RE:From Thieves of Bay Street pg 30 Hi Extreme,
Everyone is frustrated with the performance of Torstar and blame needs to rest at the feet of the Voting Trust. Just a cursory review of this gang of misfits who sit on the Board and represents the families will tell you everything you need to know. This is a gaggle of the most unqualified individuals you could imagine on a public company board and explains why the stock sits at $.87 today. See how many other public company boards they sit on and that reflects the esteem in which they are held in the business community. A quick review would reveal the following:
· Elaine Berger, widow of Joseph S. Atkinson and executor of his estate since 1968. She has been a director since 2006 and brings her administrative assistance background to solving the considerable challenges facing Torstar. In her early 70’s, she is no doubt finding it hard to stay awake during Board meetings and keeping her lunch down while listening to the marketing voodoo she is exposed to at every meeting. Documents produced by the Board have fewer typos owing to her attention to spelling.
· Dorothy Strachan, also in her early 70’s, has only been a board member since 2013. She is/was a consultant in process design and facilitation and has a BA and MA in Arts from the University of Windsor. She represents the Hindmarsh and must have been the best qualified from the family. No obvious strengths she brings to the Torstar Board.
· Campbell Harvey has been a director since 1992, so he brings 27 unbroken years on incompetence to the Board of Directors. He is an academic with no real-world experience. Has no other public company board experience and has presided over value destruction like few other companies in Canada.
· Martin Thall has been a director since 2002, so only 17 years of unbroken incompetence. He was a systems analyst at The Toronto Star and has no management or other public company experience. He sits on the board by virtue of being a Thall and offers no value to shareholders of any class.
· John Honderich has been a director since 2004 and is celebrating his 15th year of value destruction and gross incompetence. An unbroken string of poor CEO and CFO appointments and absolutely no strategic vision for Torstar. He sits on no other public company boards, was publisher of The Star owing to his father and cares nothing about the business other than the perceived status it gives him in the community.
So, it is no mystery why the shares have followed a consistent downward trend for the last decade. Absolutely no value in attending the AGM and venting at this gang of incompetents. As Bill Murray once said, “it is difficult to win an argument with an intelligent person, it’s impossible with a stupid one.” These are five incredibly stupid and nave individuals who control the fate of Torstar.
That is the situation we face, but we have to hope that time and perseverance by Fairfax or some other white knight will wrestle control from Thelma and Louise.