Legacy Of CrimeStat Failure May Help Sink Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth

The skids were greased under whoever was going to be Winnipeg's police chief long before the position was awarded Danny Smyth in November 2016. That year, the city rose thru the ranks to lead the Canada Crime Severity Index, so there's the proof. 

But he can't use that as an excuse for long- or at all.

Last week he pointed his finger at the provincial and federal governments for failing to stem the meth tide while warning personnel throughout his department are fading fast and losing hope, in the face of 30-40% increases in serious crime categories since 2014. 

But Smyth made a key PR mistake: he failed to acknowledge that top management over the years - including himself - weren't up to the task of managing a coherent counter-strategy.  

Blaming politicians only goes so far with cops on the beat and victims of crime, I am hearing, when they see a police chief who is failing to lead.

* For years, people who knew the score were calling out how police brass had undermined the CrimeStat formula, which went beyond statistical measurements and into crime analysis if done correctly. Smyth tried to leave that legacy behind and install a new crime-tracking tool:

"Winnipeg police replace CrimeStat with new web tool called CrimeMaps” (CBC Manitoba, March 8 2019)

It would be fair to say that since the change is so recent, there's probably no way to judge any results. However, it is also fair to say, that the failure to operate CrimeStat properly for 12 years had a very bad cumulative affect on policing and public safety. 

It isn't clear how involved Smyth, who was named a superintendent in 2012 and deputy chief in 2015, would have been, but it's overwhelmingly likely he knew what was going on, at the very least. CrimeStat, WPS-version, was full of holes and the public was fed half-truths for years, as were city councilors and the media.

* Deputy Chief Menno Zacharias was a champion of CrimeStat when it was introduced following a campaign pledge by Mayor Sam Katz. Here is part of his explanation of how it could work as a pro-active policing tool:

 specific crime trends can be seen developing in specific areas of the city.  These trends can be nipped in the bud so to speak, largely by identifying and arresting perpetrators.  These preemptive arrests prevent the trend from continuing and reduce the amount of crime.  It’s not the be all and end all but it is a valuable tool. 

Unfortunately he retired after the promotion of Keith McCaskill to top cop, a terrible hiring mistake in retrospect. 

Why? Let's jump for a moment to an answer Danny Smyth gave to a media question last week.

Q: … is the current meth crisis the gravest or most difficult challenge that’s been thrown your way?

A: …. I guess in my time there have been a few things that have been game-changers, certainly when crack was introduced into the community some twenty-five years ago it was a game-changer, gangs were a game-changer, this is the kind of drug that’s been a game-changer as well…

Crack was a game changer ... consider this:

In an exit interview when he retired, McCaskill admitted that he and other senior managers of the police in the 1990’s had underestimated the emergence of crack cocaine and the problems it represented to the city. 

A cop was dismissive of how serious it was that crack was being introduced to the Winnipeg scene in the early 90's? 

He blew the first test of the 3 Smyth described. 

How did someone like that end up in charge?

* Two years later in 2010, cop-turned pundit Zacharias blogged that CrimeStat was a proven winner IF the human element did its part. 

But under McCaskill, execution of that function was abysmal - as per this synopsis:

• All players in the system must understand and execute their roles.
•  Division Commanders must stay on top of crime in their area, identify trends and devise effective tactics to deal with them.
• The Police Executive must be fully engaged and ensure the resource is used as intended."
• The executive of the Winnipeg Police Service does not appear to understand or appreciate the capabilities of Crimestat and that could explain why they have largely turned their backs on it...
• A key aspect of the Crimestat process centers on accountability.
• The Executive needs to hold Division Commanders accountable.
• Accountability is exercised most visibly during Crimestat meetings.
• That cannot happen if the Executive does not attend Crimestat meetings.

Zacharias concluded: "Residents of Winnipeg have a vested interest in the overall safety of all neighbourhoods. Winnipeggers need Crimestat to work."

