THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The belief that democratic
institutions, behavior, and ways of thought can be
exported and transplanted to societies that have no
traditions of them is a profoundly unconservative, indeed
a radical, belief.
—Owen
Harries
Kevin
Michael Grace, 1.08 p.m., November 15, 2003►
POETRY CORNER (SPECIAL JEAN CHRÉTIEN
RETIREMENT EDITION)
Epitaph on the Politician Himself
Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician's corpse was laid way.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged.
—Hilaire
Belloc
Kevin
Michael Grace, 10.40 p.m., November 14,
2003►
THE KNIGHT OF THE DOLEFUL
COUNTENANCE
He was about fifty years of
age, of a sturdy constitution but wizened and
gaunt-featured, an early riser and a devotee of the chase.
In his leisure moments (which was most of the year) he
gave himself up with so much gusto to reading books of
chivalry that he almost entirely neglected the exercise of
the chase and even the management of his domestic affairs.
I was listening to Strauss’s Don
Quixote last night (Reiner, Chicago
Symphony), which seemed appropriate to my state of mind.
My 3,000-word sally
did not succeed in knocking Link Byfield off his high
horse. I don’t know exactly what I expected, but an
angry mob converging on the headquarters of the Citizens
Centre would have been nice. It is madness, of course, to
expect justice in this world, but one cannot summon the
strength to compose an exposé without the
expectation that someone will care.
I have heard from several quarters that I did not
produce a "smoking gun." How this phrase
irritates me. What would have been a "smoking
gun" in this context, I wonder? A photograph of
someone from the Citizens Centre wearing a black
turtleneck and cap and clutching a bag labelled
"$$$"? Not that I accused Link Byfield or anyone
else of criminal activity, mind. Only of deception,
bad faith and gross incompetence, which I believe I have
fully demonstrated.
It has been pointed out to me that Link Byfield’s Calgary
Sun columns are not recycled Citizens
Centre commentaries; the recycling works
the other way around. I am sorry for the error, which has
been corrected. I find it amusing, however, that these
commentaries are called "Just Between Us"
("a feature service of the Citizens Centre for
Freedom and Democracy") and make no mention of their
provenance.
Eh bien. T. S. Eliot once said that there is no
such thing as a lost cause, because there is no such thing
as a gained cause. So don’t expect me to stop tilting at
this particular windmill.
He thought that it was
necessary, both for his own honour and for the service of
the state, that he should become a knight-errant and roam
through the world with his horse and armour in quest of
adventures.
(Translations by Walter
Starkie)
Kevin
Michael Grace, 3.42 p.m., November 14, 2003►
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The eye of the true artist
doesn't see life in the way of goods paid for. The world
is ours. It is our birthright. We take it without payment.
—Muriel Spark, "The
Fathers' Daughters"
Kevin
Michael Grace, 12.01 a.m., November 13,
2003►
PENSÉE
Men described as "larger than life" typically
owe their size to enormous feet of clay.
Kevin
Michael Grace, 2.44 p.m., November 12, 2003►
I ACCUSE LINK BYFIELD
1. The Operation Was a Success, But the Patient Died
The death
in June of the 30-year-old Report magazine
occasioned an enormous amount of comment in both the Old
and New Media. The latter hinted at possible reasons for
the collapse, while the former ignored this topic
entirely, being content instead with stories about the
"colourful" characters once employed by the
magazine and with an uninformed and irrelevant discussion
of whether "social conservatism" had died with
it. Uninformed because it wasn’t editorial policy that
had reduced The Report; irrelevant because The
Report didn't have to die. But enough of this passive
language. The Report was killed. Starved to death
by Link Byfield because its continued existence no longer
suited his purposes.
It was an open secret (and not just among journalists
that had worked for them) that the business practices of
the Byfield clan were "colourful" too.
