Dirty Laundry - Elephant Times Newspaper

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I N V E S T I G A T I V E
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 01
GREATER EDMONTON’S
CRITICAL NEWS SOURCE
N E W S P A P E R
Dirty Laundry:
the contamination of Edmonton’s political landscape
BY DARREN BOISVERT
J
ohn Rudolph and Rudy Wigger, owners of the iconic Page
the Cleaners franchise, have not
payed any civic taxes or rent on their
main plant site in Edmonton for over 10
!"#$%&' ()*"+%' ),' -)."$+/"+0' )123#4%'
within both the Alberta Government
and the City of Edmonton have known
about this deal from the beginning.
The land under the main plant of
Page the Cleaners on 142nd street has
been contaminated with high levels of
perchloroethylene (perc) for 15 years,
and business owners were allowed to
squat rent-and-tax free for a decade.
The workers were exposed to high-levels of toxic contaminants from chemicals purposefully dumped behind the
Page plant by the previous owners who
then abandoned all responsibility for
the clean-up.
5630' %0#-"' 4"78' 93/' :)$)+;3<=' ,)$mer President of Edmonton Northlands, Tom Eapen, current member of
the Municipal Government Board, and
Christy Whelehan, prominent developer with several ‘Celtic’ corporations.
Government silence, collusion and
extreme corporosity has piled up over
the years until it blossomed into a golden road apple worth 1.3 million dollars
for Page. In other countries of the world
they call this corruption. Around these
parts, it’s called the Alberta Advantage.
Less regulation. Less oversight. Less
taxes. Our mantra and mission. Less
regulation. Less oversight. Less taxes.
The Acolytes of Klein promised this
province a business paradise, and despite their apparent ineptitude, they
delivered. Credit earned is credit due.
This Progressive Conservative government knows what they’re doing. They
also clearly told Albertans the truth.
But if debt incurred is also debt
owed, then perhaps it’s better to focus
on the Great Slogan Wars underway in
the City of Champions. Or is that the
City of Potholes? The Land of Endless Construction? When’s the election? Edmonton should be proud of it’s
legacy and arenas and make something
attitude.
It’s hard to argue.
>;$'-)."$+/"+0')123#4%'2#+'?$#+@'#'
steer as well as they brand a province.
They can also turn shit into gold with
the wagging of their tongues. It’s true.
It’s shiny, but it still stinks.
In Edmonton, squatting on land is
met with police raids and strong public condemnation from our politicians.
Homeless people originally set up
Tent City in 2007 in a public park but
A"$"'/)."@='0B"+',)$2"@')C'0B"'D3%%"44'
Center’s private parking lot by Alberta
Health, and eventually evicted from
public land by the police. The 4 a.m.
police raid on the Occupy protestors in
2011 resulted in 6 people being charged
under the Provincial Trespassing Law
for squatting on Melcor/park land. And
every summer, the kids seeking shelter
in the river valley have been the target of police raids and given speeches
about civic responsibilities.
Property rights have been vigorously enforced on public, private, and P3
park spaces -- except when PC bums
are doing the squatting and polluting.
Our politicians speak loud and clear
in the media for the need to ‘clean out
the squatters’, and the police move in.
EB"' )+4!' 0B3+-' 4"7' ?"B3+@' 3%' #' B;-"'
gaping hole in our justice system. For
will our courts uphold a law imposed
with force when it isn’t applied fairly
towards all citizens regardless of their
!"#$%"&%'(")'*+,!-!+".
Debt incurred is debt owed.
They can clean anything at Page the Cleaners, except the toxic chemicals in their backyard.
>;$' -)."$+/"+0' )123#4%' B#."' ?""+'
reckless with people’s health and reckless with the law. For ten years they
have covered up their corruption and
tainted our legal system. The arrests
were unjust.
This debt remains unpaid.
Dirty Laundry is part one of a series
of reports into the legacy of Page the
Cleaners. It’s the culmination of a ninemonth investigation into the contamination under our feet and in our government. The information that forms the
)123#4' $"2)$@' ),' "."+0%' #+@' @"23%3)+%'
came from tax assessment rolls, corpo$#0"' F43+-%' G)7"+' 3+#22;$#0"H=' 4"-#4' 4#+@'
0304"'%"#$2B"%'G0B#+<'!);'I"+03+"4'%0#CH='
and transcripts from court proceedings.
