. The priest presently appeared in the bedroom, and although the boy's mother tried to convince him to sleep in another room, he climbed into the lower bunkbed with the thirteen-year-old and immediately began fondling the boy after his hostess left. Father Kelly also asked his companion's brother, who was sleeping in the upper bunkbed, to join them; he then lay between the two boys fondling their privates and talking to them. On his way out of the house, he gave one of the boys ten dollars.

A few months later, the same two boys watched in growing apprehension as Father Kelly and their parents played cards late into the night. The priest drank steadily from a bottle of Bacardi rum. When their mother sent them to bed at 4:30 A.M., the boys pushed their bed up against the door so the priest couldn't get into their room. But their sleep was soon disturbed by someone banging on the bedroom door. The frightened boys then heard their mother's voice telling them to let the priest in.

After Kelly had gotten under the covers with them, one of the boys got up and, putting on his jeans, told the priest he had to use the washroom. When he returned, he left his Jeans on and purposely lay on top of the covers because Father
Kelly was under the blankets, wide awake and waiting for him. Despite his precautions, the young boy soon felt the priest groping at his privates and telling him, "I don't care what's below, it's what's in your heart that counts."

Unholy Orders: Tragedy at Mount Cashel, Michael Harris, 1991

OK, so somebody tell me what it is that these union pension trustees are doing pimping their members out to this deviant freak?!!!

It seems to me that the UFCW wanted badly to get into the hotel industry. This is strange in that among unions, hotels have always been HERE's turf. The covert attempt to "raid" HERE's Toronto hotels by hooking up with disaffected JG Belanger and his crew was pretty sleazy and underhanded even by Piggy Evans’ standards. But if it was only more members that he wanted, that would have been one thing. You could just say the UFCW went way over the line but it was just to snafu some members. But their propping up this AFM company is really baffling. Why would they want to finance a company that gives HR advice to innkeeper? And why would the union care where these hotels get their bed sheets from? You know, from a certain angle it looks as if Evans – through his influence with the pension plan trustees and within the UFCW – is setting up a certain business model here: One where the same group of guys get into an
industry, control the labour, control the suppliers, control everything. I've read about this model and it's pretty scary.

For the year ended December 31, 1997, the net loss for the year was $5,761,000 or $1.80 per share. This compares with a loss of $5,928,000 or $2.09 per share during 1996. The 1997 loss was after a series of restructuring charges that total $1,193,000. In addition we have written down the remaining hotel assets by $1,096,000 to levels that we believe will be realized on the sale of the properties. Total Company revenues were $16,509,000 in 1997 down from $18,467,000 in 1996, due to the sale of company owned hotels.

While no one can be pleased or satisfied with the results of the past year, I am confident that the Company’s worst days are behind and definite steps have been taken to turn around the Company’s fortune and put it on the road to recovery.

Liquidity and Capital Resources
To date, the Company has been unable to obtain significant levels of traditional bank financing for its acquisitions. Financial support from Rushlake Hotels (U.S.A), Inc., access to capital from a pension fund that is a major shareholder and capital lease financing has allowed the Company to reach its current stage of development.

Long-term debt, of $24,058,000 at December 31, 1997, includes $10,712,000 of hotel mortgages, $12,308,000 in secured loans, $288,000 in capital leases and $750,000 in preferred shares. The mortgages generally have concessionary interest rates which are designed to allow each hotel time to improve its operations and occupancy rates to a level sufficient to support normal payment terms. For accounting purposes, the mortgages on the individual hotel properties have been discounted to fair market value using market rates of interest at their respective dates of acquisition. The carrying values of the related hotel properties have been reduced by an equivalent amount.
While the past year has been a difficult one for our shareholders and employees, we have emerged as a stronger Company.

What are they doing pouring money into this dog? And hey, how do you spell conflict of interest? AFM provides "human resource development" to hotels, including hotels where UFCW members work. So how the hell does Wayne Hanley direct a company that looks after HR at hotels where UFCW members work? Only a twit like Wayne-boy would miss the conflict of interest in this.

It's like every time you look under a rock, you find a slug.

We wondered if the pension plan was putting up the cash for this high-risk adventure as well. I wondered if this was the resort that my indiscreet union rep friend had enthused about over lunch.

Freshly Shorn Clippings!-8:49 PM 3/12/2001- sleK
We've got an interesting piece up on the Grass Roots Reform page that attempts to pull together all the pieces of the "UFCW Pension Puzzle" despite the fact that the UFCW refuses to provide the "picture on the front of the box". Click here to check it out!

