| "HOUSTON V. HOUSTON ET AL." CONTINUED |
THE BC SUPREME COURT WAR BEGINS ANEW
My companies are still in the hands of PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. The companies have most of
their assets in the stock market and thus require very little active management. They are essentially
bank accounts of liquid capital. The same as cash. PricewaterhouseCoopers took over the
companies in December of 2002. To the end of 2004 PwC has billed the companies receiver
manager fees in excess of $54,000. If your bank hit you with fees like this you'd declare civil war.
The receiver manager fees are divvied up amongst a number of PwC employees with titles like
senior vice president, vice president, managers, senior associate, technician and administrative
assistants. Even though PwC has employed an outside accounting firm to prepare financial
statements and file tax returns, they've even billed the companies a fee for their own internal tax
person. And the receiver manager fees don't include accounting fees, legal fees and disbursements,
title search, general/administrative and postage fees and several other charges billed.
PricewaterhouseCoopers even billed one of the companies for "advertising."
Advertising.
None of the companies advertise. All attempts to get some kind of explanation from PwC as to
exactly what services are being rendered by the multiple employees who are billing the companies
have been met with utter silence. Calls are not taken, letters are not answered.
Somehow one of my calls to PwC got through to a senior vice president by the name of Michael J.
Vermette on June 10, 2005, probably put through by his firewall of secretaries and assistants by
accident. The conversation didn't last long; Vermette hung up on me after about a minute or so. I
did manage to ask Vermette why PwC won't discuss its fee structure with me. Vermette made up a
story about a court order prohibiting them from doing so. PwC might wish to avoid accountability
by order of the court but not only does no such court condition exist, an April 1, 2003 BC Supreme
Court order granted by Justice Burnyeat explicitly directs PwC to communicate with me personally.
Nice try, PwC.
I have been in constant touch with my father for many months now. His mental and physical health
appears to be much the same as it has been since his recovery came to a plateau in the year 2000.
He is partially paralyzed, unable to speak coherently and his mental capacity is severely retarded.
He rarely leaves his home and he can barely write to scratch out his signature. There has been talk
of him leaving his home for a retirement home next year.
When my father was struck by the stroke in 1996 it was touch and go whether he would survive.
His doctor even took my sister and me aside and prepared us for the possibility of his death. We
really weren't sure if he would make it. Now here we are in 2005 and, while not the model of
perfect health, my father could very well be around for another ten years or more. He's a tough
man.
On the morning of January 14, 2004 I sat down with my father at his kitchen table in his rural home
on the Powell River waterfront and, although it is almost impossible to understand anything he says,
I asked him about his lawyer Carey Veinotte. With a puzzled look on his face he replied: "Who?"
I told him I was referring to his lawyer with the law firm Taylor Veinotte Sullivan in Vancouver.
Again he responded, "Who?" indicating that he did not know who I was talking about. When I told
him I was talking about the lawsuit he had mounted against me he replied, "Lesley," referring to my
sister. My father is completely oblivious of Carey D. Veinotte and his law firm Taylor Veinotte
Sullivan.
On an April 7, 2004 visit to my dad's house I noticed he had placed a stack of letters about a foot
thick on his bedroom chest of drawers. It was a collection of the correspondence sent out by the
lawyers claiming to represent him in the BC Supreme Court actions against me. Although he didn't
say it, I think he wanted me to look over the material during my stay. All of the letters had been
sent to the attention of my sister in North Vancouver, not to my father.
Now we come to the obvious part of this pathetic, sordid story.
I spent the 2004 Christmas holidays with my dad. On Tuesday, December 28, 2004, about an hour
before leaving to catch a ferry for the drive back to Langley, I brought up the topic of the lawsuit.
"Dad," I asked, "did you even read the material in the affidavits you've sworn to in the lawsuit?"
His answer was an unequivocal, "No." "You didn't read the affidavits?" I asked. "No," my father
repeated. He had not read the material in the affidavits witnessed by Powell River lawyer and
ex-provincial court judge Shirley E. Giroday; he did not know what he was signing his name to.