Editor-publisher Link Byfield spoke often and with relish
of how easy and painless it was to declare bankruptcy in
Alberta, while at a ceremony honouring founder Ted Byfield
(Link’s father) for his 50 years in journalism some
years ago, astonishing tales of corporate profligacy were
greeted with general hilarity, not least by Ted himself.
And one would have thought that the following passage,
from a September 28, 2002, Calgary Herald story
by Ric Dolphin, would have prompted a defamation suit:
With the demise of one of the
[magazine’s] godfathers in the mid-1980s, the company
debts were paid from the estate and somewhere in the
transition [Ted] Byfield went from being fairly poor to
mildly affluent. He acquired a biggish house in Edmonton's
new Lessard suburb, along with his first new car and a
42-foot sailboat.
Not a bit of it. Dolphin continued to be given work by
the Byfield-controlled Alberta History Book project, and
he was then hired as a freelancer—at the highest
rate—by the Citizens Centre Report (the
short-lived, final incarnation of the magazine).
The Byfields have always thought it a glorious thing to
be a Pirate King. From an official 1983 history
of the magazine:
And in Calgary, entrepreneur
[Ted] Byfield knew, there was a locked garage in which a
bankrupt printer had secreted his equipment prior to the
arrival of the bailiff. The terms of sale: $1 for the lot,
with the proviso that it be moved out after dark. And so
it was: a truck creeping surreptitiously into the
neighbourhood when all was quiet and deserted; a hurried
and muffled loading; a post-midnight dash to the school.
In the Herald, Dolphin raised an exceedingly
interesting question:
I wondered briefly why a
publication with 45,000 devoted subscribers paying $100 a
year apiece, a history book series bringing in a couple of
hundred thousand a year, and just a skeletal staff working
in a ramshackle—but owned—building could not make
things work, even if ad revenue had dropped from $300,000
to $100,000.
He concluded:
But that was a silly thing
for an alumnus of Alberta Report to wonder.
It wasn’t, of course, and it was even less silly nine
months later, after The Report had been put to
death. In a story
in the Edmonton Journal, I was quoted as blaming
the death on "lousy business practices," but
mine was a lonely voice. The tendentious rationalizations
of the Byfields—’twas ever thus, sic transit gloria
mundi, que sera, sera, onward and upward, etc.,
etc.—were not scrutinized.
Not until now, that is. I had predicted, as had several
other Report employees, that the magazine was to be
euthanized, and in this I was proved right. I had also
surmised the method of execution. But I had lacked the
data to prove my suspicion. Now that data has been collected
and assembled by my former colleague Kevin
Steel. I can now state without fear of contradiction that
the magazine died at the hands of the Citizens
Centre For Freedom and Democracy, the
non-profit entity established to save the magazine—much
as the Reform Party died at the hands of its ostensible
saviour, the United Alternative.
Citizens Centre (right), Report magazine (left):
The bloodsuckers were never 'employees'
In the death of The Report, Link Byfield is
guilty of—at the very least—bad faith, deception and
gross incompetence.
2. Dirty Deeds Done—Not Cheap
In Summer 2002, citing a near-total collapse of
advertising revenue, Link Byfield announced
a 10% pay cut to employees and a reduction of colour pages
in the magazine.
Shortly after that, Canadian expatriate Kevin Avram, a
founder of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, was hired as
a consultant.
On September 24, 2002, editorial employees were
assembled in Edmonton. They were ordered to attend a fundraising
dinner for the magazine and to explain in
writing why they believed the magazine should exist. In
effect, they were asked to audition for their jobs.
Editor-publisher Link, also chairman of United Western
Communications, the magazine’s parent company, who had
earlier toyed with the idea of turning the magazine into a
political party, announced that it was to be acquired by a
non-profit foundation. He reported that Don Graves and
John Scrymgeour, the majority owners of UWC, had agreed,
after negotiations that had concluded only that morning,
to transfer their 70% of the company to Ted Byfield, who
had owned 30% of the company for a decade. (The cost of
this acquisition was reputedly $1.) In turn, Ted was to
transfer 100% of UWC to the new foundation.