Despite hundreds of emails and phone
calls to Alberta Environment, Alberta
Health, Alberta Finance, and the City of
Edmonton Corporate Communications
Department, none agreed to provide a
comprehensive, sit-down interview on
this story before deadline. Some spokespeople quoted policy from their prefabricated website material, others claimed
@312;403"%' 3+' F+@3+-' J0B"' $3-B0' K"$%)+L='
many simply never responded to emails
or telephone messages.
The fact that most of the past and current owners of Page agreed to an interview, while our city and provincial ofF23#4%'24#3/"@'3-+)$#+2"='3%'0B"'24"#$"%0'
indictment on their public transparency
policies.
Their inability to deal with this issue
3+' #'A#!' 0B#0' ?"+"F00"@' 0B"' /#M)$30!' ),'
Albertans, while protecting and promot3+-'0B)%"'3+.)4."@='3%'#'N;"%03)+'?"%0'4"7'
to the citizens of this city and province.
ELEPHANT TIMES . INVESTIGATIVE NEWSPAPER
2
Principals in story
DAVID STARKO: Owner of Page the Cleaners from 1980 until several sales of assets and land in
1993-1996. Starko was a small residual investor in the company (but not the land) until 2000.
DICK JOHNSTON: PC MLA in Lethbridge from 1975 until 1993. Johnston held several cabinet
posts including Alberta Treasurer from 1987-1992. Passed away in 2003.
TOM EAPEN: Former manager for several dry cleaning operations until he purchased Page in
1993. Eapen is the former President of the federal PC Constituency in Millwoods.
JIM WORONUIK: President of Edmonton Northlands from 1996. Page owner since 1993. Passed
away in 2006.
CHRISTY WHELEHAN: Owner of Celtic Development/Homes. Page owner since 1993.
JOHN RUDOLPH: Current owner and CEO of Page since 2000. Also owner of Alberta Carpet &
Furnace Cleaning.
RUDY WIGGER: Co-owner of Page since 2000. Also owner of FDY Furniture and Wigger
Draperies (was represented in this story by business partner John Rudolph).
STORY BEGINS 1992
EAPEN8' I0#$<)' #+@' O' A"$"'
friends since 1980. I called David and said, “Do you have any
,$#+2B3%"%',)$'%#4"PQ'R"')C"$"@'
to sell the main plant to me. I
bought the assets and main operating plant at 11416 142 street
(the ‘land’) of the company in
1992. During the 1992 PC leadership race, I was with Doug
Main, and Jim Woronuik was
also with Doug. At one of the
receptions, Jim approached me
and said, “I heard of your company, and I want to come in.” I
gave him 15% to be the PR person for the company. It was a
big mistake taking Jim into the
business.
STARKO8' O' A#%' #KK$)#2B"@'
by a group to sell the business
in 1992. Dick Johnston was the
mastermind of the deal. He
asked me to sell the operating
assets, the land and building.
My understanding was that he
was chairman and managing
director. I did all the negotiating and discussions with him.
R"' #$$#+-"@' 0B"' 4)#+%' #+@' Fnancing and had an investment
company at the time.
EAPEN8' (#.3@L%' /"/)$!' 3%+L0'
too good. The investors behind me were Christy Whelehan and Sam Johnson. In 1993,
Dick Johnston, I used to talk
to him when I would see him.
I used to be involved in politics, I was the riding president
for the PC Riding Association
in Millwoods. I consulted with
Dickie in Canmore at his home
there for advice. He would
4))<'#0'/!'F+#+23#4'%0#0"/"+0%'
and give me some advice. It
was in 1996 that I asked him to
negotiate for me on a consulting basis.
STARKO8' O+' STTU=' 0B"!' K;$chased the franchise company
(a separate entity), bought other
Page locations, and the Mr.
Suede and Trudeau names.
JUNE 2, 1993
AB Environment inspects
the operation. Clean report
sent to David Starko.
EAPEN8'V0'0B"'"+@'),'STTU='0B"'
friction started. Jim was President of Edmonton Northlands,
he was ashamed to introduce
me to his friends. Jim is a crook
and never tells the truth. And
I can state that to anyone. He
wanted me to get rid of Christy Whelehan and take him on
board for his share. Most of the
cash, he pocketed it, and he
also went to the managers, and
talked about much of a better
job he could do than me.
