Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership

[C-FABH]

An ORNGE spokesman said the bankruptcy does not affect the operation of the provincial air ambulance service.

How could it not affect the operation of the air ambulance service?

As the news article states, this is apparently limited to "ORNGE Global" - the for-profit entity which provided dubious amounts of consulting
The patient care/transport doesn't fall under this part of Ornge.

[CL-Skadoo!]

An ORNGE spokesman said the bankruptcy does not affect the operation of the provincial air ambulance service.

How could it not affect the operation of the air ambulance service?

As the news article states, this is apparently limited to "ORNGE Global" - the for-profit entity which provided dubious amounts of consulting
The patient care/transport doesn't fall under this part of Ornge.

I got that, I just don't understand how the two aren't more closely connected.

[Brown Bear]

FIRED

Websters defines "fired", past tense of the verb "to fire" as "what happens when you're caught with your hand, armpit deep, in the cookie jar.

Now, can we get the business back in the hands of the private sector, where it creates employment without milking the poor dumb basterds, otherwise known as tax payers?

[flyincanuck]

He got off easy. He should be jailed.

[B_Boomer_54]

He got off easy. He should be jailed.

No , he should be hanged at the new Don Jail. I can assure you these scandals would eventually come to "dead" stop.

Anyone here want that piece of trash involved in their company?

He's got enough $ to retire 5x over. Slap on the wrist, good job Canada.

[Clodhopper]

I'm sure this isn't the end of his "legacy" in Ontario. Hopefully it does progress towards criminal charges of some kind. Hell, I'd be in more legal trouble if I stole a loaf of bread from the Metro down the street.

[ipilot54]

Founder of ORNGE Chris Mazza fired!

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/112 ... fired?bn=1

Kevin Donovan Staff Reporter



ORNGE has fired air ambulance founder Dr. Chris Mazza with no offer of a severance package.

The news came as ORNGE placed ORNGE Global, the for-profit entity Mazza created, into bankruptcy.

Also terminated was Maria Renzella, chief operating officer of ORNGE Global.

ORNGE said no severance package has been offered to either.

Both executives were on extended sick leave. A bankruptcy trustee has been appointed by the Ontario courts to wind up the affairs of the company.

ORNGE Global was created as a consulting firm and senior executives at the non-profit ORNGE Ontario were paid as consultants.

Some of its funding came from a $6.7 million payment from the Italian firm that received $144 million off Ontario taxpayer-financed funds when it sold helicopters to ORNGE.

An ORNGE spokesman said the bankruptcy does not affect the operation of the provincial air ambulance service.

Health Minister Deb Matthews said the bankruptcy of the two subsidiaries forced the government’s hand.

“Today, the for-profit ORNGE Global GP Inc. and ORNGE Global Holdings LP went into receivership, essentially ending their existence,” Matthews said in a statement.

“As a result, Dr. Chris Mazza, president and CEO, and Maria Renzella, chief operating officer, have been terminated and ORNGE has advised us that no severance has been offered,” she said.

“These are vitally important and necessary steps needed to restore the confidence of Ontarians in the leadership team responsible for Ontario’s air ambulance service.”

Matthews said “the forensic audit continues and we look forward to their findings and the auditor general’s value-for-money audit.

“We continue to seek and support the changes at ORNGE and continue to work with the new leadership as they strengthen Ontario’s air ambulance service,” she said.

Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees said the firings are far from the end of the saga.

“These are only two people. That head office is filled with individuals — who are still there — who were part of the decision-making process who benefitted from the decisions that were made. Why are they still there? What is taking so long?” he said.

Klees said he remains troubled by the $6.7 million payment by helicopter maker Agusta-Westland to an ORNGE subsidiary for a binder’s worth of marketing advice before the air ambulance service purchased 12 of the Italian firm’s aircraft.

NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh (Brampton-Gore-Malton) said the housecleaning at ORNGE is a start, but more must be done to clear the air.

