Former FirstTel manager's fraud charges dropped

On trial's first day, judge determines Crown's case lacks substance

by Michael Erskine

GORE BAY-Four charges of fraud under $5,000 laid in June, 2005 against Drew Reid, a former CEO of the First Nations telecommunications company FirstTel, were withdrawn in Gore Bay court Monday. 

Reports indicate that after Mr. Reid's defence team presented new evidence to the crown, Wikwemikong Tribal Police and the Crown Attorney's office decided not to proceed with the trial.

Mr. Reid had expressed confidence in his defence team from the Toronto firm of Kelly and Lacy would prevail in court. "Michael Lacy out of Greenspan's office on King Street in Toronto is defending me," said Mr. Reid in email correspondence before the trial. He noted that Mr. Lacy has been part of the Conrad Black defence team in Chicago.

"Needless to say I am in very good hands and we expect a complete vindication and a quick one-day trial to this ridiculous case," said Mr. Reid.  "We are looking forward to a professional and shattering cross examination of Josh Howard and Gladys Wakegijig."

Contacted after the charges were dropped, Mr. Reid pointed out that when the matter first came to light, the charges were only very peripherally connected to FirstTel, as they stemmed from the withdrawal of money from another company, TransCommunication, of which Mr. Reid was the sole shareholder. "How can you be charged with taking your own money?" he asked.

Mr. Reid maintained that the matter stemmed from a personal dispute between himself and a disgruntled former employee of FirstTel. After information was provided to Crown Lorraine Ottley's office by Mr. Lacy, her office agreed to drop the charges. 

"It was, in my lawyers' words, gross negligence in investigation," said Mr. Reid. "After all of this, the crown said 'it appears to be no more than a civil dispute between Mr. Howard and Mr. Reid.'"

At the time, the incident shone a brighter light in the media about Mr. Reid's criminal past, which has included convictions for fraud stemming back into the 1990s. Mr. Reid maintained that he had been completely frank and open about his past when talking to Wikwemikong Chief Robert Corbiere, an assertion which was fully backed up by the chief himself.

"I made full disclosure of my unfortunate past," said Mr. Reid. "I had to; I knew that sooner or later it would resurface. It was better to be completely up front about it. Unfortunately it is a kind of scarlet letter that I have had to learn to deal with."

"There is no business relationship of any kind between TransCommunication and FirstTel," said Chief Corbiere at the time. "Further, financially, Mr. Reid has no authority with FirstTel of any kind. He is an employee hired for his expertise in the telecommunications industry. The money, the books, are all out of his reach."

That having been said, the chief added that he had not wanted to second guess a former chief (Mr. Reid had actually been hired by Chief Walter Manitowabi) and it was felt Mr. Reid had paid his debt to society and deserved a second chance.

Mr. Reid, who was staying at Chief Corbiere's Wikwemikong home Monday night, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the chief's confidence and support. "I know it cost him a lot to stand by me the way he did and I can't tell you how much I appreciated that."

Although Mr. Reid said he was pleased and relieved that the ordeal is now behind him, he noted that the financial cost of defending himself has been substantial. "I knew they didn't have a case," he said. "But with the courts you never know."

Mr. Reid has continued his career in the telecommunications business since leaving FirstTel. He is currently listed as president and CEO of Avieya International Corp., a company offering "a full range of telecommunication services." He is also now the proud father of a six-month-old child.

Neither the crown nor police officials were available for comment by press time.

Provincial arts forum on Island establishes North's own arts council

by Lindsay Kelly

WIKWEMIKONG-A weekend meeting of Ontario artists has led the way to the development of a stewardship committee comprised of artists from across the province that will see Northern Ontario artists gain better access to infrastructure.

The committee, the first of its kind in Ontario, comes following the Breathing Northwinds forum, sponsored by Community Arts Ontario and hosted by Debajehmujig Theatre Group over the weekend. The forum saw artists and those involved in community arts organizations travel to the Island to spend three days discussing the issues, concerns and barriers faced by Ontario artists, and Northern Ontario artists in particular, with an aim of finding ways to create more effective collaborations and networking opportunities between these groups.

Debaj outreach and education director Joahnna Berti said this development is "really quite remarkable," adding she is excited about the possibilities that a stewardship committee will mean to arts in Ontario.

A committee will allow artists to "access opportunities in a cohesive and well-planned way," she noted, pointing out that artists from Northern Ontario and Ontario in general will benefit from any infrastructure that will be developed through the stewardship committee.