----- Original Message -----
From: wanda2000@hotmail.com
To: hugh finnamore
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:39 PM
Subject: Purple Haze

OK, you're gonna think I'm nuts for sure but I just had to tell you this. You've probably noticed that I've had this Hendrix obsession since we started this discussion back in the fall, right? Well, if you haven't noticed, I have. I keep hearing his tunes practically every time I sit down to do something connected with the book. Sometimes I've thought Purple Haze would be a good name for the book because it suggests illusion/delusion/deception/being in a cloud/impaired perception and that kind of stuff, which is what the average working person is subject to on a whole lot of different levels. The workers' purple haze is the whole government/corporate/union effort to keep the little guys little. (On another level, it also suggests rebellion, breaking away from the mainstream, cutting edge stuff and sort of thing but that's a whole other discussion).

Anyway, today I thought I'd try to find out the inspiration behind the tune. Ya, ya we all know Jimi was high but what was he thinking about when he wrote it...? Here's something I found on the web today - I thought it was kind of freaky. Notice any strange parallels with what I just said and with what's been going on? (OK, if your head's really not into this, I'll give you a few hints: Ignore all the sci-fi shit but check out these concepts: the haze makes the people confused, they go into hibernation when the haze is around, the ones that don't hibernate - end up losing it. How's that for a head trip?

Purple Haze Scoop!: 'Scuse Me While I Read This Novel...'
by Caesar Glebbeek

Ever since the release of "Purple Haze" in England, the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, way back on 17 March 1967, we've had all those theories flying around about the origins of the lyrics. Many people believed the song was a result of some drug intake (usually LSD got the credit - always denied by Jimi) although as hinted at on page 148 of Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy, a science fiction and mythology connection was another pretty good bet - if only to veer off into conjecture and supposition one page further. Jimi himself wasn't very clear when asked about the lyrics of "Purple Haze" and often gave different answers on different occasions, which led to a totally incorrect interpretation of this song.

In December 1967 Jimi told interviewer Meatball Fulton in London: "It had about a thousand thousand words... You should have heard it man. I had it written out. It was about goin' through all these...ah, this land, you know. This mythical...'cause that's what I like to do is write a lot of mythical scenes. You know, like the history of the wars on Neptune and all this mess, you know...like how they got the Greek Gods and all that mythology. Well, you can have your own mythology scene. Or write, you know, fiction. Complete fiction, oh, you know. I mean anybody can say 'I was walking down the street and I see an elephant floating through the sky.' Well, it has no meaning at all, you know. There's nothing imagined except there's this elephant there, you know. And if you don't watch out you might break your neck! [laughs]...."

After 26 years we can now finally reveal the true source of the lyrics of "Purple Haze"... According to journalist Keith Altham in Rave (November 1970) Jimi once told him: "It was just a straight dream I had linked upon a story I read in a science fiction magazine about a purple death ray." As it turned out this is very close to the truth although Jimi's dream doesn't come into it as almost all of the lyrics of the version released on single, one way or another can be traced back to an old novel. Way back in 1957, Philip José Farmer wrote a science fiction story titled Night Of Light (full title: 'Night of Light - Day of Dreams'). A short version of this novel was published in the June 1957 edition of the American magazine Fantasy And Science Fiction. The complete novel (160 pages) was first published in paperback by Berkley Medallion Books [ISBN 425-02249-075] in June 1966.

The story in the novel concerns the planet Dante's Joy where, because of sunspot activity, the night-time sky sometimes turns violet. During day-time the sun would turn at times from normal blinding white into an enormous disc of pale violet ringed by a dark red. This would cause dizziness....

Purple Haze all in my brain,
lately things don't seem the same....

....and those of the two billion people on the planet who choose hibernation during these periods go into what is called The Sleep. Those who don't are experiencing something called the Chance (lasting for seven days) and go crazy. This includes homicide, rape, looting and general insanity until the fog passes. People's deep rooted subconscious desires surface during this time known as the Night of Light...

Purple Haze all in my eyes,
don't know if it's day or night....

....as all inhibitions are lifted by the magnetic storms. The novel tells the story of the adventure of John Carmody, an Earthman, who gets in contact with Father Skelder and Father Ralloux (both also from Earth) who were jointly commissioned by the Federation's of Anthropological Society and the Church to make a study, among other things, of the so-called Night of Light on Dante's Joy. On page 47/8 we read about a trip John is taking in his car during the Change: "Because the night seemed a little brighter, he drove a little faster. His mind, too, seemed to be coming out of the slowness...and he was thinking with his former quick fluidity... Normally, he would have been able to see the Temple of Boonta at the end of the avenue. But now, despite the enormous globe of the moon, halfway up the sky, he could discern the structure only as a darker purple bulk looming in the lesser purple... Above it, the moon shone golden-purple in the center and silver-purple around the edges. So huge was it, it seemed to be falling, and this apparent down-hurtling was strengthened by the slight shifting of hue in the purple haze." And on page 34 is says: "The sky was clear but the stars seemed far away, blobs straining to pierce the purplish haze."

