Mamma Mia!

Mia Rabson gets into the political mud flinging surrounding Crocus in today’s Free Press. She lays out the positions held by the various parties and then goes on to consult with Paul Thomas, a University of Manitoba politics professor who asserts:
And an endless delay in government business will upset voters, who are already disengaged and distrustful of politicians. "Up to a point the public will tolerate these tactics," said Thomas. "People are turned off by the negative theatrics of it all and they don't want to see it."

The article does a great disservice to its readers by going to the wrong talking head. The issue at hand is not what political party is doing what but rather how the NDP being “asleep at the switch” affects Manitobans who are investing their hard-earned money in the capital markets.

From the CFA Institute website:
Directors are representatives of shareowners and are charged with overseeing management — whose role it is to oversee relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and neighbors — and, as stewards of corporate assets, are responsible for overseeing the investment of those assets in a manner that maximizes shareowner value.

The fact that the NDP were made well aware of the liquidity problems with the fund coupled with the fact the Province had A REPRESENTATIVE ON THE BOARD does not bode well for investors’ confidence in our markets. The question we should be asking is whether or not the NDP owed a fiduciary duty to Crocus shareholders AND all Manitoba investors. If so, did they do everything in their power to ensure that they held themselves to this standard of care? I think there is only one way to find out.