Ms. Berti explained that the committee grew from a realization that artists must go through one of five hubs (major cities) in Ontario to reach other areas of the province. The idea is to create a long-term plan for developing key infrastructure that will benefit artists across the province for years to come and strengthen collaboration possibilities between artists and arts organizations.

Ms. Berti emphasized that what came out of the forum is only a beginning to future opportunities, and the stewardship committee will act as a foundation on which the Ontario arts community can grow.

The exciting thing is that this new committee is "linked directly to downtown Toronto," Ms. Berti said, out of which many opportunities in the arts have traditionally been based.

Breathing Northwinds has already been approved for $223,000 in funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation for a two-year project in which a liaison would be hired to facilitate the drawing up of the plan. The project will see the development of "an arts network to link Aboriginal and Northern Ontario arts organizations in 12 urban, rural and remote areas," according to the Trillium website.

The group will meet four times a year to work on developing its plan of action in guiding the project.

Ms. Berti said evidence of where this project could lead played out over the weekend when connections were made between northern artists and their southern Ontario counterparts. One memorable meeting saw participants from York university and Aitikokan discussing different ways to partner in arts projects, something that, before the forum, would not have been possible, she added.

Pairings like these, along with the networking that occurred over the weekend, are good indicators of the future possibilities and are exciting for the arts communities, Ms. Berti noted.

Gore Bay's arts, theatre festival week lineup set

by Lindsay Kelly

GORE BAY-Tickets are now on sale for the inaugural Gore Bay Summer Festival, and the final schedule promises it will be a weekend of fun for the whole family.

The festival is being made possible by a grant from the Ontario government's Celebrate Ontario initiative, announced last year as a one-time $2.5 million investment to encourage the growth of festivals and events across Ontario. The Town of Gore Bay received $67,013, which has allowed the town to purchase an event tent, tables and chairs, as well as enough capital to sponsor a host of live musical acts and promote the event, festival coordinator Annette Clarke explained.

"It will make a big difference in helping us to put it on for the first year, and we're hoping it will be an annual event," she said.

The week-long festival, which runs from July 23 to 29, highlights theatre and music, and is designed to be a family-oriented affair. One thousand tickets have been printed, and are currently on sale. Tickets are $20 for participants 13 and up, $10 for people aged six to 10, and children five and under get in free. The ticket will get you into the events during the day on Saturday, while admission to events held between Monday and Friday and on Sunday is free.

Throughout the week, visitors can take part in theatrical workshops and attend theatre productions by Debajehmujig Theatre and the Gore Bay Summer Theatre (GBST). The GBST will offer two productions this year. The adult play, 'Marion Bridge,' will be performed on July 23 to 25, while the children's play, 'The Paper Bag Princess,' will be performed on July 24 at 4 pm, and July 29 at 2 pm. Call 282-2420 for more information.

Other events during the week include a Festival Idol contest, in which participants can sing their way to the Idol crown, along with performances by the Dusk Dancers, who make a return trip to the Island this year.

The festival culminates in a day-long concert, held from 12 pm to 1 am, with various performers set to take the stage at various times throughout the day. The headliner is Nothing Sacred, a rock band hailing from the Ottawa Valley. But there will be something to appeal to everyone's musical palette.

"The music is geared to provide a variety of music-there won't be just one type of music," Ms. Clarke said. "We're hoping to cater to everyone's tastes at some point throughout the day."

Other musical guests include female duo Dala, Juno award winner Wendell Ferguson, previous CafZ in the Woods performer Angie Nussey, Sudbury bluegrass band Lily Creek, adult contemporary artist Jeff Wiseman and country singer Gary Gibson.

The festival also coincides with the Gore Bay Rotary Club's annual fish fry, held on Friday night, and the third annual Mackinac-Manitoulin Yacht Race. Racers will arrive on Friday evening, and leave on Sunday for Little Current.

For more information about the festival, or to purchase tickets, call 282-0538, or 1-800-529-5518 (toll-free).

Nepal's Catholic bishop visits Island Western faith brings

liberation to women in strict Hindu culture

by Michael Erskine

LITTLE CURRENT-Seventy-year-old Anthony Francis Sharma was born into the Brahmin caste, the highest order in Nepal's stratified Hindu society, as Amulyanath Sharma.

But he chose to walk a different path in the fabled homeland of Kathmandu, joining the Jesuit order in 1958 and becoming a Catholic priest, after 40 years of study and reflection, in 1968. He was made the first bishop of Nepal on May 5, 2007. 

