Stephanie Forsyth controversy hits pages of Free Press; ethics complaint filed with RRC Governors

(Edit - for readers who asked, here is the link to my latest column in the Winnipeg Sun, about the night Baljinder Singh Sidhu was murdered across from the Osborne and Stradbrook firehall http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/08/22/what-really-happened-that-night-on-osbourne)

A prominent news story all about her 'big plans' for Red River College, and a much smaller companion piece in this morning's Winnipeg Free Press - with a vague headline and no byline - has generated the kind of attention Stephanie Forsyth would prefer to avoid, as readers look past the PR spin and towards her controversial management style and priorities.

The RRC president made clear her facility envy of local Universities, as she told a remarkably uninquisitive Nick Martin how the College wants to add lights and astroturf to athletic fields, wants an indoor soccer facility, and covets the decrepit Public Safety Building, even if the main Notre Dame campus infrastructure is "in dire need of replacement", and the Union Bank Tower project is "a little behind schedule, not unexpectedly when it's a 1903 building."

She also promised to create a new administrative position answering directly to her, apparently to be responsible to facilitate her pet project of increasing Aboriginal presence in the institution.

How any of this would help cut the 2-3 year wait lists for current courses or reduce rising course costs for students is unclear.

Trying to recast herself as a conciliator, Forsyth asked "How do we develop more of a sense of community, a campus that's welcoming to students and the public?"

Well, coming clean on her role in the illegal plan to eliminate all community programming from the campus-funded Kick-FM might be a start.

And now she may not have a choice, after Advanced Education Minister Erin Selby replied to a complaint by telling a listener to take it directly to The Board of Governors, which he did very early this morning.

The listener filed notice with Forsyth's bosses that he wants an investigation, after Madame President ignored his complaint when he caught College officials trying to cover-up the facts behind The Great Canadian Talk Show being axed.

"I have been advised by the Minister for Advanced Education, the Hon. Erin Selby, to go directly to the Governors with my complaints about College employees. She assured me it will be investigated by you using the established College processes.

I am bringing forward formal complaints about the unethical conduct of Dean of Business Graham Thomson, and vice-president Ken Webb, in relation to being misled and treated with contempt, and then ignored when I tried to file a complaint about being lied to.

I am also filing a formal complaint against President Stephanie Forsyth, who failed to acknowledge my complaints against Thomson and Webb, or take any action to investigate when I brought it to her attention.

As a taxpayer, the dismissive attitudes and evasive responses I have encountered from your employees have been utterly unacceptable."

Meanwhile, in a separate story "New president fired senior staff", the newspaper of record has finally reported on the firing of two senior RRC administrators two months after the blogosphere did, adding details to Forsyth's actions but no insight into why.

"LATE in May, Red River College president Stephanie Forsyth abruptly fired two of the colleges's (sic) six most senior employees, vice-president of finance and administration Catherine Rushton and associate vice-president of facilities and campus services Robert Olson...

Forsyth refused to discuss personnel issues, saying only, "Positioning the college for the future, I felt that was necessary."

Rushton could not be reached.

Olson, who was a senior administrator at Red River for almost 10 years, said there was no forewarning the two would be fired an hour apart on May 27."

(our stories about: Rushton leaving the College: http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2011/06/controversial-cathy-rushton-departs-red.html ,

the College getting caught by the Ombudsman breaching privacy laws because of Rushton, http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2011/08/red-river-college-breached-privacy-law.html

and Rushtons' belated apology to Mayor Sam Katz http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2011/08/cathy-rushtons-belated-apology-to.html )

The story, by "staff writer", failed to tie together the obvious clue that escaped Nick Martin, which might help explain the mystery of the cancellation of the vice-presidents' employment on short notice. With the project over-budget and behind schedule, maybe the Free Press could have asked Forsyth who at the College was responsible for those aspects of the Union Bank Tower project ?

An online comment, that referred Free Press readers to this blog - welcome to all of you especially the many from Red River College - elaborated on how one person views Forsyth's record as a role model :

Forsyth has done some pretty awful things since her arrival.

Perhaps the article should dig more about the illegal operating tactics of the Kick FM Board at the College, the current Human Rights complaint that has been filed, how Forsyth and her cronies lied to the public, shut down a major fundraiser for a not for profit agency, and now, refuse to answer any questions. Oh yes, and Stephanie is allowing her name to stand for a seat with the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors? Speak with your votes people."

Added: sample reaction from Twitter

joryh Jory Hasselmann

@

@progwinnipeg still this is the first I heard, of Rushton's firing. Stopped following the whole TGCT saga a while ago. Very pleased.

2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

joryh Jory Hasselmann

@

@progwinnipeg now if they got rid of Forsyth I would go back to considering RRC a decent place to learn.

2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

joryh Jory Hasselmann

@

@progwinnipeg until then there's direct evidence of a double standard between taught ideals and the practices of the faculty.

2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

@progwinnipeg well it was some good news. So thanks for reporting on WFP NOT reporting it haha.

2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

And from a comment on the Free Press website:

kachina

5:05 PM on 8/22/2011

If Forsythe can rationally support her behaviour, she should do so in the name of transparency and accountability. Ethical decisions are comprehensible, unethical ones are incomprehensible.

Cathy Rushton's belated apology to Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz

Welcome to our new readers from colleges and universities across the country, including the Ontario College of Arts and Design, the University of Waterloo, University of Lethbridge and Northwest Community College. We are interested in more of your comments about our stories and investigations, especially if your campus funds a radio station licenced under the CRTC.

***************
After our last post about the Manitoba Ombudsman confirming our complaint that Red River College breached provincial privacy laws and failed to correct false records created by (then) vice-president Cathy Rushton about Mayor Sam Katz and TGCTS, readers asked more about the letter from the Ombudsman:

'What did the apology Rushton sent to Katz say?'

Rushton, who admitted to blogger Graham Hnatiuk that she "was confused and incorrect" when she spread the falsehood to College and Kick-FM officials that Katz had beefed about "attacks" on our radio program, was no less confused and incorrect in her "apology" to the Mayor.




- The "incorrect assertions" were made to 4 College officials, not 3.

- There was nothing "somewhat similar" about the reason Katz called RRC president Dr. Jeff Zabudsky that would explain her connecting the call to Marty Gold.