On February 28, 1998, I came
back from India and Christy
2#44"@' /"' 3+0)' 0B"' )12"&' R"'
said, “Your position has been
eliminated.” He accused me of
stealing money from the company. So I transferred my shares
to Jim, made him majority
shareholder of ‘518’.
JUNE 15, 1993
23rd Alberta Legislative Assembly election occurs. Dick
9)B+%0)+' )123#44!' $"03$"%'
from politics.
JUNE 24, 1993
Eapen (as Page) authorizes a
Phase 1 Environmental Site
Assessment (ESA). Clean report.
STARKO8'EB"'"+.3$)+/"+0#4'
report was the end step to negotiations. In 1993, they purchased the land, building and
the pick up and delivery business.
AUGUST 16, 1993
Starko sells the land to
559035 Alberta (‘559’). Owners were Jim Woronuik
(693241 Alberta); Christy
Whelehan (542685 Alberta) and Tom Eapen (Allied
Trading Corporation). Starko sells the operational assets to 518906 Alberta (‘518’).
WHELEHAN8' O' B#@' #+' #2countant named Sam Johnson,
who knew these guys. I put my
money down, and it was the
biggest mistake of my life. Jim
ran the company.
WHELEHAN8' 93/' A#+0"@' 0)'
take over the business, and I
thought it was the right thing
to do at the time. But I wasn’t
there. That was Jim.
EAPEN8' EB"' K$)K"$0!' )A+"$ship (‘559’) did not change. I
didn’t want to shut the whole
door closed. I thought the
property would get me back at
some point. (Since this time), I
have had no communications
with the my previous business
partners. As far as I knew, both
‘559’ and ‘518’ went bankrupt at
the same time.
DECEMBER 11, 1998
AB Environment begins an
3+."%03-#03)+' #7"$' $"2"3.3+-'
a report that ‘perc’ from the
dry-cleaning process was being dumped into the sanitary
sewer and upon the land behind the plant.
EAPEN8' W"$2' /)."%' 43<"' /"$cury. It moves in waves like
a snake across and into the
ground. That is one of the nasty
qualities of this product.
FEBRUARY 03, 1999
VD' 5+.3$)+/"+0' +)03F"%'
Page of its investigation.
AUGUST 17, 1999
Phase 2 ESA (holes drilled)
completed at the request of
the owners of ‘518’. High perc
levels found.
STARKO8' O' A#%' $"+03+-' 0A)'
properties (outlets) to Page.
Their check bounced. So I
called them up. I said, “Jim,
your check bounced. I’m willing
to work with you for 6 months
or a year, and turn it around.”
Jim said to me, exact words,
XY;2<')C&Q
OCTOBER 05, 1999
693241 Alberta (Whelehan)
3%'%0$;2<')C'0B"'V4?"$0#'Z)$porate Registry for failure to
F4"&'["/#3+%'@3$"20)$'),'J\\TL'
and his dissolved company
retains 42.5% ownership of
‘518’.
DECEMBER 29, 1999
J\S]L' GWV^5H' F4"%' ,)$' ?#+<ruptcy protection with $1.5
million in debt. (ATB loses
$260,000 in secured debt).
APRIL 04, 2000
Z30!' ),' 5@/)+0)+' F4"%' 0#6'
+)03F2#03)+'#+@'K4#2"%'#'43"+'
against the land.
APRIL 20, 2000
_W`^' F4"%' #' K$)K)%#4' 3+'
court saying that 790443
(Wigger and Rudolph) had
)C"$"@' 0)' K;$2B#%"' 0B"' J\S]L'
business, subject to a number
of conditions.
JUNE 01, 2000
Allied Trading Corporation
(Eapen) holding 39% owner%B3K' 3+' J\\TL' 3%' %0$;2<' )C' 0B"'
Alberta Corporate Registry
,)$',#34;$"'0)'F4"&'
JUNE 06, 2000
Lawyer James Culkin appointed as Director of ‘518’.
Eapen is struck from ownership.
JUNE 15, 2000
Wigger Draperies (Rudy Wigger and partner John Rudolph
in 790443 Alberta) hires
AGRA to do a subsoil phase
2 ESA.
JUNE 26, 2000
Ignoring an order from Alberta Government to conduct another Phase 2 ESA,
Page submits same report as
previous one.
JUNE 29, 2000
Judge approves bankruptcy
proposal, giving control of assets (but not land) to 790443
(Wigger and Rudolph).