The Expositor had an opportunity to interview Bishop Sharma last week, for the second time in the past two decades, with the first story having taken place under the tenure of former editor Jane Story.

A lot has happened to both Bishop Sharma and his homeland in the interim, including revolution, the opening of the mountain kingdom, and the institution of a (mostly) secular democracy.

Through the years, Bishop Sharma has maintained an intimate connection to Manitoulin, largely due to his half-a-century-long friendship with fellow Society of Jesus member Father Richard Macdonald. "We first met in India," said Bishop Sharma. "Dick was there for 22 years."

Bishop Sharma was also a close friend of one of Father Macdonald's successors on Manitoulin, Father Bernard Bruneau. In fact, Father Bruneau returned to his beloved Nepal with Bishop (then Monsignor) Sharma, once the feisty little priest's stamina had recovered sufficiently to allow his return.

Many Little Current residents fondly recall Father Bruneau's determined trips up and down the hill at Low Island-a sight to be seen in every season's weather-as he built up his strength from heart surgery. Father Bruneau died in his beloved Nepal in 2000 after a bout of food poisoning.

On this occasion, Bishop Sharma and Rev. MacDonald were visiting the latter's own schoolyard buddy, Bob Simpson of White's Point. The brisk wind driving white-capped waves high upon the beach was the only aspect of this 'alien' Island landscape familiar to Bishop Sharma. 

"Nepal is a land with only a few streams and rivers but we have plenty of cold wind," he laughed. Bishop Sharma is himself an ethnic Ghurkha, a member of that legendary warrior race whose ranks have supplied the British Empire with soldiers, the fierce reputation of which spread just as the pink areas once did on a global map.

In a soft, quiet voice, the diminutive cleric provided a brief overview of the history of the Jesuit Order and the Roman Catholic Church in Nepal.

"When the church was first invited into Nepal in 1951, the country was under the absolute control of the king," he said. "The Jesuits were invited for the purposes of education-to open schools."

As a staunch Hindu country in 1951, up to the overthrow of the monarchy in 1991 and the passing of a secular constitution in 1991, missionaries seeking converts to Christianity were not only unwelcome in the isolated kingdom, they were outlawed outright and subject to harsh punishment-even the simple possession of a bible was cause for strict censure.

"These were very difficult conditions," said Bishop Sharma, but the church not only survived, it came to thrive. "(But) in a way I am almost glad of the restrictions. We had to lead people to Christ by way of our example, not by our words."

From the initial four Catholic teachers contracted to found a school, the community has grown to 6,942 Catholics, including 62 priests and 131 nuns. That first school has blossomed into an educational community that includes 26 schools, two colleges (including the foremost university in the country) and 48 different recreation centres. In these schools are housed 14,000 students, and nearly 8,000 of them are young girls.

Although the Catholic Church may have long been seen as a patriarchal bastion in the West, in the Hindu culture of Nepal it is one of the few paths to a better life for those of the female gender.

"It is difficult for those in the west to understand," explained the bishop. "A Hindu girl is promised in marriage when she is seven-and the promise of marriage is not for her benefit but for that of her parents." A girl is often married by the age of 11 or 13, he said, even though the law now dictates she must be at least 18. "By giving a girl who is physically a virgin in marriage, parents believe that they get a straight pass into heaven," said Bishop Sharma. "It is all for the benefit of the parents."

Should the intended groom die prior to the institution of the marriage, the unfortunate girl is considered to have brought bad luck onto her family and must spend her remaining days engaged in various forms of penance. "She can never partake of a meal made by someone else; she becomes a virtual slave of the groom's family," he said. "Then, each day, no matter what the weather, she must bathe in cold water. "

In the confines of a rigid caste system, the only hope for young women trapped by their gender is through education, he noted. "One of my happiest moments was to attend the graduation with a Master's degree from a Michigan University of a young woman of my acquaintance," he beamed. "She, through her own determination to create a better life for herself, made it happen. "

Bishop Sharma's own mother had followed a similar path into India, seeking a better life for her family and converting to Christianity when her young charge was five years old.

It was, until most recently, illegal to convert to Christianity in Nepal. "The saying goes, 'born a Hindu, die a Hindu,'" said Bishop Sharma. In order to be baptized, a person had to leave the country. There was a tremendous backlash on an individual to these conversions. "My own family saw me as betraying Hinduism," he said. "Now it is not so bad. There is less anger and more openness.