The Mayor complained to Zabudsky about a College employee and his blog posts.

That is entirely different than "someone never employed by the College with a radio show".

- Rushton denied intending any harm Katz or to our work providing a platform for community talk radio on behalf of the station. She used the phrases "ragging " and "soap-box" to describe our coverage of the public's concerns about City Hall in conjunction with repeating the false allegation and blaming Marty Gold for the Mayor being riled up at RRC. You decide.

- Contrary to what she told Katz, Rushton never asked Marty Gold to publish the email in a future blog. In fact, it was only through discussions with an investigator from the Ombudsman's Office, that it was learned an apology had been sent to Katz at all.

Left unexplained is why Rushton wrote an "apology" to Kick-FM Board czar David Wiebe on January 19th, yet did not say a peep that she had "determined that my memory was faulty about this phone call" to Marty Gold and Sam Katz first.

It was only after this blog exposed her use of the false allegation to justify canceling The Great Canadian Talk Show that Rushton contacted them, 12 days after her email to Wiebe.

Red River College breached privacy law, Ombudsman finds; lie about Mayor Sam Katz left on files for 4 months

The Manitoba Ombudsman has discovered that Red River College, which teaches journalism students about the importance of Freedom of Information laws, committed a breach of the Protection of Privacy Act.

The discovery was made after College officials had assured the Ombudsman that a false allegation regarding Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz had already been corrected using required protocols. Instead the falsehood - repeated to at least 4 people by former vice-president Cathy Rushton - that Mayor Katz had complained to former College president Jeff Zabudsky about The Great Canadian Talk Show, remained on the official College files for 4 months.

After learning of the false allegations when an Access to Information filing uncovered Rushton's emails about Katz to 2 other College vice-presidents and 2 members of the Kick-FM Board, show host Marty Gold acquired a letter from Katz describing claims he had ever complained about the show as "patently false". Gold insisted Rushton attach that letter to the files as part of a formal correction, to ensure the defamatory allegation was neutralized within the College record-keeping system.

Rushton outright refused, and Gold complained to the "Head of the Public Body" who is ultimately in charge of records kept by RRC, president Stephanie Forsyth.

Gold demanded the correction be done under the formal steps outlined in outlined in Section 39 of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and also complained about Rushton's conflict of interest - she was the designated Chief Privacy Officer and was therefore responsible for ensuring College records were accurate, but had refused to correct emails on file of a defamatory allegation she herself had spread.

Forsyth wrote back stating she was "satisfied" with Rushton's actions and that the requirements of the Act had been met.



Gold then filed a complaint with the Ombudsman that the College had refused to correct a disputed record in the legal manner required.

At first, a report from the Ombudsman stated that College officials claimed to an investigator that the correction had been entered on the files, and the complaint was denied.

But Gold wrote back to the Ombudsman, Irene Hamilton, personally, suggesting the investigator had being misled and that documented proof of the date and method of the correction to the files was required, given Rushton's stated refusal and her conflict of interest, and Forsyth's subsequent dismissive reply.

In a letter to Gold dated July 12th, the Office of the Ombudsman confirmed his concerns about Cathy Rushton and the College not meeting their legal obligations were well-founded:



"... the College conducted a review of the former employee's electronic records, but was unable to find confirmation that the records had been corrected in the manner that had been
described to our office.

The College has accepted responsibility for failing to ensure that the records were corrected in the manner previously described to our office,"...

"As a result, our office finds that your complaint about this aspect of the College's handling of your request for correction is considered to be supported."

The attempt by Red River College to brush off the Ombudsman's Office and preserve the false allegation unchallenged and on the record failed miserably. This stands as a lesson about the rights of any Manitoban to be treated fairly by public institutions -- you can't take anybody's word that they've corrected a lie about you that they spread; always insist on documented proof.

Does accepting 'Diversity and Inclusiveness' at Red River College depend on "the Quality of the People" in question ?

Last week, instructors and employees of Red River College got a dose of advanced education, Stephanie Forsyth style.

Having determined in her decade at BC's NorthWest Community College that "colonialism" had been "unknowingly perpetuated" on that campus, she ensured that RRC would get a head start at rooting out such snobbish attitudes. And so, a summer course to teach employees about being open to all cultures and tolerant of all opinions, was convened at the Notre Dame campus. Unfortunately, it was a little less impressive in practice than in theory, according to one insider.

On day one, the instructor may have uttered less than flattering things about the City of Winnipeg from the get-go, surely an embarassment for Forsyth as she seeks to ingratiate herself among business and political leaders. No less embarassing was the revelation that said instructor apparently disregarded prohibitions against texting on the celphone while driving. An exercise in having participants define "My Multicultural Self" was followed by an overwrought PowerPoint presentation that lost their attention.

On day two, the heavy anti-colonialist artillery was rolled out -- teaching the basic tenants of Aboriginal belief, if lining up guest speakers and having students present the textbook is considered teaching. Participants learned about the Aboriginal 4 Principles of "kindness, caring, sharing, truth"; of "life comes after water" such as thunderstorms, crying, and childbirth, and of "the Medicine Wheel"; were made to take part in a smudging ceremony; and watched the film "A Day Without a Mexican" before more lecturing from the instructor about tolerance.

Alas, the teachings of that day came too late to impact Cathy Rushton.

For Rushton, it appears, did not put acceptance of the principles of 'Diversity and Inclusiveness' at the forefront when it came to the radio station funded by the College, Kick-FM.

Internal emails acquired under Freedom of Information laws reveal that Rushton, the campus Vice-President who was also treasurer of licensee Cre-Comm Radio, shared a very different attitude towards a broadcaster, who last November dared to challenge the cancelation of The Great Canadian Talk Show by Rushton's now-discredited "Executive Committee".

Less than 12 hours after Kenny Atamanchuk blasted holes through the cover-up story designed to hide the involvement of Winnipeg Free Press editor Margo Goodhand and Forsyth in stifling the freedom of speech of the community via TGCTS, Rushton sent a link to an audio recording of The Kenny Show to another member of the Kick-FM Board involved in the cancelation, RRC Dean of Business Graham Thomson.

She also included College lawyer Robert Buisson in the conversation. He has claimed to have had nothing to do with the radio station prior to succeeding Rushton as Forsyth's representative on the Board on December 14th.

