ORNGE took out a $10 million life insurance policy on former CEO Dr. Chris Mazza that cost taxpayers $450,000, Progressive Conservatives say
A life insurance for then ORNGE CEO Chris Mazza was taken out through a subsidiary, ORNGE Global GP Inc., according to a document distributed by the Tories on Wednesday. Mazza is seen here testifying at Queen's Park last summer.
Dale Brazao / Toronto Star
A life insurance for then ORNGE CEO Chris Mazza was taken out through a subsidiary, ORNGE Global GP Inc., according to a document distributed by the Tories on Wednesday. Mazza is seen here testifying at Queen's Park last summer.
Taxpayers footed a $450,000 one-time premium for the coverage, which the provincial government should terminate and salvage whatever cash value remains, Tory MPP Frank Klees (Newmarket—Aurora) told reporters Wednesday.
Klees, who has been his party’s lead critic on the ORNGE scandal that has resulted in a criminal investigation by Ontario Provincial Police, said the policy was with Sun Life Assurance.
“Where did the $450,000 come from to pay that premium?” he asked as the legislature’s public accounts committee continues to investigate ORNGE after a series of investigative stories in the Star resulted in Mazza’s departure and a new board of directors.
The policy was dated Nov. 29, 2010 through ORNGE for-profit subsidiary ORNGE Global GP Inc., one of several arms the air ambulance agency set up during Mazza’s tenure, according to a two-page document entitled “assignment of life insurance policy.”
The document, recently found buried in a massive batch of papers released in January, listed ORNGE Global Management as the beneficiary of the policy.
ORNGE officials said they were not aware of a policy but were checking. Because ORNGE Global is bankrupt, all its documents have been turned over to the bankruptcy trustee Duff and Phelps.
Health Minister Deb Matthews, who last week reintroduced legislation to bring ORNGE under tighter provincial control, said she did not know about the insurance coverage.
“I’m sad to say that nothing shocks me any more when it comes to Chris Mazza,” she told reporters.
The Star has reported Mazza received $4.6 million in salary, loans, bonuses and cash advances in his last two years, along with perks like ski trips expensed as medical education sessions.
New Democrats backed the Tory call for attempts to recover any funds possible from a policy that appears to go well beyond what a chief executive should have in life insurance.
“Ten million dollars seems a little bit excessive but everything at ORNGE was excessive,” said NDP health critic France Gélinas.
“This is taxpayers money that never should have gone there in the first place . . . this is our money.”
Klees also raised concerns that questionable business practices at ORNGE prompted the government to call in the OPP a year ago but there have been no details released on the investigation — and no charges.
“We should at least have a status report . . . I’d like to know about the scope of the investigation,” he said.
Klees asked that OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis be called to testify before the committee.
“I don’t think it’s interfering. I want to know that the OPP is taking this seriously.”
Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Moderators: North Shore, sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, I WAS Birddog
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Ornge to pay out nearly $2M in bonuses to staff members
Ontario's troubled air ambulance service is giving its managers and executives performance pay after trying to cancel the bonuses last year.
Ornge said last March that it wouldn't award bonuses to its non-unionized employees, just unionized workers in keeping with their collective agreement.
But The Canadian Press has learned a group of employees appealed the decision to the federal government arbiter and won, causing Ornge's board of directors to reverse course.
Ornge chairman Ian Delaney says Ornge will award nearly $2 million in performance pay to 424 unionized and non-unionized employees this fiscal year — an average of about $4,632 each.
Not all employees eligible
In a letter to Health Minister Deb Matthews, Delaney says it won't apply to anyone who worked for the now bankrupt entities of Ornge.
It also doesn't apply to anyone who joined Ornge after March 31, 2012, including its current executives.
But starting next year, Delaney says there will be strict rules on performance pay for non-unionized staff.
"Ornge is committed to operating within the funding envelope provided to it by the government of Ontario and will deal with this and other costs within that envelope," he wrote in a letter to Matthews that was obtained by The Canadian Press.
Due to the labour ruling, Ornge has little choice but to provide the bonuses as was set out in their contracts with non-unionized employees, Matthews said in a statement Monday.
"Ornge's employees are receiving the same amount of performance pay they received the year before," she said. "It has been provided on a one-time basis and does not result in a permanent pay increase."
In future, performance pay will be awarded based a yearly quality improvement plan, she said. The plan, developed by Ornge, sets out certain goals that Ornge must meet to improve the service it provides.
More discretion on awarding bonuses
The Ornge board will also have more discretion on whether or not performance pay will be provided, Matthews said.
Bonuses won't be considered unless Ornge is working within its budget, Delaney said in his letter.
The decision comes as the governing Liberals are trying to freeze pay for about one million public sector workers. They brought in legislation last year to force a pay freeze on thousands of teachers and education workers.
Ornge, which receives about $150 million a year from the province, has been under fire for more than a year over sky-high salaries and financial irregularities that are currently under police investigation.
EHealth, the electronic health records agency that landed in hot water in 2009, also tried to cancel employee bonuses with mixed results.
EHealth employees filed a class-action lawsuit after Matthews told the agency to cancel raises of up to 1.9 per cent and promised bonuses of up to 7.8 per cent in 2011.
Former health minister David Caplan was forced to resign in 2009 after eHealth spent $1 billion trying to develop electronic health records but had very little to show for all the money.
