| "HOUSTON V. HOUSTON ET AL." CONTINUED |
9-11
After the bloodletting I am sent to the Four Alpha unit at Fraser to serve the balance of my
sentence. I am assigned the job of unit clothes cleaner. One of the ways that I passed the time
was through trading securities held by my companies on the stock markets. My daily ritual
included a morning call to my broker, TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage, to get quotes and buy
and sell equities. For me, tracking stocks and the corporations that issue them is fun, therapeutic,
and mentally stimulating. And not only did it allow me to keep company finances in order, it was
also my last lifeline to the civilized world. The instant I took the rod to Phillips' window I resolved
to accept responsibility for the act. Paying for the crime was never an outstanding question. At that
moment, though, I was under the illusion I would get a fair shake in the courts. I never imagined
that the restitution demanded would be eight months of my time in jail and then being followed
around by a voluminous probation order for another three years. Despite this bitter disillusionment,
the knowledge that I would eventually exit the concrete bowels of BC's justice system and return to
asset management was one of the prospects that kept me going.
But, like my freedom, on September 11, 2001 they took that away from me too. While I
continued my acclimatization to the agonizing boredom of imprisonment, Carey D. Veinotte of
Walsh & Company, the law firm that Ahrens succeeded in having the court bar me from having
any contact with, was making sure that my companies would no longer be under my command
come my release from jail. On September 6, 2001 Veinotte went before Justice Mary Ellen Boyd
in British Columbia Supreme Court and convinced her to order a freeze on the corporate assets.
This order was obtained ex parte which means without me or a representative for me present in
court to defend my interests or those of my corporations. Veinotte, taking opportunistic advantage
of my imprisonment, charged past my legal counsel, my rights, and the rule of law. It was a secret
hearing to which neither I, nor my attorney, were invited. Two affidavits were presented to the
court, one from my father and one from Veinotte. Boyd was told in an affidavit attributed to my
father: "My stroke has left me with full mental capacity. However, I now have physical disabilities
which, among other things, make it difficult for me to walk and communicate. My stroke has also
impaired my long-term memory." So, paradoxically, even though my dad can't talk and his
memory is shot he still maintains full mental capacity. And this statement is not from a physician
but from an admittedly severely disabled senior. If my father can't talk then where did his affidavit
information come from? Boyd was also told that I was "withholding and concealing the business
records" and that I was "refusing to divulge any information about the assets or the financial
position of the Companies." It's not easy to share company information from a jail cell.
Carey D. Veinotte personally swore to an affidavit that erroneously exaggerated the various criminal
charges I had pleaded guilty to and that said he had attended my sentencing hearing in North
Vancouver Provincial Court. Veinotte also discussed my criminal ordeal with Madam Justice Mary
Ellen Boyd in British Columbia Supreme Court.
"My lady, my last name is Veinotte, which I'll spell because it's a little exotic. V as in Victor, e-i-n-
o-t-t-e. My initial is C. With me is Ms. Chen, c-h-e-n. Ms. Chen is an articled student."
"All right. Yes?"
"My lady, I thought before we begin I'd just give the court a quick thumbnail sketch of this matter.
I appear on behalf of the petitioner, Scot Houston. Scot Houston is the father of the individual
respondent Callum Houston. The four corporate respondents, if you will, are essentially the family
companies. Scot Houston, the father, is the majority shareholder and director of each of those
companies. In 1996 Mr. Scot Houston was felled by a fairly massive stroke. He executed a
revocable power of attorney in October 1996 and until March of 2000 participated jointly with his
son Callum in the management of the companies. Since the summer of 2000, my lady, Callum,
who suffers from a mental disability variously described as either bi-polar disorder or paranoid
schizophrenia -"
"When did he develop that?"
"Some two years before the year 2000, so roughly 1998. His dad was content to continue the
exercise of power of attorney and management of the companies. Unfortunately, last summer
Callum embarked on a series of disturbing behaviours, which I'll go into in a little bit of detail."