"This rant by Kenny certainly reinforce (sic) the decision to get Marty off the air before he could do his own rant" she huffed, forever obliterating any denial of the fact that Marty Gold was silenced in an abrupt and arbitrary manner without cause.

Not satisfied with merely finding an excuse to justify her censorship of that radio program, Rushton, a resident of Wellington Crescent, went on to look down her nose and sniff:

"And if this is an example of the quality of the people we have on the air ..... " (that's right, 5 dots)




Ken Atamanchuk is a Red River College graduate, who came into the Kick-FM fold 4 years ago as a listener wanting to volunteer with TGCTS. He contributed important stories about the floundering 511 emergency warning system and about which media moguls pocketed Spirited Energy campaign advertising dollars from the NDP, before starting his own eclectic Sunday afternoon broadcast.

When he learned of the email to College officials attacking him, 'Spirited Kenny' went directly to Rushton about her actions and demanded accountability.

From: spirited_kenny@hotmail.com
To: crushton@rrc.mb.ca
Subject: Explanation of Comment From Nov 14th 2010 Required.
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2011 22:39:39 -0500

Ms. Rushton: I have sent you a copy of an email you wrote on November 14. I am astonished that this is your attitude towards volunteers of Kick-FM.

I will start by insisting you explain exactly what you meant by your comment about the "quality of person" I am, and telling me why the remark was included in the link to my podcast sent to Robert Buisson and Graham Thomson.

I also demand an explanation why you would have sent this about me to Mr. Buisson at all, and to tell me what other conversations you had with him about me.

According to his own emails, he had nothing to do with the station in November, and I certainly had nothing to do with him.

As I have already officially complained about Buisson and Thomson to the Kick FM Board, do not even try to speak with them about my inquiry. In other words, keep it confidential.

This is between you as a College official and me as a graduate and I expect you to respect my privacy and answer my questions as you alone are accountable for what you wrote about me.

Regards,
Ken Atamanchuk

A week went by without a response, however local media reported that Cathy Rushton had been appointed to the Manitoba Immigration Council to advise the NDP government.

Kenny well understood what was taught to RRC officials only last week, that there are no words in Cree for "coincidence".

Subject: Follow up to your comment about me‏
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:33:10 -0500

Ms. Rushton,

Surely by now you have refreshed your memory about what you said about me in that email on November 14th, what you meant by the remark about my role as a volunteer broadcaster on Kick-FM, why you sent the email to Mr. Thomson and especially Mr. Buisson, and what else you said to them about me.

In light of your new appointment by the NDP government, my complaint regarding Mr. Buisson and Mr. Thomson's improper handling of an NDP "complaint" about my broadcast (sent to the College only one month after your email about me to those officials) takes on new importance.

I would like to know exactly what you meant by "the quality of people" I am ?

-Ken Atamanchuk
RRC Grad 2001
Kick-FM Volunteer Since 2008

No reply was received from Rushton. Ever.

So on May 11th, Kenny filed a formal Ethics Complaint with her boss, Stephanie Forsyth, about Rushton ignoring his emails and her use of a "prejudicial tone" in correspondence about him.

"As a graduate of the College, I wish to file a complaint against Rushton for investigation under the College Ethics Policy... I have brought this Ethics Complaint to you, their superior.

Accordingly, I will need to be advised of who this investigation will be assigned to, and to make arrangements to meet with them to review my documentary evidence.

I request the courtesy of a response within 7 days as time is of the essence."

Atamanchuk got no response from Forsyth within 7 days, or ever. And he could not have known, how true his remark about time being of the essence was.

Exactly two weeks after his complaint to Forsyth, Rushton packed up her desk and left the Notre Dame campus - seemingly without any investigation into his complaint about her possible breaches of the College Ethics Code being commenced.

Last week, instructors and employees of Red River College taking the course preaching 'Inclusiveness', learned of another word in the English language that does not have an equivalent in Cree.

Sacred.

Certainly to those instructors and employees, and to graduates of Red River College and volunteers at the College-funded Kick-FM , the College Ethics Code was supposed to have been.

Until it came to Cathy Rushton, and "the quality of the people" complaining about her, it seems.
************
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Cone of Silence decended on Stephanie Forsyth's House of Censorship to protect Graham Thomson

It didn't take long for listeners of 92.9 Kick FM to smell the stench of censorship behind the sudden cancelation of The Great Canadian Talk Show on November 8th.

The next morning, designated College spin doctor Twylla Kreuger was inundated with 21 calls raising conflict of interest questions, such as:

"Curious how 2 outside mainstream media GM's (such as ) Golden West radio stations have that much input over a campus radio station. as someone who listened and financially supported GCTS and also 92.9KickFM by buying advertising, I'm thoroughly disgusted and embarassed to be an alumnus of RRC"

and other calls expressed disbelief that Red River College would have arbitrarily silenced a community platform:

"This is a really sad day for free speech in Winnipeg and please, it's very very bad for public relations of RRC - it's really horrible, so please pass this along to people who make that decision. They made a very bad decision not just for RRC and CreComm but for radio listeners in Winnipeg. This is incredible and unbelivable."

Krueger, who has never had any actual connection to the radio station, threw in the towel after 3 hours.

That resulted in College PR experts crafting the infamous Stephanie Forsyth approved "statement" for the supposedly independent stations' website, about a "reorganization" ... "giving students more opportunity."

Dean of Business and Kick-FM Board member Graham Thomson took over Krueger's gatekeeper role, giving anyone who asked the pro-forma reply:

"Your email was passed on to me, as the programming change was made by KICK FM, and not by Red River College. In case you haven't seen it, a statement is available on the station's website, at www.kick.fm. We appreciate your comments, and I will be communicating them to the board. To provide a bit more information, the core purpose of the station - in fact, the reason it was created - is to train students in the Creative Communications program. The purpose of the change is to provide better on-air opportunities."

Thomson ordered the statement removed the next month, and official records show the outraged comments of listeners and their demands for truthful answers, were never tabled with the Board of the station by Thomson.

A lady listener, 'H', didn't trust Thomson's stock answer, and challenged his giving her the official brush-off.