Millions of dollars were given to consultants with ties to the Liberal government in the form of untendered contracts, while auditors uncovered widespread abuses of expense accounts at the agency.
© The Canadian Press, 2013
And, to think i told the guy selling party memberships that i did not want to join any party.Buying membership in the Liberal party is better than playing the LOTTO for some.
Just like the Communist party, the Liberal party seems to look after the members at the expense of other tax payers.
Ontario's troubled air ambulance service is giving its managers and executives performance pay after trying to cancel the bonuses last year.
Ornge said last March that it wouldn't award bonuses to its non-unionized employees, just unionized workers in keeping with their collective agreement.
But The Canadian Press has learned a group of employees appealed the decision to the federal government arbiter and won, causing Ornge's board of directors to reverse course.
Ornge chairman Ian Delaney says Ornge will award nearly $2 million in performance pay to 424 unionized and non-unionized employees this fiscal year — an average of about $4,632 each.
Not all employees eligible
In a letter to Health Minister Deb Matthews, Delaney says it won't apply to anyone who worked for the now bankrupt entities of Ornge.
It also doesn't apply to anyone who joined Ornge after March 31, 2012, including its current executives.
But starting next year, Delaney says there will be strict rules on performance pay for non-unionized staff.
"Ornge is committed to operating within the funding envelope provided to it by the government of Ontario and will deal with this and other costs within that envelope," he wrote in a letter to Matthews that was obtained by The Canadian Press.
Due to the labour ruling, Ornge has little choice but to provide the bonuses as was set out in their contracts with non-unionized employees, Matthews said in a statement Monday.
"Ornge's employees are receiving the same amount of performance pay they received the year before," she said. "It has been provided on a one-time basis and does not result in a permanent pay increase."
In future, performance pay will be awarded based a yearly quality improvement plan, she said. The plan, developed by Ornge, sets out certain goals that Ornge must meet to improve the service it provides.
More discretion on awarding bonuses
The Ornge board will also have more discretion on whether or not performance pay will be provided, Matthews said.
Bonuses won't be considered unless Ornge is working within its budget, Delaney said in his letter.
The decision comes as the governing Liberals are trying to freeze pay for about one million public sector workers. They brought in legislation last year to force a pay freeze on thousands of teachers and education workers.
Ornge, which receives about $150 million a year from the province, has been under fire for more than a year over sky-high salaries and financial irregularities that are currently under police investigation.
EHealth, the electronic health records agency that landed in hot water in 2009, also tried to cancel employee bonuses with mixed results.
EHealth employees filed a class-action lawsuit after Matthews told the agency to cancel raises of up to 1.9 per cent and promised bonuses of up to 7.8 per cent in 2011.
Former health minister David Caplan was forced to resign in 2009 after eHealth spent $1 billion trying to develop electronic health records but had very little to show for all the money.
Millions of dollars were given to consultants with ties to the Liberal government in the form of untendered contracts, while auditors uncovered widespread abuses of expense accounts at the agency.
© The Canadian Press, 2013
And, to think i told the guy selling party memberships that i did not want to join any party.Buying membership in the Liberal party is better than playing the LOTTO for some.Just like the Communist party, the Liberal party seems to look after the members at the expense of other tax payers.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
ORNGE recouping almost $600,000 from Mazza, seeks another $500,000
In a statement of claim filed in a Toronto court, the air ambulance firm alleges Mazza defaulted on repaying a loan he was given to purchase an Etobicoke home in 2010.
Mazza later sold the house without telling ORNGE and the money should be returned, according to the claim, which has not been tested in court.
Roger Yachetti, Mazza’s lawyer, told the Star a defence will be filed by his client “in due course.”
Meanwhile, provincial politicians are preparing to grill Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis Wednesday on the status of his force’s investigation into Mazza and ORNGE. That year-long probe, ORNGE said Tuesday, is the reason it is only seeking money from the house loan and not other amounts at issue in the case, including lavish expense payouts that funded ski trips and other jaunts.
“We have not moved on any other possible recoveries of funds at this time in light of the ongoing criminal investigation,” said James MacDonald, ORNGE spokesman.
Mazza founded ORNGE in 2005 and tried to turn the provincially funded air ambulance service into an international franchise, with planned expansion to the Middle East and Brazil.
An ongoing Star investigation has shown Mazza, as president, received escalating payments from ORNGE until he lost his job in early 2012. In addition to a salary as high as $1.9 million in his final year, Mazza received loans to purchase and rebuild a home in Etobicoke.
One of those was a $500,000 loan issued in July 2010 to buy the home on Blackdown Cres. According to the statement of claim, Mazza was to repay the loan, with interest, by 2015.
Records released earlier by ORNGE show only a few monthly payments appear to have been made. The statement of claim lists the reason for default as Mazza selling the house early in 2012 without telling ORNGE.
“At no time did Mazza seek the consent of ORNGE regarding the sale of the property,” the claim alleges.
Around the time the house was sold, ORNGE was in full crisis mode. Top executives, including Mazza, and the entire board were out the door. Police and other investigations were starting. Several of the for-profit ORNGE companies Mazza helped create were put into bankruptcy.
The Blackdown Cres. home was considered an asset and the bankruptcy trustee stepped in. In addition to the $500,000, another $450,000 housing renovation loan had been issued, plus a $250,000 advance against a future bonus for securing investors that never materialized.