It didn't. Why? Because "The Police Executive must be fully engaged and ensure the resource is used as intended." and that was the last thing McCaskill wanted.

Because he wasn't a crime fighter, which is what CrimeStat required to deliver results.

* Even after the warnings of Zacharias in 2010, CrimeStat was still being gamed in 2013 - after Devon Clunis took over from McCaskill -  to minimize the impact from criminal activities and violence that Winnipeg residents and businesses were facing.

In a Free Press comments section smackdown of noted downtown cheerleader Brent Bellamy, urban policy analyst  Brian Kelcey admonished him that "comparing Winnipeg to other cities on the basis of in-year crime stat reports is misleading, since Winnipeg underreports crime data in its Crimestat model. This isn't a conspiracy theory about "unreported crimes," despite Bellamy's assumptions to the contrary."

Kelcey, who had been a key figure in the early Katz administration, revealed "Winnipeg's public Crimestat statistics have never, ever reported assaults, non-fatal stabbings, arsons or sexual assaults where the attacker is known to victim, amongst other visible downtown crimes. We only know these figures are unusually high in Winnipeg, and concentrated in the North End and (to a lesser degree) Downtown because of federal crime report data that comes out one or two years later. "

As safety consultant Bob Axford put it, under Chief Clunis, "Crime stat in Winnipeg is now being used for purposes the US model was never designed = that is to avoid transparency and honest management." 

In other words - not a crime fighter.

* In October 2013, the Free Press reported about a review of CrimeStat by Matrix Consulting Services of Texas.  And what did they find?  

- cancelled or shortened weekly CrimeStat meetings, 

- non-regular attendance by the chief or his deputies 

-  limited analysis of statistics and how they impact on the work of general patrol units. 

"It seems that preparation time is limited and focused on 'just' trying to understand the statistical increase 'or' decrease," the review notes. Matrix calls on the WPS to introduce "more formality" to CrimeStat meetings and increase accountability and ownership for police in supervisory roles." ... Katz said he was "extremely disappointed" there is little buy-in to the program among senior police officers."

* So, when did CrimeStat get fixed? Well, according to CBC, not by May 2015, by which time residents of River Heights had started giving up on Chief Clunis and his managers ever getting their area under control - and hinting that maybe a program to put cameras aimed at backlanes would have helped  

Oxford worst-hit street in River Heights crime wave

Crowdsourcing of over 150 incidents paints block-by-block picture of property crime in Winnipeg neighbourhood

... The data also showed that in nearly 75 per cent of cases, the thieves roamed the backlanes, rather than streets. ... Another active member of the Broken Windows Club says these figures do prove the crime wave is affecting all areas of River Heights, but feels it's just the tip of the iceberg. "I know personally for a fact that many more on my street were hit and didn't submit their incidents."

"The true scale of the problem is not fully known by residents, as the police service's CrimeStat website does not track the type of property crime that is wreaking havoc on River Heights residents."

* By the time Smyth - and meth addicted needle-dropping junkies - took over in November 2016, CrimeStat had been a colossal failure as a planning and coping tool. Deliberately sabotaged. It took him over 2 years to finally replace it and hope people forgot.

When Smyth made his PR gambit to get sympathy on the side of cops and civilian staff, he was counting on his own role being glossed over. 

Winnipeggers have seen the deterioration of public safety and order since 2014 - can you imagine that was 'the good old days' when people felt safe compared to now?? Public patience for the social-work approach of the trifecta of recent police chiefs is worn thin. They want results. 

They see a police chief eager to engage politicians whenever he can - that's the easy part -  but if we are leading the country in crime, guess what - we lead the country in crime victims too. Robbery and property crime both up over 40% in 5 years, total crime up 33%. And Danny Smyth offered those crime victims nothing last week- no leadership, no accountability, no hope, just a warning things will get worse. He's no crime fighter.