All the lyrical references in "Purple Haze" are directly related to the storyline. Jimi only changed the story slightly by introducing a woman as the cause of his madness and confusion. The above evidence is incontrovertible and undoubtedly proves that the Night Of Light is the source of the lyrics in "Purple Haze." Case closed - next one please!

Special thanks to Harley Fine for making the discovery of the "Purple Haze" lyrics connection in said novel.
First published in UniVibes issue #8, November 1992
Copyright ©1992 UniVibes - All rights reserved

Tragedy-2:25 PM 6/24/2001- MFD
As many of you are aware, David Brighton (Chair of the MFD) and his family have been struck by tragedy.

The news released Saturday June 23rd identified brother Brighton as being arrested and possibly charged with violence in a family dispute.

We would like to express our concerns and support for him, his wife and their families at this time.

The MFD will continue to move forward to accomplish our goals despite this obvious setback.

An interim Chair will be announced shortly.

Until then your queries can be forwarded to Sharyn Sigurdur. sharyns@ufcw.net

The MFD will attempt to keep you informed and updated as events develop.

It is our single most wish that the Brighton family will recover.
Our prayers are with brother Brighton and his family.

Click HERE to read the MFD media release.

Rumours of the death of MFD seem to be premature. After all, why is this web site still here? Why are you still talking? In the land of the honchos there is growing disappointment and confusion about this.

posted in MFD May Be Dead, But..., June 28, 2001

Ah, eagle_one, this is not the end; it is only the beginning. Posted July 15, 2001

What is this place?

Taking back our unions and engaging the future...

[b]We are people-who-work helping other people-who-work take back their unions. We started out as a reform movement within the Canadian UFCW but have expanded our focus to the broader community of workers. We believe that fully democratic unions are essential to improving the lives of working people today and in the future.

The world is changing. The knowledge age is here. The places where we work are changing. Workers can influence the course of change and build a better, more humane world and better more humane workplaces. To this end we need to know - to understand - what’s going on. When we understand our environment, we can change it. We can analyze it, assess it, and decide what we want and how to achieve it. To facilitate change that is good for workers, we need unions that are good for workers. Unions that are good for workers will be able to engage the future.

Many of today’s mainstream unions are not equipped to engage the future. Many are trying hard to hang on to the past. Some have long since ceased being union’s altogether. This has to change or workers will be left as high and dry in the knowledge age as they were in the industrial age. Workers know this. Many are working hard to take back their unions.

Knowledge is power. Through this interactive web site we seek to empower workers involved in union reform by providing information, advice and support so that you can [b] for yourselves. We seek to break the silence about mainstream union practices that disempower workers so that you will know what really goes on and see with your own eyes. We provide a place where you can meet, talk, share information on a wide range of subjects related to unions, the workplace and the labour movement so you can decide for yourselves. Understanding what's really going on and linking up with like-minded others can help build an empowered worker community[/b].

We are virtual. We have no structure, no officers or directors, no bureaucracy - that’s old, from the other age. We are ideas, thoughts, information, and communication. We are this web site and all who come here. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, what kind of work you do, or what kind of formal role you have been assigned in your workplace, if you care about the future of workers you are welcome here. Share your views, tell us what’s happening where you work and at your union. Engage others and engage the future

Cocktail named after pension-looter Posted by the_hound on Monday, January 14 2002 -5:10 PM -- Discussion

A series of articles in a Florida newspaper have alerted us to a controversial investment by the United Association of $800 million from its pension fund into a financially troubled hotel in Hollywood, Florida. The staggering amount represents about 20% of the fund's total assets.

Local businesses and politicians are jumping for joy at the prospect of the new jobs and increased taxes the hotel, called the Diplomat will bring to the area. But many union members are angry at what they believe is a high risk gamble with their retirement funds. Said one member, “The union has no business investing other people’s money in these bonehead projects". An appeal by a group of members to the US Department of Labor to stop the investment was rejected recently.

The hotel's operator has agreed to allow the Hotel Employees, Restaurant Employees Union to organize its workforce and has named a cocktail after the UA's President, Martin Maddaloni.

Man who sleeps with dogs wakes up with fleas-7:08 PM 6/22/2001- remote viewer

I came across this amazing series of articles in The Oregonian On-Line about an awful scam involving union pension funds. The UFCW don't appear to be involved in this (Local 555 posted a notice to the effect that they had no funds invested with this company), but a number of other unions appear to have lost millions of dollars to an unscrupulous investment firm. This story provides an excellent example of why members need to stay on top of how their pension funds are managed and what can happen when officials play fast-and-loose with their money. (You'll notice also that this sleazy firm also specializes in hotel investments - sound familiar?)