On Tuesday, an ORNGE official confirmed that about $600,000 has been recouped from the sale of the home and “partial repayment” of the renovation and advance loans. The majority of that $600,000 will flow back to ORNGE, minus fees for the bankruptcy trustee.
The $500,000 that is the subject of the new statement of claim is an additional amount, MacDonald said.
The claim states that ORNGE asked Mazza for the money back in early 2012, but “Mazza has failed or refused to pay the amounts due.”
At Queen’s Park, Opposition critic Frank Klees said he hopes to learn at the ORNGE committee hearings where the OPP is in its lengthy probe. Critics want to know whether the OPP has sought international help, either in Italy or the U.S., from authorities conducting separate investigations of the Italian helicopter manufacturer that also sold 12 choppers to ORNGE.
Kevin Donovan can be reached at (416) 312-3503 or kdonovan@thestar.ca
In a statement of claim filed in a Toronto court, the air ambulance firm alleges Mazza defaulted on repaying a loan he was given to purchase an Etobicoke home in 2010.
Mazza later sold the house without telling ORNGE and the money should be returned, according to the claim, which has not been tested in court.
Roger Yachetti, Mazza’s lawyer, told the Star a defence will be filed by his client “in due course.”
Meanwhile, provincial politicians are preparing to grill Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis Wednesday on the status of his force’s investigation into Mazza and ORNGE. That year-long probe, ORNGE said Tuesday, is the reason it is only seeking money from the house loan and not other amounts at issue in the case, including lavish expense payouts that funded ski trips and other jaunts.
“We have not moved on any other possible recoveries of funds at this time in light of the ongoing criminal investigation,” said James MacDonald, ORNGE spokesman.
Mazza founded ORNGE in 2005 and tried to turn the provincially funded air ambulance service into an international franchise, with planned expansion to the Middle East and Brazil.
An ongoing Star investigation has shown Mazza, as president, received escalating payments from ORNGE until he lost his job in early 2012. In addition to a salary as high as $1.9 million in his final year, Mazza received loans to purchase and rebuild a home in Etobicoke.
One of those was a $500,000 loan issued in July 2010 to buy the home on Blackdown Cres. According to the statement of claim, Mazza was to repay the loan, with interest, by 2015.
Records released earlier by ORNGE show only a few monthly payments appear to have been made. The statement of claim lists the reason for default as Mazza selling the house early in 2012 without telling ORNGE.
“At no time did Mazza seek the consent of ORNGE regarding the sale of the property,” the claim alleges.
Around the time the house was sold, ORNGE was in full crisis mode. Top executives, including Mazza, and the entire board were out the door. Police and other investigations were starting. Several of the for-profit ORNGE companies Mazza helped create were put into bankruptcy.
The Blackdown Cres. home was considered an asset and the bankruptcy trustee stepped in. In addition to the $500,000, another $450,000 housing renovation loan had been issued, plus a $250,000 advance against a future bonus for securing investors that never materialized.
On Tuesday, an ORNGE official confirmed that about $600,000 has been recouped from the sale of the home and “partial repayment” of the renovation and advance loans. The majority of that $600,000 will flow back to ORNGE, minus fees for the bankruptcy trustee.
The $500,000 that is the subject of the new statement of claim is an additional amount, MacDonald said.
The claim states that ORNGE asked Mazza for the money back in early 2012, but “Mazza has failed or refused to pay the amounts due.”
At Queen’s Park, Opposition critic Frank Klees said he hopes to learn at the ORNGE committee hearings where the OPP is in its lengthy probe. Critics want to know whether the OPP has sought international help, either in Italy or the U.S., from authorities conducting separate investigations of the Italian helicopter manufacturer that also sold 12 choppers to ORNGE.
Kevin Donovan can be reached at (416) 312-3503 or kdonovan@thestar.ca
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
ORNGE probe: Charges could come within a year, says OPP commissioner
Charges in the investigation of the troubled ORNGE air ambulance service could come within a year, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis said.
Now 14 months into the probe of questionable business practices as requested by Health Minister Deb Matthews, Lewis said his team of detectives has done at least 50 interviews, gathered 20,000 documents and 500,000 emails.
That information is being sifted through for evidence by seasoned fraud investigators looking into taxpayer-funded ORNGE and its complex web of for-profit companies set up under the tenure of former air ambulance boss Dr. Chris Mazza.
“I can’t put a date on it but I am confident we’ll know within a year whether criminal charges will be laid,” Lewis told the legislature’s public accounts committee, whose MPPs called him to testify on the progress of the investigation.
Lewis said he can’t guarantee charges will be laid and cautioned some fraud probes take “multiple years” because of their complex nature.
Detectives have travelled to the United States and been in contact with officials in Italy — the home of helicopter company Agusta-Westland which sold choppers to ORNGE.
In one questionable deal over which critics have raised alarm bells, the helicopter company paid ORNGE $6.7 million for a reciprocal marketing services contract.
Charges in the investigation of the troubled ORNGE air ambulance service could come within a year, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis said.
Now 14 months into the probe of questionable business practices as requested by Health Minister Deb Matthews, Lewis said his team of detectives has done at least 50 interviews, gathered 20,000 documents and 500,000 emails.
That information is being sifted through for evidence by seasoned fraud investigators looking into taxpayer-funded ORNGE and its complex web of for-profit companies set up under the tenure of former air ambulance boss Dr. Chris Mazza.