“Faces are changing at ORNGE, but if the public is going to be served we need to know details the government still refuses to share,” said Singh.

“When will we see Mr. Mazza’s contract and other documents the minister of health refuses to release?” he said.

[FL280]

.

[whipline]

Your response is from 1992? Can you dig up any horse and carriage rules as well? Presently the Ontario coroner is investigating all deaths related to ORNGE in the previous 12 months. Why don't we wait for the results of that to come out? Or we could talk about ORNGE's internal policy of waiting a minimum of 10 minutes before launching any critical care flight after a call was received?

Without knowing the circumstances of that article it's hard to comment. I flew medevacs in the mid 90's and thought it was a pretty slick operation. Had to be a twin and it had to be pressurized. We didn't do critical care unless we were the only aircraft in the area or the patient deteriorated during flight. Only trips to the US we did was for insurance. We always had crews on reserve and could launch in under 60 minutes. We could be anywhere in the province in under 4 hrs. We didn't say no to weather it was left up to medcom. If they wanted us to try we'd go.

[ipilot54]

Ontario health ministry was warned of serious problems at ORNGE in 2008

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/112 ... -2008?bn=1

An ORNGE accountant told the province’s health ministry and financial investigations team in 2008 that ORNGE was “handing out money like water.”
Health ministry warned of problems at ORNGE
ORNGE has terminated air ambulance founder Dr. Chris Mazza with no offer of a severance package.
Founder of ORNGE fired

Ontario health ministry was warned of serious problems at ORNGE in 2008
Published On Thu Feb 02 2012

An ORNGE accountant told the province’s health ministry and financial investigations team in 2008 that ORNGE was “handing out money like water.”

Ron Bull/Toronto Star
Kevin Donovan Staff Reporter

Ontario’s health ministry and the province’s financial investigations team were warned of serious problems at ORNGE three years ago, documents reveal.

An ORNGE accountant blew the whistle in 2008, telling the province that the publicly funded ORNGE was “handing out money like water.”
ORNGE founder Chris Mazza terminated

In an interview audio taped in 2008 by Ministry of Finance investigators, Keith Walmsley said former ORNGE boss Dr. Chris Mazza (who was terminated Thursday) and other executives were paying themselves whopping bonuses and had set up a spiderweb of for-profit companies. Walmsley went on to provide detailed allegations of numerous abuses of taxpayers money and said ORNGE was deceiving the cash-strapped health ministry, hiding a $5 million annual surplus in taxpayers funds by using a double set of books.

Walmsley had first brought his concerns to his bosses at ORNGE in 2007 and was told “what the Ministry (of Health) doesn’t know won’t hurt them.” When he complained further, ORNGE let him go just before his three-month probationary period was up.

Walmsley put his issues in writing to provincial officials, was interviewed by investigators in November 2008, then the health ministry told him the next month that the problems were solved.

A spokesperson for current Health Minister Deb Matthews confirmed that Walsmsley’s allegations were received by the ministry and passed to finance for investigation. Zita Astravas said ORNGE assured the investigators that all was well at the province’s air ambulance service. The probe was dropped.

Astravas said issues first raised by Walmsley are now being probed by a team of forensic auditors from the Ministry of Finance.

At ORNGE this week, there are now 43 auditors going through computers and paper files. A guard has been posted on the ORNGE file room to stop anyone from removing documents.

ORNGE was created in 2005 by then Liberal health minister George Smitherman and Mazza, a former Sunnybrook emergency doctor. It was set up as a not-for-profit agency to deliver air ambulance service across the province. At the time, ORNGE received about $115 million a year and they now receive $150 million annually.

Walmsley, a certified general accountant, was hired in September 2007 as senior business analyst at ORNGE. His salary was $80,000, and he was told he was eligible for performance bonuses of up to 7 per cent.

In an interview, Walmsley said ORNGE gave him the task of setting up the next year’s budget. Walmsley, who currently works at a Toronto hospital, had spent his career as an accountant in hospitals and private industry.