"Mm-hmm."
"We say those behaviours are oppressive and unfairly prejudicial as those terms are used within
Section 200 of the Company Act. The pattern of behaviour, however, my lady, culminated with,
and I'll say as an aside, I am Scot Houston's second lawyer, his first lawyer was Mr. Graham
Phillips of Harrop Phillips, in an effort to get a look at the financial documentation of the corporate
respondents, Scot Houston hired Mr. Phillips. Mr. Phillips made some efforts to get a look at the
financial documentation within Callum's control. That was not fruitful. A petition was commenced
whereupon Callum attended twice at Mr. Phillips' offices, threatened him, and the weekend
thereafter broke into Mr. Phillips' home, threatened Mrs. Phillips -- Ms. Phillips with death, and
then attempted to burn down the Phillips' residence."
"And he decided to get off the record?" Boyd asked.
"Mr. Phillips decided to resign from the file. It is my dubious honour to be Mr. Scot Houston's
second counsel because, due to my previous illustrious career in the criminal bar, I don't appear in
the telephone book. That leads into the reason Callum Houston is not here today and this motion
is brought essentially without notice. He's still incarcerated. He was sent -"
"But he was arrested?" Boyd interjects.
"He was immediately arrested on March 10th, 2001."
"Yes."
"He was sentenced by his Honour Judge Diebolt on July 6th of the this year."
"Was it defended?"
"Callum pled guilty to one count of criminal harassment, two counts of uttering threats, and one
count of breaking and entering a dwelling house. His Honour Judge Diebolt sentenced Callum to
another six months of incarceration -"
"Yes?"
"- a lengthy probation order, which includes that he is not to attend my offices. Mr. Callum
Houston made representation to his Honour Judge Diebolt that he would retain counsel. Obviously
Callum representing himself in this matter has produced a myriad of difficulties. However, thus far
I can tell the court that Callum Houston is unrepresented."
Telling the judge that I threatened a lawyer, broke into the lawyer's home and threatened to kill his
wife and then tried unsuccessfully to burn down their condominium could only bias the judge
irreversibly in Veinotte's favour. Veinotte's use of my criminal history as legal collateral is a theme
that he adopts and uses over and over again. Veinotte swore in his own affidavit that he attended
my sentencing hearing in North Vancouver Provincial Court on July 6, 2001, so he knew the true
facts of the matter. He also knew, contrary to his statement to Boyd, that I was not unrepresented
in the civil matter, that I had in fact been ordered by The Deadbolt to retain a lawyer and that I
had retained a lawyer by the name of S. Alan Beesley. Veinotte even wrote "Beazley retained" in
notes he took during my sentencing.
Veinotte says to Boyd, "What I seek here today is what I hope the court will find, some fairly
restrained interim orders. In the normal course, I might be standing before your ladyship asking for
a receiver manager to be appointed over the companies, which is one of the things within your
discretion under Section 200; however, the possible candidates for that position that we contacted,
having been apprised of the history, are unwilling to do so. What we seek, therefore, are interim
orders restraining Callum from dealing with the affairs of the companies, firstly; secondly, the
brokerage accounts of two of the companies held at TD Waterhouse; and thirdly, that Callum have
no dealings concerning a mortgage held by Alco, one of the corporate respondents, in favour of a
Dina Drummond."
About my father's mental ability Veinotte tells the court, "Scot retains full mental capacity. He
finds it difficult to walk, he finds it very different to communicate verbally, and aspects of his long-
term memory are affected."
"Why isn't this application wrapped up in a companion application to, I suppose, put Houston back
in charge? Or is that because he can't be in charge?" Boyd asks.
"That's correct," replies Veinotte.
"So the question is: Who will it be?" says Boyd.
I'm in jail. My father is mentally and physically disabled. Boyd gave Veinotte his order freezing me
out of my companies and the question "who will it be" was answered five days later.
