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WHEN I BECOME PERFECT

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When I become perfect, I will expect it from everyone.

A Lesson in Democracy

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What began as a joke, probably even to Trump himself, has turned into a nightmare, not just for America but for the world. He has exploited the fragility of democracy in a way no one thought possible anymore. He is a classic despot. It fits his history and his personality.

At first, people were upset. Despite being in shock, they questioned how much damage he could do before being removed from office.

The problem was that given a world political climate of anger and frustration with government and the failure of the governing class, Trump’s message and methods have worked in a perverse and disturbing way.

He has bullied, Congress, the press, the judiciary, his own staff, the intelligence community all with a measure of success. No one stands up to him. They are afraid of him. He likes it that way. He has successfully silenced or thwarted those he perceives as detractors.

He has appointed to the cabinet, individuals who are opposed to the mandate and scope of the departments they run. They are deconstructing the social, economic, cultural, and political gains that made the US, a shining example to the rest of the world.

Internationally he is seen as an egocentric idiot. He has recklessly and carelessly disrupted and damaged the world’s economy. I fear that this damage is not so easily repaired. The negative effects and suffering as a result of his economic incompetence

But the truth like water is finding its own level. The Wizard of Trump continues his slow train wreck. The little man behind the curtain is being exposed.

He has been abandoned by the few talented and qualified people who apparently reluctantly, and unsuccessfully, as the adults in the room, attempted to bring some sanity to the Trump Administration. He is having trouble filling senior positions including Cabinet Members. Most of the people who have left have been unqualified or worse opponents of the mandates of their Departments. I don’t think he’ll be able to replace these people.

He will be fighting for his political life. It’s a losing battle. The Democrats have taken over the House, and he and the Republicans will have to answer for their crimes.

I don’t believe the Democrats wanted

to impeach Trump. They this will spend the next two years letting Trump and the Republicans twist in the wind.

Either way, this desecration of democracy will end. America will get out a bunch of mops and clean up the mess.

STATUES IN THE MIST

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I have noticed over the past several years that we look to the past and impose today’s morality and standards on people and actions of the past. This is obviously fraught with serious and dangerous consequences.

I am certainly not proposing that we do not look back at conduct that although acceptable and common in their times be ignored today. We cannot however just apply today’s standards to yesterday’s actions. People must be accountable. Even people from the past.

I think however that we should look carefully at the conduct of the times, and the motivations of the individuals involved.

The Me Too movement looked at the truly offensive conduct of those privileged people who abused their position. There are those who complained that that was the way Hollywood and society worked. It had operated that way long before the establishment of the Motion Picture Industry. The imposition of their power in taking advantage of women is as morally and ethically wrong today as it has been throughout history. The only problem that I have with it is that there are cases where women sought advantages using sex. That is just as wrong as men using their advantage to coerce women. It often comes down to one person’s word against the other. I have however noticed that in the instances where powerful men have been punished, their conduct was not just a one-off, but a pattern of conduct.

Another area of judgment where we apply today’s standards to yesterday’s actions is political. This is more complicated. We are judging people who acted with the true belief that they were right in that they were fighting and the actions they took. One such area is slavery. Those who owned slaves at a time when it was legal and common are being pursued through history to be held accountable. Men of great stature who accomplished admirable achievements in business, education, government and other areas of society are being attacked today for their historical positions. They were just conforming to accepted norms in society. Civil War statues and other symbols of the South and slavery are being torn down because slavery was always wrong.

All across the world, people are being judged by today’s standards for yesterday’s conduct. Their names adorn schools and institutions of higher learning as well as well-known long-standing corporations or institutions that do many positive things for society. If they were involved in conduct that should have been known to be wrong and against human rights, they must be accountable.

One reason to make sure they are accountable is to telegraph to the rest of the world that they must look at the things they’re doing today and question them to determine if they are right and if so realize the risk they take in being on the wrong side of history.

At the same time, we must be careful not to tarnish a life’s work for actions taken with good intentions and without malice.

Like all Canadians, I am horrified and disgusted by the recent revelations of abuse and murder in Indigenous Residential Schools. I am however concerned about how quickly Sir John A. McDonald was tared with this brush. And his statues were removed.

There is no doubt that he and his government were instrumental in the establishment of the Residential Schools System. At the time it certainly seemed like a good idea and a reasonable option to educate indigenous children and help them assimilate into Canadian society. The belief was that this would offer their opportunity and success in life. I have seen no evidence that Sir John A. McDonald had any knowledge of the atrocities being committed by the Catholic Church in the schools. This was at a time when Americans were waging war on the American Indians. The US was on the wrong side of history in that endeavor as were Canadians who were also committing violence on Indians as well as trampling on the civil rights of most minorities.

Every Prime Minister since has dealt with the residential schools issue and done little or nothing even as the knowledge of what was happening and what went on there was coming to light evermore.

I feel that Sir John A. McDonald is being overly maligned. His statue was removed in Victoria and in Prince Edward Island. He was not a perfect man. He had personal social and ethical challenges during his years in office.

I can’t help but think that he is being unjustly treated. He was a Father of Confederation and became Canada’s first Prime Minister. He had a vision for Canada from Sea to Sea and made it happen by building the railroad which brought the country together and The West from becoming part of America.

I have to note that if not for him, most of us would probably be Americans now. There would be no universal healthcare, sane gun laws, and relatively simple political discourse. I for one, am glad I was born and grew up in a country John A. McDonald helped establish

THE LONG KNIVES ARE OUT FOR PUTIN

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As I watch with the rest of the world the horrors in Ukraine, I find it hard to believe that we are living at almost the end of the first quarter of the millennium. One can only recoil at the déjà vu of a madman attacking an independent state. Killing and displacing a huge population and destroying the infrastructure of the country.