AUGUST 02, 2000
Z"$03F2#0"' ),' lis pendens
(lawsuit) against the land by
Venstar Financial.
STARKO8'O+'abbb='O'$"/"/?"$'
talking to the Venstar guy. He
said “We don’t want anything
to do with this land, too much
liability to it.” There was a relationship between Venstar and
Dick Johnston.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2000
Environmental Clean-up
order issued against ‘559’
and ‘518’.
RUDOLPH8' O' )123#44!' %3-+"@'
the deal on October 20th, I
never heard anything about this
cleanup order, before the deal.
STARKO8'9)B+'<+"A'#?);0'0B"'
contamination before he purchased the building. He knew.
He knew.
NOVEMBER 11, 2000
Environmental order attached as a lien against the
Page property.
EAPEN8' O+' abbbcabbS=' O'
was asked to go to the AB
5+.3$)+/"+0#4' )12"&' I0#$<)'
said I should go. He drove me to
the meeting and waited outside.
They were accusing me. Jim
and Christy said I dumped.
ELEPHANT TIMES . INVESTIGATIVE NEWSPAPER
They
wanted to charge
me, but Christy
was the director of
the
property. Jim had the majority
of shares. AB Environment
tried to negotiate. They said,
“You are all sitting here, the
people who are responsible
for this company, the board of
directors.”
Jim and Christy told everyone
that I had polluted the place.
I was sending the perc every
month to Swann Hills (reclamation centre). I knew how serious it can be. I was sitting on
the Federal Government Perc
Taskforce. I wasn’t going to ruin
myself. So I said, “To hell with
it. Sue me. Bring evidence to
0B"'2);$0&'O'B#."'%0#C'AB)'A344'
vouch that I never polluted.”
WHELEHAN8' O' +"."$' B#@' #'
meeting with Alberta Environment. I got a call from them.
But that was it. I had no responsibility for the day-to-day
operations.
JANUARY 08, 2001
d"+%0#$'
F+#+23#4'
B3$"%'
AMEC to do a Phase 2 ESA
on the site.
MARCH 03, 2001
City of Edmonton (COE) tax
bill is payed by someone.
RUDOLPH8'O'4"#%"@'0B"'?;34@ing from Chris Whelehan, a
corporation. Within a couple
of years, a lawyer with Venstar
sent me back some checks.
Since then, I have been here
lease free. I have never paid
taxes. If I had payed tax, would
I be the guy who was deemed
to be owner of the property?
No one else was paying the
bill, would they then swoop in
and force me to clean the land?
At the time, they said I had
nothing to worry about.
WHELEHAN8' O' +"."$' $"ceived money from anyone
#7"$'abbb&'
MAY 28, 2001
Thomas Eapen makes assignment into bankruptcy.
He was defended in court by
lawyer James Culkin, who
in 2001, became director of
542685, the same company
0B#0'#22;%"@'B3/'),'0B"7'#+@'
JF$"@'B3/L&'
3
DECEMBER 19, 2001
Jim Woronuik makes assignment into bankruptcy. Law!"$' 0"%03F"%' 3+' 2);$0' 0B#0' B"'
remains employed by the
current dry cleaning business.
“He is just an employee.”
NOVEMBER 18, 2003
Letter between AB Environment and COE.
“While it appears to be contained onsite...it has migrated
west from the plant site towards 143 St.”
FEBRUARY 28, 2002
AB Environment conducts
another phase 2 ESA.
FEBRUARY 06, 2004
Letter between AB Environment and COE.
“We should know what the
vapor concentrations are in
the soil below the building
at the location where the soil
concentrations were highest
in order to determine if the
vapors that might migrate
into the building...would be
of a high enough concentration to cause human impacts.”
APRIL 23, 2002
Z30!' ),' 5@/)+0)+' F4"%' #+other tax notice against the
site.
MAY 29, 2002
Letter to the owner of AllType business (north of Page
property) from AB Environment.
“If the contamination moves,
30'A344'e)A'A30B'0B"'-$);+@water to the southwest and
away from your property.”
SEPTEMBER 09, 2002
Someone pays the City of
Edmonton tax bill.
RUDOLPH8' EB"$"' A#%' %0;C'
sent to Christy Whelehan’s
business from the City, but
Page didn’t receive a bill until
a tax assessment arrived this
year.