What he saw in the fall of 2007 shocked him. He presented the following information to government investigators as serious allegations that should be probed:

• Big bonuses. Mazza was getting a $250,000 bonus on a salary that back then was in excess of $300,000 (his compensation package grew to $1.4 million in 2011). Even junior employees were receiving a $16,000 bonus in 2007. Walmsley counted $2.4 million in bonuses in 2007, which he told investigators was unusual in what was supposed to be a non-profit, government-funded agency.

• For-profit companies. Walmsley said ORNGE Peel and other companies recently shut down by the province were being used to pay “stipends” or consulting fees to ORNGE executives. This shielded their salaries from the public Sunshine List.

• Perks in the woods. Walmsley tripped over information he said revealed weekend trips by ORNGE executives to Muskoka Woods, a high-end summer camp ORNGE was using as a base for its J-Smarts charity program. J-Smarts was supposed to teach youth how to safely do extreme sports. ORNGE had purchased a $50,000 water ski boat and Walmsley said executives would go to the camp on the weekend at ORNGE expense. A woman who became one of Mazza’s vice-presidents was a former water ski instructor.

• Untendered consulting contracts. ORNGE was handing out contracts with no tendering or advertising. Some people who were high-level ORNGE employees were also paid through consulting agreements. “And T4 (tax) slips were not being handed out,” Walmsley said.

• Big surplus. With health-care dollars scarce in Ontario, Walmsley was surprised to see ORNGE had an annual surplus of $5 million. He said he approached his boss and they both went to talk to then vice-president Maria Renzella (terminated Thursday along with Mazza and one other executive).

“I complained and was told they would hide the surplus,” Walmsley recalled. That $5 million, he said, was spread out among executives and used to pay for what he later described as “luxurious” company purchases.

Shortly after he complained to Renzella, Walmsley was told his employment at ORNGE was “not working out.”

That was just before the end of 2007. That December, with ORNGE complaining it was strapped for cash, then health minister Smitherman authorized a one-time $2.9 million funding to ORNGE for an increase in “salaries and wages and other operating expenses,” according to a letter written to ORNGE by Smitherman in December 2007.

After being let go by ORNGE, Walmsley waited until he found a new job, then wrote on April 14, 2008 to Margaret Best, the provincial minister for health promotion. In his letter, he set out allegations of financial wrongdoing. Walmsley realizes now he should have sent it to Smitherman, who had responsibility for ORNGE.

Best’s office forwarded Walmsley’s letter to the health ministry on Nov. 14, 2008. By that time, David Caplan had replaced Smitherman as minister. The letter was received by Ruth Hawkins, a senior health ministry official. Hawkins forwarded it to the Ministry of Finance and two investigators from the Sudbury head office were sent to interview Walmsley.

In a 45-minute tape recorded interview he set out the problems he had seen and urged investigators to take action.

His letter of complaint to the ministry stated he saw “several eye-opening situations” at ORNGE, including two sets of accounting records, hiding the surplus and executives “benefitting far too luxuriously.” He asked the ministry and investigators if it was possible that the ministry was supporting what ORNGE was doing (that question was not answered). Walmsley told the ministry he thought health-care dollars were supposed to be spent only on health care.

On Dec. 29, 2008, Hawkins wrote on behalf of the Ministry of Health to say that all of Walmsley’s allegations had been investigated by the “Ministry of Finance’s forensic investigation team.”

“I am pleased to say that the issues identified in your letter have been addressed and once again thank you for bringing forward your concerns.” Hawkins wrote.

This week, the aide to current Minister of Health Matthews said that after the investigators met Walmsley they “followed up with senior officials at ORNGE and the ministry’s Health Audit Services Team and concluded at that time that evidence did not exist to support Mr. Walmsley’s allegation of a second set of books.”