I recoil from the site of the rest of the world looking on while such insane and dangerous behavior is allowed to continue without the world doing all it can to stop it. I listen to the arguments of the leaders of the West when they refuse to provide a no-fly zone because of their fear of nuclear war.

If the West had stopped Hitler when he took the Rhineland I, as do many others, believe that would have stopped Hitler. The lack of response by the West emboldened Hitler to take more land and more territory.

The West will pay a heavy price for not confronting Putin now and allowing the killing and destruction to continue. This is not only unconscionable but a terrible miscalculation. Putin will not retaliate with nuclear weapons. I believe that those in power in Russia will ensure that Putin is not capable of deploying and firing nuclear weapons.

Putin is under a lot of pressure. The war is going badly. It is embarrassing to Putin and to Russia. The sanctions placed on Russia by the rest of the world will be felt by the Russian people. Those in power and close to Putin will become economic targets in the rest of the world.

The pressure on Putin can only grow. As Russians feel the sanctions and cannot use their credit cards and supplies dwindle, the pressure will increase.

The Army can’t be happy with Putin. He has planned and carried out this operation negligently and has embarrassed the Russian army.

In terms of public relations, it has been a disaster for Russia and Putin. Their inability to carry out their plans in Ukraine has been a stunning defeat in the eyes of the world. The effects of the war will mean Russia will no longer be the power in the world it once was.

I have to believe that there are powerful people in the highest ranks of the Soviet system who are personally suffering substantially from Putin’s actions and the subsequent sanctions. There must be amongst those powerful and influential people enough to plot the overthrow of Putin and his cronies who are behind the war. Putin must surely be weakened in the eyes of the military, the oligarchs, and the people of Russia. It is amazing how one can lose political power and go from the diamonds in the sidewalk to the dirt in the gutter. I am sure many other leaders, including leaders of Russia and the former Soviet Union, found themselves in power one day and out the next. All you need is the right group of people with the will to change the leadership and the means to do it. We can only hope.

This has been a catastrophic defeat and embarrassment to social, military, political, and economic activity in the Soviet Union and the world. The world has watched while Putin has deliberately destroyed the infrastructure of Ukraine and mercilessly killed its citizens. This will take a long time for Russia to recover in the eyes of the world, and may not.

The best move for those powerful Russians opposed to what Putin has done to them in the eyes of the world would be to arrest Putin, stop the war, pay reparations for the rebuilding of Ukraine, apologized to the world, and blame it on Putin. It is the only way they have any chance to reestablish any kind of positive relationship in the eyes of the world and save their economy. Otherwise, Russia will live in the shadow of this war and is unlikely to recover.

The Kim Whaley Nightmare Continues

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An update on my ongoing battle with Kim Whaley.

We will be proceeding with the initial case of negligence against her, and her claim for fees.

They served me with an appointment for discoveries which I attended. Due to my health, I was unable to complete the undertakings. I had done most of them and was completing the last few when she took me to court to get an order for the rest of the undertakings and got costs of $1500 against me.

Recently I received, from the court, an Administrative dismissal of my case as it had not been set down for trial within five years. I will be moving to set this aside.

There are a number of reasons that it was not set down within five years.

My health has not been good for the last several years. It forced me to close my office and give up the active practice of law. I was under doctor’s orders to rest and not work.

While this was going on she brought another claim against me for libel and slander. It will be interesting because what I wrote is the truth as I experienced it.

At the same time, I was concentrating on the Estate Case.

To significantly add to the length of the case was the decision by Whaley to take advantage of a rarely used rule to delay my ability to examine her until my discoveries were completely finished. This is most unusual as most discoveries between the parties are carried on over the same period of time. This decision caused significant delays. I advised them in writing and reminded them of my health, suggesting that delaying my discovery of Whaley could be impacted by my health causing further unnecessary delays.

Before this Whaley brought a Summary Judgement Motion. These are relatively new procedures where appropriate matters are disposed of when the facts are not seriously in dispute if the moving party can show that there is no issue for trial. These are generally not appropriate for Solicitor’s Negligence cases.

it is even more inappropriate in these circumstances where I have not examined Ms. Whaley on my allegations of negligence.

Somehow in her arrogance, she claims to have followed my instructions and behaved professionally and competently.

I will not get into all of the questions I have to show how poorly she served me and how she overcharged me. I will save that for my examination of her.

Here are just a few of my complaints about her negligence:

  1. She served an offer to settle which left out all of the bank accounts that I was claiming. The other counsel brought this up many times in suggesting that I was not originally seeking the bank accounts.
  2. in my first conversation with her, we discussed the importance of pinning down the evidence of Norman Yu my father’s broker. There were several instances in the correspondence where I instruct them to do this, urge them to do this, and they did not. As a result, Norman Yu had four years to make up evidence that was false. Had Whaley done her job, that false evidence would not have cost me the case.
  3. When in August 2012 we brought a motion before Justice Nordheimer to freeze the funds. The evidence of Norman Yu, which was that Harold Laski made it clear that all of the money was to go to Wendi somehow wasn’t raised in this hearing. Because it wasn’t true. And we really never pinned down the evidence of Norman Yu.
  4. Before the same hearing, I instructed Whaley’s office to seek repatriation of any funds that were missing and costs. She refused to follow these instructions to my detriment,
  5. Although she originally estimated $20,000 to bring an application and get an order for directions. I had paid her approximately $35,000. In October she presented me with another bill in the same range, telling me that these were legitimate charges from June which were “missed.”
  6. She went ahead and lied saying that I promised to pay the balance. when I saw I was paying almost $10,000 a month and seeing little or no result, I had no intention of continuing with her never mind paying her for this new predatory bill.