MARCH 02, 2003
542685 Alberta (Woronuik)
is struck from the Alberta
Corporate registry for fail;$"'0)'F4"&'f#%0'#++;#4'$"0;$+'
F4"@'I"K0"/?"$'ST0B='abbb&'
AUGUST 02, 2003
‘518’ is struck from the
Alberta Corporate Regis!"#$%&"$%'()*"+$!&$,)+- Only
%B#$"B)4@"$' 2B#+-"' F4"@' )+'
June 14th, 2001. At time of
@3%%)4;03)+8' \gaU]\' G 93/H'
held 57.45% 693241 (Chris)
held 42.55%.
SEPTEMBER 02, 2003
559035
Alberta
(owners of property) is struck
from the corporate registry.' f#%0' #++;#4' $"0;$+' F4"@'
May 29, 2001. At dissolution, Eapen, Whelehan and
Woronuik are still listed as
owners through their corporate entities.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2003
AB Environment conducts
anther phase 2 ESA.
I see Eapen, Whelehan, three
4#A!"$%=' #+@' )0B"$%&' `!' F$%0'
thought was ‘Uh oh’. One of
0B"' )123#4%' %#3@=' X:"' #$"' B"$"'
because the property needs to
be cleaned up. You were all involved, and we need money to
clean it up.” I said, “It was clean
when I bought the land and I
sold it clean.”
I could see where this was
heading. I was the only one with
money, and I thought they were
going to hit me up for cash. I
walked out of the meeting right
away. I never heard back from
anyone.
APRIL 19, 2004
Z30!' ),' 5@/)+0)+' F4"%' #+other tax notice against the
site.
RUDOLPH8' :"' B#@' #' $);+@'
table discussion. AB Environment, myself, my lawyer, Dave
Starko, Chris Whelehan, and
Jim Woronuik. It was pretty casual at that time. They asked us
a bunch of questions, but they
weren’t good at answering ours.
APRIL 26, 2004
AMEC engineers report that
elevated organic vapor concentrations were encountered, ranging from 5 to 2,500
parts per million.
JUNE 19, 2007
Tom Eapen is appointed by
City Council to sit on the
Edmonton Tax Assessment
Appeal board for a six-year
term.
DECEMBER 19, 2005
Letter between AB Environment and COE.
“My manager did advise me
that our clean up fund has
been very burdened this year
with Wabamum and to not be
surprised if my request is de+3"@';+034');$'+"60'F%2#4'!"#$'
which would be April 2006.”
APRIL 2009
Page land is listed owing the
City of Edmonton $105,011.34
in back taxes.
NOVEMBER 10,2005
Letter between AB Environment and COE.
“As you are aware, we never
2)/K4"0"4!' @"F+"@' B)A' ,#$'
our plume goes and whether
or not it has passed under 143
street or not. I understand
that this may involve obtaining some fairly expensive
permits.”
NOVEMBER 14, 2011
Minister of Finance appropriates 11416-142 Street
K$)K"$0!',)$'hS&'>+4!'43"+%'4"7'
attached to the property are
the environmental cleanup
)$@"$'#+@'0B"'Z>5'0#6'+)03Fcation (2003-2011 inclusive).
MARCH 12, 2007
f#%0' $"K)$0' F4"@' ,)$' K;?432'
viewing on the public environmental portal website.
SUMMER 2006
Jim Woronuik passes away.
STARKO8' O' -)0' #' 2#44' 3+' 0B"'
mid 2000’s, I forget the exact
date, to come to the AB Envi$)+/"+0#4' )12"&' O'A#4<' 3+' #+@'
APRIL 2010
First time the City of Edmonton put the land up for public auction for failure to pay
taxes.
STARKO8' V+)0B"$' K"$%)+' 3+'
the industry came to me and
asked why his competitor (Rudolph) could get away without
paying taxes and rent. So I went
to the City’s tax department
and asked. I was told that the
property and business were
under ‘special rules’. Finally,
he admitted that the provincial
government had taken over the
property.
RUDOLPH8' O' A#%' 2)+0#20"@'
by the Alberta Government af-
ter they took the land over. A
year later, we started (discussing this), it was clearer in April
(2013) and (by the end of September), we should have a deal.
We are looking at moving the
business to another location.
Reclamation here isn’t going to
be a huge deal, but disruptive.
I’m negotiating the deadline
right now for moving.