Link Byfield explained that the foundation was to be a
think-tank propounding social conservative ideas. There
was considerable uncertainty regarding its precise
activities, although a legal defence fund was mentioned.
Link Byfield announced at the meeting and subsequently
told reporters that The Report was to become
"kindler and gentler." Despite the putative
commitment (abandoned less than four months later) to
social conservative advocacy, Link explained that he
expected to raise considerable funds from foundations and
corporate worthies, but this could not be achieved if the
magazine was to continue its hard line on abortion,
homosexuality and other contentious issues. Link said
of the magazine to the Edmonton Journal, "I'm
so sick of it, I really am. Subscribers say, 'You guys are
depressing me.'"
When one editorial meeting attendee expressed concern
that subscribers well pleased with the magazine would be
loath to resubscribe to a less combative publication, Link
replied, "We’ll sell them one thing and give them
another."
Coincident with the announcement of the foundation, a fundraising
appeal was launched to save the magazine. More
than enough money was raised in this and subsequent
appeals to save The Report. The money raised by the
first appeal went to an entity called The
Report Foundation, incorporated October 17,
2002.
In the December 16, 2002, issue of the magazine, Link
Byfield announced
the founding of the Citizens Centre for Freedom and
Democracy. Despite his claim—"The name ‘Report
Foundation’ was (as we explained two months ago)
temporary"—the Report Foundation and the Citizens
Centre were—and remain—separate
entities.
On January 6 and 7, editorial staff were assembled in
Edmonton. It was announced that the name of the magazine
was to be changed. This was the third name change in just
over three years (from Alberta Report, BC Report
and Western Report to The Report Newsmagazine
in 1999, to The Report in 2002, to the Citizens
Centre Report in 2003). A further name change, perhaps
to The Citizen or just Citizen, was promised
for the future.
Also at this meeting, a new mission was announced. The
foundation and the magazine were to exist to serve the
cause of "refederation."
Refederation was the resuscitation of Elmer Knutson’s
WestFed idea, which later became the Confederation
of Regions Party. Briefly put, the idea is
that Alberta and other provinces would demand greater
autonomy from Ottawa. If they did not receive this, they
would hold referendums on separation. Link Byfield
stressed that refederation was not a separatist movement.
That being the case, what Alberta and the other provinces
would do if Ottawa ignored their demands was not
explained. Also not explained was why Link was suddenly
enamoured of an idea he had formerly ridiculed.
An entire magazine issue was assigned on refederation
and then abandoned; this later became the March 3, 2003,
issue. This special edition was to serve as a
"calling card" for the Citizens Centre Report
and the CCFD. As such it proved useless, as this
particular incarnation of the magazine was soon to
disappear.
The January meeting made clear that The Report
was now a hostage to Kevin Avram’s agenda. The magazine
existed to serve the Citizens Centre. Avram announced a
target—no more than 25% of the Citizens Centre’s
revenues were to come from the magazine. By June, Avram
and Link Byfield had met their target and more—0% of the
Citizens Centre’s revenues came from the magazine.
Avram became the president of the CCFD, incorporated
February 18, 2003; Link Byfield was chairman and his
brother Mike secretary. Mike Byfield was named editor of
the magazine effective March 3; he answered to Avram, who
was not shy about interfering in editorial matters large
and small.
On April 3, the Citizens Centre announced
it had acquired ownership of the Citizens Centre Report
from Ted Byfield for $100. As it turned out, however,
Graves and Scrymgeour did not complete their disposition
of magazine assets until May
30, 2003.
Also on April 3, the Citizens Centre announced it was
refusing $360,000 in future federal postal and magazine
subsidies. The refusal was supposedly at Kevin Avram’s
insistence.
