---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:07:29 -0400
Subject: Re Patronage and the recent doings up on the Hanwell Remember
me fellas?
To: Daniel.Allain@anbl.com, Rick.Smith@anbl.com, oldmaison
<oldmaison@yahoo.com>, ddesserud@upei.ca, andre <andre@jafaust.com>
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>, "carl.urquhart"
<carl.urquhart@gnb.ca>, "blaine.higgs" <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, premier
<premier@gov.ab.ca>, ConcernedCitizensOfHanwell@
"terry.seguin" <terry.seguin@cbc.ca>, "mckeen.randy"
<mckeen.randy@gmail.com>
http://www.cbc.ca/
http://www.cbc.ca/
http://
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/
http://www.newbrunswickbeacon.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/
http://www2.gnb.ca/content/
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Amos" <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
To: <info@danielallain.ca>; <brian@murphy2008.ca>; <carlbainbridge@ndp.ca>;
<alison.menard@greenparty.ca>; <webo@xplornet.com>
Cc: <omerleger@nb.aibn.com>; <chrisdurrant@ndp.ca>;
<dominic.leblanc@nb.aibn.com>
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 9:44 AM
Subject: Danny Boy Allain should completely understand this email EH Dominic
Leblanc?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 6:05 PM
> Subject: RE: Say hey to Bob Rae for me will ya?
> To: Travis.ndp@gmail.com, johan@ycl-ljc.ca
> Cc: danf@danf.net, oldmaison@yahoo.com, webo@xplornet.com
>
>
> Hey Johan
>
> Thanx for the response but rest assured that Bob Rae won't do a thing
> but other people are paying attention though. Funny how people start
> to try to appear ethical to me when they stand to lose a lot of money
> and political clout. Eh?
>
> Veritas Vincit
> David Raymond Amos
>
> P.S. Scroll down to the bottom Danny Boy It looks like Gordy Baby and
> his PCO pals are in hot water N'esy Pas?
>
> From: postur@for.stjr.is
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 14:53:51 +0000 (GMT)
> Subject: Regarding your enquiry to the Prime Ministry of Iceland
> To: David.Raymond.Amos@gmail.com
>
> David Raymond Amos
>
>
> Your enquiry has been received by the Prime Ministry of Iceland and
> waits attendance.
> Thank you.
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Johan Boyden <johan@ycl-ljc.ca>
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 15:07:06 -0400
> Subject: Re: Say hey to Bob Rae for me will ya?
> To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
>
> Hello David Amos,
>
> Thank you for your email and phone message. Good luck in your fight to
> get Mr Rae to listen to you.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Johan Boyden
> Communist Candidate,
> Toronto-Centre
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:16 PM, David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
>> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 10:53:47 -0300
>> Subject: I just called to remind the Speaker, the Bankers and the
>> Icelanders that I still exist EH Mrs Mrechant, Bob Rae and Iggy?
>> To: Milliken.P@parl.gc.ca, sjs@althingi.is, emb.ottawa@mfa.is,
>> rmellish@pattersonlaw.ca, irisbirgisdottir@yahoo.ca,
>> marie@mariemorneau.com, dfranklin@franklinlegal.com,
>> egilla@althingi.is, william.turner@exsultate.ca
>> Cc: Rae.B@parl.gc.ca, Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca, lebrem@sen.parl.gc.ca,
>> merchp@sen.parl.gc.ca, coolsa@sen.parl.gc.ca, olived@sen.parl.gc.ca
>>
>> All of you should review the documents and CD that came with this
>> letter ASAP EH?
>>
>> http://www.scribd.com/doc/
>>
>> http://www.scribd.com/doc/
>>
>> http://www.scribd.com/doc/
>>
>> Perhaps Geir Haarde and Steingrimur Sigfusson should call me at 506 756
>> 8687
>>
>> Veritas Vincit
>> David Raymond Amos
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
>> Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 19:30:52 -0300
>> Subject: I heard your worry about money just now
>> To: aih@cbc.ca
>>
>> Perhaps now that people who love their money are losing it in a
>> bigtime fashion maybe the not so stupid ordinary folk whose money the
>> bankers have been palying with will start listening to why I am
>> laughing at the bankers EH?