“I can’t put a date on it but I am confident we’ll know within a year whether criminal charges will be laid,” Lewis told the legislature’s public accounts committee, whose MPPs called him to testify on the progress of the investigation.
Lewis said he can’t guarantee charges will be laid and cautioned some fraud probes take “multiple years” because of their complex nature.
Detectives have travelled to the United States and been in contact with officials in Italy — the home of helicopter company Agusta-Westland which sold choppers to ORNGE.
In one questionable deal over which critics have raised alarm bells, the helicopter company paid ORNGE $6.7 million for a reciprocal marketing services contract.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Ornge slips $2.5M into the red after paying nearly $2M in bonuses: CEO
Maria Babbage, Wednesday, March 20, 2013 2:42 PM
TORONTO - Ornge's president and CEO says the decision to pay out nearly $2 million in bonuses has caused Ontario's troubled air ambulance service to slip into the red.
Dr. Andrew McCallum told a legislative committee today that bonuses were almost always paid in the past to managers and executives.
He says it's a "major reason" why a federal arbiter ruled that Ornge must pay out nearly $2 million in performance pay.
Ornge — which receives about $150 million a year from the government — promised last year to cancel bonuses to all non-unionized staff, but a group appealed the decision and won.
McCallum says the bonuses are causing Ornge to slip into the red with a $2.5 million deficit.
He says from now on, the rules will change and any bonuses to non-unionized staff will depend on whether they achieve certain "personal and corporate goals."
Ornge will give performance pay to 424 unionized and non-unionized employees this fiscal year — an average of about $4,632 each.
The bonuses won't be awarded to anyone who worked for the now bankrupt entities of Ornge, board chairman Ian Delaney said in a letter to the government obtained by The Canadian Press.
Ornge has been under fire for more than a year over sky-high salaries and financial irregularities that are currently under police investigation.
Last August, the all-party committee heard that disgraced former CEO Chris Mazza received at least $1.4 million in compensation. He also received about $1.2 million in loans in a single year, according to documents tabled with the committee.
Mazza received $500,000 from Ornge Peel in July 2010, $250,000 from Ornge Global and another $450,000 from Ornge Global in July 2011, according to the documents, which also detailed his lavish expenses.
Ornge is seeking $500,000 plus interest from Mazza, alleging he defaulted on a loan that he used to buy a house in west Toronto.
In a statement of claim filed Jan. 22 in a Toronto court, Ornge alleges that Mazza sold the house without telling Ornge, and has "failed or refused" to repay the loan.
Ornge said bankruptcy trustees are pursuing repayment of other loans Mazza received. They recovered "partial payment" of the loans, as well as about $600,000 from the sale of Mazza's home, said Ornge spokesman James MacDonald.
Auditor General Jim McCarter has criticized the governing Liberals for failing to oversee Ornge, despite giving it $730 million over five years and allowing it to borrow another $300 million.
The Progressive Conservatives complained Wednesday that Ornge is not providing certain documents, such as banking records for Ornge's now-bankrupt, for-profit spinoff companies.
But Health Minister Deb Matthews said they're doing everything they can to comply with the committee's request for information.
"Some 500,000 pages of documents ... have been delivered to the committee," she said in the legislature.
"We also have another 1.5 million pages of documents that are being provided on USB sticks, so Ornge is complying fully and the ministry is as well."
© The Canadian Press, 2013
Read it on Global News: Global Toronto | Ornge slips $2.5M into the red after paying nearly $2M in bonuses: CEO
Maria Babbage, Wednesday, March 20, 2013 2:42 PM
TORONTO - Ornge's president and CEO says the decision to pay out nearly $2 million in bonuses has caused Ontario's troubled air ambulance service to slip into the red.
Dr. Andrew McCallum told a legislative committee today that bonuses were almost always paid in the past to managers and executives.
He says it's a "major reason" why a federal arbiter ruled that Ornge must pay out nearly $2 million in performance pay.
Ornge — which receives about $150 million a year from the government — promised last year to cancel bonuses to all non-unionized staff, but a group appealed the decision and won.
McCallum says the bonuses are causing Ornge to slip into the red with a $2.5 million deficit.
He says from now on, the rules will change and any bonuses to non-unionized staff will depend on whether they achieve certain "personal and corporate goals."
Ornge will give performance pay to 424 unionized and non-unionized employees this fiscal year — an average of about $4,632 each.
The bonuses won't be awarded to anyone who worked for the now bankrupt entities of Ornge, board chairman Ian Delaney said in a letter to the government obtained by The Canadian Press.
Ornge has been under fire for more than a year over sky-high salaries and financial irregularities that are currently under police investigation.
Last August, the all-party committee heard that disgraced former CEO Chris Mazza received at least $1.4 million in compensation. He also received about $1.2 million in loans in a single year, according to documents tabled with the committee.
Mazza received $500,000 from Ornge Peel in July 2010, $250,000 from Ornge Global and another $450,000 from Ornge Global in July 2011, according to the documents, which also detailed his lavish expenses.
Ornge is seeking $500,000 plus interest from Mazza, alleging he defaulted on a loan that he used to buy a house in west Toronto.
In a statement of claim filed Jan. 22 in a Toronto court, Ornge alleges that Mazza sold the house without telling Ornge, and has "failed or refused" to repay the loan.