STARKO8' O' /"0' _".3+' W#-"'
(with Alberta Finance) January
23rd, 2013. As a way of getting
information, I told him I was
interested in buying the property. He said, “We are not doing anything with it right now.”
He kept saying “no-comment”,
and “I am not at liberty to disclose that information”. I think
the government has their head
up their ass if they don’t insist
on him paying taxes. For the
government to allow someone
to sit in a building they own,
and not pay rent and taxes is
insane. I know other people in
the business and it is a huge advantage to not pay the rent. The
market rate for lease is about
$9,000 a month.
Government should not subsidize a business like Page that is
making money.
[Editor’s note: the land was
assessed
at
approximately
$27,000 a year for taxes. Added
to $108,000 a year for leasing,
-/!,' %0$(-%,' -+' (' -%"' 1%(2' (*proximate total of $1.3 million
!"' ,(3!"4,' 5+2' 6$)+7*/' (")'
Wigger.]
APRIL 23, 2012
John Rudolph, Alberta Carpet & Furnace Cleaning,
was nominated as Directorat-large for the Better Business Bureau in Edmonton
for 2013-2014 (currently sits
on board). The BBB knows
),' +)' %3-+3F2#+0' -)."$+/"+0'
actions involving Cleaning By
Page.
MARCH 21, 2013
Tom Eapen is appointed to
the Municipal Government
Board.
“All board members are appointed by Order in Council (Alberta PC government
cabinet) on the basis of their
experience and knowledge of
assessment, taxation, planning, development and quasijudicial processes.”
ELEPHANT TIMES . INVESTIGATIVE NEWSPAPER
4
The Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, 2000
Spinning Dirty Laundry
“Person responsible”, when used with reference to a substance or a thing containing a
substance, means
(i) the owner and a previous owner of the substance or thing,
(ii) every person who has or has had charge, management or control of the substance or
thing, including, without limitation, the manufacture, treatment, sale, handling, use, storage, disposal, transportation, display or method of application of the substance or thing,
(iii) any successor, assignee, executor, administrator, receiver, receiver-manager or
trustee of a person referred to in subclause (i) or (ii).
B00K8cc2#+433&2#c0cS@62U'
Re Woronuik (Bankrupt), 2002 ABQB 0095
January 28, 2002
Dock Bk0387593
IN THE COURT OF QUEEN’S BENCH OF ALBERTA
JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF EDMONTON
IN THE MATTER OF THE BANKRUPTCY OF
JAMES ROY WORONUIK
_______________________________________________________
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
of
M. FUNDUK, Registrar in Bankruptcy
_______________________________________________________
VWW5V[ViZ5I8
Deloitte & Touche Inc.
Trustee
D. Stewart
Stewart & Stewart
for the bankrupt
D. Tkachuk
Reynolds Mirth
Counsel for objecting creditor
jSk'''''EB3%'3%'#+'#KK432#03)+',)$'@3%2B#$-"'?!'#'F$%0'03/"'?#+<$;K0&''EB"'?#+<$;K02!'3%'#'
business driven bankruptcy.
[2]
The proved creditors total $497,064.
[3] There were considerable verbal submissions by both Mr. Stewart, for the bankrupt,
and Mr. Thachuk, for the objecting creditor, which were in substance evidence without
evidence.
[4] The bankrupt is 60 years old. In 1992 his 22 year employment was terminated.
He rolled his employer pension plan into a locked in money purchase pension plan and
worked for a short time for a successor employer.
[5] He then went to work for a dry cleaning business and became a minority
shareholder which turned out to be his downfall. He gave guarantees.
jUk'''''EB"'@$!'24"#+3+-'?;%3+"%%'e);+@"$"@'#+@'A#%'"."+0;#44!'%)4@&''i)+"'),'0B#0'3%'3+'
evidence. All I recall is that Bielby J. gave a written decision dealing with that.
[7] The bankrupt remains employed by the current dry cleaning business. He is just an
employee.
[8]
There is no point in prolonging the agony.
[9]
The trustee has no complaints.
[10] There will be a 10 day suspended order of discharge simply because the exigible
assets are not equal to 50 cents on the dollar.
The following is a heavily edited extract of one email exchange
between the City of Edmonton (COE) and Elephant Times for this
story. 8!2-1'9($")21 (part one) was compiled without any information provided by the COE.