>>
>> Have a little listen for yourself to get a chuckle if you ain't crying
>> about your losses
>>
>> http://www.archive.org/
>>
>
>
> Just Dave
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> ISP Telstra Internet
> Location Continent : Oceania/Australasia
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> City : Sydney
> Lat/Long : -33.8833, 151.2167 (Map)
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> Browser Internet Explorer 7.0
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/blaine-hills-pc-leadership-1.3808866
Blaine Higgs seeks to take politics out of governing from the top
Former finance minister wants to take the politics out of decision-making as he runs for PC leadership
Higgs is one of seven candidates for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick and he's among those promising big changes to how politics are done.
"I'm running because I have the independence of thinking this province desperately needs," he said when he launched his campaign.
"I did not grow up in a political family. I did not come from deep roots politically."
Higgs developed a reputation during his four years as finance minister as a straight talker. He often walked right up to the line of criticizing his own government:
"It's a case when politicians are the most vulnerable and people say `I'll get him to promise this,'" he said.
He refused to endorse Premier David Alward's appointment of cabinet minister Margaret-Ann Blaney as the chief executive officer of a Crown corporation.
"He made it clear that was his appointment," he said in the legislature.
"That is his decision."
He questioned the cost of keeping small rural schools open and building large highway infrastructure.
After the PCs lost the 2014 election, Higgs admitted they had put off $30 million in education cuts to try to hold onto power.
"During an election period, a lot of the focus gets off the planned initiatives. I saw it happen during the election and during the lead-up to the election," he said.
Sparred over budget speech
Higgs' frustration with politicized decision-making has been a theme of his for years. In an interview with CBC News, he described a fight with staffers in Alward's office.
In 2011 he was given a draft of his first budget speech, assembled by the premier's office and the finance department.
"And I took it home [over the weekend] and I went through it, and I re-wrote it," he said.
On budget day, he drove to Fredericton.
"Lo and behold it was right back where it started," he said. He was told that some of the statements in the speech were politically risky.
"So I said, `Well, who's going to give the speech? Because if I'm giving it, this is what it's going to say. But if I'm not, that's OK too.'"
Higgs delivered his version. For the remainder of the PC mandate, he would continue to chafe at how politics influenced decision-making.
Fix system from top
Eventually, he says, he realized the only way to fix the system was to reach the very top of it.
He has told PC audiences this year that he's "running for premier because I can't get it done as finance minister."
When former Saint John mayor Mel Norton bragged at one forum about how he and his council "fixed a bankrupt pension in six months," Higgs claimed the credit for himself and the Alward government.
"We know all about the pension plan," he said.
"We changed the rules, so that municipalities could do it across the province."
So how does Higgs claim he couldn't get things done, while asserting he got things done?
He says the pension reform took almost two years to introduce "because many of the people around [Alward] were very much involved with the politics, more than the process improvement or making the change."
'I've been there. I've seen it'
"There's that process and the learning curve, which I don't need. I've been there. I've seen it."
But two PC MLAs who support Norton say it's not fair to condemn political decision-making.
"We are politicians," says Saint John Lancaster MLA Dorothy Shepherd.
"We're going to have party discussions about things that are important to us."
And Saint John Portland MLA Trevor Holder says "when it's done right … politics is what makes things happen."
Higgs "would appoint somebody to a position because he thought he was a good person, as opposed to returning a favour," says Chris Waldschutz, a Saint John party member and supporter.
"I think a lot of people fear that line of thought. People perhaps of lesser innate quality but who are in important positions from the old system — where you scratch my back and I scratch yours — have lots to lose."
Counting on grassroots
Higgs is counting on grassroots Tories and newly signed up members to make up for that.