The Police Service needs a change of attitude, a change of direction, and a change of identifying trends and devising effective tactics. His ability to accomplish what's needed to save our city has to be seriously contemplated by Mayor Brian Bowman and City Hall -- and Smyth should have to make a case to council why he should stay in charge. 

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

This week we reached the 20% mark in the quest for 100 supporters at $50 each, who have stepped forward to help fund this crucial period for independent reporting in Winnipeg. 

Some donors have been extraordinarily generous with their kind words and financial vote of confidence - and because of their gestures, my reporting on the meth crisis, crime, politics and the Winnipeg community can continue.

Will you please join them? It only takes a minute to help.

It takes experience in the field, research, resources, and time to compose strong, vibrant citizen journalism. It takes passion and drive and determination.  

I get tips and I break stories, like the ones about Premier Greg Selinger posing with convicted drug dealers, and Theresa Oswald's American husband making questionable donations to the NDP. MSM scrambled to follow my scoops.

That's what I do! and with your help, the upcoming provincial and federal elections will get a heap of scrutiny through a different lens. 

This page 

https://tgcts.blogspot.com/2019/06/theres-2-elections-coming-up-so-were.html 

explains why Winnipeg needs more reporting and not less, what my goal is and why, and how you can donate via Paypal, Interac Transfer, or other ways to keep this platform going. 

And of course, keep those story tips coming in! 

TGCTS1@gmail.com

Voting Rights A Federal Case This Week For Jewish Candidates and Voters

In 2012 a number of ideas were raised through the Governance Committee at Winnipeg City Hall, about various election rules and procedures. 

Some were out of nowhere, like having 16 and 17 year olds work at polling stations. 

Other proposals floated were about giving a ballot to people who had only lived in the city for 60 days, restricting third-party advertising, and other matters. 

What caught my attention, to the point I spoke at both the Executive Policy Committee and City Council as the policy evolved, was a proposal that would affect the voting rights of Jewish electors: changing the City Charter to fix elections to be conducted on a Saturday or Sunday in October, instead of the traditional mid-week vote.

Here is what I said on May 30, 2012 to a city council that included a Jewish Mayor, Sam Katz, and two Jewish councilors,  John Orlikow and Jenny Gerbasi:  

"I am disappointed that when this returned from the Governance Committee, there was no comment that I could see anywhere in the report with regards to the issues that are raised with members of the Jewish community that are observant who are prohibited from marking a ballot using a pen or a pencil on Saturdays. 

And towards the end of October the Jewish Sabbath would not end until around 6:00 p.m., those that might go to synagogue would then return, they would have perhaps have one hour to be able to attend a ballot box and there are individuals such as myself who prefer to vote really, as late as election day, see what comes up in the news, see what comes up in social media, see what comes up if council candidates come knocking at your door. 

And I don't think that it's a healthy idea to put Orthodox Jews in particular, into a position where they might feel compelled to have to attend in advance voting polls, etc. ... I would like to see some sensitivity on the part of Council with regards to that issue."

This all seemed common-sensical to me and Winnipeg council agreed and spiked the idea. 

That common sense however escaped our federal Chief Electoral Officer, who disregarded the unfairness of this years' fixed date falling on a Jewish High Holiday (Shemeni Atzeret) or that advance polls also fall on Sabbath and adjacent Succot high holidays. 

The Act gives Stéphane Perrault authority to switch an election date for exactly that reason. 

A Charter rights lawsuit being heard Tuesday in Toronto brought by Chani Aryeh-Bain, an Orthodox Jewish candidate for the Conservative Party in Eglington- Lawrence, and an Orthodox voter in York Centre, Ira Walfish.  

 "(Bain) will not be able to campaign on election day. She will not be able to instruct others to campaign on her behalf. She will also be prohibited from encouraging other Jews to vote for her on election day or on two of the four advance polling dates.” The suit stipulates that approximately 75,000 people identify as Orthodox Jews out of 392,000 Jewish Canadians.

The League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada has been granted intervener status. Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada, said “It is imperative that Elections Canada not allow a situation to develop in which a significant swathe of the population find themselves unable to exercise their most basic democratic freedoms."

I thought the fact this concept had gotten to the point of a Council vote in Winnipeg was a bit of a fluke. I stood up for voters and made my case. The opposition of the Chief Electoral Officer to revising the date of the national election, despite being asked well within the time limits in the Act to do so, is no fluke.  It's mean-spirited and contrary to the express will of the legislation. 

Elections Canada informs that "As of 2014, the Chief Electoral Officer is appointed for a 10-year non-renewable term. He or she can be removed only for cause, by the Governor General, following a joint address of the House of Commons and Senate." A new Parliament should consider if his refusal to uphold the rights of Jewish voters meets that threshhold.

*******************
Watching out for voters and taxpayers is a major part of the mandate of citizen journalism. 

In 2012 no 'human right lawyer' in Winnipeg stepped up to explain why proposed changes to voting days weren't fair to thousands of voters. I did. 

By supporting my reporting and research you are supporting not only important journalism, but a watchdog for human rights and democratic principles. We want to find 100 donors who will commit $50 each for enhanced coverage of public affairs, news, and civic, provincial, and federal politics.

To join our donor drive, you can follow the links in this story: 
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2019/06/theres-2-elections-coming-up-so-were.html

Manitoba Liberal leader calls past welfare cuts by Tories and NDP "sadistic"

With an undersized war chest and scrambling to field a full slate of candidates, Dougald Lamont took to an interactive online forum to spread the Liberal Party platform - scarce as it is at this stage of the pre-campaign - to Manitoba voters for the September 10th election.

The St. Boniface MLA, leader of a 4 seat Liberal caucus, is hoping to make gains by coming up the middle with voters disaffected by the performance of the current Progressive Conservative government and the previous NDP administration. 

In an innovative gambit to engage voters at no cost, he held an 'AMA' - Ask Me Anything - on Reddit this week to field questions.

"Firstly, huge bonus points for doing an AMA on reddit. I don't even think Pallister knows what Reddit is." 

While staying for the mostpart in a centrist role and reiterating previous positions of his party on issues like education and healthcare cuts, Lamont only strayed from a statesmanlike tone once - when asked about Employment and Income Assistance.

"EIA, under the PCs and the NDP alike, has been sadistic to recipients."

"The PC cuts are only making it worse. Reforming EIA will be part of our anti-poverty plan. Stay tuned for more on this!" Lamont went on to say the HUB  community mobilization program in Brandon "does great work and we would ensure that programs that have positive results are being supported and expanded."

He restated the Liberal platform on addressing the meth epidemic and drug treatment programs, including supporting the establishment of "Drug Stabilization Units" and funding transitional housing for recovering addicts. 

Pointing to an upcoming announcement about a full community safety plan, he promoted his proposed Manitoba Provincial Police Force as a necessary enhancement to RCMP presence "because people in Manitoba are living with no police nearby and it's not safe."

A father of 4, Lamont also touched on the brain drain and connected it to a lack of  higher-end jobs, in part caused by "an incredible lack of capital for Manitoba entrepreneurs". He is proposing "a Manitoba Business Development bank (that) would provide patient money to Manitoba entrepreneurs."

In the world of reddit/w, comments are voted on for popularity or approval, and the highest score Lamont achieved was a +21 about provincial pot policy. 
He vowed to review the legalization framework of the PC government, wise-cracking "there have been chronic issues ... I don't know what Pallister's been smoking if he thinks his plan will reduce illegal pot sales." 

That apparently earned him at least one vote.
*************
Independent journalists have an important role to play in covering issues and stories for the pending Manitoba election call - and the federal election that will follow in October. 

Do you trust the diminishing field of MSM reporters to identify issues important to you and ask questions you'd want politicians seeking your vote to answer? 

So far a dozen donors, at $50 and more, have responded to the funding drive to ensure The Great Canadian Talk Show and citizen journalism will have a role in being a watchdog for the public interest in Winnipeg and Manitoba. 

Those donations meant we could research and prepare a 3 part video series about Morberg House and its successful residential meth recovery program, and how it's helping reduce crime and public disorder in St. Boniface.

And if it wasn't for our extensive review about the deceptions of Sherman Kreiner, a blowjob from his longtime allies at the Winnipeg Free Press would stand as the sole retrospective after his demise. 

Thousands of Manitobans who got fleeced by the Crocus Fund deserved better reporting than "Crocus fundleader' creative and hard-working"- and we gave it to them!

Your support means the world to me and I fight every day for you and for people without a voice. 

Go to this story about our return to active blogging and chip in today --  keep the news we have going - and believe me, we have some exclusives coming. 

Bonus Video: Meth Program And Homeless Outreach Makes St. Boniface Safer This Summer

In the last 3 years as meth addiction ramped up, the peaceful quiet of St. Boniface became noticeably disrupted. 

The Norwood Grove Biz warned City Hall "As the downtown core took steps, we saw an influx of bridge community. Business owners didn't know what to do and hadn't seen it before." 

Issues surrounding homelessness, panhandling and street-involvement become a growing concern to the community "which saw endless customer harassment, vehicle break-ins, vandalism and more." 

The wake-up call was when the washroom at Tim Hortons was set ablaze and shortly after, the staff walked out due to threats. This past winter, the ScotiaBank had to lock its ATM Lobby overnight due to incidents.

https://www.manitobapost.com/winnipeg-news/safety-keeps-slippin-away-on-wrong-side-of-st-boniface-117020

This summer, the area is noticeably - visibly- calmer.  

Marion Willis of Morberg House confirmed that's the case.

A StreetLinks bike patrol and a robust outreach program are helping guide addicts and the homeless towards support and recovery services and out of trouble. With a reduced homeless population she identifies panhandling and meth camps as the current challenges. 

In this bonus video segment she describes the work they are doing to make Winnipeg safer and lauds the Winnipeg Police and Mayor Brian Bowman for supporting their role in crime prevention through social development.

Part 1 of our interview with Marion Willis: 

https://tgcts.blogspot.com/2019/06/despite-67-success-rate-with-meth.html

Part 2: https://tgcts.blogspot.com/2019/06/more-with-marion-willis-and-morberg.html

   *  Our citizen journalism is unique and effective, honed at KICK-FM and on City Circus TV. 

* Details on why this work is important and how you can help us help the community  https://tgcts.blogspot.com/2019/06/theres-2-elections-coming-up-so-were.html

Join the donors who are helping us pay the bills to cover city hall and the Manitoba and Federal elections. 

Unapologetic grifter Sherman Kreiner left a legacy of lies and distrust

The spin-doctors were out in force trying to control the narrative after the demise on July 1st of Sherman Kreiner, a Philadelphia lawyer who came to Manitoba and excelled at bellying up to the trough for decades as a model for the white wine socialists of his era. 

It is natural that former colleagues of Kreiner, most recently Managing Director of the University of Winnipeg Renewal Corporation, would stoke  his memory with accolades for being "a doggedly committed advocate for social and economic justice." 

But if there's one thing Kreiner avoided in his time in Winnipeg, it was being on the receiving end of justice or a public inquiry for his deception as CEO in the mismanagement of the Crocus Fund, where he used investments from duped investors to underwrite absolutely stupid money-losing enterprises that advanced his socialist and glory-seeking agenda. 

Under the vision of Mr. "Multiple Bottom Lines", Crocus Fund investors were going to save democracy from capitalism, and pay him handsomely to manage it. 

A Labour-sponsored venture capital fund, it was supposed to grow small to mid-sized Manitoba businesses. What actually grew, was the influence and wallets of Kreiner and his team.

*  In March of 2007 we dedicated a special week to the contents of a leaked briefing memo that had Premier Gary Doer scrambling off a plane from Washington to try to save his ass before the provincial election. The briefing note, signed by then Finance Minister Greg Selinger in 2000, was conveniently never provided to the provincial auditor for his report - and the RCMP could not confirm thay had gotten it for their investigation either. 

In an on-air interview on 92.9 KICK-FM that week Liberal MLA Kevin Lamoreaux told our audience that he had no doubt the NDP was hiding even more information, and that Selinger had lied to the House when confronted with questions about Crocus in the past. The NDP outvoted a motion for Legislative Committee evidence to be sworn and moved that the Opposition Leaders apologize to Selinger. 

The Cabinet memo proves that back in 2000, the government knew that new investors' money was actually going to be used to pay out those investors who in essence, bailed before 34,000 people lost millions. Questionable investments touted by Kreiner included pouring endless sums into entertainment industry failures like Westsun ($21 million) all the way down to Blye Brothers ($1 million, zero films produced). 

Exhorbitant expenses were being rung up before an illegal loan from the Solidarity Fond in Quebec in 2002 was described as an "investment" and then used to cook the Crocus books and give it the illusion of stability and liquidity.  

*  The big dollars he had the Crocus Fund throw at media outlets made him feel he was above scrutiny as the ponzi scheme he captained was slowly decending into a death spiral. Shortly after the injection of Quebec capital, a critical letter from a shareholder circulated around the Legislature and media. 

We reported in January 2008 that when CBC reporter Krista Erickson asked Crocus about the reasons for the deal with the Fond , Kreiner wrote back , “As for the inference to liquidity raised by .... it is simply false.” 

However documents put into court in a shareholder lawsuit included the letter to the Fond requesting the money. The first reason Kreiner listed was “We presently face a short term liquidity challenge”. 

So he had no problem lying to CBC, especially when the letter had clearly told the truth- that regular investors got no guaranteed rate of return, so the Quebec money was not an "investment" but a high-cost short term loan. 

He also had no problem breaking the law, to conceal that Crocus was in deep trouble.

In that same correspondence begging for the bail-out, Kreiner vowed to repay the $10 million plus 7 % interest after 18 months, "even if the consequences of the redemption would place us offside our regulatory requirements regarding Reserve Funds" - in other words even if the Crocus Fund broke the law to do so.

(In fact, Crocus eventually committed to pay 10% interest, not 7%, to get the "investment".)

* Even the protective shield of the Crocus-friendly Winnipeg Free Press began to buckle, as editor Nick Hirst acted as a nervous canary in the coalmine after leaking the letter from the disgrunteled investor to his pal Shermy.  

Saying he had already found it "difficult to keep such letters out of the newspaper”, Hirst warned Kreiner “This letter become insidious if followed by others. 
It suggests there really is something wrong ... (This is) an example of one of the many letters we are receiving about your fund.” It was also an example of the many letters Hirst did not publish to protect his friend from scrutiny. 

* So friendly, in fact, that a Fund sponsor upstaged the 2005 hearing at which the Securities Commission had asked the court to appoint a receiver to manage Crocus's affairs.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour brought forward a group of "volunteers" suggesting that they were in a better position to run Crocus than a professional receiver. One was Nicholas Hirst, months after leaving the newspaper to "write tv scripts".

For a timeline of the Crocus collapse click here

* Here's how the Flin Flon Reminder described the Auditor's report into Kreiner's term heading up Crocus:

"Apparently no one was minding the store, such the C.E.O. Sherman Kreiner who Singleton said 
- had no investment management background, 
- did nothing about management problems, and 
- did not properly inform the Directors. 

Kreiner was forced out in early December, shortly before Crocus stopped trading and devalued by $46 million. 

He remains hostile to the Auditor-General's report even though he can't explain how a $10 million loan from Quebec was reported as an asset. 

Apparently Kreiner's biggest failure was his inability to control the wild spending of his Chief Investment Officer James Umlah, who among other things spent $1.1 million on expenses.

* Shortly after the NDP helped the University of Winnipeg with a little pension shortfall, Kreiner was hired there in what was called "a far cry from his glory days with Crocus when he paraded around town as a Prince of the City, thuggishly threatening and intimidating anyone who dared challenge his command of the Crocus Fund and its many socialist offshoots." 

His benefactor, former U of W president Lloyd Axworthy, remembers the late Kreiner for "turning the university’s food services from an unpopular, greasy canteen to a social enterprise focused on organic and fresh food". Here is how it was described at the time: 

"The architects of this food services delivery model are two Winnipeg based organizations, The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation (UWCRC) and SEED Winnipeg." 

What Axworthy doesn't want you to remember, is that when the press release quoted Kreiner and SEED's Executive Director Cindy Coker, the University was careful not to reveal the two were actually married, and had been for a long time.  

* Axworthy also doesn't want anyone remembering how under Kreiner's direction, the U of W lied to conceal their manifest destiny vision of expanding the University footprint to adjacent streets in the west end. 

According to the Social Justice Committee of  Blessed Kateri Tekawitha Aboriginal Catholic Parish " Jennifer Rattray said, “The University of Winnipeg would never buy the buildings on Langside or Young and displace the people. It would be terrible PR.” 

"We were told there were never any discussions about buying these buildings or using them for students or kicking people out. Jennifer Rattray was very adamant that we were just stirring up the residents for nothing."  

But the day after the meeting "(we found) a document quoting a July 5^th meeting of Spence Neighborhood Association representatives, Maggie Friesen, Cyril Keeper, Don Miedema and Kate Sjoberg with Sherman Kriener (sic) spokesperson of the University of Winnipeg, states the specific details of such a take over of MHRC buildings. They "...specifically discussed the displacement issue and recognized that it was one (they) would need to address very carefully." 

(Well, Shermy was consistent, he'd lie to anyone in the west end, whether it was a CBC reporter or the neighborhood church).


* The day after the NDP was re-elected under Selinger in 2011, 8 of the 10 Crocus directors who had nominally been responsible for Kreiner made a whitewash deal with the highly compromised Manitoba Securities Commission to save their skin. The Order allowed them to walk away without being held accountable or expressing any remorse for allowing inflated shares in the labour fund to be sold without the required checks and balances being followed by the Board, that would have protected trusting Manitobans from being fleeced. 

The Order included dirty details of stalled Valuation approvals and details of backroom infighting between parties unnamed in the documentation - but who were Kreiner and new executives Chief Operating Officer Laurie Goldberg and Chief Investment Officer John Pelton, who blew the whistle to authorities when they found the Fund was collapsing. 

* Axworthy told the Free Press that Kreiner was working on a book  "about social enterprises, and how to get more conscious businesses into the market." 

"I’m hoping that book comes to publication, because the parts he read out to me were just brilliant. Let’s just say: we’re still going to hear from Sherman Kreiner."

If and when you do, read this brief retrospective again and compare Kreiner's actual record in the community from the fiction he was no doubt compiling to cover himself in glory.  

When Winnipeg loses experienced journalists, it loses institutional memory. There are fewer reporters in the city than EVER. The deep researched coverage we gave to the Crocus Fund scandal on KICK-FM helped establish citizen journalism in this town.

The public deserves more than the spin put out there about divisive characters like Sherman Kreiner. 

In the next few months I want to make sure that there is added coverage of city hall, the Manitoba election and the federal election too, as well as stories like this. 

Your donation helps me make a difference in the community. 

Go to the home page and check our most recent stories about meth use in this city and some possible solutions, and join the readers who have already helped us get over 10% of our target of 100 donors at $50 each. 

Read more about the donor drive here:

http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2019/06/theres-2-elections-coming-up-so-were.html