There are many other issues relating to her poor handling of my case, the predatory fees, and the lack of professionalism in dealing with me as a client.

Even if she gets to proceed with the Summary Judgement Motion, I will be appealing in arguing that it was not the appropriate forum for a Solicitor’s negligence case.

On top of that, resolving that case will not resolve the slander and defamation case she brought. The facts of that case will be very similar to the one for which she has sought Summary Judgement. The article over which she is suing me, is true because it’s based on and framed in terms of my opinion and experience of her.

Then there’s the complaint to the Law Society. It is primarily a complaint that repeats the libel and slander claim. The only difference is that she has included a claim against me for recording our initial conversation. She takes the position that lawyers are not supposed to record other lawyers. I never dealt with her as a lawyer. I dealt with her as a client. I am glad I recorded the call because she made a number of representations that she did not fulfill.

The other aspect of that complaint that shows the ethics of Whaley and her lawyers is that originally when I told Whaley about the recording, she threatened me professionally if I ever use them. Subsequently, her lawyer, wanted the recording, and in writing represented that if I gave them copies, she would not report me to the Law Society. True to her ethics she did report me.

Interestingly enough, on the complaint itself that was sent to the Law Society, Whaley lists her lawyer as Valery Edwards, Law Pro lawyer.

Law Pro is the insurance provider for lawyers in Ontario. They provide defenses when lawyers are sued. How dare they file a complaint to my professional governing body suggesting that Law Pro is behind the complaint. I have written to Law Pro to inquire and complain about what I consider to be improper conduct. I have twice written to the head of Law Pro and have not received an answer.

The issues surrounding the estate Case were troubling enough. To find myself still fighting this arrogant and vindictive lawyer means I can’t let go of this case yet.

As I’ve said before, if she had pursued my case as viciously as she has pursued me, we might not be in this position.

The above is the opinion and experience of the author as a litigant and a victim.

Update on the Criminals at BMO

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DO THE RIGHT THING

I thought I would provide an update on my continuing search for justice from the criminal actions of BMO.

I will set out the present status. A lot of it deals with the attendances at court and my health, a lot of it involves BMO, but more particularly some judges who regardless of my health and medical treatment have put pressure on me to disclose aspects of my health that are not being challenged, and then proceeding in my absence.

DO THE RIGHT THING

BMO’ s  failure to consider this approach confirms to me the existence of a criminal culture that I experienced in my dealings with BMO that promoted illegal activity, lying about it and putting that evidence to court, and spending excessive amounts of money to conceal and fight it. My question is just this. If I was wrong. If there was not the criminal culture I experienced, why did no one from BMO ever contact me, own and take responsibility for their action and deal with it properly. DO THE RIGHT THING.  The fact that they don’t seem to know what  THE RIGHT THING is ,nor have they made any effort to show that they are not the criminals that the evidence shows them to be. Instead they spent your money if you are a customer of BMO to fight the victim. All of their actions and the fact that they have not DONE THE RIGHT THING. Confirms that culture to me.

If they really believed it and practised the ethics of trust and honesty they profess, and what Canadians expect from them, you would think they would be anxious to clear up the matter and demonstrate that they will not tolerate fraud dishonesty or lying. Unfortunately here they not only tolerated but went to great lengths including criminal activity to defendant support it while apparently refusing to do a proper if any investigation. This is strong confirmation of a culture of dishonesty, fraud, arrogance, entitlement, and of an organization apparently devoid of ethics

After the Summary Judgement Motion, I brought an action against all of the parties who had committed perjury and fraud in obtaining the judgement.

It turns out that you can stand on the street corner lie about someone and do serious damage and be sued for libel and slander if it is not true. In our legal system in Ontario, you can go to court, commit perjury and lie, cause damage to the other party, and you are not liable for the damage that your lies under oath were responsible for.

BMO and the other parties brought a motion to dismiss this action and the previous action I brought against them in 2015, based on the argument that had been decided by Conway and was therefore res judicata in that it was already determined. I consented to dismissal of the action that I brought after the summary judgement motion.

I don’t disagree that most of the facts and law that Conway corruptly distorted, despite the breach of her obligations as a judge, are nonetheless final.

The one issue that was not decided by Conway was whether or not
BMO owed me a duty as an executor. They say they do not owe me a duty. I believe they are very wrong. An executor is entitled to any information’s that the deceased would be entitled to.

That breach of duty and the failure to disclose the evidence they allege was from Harold Laski was to cover up the fraud they committed.

I have been in ill health for several years. As a result of my health I had to give up practising law and my house. A great deal of my psychological illnesses are a direct result of the abuse I’ve suffered from a number of judges in this this matter.

The matter initially had come up in front of Justice Chiappetta on April 12, 2018. As a result of which and pursuing torpor instructions, I delivered a notice of discontinuance on the case that I had brought after the summary judgement motion. As far as the other action was concerned although most of the facts I was stuck with from Conway’s perverse judgement I made no argument. The only issue was their duty to tell me as an executor any information I asked for or requested that the deceased would be entitled to. The law is that an executor stands in the shoes of the deceased.