Ornge said bankruptcy trustees are pursuing repayment of other loans Mazza received. They recovered "partial payment" of the loans, as well as about $600,000 from the sale of Mazza's home, said Ornge spokesman James MacDonald.
Auditor General Jim McCarter has criticized the governing Liberals for failing to oversee Ornge, despite giving it $730 million over five years and allowing it to borrow another $300 million.
The Progressive Conservatives complained Wednesday that Ornge is not providing certain documents, such as banking records for Ornge's now-bankrupt, for-profit spinoff companies.
But Health Minister Deb Matthews said they're doing everything they can to comply with the committee's request for information.
"Some 500,000 pages of documents ... have been delivered to the committee," she said in the legislature.
"We also have another 1.5 million pages of documents that are being provided on USB sticks, so Ornge is complying fully and the ministry is as well."
© The Canadian Press, 2013
Read it on Global News: Global Toronto | Ornge slips $2.5M into the red after paying nearly $2M in bonuses: CEO
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flyboynextdoor
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Re: Ornge-The truth is emerging (finally)
Amen Brother.loopy wrote:Maybe some truth will start coming out reagarding that Alberta not for profit organization with the red choppers.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Affidavits Show Ornge Chief Operating Officer Evaded Summons
- News on the Net (Bio and Archives) Thursday, March 28, 2013
QUEEN’S PARK – Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees produced court records at the hearings into the Ornge Air Ambulance scandal this week, that show that Ornge’s recently appointed Chief Operating Officer, Robert Giguere evaded personal service of a Summons to Witness. The documents are related to the bankruptcy proceedings of Skyservice Airlines Inc. where Giguere was President from October 2007 until it was forced to shut down under a pile of debt in March of 2010.
The documents show that the legal firm McCarthy Tetrault, representing the court-appointed receiver of Skyservice Airlines Inc. made numerous unsuccessful attempts to obtain evidence from Giguere related to money that was transferred from the company’s general account to another bank account prior to the receivership.
On March 23, 2012 a Notice of Motion was filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice stating that not only had Mr. Giguere not responded to emails, telephone calls, and letters asking that he contact counsel for the Receiver, but that he had also evaded personal service of a Summons to Witness. The court subsequently ordered that Giguere could be served by substituted service.
When asked why he raised this issue in the committee hearings, Klees said “Given the scandals that were allowed to hatch at Ornge under this government’s watch, I would have expected that the Minister and the new Board of Directors would want to be particularly diligent when it comes to the hiring of senior executives in the organization.”
“If the Minister was aware of this questionable behaviour on the part of Mr. Giguere and supported his hire, I question her judgment” said Klees. ” If she wasn’t aware, then I have to once again question her grasp of this file and the competence of those responsible for keeping her informed. I also have to question the diligence and judgment of the Board of Directors, who
made the hiring decision.”
Klees pointed out that for all the rhetoric about how things have changed at Ornge, apart from more paper in the form of a new bill and different names on business cards, what hasn’t changed is the lack of oversight on the part of the Minister and her ministry, which according to Klees, is the reason the Ornge scandal was allowed to fester.
“The last person associated with Ornge who appeared before the committee who had to be compelled to testify was Chris Mazza” said Klees. “One would think that respect for the legal process would be high on the list of qualifications for new hires at Ornge.”
- News on the Net (Bio and Archives) Thursday, March 28, 2013
QUEEN’S PARK – Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees produced court records at the hearings into the Ornge Air Ambulance scandal this week, that show that Ornge’s recently appointed Chief Operating Officer, Robert Giguere evaded personal service of a Summons to Witness. The documents are related to the bankruptcy proceedings of Skyservice Airlines Inc. where Giguere was President from October 2007 until it was forced to shut down under a pile of debt in March of 2010.
The documents show that the legal firm McCarthy Tetrault, representing the court-appointed receiver of Skyservice Airlines Inc. made numerous unsuccessful attempts to obtain evidence from Giguere related to money that was transferred from the company’s general account to another bank account prior to the receivership.
On March 23, 2012 a Notice of Motion was filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice stating that not only had Mr. Giguere not responded to emails, telephone calls, and letters asking that he contact counsel for the Receiver, but that he had also evaded personal service of a Summons to Witness. The court subsequently ordered that Giguere could be served by substituted service.
When asked why he raised this issue in the committee hearings, Klees said “Given the scandals that were allowed to hatch at Ornge under this government’s watch, I would have expected that the Minister and the new Board of Directors would want to be particularly diligent when it comes to the hiring of senior executives in the organization.”
“If the Minister was aware of this questionable behaviour on the part of Mr. Giguere and supported his hire, I question her judgment” said Klees. ” If she wasn’t aware, then I have to once again question her grasp of this file and the competence of those responsible for keeping her informed. I also have to question the diligence and judgment of the Board of Directors, who
made the hiring decision.”
Klees pointed out that for all the rhetoric about how things have changed at Ornge, apart from more paper in the form of a new bill and different names on business cards, what hasn’t changed is the lack of oversight on the part of the Minister and her ministry, which according to Klees, is the reason the Ornge scandal was allowed to fester.
“The last person associated with Ornge who appeared before the committee who had to be compelled to testify was Chris Mazza” said Klees. “One would think that respect for the legal process would be high on the list of qualifications for new hires at Ornge.”
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Ex-ORNGE directors were unaware of extra payments to Chris Mazza
Several former directors of ORNGE say they were kept in the dark about extra fees ousted CEO Chris Mazza collected on top of his high salary from Ontario’s troubled air ambulance service.