"You'll have to excuse my bluntness, Mr. Thomson, but I am not interested in a cookie cutter response from you; I want a timely response from Ms. Forsyth and not a second-hand spokesman.

The coincidence that CFRW, with a new sports talk format, picked up the second most popular program, Illegal Curve, the same week they used their vote to kill the most popular talk show on 92.9 KICK FM is a conflict that Ms. Forsyth herself must address as the college funds the station, as I understand it. To summarize: Ms. Forsyth has some explaining to do.

Hiding behind this poor excuse that you want to give students more training time is completely absurd as everyone knows students were getting on-the-job training with The Great Canadian Talk Show. That, Mr. Thomson, is the best "on-air opportunities" KICK FM could have provided for their students. No one is buying into the "official reasons" given for cutting The Great Canadian Talk Show and I am sure most people can see right through it.

I would then ask for a timely response from Ms. Forsyth and not you or some other lackey.

Regards,

'H' "

Her scepticism about Thomson was well-founded, for only one week later, the National Post reported that there was more to the cancelation than the station wanting to better the student on-air experience:

"Graham Thomson, the college’s dean of business and applied arts and a non-voting executive member of the board that canned the show, acknowledged that the Winnipeg Free Press contacted president Stephanie Forsyth, but denied any outside influence."

"H" went right back with more questions for Thomson and Forsyth, which Thomson again tried unsuccessfully to deflect (in red).

-----Original Message-----
From: H

Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 2:21 PM

To: Graham Thomson; Stephanie G Forsyth; marty; bjudt@osbornehouse.ca

Subject: Re: FW: The Great Canadian Talk Show and Marty "Gold"

Well, Mr. Thomson, Ms. Forsyth appears to have even more explaining to do following the National Post's article. Her silence on this topic speaks for itself on a deafening level and I am sure that you, as the person put on the frontline, are being bombarded with questions and demands for explanation such as:

1. Why you only told half the story in your news releases and didn't mention anything about Ms. Forsyth, a known NDPer, speaking to one of the board members about the Free Press contacting her.

(Thomson reply) Please don't assume that the National Post reported with complete accuracy. The change in programming was made by the executive alone, based on the core mandate of the station. Comments to any directors, from ANY outside sources was of no consequence.

2. What was in the communication between Ms. Forsyth and the Free Press, and why was it not put in writing and sent to the station manager?

I don’t know the content. It would be up to the Free Press, or anyone else to comment directly to the station manager, but I think that, from time to time, comments have been passed on to the station manager.

3. Why were students and faculty not asked about the change?

There’s no mandate for this in the bylaws or anywhere else. The station is separate from the college, although it’s purpose is to provide training.

4. Why were no alumni who advertised or appeared on the show contacted?

Again, no mandate for this. The decision was made to increase on-air opportunities for current students.

The answer left an opening for more questions that 'H' felt needed a straight answer, and the pressure was now squarely on Graham Thomson:

Friday, November 19, 2010 11:21 AM

From:"H"

To:"Graham Thomson" , sgforsyth@rrc.mb.ca

Cc: marty, bjudt@osbornehouse.ca

I still have questions about your reply, Mr. Thomson. I will start with this aspect of part one of your response:

"Comments to any directors, from ANY outside sources was of no consequence."

Are you saying that the executive had no communication with the college president? Think carefully before answering.

- H

Such a simple question.

Ten days later, she reminded Thomson, and even tried to help prompt a response by suggesting what the National Post might have misunderstood about his explanation.

Monday, November 29, 2010 9:36 AM

Mr. Thomson, I waited a week for you to answer. Your claim that the National Post story was inaccurate surprised me. Have you complained to the National Post and asked for a correction?

According to details attributed to you in their story, the RRC President did indeed have contact with at least one KICK FM executive committee member, who is also an employee (Vice President) at RRC. That Vice President was, again according to you, made aware about "concerns" the Winnipeg Free Press had concerning TGCTS which they told Ms. Forsyth about.

That same Vice President, and (at least) one other RRC employee on that Committee, went into a meeting and suddenly voted to cancel Mr. Gold's program after four years without any discussion or consultations with the station manager or Mr. Gold.

Correct me if I have gotten the wrong impression from the National Post story, but wasn't that "other" employee of RRC on the KICKFM Executive Committee also made aware of the Free Press "complaint" to Ms. Forsyth before voting to cancel the show?

In other words, did both RRC reps know about the Free Press having contacted Forsyth, or only one of them? The story reported only one of the RRC reps, the Vice President, was aware of it and I was wondering if that was the inaccuracy you referred to.
'H'

Thomson wanted no part of backing up his claim about the National Post report, or explaining the role of Creative Communications chair Larry Partap on the "Executive Committee" - having already had to admit Partap's participation to Osborne House director Barb Judt that same day, after Partap clammed up when she had asked him about who the "Executive Committee" was.

Thomson kept his fingers away from the keyboard, so a few days later, 'H' sent a reminder that she did indeed, expect transparent answers from RRC.

Friday, December 3, 2010 12:04 PM

Mr. Thomson and Ms. Forsyth,
Am I going to get a response to my e-mail of November 29, 2010 (below for your ease of reference) any time soon?
'H'

The stalling tactic was again maintained by RRC for 12 days, to no avail. A loyal listener, "H" was simply not going away. Her next reminder to Thomson and Forsyth on December 15th ramped up the pressure by asking a simple question:

" I note I still have not received any reply from either of you. You must be thinking very carefully before replying.

Let me ask you, Mr. Thomson, another question that I am sure you can answer much more promptly: Who do I complain to if I find out you have been lying to me?"

It must have alarmed President Forsyth that the public dared to expect accountability and honesty from her College officials.

Because as the use of exemption code FIPPA 27 to blank-out part of the email below proves, before Thomson could be allowed to answer the question about the College complaint procedure he would be investigated under, Forsyth ran to Krueger and College lawyer Robert Buisson with some sort of, um, legal issue.




Three days of silence later, the gloves were off, and 'H' went over Thomson's head and straight to his boss for the answer.

Mr. Thomson,

I am disappointed that after waiting almost a month for you to think carefully about how to answer my last question, you could not be bothered to take 30 seconds to answer my simple inquiry about where I would direct a complaint if I find out that you, as a spokesman for the College, have lied to me. Your unprofessionalism when it comes to avoiding answering my e-mails is both aggravating and insulting.