Justice Chiappetta made a very strange order. It is an order that I do not recall ever hearing in such circumstances. She ordered that there be no cross examinations on the affidavits. Neither counsel raised this issue. It was a surprising and unsolicited order from the court which restricted my ability to provide full answer and defense. There are issues in the affidavit of Andrew Parley which are inaccurate and require cross-examination. I was not well and was stunned at the lack of explanation from her and the lack of any response from counsel to this off hand order.

This was just one of the odd and unusual decisions from a number of judges who dealt with this case and made decisions which in my opinion do not appear to conform to my understanding of general judicial standards.

The next time the matter came up with September 10, 2018 before Justice Gloria Wilson. By this time my health was such that I had to appear by CourtCcall, a service used by a number of jurisdictions including Ontario, to provide audio and video connection to the court room.

I was now ill and unable to work.I had a number of medical certificates over the last few years when they were required. I had never had any problem. The note said that for health reasons I was not able to work and I would be reassessed in two months.

Wilson, with no evidence of any kind to suggest that my certified doctor and myself as a solicitor with 40 years experience were misleading the court.expressed dissatisfaction with the note finding that it did not give the reasons I couldn’t proceed.

I explained to her that I do not write the doctor’s notes, nor do I tell them what to put in. I had had a total break down as a result of the corrupt decision of Conway and being defrauded and lied to by BMO. My instructions from my five physicians was that I needed a complete rest and was not capable of working at all as the letter said.Wilson didn’t ask me for any clarification. Nor did she suggest we get further information from the doctor.

With what I view as a total lack of judicial integrity she granted the adjournment which was not being opposed. She ordered me to deliver materials which was clear I would not be well enough to do by that time. Then she went and ordered that the matter be peremptory on me. This means that I could not get it adjourned and had to go ahead on that date. Given my health that order did not seem to make sense. It seemed like a very inappropriate way to deal with the medical certificate. It was certainly not warranted in the circumstances and was inappropriate

The order had no basis in law or fact. That remedy is imposed by a court when one of the parties is delaying the matter unduly. In this case it was the first time up. There was no suggestion by the other party that I had in any way done anything improper or intentional to delay the matter. In my opinion a sad example of ego and judgeitis and was clearly contrary to the standards for judicial behaviour. it showed bias, a lack of impartiality and lack of fairness.

The worst part was that the pressure my doctors were trying to relieve me from so I could be treated was multiplied by the pressure of that decision. I had a relapse which severely affected my life. A further result of that mean-spirited decision was that future judges who dealt with the matter would put pressure on me and remind me that it was peremptory on me.

The next appearance was scheduled for Tuesday, 23 April 2019 before Justice Nishikawa. The Tuesday following the Easter Holiday long weekend

I had been taken by ambulance to Toronto General Hospital, then to Toronto Western Hospital, and back to Toronto General.I was there for 10 or 11 days. I was released late Thursday night right before the Easter Weekend. I was not able to arrange a Court call appearance in such a short time.

I sent the following email to BMO’s counsel Jonathan Chen:

From: Wayne <wlaski@wlaski.com>
Sent: April 22, 2019 10:00 AM
To: ‘Jonathan Chen’ <JChen@litigate.com>
Subject: RE: Laski – Motion

Hello Jonathan

This is further to your email below and our conversation of this morning.

As I advised you I was taken to the hospital April 10 at the Toronto Western where I spent a few days.

I was transferred to TGH I believe on the Friday the 12 and was released late Thursday the 18th.

The hospitalization was the result of my blood sugar being over 30 and my kidneys failing.

Given the Easter weekend, I was unable to get any of the documentation from the hospital.

Again given the holiday I was unable to set up court call even though I tried them several times.

I am not well enough to attend.

His honour had indicated that if I wanted an adjournment I would have to provide medical evidence.

As I say I have not had that opportunity.

Since we last appeared in court I have seen seven different doctors.

I was at my psychiatrist office to discuss a letter from him, when I fell ill and was admitted to the hospital.

I have not left my house save and except for medical appointments in the last several months.

I intend to provide documents from the hospital and my GP and Psychiatrist as evidence of my liabilities and limitations.

The only issue remaining between the parties is whether or not BMO owed to me as an executor a fiduciary duty to advise me with respect to the deceased dealing with his account.

BMO refused when my father died to give me any information. They stonewalled me for four years revealing the evidence one month before the motion. This evidence was used as determinative by judge Conway.

Their failure to provide it precipitated a very expensive four year estate battle causing approximately $400,000 in cost.

Your Honor this is an important issue. Besides their other conduct there should not be a precedent where a bank can deny an executor who stands in the shoes of the deceased.

I have asked Jonathan Chen to bring his cell phone tomorrow morning and if possible call me so that I can participate.

If not I would ask that you adjourn the matter to give me an opportunity to collect the medical evidence

Wayne S. Laski

416-229-1166 direct line

wlaski@wlaski.com                                                   

From: Jonathan Chen <JChen@litigate.com>
Sent: April 16, 2019 7:23 PM
To: Wayne <wlaski@wlaski.com>
Cc: Sophie Alexander <salexander@litigate.com>
Subject: RE: Laski – Motion

Hi Wayne,

I acknowledge receipt of your below email which appears to suggest that you will not be appearing on the motion scheduled for April 23, 2019.    

As you know, our motion to strike was originally scheduled on April 12, 2018 for a full day on September 19, 2018.  You took no issue with the hearing date at that time.

About a week before the hearing, we attended before Justice Wilson at Civil Practice Court wherein I requested an adjournment for health reasons but only provided the Court with a one-line medical note that provided no details as to why you could not proceed.  Justice Wilson ultimately adjourned the motion to February 11, 2019 on a peremptory basis and required that your responding materials be filed by November 2, 2018.  No materials were filed by that deadline.