Around this same date, it was decided that the
magazine, published fortnightly since 1999, was to go monthly
immediately. (This decision by itself would
have cut the postal subsidies in half.) The yearly
subscription charge was cut from $92 (plus GST) to $50
(plus GST). These two decisions doomed The Report.
They slashed United Western Communications’s cash flow
at a time when the company was reeling from the effect of
the Citizens Centre’s vampirism. The Citizens Centre
continued to add employees who did nothing to produce UWC
revenue but were paid by UWC nonetheless.
Although the monthly magazine was nearly doubled in
size, this marked the second time in just over three years
that subscribers had suffered a 50% cut in issues, and
again, there were no refunds or extensions. Furthermore,
the magazine had for years been dependent on telemarketing
for more than half its subscription sales—and almost
totally dependent on subscription revenue for its
survival. Going monthly cut annual revenues almost in half
at a stroke.
The next step was obvious. In order to make the same
amount in commissions, the magazine’s telemarketers
would have had to sell at least twice as many
subscriptions. This was hardly likely. So, some time in
May, pretty much the entire telemarketing department was fired.
This marked the end of the independent existence of the
magazine.
Instead of selling subscriptions, the Citizens Centre
would sell memberships that included the monthly magazine.
Previously, the subscribers had paid $92 (plus GST) for 24
issues. Now for $100-$150 ($100 plus a suggested further
"donation" of $50) they would receive 12
magazines plus…what? Weekly emailed commentaries. But
these were posted on the CCFD website in addition to being
given away free to hundreds of weekly newspapers. Members
were also promised plaques or certificates. This was not
much value for the $50-$100 the Citizens Centre was asking
as a premium. From the Citizen Centre’s founding up
until the death of the magazine, it produced nothing
independent of the magazine except for those commentaries
and a couple of press releases. In the event, the
"field sales team" that was supposed to
"contact people, either door-to-door or in meetings
with groups" never materialized—although it is said
that a couple of CCFD salesmen were extant.
Sometime in May or June, Kevin Avram resigned or was
fired as president of the Citizens Centre, although he
remained executive director. The story was circulated that
Link Byfield had intervened to prevent Avram from killing
the magazine, but this makes no sense, as the grave had
already been dug.
On May 30, Link Byfield took full control of United
Western Communications. The company never published
another magazine.
On June 6, the magazine lost its advertising
department. This was "spun
off" in mysterious circumstances. A
magazine called the Citizens
Centre Business Report would produce a
July/August issue, consisting almost entirely of
advertising (sold by United Western Communications to
appear in the Citizens Centre Report) and some
recycled libertarian filler. This publication would later
become the Alberta Business Report.
On June 13, Link Byfield called an emergency meeting of
the magazine’s few remaining employees. He acknowledged
the situation was desperate but professed optimism based
on an imminent fundraising breakfast with Calgary oilmen.
He announced a new focus, the third, for the CCFD. It was
now dedicated to advocacy of the Alberta
Agenda or "firewall" advanced by
Stephen Harper and others in 2001.
On June 23, Link Byfield closed
the magazine but announced the Citizens Centre would
survive. Everyone was "temporarily laid off" for
59 days, except for Link, operations manager Craig
Docksteader and a couple of clerical employees. Kevin
Avram returned to the United States. He has had no
reported comment on the death of The Report.
Only in July 2003, according
to Docksteader, did the Citizens Centre
hire its first employees. This organization still exists
and recently unveiled a radio
advertising campaign. Link travels
the West, touting the CCFD. He has been
hired by the Calgary
Sun as a weekly columnist; his columns
are then recycled into Citizens
Centre commentaries. Mike Byfield has found
employment with his father’s Christian History Project,
a company whose largest
block of voting shares (20.62%) is held by United Western
Communications, which is in turn a wholly
owned subsidiary of the Citizens Centre. The
CCFD has two directors: Link
and Mike
Byfield.