Carey Veinotte has sworn to three personal affidavits in this BC Supreme Court action against me,
so professional conduct guidelines of The Law Society of BC prohibit his acting as counsel in the
matter. Nonetheless I continue to receive letters in the mail from Taylor Veinotte Sullivan
threatening further legal action against me with Carey Veinotte still claiming to represent my father
as solicitor. No law here.
In April 2005 I hired my third lawyer in this action. He immediately informed Robert W. Taylor of
Taylor Veinotte Sullivan that he represents me as counsel. In what feels to me like some kind of
bullying tactic, both Taylor and Justice Grant D. Burnyeat of the Supreme Court of BC have sent
documents in the litigation directly to my place of residence although both know that I am duly
represented by legal counsel in the matter. I can think of no reason why the opposing counsel and
the judge(!) presiding over the action are contacting me at my home other than to intimidate me into
backing down. It is my understanding that interfering with a witness in a trial is a criminal offence.
I have tried the civil courts. I have reported this stuff to The Law Society of BC. I have reported
this activity to the police. I have sent packages to the provincial and federal governments. No help
to be found anywhere. The lawyers have their union, The Law Society, to protect them; it seems
to me the general public needs its own union for protection against The Law Society. With Taylor
Veinotte Sullivan I have tried pleading and I have tried reason but they steadfastly refuse to come to
the table to talk settlement. It's as though Taylor Veinotte Sullivan are acting as guard dogs for
PricewaterhouseCoopers, allowing PwC to continue using our investments like an ATM machine.
This has been going on for four years now. I'm starting to think that their stonewalling is in the
hope that my father passes away in order not to have him testify or be cross-examined in this case.
That's okay, I've done my own cross-examination and my father has corroborated everything I
suspected since Graham J. Phillips came knocking in 2000. These people are vultures. The
vultures of Vancouver. A group apparently quite willing to kick a family when it's down; a group
willing to use the name of a severely mentally and physically disabled senior in the Supreme Court
of British Columbia to defame and screw his son and profit themselves.
My companies are still in the hands of PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. The companies have most of
their assets in the stock market and thus require very little active management. They are essentially
bank accounts of liquid capital. The same as cash. PricewaterhouseCoopers took over the
companies in December of 2002. To the end of 2004 PwC has billed the companies receiver
manager fees in excess of $54,000. If your bank hit you with fees like this you'd declare civil war.
The receiver manager fees are divvied up amongst a number of PwC employees with titles like
senior vice president, vice president, managers, senior associate, technician and administrative
assistants. Even though PwC has employed an outside accounting firm to prepare financial
statements and file tax returns, they've even billed the companies a fee for their own internal tax
person. And the receiver manager fees don't include accounting fees, legal fees and disbursements,
title search, general/administrative and postage fees and several other charges billed.
PricewaterhouseCoopers even billed one of the companies for "advertising."
Advertising.
None of the companies advertise. All attempts to get some kind of explanation from PwC as to
exactly what services are being rendered by the multiple employees who are billing the companies
have been met with utter silence. Calls are not taken, letters are not answered.
Somehow one of my calls to PwC got through to a senior vice president by the name of Michael J.
Vermette on June 10, 2005, probably put through by his firewall of secretaries and assistants by
accident. The conversation didn't last long; Vermette hung up on me after about a minute or so. I
did manage to ask Vermette why PwC won't discuss its fee structure with me. Vermette made up a
story about a court order prohibiting them from doing so. PwC might wish to avoid accountability
by order of the court but not only does no such court condition exist, an April 1, 2003 BC Supreme
Court order granted by Justice Burnyeat explicitly directs PwC to communicate with me personally.
Nice try, PwC.
I have been in constant touch with my father for many months now. His mental and physical health
appears to be much the same as it has been since his recovery came to a plateau in the year 2000.
He is partially paralyzed, unable to speak coherently and his mental capacity is severely retarded.
He rarely leaves his home and he can barely write to scratch out his signature. There has been talk
of him leaving his home for a retirement home next year.