On January 28, 2019, we appeared again at Civil Practice Court before Justice Nishikawa.  Although the hearing was marked peremptory by Justice Wilson, you demanded an adjournment for health reasons.  Justice Nishikawa adjourned the motion to April 23, 2019 and required that you file responding materials by March 22, 2019.  Justice Nishikawa also endorsed that there would be no further adjournments unless you provide specific information regarding your medical and health limitations from a qualified medical doctor.  To date, we have not received responding materials from you or the medical documentation required by Justice Nishikawa.   

In the circumstances, we intend to proceed with the motion scheduled for April 23, 2019.  In light of your e-mail below, however, we will consider an adjournment provided that you provide us with written confirmation that you have been admitted into a hospital.  Specifically, in line with the previous endorsements made to date, we require a medical note from your treating doctor indicating which hospital you have been admitted into, how long you will be admitted and for what reason you have been admitted.  If you cannot provide us with a medical note, please have your treating doctor call us.  We can be reached at (416) 865-3553 or (416) 865-3093.   

We look forward to hearing from you. If we do not hear from you, we will provide this correspondence to the judge hearing the motion next week and will ask that the motion proceed as scheduled.

Regards,

Jonathan

From: Wayne [mailto:wlaski@wlaski.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2019 11:42 AM
To: Jonathan Chen
Cc: Sophie Alexander
Subject: Re: Laski – Motion

Jonathan. I won’t get a chance to read the enclosure. I’m presently in the hospital since last Wednesday and they believe I will be here for a week or two. I will be in touch when I get out 

From: Jonathan Chen <jchen@litigate.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2019 10:03 AM
To: Wayne
Cc: Sophie Alexander
Subject: Laski – Motion

Hello Wayne,

We will be filing the attached motion confirmation form today (and before 2PM).  Please advise if you have comments.

If we do not hear from you in the next two hours or so, I will amend the form accordingly.

Thanks,

___________________________________________________________________________________

The rules of professional conduct state that Council should agree to a request for an adjournment unless it goes to the merits. It is interesting to note that the instructions from BMO, was to oppose the adjournment and proceed despite my circumstances.

Despite my request I was not connected to the hearing by cell phone. I cannot remember another time in my career where request to appear by phone was never denied unless there was a technical problem.

Nonetheless they continued in my absence. With the email handed to him, Nishikawa, knowing I had just been in the hospital went ahead and gave BMO the order dismissing my case. Even the one part which is definitely a triable issue, their obligation to provide me as an executor any information the deceased would be entitled to.

Also, without argument he awarded $20,000 in costs against me in favour of BMO. Here’s another example of them getting to commit fraud lie and put false evidence in the court, and I have to pay them for the privilege. 

I should also mention here in this discussion of judges who ignore Doctor’s certificates, fail to consider that there are issues of privacy in people’s health. If a doctor provides a letter which indicates somebody cannot work, what more are you entitled to unless there is some suggestion that the issue of the illness is not true. This was not the case for me. I had cancer operation in 2014, spinal surgery in 2015, and other ailments which I don’t feel are required knowledge for the court for the public. Any suggestion by any of those judges or counsel that there was some question as to my health, could certainly be documented by the trauma I suffered from Conway’s judgement.I lost total respect for the judicial system and the concept of Justice that I had spent 40 years of my life dedicated to. I lost my practice, I lost my home, I lost my health. Any suggestion that I did all that to avoid arguing the motion with BMO is ridiculous.

I am presently forced to appeal Nishikawa’s order. Personally, I do not see how denying an opportunity to be heard in such circumstances would be seen by anyone to be bias, lacked impartiality and fairness.

I personally don’t see, in the judgements above, the honouring of the principal, that not only should justice be done, it should be seen to be done. In those instances where judges ignored or criticized without basis the doctor’s writings, I do not think a reasonable person would say that there was not an element of bias and unfairness. Tough to be fair and reasonable when one of the parties is not there,

I became a lawyer because I believed in justice and to fight injustice. I will continue to pursue justice in this matter because people or corporations should not so blatantly and arrogantly commit frauds. be allowed to come to court and lie about it, and get away with it.  no faith now

This will not end if they’re lucky enough to defraud and defeat the legal system again. I shall warn as many as I can in any appropriate manner. I shall certainly be sending copies to most of Canada’s financial editors. I can prove my claims to them with existing sworn evidence. Hopefully at some point we can stop this kind of conduct from being carried on here or condoned by Canadian Courts.

I am somewhat amazed that no one in authority at BMO ever considered, that they had committed fraud and lied, and should discuss it with the victim now with sufficient evidence to show their wrongdoing. This could have been resolved quickly and relatively cheaply. Instead the criminal culture at BMO spent huge amounts of your money (if your client or customer of BMO’s) to fight it.

I will be pursuing BMO and the people who are the directing mind of the corporations, with evidence of crimes committed by the corporations and the employees they are responsible for.

I’ll be buying shares of BMO and will be at all of the shareholders meetings with my material and my questions. I will take all appropriate steps available to me as a shareholder to continue to get to the bottom of this. I will be doing further research on those individuals who are running this organization. I will not stop until I get an answer and explanation as to what went on, why they took the position they did. What they’re prepared to do to make the situation right. In some assurance, backed up by documentation, if they are taking steps to make sure this does not happen again.