On September 11, 2001, armed only with his piece of paper that prevented me from conducting
company affairs, Veinotte contacted TD Waterhouse and asked that the account statements for my
corporate capital be sent directly to him from now on. Veinotte also falsely told TD Waterhouse
that the Boyd Order restrained me from dealing with any accounts at TD Waterhouse. In fact, the
order said no such thing. TD Waterhouse responded on September 13, refusing his request,
correctly pointing out that the Boyd Order gave him no authority over the companies. Veinotte sent
TD Waterhouse another letter dated September 12 (unless Veinotte has access to a time machine
this date is obviously incorrect) falsely telling them that "Callum Houston only achieved signing
authority over the accounts by virtue of his abuse of a Power of Attorney." He continues with his
theme of disclosing my criminal history to anyone who will listen, telling TD Waterhouse the Boyd
Order "was achieved ex parte because Callum Houston is serving a term of incarceration for the
criminal harassment, threatening and breaking and entering of the residence of the writer's
predecessor."
When the brokerage house informed me that my assets had been taken from my control, any
remaining faith I may have held for the integrity of the legal system, which wasn't much by this
point, was crushed.
Two inmates stood out at Fraser. One was an illegal immigrant from Russia of about twenty-two,
serving a sentence for armed bank robbery, awaiting an immigration hearing and maybe
deportation. He was an ultra-violent man by nature. I first met him at North Fraser in Port
Coquitlam where he was hauled off to segregation after taking his fists to another man over a
dispute in a card game. He craved violence like sex. He would abstain for a while but after a few
days you could see him itching to fight. He was volatile like nitro-glycerine: best avoided, but if
contacted, to be handled delicately. He'd get into a fight, be sent to the hole for a few days, then
come back and do it all over again. The other interesting guy at Fraser was a native Indian man in
his late twenties. He was tall, slender and striking, with creamy mocha skin and long black hair.
This man yearned attention. He was charmingly loquacious and seductive, a natural manipulator.
He was chummy with the guards and in fact one of his ex-wives was a corrections officer he had
met while doing time. Individually they were dangerous but when the Russian and the Indian
started prowling the range together, stalking from one end to the other, engaged in rapt
conversation, I knew eventually they would grow bored with talking and look for something else to
do. One day a boy of twenty or so was admitted as an inmate. He was overweight and weak and
he talked too much in an eager-to-please kind of way. The rumour was that he had been
convicted of a sex crime against a child. As such, the code amongst the cons being what it is, the
Russian and the Indian felt that the boy's crime entitled them to beat him. An assault was planned
to take place in the elevator (where there is no video surveillance) en route to gym. The Russian
was the attacker, of course; the Indian, the instigator, the ring-leader, the encourager. Along with
everyone else, I watched and listened to the planning but did not report them. Ratting on them
would be unwise and could put me in danger. I didn't go to gym the day of the attack and I didn't
ever see the boy, who may or may not have been a child molester, ever again. The Russian got
hauled off to the hole. The Indian seemed genuinely shocked by the severity of the Russian's
attack on the boy, saying he had never seen anyone repeatedly smashed in the face that viciously
before.
At Fraser they have a thing for lockdowns. Whether it was exclusive to unit Four Alpha, I don't
know, but unexpected unit lockdowns were routine. Sometimes you could spend
almost an entire day in your cell. The guards often enjoyed the free time to play cards – either
electronically on the internet or at a table on the unit. My television had gone missing back at
North Fraser so I entered the world of the written word to kill the ennui. I did more reading at
Fraser than any other time in my life. I also taught myself how to write.
Soon I'm stinking, my body odour foul. I've lost interest in showering. What's the point? I am in
prison. Brushing my teeth is the extent of my hygiene regimen. Cleanliness is a social concern from
the outside that has become irrelevant, to me anyway, in jail. It also conveys my silent contempt
for the jail and my jailers. It was after a guard ordered me to clean up that I began forcing myself
to wash in order to be left alone.