Astravas said “senior officials at ORNGE also provided assurances about their compensation policy to the ministry in December 2008 that led the ministry at that time to conclude that Mr. Walmsley’s concerns had been addressed.”

The Star revealed in a series of articles over the past two months that ORNGE was paying exorbitant salaries to executives, had set up a series of for-profit companies at taxpayer’s expense, and executives — including Renzella and Mazza — had many perks (Renzella received $110,000 to fund an executive MBA including international study in Belgium).

Walmsley’s tip off to the health ministry in 2008 came just a few months before scandal erupted at eHealth over executive perks, high bonuses and untendered contracts.

[ipilot54]

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/609377

Given this article from The Star a few years ago, do you feel this still represents the private sector companies offering 'medevac' service? Is this mentality of 'the least service for the lowest price' the best alternative for what most educated people in any province consider an essential service? I'm not talking about politics, I'm talking about quality and level of service.

I'm not looking for a pissing match, just some honest opinions and if returning it to the 'good old days is really the best option? I know not all carriers are crooked and am not implying anything of the sort, just looking for some intelligent opinions on the matter.

That resulted in the "Donner Inquiry" (which published the document: "Air Ambulance Review"). Since then the Air Ambulance service in Ontario has in fact improved drastically. We are not doing medivacs in Aztecs anymore for example and the equipment/training has also improved for the back end. One of the results of the review was to go the "preferred provider" route. This was done on the Rotary-Wing side with CHL being the winning supplier. Once the Ministry had that in place they did not want to go ahead with the fixed wing-side as they knew they could not "cover the province" the way the "for-profit" companies do for the same costs. These "for-profit" companies also supply services to other various government agencies, business and so on which contributes greatly to the Ontario economy. These companies used the income from patient transfers as one source of income. This "win win" situation gave the government access to numerous aircraft at NO COST unless they were utilized and from numerous locations. For the government to take it all over would cost a fortune and they still would not have the coverage supplied by the private operators. It was always the intent to keep the "dedicated" fixed wing critical care however.

In fact, if you read the management board meeting transcripts for the transfer of control to (now) Ornge. They were quite specific that Ornge was to "continue to administer contracts with the suppliers in a fair and open manner". The only thing in the final agreement that allowed Mazza to start an airline stated: "and obtain certification as an operator". That was buried in a 54 page document.

As far as private operators operating "old" equipment goes, Ornge drove the operators to do so. Why? One could make the case that this would give Mazza the ammunition to point at them and say the we need "renewal". Well, all they really need to do in the RFPs was to dictate aircraft types, age, paint and so on. Sure the price would have gone up but Mazza would not be able to make a case for his own airline as the prices would still be a FRACTION of what the REAL hourly costs of operating Ornge aircraft. No "hidden costs".

So the answer is no, we do not need to go back to the "good old days" as you referred to. But those days were a really long time ago and using that article to compare to just 10 years ago is not realistic. When the last RFP went out in 2000 for the Critical Care fixed-wing, everything that was needed was in place to ensure a good service to the public.

What needs to happen now is that the operation of Critical Care needs to be reviewed. The ownership and operation of the helicopters and fixed wing should be tendered (CHL might be getting their 2 year extension after all). The CC medics should go back to being Ministry employees would be nice too.

Either way, there is going to be a period of transition but changes are coming.

I think Doc said it a few pages back; "last one out turn off the lights".

[FL280]

Well actually CHL isn't getting any sort of extension, Ornge has decided to continue with the base transitions and take all of the rotor operations in house. There will be no tender on this, it'll stay In Ornge and continue to do so.

Another question comes up then, should operators make a profit from patient transfers or air ambulance flights which IS the taxpayer, or should it be done as a true nonprofit service to the province?

[ipilot54]

Mark February 21 on your calender.

As far as your question goes, most private "for-profit" companies can do many services at a much reduced cost that the government. I guess that is why the government out-sources all of the time. With proper regulations and oversight, it does work.