I guess answering emails isn't such twisted fun for you anymore.

So once again I turn my attention to you, Ms. Forsyth. I am asking you directly:

Who will I file a formal complaint to about Mr. Thomson if I learn he lied to me on behalf of the College?

Can you tell me if is there a form for me to fill out or another avenue I have to take?

Regards,
'H'

Forsyth fired off an email that Saturday morning to her minions and made clear her contempt for 'H''s notion that the College President - of all people! - had to be accountable to provide information about the College's formal complaint process, and tried to pass the buck.

"Obviously I am not responding, but perhaps we should have our lawyer respond?" she wrote to Krueger, Buisson, and incredibly, the man under the proposed investigative microscope, Thomson.



A week before Christmas, Robert Buisson for some reason, had to apply his lawyers' hat to the simple question about the public wanting to know how to complain about a College official.

But Section 27 of the FIPPA legislation doesn't allow us to find out what his rather lengthy legal advice was that day, to Thomson and Forsyth.




His advice, however, can be deduced quite simply from the facts.

1) The concerned listener wanted to file a complaint about Graham Thomson for trying to mislead her that "comments to any Directors (of Kick FM) from ANY outside sources was of no consequence", after he admitted to the National Post that Forsyth - an outside source - had a discussion with the College representative on the radio station Board (Cathy Rushton) about the Free Press speaking with her about Marty Gold.

2) Buisson had replaced Cathy Rushton, on the Kick-FM Board on December 14th.

3) Which hat (Director on the Board of the non-profit radio station? College lawyer?) Robert Buisson was wearing at any particular moment is hard to know. However, complaints filed under the College Ethics Policy would usually be investigated by Corporate Counsel - the same Robert Buisson who apparently gave Forsyth and Thomson advice in December about 'H' asking for a complaint process that would also involve him.

Publish Post

4) To this day, 'H' has never received an answer from Red River College about the formal complaint process, so she could have Dean of Business Graham Thomson held accountable.

FIVE emails asking simple questions of Stephanie Forsyth and Graham Thomson of Red River College. (Nov. 19, 29, and Dec 3, 15 and 18.)

She has heard only silence in response.

Controversial Cathy Rushton Departs Red River College

Cathy Rushton, the longtime Vice President for Finance and Administration of Red River College who has been under intense scrutiny after internal emails revealed her part in orchestrating the cancellation of The Great Canadian Talk Show on Kick-FM at the behest of College president Stephanie Forsyth, is apparently no longer employed by the campus.

Over the weekend, bloggers noticed a sharp upswing in internet searches for "Cathy Rushton" with some interesting adjectives added that indicated what could politely be described as a parting of the ways.

Then on Wednesday, TGCTS received the following email from Barb Judt of Osborne House:

Hi Marty:

When I called RRC today and asked to speak with Cathy Rushton, they advised me that she wasn’t in. When I asked when would she be back, I was told that she ‘would NOT be back at the College’.

Other sources confirm her departure, suggesting that Rushton officially hit the bricks last Friday, June 3, right after the spring convocation and before this weeks' golf tournament.

The timing would be exactly two weeks after the CRTC received an official document from Kick-FM admitting that its 4 member "Executive Committee" (which included Rushton and RRC administrator Larry Partap last November and claimed it had the authority to arbitrarily cancel TGCTS) did not have any legal powers whatsoever under the Bylaws or voted by the Board of Directors.

The document, on Red River College letterhead, was a response to an official complaint sent to CRTC chair Konrad Von Finckenstein by a concerned listener.

CRTC rules are very strict about requiring care and control of campus radio licences by a balanced Board of Directors at all times, yet the document indicated the "Executive Committee" (made up of the officers of the corporation) has been making decisions on short notice for years about the station without consulting the other directors, supposedly telling them after the fact what the foursome had done.

Manitoba Companies Office filings show Rushton was an officer of Cre Comm Inc, which holds the radio licence, from Day 1 until Dec 14, 2010.

The listener had meticulously collected and cross-referenced emails, official records, and media reports to raise extensive questions about whether CreComm Radio Inc was breaking CRTC rules and its own Bylaws in the way it handled financial and conflict of interest issues, conducted its corporate affairs, and structured the Board of Directors.

Rushton had been the college’s chief financial officer since 1995, and the vice-president of finance and administration since 2006. She has been mired in controversy for over half a year, after official records proved she had:

- circulated false claims to College and station officials that Mayor Sam Katz had complained about TGCTS to former President, Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, and refused to correct the records held by the College about Katz;

- ignored the official complaint policy of the station which she had received last August, that required the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council procedure be followed and complaints about Kick-FM programs be put in writing to the station manager;

- admitted censorship was the real reason behind axing the show,

- invented a false reference to the "Executive Committee" having held a meeting to make their "decision" to cancel the show

- mocked the Winnipeg Police Association as well as other listeners from the community who spoke out in support of Marty Gold, and

- misinformed the Board in December after it heard Gold's appeal for reinstatement saying that federal Treasury Board minister Vic Toews had complained about the show, when Toews had actually questioned Thomson and Forsyth about the rumours regarding the Winnipeg Free Press being behind the cancelation.

RELATED:
http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2011/06/heads-roll-at-red-river-college-shhh.html
**************
Welcome to readers of my column in todays' Winnipeg Sun, about the unforeseen potential dangers of extending the hours the traditional Manitoba social can be open:

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/06/09/liquor-kiosk-plan-spells-trouble#disqus_thread

Want to hear us return to a regular audio format ?

email: martygoldlive@gmail.com for more information on how you can help make it happen.

Follow us on Twitter: @TGCTS
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=2344284529

Kick-FM's fake Executive Committee faked "meeting"; Red River College already decided to cancel TGCTS

Notes obtained from Red River College through access to information laws, reveal that repeated claims the so-called 'Executive Committee" held a formal meeting on November 2nd about Kick-FM programming or The Great Canadian Talk Show are false.

RRC Creative Communications department chairman Larry Partap serves as Secretary on the Board of the non-profit radio licencee, Cre-Comm Inc. A FIPPA application forced him to turn over handwritten notes about an urgent meeting held by Partap and RRC Dean of Business Graham Thomson with station manager Rick Baverstock on November 4th.