The point of no return was six months behind bars. It was at the half year mark that any
psychological connection to the outside evaporated. At that point I was no longer a citizen of
Canada biding my time patiently, waiting for the thunderstorm to pass. I was now one of them. I
had become a convict.
On the morning of Monday, November 5, 2001 I am released from jail. The anxiety leading up to
my release was, at times, overwhelming. I now know why prisoners sometimes run like jackrabbits
when they near the end of a sentence. Being shown the sumptuous temptress Liberty, while still
being denied her touch, is punishing. And I have come to discover that the weight of being a
prisoner of the state is not a burden that evaporates quickly. They opened the jailhouse gates for
me, but allowing me to forget is a freedom I am denied.
I had been out of prison for about four months and hadn't heard anything more from Carey D.
Veinotte, the lawyer who, in concert with Justice Boyd, had rendered my companies insolvent
while I was locked up in jail. On January 13, 2002 I delivered a letter to Veinotte demanding that
he cease and desist his pursuit of my family's money or I would be forced to take legal action
against him personally. I received no reply. Like all the other lawyers who had tried to get me, he
seemed to have disappeared. I decided it was time to go to court and have a judge set aside the ex
parte order that was wreaking colossal damage to my companies.
On Wednesday, February 20, 2002 I talked to a lawyer called Jason A. Krupa of Vancouver's
Davis & Company. Krupa and I set up a meeting at his downtown office at 666 Burrard Street for
the following day. He said he would contact Veinotte and find out where the matter stood. I told
Krupa I would call him back that afternoon to find out what Veinotte had said. When I called
Krupa back it was like I was talking to a completely different person. He was ice cold. He told me
that Veinotte was talking to the Crown Counsel office and that I was looking at an impending
criminal situation. Krupa advised me that I was going to need counsel experienced in both criminal
and civil law. Because my father had previously approached Davis & Company for representation,
he went on, conflict of interest concerns prevented his acting on my behalf. He said that he knew
of no other Vancouver firms that could assist me.
Krupa's words proved prescient. It wasn't long before Ahrens took another run at me.
After the bloodletting I am sent to the Four Alpha unit at Fraser to serve the balance of my
sentence. I am assigned the job of unit clothes cleaner. One of the ways that I passed the time
was through trading securities held by my companies on the stock markets. My daily ritual
included a morning call to my broker, TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage, to get quotes and buy
and sell equities. For me, tracking stocks and the corporations that issue them is fun, therapeutic,
and mentally stimulating. And not only did it allow me to keep company finances in order, it was
also my last lifeline to the civilized world. The instant I took the rod to Phillips' window I resolved
to accept responsibility for the act. Paying for the crime was never an outstanding question. At that
moment, though, I was under the illusion I would get a fair shake in the courts. I never imagined
that the restitution demanded would be eight months of my time in jail and then being followed
around by a voluminous probation order for another three years. Despite this bitter disillusionment,
the knowledge that I would eventually exit the concrete bowels of BC's justice system and return to
asset management was one of the prospects that kept me going.
But, like my freedom, on September 11, 2001 they took that away from me too. While I
continued my acclimatization to the agonizing boredom of imprisonment, Carey D. Veinotte of
Walsh & Company, the law firm that Ahrens succeeded in having the court bar me from having
any contact with, was making sure that my companies would no longer be under my command
come my release from jail. On September 6, 2001 Veinotte went before Justice Mary Ellen Boyd
in British Columbia Supreme Court and convinced her to order a freeze on the corporate assets.
This order was obtained ex parte which means without me or a representative for me present in
court to defend my interests or those of my corporations. Veinotte, taking opportunistic advantage
of my imprisonment, charged past my legal counsel, my rights, and the rule of law. It was a secret
hearing to which neither I, nor my attorney, were invited. Two affidavits were presented to the
court, one from my father and one from Veinotte. Boyd was told in an affidavit attributed to my
father: "My stroke has left me with full mental capacity. However, I now have physical disabilities
which, among other things, make it difficult for me to walk and communicate. My stroke has also
impaired my long-term memory." So, paradoxically, even though my dad can't talk and his
memory is shot he still maintains full mental capacity. And this statement is not from a physician
but from an admittedly severely disabled senior. If my father can't talk then where did his affidavit
information come from? Boyd was also told that I was "withholding and concealing the business
records" and that I was "refusing to divulge any information about the assets or the financial
position of the Companies." It's not easy to share company information from a jail cell.