[r22captain]

Well actually CHL isn't getting any sort of extension, Ornge has decided to continue with the base transitions and take all of the rotor operations in house. There will be no tender on this, it'll stay In Ornge and continue to do so.

uummmm did something change in the last 3 days?

Ontario’s air ambulance service will not assume responsibility for flight operations at the province’s two largest transport medicine bases next month, because of design problems with its helicopters that compromise the safety of patients.

Ron McKerlie, interim chief executive officer of Ornge, said on Friday that he is postponing the changeover, so that everyone can focus on resolving problems that place patients too close to the ceiling in the cabin.
More related to this story

FL069, should I quote the paragraph with McKerlie stating he might even return the 2 bases already transitioned, back to CHL's OC? Did you read any of that story?

[r22captain]

should it be done as a true nonprofit service to the province?

Was that not what ornge was suppose to be? How well did that go?
Some thing the government should not be running.....administering yes. Running? No.

[tons-o-fun]

Well actually CHL isn't getting any sort of extension, Ornge has decided to continue with the base transitions and take all of the rotor operations in house. There will be no tender on this, it'll stay In Ornge and continue to do so.

Another question comes up then, should operators make a profit from patient transfers or air ambulance flights which IS the taxpayer, or should it be done as a true nonprofit service to the province?

FL280, You're just like a little kid in a shool yard. Bip away until someone proves you wrong with facts then go off on another pointless tangent. You should be spending more time brushing up the resume lol. you're just grabbing at straws.

As far as your "question"...are you not aware how an economy works? If a government supplies EVERYTHING to it's people and there is no private sector what do you get? Russia?China? Somebody,Somewhere in this province has to make a profit and re-invest into the economy to keep it going. Whats worse is having private sector directly competing with a publically funded "not-for-profit" company with a blank cheque from taxpayers that is also its employer,regulator,and competitor. Everything about ORNGE should be shut down and given back to the private sector for the sake of patient care and our economy.

[Beach 200]

If I were an Ornge pilot, I'd be getting the fack out! It's obvious that the government now has to allow private companies to bid on the medical service in Ontario. They also need to show it is saving money and not spending endless amounts on financing these new aircraft as well as funding the air ambulance service. The $200 million that Ornge borrowed has to be paid back, by either selling the aircraft or cutting costs at Ornge.

It has also been shown that Ornge used unfair practices for companies bidding on contracts with Tax payers funds. If I am a politician and to keep Ontarians happy then I would be putting the Air Ambulance out to tender like it always has been. I can bet money that Ornge Air would have to bid with the likes of Air Bravo, Thunder, Wabusk, Commercial, etc... On these contracts. Ornge Air currently spends far to much money on high salaries and leasing costs to these new aircraft and will be no way competitive in winning the bid. That's if they are not shut down as the new Ornge CEO said of all of Mazza's for profit entities. Because Ornge Air is a for profit company!

So for Ornge pilots, I may want to ignore your managements plea into saying your job is safe, because they will most likely get severance when the Doors are closed and you won't. They are just trying to keep you in the door until the enevitable happens.

Remember that douche bag Ornge rep on AvCanada that tried to tell everyone that Ornge was Not for Profit and was not using tax payer funds etc... What a true out come of events to show everything said was a lie and purely a front to cover the eyes of tax payers in Ontario.

[ipilot54]

FL280 is correct. The new Ornge boss did an about face on Wednesday. They are continuing with the transfer of the rotor-wing. Why? He may have been "told" by the Minister's office or he is getting bad information from his staff trying to save their jobs. (I am talking about senior staff still there....)

Is the government trying to protect the investor(s)??? If you had invested 250 Million and watch this thing unfold, would you sit idly by and watch your investment tank even more than it already has??? I doubt it. The helicopters are NOT owned by Ornge. The currently on "lease" from Ornge Investment Trust to yet another company and then to the operating company. I don't think they are leasing them for nothing....