He says he tells New Brunswickers who like his message that "it doesn't matter what the party's called — use the PC party as a conduit to change politics in New Brunswick."
Go to the centralized position and change it.
- Blaine Higgs, PC leadership candidate
Another possible Higgs contradiction: if a top-down system is bad, won't getting to the top yourself just perpetuate it?
"Go to the centralized position and change it," Higgs says.
But many leadership candidates have promised to run a more bottom-up government and to take the politics out of decisions — only to decide once they're at the top that top-down isn't so bad.
Higgs answers with a question: "So how many things have I said since I started that I haven't followed through on? How much have I changed since I started?"
It may take a Higgs win at Saturday's convention, and in the election two years from now, before New Brunswickers get to see just how real his rebellion would be.
Clarifications
- A previous version of this story said that Blaine Higgs threatened to quit over changes to his 2011 budget speech. Higgs says when he raised the idea of not delivering the rewritten speech, he was not threatening to quit.Oct 19, 2016 10:14 AM AT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Single board of directors paid 2 stipends to run NB Liquor and Cannabis NB
Board often makes decisions for both Crown corporations at the same time
The financially struggling Crown corporation Cannabis NB is likely to be billed in excess of $50,000 in directors' fees and expenses from its seven-member board this year, nearly doubling amounts the same directors are to be paid by the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation.
Cannabis NB is a subsidiary of NB Liquor, and although the two are run by a single board and generally share expenses to save money, that does not extend to politically appointed board members who have been getting two stipends each since last year — one from each company.
"There are two payments," NB Liquor's vice-president of communications, Nicole Picot, confirmed in an email to CBC News
"Board members are remunerated for their time committed to performing the duties required of both boards."
Picot says it's not double dipping because the work board members do for each company is distinct.
Crown corporations linked
Many issues facing NB Liquor and Cannabis NB are unique, but the two companies are also tightly intertwined structurally and financially. They share senior management and a number of head office and administrative expenses, and the board of directors often makes decisions for both at the same time.
An example of that came in July, when the board met and approved Patrick Parent as the new president of both companies.
"Patrick's leadership, extensive experience in the beverage industry, and commitment to New Brunswick will help drive further growth and success at ANBL and CNB," said Rachelle Gagnon, the chair of the board of directors for both NB Liquor and Cannabis NB, in a news release July 31.
Cannabis
NB had a dismal first year, losing more than $12 million. Instead of
sharing board of directors' fees with NB Liquor, it was required to
match them, doubling salary payments to board members. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Gagnon was appointed to the board of NB Liquor by the Progressive Conservative government of David Alward in 2013, and elevated to the position of chair in 2017 by the Liberal government of Brian Gallant.
The position of chair of NB Liquor paid $3,750 per quarter ($15,000 per year) plus expenses, but last year that doubled to $7,500 per quarter when Cannabis NB was created and made to pay duplicate directors' fees.
The board has six other directors. Their stipend went from $2,750 per year to $5,500 per year. Those board members are also paid attendance fees to go to board meetings and other expenses.
Payments jumped nearly 50%
Last year, total payments to board members, including all stipends, fees and expenses, jumped nearly 50 per cent from the year before, to just below $98,000. Cannabis NB was operational for only about six months during that fiscal year.
Not every board of directors is paid multiple fees for looking after parent and subsidiary companies.
More than a decade ago, NB Power operated as five separate companies with one board and a single president serving all five, but directors were paid only once.
"Do they get the one stipend or do they get multiple stipends?" asked then-Public Utilities Board chairman David Nicholson during a hearing in February 2006
"One stipend," he was told.
Errol
Mendes teaches law at the University of Ottawa and is an expert on
corporate governance. He says Cannabis NB should have its own
independent board of directors, not a clone of NB Liquor's board. (University of Ottawa)
University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes, an expert in corporate governance, said he is not bothered by Cannabis NB paying fees to its own board of directors, but he does question the wisdom of having a single CEO and identical directors overseeing companies that sell products that may compete with one another for consumers.