Carey D. Veinotte personally swore to an affidavit that erroneously exaggerated the various criminal
charges I had pleaded guilty to and that said he had attended my sentencing hearing in North
Vancouver Provincial Court. Veinotte also discussed my criminal ordeal with Madam Justice Mary
Ellen Boyd in British Columbia Supreme Court.
"My lady, my last name is Veinotte, which I'll spell because it's a little exotic. V as in Victor, e-i-n-
o-t-t-e. My initial is C. With me is Ms. Chen, c-h-e-n. Ms. Chen is an articled student."
"All right. Yes?"
"My lady, I thought before we begin I'd just give the court a quick thumbnail sketch of this matter.
I appear on behalf of the petitioner, Scot Houston. Scot Houston is the father of the individual
respondent Callum Houston. The four corporate respondents, if you will, are essentially the family
companies. Scot Houston, the father, is the majority shareholder and director of each of those
companies. In 1996 Mr. Scot Houston was felled by a fairly massive stroke. He executed a
revocable power of attorney in October 1996 and until March of 2000 participated jointly with his
son Callum in the management of the companies. Since the summer of 2000, my lady, Callum,
who suffers from a mental disability variously described as either bi-polar disorder or paranoid
schizophrenia -"
"When did he develop that?"
"Some two years before the year 2000, so roughly 1998. His dad was content to continue the
exercise of power of attorney and management of the companies. Unfortunately, last summer
Callum embarked on a series of disturbing behaviours, which I'll go into in a little bit of detail."
"Mm-hmm."
"We say those behaviours are oppressive and unfairly prejudicial as those terms are used within
Section 200 of the Company Act. The pattern of behaviour, however, my lady, culminated with,
and I'll say as an aside, I am Scot Houston's second lawyer, his first lawyer was Mr. Graham
Phillips of Harrop Phillips, in an effort to get a look at the financial documentation of the corporate
respondents, Scot Houston hired Mr. Phillips. Mr. Phillips made some efforts to get a look at the
financial documentation within Callum's control. That was not fruitful. A petition was commenced
whereupon Callum attended twice at Mr. Phillips' offices, threatened him, and the weekend
thereafter broke into Mr. Phillips' home, threatened Mrs. Phillips -- Ms. Phillips with death, and
then attempted to burn down the Phillips' residence."
"And he decided to get off the record?" Boyd asked.
"Mr. Phillips decided to resign from the file. It is my dubious honour to be Mr. Scot Houston's
second counsel because, due to my previous illustrious career in the criminal bar, I don't appear in
the telephone book. That leads into the reason Callum Houston is not here today and this motion
is brought essentially without notice. He's still incarcerated. He was sent -"
"But he was arrested?" Boyd interjects.
"He was immediately arrested on March 10th, 2001."
"Yes."
"He was sentenced by his Honour Judge Diebolt on July 6th of the this year."
"Was it defended?"
"Callum pled guilty to one count of criminal harassment, two counts of uttering threats, and one
count of breaking and entering a dwelling house. His Honour Judge Diebolt sentenced Callum to
another six months of incarceration -"
"Yes?"
"- a lengthy probation order, which includes that he is not to attend my offices. Mr. Callum
Houston made representation to his Honour Judge Diebolt that he would retain counsel. Obviously
Callum representing himself in this matter has produced a myriad of difficulties. However, thus far
I can tell the court that Callum Houston is unrepresented."