Either the government is trying to save face or they are protecting some "big" business investor or retirement fund. Perhaps both. I am sure either way, the lawsuits will fly soon.

R22 is right, the government should be "administering", not "running".

[r22captain]

FL280 is correct. The new Ornge boss did an about face on Wednesday. They are continuing with the transfer of the rotor-wing. Why? He may have been "told" by the Minister's office or he is getting bad information from his staff trying to save their jobs. (I am talking about senior staff still there....)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le2324442/

I see they've been granted a temporary "fix" for the stretcher issue. I don't see anything about continuing the transfer of bases to ORNGE control.
or is some inside gossip that hasn't made the mainstream?

[ipilot54]

Unfortunately, it is not gossip. Media has not got it yet though.

And Ornge did not get a fix....CHL did from what I have heard. Ornge does not have the expertise; which goes back to the bigger problem....

[ipilot54]

Maybe this is the reason the back tracked on the decision to freeze the helicopter transfer to Ornge. Liberals looking out for, well Liberals who invested????

In the Star today:

ORNGE paid lawyers $11 million
Published On Fri Feb 03 2012

Liberal Party President Alfred Apps speaks with the media at the party's biennial convention in Ottawa, on Friday January 13, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Liberal Party President Alfred Apps speaks with the media at the party's biennial convention in Ottawa, on Friday January 13, 2012.
Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Kevin Donovan Staff Reporter


ORNGE has paid $11 million to lawyers — taxpayer money used to create its now bankrupt for-profit companies, two closed charities and to raise funds on Bay Street.

Last month, ORNGE paid $1 million for legal expenses incurred after the Star revealed huge problems at the company

The legal expenses, covering 2006 to January 2012, were released by ORNGE to the Star this week.

Almost $9 million went to the Toronto based law firm of Fasken Martineau, where key ORNGE adviser and federal Liberal strategist Alf Apps is a partner. The remaining payments went to other law firms.

Apps, a close adviser to former ORNGE boss Dr. Chris Mazza, has done a lot for the service over the years.

He has made presentations to the Ontario Ministry of Health on behalf of ORNGE, sought financial investors, and provided guidance on “matters where his specialized expertise in structured financing was required,” according to a spokesman for the law firm.

At any given time, Apps was one of 15 Fasken Martineau lawyers working on the ORNGE file.

Fasken spokesman Stephen Hastings said Fasken Martineau serviced (and continues to service) ORNGE well and does so in the same manner it helps all clients.

“We believe that Fasken Martineau has and continues to provide significant value to ORNGE and the people of Ontario,” Hastings said. He noted that his firm is owed an additional $440,000 that has not yet been paid.

The billing records provided show that in January, ORNGE paid Fasken Martineau $507,000 (a similar amount went to a group of other law firms that month). Insiders say that in January top ORNGE executives and board members (some of whom are now out of a job) were hunkered down at Fasken’s Toronto office seeking legal advice on the growing ORNGE mess.

ORNGE is the provincial air ambulance service created in 2005 by Mazza and former health minister George Smitherman. An ongoing Star investigation has revealed high salaries, dispatch problems and the creation within the non-profit ORNGE of a series of for-profit companies with names like ORNGE Peel and ORNGE Global.

Mazza, a former emergency room doctor, was the driving force behind ORNGE. As his empire grew, Apps was always close by. Just before their public troubles began in December, Apps gave the opening address to a group of high net worth businessmen and women at a dinner catered by Humber College culinary students at the posh ORNGE headquarters. The evening was billed as “an investment opportunity that can shape the world’s health care landscape for the coming decades.”

Apps was there because he was not only a lawyer for ORNGE, he was the chairman of Byron Capital, the investment firm hired by ORNGE to raise $15 million to $20 million in a deal that was never completed.

Until his two-year term ended recently, Apps was the president of the federal Liberals. He is well connected in political circles.

While the Star has been provided with the total amount of legal fees (including taxes and disbursements) paid to Apps firm, few specifics have been provided. The annual amount has increased over the years.