For a complete transcript of all correspondence and a list of
phone calls made to the COE Corporate Communications Department, please contact the Director, Public Communications at
jason.darrah@edmonton.ca or COE Spokesperson holly.budd@
edmonton.ca.
FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Reporter
I have made repeated requests for all Phase 1/2/3 Environmen0#4'I30"'V%%"%%/"+0%'G5IVL%H&'V7"$');$'3+303#4'/""03+-='O'%"+0'#+'
email on Tuesday, January 29th. Until I called on Monday, February 4th, I didn’t even receive a “receipt of message” response. I
don’t believe this is consistent with your corporate communications guidelines.
O'F+@'30'B#$@'0)'?"43"."'0B#0'!);$')A+'3+lB);%"'5IV'@#0#?#%"'
would not provide a quick and easy reference for all ESA’s.
I would prefer to not come to the conclusion that the City of
Edmonton is deliberately delaying or denying the public crucial
public health information. But to date, I have seen no evidence
that this is not the case. For this reason, I have decided to appeal
to more senior managers to resolve these contradictions.
FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Jason Darrah
I am aware that you have been in contact with members of our
communications team and managers in operational areas over
several weeks.
You have also implied deliberate withholding of public information. This is a serious concern and it is important that we review
the range of requests you have made and the responses.
O0'/#!'?"'?"+"F23#4'0)'/""0'A30B'!);'#+@');$'/#+#-"$%'0)'-)'
)."$'%)/"'),'0B"'3%%;"%='?"2#;%"'O'%""'%"."$#4'@3C"$"+0'@3$"203)+%'
#+@'#%%;/K03)+%'3+'!);$'3+N;3$!'0B#0'/#!'+""@'24#$3F2#03)+&
FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Reporter
From my point of view there are two separate issues I am rais3+-'A30B'!);'#+@'0B"'Z30!'),'5@/)+0)+&'EB"'F$%0'3%'%23"+2"l?#%"@'
inquiry into the many ESA’s that have/haven’t been conducted
over the past 12 years, the results, and any action/inaction taken in
regards to these studies. The second is related to disclosure.
You correctly point out that I am only working on assumptions
when it comes to the technical aspects of this story. I am no scientist or engineer. I acknowledge that ALL my assumptions may
be incorrect with this story.
I’m not sure a discussion, as you state, “to clarify my assump03)+%Q'3%'A#$$#+0"@&'O',;44!'3+0"+@'0)'F40"$'/!'#%%;/K03)+%'0B$);-B'
0B"'?"%0'"6K"$0%'O'2#+'F+@'0)'#%%3%0&'D;0'A30B);0'0B"'K$)K"$'0"2B+32#4'K#K"$%='O'2#++)0'?"-3+'0B"'K$)2"%%'),'24#$3F2#03)+&
V%'O');043+"@'3+'/!'K$".3);%'"/#34='0B"'e)A'),'3+,)$/#03)+')+'
this story is deeply troubling given the inherent public interest
in possible contamination in our community. I have a hard time
accepting the explanations for why ESA’s cannot be found, the
3+#?3430!'0)'F+@'#KK$)K$3#0"'K")K4"',)$'3+0"$.3"A%='0B"'%"4"203."'
/"/)$!'4)%%'3+'$"-#$@%'0)'%K"23F2'@#0"%'#+@'K")K4"'2)+%;40"@='
etc.
O'B)K"'!);'#KK$"23#0"'0B#0'O'B#."'F$%0'2)+0#20"@'!);'0)'@3%2;%%'
these matters. To date, the failure to provide these documents
seem to be in direct contravention of all the disclosure and information policies in place by the City of Edmonton with regards
to the environmental. From my experience, yes, this is starting to
look deliberate.
If there is no story here --that too-- is worth informing the
public. I would like nothing more than to write an article telling
my readers there is nothing to worry about. For me, this is the
best case scenario.
HEARD on the 19th day of December, 2001.
DATED at Edmonton, Alberta this 28th day of January, 2002.
__________________________
M. FUNDUK
Registrar in Bankruptcy
APRIL 9, 2013
Holly Budd
I’m attaching the ESA that was completed in 2009. This is the
last document we will (provide) due to the amount of work that
has gone into searching, locating and retrieving your document
$"N;"%0%'0)'@#0"&'Y;0;$"'$"N;"%0%'A344'B#."'0)'?"'@)+"'?!'F443+-'
out the required paperwork and submitting the fee.
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