If I or anyone in my family or my friends had money or investments or any business with BMO, given my experience I would withdraw it and place it in a safer institution. If I was a client of BMO , who did not remove their money, I would look very carefully at their paperwork and their reporting. Given my dealings with BMO and their lawyers I would have to say that they are completely untrustworthy. For an institution based on trust this is a complete failure. They have proven that there focus is to put their interests before the interests of the client

These companies have a protected trust and fiduciary duty to the public. I think it’s time they take it more seriously than they did in my case and recognize that they are not above the law.

The above is the opinion and experience of the author as a litigant and a victim.

Baker and Baker Law Firm put False Evidence Before the Court and Won the Case by Fraud

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The law firm of Baker and Baker, a family law firm in Toronto, put false evidence before the court and suborned perjury. In doing so they aided and abetted their client Wendi Laski and BMO Nesbitt Burns in defrauding her father’s estate, the government of Canada, and her brother Wayne.

The case revolved around allegations that Wendi Laski, the deceased’s daughter had used fraud and undue influence to change all her father’s accounts into joint accounts with survivorship to her, thereby leaving nothing for her brother Wayne. This was all done while Harold Laski was under palliative care in the last three months of his life under unusual and suspicious circumstances. Prior to that, all the money in question was in Harold’s name alone.

There was ample evidence of undue influence with suspicious dealings and transfers out of the ordinary course: large transfers ( the entire estate) of funds near the death of Harold Laski
All contacts with the banks and Mr. Yu were initiated by Wendi not Mr. Laski. There were serious suspicious transfers and dealings far outside of the normal course of business

There were few if any of the factors the Supreme Court of Canada would consider evidence of meeting the burden of rebutting the presumption of undue influence. The circumstances surrounding the signing of the documents both with the TD Bank and BMO was very suspicious and unclear. There was no independent legal advice, despite evidence that Ms. Hamilton, the lawyer who had drafted the will had told Harold Laski in writing to seek legal advice before he made any further transfers

Wendi had lied to Wayne on a consent recording, about what was happening with the accounts. She clearly led Wayne to believe that he would get what he was expecting from the will. This is clearly a lie as she had already arranged to keep all the money for herself. She further indicated that we should not touch the bank accounts. She said we didn’t know what needed to be paid and she hadn’t “taken a penny”. This of course was a lie as she had cleared out most if not all of the bank accounts from the TD on the morning of her father’s funeral and deposited the bulk of those immediately in her own name at the BM0

She lied in her testimony under oath about her conversations with Harold about his intentions. In one examination she swore under oath that she had not discussed these issues of her father’s intentions with him prior to his death. She only became aware of the money was hers after he died and she went to the bank and to BMO. The very next day, still under oath she denied that she had said it. When reminded she had said that, she continued to deny saying it. She then went on to give a completely different diametrically opposed and totally inconsistent with her previous testimony, now indicating she had talked with her father before his death and knew that the money was to be hers.

These two completely contradictory and opposite statements under oath with no correction or choice or explanation between the two by Wendi or her counsel. dealing with Harold’s intentions, were the central issue of the case. There was no evidence that Harold had changed his mind save and except for the false evidence of one Norman Yu and BMO described below

The first problem was that the details of this crucial evidence were concealed by Mr. Yu, his employer, BMO Nesbitt Burns, and Wendi Laski for almost four (4)  years after the death of Mr. Laski. It did not come out until they chose to divulge it only one month before the trial. Norman Yu and Wendi Laski refused to answer questions about how this evidence came about nor give any explanation for the four-year delay in bringing it forward in these unusual and suspicious circumstances . This and the meetings between Wendi, her lawyers, BMO and Norman Yu to discuss this evidence secretly, were ignored by the judge.

The real problem with this evidence was that it was not true. Norman Yu testified that Wendi was in the room with him when her father said he wanted to disinherit Wayne, because he was abusing him, and leave everything to Wendi.

Wendi and her lawyers, never raised this evidence during the four years of litigation. She never relayed confirmed or corroborated that meeting. Not once, in any form, did Wendi claim, that she had been in the room with Norman Yu when  Harold Laski expressed his intentions or that she even knew what the reasoning for those intentions were.

Is it believable or reasonably possible in these circumstances that Wendi would have had this crucial information before the litigation commenced and never revealed it?

Given those facts, it is not within the balance of probabilities that Mr. Yu’s evidence was true.

Further significant indicator that Norman Yu’s evidence was not true, occurred in August 2012 when the parties were before Justice Nordheimer to freeze the funds, which he did. Would this not had been the time, if it was true, to bring up this evidence that Wendi and Norman heard from Harold on January 10 2012 as to his intentions to give the money to Wendi because Wayne was bullying him. That was not true. They did not bring it up because it was not true. Donald Baker told me and my counsel that he had heard this (what Norman Yu had to say) in July 2012 but had “promised not to tell”

When being cross-examined, Wendi was asked about the evidence of Norman Yu that she would rely on. Andrea Di Battista would not let her answer claiming it was privileged as it resulted from of purportedly without prejudice meeting where Norman Yu in January 2013 gave some but not all of his story. Had Norman Yu’s evidence been true, Andrea Di Battista would have known it from Wendi and would be required to answer questions on that evidence. This is a further indication that Norman Yu had lied.

A further example of their dishonesty revolved around Wayne’s allegation that the money was in Harold’s account in his name alone at the time of his death, and was transferred after he died. There were phone calls and other evidence to support this. Wendi swore in an affidavit that the money was not transferred before but after Harold died. He had passed March 13 2012.

“48   The Direction was accepted by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. on February 29, 2012. Although the securities were not deposited into BMO Joint Account # 4551381314 in advance of March 13, 2012. the Direction was irrevocable and therefore the instruction could not be changed once BMO Nesbitt Burns accepted the Direction.”