Telling the judge that I threatened a lawyer, broke into the lawyer's home and threatened to kill his
wife and then tried unsuccessfully to burn down their condominium could only bias the judge
irreversibly in Veinotte's favour. Veinotte's use of my criminal history as legal collateral is a theme
that he adopts and uses over and over again. Veinotte swore in his own affidavit that he attended
my sentencing hearing in North Vancouver Provincial Court on July 6, 2001, so he knew the true
facts of the matter. He also knew, contrary to his statement to Boyd, that I was not unrepresented
in the civil matter, that I had in fact been ordered by The Deadbolt to retain a lawyer and that I
had retained a lawyer by the name of S. Alan Beesley. Veinotte even wrote "Beazley retained" in
notes he took during my sentencing.
Veinotte says to Boyd, "What I seek here today is what I hope the court will find, some fairly
restrained interim orders. In the normal course, I might be standing before your ladyship asking for
a receiver manager to be appointed over the companies, which is one of the things within your
discretion under Section 200; however, the possible candidates for that position that we contacted,
having been apprised of the history, are unwilling to do so. What we seek, therefore, are interim
orders restraining Callum from dealing with the affairs of the companies, firstly; secondly, the
brokerage accounts of two of the companies held at TD Waterhouse; and thirdly, that Callum have
no dealings concerning a mortgage held by Alco, one of the corporate respondents, in favour of a
Dina Drummond."
About my father's mental ability Veinotte tells the court, "Scot retains full mental capacity. He
finds it difficult to walk, he finds it very different to communicate verbally, and aspects of his long-
term memory are affected."
"Why isn't this application wrapped up in a companion application to, I suppose, put Houston back
in charge? Or is that because he can't be in charge?" Boyd asks.
"That's correct," replies Veinotte.
"So the question is: Who will it be?" says Boyd.
I'm in jail. My father is mentally and physically disabled. Boyd gave Veinotte his order freezing me
out of my companies and the question "who will it be" was answered five days later.
On September 11, 2001, armed only with his piece of paper that prevented me from conducting
company affairs, Veinotte contacted TD Waterhouse and asked that the account statements for my
corporate capital be sent directly to him from now on. Veinotte also falsely told TD Waterhouse
that the Boyd Order restrained me from dealing with any accounts at TD Waterhouse. In fact, the
order said no such thing. TD Waterhouse responded on September 13, refusing his request,
correctly pointing out that the Boyd Order gave him no authority over the companies. Veinotte sent
TD Waterhouse another letter dated September 12 (unless Veinotte has access to a time machine
this date is obviously incorrect) falsely telling them that "Callum Houston only achieved signing
authority over the accounts by virtue of his abuse of a Power of Attorney." He continues with his
theme of disclosing my criminal history to anyone who will listen, telling TD Waterhouse the Boyd
Order "was achieved ex parte because Callum Houston is serving a term of incarceration for the
criminal harassment, threatening and breaking and entering of the residence of the writer's
predecessor."
When the brokerage house informed me that my assets had been taken from my control, any
remaining faith I may have held for the integrity of the legal system, which wasn't much by this
point, was crushed.
Two inmates stood out at Fraser. One was an illegal immigrant from Russia of about twenty-two,
serving a sentence for armed bank robbery, awaiting an immigration hearing and maybe
deportation. He was an ultra-violent man by nature. I first met him at North Fraser in Port
Coquitlam where he was hauled off to segregation after taking his fists to another man over a
dispute in a card game. He craved violence like sex. He would abstain for a while but after a few
days you could see him itching to fight. He was volatile like nitro-glycerine: best avoided, but if
contacted, to be handled delicately. He'd get into a fight, be sent to the hole for a few days, then
come back and do it all over again. The other interesting guy at Fraser was a native Indian man in
his late twenties. He was tall, slender and striking, with creamy mocha skin and long black hair.
This man yearned attention. He was charmingly loquacious and seductive, a natural manipulator.