It was exactly 2 weeks after Thomson assured RRC President Stephanie Forsyth that TGCTS could be knocked off the air "without too much trouble ... through a chat with Rick".

Although Thomson told the National Post in a November 17 story that a meeting of the "Executive Committee" took place on Nov 2nd, "where four voting board members unanimously decided to cancel Mr. Gold's show ... but without any outside influences", Partap's handwritten notes about the discussion with Baverstock tell a different story, and that it was indeed trouble for Forsyth's agents to convince Baverstock to play along with their censorship game.

Partap's notes, entitled "Mtg w Rick & Graham Nov 4th/2010" shows a couple of unrelated financial matters were discussed, before Partap turned to the "Nomination mtg with Chris Stevens & David Wiebe".

That was a different committee of the station which had no possible authorization from the Board to discuss programming -- or make policy decisions about anything other than finding candidates for Board membership at the upcoming AGM.

The Nomination Committee consisted of Wiebe of Golden West Radio, Stevens of CHUM Radio Ltd., Partap, and College vice-president Cathy Rushton, who had previously told Partap and Thomson the falsehood that Mayor Sam Katz had complained about Marty Gold to former College president Dr. Jeff Zabudsky. It also included a fifth member, former CHUM executive Bryan Stone, who was absent.

- The four members who attended the Nomination Committee meeting are also, allegedly, the members of a mysterious, undocumented committee of the Board called the "Executive Committee".

- There is no record a meeting of that Committee was ever called or held on November 2nd, although those 4 members met for a different purpose that day.

- No minutes of an Executive Committee meeting on November 2nd have ever been produced, despite the legal requirement to turn them over under the Freedom of Information legislation.

- Four people bumping into each other in an elevator would not constitute a formal meeting of any committee those people belong to.

- Four people meeting for one specific purpose, cannot transmute that gathering into a meeting of a completely different Committee on a completely different issue, without due notice that a meeting has been called.

- Furthermore, the Board was never informed of this alleged meeting, contrary to their own declared process.

There is not a word about Marty Gold recorded in the minutes of that Nomination Committee meeting. But 2 days after, station manager Baverstock was informed The Great Canadian Talk Show was being targeted.

It wasn't the chairman of Cre-Comm Inc who met with Baverstock, it was 2 representatives of Red River College, including Graham Thomson, who internal documents proved was informed that President Forsyth wanted the show deep-sixed, and Larry Partap, who parroted Forsyth's reasoning.

- Partap wrote that he talked about:

"Marty to sell ads";

"Marty not a grad & during prime time";

and then, the real reason for silencing the show slipped out of his pen.

"Marty - mainstream media bashed; we offend the very community we serve".

Who is the "we" Partap refers to?

He was speaking as a representative of Red River College, and not as an officer of Cre- Comm Inc, which had never received a formal complaint about the show from anybody.

- His notes itemize the station manager's defence of TGTCS, including that students were already heard on prime time within the format, which he had lauded to Free Press reporter Bartley Kives as "unmatched" in the country; and that "Rick spoke to Marty about 1 year ago" and no formal complaints were ever filed before or afterwards.

- Thomson jumped in, probing for an angle to force the prime time slot vacated, starting with:

"Buy your own station"

"How much money does Marty make from this"

and

"Marty gets a "lot of attention" - is this our mandate?"

Thomson, as Dean of Business, had been on the Board since its inception. One would think he would have known the station mandate under the CRTC regulation by November.

- Days later the College helped invent a meeting of the mythical "Executive Committee".

An hour after TGCTS was axed, the College's vice-president of Finance tried to create a record of that fateful meeting that was otherwise undocumented - and which you can now see, never actually took place.

"Dear David and Chris" wrote RRC vice-president Rushton to the two radio executives "... based on the decision at last week's Executive Committee meeting, we have canceled The Great Canadian Talk Show, hosted by Marty Gold, effective immediately."

That would be the "decision" made at a formal meeting of the "Executive Committee" that did not happen, and for which there are no known minutes.

She then provided a copy of the now -discredited cover story that had been read out loud to Gold and Baverstock by Graham Thomson an hour earlier, beseeched Wiebe to handle media inquiries, and added "We just want you to stick to the message above."



Once again, the question has to be asked, who is "we" ?

- It may surprise readers to learn that Red River College has a strict ethics policy (under P Series).
http://www.rrc.mb.ca/index.php?pid=4523

Despite numerous complaints from Kick-FM listeners that they, the National Post, and other media were deliberately misled about the mysterious "Executive Committee" and the actual reason for the TGCTS being eliminated, College officials have not commenced a single investigation into the written complaints about alleged ethical breaches and questionable conduct of the Dean of Business, Graham Thomson.

Next: How the CRTC defines "the community that campus radio serves" may surprise the "Executive Committee" and Stephanie Forsyth.

Winnipeg community speaks out as Red River College cover-up collapses

Radio listeners and blog readers react to our investigation into how Red River College tried control community access to Kick-Fm to placate Winnipeg Free Press editor Margo Goodhand and unelected NDP Premier Greg Selinger:

From:

"Mark Pilon"

To: Chair, Red River College Board of Governors

bfeller@mymts.net

Good Afternoon Ms. Feller,

I have been a long-time supporter of Marty Gold and The Great Canadian Talk Show on Kick-FM at RRC. I was extremely disappointed when his show was taken off of the air. I was even more disgusted with the deceitful and illegal way it was done. Those responsible not only harmed his reputation, but also his means of income.

I am a RRC graduate from 2007 and I am absolutely appalled that something like this could even happen from the college that I went to. It's definitely not the ethics that was instilled to us students when I attended.

I am under the impression that there is an investigation into this matter. I would like to insist that there be a transparent and proper investigation. Would you be able to provide me any details on how this investigation will be proceeding? Any information would be extremely helpful.

I feel that as a taxpayer who funds the college, I have a right to know.

The Code of Ethics has been violated several times over by many top officials and they must be held accountable for what they have done to the community, the volunteers of Kick-FM, the College, and the radio station. I'm so sick of all of these ridiculous cover-ups, lies, and excuses and it's time that the College takes responsibility.