Nepal has undergone tremendous turmoil over the past 11 years, caught up in a rural-based Maoist revolution which saw over 13,000 thousand killed and over 200,000 more driven from their homes to become refugees in the cities. The revolution was largely in response to the corruption engendered by the culture of Nepal and the nepotism inherent in the cultural beliefs in Hinduism.

As a member of a Hindu caste, you are expected to bring your family up to the same level as you yourself enjoy-it is a sacred obligation, Bishop Sharma said. "This brought about a great deal of corruption in the system. Although the Maoists have now come into the government and are supposedly dedicated to bettering the lot of the masses, in truth they appear to be just as bad as everyone else, he said.

During the civil unrest, even though the Maoists publicly applauded the Jesuits' educational mission, that appreciation did not stop them from extorting taxes from the schools, and when the administrators were unable to pay their demands, burning the schools to the ground. The church lost five schools during those tumultuous times.

"They have promised to return the land to the people they took it from," said Bishop Sharma, but this has so far not been the case. "There are now 62 individual parties in the democracy of Nepal. It only takes 30,000 signatures on an application to be recognized as a party," noted Bishop Sharma.

Building the church and an educational system in as rugged and poor a country as Nepal is quite a challenge, and much of the clergy there depends on the goodwill of people in the West to make it all possible. Bishop Sharma himself could not afford to travel to Canada were it not for the generosity of an old friend. "She is about 88 years old now," he said.

Those wishing to help with the Jesuit mission in Nepal can do so through the Toronto offices at Canadian Jesuits International, 1325 Bay St, Toronto, Ont., M5R 2C4, or online at www.canadianjesuitsinternational.ca. Donations over $20 will receive a charitable receipt.

"Every penny that is donated (to us) goes to our mission," noted the Bishop. "They do not even charge us for administration."

EDITORIAL

Multi-venue entertainment in Manitowaning a good model

The community of Manitowaning seems to have been a popular focus for commentary in this space lately, but an event there last weekend was done so well, and was unique by Manitoulin standards, that it calls for still more attribution to "The Village by the Bay."

Debajehmujig Theatre group had hosted a provincial arts conference during the weekend, and there were a large number of performing artists of one kind and another in attendance.

What a good idea it was to put them to work on the Saturday night in Manitowaning.

And what a clever and resourceful way it was that they were put to work.

Four separate venues were utilized: historic St. Paul's Anglican Church, the Muskie Widows Tavern, Burns Wharf Theatre (on the waterfront) and Debajehmujig's own "Giant Teepee" that was set up in St. Paul's churchyard.

Artists performed for three-quarter hour sets and then rotated to another venue. The audiences did the same thing and so there people were, at 9:30 pm and 10:45 pm, passing each other, usually in small groups, walking in the soft glow of the town's dark-sky friendly streetlights as people moved to a different venue to hear or watch or listen to a different artist.

Clearly the organizers had a sense of choreography because there was a nice organized feel to all of this after-dark criss-crossing of paths by people who were there because of common interests, or at the very least to be entertained by fresh faces.

It's worth a mention here because it worked and it's the sort of thing that any of our communities could undertake (the availability of talent being a given).

As it happens, the people at the helm of Debajehmujig Theatre group saw the possibilities and made it happen, and all for a very nominal fee for the audience.

It is a very good model for other of our communities to emulate. The closest thing in place already would be the plein air painting event in Little Current during the summer when, on a given day, artists are given a place on the waterfront in the morning from which to produce a painting, and then another place in the afternoon to produce another painting, with all of the paintings produced in those two sessions by several artists displayed (and for sale) in the evening.

There are, indeed, new ideas under the sun.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Conservancy group does not infringe on landowners' rights

Sorting out the facts from the fantasy

To the Expositor:

I would like to second Mike Bauer's advice ("Resident skeptical of conservancy group's role on Island," letters, June 6) to "read very carefully" the information available on the Internet concerning the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy (EBC) and the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC). Unfortunately Mr. Bauer's letter demonstrates that if you take your bias and confusion to the Internet (or to a newspaper for that matter), you will only bring back more confusion. A careful reader has to see the difference between fact and fantasy-and in this case, between the EBC and the NEC.

Let's begin with a few facts from the NEC site at www.escarpment.org.  The NEC was created by the government of Ontario in 1973 to monitor enforcement of the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act. "The purpose of this act is to provide for the maintenance of the Niagara Escarpment and land in its vicinity substantially as a continuous natural environment, and to ensure only such development occurs as is compatible with that natural environment." So the NEC has a provincial mandate and obligation to prevent landowners from violating the act in the "core" areas or "buffer zones" within its jurisdiction.