"That could be regarded as a conflict of interest for the same directors and officers to promote both the alcohol part of the business and the pot part of the business to some extent, because they are a form of competition."
Cannabis NB had a difficult first year, losing $12.5 million on sales of just $18.6 million, while NB Liquor, by contrast, made $169 million on sales of $433 million.
Included in those numbers were a series of transactions approved by the board where NB Liquor billed Cannabis NB in excess of $4 million for salaries, rent, startup costs and a variety of asset transfers.
Mendes says the smaller company should have a board that can oversee transactions like that with more independence.
"Good corporate practice would be if you are going to have a subsidiary with some of the same directors, at least have some independent directors."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New Brunswickers hit liquor, cannabis stores before locking down for pandemic, records show
Cannabis NB reports its 1st quarterly profit as it and NB Liquor experienced COVID-19 sales spikes
New Brunswick residents didn't just head home at the start of the province's state of emergency last month. They also swung by provincial liquor and cannabis outlets to stock up.
Fourth-quarter financial results released jointly for NB Liquor and Cannabis NB on Tuesday show revenue bumps that each agency said was caused by a COVID-19-generated buying spree by customers — especially for beer, wine and spirits.
"It is estimated that the impact of COVID-19 on sales during the last two weeks of the quarter was an increase of approximately 12 percent," reported NB Liquor in a release explaining its results.
That equates to an extra $4.4 million in sales over two weeks at the end of March. Cannabis NB said it recorded a more modest $214,500 in extra sales from residents stocking up for the state of emergency.
Cannabis
NB reported its strongest sales in January, February and March this
year, since it first opened to long lineups back in October 2018. (Julia Wright / CBC)
Both agencies closed out their fourth quarters and fiscal years on March 29.
New Brunswick recorded Atlantic Canada's first case of COVID-19 on March 11 and Premier Blaine Higgs declared a state of emergency on March 19, requiring residents to stay at home except for essential work and errands.
For thousands of residents, those essential errands included attending to depleted liquor cabinets and recreational drug needs.
"The last two weeks of the quarter marked the beginning of emergency measures to respond to COVID-19," noted Cannabis NB in its financial report.
"It is estimated that the impact of COVID-19 on sales was during the last two weeks of the quarter."
It's not clear what motivated the spree, but there were some concerns in the early days of the pandemic about the ongoing availability of alcohol and cannabis products.
Across the border, the Prince Edward Island government announced on March 18 it would be closing government-owned liquor and cannabis stores on the island. P.E.I. eventually softened that stance, but the move was widely reported in New Brunswick at the time.
P.E.I.
caused long lineups at its government-run liquor stores March 18 when
it announced they would be closing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The
policy was eventually softened, but the event may have contributed to a
late-March buying spree in New Brunswick. (Isabella Zavarise/CBC)
New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health said closing liquor stores was not seriously pursued because it could have created its own health crisis.
"We weighed the pros and cons," said Dr. Jennifer Russell at a daily briefing April 16.
"Alcohol is probably one of the few drugs that the withdrawal symptoms can be fatal so there are reasons we took into account around that."
Premier
Blaine Higgs announced a state of emergency in New Brunswick on March
19 to combat the COVID-19 virus. The move was meant to keep people at
home, but it sent many to provincial liquor and cannabis stores. (Government of New Brunswick/Submitted)
Hidden in the COVID-19-generated sales was news Cannabis NB revenues grew significantly on their own apart from the pandemic rush and the agency turned its first profit in six quarters.
It recorded record sales of $14 million in the fourth quarter over 13 weeks, a 43.9 per cent jump over last year's fourth quarter even though it covered 14 weeks. That helped Cannabis NB post $500,000 in net income for the quarter and lower losses for the full year to $4.3 million.
Cannabis sales for the fiscal year were an estimated $44.9 million, a significant improvement over its first year.