1-800-Bad-Union3:29 AM 7/13/2001- weiser

Well, we’re sure you all remember WebGalaxy, that Internet provider that CCWIPP lost half a million dollars on. And we’re sure you remember AcuBid Com Inc. (later called Asia Web). That’s the company that CCWIPP dumped over $1.2 million into before it went “south”. Well, the guys who brought you those two fiascos are also named in a Teamsters election funding complaint lodged by a group running against Jimmy Hoffa Jr. The WebGalaxy/Acubid guys kicked in a bunch of money to help elect the Hoffa slate. But because they may have done business with the Teamsters, they weren’t allowed to contribute, and a complaint was lodged.

Now it’s really bad that the Canadian Commercial Workers Pension Plan would pour close to $2 million into ventures managed by these guys. However, [url= http://www.m-f-d.org/news/quajswtzuer.php]that’s not the end of it.[/url]

MGI owes creditors $12.7 million! - posted - 8:53 PM 9/10/2001 - Discussion
Well, if it wasn't your pension at stake, the way CCWIPP invests your money would have us doubled over slappin' our knees in hysterics. If it isn't pouring money into bankrupt hotels it's pumping $5 million into a failing company with only $635 thousand in assets --and Receiver General for Canada will get $50 thousand of that.

"We're driven entirely by contributors. You guys are the Members for Democracy. We're just a web site. We have no leader and no formal structure, we're just an informal network of people who wish to share their views on democratic unionism and workplace issues. This whole thing would be pointless if it wasn't for all of you folks having similar goals and ideas." MFD Organizational Status, March 4, 2002

- 7 hotels ($15 million was loaned for the purchase of one of these and we had no idea how much pension money might have gone to fund the others)

- AFM Hospitality, the financially-challenged hotel management firm (at least $2 million was invested in this barking dog)

- MGI Meat Packers, the bankrupt meatpacking plant ($5 million)

- The Galleria Shopping Mall in London Ontario ($31 million was loaned to Ron Kelly to buy the mall, $42 million was paid to him to buy it back).

- Holland Cross shopping mall in Ottawa, (purchased by Kelly for $15 million and bought back by the pension plan for $28 million).

- Webgalaxy, the Internet service provider started by a bunch of UFCW big shots ($2 million)

- Two Bahamas hotel properties (over $100 million)

- Dynamic Venture Opportunities Fund – Piggy Evans was the Chairman of the Board of this labor-sponsored venture capital fund of which the UFCW, Laborers and Carpenters Union pension funds were the sponsors. Piggy's nephews Michael J. and Eugene Fraser were also board members.

Posted by <downeaster>
Sat, Apr 27, 2002 5:59pm

About 4 years ago some of us at the plant noticed that the rate of return on our pension compared to previous years was lower, we were also paying 3 cents extra into the plan (58 cents per hour to get 40.00 per year pension return - the max was 55 cents to get 40.00 per year pension.) and getting nothing in return.

We asked our local union reps about this they told us if we didn't like the plan we should get out. We then wrote the board of directors of CCWIPP and received a letter from CLIFF EVANS. He replied that there could not be any changes in the plan because the Alberta Pension Commission was looking into the solvency of the plan.

We were concerned about these comments so we wrote the Alberta Pension Commission and asked them what was going on. They replied that the plan was having some problems and hopefully they could work out their problems in a few months.

Each member received a letter about a year ago from the Board of Directors of CCWIPP explaining the new changes .The most important was if a person was not eligible to retire as at Jan 1 ,1997 (was not 50 in 1997) the amount of their pension would be reduced between 50 and 65. Full pension would be available without reduction at 65. When we got into the plan we were promised that we could retire at 60 with a full pension.

The other change was to received the 40.00 per year pension we would have to contribute 65 cents per hour instead of 55 cents per hour. The letter also said that there would be a supplementary income benefit, finances permitting, which would provide a full pension at 60.

I then emailed Mike Fraser and asked him where the money for the supplement was coming from. Mike then phoned me a couple of weeks later and assured me that I would get a full pension at 60. Last year we received our pension statement. There was no mention of the supplementary income benefit. It stated that if you were not eligible to retire in 1997 you would take a one-half percent per month reduction from ages 50 to 65. I then wrote the board of directors asking them to guarantee me in writing that I would get a full pension at 60. I received a letter from C. Ormond, Administrator, stating that the trustees implemented a supplementary income benefit on the understanding that Alberta had approved the process. However, Alberta have now decided not to approve the payment of the (SIB) in the form in which it has been structured .Therefore, the payment of the SIB has been suspended until a solution to the problem has been sorted out. We are not sure when that will be (so much for my guarantee).

Why weren’t the members told that the supplement had been removed? I posted the letter on the board. I then wrote the Alberta Pension Commission about the supplement. They replied [that] CCWIPP currently has some funding problems. These were caused by a number of things, most notably some inaccurate information and advice from one of their advisers (who has been fired).