He was chummy with the guards and in fact one of his ex-wives was a corrections officer he had
met while doing time. Individually they were dangerous but when the Russian and the Indian
started prowling the range together, stalking from one end to the other, engaged in rapt
conversation, I knew eventually they would grow bored with talking and look for something else to
do. One day a boy of twenty or so was admitted as an inmate. He was overweight and weak and
he talked too much in an eager-to-please kind of way. The rumour was that he had been
convicted of a sex crime against a child. As such, the code amongst the cons being what it is, the
Russian and the Indian felt that the boy's crime entitled them to beat him. An assault was planned
to take place in the elevator (where there is no video surveillance) en route to gym. The Russian
was the attacker, of course; the Indian, the instigator, the ring-leader, the encourager. Along with
everyone else, I watched and listened to the planning but did not report them. Ratting on them
would be unwise and could put me in danger. I didn't go to gym the day of the attack and I didn't
ever see the boy, who may or may not have been a child molester, ever again. The Russian got
hauled off to the hole. The Indian seemed genuinely shocked by the severity of the Russian's
attack on the boy, saying he had never seen anyone repeatedly smashed in the face that viciously
before.
At Fraser they have a thing for lockdowns. Whether it was exclusive to unit Four Alpha, I don't
know, but unexpected unit lockdowns were routine. Sometimes you could spend
almost an entire day in your cell. The guards often enjoyed the free time to play cards – either
electronically on the internet or at a table on the unit. My television had gone missing back at
North Fraser so I entered the world of the written word to kill the ennui. I did more reading at
Fraser than any other time in my life. I also taught myself how to write.
Soon I'm stinking, my body odour foul. I've lost interest in showering. What's the point? I am in
prison. Brushing my teeth is the extent of my hygiene regimen. Cleanliness is a social concern from
the outside that has become irrelevant, to me anyway, in jail. It also conveys my silent contempt
for the jail and my jailers. It was after a guard ordered me to clean up that I began forcing myself
to wash in order to be left alone.
The point of no return was six months behind bars. It was at the half year mark that any
psychological connection to the outside evaporated. At that point I was no longer a citizen of
Canada biding my time patiently, waiting for the thunderstorm to pass. I was now one of them. I
had become a convict.
On the morning of Monday, November 5, 2001 I am released from jail. The anxiety leading up to
my release was, at times, overwhelming. I now know why prisoners sometimes run like jackrabbits
when they near the end of a sentence. Being shown the sumptuous temptress Liberty, while still
being denied her touch, is punishing. And I have come to discover that the weight of being a
prisoner of the state is not a burden that evaporates quickly. They opened the jailhouse gates for
me, but allowing me to forget is a freedom I am denied.
I had been out of prison for about four months and hadn't heard anything more from Carey D.
Veinotte, the lawyer who, in concert with Justice Boyd, had rendered my companies insolvent
while I was locked up in jail. On January 13, 2002 I delivered a letter to Veinotte demanding that
he cease and desist his pursuit of my family's money or I would be forced to take legal action
against him personally. I received no reply. Like all the other lawyers who had tried to get me, he
seemed to have disappeared. I decided it was time to go to court and have a judge set aside the ex
parte order that was wreaking colossal damage to my companies.
On Wednesday, February 20, 2002 I talked to a lawyer called Jason A. Krupa of Vancouver's
Davis & Company. Krupa and I set up a meeting at his downtown office at 666 Burrard Street for
the following day. He said he would contact Veinotte and find out where the matter stood. I told
Krupa I would call him back that afternoon to find out what Veinotte had said. When I called
Krupa back it was like I was talking to a completely different person. He was ice cold. He told me
that Veinotte was talking to the Crown Counsel office and that I was looking at an impending
criminal situation. Krupa advised me that I was going to need counsel experienced in both criminal
and civil law. Because my father had previously approached Davis & Company for representation,
he went on, conflict of interest concerns prevented his acting on my behalf. He said that he knew
of no other Vancouver firms that could assist me.
Krupa's words proved prescient. It wasn't long before Ahrens took another run at me.
6 / 45