On August 18, the "temporary layoffs" were
made permanent.
Link Byfield refuses to pay wages owed to some former
employees, despite contractual obligation. Link Byfield refuses
to pay severance and vacation pay to the
other former employees, despite Alberta law. Link Byfield
claims he doesn’t have the money.
Where did the money go, Link? By your own account, $630,000
was raised in appeals from October 2002
onward. And by your own account, the magazine faced an operating
deficit of 5% in 2002. You confirmed
publicly on September 24, 2002, that UWC’s revenues were
approximately $5 million. This makes the operating deficit
$250,000. Six hundred and thirty thousand dollars would
have covered the operating deficit of the fortnightly
magazine for two and a half years! You could have easily
saved The Report, Link. Why didn’t you? Where did
the money go, Link? You cannot blame Kevin Avram. You
hired him, and you gave him free rein. His decisions are
your responsibility.
Citizens Centre chairman Byfield:
Where did the money go, Link?
3. Link Byfield’s Word is Not His Bond
It could be argued (and probably will) that I am
nothing more than a "disgruntled ex-employee." I
am disgruntled, true enough, but am I not justified in
being so? After eight years of employment, I was informed
March 10, 2003, that my services were no longer required.
This termination was "without cause," and United
Western Communications agreed to a settlement that
included a six-month severance period. This contract was
violated from the start in ways large and small. Link
Byfield cheated me of $14,400 in wages, and he cheated my
lawyer of his fee. You claim, Link, that you don’t have
the money. Well, your word is worthless to me.
In 1999, when you closed BC Report (where I was
managing editor) and consolidated the magazines, you
pledged that the new national magazine would expand
"aggressively" into Ontario. You
have made this claim repeatedly and almost to this day. It
was on this basis that I stopped seeking other employment
(UWC was suffering one of its periodic near-death
experiences at the time) and decided to recommit myself to
the magazine. And yet in January, in Edmonton, you
admitted publicly that Ontario expansion had only been a
"story" and that the consolidation had been done
solely to save money.
4. Link Byfield Has Abused Trust
It can be argued (and probably will) that the killing
of The Report is not a matter of public interest,
as United Western Communications is a private company. I
disagree, for three reasons. First, until May 30, 2003,
UWC, because of Don Graves's and John Scrymgeour's majority
control of BC Report Ltd., a publicly
traded company, was itself a de facto public
company.
Second, you, Link Byfield, created two non-profit
foundations in order to raise money.
Third, and most important, you and your family have
attracted millions of dollars and the undying loyalty of
thousands with your claim that The Report was more
than a business—it was a cause. You and your
family have claimed to act as champions of Alberta, of the
West, of conservatism and of Christianity.
Working for The Report exacted a high cost. We
struggled to put out decent magazines as you, Link
Byfield, cut, cut and cut again, as the number of staff
writers and editors fell to a handful. Yet we circled the
wagons, even as the stench of corruption filled our
nostrils, even as a parade of non-editorial managers, whom
you protected for years, abused their expense accounts,
milked contra advertising for personal gain, and, in one
case, turned a company department into little more than a
brothel.
And what of the subscribers, Link? Right until the end,
there were 40,000 of them. They continued to pay $100 a
year for a magazine that grew ever more poorly written,
edited and produced. And they gave above and beyond this:
$630,000 to save the magazine and its cause. And how have
you treated them, Link? How have you treated us? With
deception and bad faith. With insult and injury. The
killing of The Report is not a private
matter. It is a public scandal.
Despite your public conduct, Link Byfield, you continue
to lecture others. You continue to accuse governments of
profligacy and complain of their lack of accountability.
What of your accountability? What I have chronicled above
comes either from the public record or from personal
knowledge. But there is much concerning the killing of The
Report that remains unknown. And there are many
questions that need to be asked. I will soon ask some of
them in this space.
Kevin
Michael Grace, 1.26 p.m., November 11, 2003►