Profitable Cannabis NB outperforming some companies bidding to take it over
Higgs government resumes consideration of bids by companies to take over cannabis retailing in New Brunswick
The New Brunswick government has restarted a review of proposals by private operators to take over cannabis retailing in the province, even as Cannabis NB has turned its first profit and some of its potential replacements pile up financial losses of their own.
Still, at least one industry analyst believes those developments are not a reason for the province to back down from its plan to unload the Crown corporation.
"The government has made this commitment. I think the smartest thing would be for them to go ahead with it unless of course the proposals are wholly inadequate. We don't have any visibility there," said Brad Poulos, an instructor in the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Last year, New Brunswick Finance Minister Ernie Steeves announced the province was looking to transfer cannabis retailing to the private sector following weak sales and multimillion-dollar losses by Cannabis NB in its first year.
"To say [I'm] disappointed would be an understatement," Steeves said in April 2019, before eventually announcing a plan to privatize retailing.
"I'm looking for a way to try and save some money for taxpayers, trying to make some money for taxpayers, and try and bring in some revenue for taxpayers and this (Cannabis NB) is not turning out to be one of those ways."
Eight takeover bids
Eight potential private operators were identified as being under consideration in January following a Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the province.
A selection was supposed to be made "this spring" and, although the COVID-19 pandemic has lengthened that timeline, a decision is still being worked on, according to the finance department's Vicky Deschênes.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the RFP evaluation work over the past few weeks," said Deschênes in an email to CBC News. "That being said we can confirm that the work has resumed."
But much has changed since last year, including better than expected sales and net income performances by Cannabis NB and struggles by a number of private retailers, some of which are bidding to take over the market in New Brunswick.
Last week, the publicly traded cannabis retailer Fire & Flower saw its stock price drop after reporting operating losses of $35.7 million in its latest fiscal year ended Feb. 1.
Fire & Flower operates 45 retail stores in Ontario, western Canada and the Yukon territory and is one of the eight operators in the running to take over from Cannabis NB.
Fire & Flower operates 45 retail cannabis outlets west of Quebec and is one of eight companies bidding to replace Cannabis NB. Last week it reported losses of $35.7 million in its most recent fiscal year. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
On Friday, Fire & Flower's stock price was down to 56 cents, a 12.5 per cent decline since releasing its financial results.
Two weeks ago, YSS Corporation, another western Canadian cannabis retailer under consideration to take over from Cannabis NB, reported a full-year operating loss of $4.8 million in 2019 on sales of $8.5 million.
Its stock price also slumped and closed Friday at 11.5 cents, down 28 per cent since its year end financials were released.
In a regulatory filing accompanying its results, YSS cited many of the same issues that plagued Cannabis NB in 2019 as the reason for the size of its losses, including supply shortages and unfettered illegal sellers.
"Progress was made in 2019, but the year is not representative of the ultimate potential of the cannabis industry in Canada," said the company in a press release.
"Expectations, analyst forecasts and growth were muted by regulatory delays and uncertainty, supply chain issues, and competition from the black market."
In January, YSS President Theo Zunich said he was confident his company could make cannabis retailing profitable in New Brunswick, but in an unexpected plot twist Cannabis NB reports it has already done that.
Unexpected profit
Last Wednesday, the Crown agency issued unaudited financial results for its fourth quarter, showing it made $500,000 on revenue of $14 million over 13 weeks ended March 29.
It's the first quarterly profit for Cannabis NB since it began operation in October 2018 and largely unanticipated.
Cannabis NB had lost $17.3 million over its first five quarters and, according to budget papers tabled in the legislature by the finance minister on March 10, it was expected to lose another $2.2 million by the end of the fiscal year.
Sales
at Cannabis NB outlets climbed to $7,692 per store per day during its
most recent quarter, a 54 per cent improvement over a year earlier. (Serge Bouchard/Radio Canada)
Instead it made money.
A year ago, Steeves said he wasn't sure that was even possible.