When a pension plan is in a deficit situation (i.e. does not have sufficient funds to pay all benefits promised) then it must take action to eliminate the deficit. Pension legislation requires that the deficit be eliminated within 15 years. It looked to me that there were some bad investments made at a time when other pension plans have incurred large surpluses.

The members then received a letter from Joan Tanaka of CCWIPP stating that the pension funds had been transferred from Alberta to Ontario and that the (SIB) had been reinstated and was now called the Supportive Temporary Outlay. It states the solvency requirements are less severe in Ontario.

We have the right to ask questions and to get answers about our pension plan without being labeled a trouble maker. Our local union leaders should be providing the members with this information. I wonder what is going on in other provinces regarding the CCWIPP pension plan?

In solidarity

Posted by weiser
Sat, Apr 27, 2002 6:38pm

Hi downeaster, all the CCWIPP files may not be unpacked yet, but you can contact these people. They have the CCWIPP files. A guy named Larry Martello is managing the CCWIPP file. You can call the FSCO and get Larry's e-mail.

What's astounding about the CCWIPP plan is that unlike other plans, it gets huge amounts of money dumped into it every year that won't benefit those on whose behalf it was remitted. To get a pension benefit, you have to be "vested". To be vested, you have to be in the plan for at least two years. If you quit before vesting occurs, all the money remitted on your behalf stays in the fund.

As we all know, retail food has huge turnover of employees. All these employees get from 40 to 50 cents per hour dumped into the plan, but the vast majority of them leave before vesting occurs. This money cannot be used for anything but improving or maintaining the pension benefits of vested members.

If you think about it, CCWIPP should not be facing solvency problems. They should be scratching their heads about what to do with the huge amounts of contributions from members who quit before they become vested.

What in hell happened to the plan? How much has been lost in bad investments like hotels, shopping malls and bankrupt meat plants?

Posted by remote viewer
Tue, Apr 30, 2002 10:16am

East coast brothers: is this what you were told by the Alberta Pension Commission? If so, it's very interesting. I'm not so sure that it's good enough for the Trustees just to say, "oh some guy we hired made some bad investments and we fired him". The Trustees have a fiduciary duty to look after the plan in the best interests of the plan members.

Who was this guy? Who hired him? What decisions did he make? What advice did he give the Trustees? Should the Trustees have known better? What are the trustees doing about the damage caused by this adviser? Are they suing him or his company to try to recover their losses?

You may want to write to the CCWIPP (with the copy to the FSCO) with these questions and also, while you're at it, ask for a full disclosure of the investments that have contributed to the funding problems, who recommended and who approved those investment decisions and - let's not forget - did any money from the fund go to businesses in which CCWIPP Trustees have an interest?

Posted by downeaster
Thu, Jul 18, 2002 4:31am

I sent a letter to CCWIPP on May 10.2002 and a copy to l. Martello of FSCO .I got a reply from FSCO saying that they would be looking into my concerns and would be getting back to me . They also sent me information on the responsibilities of the FSCO and the administration people of a pension plan. I gave this to a friend and he lost it so I can’t recall all that was in it in detail.

I received a letter from CCWIPP asking me to send a copy of the e-mail I received from the Alberta Pension Commission .stating that one of their investment advisers gave CCWIPP some bad advice who (has since been fired). I sent CCWIPP a copy of the e-mail and I sent a copy to FSCO. I received a letter from Clifford Evans on June 18.2002. The letter is fairly long. They said the trustees appointed an independent actuary for the purpose of filing the required valuations. This change was made because of deteriorating health of the former actuary. The former actuary served the ccwipp for over 20 years and was hired by the board of trustees.

THE LETTER WENT ON TO BLAME PENSION LEGISLATION FOR MULTI-EMPLOYER PENSION PLANS AS BEING TO HARSH. THE LETTER WENT ON TO SAY THERE IS NO FUNDING PROBLEM IN RESPECT TO CCWIPP ON A GOING CONCERN BASIS, WHICH IS HOW THE PENSION PLAN IS FUNDED DAY TO DAY. They sent me a copy of a financial statement that was published in the UFCW mag dated Jan 1, 2000 to Dec 31, 2000. I then wrote Clifford Evans back on July 10.2002 saying that my questions had not been answered so I am asking them again and adding a few more. There is another multi-employer plan called CWIPP with one C that is much the same setup as CCWIPP that has different unions involved. You have to be a member of the CLC and I haven"t heard that they were having problems with the pension boards or with their funding. I am waiting for a reply from the FSCO.

The Fund has approximately $72 million of investments that are in default of their principal and/or interest payments. These investments are secured and the Fund is carrying out whatever procedures it considers appropriate to realize on its security and recover its investment. In usch instances, the investments’ fair values have been reported at their estimated recovery amount and interest is no longer accrued.