Despite this specific sworn evidence and the admitted highly, suspicious sloppy and out of the ordinary course of business handling of the transfer documents, and in light of no credible evidence to the contrary, in essence saying that Wendi’s sworn statement was not credible. Baker and Baker who had drafted the affidavit and had it sworn by Wendi in essence by not challenging the judge, by implication, now denied Wendi’s sworn statement

For me, this was devastating. For someone who entered law and fought all my life because of my deep commitment to justice. I could not believe that with all Wendi, BMO and their lawyers lies and inconsistent and suspicious evidence that evil could triumph so easily. All that is left is to complete my fight against injustice and dirty stains of perjury.

Beyond the personal injustice and damage, the result of the disgraceful actions of Baker and Baker through Donald Baker and Andrea Di Battista was to bring the Administration of Justice into disrepute.

Wendi Laski with the help of her friend Norman Yu and BMO, got away with committing fraud. The victims were the Estate, Wayne, and The Government.

Wendi, her lawyers, Norman Yu, BMO and their lawyers got away with putting false and perjured evidence before the court.    

This conduct not only brings the Administration of Justice into disrepute, but cuts to the very heart of our judicial system. In my view lawyers who knowingly put false evidence before the court should be disbarred.

This kind of sleazy behavior by lawyers brings the profession into disrepute and supports the negative opinion of lawyers as dishonest and dishonorable held by a lot of the public.

Another sad example of conduct which in my view was improper was a the distribution, all to Wendi, a relatively small amounts monies, I believe were left her in the will.

When they first contacted me and asked me to consent to this distribution, I responded that I don’t think it had anything to do with me, nor did they need anything from me to do the distribution.

Most notably, when Wendi with Brian’s knowledge and consent, gave all the monies in the bank accounts and investment accounts to herself, Brian indicated that they did it because that’s what the will said. I was not consulted or advised of the actions they were taking. Why now for a rather small amount of money did they need my consent. I wrote them advising that given the fact that their client had committed fraud and lied under oath, and that the Baker firm knowingly put false evidence before the court, I did not trust any of them and would not deal with them.

While they harassed me, I was served with motion material to release the money. Again they had cleared the bulk of the estate and given it to Wendi without any knowledge or involvement on my part. It was not necessary to involve me.

I have been in deteriorating health for many years. The corrupt judgement, clients and lawyers putting false evidence before the court, caused me to break down. I lost my law practice, and house. I have had previous medical certificates, as I had been ill for some time. I had a medical certificate from my doctor indicating that I could not work for several months. I had not been well enough to prepare materials and certainly was not well enough to argue the motion. I was asking for an adjournment on that basis.

I participated by telephone in this motion. I advised the judge that they had done this kind of transfer without me for a large amount of money before and it didn’t require me. I have also advised the court that regardless of the fact that they didn’t need me to transfer that money. Further, I advised the court that Wendi, Brian, Donald Baker, and Andrea Di Batista had lied to me and lied to the court and for that reason I did not want to deal with them.

The matter came before Mme. Justice Dietrich in Superior Court on Wednesday the 17th day of July. As I was not physically able to attend I had contacted a company called CourtCall which the Ontario Court uses when lawyers are unable to appear. CourtCall connects counsel, opposing counsel, and the judge by video and audio. I made the necessary arrangements. The day before the hearing, CourtCall, notified me that they would not be able to provide the service as the court had moved the hearing two floors down.

I participated by telephone. I advised the judge that Wendi and Brian had done distributions together, without me, for a large amount of money before and it didn’t require me. I have also advised the court that regardless of the fact that they didn’t need me to transfer that money. Further, I advised the court that Wendi, Brian, Donald Baker, and Andrea Di Batista had lied to me and lied to the court and for that reason I did not want to deal with them.

I also advised the court as Dietrich continued, that as a result of my health, I did not feel comfortable or capable of arguing the motion at this time. Despite the above she went ahead and granted the order for the transfer, which I had never opposed, and then went on to order costs of $7500 against me. It’s bad enough to have your family rip you off. It’s bad enough when you’re dealing with unethical lawyers. It’s bad enough when a judge conducts herself corruptly as I set out in my blog, “Justice Perverted, Corrupted, and Denied by Judge Barbara Conway” on truthlikewater on WordPress.com but then a succession of judges decided that I had to pay for being defrauded by Wendi, her lawyers, BMO and their lawyer

As to the truth of this, I invite Baker and Baker, Donald Baker, and Andrea di Battista to sue me. They won’t, just as BMO threatened but did not follow through on a lawsuit for defamation for the blog posts BMO DEFRAUDS INVESTOR CLIENT’S ESTATE and BMO NESBIT BURNS COMMITS CRIMES. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE ? to be found in my blog truthlikewater on WordPress.com. I would be pleased if any of Baker and Baker, and Andrea Di Battista, Donald Baker, BMO or their lawyers sued me for defamation. There is ample evidence to prove the contents of these blogs. The Truth is a defense.

All Above is the opinion and experience of the author as litigant and victim and to  provide some comfort to other victims who are not alone and to hope this does not happen to others.

Trump and Nixon

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Given the current occupant of the Oval Office, and the investigations as being carried on by special counsel and others, Richard Nixon’s name is resurrected in the call for impeachment. This is unfair to Richard Nixon who is one of the most over-maligned and underrated presidents.

Both men apparently obstructed justice by interfering in investigations about their unlawful or improper conduct. Nixon fired Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor, and caused a political firestorm. It eventually ended in his resignation before he could be impeached. Trump is mounting a PR campaign to discredit special prosecutor Muller. There has been talk of firing Muller, but as of yet, his investigation continues.