Several former directors of ORNGE insist they were deceived by top ORNGE executives and Chris Mazza, pictured in July 2012, and didn’t know he was collecting about $1.4 million in compensation, on top of hefty loans.
René JOHNSTON / TORONTO STAR file photo
Several former directors of Ornge say they were kept in the dark about extra fees ousted CEO Chris Mazza collected on top of his high salary from Ontario’s troubled air ambulance service.
They also had no idea that ORNGE had paid too much in a controversial $144-million deal to buy 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland, which some have alleged was part of a kickback scheme, they said Wednesday.
Barry Pickford, who served as chairman of the finance and audit committee, said he learned of the extra payments to Mazza only in late 2011, when questionable spending at ORNGE made headlines.
A criminal probe was launched a month later into ORNGE’s “financial irregularities.”
The former directors insist they were deceived by Mazza and top ORNGE executives, and didn’t know he was collecting about $1.4 million in compensation, on top of hefty loans.
“Some of the things we found out . . . were most disturbing,” Pickford told a legislative committee.
“To find out that Dr. Mazza had been taking ($3,000-$4,000) a year in medical director fees for which I don’t think anybody could show us any invoices for service that had been provided was, in my view, disastrous.”
Don Lowe, another former director, said the board approved a base salary of $500,000 for Mazza, as well as a bonus of up to $500,000.
Ex-director Bethann Colle said she, too, had no clue that Mazza had been demanding — and received — a medical director “stipend.”
Mazza got $1.2 million in loans in a single year: a $500,000 housing loan in July 2010, $250,000 from ORNGE Global and another $450,000 from ORNGE Global in July 2011.
Progressive Conservative Frank Klees questioned why the board would have signed off on any of the loans when they knew they were taxpayer dollars.
Colle said the board agreed to Mazza’s salary package, which was determined by looking at what other private-sector executives in comparable companies were paid, even though ORNGE was publicly funded.
“To me, it made sense, so I can’t say that I had any objection to it,” she said.
They were told that the work Mazza and other senior executives were doing for ORNGE’s web of for-profit companies was paid with “seed money” from AgustaWestland, not taxpayer dollars, Colle testified.
The former directors said they were also unaware of Mazza’s extravagant expenses, which included luxurious trips to Brazil, Europe and New York, limo rides for ORNGE executives, as well as meals and drinks in posh restaurants.
Several former directors of ORNGE say they were kept in the dark about extra fees ousted CEO Chris Mazza collected on top of his high salary from Ontario’s troubled air ambulance service.
Several former directors of ORNGE insist they were deceived by top ORNGE executives and Chris Mazza, pictured in July 2012, and didn’t know he was collecting about $1.4 million in compensation, on top of hefty loans.
René JOHNSTON / TORONTO STAR file photo
Several former directors of Ornge say they were kept in the dark about extra fees ousted CEO Chris Mazza collected on top of his high salary from Ontario’s troubled air ambulance service.
They also had no idea that ORNGE had paid too much in a controversial $144-million deal to buy 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland, which some have alleged was part of a kickback scheme, they said Wednesday.
Barry Pickford, who served as chairman of the finance and audit committee, said he learned of the extra payments to Mazza only in late 2011, when questionable spending at ORNGE made headlines.
A criminal probe was launched a month later into ORNGE’s “financial irregularities.”
The former directors insist they were deceived by Mazza and top ORNGE executives, and didn’t know he was collecting about $1.4 million in compensation, on top of hefty loans.
“Some of the things we found out . . . were most disturbing,” Pickford told a legislative committee.
“To find out that Dr. Mazza had been taking ($3,000-$4,000) a year in medical director fees for which I don’t think anybody could show us any invoices for service that had been provided was, in my view, disastrous.”
Don Lowe, another former director, said the board approved a base salary of $500,000 for Mazza, as well as a bonus of up to $500,000.
Ex-director Bethann Colle said she, too, had no clue that Mazza had been demanding — and received — a medical director “stipend.”
Mazza got $1.2 million in loans in a single year: a $500,000 housing loan in July 2010, $250,000 from ORNGE Global and another $450,000 from ORNGE Global in July 2011.
Progressive Conservative Frank Klees questioned why the board would have signed off on any of the loans when they knew they were taxpayer dollars.
Colle said the board agreed to Mazza’s salary package, which was determined by looking at what other private-sector executives in comparable companies were paid, even though ORNGE was publicly funded.
“To me, it made sense, so I can’t say that I had any objection to it,” she said.
They were told that the work Mazza and other senior executives were doing for ORNGE’s web of for-profit companies was paid with “seed money” from AgustaWestland, not taxpayer dollars, Colle testified.
The former directors said they were also unaware of Mazza’s extravagant expenses, which included luxurious trips to Brazil, Europe and New York, limo rides for ORNGE executives, as well as meals and drinks in posh restaurants.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
These turkeys still use the term "medevac" on each and every leg. It's their SOP. It's also to avoid user fees by NavCanada.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Does anyone know who the principles are in the privately owned for profit corporation Ornge Air ?
Or is it still a state secret that the courts are not allowed to know ?
Or is it still a state secret that the courts are not allowed to know ?