Several of the Fund’s loans and mortgages held by the investment corporations [the Propcos] contain provisions whereby interest is deferred unti a specific date in the future and is capitalized as part of the loan until that date. The amount of capitalized interest included in the above is approximately $29,000,000 (2000 - $29,900,000).

Special purpose entity (SPE):

Also known as a “Special Purpose Vehicle.” A business interest formed solely in order to accomplish some specific task or tasks. A business may utilize a special purpose entity for accounting purposes, but these transactions must still adhere to certain regulations.

Used properly these subsidiary companies are used to isolate financial risk. Their asset/liability and legal status make its obligations secure even if the parent company goes bankrupt. Used improperly SPEs can serve to inflate revenue, hide debt or understate risk exposure. Enron used accounting loopholes to use SPEs improperly.

This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-03-138 entitled 'Financial Statement Restatements: Trends, Market Impacts, Regulatory Responses, and Remaining Challenges' which was released on
October 23, 2002.

----- Original Message -----

]I've been reading my Enron book and something that is really interesting is Enron's use of single purpose Propco-like entities. They had dozens of these things. They were created by Enron's evil CFO who used them to:

- hide debt
- hide bad deals
- funnel money to prop up bad deals.
- borrow huge amounts of money to to prop up failing investments or finance other businesses that he also controlled.
- buy Enron's failed ventures at grossly inflated prices (thereby allowing the company to post "profits" generated from these sales even though they were loaning the Propco-like companies money to buy them).
- line his own pockets with millions of dollars in commissions and management fees.

All this monkey business was done "off the balance sheet" on the basis that these “single purpose companies” were independent entities just doing their own thing.

The whole thing reeked and was rife with conflicts of interest but Enron's accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, gave the strange arrangements its blessing because they were making a pile from doing business with Enron (their billings for consulting work were way bigger than what they earned for accounting and the annual cooking of the books).

Sound familiar? I wonder how much money [names withheld] have made through their “single purpose corporations”? I wonder what kind of debts the Propcos have racked up over the years. Remember the Propco that borrowed a few million to help [names withheld] buy the office on [a certain Toronto street]? They think they're being clever: If the Propco borrows money, that doesn't have to be reported on CCWIPP's financial statements because the Propco is a separate company. The problem is that if the Propcos are subsidiaries of CCWIPP or beneficially owned or whatever, CCWIPP is still liable for their debts. Fly that one past the FSCO on Monday. Just to get their week off to a good start.

Oh, while I'm thinking of it: According to the book, it was the Propco like entities that sunk Enron. When its house of cards finally collapsed, it was stuck will billions of dollars of debts incurred by these companies - this and the news that it had been cooking its books for years to hide it, drove its stock down to about 11 cents (a few months earlier it was at $72).

The December 31, 2000 actuarial valuation report has been filed with the regulator. The unfunded liability on a going concern basis as at the that date was $97, 589,693

The Fund does not record its investments at market value, other then those in pooled funds where it would be impractical to do otherwise. The Trustees believe that the large fluctuations that are likely to occur in each year's financial statements due to market value movements would not properly report the Fund's annual performance. They feel that large fluctuations over short periods of time would produce results that would not be truly representative of the Fund's annual operations and could be misunderstood by an inexperienced financial statement reader (my emphasis). The Trustees are of the opinion that the recording of investments at historical cost, which is less then market value, is a more conservative approach and that any gains or losses should be recognized when actually realized. Market values are presented in the statements for information purposes.

As outlined in the summary of significant accounting policies, the Fund does not record its investments at market value. In this respect the financial statements are not in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. As a result, investments and net assets are understated. Since independent appraisals were not carried out on the real estate investments, we were unable to determine the actual adjustment required.

If the market values shown are just a good guess, for information purposes only, how is anyone to know what the rate of return on those investments really is? If independent appraisals are not carried out, how does anyone know what the investments are worth?

“Fair values disclosed in the statements for 1995 are for information purposes only and are based on estimates provided by the Fund's management." Had the Fund's investments been recorded for 1995 at their estimated fair value, the financial statements for 1995 would have been adjusted as follows:

Investments and net assets available for benefits would have increased by approximately $18,000,000 and investment income would have increased by approximately $17,000,000.

In our opinion, except for the failure to record investments at market value and except for the effect of adjustment, if any, which we might have determined to be necessary had we been able to satisfy ourselves concerning the completeness of contribution revenue as referred to in the preceding paragraph, these financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund as at December 31, 1995 and the changes in net assets for the year then ended in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. (Auditor's Report 1995)

-----Original Message-----
Just for thought!
How could the hotel here in the Bahamas be 38 million over budget and nobody in the pension fund question that???
Ron Kelly can be found in Panama.
Email me for his phone number.