"It's hard to imagine that it would be sustainable at this point," he said last spring after Cannabis NB projected $12 million in losses over its first five and a half months in business.
Since then, supply problems in the legal cannabis industry have resolved themselves and edible and other products were added to the legalized inventory.
In addition, Cannabis NB slashed its expenses and lowered prices to compete better with the black market, all aiding the turnaround
Cannabis NB sales in the latest quarter were an average of $7,692 per store per day among its 20 locations, 54 per cent better than the fourth quarter last year.
Best offers N.B. will get, suggests expert
According to Poulos, early losses by all cannabis retailers who have been building businesses from the ground up were to be expected and should not be a concern.
He also doubts the New Brunswick government would get any better offers for a profitable Cannabis NB today than it did for its unprofitable version when bids were solicited last fall.
Brad
Poulos is a cannabis industry analyst who teaches at Ryerson University
in Toronto. He believes New Brunswick is right to continue evaluating
bids for a private-sector replacement for Cannabis NB despite its recent
financial improvement. (Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC)
"The companies that are interested in acquiring this asset very much understand the long-term value of it and that's the price that would be put on it — not based on today's operational profit. So I don't think timing is really a big issue," said Poulos.
According to Deschênes, the province is prepared to keep Cannabis NB as a Crown corporation if the bids from private operators are found to be inadequate.
"The process is flexible in nature," the finance department spokesperson said. "Should the negotiations fail, government can walk away and continue to seek efficiencies with the current public sector model or look at other alternative models."
NB Liquor, Cannabis NB boss resigns after just 16 months
As decision about whether to privatize Cannabis NB looms, Patrick Parent says he's returning to private sector
Patrick Parent, the president and CEO of Alcool NB Liquor (ANBL) and Cannabis NB, has resigned after just 16 months.
In a statement posted to the ANBL website Tuesday, Parent said he plans to return to a CEO role in the private sector.
"This was not an easy decision," he said.
"During my time with ANBL and Cannabis NB, I've seen first-hand the dedication and commitment both teams have to managing and operating successful retail businesses for the people of New Brunswick. The tenacity and resiliency the teams have shown, especially during a global pandemic, has made me proud."
Parent was not available for comment Tuesday, but an ANBL spokesperson said Dec. 31 would be Parent's final day with the agency.
"Lori Stickles, our current vice-president of finance and chief financial officer, will begin acting as president and CEO on January 1st, 2021," Thomas Tremblay said in an email.
- Cannabis NB posts record profits, sales as Higgs government ponders agency's fate
- Parent tapped for top post at NB Liquor, Cannabis NB
Parent joined ANBL and Cannabis NB in September 2019 as CEO and president.
In October of this year, Cannabis NB, which had been a money-loser and was being considered for privatization, rushed its second-quarter financial results to report record sales and profit increases.
"A year ago we were asked to fix Cannabis New Brunswick and we did," Parent said at a rare quarterly report news conference at that time. "Cannabis New Brunswick has the most profit per capita in Canada, something we should all be proud of."
According to unaudited results reported by the agency, sales over 13 weeks between June 29 and Sept. 27 rose to $20.1 million. That returned a $3.3 million profit.
Both these figures were records and a significant improvement over a year earlier.
The
province is still mulling whether to privatize Cannabis NB, which had
been a money-loser but has since shown four consecutive quarters of
profits. (Elizabeth Fraser/CBC file photo)
During the same quarter in 2019, sales at Cannabis NB were just over half as much, or $10.7 million, and the Crown corporation lost $1.5 million.
A decision by the Higgs government on whether or not to privatize Cannabis NB's retail operations is expected by the end of this year.
CBC News has asked the Premier's Office for comment on Parent's resignation.
In the ANBL statement, board chairman John Correia thanked Parent for his "dedication to his teams" during his tenure.
"Patrick's leadership has been instrumental in Cannabis NB's ongoing success and the development of the ANBL strategic plan," Correia said.
With files from Robert Jones
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