I'm hoping that you of all people will do the right thing here. I've already asked many of those involved in this scam to just admit their mistakes, apologize, and bring Marty back to the radio station and reinstate his talk-show.

Unfortunately, I have not heard one single response from them and I'm just praying that there is somewhere there who has the values and morals that I was taught as a student at RRC.

Please take this seriously Ms. Feller. Thanks for your time,

Mark Pilon
RRC Grad 2007

*********************

Wow I just read all of these posts (and even with the deleted posts it was quite the interaction). I thought I would post my opinion.

Keep in mind I have zero connection to any radio station, literary roles, political groups or any public role, I am just a listener. I listened to Marty Gold's show every day on my drive home.

I am the farthest thing from a "right winger" and my views were often different from what Mr. Gold discussed. However , I loved that there was a show that was on at a consistent time that tackled the hot topics of our city. I felt like I had a better understanding on what was going on at city hall and I feel that nothing on the radio even comes close to discussing these topics.

I was entertained by Mr. Gold's crescendos when he hit a topic he was passionate about (my 2 year old daughter called him the "angry man") and even if I didn't agree with a point of view, I agreed with someone who was passionate about exposing the truth.

I am so disappointed that there is not a consistent show on that station now and I honestly feel like my brain cells are dying with some of the drivel I hear now (on Musings on Politics the host said that people who have their kids in Daycare are lazy parents - this coming from someone who was basing his opinion on the fact his Mum stayed home when he was young and he has no children himself).

Although I can appreciate the student programming I feel like some of these shows are trying to be like Mr.Gold's show but lack the political knowledge or life experience to back their points. I would love for this show to return to the air.

This coming from a Liberal, Vegetarian, Working Mum and University Graduate.

Laurie

************

Hi:
I started listening to you shortly before you got dumped by RRCC. :-(

I've tried listening to "Cloutier" but in the 5 mins/hour that CJOB doesn't play commercials, he seems to be trying to "out-CBC" CBC; Adler is a rhetorician & not a smart one. CBC has fewer commercials (advertising their programs & anything unlikely to make a profit) but their news is so repetitive & outside my frame of reference, I listen sparingly for news. Anna Maria Tremonti whom I catch infreqently, seems one-of-the-few who knows how to interview.

So ... assuming my tastes in talk-radio are not unique in this city (wouldn't be surprised if they are), why don't you get back on the air? There must be a commercial station in this city who could use an audience-boost, "especially" with at least one election coming this year.

Regards, D. O.

******************

Great job Marty, Will RRC will call on Kick Fm to repay all their
debt and force it to close down / out of business. Stef has got to
resign !!!!

L.

*************

Marty,

This cover-up is worse than anyone imagined. You should do a poll on who forged the letter on photocopied Kick stationary about a decision being made to reject your appeal when there hadn't been a vote yet. And these people have the nerve to say they are suitable to educate student journalists !

A.Y.

****************

"However, allowing 'outsiders' will leave us open to criticism and we may have to hang our hats on the 4-6 timeslot thing."

http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2011/03/thomson-told-rushton-only-one-excuse.html

The problem for students with the 4-6 (or at least 4-5) is that classes generally end at 4, 4:30, or 5, with some, such as Live At Five ending after 6pm. Not to mention special assignments.

(Former RRC student)
***************************

I don't care if Graham Thompson got his MBA from Scotland on-line, What I do care about is that he is in a position where he is supposed to be a model citizen and he never once thought to say to Cathy Rushton, I am not comfortable participating in character assasination etc. He never flinched, he said he felt a bit stupid at one point and at another said it was kind of fun.

Certainly an insight into the model citizens in Winnipeg, the Margo Goodhands, Bob Cox'es, Stephanie Forsyths, Cathy Rushton (she is king pin in this story) not to mention Graham Thompson and David Weibe. Corruption in small places. Moral Erosion.

K.

***************
To contact us with your comments or for more information email martygoldlive@gmail.com.

And on Friday April 1st, a special feature !

Kick-FM volunteer seeks Whistleblower Protection after reporting "Executive Committee" fraud

Longtime Kick-FM host Ken Atamanchuk has filed a detailed official complaint with the non-profit that operates the station on the Red River College campus, after discovering the shadowy "Executive Committee" that has taken control of the Board in the last 6 months does not exist in the Bylaws and has no legal authority.

The ficticious "Committee" is composed of the officers of Cre-Comm Inc., and includes 2 commercial radio executives, and RRC representatives Larry Partap and College legal beagle Robert Buisson, who replaced the memory-challenged RRC vice-president Cathy Rushton after the Annual General Meeting in December.

In a Facebook note to the 420 members of the Red River College Kills Free speech on 92.9 Kick FM group, which was formed after the "Executive Committee" canceled The Great Canadian Talk Show without notice in November, 'Spirited Kenny' posted :

"This morning I asked for Whistleblower Protection when I filed a formal 8 point complaint about the officers of Cre Comm Inc with the rest of the Board.

In my investigation about the "Executive Committee" handling a manufactured complaint from Premier Selinger to Red River College about my show, I was lied to by the College lawyer Rob Buisson who breached my privacy rights, and my volunteer rights to information about Kick-FM were deliberately breached by Chairman David Wiebe.

Wiebe evaded my questions about "Executive Committee" actions after I discovered it has no legal power under the Bylaws or granted by the Board. I challenged him to prove otherwise and he insulted me. The station is being illegally controlled."

The Kenny Show was targeted in a fabricated complaint by Premier Greg Selinger's office to RRC president Stephanie Forsyth in December as reported here:

http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2011/01/exclusive-premier-selinger-cries-to.html

The bogus complaint to Forsyth and immediate actions by her representatives on the Board was a mirror image of the tactics used to swiftly silence The Great Canadian Talk Show, after Marty Gold had extensively detailed how the Winnipeg Free Press failed to report on eyewitness complaints of an admission by Ross Eadie of receiving illegal civic election financing from the NDP in the fall.

Despite repeated requests for cabinet press secretary Jay Branch to correct the falsified quote in his complaint about Kenny that was not found in the transcript and apologize for distorting the content of the broadcast that got under Selinger's skin, Branch has not even acknowledged his victim's concerns.

The cover-up carried over to RRC, which relies on government support for their expansion plans.

