Drowning in Debt? Reach Out!
NOT IF, BUT WHEN LOCAL POSTAL WORKERS AWAIT THEIR TURN TO STRIKE {page 3}
INCORPORATED TRUSTEE IN BANKRUPTCY
902 482 2000 • 4debtrelief.com
GEEK CHIC ONE-ON-ONE WITH JESSE EISENBERG {pages 16-17}
HALIFAX
Thursday, June 9, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
TCL head takes ‘full responsibility’ Scott Ferguson says Trade Centre Limited already working on auditor general’s recommendations Shared account between Crown corporation and HRM flagged by Larry Munroe in report RYAN TAPLIN/METRO
ALEX BOUTILIER
@METRONEWS.CA
Scott Ferguson says he takes full blame for cutting two unauthorized cheques for cash-strapped promoter Harold MacKay. “Those two payments, yes, would have been a mistake on my part. I certainly accept full responsibility for that,” the Trade Centre Limited president and CEO told Metro yesterday. “All I would have been aware of (was) the fact that there was a show that was weeks away, that required an advance, and I made that decision.” Ferguson was flagged in municipal auditor general Larry Munroe’s report into five years of concerts on the Halifax Common. “Mr. Ferguson was an active participant in the process of issuing the advances on ticket sales for concerts on the North Common.... At least two advanced pay-
“People are accountable. I need to be and I am.” SCOTT FERGUSON, TCL CEO AND PRESIDENT
ments were made by Mr. Ferguson without the written approval of (then–deputy chief administrative officer of HRM Wayne) Anstey,” reads the report. Ferguson said there was a “great deal of confusion” surrounding the concerts, beginning with the Keith Urban show in
2007. “In the weeks prior to that show, my concern really was to try and make the best of what I considered to be a bad situation,” he said. Ferguson was one of a handful of names — including Anstey, Mayor Peter Kelly and former TCL president Fred MacGillivray — named in Munroe’s report. Munroe found Kelly, Anstey and Ferguson “all felt pressured to ensure the concerts happened,” albeit for different reasons. The provincial auditor general’s office is reviewing Munroe’s report, and weighing the possibility of its own audit into TCL — a Crown corporation — and its involvement in the scandal. Deputy auditor general Alan Horgan said yesterday it would be premature to comment on the report’s findings, but said staff will discuss it when auditor general Jacques Lapointe returns from vacation in two weeks.
Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand of Hammonds Plains celebrates after scoring a second-period goal against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final last night. Boston won 4-0 to even the series at 2-2. Story, page 25. ELSA/GETTTY IMAGES
Marchand scores again as Bruins even series