"It seems like this is some sort of deal where they simply lend money to their mates." – a Bahamas journalist commenting on CCWIPP trustees.

----- Original Message -----
From: weiser
To: remote viewer
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 10:39 PM
Subject: PRK Report

Sorry, for the delay. I had to scan it and put it in Word.

----- Original Message -----
From: remote viewer
To: weiser
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2003 5:51 AM
Subject: Re: PRK Report

Totally amazing! Can we post it? I'd like to post it as the weekend item unless you have some concerns about that. Let me know so that I can start working on a suitable blurb.

• Since the late 1980's the resort [South Ocean] has experienced continuing financial difficulty under various owners and has endured a succession of bankruptcies.
  
• Purchased out of bankruptcy for approximately $18 million by RHK Holdings Ltd. in 1998, the resort is owned by the South Ocean Development Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of PRK Holdings Ltd. [a subsidiary of the pension plan].
  
• PRK was established as at December 31, 2000 to resolve various financial defaults of RHK involving RHK's major lender [the pension plan]. At that time, RHK was in serious financial difficulty and unable to support SODC without the financial support of its major lender, the Toronto Canada-based company, Propco 39 Ltd. which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a major Canadian Pension Fund with assets in excess of US $1.0 billion.
  
• Propco, which controls PRK, has, since the outset of its involvement with RHK and SODC, advanced in excess of $30 million to SODC through PRK. These advances include approximately $10 million for capital improvements to SOGB and $20 million cash to subsidize operating losses of SODC during the five years since the resort's 1998 acquisition. Accordingly, Propco has provided, or is responsible for, the total invested capital in SODC of approximately $50 million, including the BNSloans [$15 million that RHK borrowed from the Bank of Nova Scotia in addition to the multi-millions from the pension plan].
  
• SODC's accumulated deficit as at December 31, 2002, as per its audited financial statement, was $26.0 million. This deficit includes losses of $4.7 and $3.5 million for the 2002 and 2001 fiscal years, respectively. The anticipated loss for fiscal 2003 is $7.0 million of which $5.0 million will be cash provided by Propco, the balance of $2.0 million being non-cash expenses.
  
• The anticipated loss for the 2003 fiscal year will exceed forecasted revenues. Notwithstanding this exceedingly bleak expectation and financial history, Propco has funded all losses to date and will continue to underwrite and pay all creditors' claims.
  
• To put another perspective on the extent of the loss situation, the $5.0 million cash subsidy required of Propco for 2003, will exceed the total annual payroll (including all payroll benefits and gratuities collected from guests and paid over to employees) of the entire resort operation.
  
• Similar, albeit larger, capital investments have been made by Propco in the British Colonial Hilton hotel. This property was acquired by RHK, circa 1997, and was established with an ownership and financing structure not unlike that of SODC. The BC Hilton asset ownership is within British Colonial Development Company Limited ("BCDC"). The current ownership structure of BCDC parallels that of SODC.
  
• Propco, in the absence of RHK's financial capability, is responsible for 100% of the debt of BCDC Which, as at December 31, 2002, amounted to approximately, $105.0 million. This sum includes bank loans totaling approximately $31.0 million plus direct advances from Propco, through PRK, of $74.0 million.
  
• Since re-opening to the public as the BC Hilton, the hotel has an accumulated deficit from annual operating losses of $34.0 million.
  
• Upon the onset of RHK's financial difficulties, which pre-dated the completion of the construction of the BC Hilton and the full renovation of SOGB, Propco commenced to provide, and has continued to provide, full loss subsidization as well as the cash necessary for asset replacement and renewal at each hotel.
  
• Propco has unwaveringly funded the payment of all debts of both BCDC arid SODC as required. It has paid all taxes and government levies, all utility bills of the publicly-owned utility companies amounting to millions of dollars (unlike, apparently, some other, directly competitive resorts in Nassau), and all payrolls, payroll benefits and license fees. In addition, it has made available to the general public the opportunity for local residents, individually or through organizations, to play golf at South Ocean Golf Club, at prices subsidized by the company.
  
• Since completion [of the renovation], Propco has maintained the physical quality of the building to the intended luxury standards despite the significant losses.
  
• Propco maintains a growing investment in the Nassau resort industry currently amounting to $155.0 million and expects this investment to increase in the coming year through additional asset purchases and loss subsidies. It should be noted that no interest has been charged by Propco, nor capitalized into the losses of SODC and BCDC, since the formation of PRK.
  
• [The] economic basics of hotel operations relative to investment explain why each of BC Hilton and SOGB are significantly far-removed, not only from producing annual profits (each is enduring chronic, annual losses), but also from producing any return on invested capital.
  
• The forgoing statistics show the extent of the gulf between current financial performance and that which is required, not only to achieve a return on capital invested, but also to give the assets an economic market value which is consistent with the $155.0 million invested.
  