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/08/21/wh ... e-at-ornge
Whistleblower pays the price at Ornge
By Christina Blizzard ,QMI Agency
First posted: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 08:22 PM EDT |
Updated: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 08:41 PM EDT
Trevor Kidd blew the whistle on mismanagement at the Ornge air ambulance scandal.
Now he says he’s paying the price.
The Thunder Bay paramedic was transferred to Windsor in 2008 to work at what was supposed to be one of 10 new land bases the provincial government required Ornge to open.
Kidd, 35, sold his Thunder Bay house, bought one in Windsor and moved in at the end of October, 2008.
“The Friday I moved into my house, they sent an e-mail to everyone asking them to come to a meeting,” he told me.
They were told Ornge wasn’t opening the Windsor base and only opening two others half time.
He was given the option of moving to another base, but told his bosses he’d prefer to take six months’ severance, stay in Windsor and find a job there.
He was told since the land base hadn’t opened, technically he was still working out of Thunder Bay, so there’d be no severance.
His main concern are the costs he incurred selling and buying houses.
“Ornge CEO Chris Mazza and the management team said everyone would be entitled to moving expenses and for those of us who’d bought houses, to sell the houses and submit expenses,” he told me.
“They couldn’t promise they’d cover everything, but they’d see what they could do.”
His union, CAW, told him they’d also fight for him.
At that point, Kidd resigned from Ornge and went back to school. He took Ornge to court and the case ended up at the OLRB. It was dismissed last summer because they said he’d missed the deadline or filing, even though he wasn’t aware of any deadlines. He was told to pursue his claim through the courts.
He’s asking for $42,000 in realty fees, land transfer taxes, legal fees and other costs associated with the move.
Kidd says he’s all but given up on the legal process.
He’s going back to school and wants to get out of the paramedic business and go into teaching.
Last year, he appeared before a Queen’s Park committee probing the Ornge scandal. He wonders if it’s just a coincidence that the OLRB dropped his case just days after his last appearance in 2012 — when a Liberal MPP demanded he name his sources.
Kidd told the committee he’d quit Ornge in disgust over safety issues after a girl in northwestern Ontario died because of staffing issues at the troubled air ambulance operation.
Tory critic Frank Klees says Kidd and his colleagues were punished for their honesty.
“He was a whistleblower on this and there’s no doubt in my mind that his providing that forthright testimony to us has affected the rest of his life,” Klees said.
He’s not the only whistleblower targeted. Another Thunder Bay paramedic was suspended, although he has since been reinstated.
“These paramedics were hired and they uprooted their families on the promise of these employment commitments that were made,” Klees told me.
“Like many other things, Chris Mazza and his management team decided that their schemes were more important than delivering the core services that Ornge was mandated to deliver,” he said.
Klees said the reason these land-based bases couldn’t open — even though they were desperately needed and even though the province was funding them — was because Ornge was diverting its resources to a web of other enterprises.
Last year, in a scathing report, provincial auditor general Jim McCarter slammed Ornge over the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted in an attempt to privatize the air ambulance system.
Kidd and others who raised the alarm deserve better.
The worst thing about dropping the court case, Kidd says, is that no one has been held accountable in any meaningful way for what happened at Ornge.
We can all wring our hands and tut-tut, but no one has been punished.
Except, apparently, the whistleblowers.
Whistleblower pays the price at Ornge
By Christina Blizzard ,QMI Agency
First posted: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 08:22 PM EDT |
Updated: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 08:41 PM EDT
Trevor Kidd blew the whistle on mismanagement at the Ornge air ambulance scandal.
Now he says he’s paying the price.
The Thunder Bay paramedic was transferred to Windsor in 2008 to work at what was supposed to be one of 10 new land bases the provincial government required Ornge to open.
Kidd, 35, sold his Thunder Bay house, bought one in Windsor and moved in at the end of October, 2008.
“The Friday I moved into my house, they sent an e-mail to everyone asking them to come to a meeting,” he told me.
They were told Ornge wasn’t opening the Windsor base and only opening two others half time.
He was given the option of moving to another base, but told his bosses he’d prefer to take six months’ severance, stay in Windsor and find a job there.
He was told since the land base hadn’t opened, technically he was still working out of Thunder Bay, so there’d be no severance.
His main concern are the costs he incurred selling and buying houses.
“Ornge CEO Chris Mazza and the management team said everyone would be entitled to moving expenses and for those of us who’d bought houses, to sell the houses and submit expenses,” he told me.
“They couldn’t promise they’d cover everything, but they’d see what they could do.”
His union, CAW, told him they’d also fight for him.
At that point, Kidd resigned from Ornge and went back to school. He took Ornge to court and the case ended up at the OLRB. It was dismissed last summer because they said he’d missed the deadline or filing, even though he wasn’t aware of any deadlines. He was told to pursue his claim through the courts.
He’s asking for $42,000 in realty fees, land transfer taxes, legal fees and other costs associated with the move.
Kidd says he’s all but given up on the legal process.
He’s going back to school and wants to get out of the paramedic business and go into teaching.
Last year, he appeared before a Queen’s Park committee probing the Ornge scandal. He wonders if it’s just a coincidence that the OLRB dropped his case just days after his last appearance in 2012 — when a Liberal MPP demanded he name his sources.
Kidd told the committee he’d quit Ornge in disgust over safety issues after a girl in northwestern Ontario died because of staffing issues at the troubled air ambulance operation.
Tory critic Frank Klees says Kidd and his colleagues were punished for their honesty.