After Buisson refused to explain why he gave 2 different versions of how the NDP complaint had been intercepted and discussed by the "Executive Committee" rather then sent directly to station manager Rick Baverstock as required under the official complaint process, Kenny pressed Chairman David Wiebe for documentation that would prove the "Executive Committee " was ever created by a Board motion in the first place and for what purpose.

In the very first test of the Feb. 22 volunteer policy, Wiebe arrogantly refused to provide any information and broke the station rules - again.
***************

In a second online posting last night, Kenny, himself an RRC graduate, provided his analysis of the implications of the "Executive Committee" having illegally acted without the approval of the full Board, which includes 3 RRC student representatives.

" When one of the "partners" of Red River College like The Winnipeg Free Press or sugar daddy Greg Selinger couldn't take the heat from Kick-FM hosts, they cried to RRC president Stephanie Forsyth with falsified complaints.

Unlike former president Jeff Zabudsky who knew right from wrong, Forsyth "suggested" things to her employees on the Kick FM Board who then try to censor Kick-FM -- even when it breaks the CRTC rules -- to make the establishment she caters to happy.

I believe that this is how the myth of the "Executive Committee' was invented, to allow Forsyth to hide behind it, and protect the NDP and Free Press from being exposed as wanting to silence their critics at all costs.

Why did we never hear about the "Executive Committee" when Zabudsky was College president?"

Kenny went on to address the reason why radio executives would be so willing to go along with the scam - the power it gave them to limit the success of Kick-FM community programming without it costing them a dime:

"Censoring the talk shows on Kick FM is a conflict of interest for the commercial radio station board members who do not represent the general community at all, but represent Sports1290, CJOB, QX104 and rural Christian radio.

If they make campus programming and future radio talent less interesting and engaging to the audience, it is less attractive to potential sponsors and preserves their own advertising monopoly. But they don't care, because the radio stations don't pay a dime towards Kick-FM's operations, and they have encouraged the debt to the College grow to over $275,000 of OUR money with the community or volunteers having no say on the Board in breach of the CRTC rules. This smells like a racket."

A longtime talk-radio fan, Kenny had come into the Kick-FM fold in 2007 as a producer and eventual co-host of The Great Canadian Talk Show, and scored success as a broadcaster with his breaking news about the 511 national emergency alert system rollout being stalled at risk of human life, and coverage of how unelected Premier Selinger's carrying the Olympic Torch at the invitation of the Aspers broke the rules.

He was scheduled to appear on TGCTS on the day it was axed and has told members of the Facebook support groups that based on his investigation, the cancelation is now more suspicious than ever.

"Everyone knew something was fishy on November 8th and now we all know why it did not make any sense. The cancellation of The Great Canadian Talk Show was illegal. The "Executive Committee" wanted to do the same to me for the NDP government until I caught them.

Marty has published internal emails proving that students, alumni, sponsors, listeners and the media like the National Post were lied to by the likes of Dean of Business Graham Thomson who called his role "fun in a twisted kind of way".

TGCTS was for 4 years an important part of the communities right to information and hold the mainstream media, city hall and the legislature accountable. It held politicians to account in an unparalleled fashion and broke dozens of important stories the mainstream media could not understand. It was silenced by those who have no respect for the public.

The appeal process was fixed and totally controlled by the College lawyer, who did not allow the rest of the Board to see the evidence and discover for themselves, that the cancellation was illegal and a breach of the contract with Marty Gold."

In his email to the Cre Comm Board, which is available via thekennyshow@live.ca, Kenny asked the 6 remaining Directors (that is, non-officers), to hold a hearing into his detailed complaints against Wiebe, Buisson, Partap, Thomson, and vice-chair Chris Stevens,and asked for Whistleblower Protection.

**********************

When the hearing is held, Kenny may want to present to those non-officer Directors a copy of the following letter.

They could be very surprised by it.

It was sent to Marty Gold on photocopied Kick-FM letterhead dated December 16, signed with a suspiciously unreadable signature, and stated his appeal for reinstatement had been rejected.

- The letter with the unreadable signature was supposedly approved by unidentified "members of the Board."

- The Bylaws require all questions put to the Board of Directors, such as the presentations at the AGM, be decided by a vote of ALL Directors.

- According to the official minutes and confirmed by board members, no vote on the presentations was taken before the letter was sent

Who signed the letter is a mystery.

The Board was told by David Wiebe on December 9th Buisson was "handling the appeals" even though he was not a Board member and they had not voted to let him act for the Board. On Dec.14 Rushton left the Board and was replaced by the College lawyer Buisson . Two days later the letter was sent.

Based on Kenny's finding, there are important questions the remaining non-implicated Directors must investigate about way the appeals process was manipulated.

Remember, the Executive Committee held only 4 out of 10 votes.

If compensation was agreed to, the College would have to pay. If reinstatement was agreed to, heads could have rolled on the NDC.

Who signed the letter and under which authority?

Gold had argued that the cancellation by the actions of the "Executive Committee" alone was not legal and Kenny backs it up with evidence from the Board chairman himself.

Even Robert Buisson, wearing his College lawyer hat, cautioned Thomson in an email on Nov. 9th:

"if there is something in the by-laws that could be interpreted as having not been complied with this week, it could add fuel to the "Bring Back Marty Gold" Fire."

*********************

In concluding his statement to the online community of Kick-FM listeners, Kenny pointed to the Whistleblower aspect of his blowing the lid off the "Executive Committee" scam - the taxpayers of Manitoba underwrite Red River College, whose executives then funnel money to the station as a bottomless pit with no regard for the community as stakeholders. He told supporters to demand the College take responsibility.

"We as taxpayers fund the College and the Code of Ethics has been violated by many top officials. They must all be held accountable for what they have done to our community and to the volunteers of Kick FM and the reputation of our college and radio station. Liars have no place in campus radio or as College employees and the cover-up by College officials must stop.

Email your protest of this situation to RRC Board of Governors Chairperson Sheryl Feller at bfeller@mymts.net

Insist on a proper and transparent investigation and that she respond to your inquiry with details of how it will proceed."

Coming up- in retrospect, internal documents from 2 Board members indisputably confirm the "Executive Committee" scam as described by Kenny; and Kick-FM listens react to Kenny blowing the whistle on his alma mate.