• It can be readily seen that Propco faces a daunting challenge to cause the profitability of these hotels to escalate to acceptable levels.
  
• As noted above, Propco is currently responsible for $50.0 million in sunk capital which has been invested to date in SODC and upon which, no returns are being realized. When the current right-sizing plan has been fully implemented, circa October 2004, Propco's Investment in capital improvements and loss subsidization will have escalated to approximately $64.0 million. Thus, what might be viewed as a retrograde and value-impairing step of reducing the number of personnel and available guest rooms at SOGB is regarded by the investors as a necessary measure for improving profitability and, in turn, the ultimate value of the assets.
  
• But despite the bleakness of the picture Propco, Adamson states, is committed to maintaining its investment in the two properties and to continue pouring money into them in the hope that one day, in the distant future, it will realize a return on its investment.

I've sent it off to a couple of guys and here's what they said:

Good Morning [weiser],

Thanks for the report. I heard about it but hadn't seen it. Warren Adamson seems to be one of the good guys in all of this. I have got to know him quite well since he joined PROPCo this past spring . He's a CA and a former PKF (Pannel Kerr Foster) exec specializing in hospitality.

He has his own consulting practise called '' InnOps '' There is website listed on his card, but I don't think it's up and running yet. www.innops.com Warren has asked me to submit a proposal to PROPCo on the re development of the golf course at South Ocean. I did this back in July after meeting with Warren and the person he reports to.

Gene Fraser appears to be the guy in charge of the Bahamas mess. His card says he is Executive V P of PROPCO 100 Ltd. He's based in a little town called Campbellville just west of TO near Guelph.

I have also met and spoken many times to Gary Hassard of PWC . Gary's mandate is to try and sell the properties and get back some of PROPCo's money. As far as South Ocean is concerned, they are still sitting on my proposal, probably because why spend more money when they are trying to dump it.

I have it on some pretty good info that if an independent appraisal were done on what they own at South Ocean there may be 7 - 8 million of value. Have a look at the report you sent me. They have over 50 million into it. I could be wrong, but I don't think it will be sold anytime soon !

The Hilton hotel is another matter altogether!! If you think South Ocean is a problem, it pales in comparison to the Hilton.

Bottom line is PROPCO put up all the money to Ron Kelly & co. and now have inherited a huge mess.

Good morning [weiser]:

A great day for laundry. The working people who have invested their funds in Propco probably have no idea that their money is being squandered by some very inept
people posing as fund managers. In almost any other sector such investments would be terminated. There are people interested in the Nassau operations however PWC and Propco will not talk to them.

Any word on the Canadian hotels and what Propco is planning to do with them. They too are losing money, big time.

I really wonder what the Leppers and Harveys are getting out of this. I do know from my time in Nassau that there was a constant flow of money returning to Canada, in cash, by staff travelling to and from Nassau.

[There was] a plan for Pinestone to make a profit in three years. They actually turned a profit in the first year. Apparently that wasn’t what the plan was supposed to be.

Charges started to be levied against the property to keep it from earning a profit. Lots of legal fees. When invoices for renovations to Dave Harvey’s house, cottage and car and mysterious “storage” fees started to arrive, [the source] complained.

When more of Dave Harvey’s invoices came in [the source] bundled them up and sent them back. He complained to Ron Kelly who seemed genuinely offended. Apparently Ron Kelly was told by Dave Harvey to butt out because the pension plan called the shots not RHK, so Ron would do as he was told. When [the source] complained about the invoices to Cliff Evans, he was fired on the spot.

[The source] then went to work for Ron Kelly in the Caribbean at South Ocean Resort. RHK billed South Ocean $7 million for work that was done elsewhere.

[The source] stated that Dave Harvey is in pretty deep with Ron Kelly. However, Andrew Lepper calls the shots. Lepper loads the gun and Dave Harvey fires it.

The computers were from the RHK head office in downtown Toronto and Harvey's airport office. I heard from Rowe [Tobias Rowe, Kelly’s long time friend and business partner] last year that the hard drives had been moved to Kelly's brother's home. The hard drives from Pinestone were removed in 2001 and went to RHK's Toronto Office.

[The source] was afraid about what was going on and went to the RCMP. A few days later a man came to his home and introduced himself as an RCMP officer. The man said he wanted to talk to him about what he’d reported. The man looked vaguely familiar and [the source] became suspicious. Looking out at the car parked in his driveway it appeared that the RCMP insignia on the side of the car was tacked on. The source told the stranger to beat it, closed and locked the door. He reported the incident to the local OPP detachment and was later advised that the vehicle had been found, abandoned, in a field east of Toronto. The source said that he recognized the mysterious visitor as a former security officer who had worked for RHK. The source went into hiding, fearing for his life.