Now, just what is the NEC's area of jurisdiction? On the NEC home page, look under "Land Use Planning," and click on "Plan Maps." That will take you to a map of the NEC jurisdiction, which runs from Niagara to Tobermory. That is the extent of the Niagara Escarpment as far as the NEC is concerned-and Manitoulin Island is literally not on the map. We are not under its "protection," nor is there any intention on the government's part to extend the NEC mandate to Manitoulin.

However, there is a group on Manitoulin which does aim to dominate and manipulate land use on the Island. Since it has neither the law nor the facts on its side, its strategy is to confuse the public and promote superstitious fears which effectively prevent clear thinking about the issues. Its main tactic, as Mr. Bauer's letter shows, is to confuse the NEC with one of the landowners under its jurisdiction south of Tobermory. That landowner is the EBC-an easy target for the fear-mongers because, like the NEC, it is based in southern Ontario and has the word "escarpment" in its name; and unlike the NEC, it does have a presence on Manitoulin.

Now let's compare a few facts about the EBC (www.escarpment.ca) with some of the fantasies in Mr. Bauer's letter.

Fact: the EBC is a landowner, not a regulative body like the NEC. It protects land against development by buying it, or by holding an easement on it, both of which are choices made by the current owner of the land. The EBC does not claim to protect anyone else's land, as Mr.  Bauer would have you believe, nor does it interfere in any way with other landowners. It does protect its own land against development that would make it unfit for natural habitat or agricultural use, by simply not engaging in such development.

The depth of Mr. Bauer's confusion is revealed in this comment, which is supposed to refer to the EBC: "the 'core' areas they protect along with the 'buffer zones' can and do involve privately owned property and are in most part controlled by the Niagara Escarpment Commission who will determine how most residents in these areas will utilize their own property." Yes, the EBC is among the landowners south of Tobermory whose property is "controlled" by the NEC, with its "core areas" and "buffer zones." Yes, the EBC owns land on Manitoulin, and has for some years now. But it is sheer superstition to blame the EBC on Manitoulin for the actions of a government agency that "controls" land use elsewhere.

There is one notable difference between the EBC and some other landowners along the escarpment to the south: the EBC doesn't mind its land use being controlled by the NEC, because it doesn't engage in the kind of development that the NEC is designed to prevent. Perhaps this is why the local pressure group has such a grudge against it. But if we can see through the smokescreen generated by the fear-mongers, and if our goal is to avoid NEC-style regulation from spreading to Manitoulin, then it's clear that the EBC is not our enemy but our ally.

NEC regulation of land use was initiated in southern Ontario because of public outcry against destructive practices along the Niagara Escarpment. If we want to prevent such regulation on Manitoulin, there are two ways to do it. One is to keep the public away from the Island; this is the path favoured by the local pressure group, though it's hard to see why promoters of tourism would go along with it. The other way is not to engage in destructive practices in the first place, for without them, there's nothing to regulate. But that's the EBC path. The EBC is exactly the kind of landowner we need on Manitoulin if we really want to keep the provincial regulators away.

A final question: can anyone out there produce a single documented fact proving that the EBC has interfered, or even tried to interfere, with the land-use rights of any other Island landowner? If not, then let's drop this campaign to intimidate Manitoulin landowners by slandering the EBC. If we allow ourselves to be manipulated by this campaign, we are simply shooting ourselves in the foot.

Gary Fuhrman

Honora Bay

Let's work together to keep community beautiful, precious

A picnic table or two would be welcome additions to Low Island

To the Expositor:

First of all let me say how pleasant and welcoming we have found Little Current to be since we moved here one year ago. People have gone out of their way to make sure that we enjoy and participate in this community.

Last evening we enjoyed one of the best treasures that Little Current offers, a walk on the trails of Low Island just at sunset. What a spectacular sight, with Picnic Island and the old mill setting the scene for the crimson sky. Behind us we could see the bridge and enjoyed watching the children playing soccer on the field and a small crowd of early teens returning from the first swim of the year.

I had friends visiting who have just returned from a three-year journey to South America and they have now recorded the Low Island sunset experience as part of their journal.

Having read of the latest fiasco in council regarding picnic tables, I could not help but think how nice it would have been to have had a table to sit on to watch the sunset along the hiking trail. What a perfect spot for a family picnic to complete the wonderful job that community volunteers, employees and councillors have done at this site.

Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously and forget how beautiful and precious this place is. Let's work together to keep it that way. 

Carolyn Lane-Rock

Little Current