“He was a whistleblower on this and there’s no doubt in my mind that his providing that forthright testimony to us has affected the rest of his life,” Klees said.
He’s not the only whistleblower targeted. Another Thunder Bay paramedic was suspended, although he has since been reinstated.
“These paramedics were hired and they uprooted their families on the promise of these employment commitments that were made,” Klees told me.
“Like many other things, Chris Mazza and his management team decided that their schemes were more important than delivering the core services that Ornge was mandated to deliver,” he said.
Klees said the reason these land-based bases couldn’t open — even though they were desperately needed and even though the province was funding them — was because Ornge was diverting its resources to a web of other enterprises.
Last year, in a scathing report, provincial auditor general Jim McCarter slammed Ornge over the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted in an attempt to privatize the air ambulance system.
Kidd and others who raised the alarm deserve better.
The worst thing about dropping the court case, Kidd says, is that no one has been held accountable in any meaningful way for what happened at Ornge.
We can all wring our hands and tut-tut, but no one has been punished.
Except, apparently, the whistleblowers.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Last edited by AOW on Sat Sep 28, 2013 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
AOW wrote:
I can tell the minister that that patient died. I can also tell the minister that it is alleged that the reason the Air Bravo satellite telephone was not working was because Air Bravo had not paid its bills. I can also tell the minister that the CEO of Air Bravo admitted under testimony last week that the company was having serious financial difficulties.
I can also tell the minister that Ornge failed, when issuing a contract to Air Bravo, to conduct any financial inspection of that company to determine whether it had the capacity to deliver.
That's pretty awful. Why can't they transfer the patient without making a phone call first? It was obviously a life and death situation. The paramedics on scene could have confirmed that.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
"Mike Duffy, Than EMS"
Waz next?
Get used to it folks
Waz next?
Get used to it folks
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
I believe a requirement is for the medics to always be able to speak to a doctor, whether it's ORNGE's on staff doctor or otherwise. Since Pikangikum is an hour and change from Thunder Bay, had they taken the patient on board Air Bravo the medics would have been in a lose-lose situation. If the patient died it would have been on them and if they had taken unauthorized measures to save the patient I suspect there still would have been harsh disciplinary action taken.Rudy wrote:Why can't they transfer the patient without making a phone call first? It was obviously a life and death situation.
LnS.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Ornge Summary Report
The report almost made it out...from Frank Klees today:
Last Sitting Day of the 40th Parliament
Thursday, May 1st turned out to be one of the most memorable of my 19 years as a Member of Provincial Parliament.
When the bells rang to summon MPPs to the opening of the sessional day, little did we know that this would be the last day on which MPPs would conduct the business of the legislature of the 40th Parliament.
Implications to the Summary Report on the Ornge Air Ambulance Scandal
Why? Because as the PC lead on the committee investigating the Ornge Air Ambulance scandal, I along with the other members of the committee signed off on a Summary Report that was more than two years in the making. It identifies 95 specific concerns that relate to the lack of oversight and mismanagement on the part of senior Ministry of Health officials and the failure on the part of members on the Ornge Board of Directors to exercise their fiduciary responsibilities.
The report also makes specific recommendations to pursue recovery of public funds from Ornge executives and Board members and to implement key changes to the service delivery model of Ornge and put in place proper oversight mechanisms in the Ministry of Health.
The report was scheduled to be tabled on Monday, May 5th and given the possibility that the Premier would dissolve the legislature before that date, I was concerned that the work of the committee would never see the light of day.
I signalled that concern to the Premier during Question Period on the morning of May 1st. I will leave it to you to conclude why she refused to ensure that the report would be made public, regardless of the timing of the election. By 2:30 p.m. the next day, the Premier dissolved the 40th Parliament. The report will not be tabled.
I have a copy of the Ornge Summary Report. I think the public deserve to know.
http://www.frankklees.com
The report almost made it out...from Frank Klees today:
Last Sitting Day of the 40th Parliament
Thursday, May 1st turned out to be one of the most memorable of my 19 years as a Member of Provincial Parliament.
When the bells rang to summon MPPs to the opening of the sessional day, little did we know that this would be the last day on which MPPs would conduct the business of the legislature of the 40th Parliament.
Implications to the Summary Report on the Ornge Air Ambulance Scandal
Why? Because as the PC lead on the committee investigating the Ornge Air Ambulance scandal, I along with the other members of the committee signed off on a Summary Report that was more than two years in the making. It identifies 95 specific concerns that relate to the lack of oversight and mismanagement on the part of senior Ministry of Health officials and the failure on the part of members on the Ornge Board of Directors to exercise their fiduciary responsibilities.
The report also makes specific recommendations to pursue recovery of public funds from Ornge executives and Board members and to implement key changes to the service delivery model of Ornge and put in place proper oversight mechanisms in the Ministry of Health.
The report was scheduled to be tabled on Monday, May 5th and given the possibility that the Premier would dissolve the legislature before that date, I was concerned that the work of the committee would never see the light of day.
I signalled that concern to the Premier during Question Period on the morning of May 1st. I will leave it to you to conclude why she refused to ensure that the report would be made public, regardless of the timing of the election. By 2:30 p.m. the next day, the Premier dissolved the 40th Parliament. The report will not be tabled.
I have a copy of the Ornge Summary Report. I think the public deserve to know.
http://www.frankklees.com