When my father was struck by the stroke in 1996 it was touch and go whether he would survive.
His doctor even took my sister and me aside and prepared us for the possibility of his death. We
really weren't sure if he would make it. Now here we are in 2005 and, while not the model of
perfect health, my father could very well be around for another ten years or more. He's a tough
man.
On the morning of January 14, 2004 I sat down with my father at his kitchen table in his rural home
on the Powell River waterfront and, although it is almost impossible to understand anything he says,
I asked him about his lawyer Carey Veinotte. With a puzzled look on his face he replied: "Who?"
I told him I was referring to his lawyer with the law firm Taylor Veinotte Sullivan in Vancouver.
Again he responded, "Who?" indicating that he did not know who I was talking about. When I told
him I was talking about the lawsuit he had mounted against me he replied, "Lesley," referring to my
sister. My father is completely oblivious of Carey D. Veinotte and his law firm Taylor Veinotte
Sullivan.
On an April 7, 2004 visit to my dad's house I noticed he had placed a stack of letters about a foot
thick on his bedroom chest of drawers. It was a collection of the correspondence sent out by the
lawyers claiming to represent him in the BC Supreme Court actions against me. Although he didn't
say it, I think he wanted me to look over the material during my stay. All of the letters had been
sent to the attention of my sister in North Vancouver, not to my father.
Now we come to the obvious part of this pathetic, sordid story.
I spent the 2004 Christmas holidays with my dad. On Tuesday, December 28, 2004, about an hour
before leaving to catch a ferry for the drive back to Langley, I brought up the topic of the lawsuit.
"Dad," I asked, "did you even read the material in the affidavits you've sworn to in the lawsuit?"
His answer was an unequivocal, "No." "You didn't read the affidavits?" I asked. "No," my father
repeated. He had not read the material in the affidavits witnessed by Powell River lawyer and
ex-provincial court judge Shirley E. Giroday; he did not know what he was signing his name to.
Carey Veinotte has sworn to three personal affidavits in this BC Supreme Court action against me,
so professional conduct guidelines of The Law Society of BC prohibit his acting as counsel in the
matter. Nonetheless I continue to receive letters in the mail from Taylor Veinotte Sullivan
threatening further legal action against me with Carey Veinotte still claiming to represent my father
as solicitor. No law here.
In April 2005 I hired my third lawyer in this action. He immediately informed Robert W. Taylor of
Taylor Veinotte Sullivan that he represents me as counsel. In what feels to me like some kind of
bullying tactic, both Taylor and Justice Grant D. Burnyeat of the Supreme Court of BC have sent
documents in the litigation directly to my place of residence although both know that I am duly
represented by legal counsel in the matter. I can think of no reason why the opposing counsel and
the judge(!) presiding over the action are contacting me at my home other than to intimidate me into
backing down. It is my understanding that interfering with a witness in a trial is a criminal offence.
I have tried the civil courts. I have reported this stuff to The Law Society of BC. I have reported
this activity to the police. I have sent packages to the provincial and federal governments. No help
to be found anywhere. The lawyers have their union, The Law Society, to protect them; it seems
to me the general public needs its own union for protection against The Law Society. With Taylor
Veinotte Sullivan I have tried pleading and I have tried reason but they steadfastly refuse to come to
the table to talk settlement. It's as though Taylor Veinotte Sullivan are acting as guard dogs for
PricewaterhouseCoopers, allowing PwC to continue using our investments like an ATM machine.
This has been going on for four years now. I'm starting to think that their stonewalling is in the
hope that my father passes away in order not to have him testify or be cross-examined in this case.
That's okay, I've done my own cross-examination and my father has corroborated everything I
suspected since Graham J. Phillips came knocking in 2000. These people are vultures. The
vultures of Vancouver. A group apparently quite willing to kick a family when it's down; a group
willing to use the name of a severely mentally and physically disabled senior in the Supreme Court
of British Columbia to defame and screw his son and profit themselves.
11 / 45