As of this week, those for-profit firms are bankrupt, which led to the termination of Mazza and other executives. Insiders say Mazza is considering suing ORNGE. The bankruptcy of the for-profit firms has left Fasken Martineau a creditor, owed $440,000 in unpaid bills.

Fasken Martineau was the law firm that represented the precursor to ORNGE, the air ambulance service based at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The arrangement began in 2002.

By 2006, the first full year of ORNGE’s existence, Fasken Martineau was paid $475,000. In 2007, the Fasken Martineau charges were $237,000.

During 2007, Apps was added to the ORNGE legal team, the law firm said.

Total payments to Fasken Martineau were $1.1 million in 2008, $2.4 million in 2009, $1.5 million in 2010, and $2.6 million in 2011.

The law firm noted to the Star that “any increase in the volume of work was not tied to the involvement of any specific lawyer on the file.”

The total amount paid to Fasken Martineau (Apps’ own amount is not broken out) totalled $8.8 million. ORNGE paid an additional $2.3 million to other (unnamed on the document the Star obtained) law firms during the same six-year period.

According to the law firm and ORNGE, one of the big services Apps provided was the 2008-2009 structuring of a deal that raised $275 million to purchase new helicopters and airplanes. The payments of interest and capital back to investors comes out of the $150 million taxpayers give ORNGE each year.

In an earlier interview, Apps told the Star this deal was very successful.

“From a rating and pricing perspective . . . this was probably the most successful financing recently completed from the perspective of an organization that is neither government, nor a Crown agency or corporation and the rating was upgraded in October 2010,” Apps said.

Fasken Martineau was also involved in the creation of two ORNGE charities, the ORNGE Foundation and J-Smarts, a charity set up to teach youth how to safely engage in high risk sports. Mazza’s son was killed in a ski accident in 2006. Both charities were recently shut down on the advice of the province.

One specific detail Fasken Martineau did provide relates to the creation of the for-profit firms. Fasken Martineau said it was paid $2.5 million to structure the firms, which Mazza said would earn money for Ontario — 3 per cent of gross revenue for the province, the rest for Mazza and executives.

The for-profit firms included a high-end executive medical rescue program, and an attempt to sell ORNGE expertise around the world. Apps told the Star he was not one of the firm’s lawyers who set up the for-profit companies.

The companies were owned by Mazza and other executives.

When ORNGE briefed Ontario’s health ministry on its for-profit plans on Jan. 14, 2011, Apps was in the meeting room at Queen’s Park, along with an ORNGE executive and the now past chairman of the air ambulance service’s board.

In one of several emails, Apps told the Star he was there to “explain the structure” of the for-profit ORNGE Global to the ministry. He stressed that he was not in any way lobbying the government. Apps also briefed government finance officials on the same subject matter, he said.

People who lobby the Ontario government must register and there is no registry of Apps.

In an email to the Star Friday, Fasken Martineau said it has now asked the Registrar of Lobbyists for Ontario if Apps’ “communication” with the province to set up the Jan. 14 meeting constitutes lobbying.

[2R]

Does this mean that the ambulance chasers own the ambulances ?
Or does the maze of mazza companies mask the daisy chain of ownership ?

[nookie201]

Current helicopters may soon be pulled all together as the latest is CPR is not possible in the current interior config. rumor has it the S76 maybe coming back.....

Liability issue.

[FL280]

Current helicopters may soon be pulled all together as the latest is CPR is not possible in the current interior config. rumor has it the S76 maybe coming back.....

Liability issue.

You're a tad behind on your updates but good try on the 'rumour'! It's nearly noon so its time for a new new rumour!! There is a fix for the time being on the new helipcopters until they get the interiors where they should be. This ain't new news!!

[Eleveniron]

But there's still the issue of the AW139 tail rotor and tail boom failures that all 139 operators are dealing with. That has to be a factor with the potential to bring some S76s back on line too.