That is where the similarity and comparison between these two men end abruptly.

Nixon’s cover-up was to protect others initially.

Donald Trump is all about Trump. His constant lies, always and about everything, are to protect him. The Special Counsel’s investigation and what appears to be a number of other investigations into all aspects of his and his family’s lives and business cover almost all aspects of his life. As you know

Richard Nixon spent the bulk of his adult life serving the United States of America. First in the military and then in politics. He was not rich, although he could have been. Except when in private practice briefly, he made and lived on his government salary. Richard Nixon was a smart politician and statesman. He understood the government process, having served in, the House, the Senate, the Vice Presidency, and the Presidency. Without for a moment passing judgment on his conduct that led to him being driven from office, he was a patriotic man dedicated to public service. He was the last of only three Republican progressive presidents. The others being Lincoln and TR. He created the EPA. The very Environmental Protection Agency that Trump wants to destroy and dismantle along with most of the other departments of government.

There are numerous examples of him choosing country over self. He was a flawed character, not a personality particularly suited to politics. I won’t list Nixon’s accomplishments here, but suffice it to say there are many. He was an international statesman and a visionary. He made the world a safer place to live. Domestically, he was actively interested in promoting civil rights and healthcare .

Trump, regardless of what he may accomplish is not now and never will be half the man and half the president that was Richard Nixon. He is a pathological liar, corrupt, self-absorbed and self-interested, egocentric, incompetent, unqualified in every aspect, misogynist sexual predator.

Other than being involved in attempting to interfere with an investigation that involved him personally,  Trump’s personality disorders make Richard Nixon look like Mother Teresa. It is a grave insult to Richard Nixon to mention his name in the same breath as Donald Trump.

VICTORIA BC. IF YOU DON’T LIKE SIR JOHN A, GO JOIN TRUMP

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When it comes to removing any statue there must be some balance between the judgement motives and action and accomplishments of the subject and any negative reaction based upon today’s standards alone. 

The Egyptian God Anubis, guarding the afterlife, weighed the heart of a person against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth, which was depicted as an ostrich feather to determine whether a soul would be allowed to enter the realm of the dead. You entered if your heart was lighter than the feather.

Recently, Victoria BC, removed a statue of Canada’s first Prime Minister and founding father, Sir John A. McDonald. The excuse was McDonald’s part in the creation of the Residential School System which eventually became the source of suffering and pain to the indigenous children who attended.

The system had its origins pre-Confederation but was formalized by Sir John A McDonald’s government in the Indian Act of 1876 and amended in 1884. The purpose was to help provide practical education and assimilation into Canadian society. The intentions were good. The execution by the Catholic Church and others who controlled the schools was horrific. It was not done by Sir John A. with malicious intent.

Sir John A McDonald was Canada’s foremost founding father. He was the first Prime Minister. He had a vision of Canada stretching from sea to sea. He built the railroad and made Canada a reality. If not for him it is unlikely that BC, and much of the West would Canadian.

When you balance Sir John A’s accomplishments against his transgressions he more than passes the test.

The people of Victoria should be kissing the feet of McDonald’s’s statue. They should thank him and God that they are not part of the United States. There would be no universal healthcare, no sane gun laws, and dysfunctional political chaos.

Victoria. Get with the program and be proud and grateful for John A. McDonald and Canada

MICROSOFT SUPPORT: NEGLIGENT AND INCOMPETENT.

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As a subscriber to Microsoft office 365, I pay for the included technical support. In my experience they are negligent and incompetent. The communication between the various levels of support appears to be nonexistent.

I had to change the drive letter where I store my Outlook files. I made the appropriate changes in Outlook directing the program to the new location. I kept getting an error message that the files could not be accessed.

This was about a week ago. I got in touch with Microsoft Technical Support. The tech took control of my computer and proceeded to create a new profile. He could not finish and advised that he needed to do some research and would call me back at 11 AM Eastern standard Time the next morning. This did not happen. Instead my computer was left worse than when he took over.

I tried calling the support number. Three times I was connected with level I and after providing my ticket number which when viewed should show the history purported to arrange for me to be called back by level II within two hours. Three times this didn’t happen.

In the meantime, after several hours on hold I was connected with a level II tech. She advised that she would fix the problem. I was told I could disconnect the call and she would call me back when she needed me. About 1/2 an hour later I noticed my computer screen was green and it said it was restarting. I assume she was busy and left the room. I came back periodically and the screen had not changed. By that evening, some eight hours later, the screen had not changed. I restarted the computer only to find that the job was not finished and I had not been contacted by the tech.

I have sent emails to the answer desk. They reply that they’ve tried to contact me [I’m a lawyer and have multiple layers of messages] No calls appeared on the CID or were there messages. I would reply with my number and a time to call as requested in the email. Next I would get back the same idiotic email claiming to have tried to contact me and telling me because I hadn’t responded they were closing my case.

I called in again today and wasted 1/2 an hour with someone at level I who then promised me a call from level to today. Nothing.

You would think such an organization would be more concerned about their customer service. I have made enough phone calls and sent enough emails with my case number, that a responsible well-run technical support would arrange to get in touch with the customer and explain, apologize for and repair their negligence.

I have given up. I have wasted so much time trying to find someone at level II to take ownership of this disaster. I have little confidence that it will happen after my experience to date.

It is my intention to bring a lawsuit against Microsoft in Canada for their breach of contract and negligence in failing to provide the service I have paid for. If anyone else has had a similar experience please advise and we can consider a CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT