Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's involvement with the BDC's $615,000 loan: The granting of the BDC's loan to Yvon Duhaime

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's involvement with the BDC's $615,000 loan:
The granting of the BDC's loan to Yvon Duhaime

Nipawin - December 6, 2000 - by: Mario deSantis

pyramidal
loan scheme
So we have left our Grand Mère's story just prior to the granting of the BDC's loan in early

1997⁽¹⁾. We have seen how Yvon Duhaime, a Chrétien's friend, was able to recover from near

bankruptcy in 1993 when he bought the Grand Mère's Inn from Jean Chrétien and his partners,

and how with a pyramidal loan scheme he was able to buy and carry his hotel business till 1996.

desperate
for money
He is now desperate for money, he owes some $890,000 to the local caisse populaire and he is

defaulting in meeting his financial obligations. But he is lucky, he needs another project, bigger

than any other, so that he can carry a bigger business, and then with some additional doling

from his friend Chrétien, he may even be able to purchase again his own mortgaged assets.

patterns and relationships
Anyhow, we are gathering the events surrounding Chrétien's involvement in the Grand Mère's

story so that we can find a truth on his ethical behaviour. And since a truth is found in terms of

patterns and relationships I will be listing a set of relevant events and their possible relationships

within the Grand Mère's affair. The events outlined below have retained, as much as possible,

the same English construct as per the original references.

worrisome
facts

1997: The BDC's approval of the $615,000 loan to Duhaime was a breach of the

established procedures at the bank and these are some of the

worrisome facts:

unpaid
bills

-A month before the loan to the hotel owner was granted, a management consultant's report concluded that the inn had huge mortgage debts it could not afford to pay, was poorly managed, had another $350,000 in unpaid bills and had defaulted on its mortgages.

criminal
record

-Mr. Duhaime failed to disclose his criminal record for death threats, income-tax offences, assault and repeat drunk driving in his BDC loan application as required.

criteria

-Ms. France Bergeron, the BDC's regional branch manager, has stated in an internal memo that the structure of the financing recommended does not meet the normal policies and criteria of the bank⁽²⁾

loan for $615,000

1997: On February 20, Chrétien makes his third phone to Mr. Beaudoin,

president of the Business Development Bank of Canada

(BDC), and ask when the loan would be approved for the

scaled-down version of the Auberge/hotel Grand-Mère. Mr.

Duhaime has stated that it was during this time that he met

with the Prime Minister at 24 Sussex, however, he has stated

(November 2000) that he cannot divulge any information

about this meeting unless he receives permission from Mr.

Chrétien. Denise Tremblay, Mr. Chrétien's special

representative in St. Maurice, also made four calls to the office

of François Beaudoin, then president of the BDC, at his

headquarters in Montreal about the Grand-Mère Inn case and

attended meetings Mr. Duhaime had with local BDC officials.

After Chrétien's third phone call to Beaudoin the BDC bank

approves a loan for $615,000 to Duhaime. Mr. Duhaime's

previous attempt to secure a $2-million BDC loan for the

hotel's expansion had been rejected.

In the next related articles we will cover a web of relationships connected with the Grand-Mère's

business and political environment.

------------References/endnotes:

List of relevant political and economics articles http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign

The author acknowledges the following news organizations: National Post, Canadian Internet Network, The Ottawa Citizen, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Press. The author read articles written by Robert Fife, Andrew McIntosh, Joël-Denis Bellavance, Peter Shawn Taylor, Andrew Coyne, Gordon Gibson, and Diane Francis of the National Post; Paul Adams and Daniel LeBlanc of The Globe and Mail; Lawrence Martin and Kate Jaimet of The Ottawa Citizen.

1.
-
-
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's involvement with the BDC's $615,000 loan: The Grand Mère affair and Chretien's golf course just prior to the loan's approval, By Mario deSantis, December 4, 2000

2.
PM lobbied for disputed loan, Andrew McIntosh, November 16, 2000, National Post

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's involvement with the BDC's $615,000 loan: The granting of the BDC's loan to Yvon Duhaime

Nipawin - December 6, 2000 - by: Mario deSantis

pyramidal loan scheme	So we have left our Grand Mère's story just prior to the granting of the BDC's loan in early
	1997⁽¹⁾. We have seen how Yvon Duhaime, a Chrétien's friend, was able to recover from near
	bankruptcy in 1993 when he bought the Grand Mère's Inn from Jean Chrétien and his partners,
	and how with a pyramidal loan scheme he was able to buy and carry his hotel business till 1996.

desperate for money	He is now desperate for money, he owes some $890,000 to the local caisse populaire and he is
	defaulting in meeting his financial obligations. But he is lucky, he needs another project, bigger
	than any other, so that he can carry a bigger business, and then with some additional doling
	from his friend Chrétien, he may even be able to purchase again his own mortgaged assets.

patterns and relationships	Anyhow, we are gathering the events surrounding Chrétien's involvement in the Grand Mère's
	story so that we can find a truth on his ethical behaviour. And since a truth is found in terms of
	patterns and relationships I will be listing a set of relevant events and their possible relationships
	within the Grand Mère's affair. The events outlined below have retained, as much as possible,
	the same English construct as per the original references.

worrisome facts	1997: The BDC's approval of the $615,000 loan to Duhaime was a breach of the
	established procedures at the bank and these are some of the
	worrisome facts:
unpaid bills	-A month before the loan to the hotel owner was granted, a management consultant's report concluded that the inn had huge mortgage debts it could not afford to pay, was poorly managed, had another $350,000 in unpaid bills and had defaulted on its mortgages.

criminal record	-Mr. Duhaime failed to disclose his criminal record for death threats, income-tax offences, assault and repeat drunk driving in his BDC loan application as required.

*criteria*	-Ms. France Bergeron, the BDC's regional branch manager, has stated in an internal memo that the structure of the financing recommended does not meet the normal policies and criteria of the bank⁽²⁾

loan for $615,000	1997: On February 20, Chrétien makes his third phone to Mr. Beaudoin,
	president of the Business Development Bank of Canada
	(BDC), and ask when the loan would be approved for the
	scaled-down version of the Auberge/hotel Grand-Mère. Mr.
	Duhaime has stated that it was during this time that he met
	with the Prime Minister at 24 Sussex, however, he has stated
	(November 2000) that he cannot divulge any information
	about this meeting unless he receives permission from Mr.
	Chrétien. Denise Tremblay, Mr. Chrétien's special
	representative in St. Maurice, also made four calls to the office
	of François Beaudoin, then president of the BDC, at his
	headquarters in Montreal about the Grand-Mère Inn case and
	attended meetings Mr. Duhaime had with local BDC officials.
	After Chrétien's third phone call to Beaudoin the BDC bank
	approves a loan for $615,000 to Duhaime. Mr. Duhaime's
	previous attempt to secure a $2-million BDC loan for the
	hotel's expansion had been rejected.

	In the next related articles we will cover a web of relationships connected with the Grand-Mère's
	business and political environment.

------------References/endnotes:

	List of relevant political and economics articles http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign

	The author acknowledges the following news organizations: National Post, Canadian Internet Network, The Ottawa Citizen, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Press. The author read articles written by Robert Fife, Andrew McIntosh, Joël-Denis Bellavance, Peter Shawn Taylor, Andrew Coyne, Gordon Gibson, and Diane Francis of the National Post; Paul Adams and Daniel LeBlanc of The Globe and Mail; Lawrence Martin and Kate Jaimet of The Ottawa Citizen.

1. - -	Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's involvement with the BDC's $615,000 loan: The Grand Mère affair and Chretien's golf course just prior to the loan's approval, By Mario deSantis, December 4, 2000

2.	PM lobbied for disputed loan, Andrew McIntosh, November 16, 2000, National Post