Independent Press in the face of Corporate Media

The following documents represent a condensed history of the progress of Vue Weekly over the past 10 years. These documents are provided as a means for interested parties to glean meaningful and pertinent information regarding the current and past state of the media environment surrounding Vue Weekly.

Beginning in 1995 and progressing to the present, these documents show the obstacles and successes that Vue Weekly has traversed over the years. While offering an in-depth understanding of the facts surrounding Vue Weekly's situation, they also include highlighted areas for those wishing to gain a quick overview of the material covered.

More documentation will be added as it becomes available, and as we are informed that it is legally acceptable to do so.

Please contact us with any questions or comments you may have regarding these documents.

Chronological Documents

 

"On October 20, 1995 a special panel of this Court heard an emergency appeal from an interlocutory injunction granted four days earlier. The injunction barred publication of a weekly newspaper. Thanks to hard work and organization by both counsel, in those four days we got bound volumes containing a transcript of the revised and edited reasons ..."
"... A bitter newspaper battle in Edmonton has caught the attention of independent publishers across the country. Last month, the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned an injunction obtained by an accounting firm "for the benefit of a large solvent creditor" -- Alberta-based Gazette Press, which is 49-percent owned by Southam Inc.-- where the "only motive" was to kill off an Edmonton urban weekly newspaper ..."
"B.C. newspaper magnate David Black has bought VUE Weekly. It's the second time in as many years that ownership of the Edmonton publication has changed. VUE's original owner, Maureen Fleming, is leaving Edmonton for Detroit ..."
"... It isn’t hard to figure out what happened here; one of the thousands of people connected with SEE Magazine, its owner Gazette Press Ltd., its owner Great West Newspaper Group Ltd., its owner Southam, Inc. or its owner Hollinger Inc., got wind that Black and Fleming were in communication, then someone at SEE Magazine jumped to a false conclusion and decided to print speculation as if it were truth. ..."
"Legal issues have stalled a bid by B.C. newspaper magnate David Black to buy VUE Weekly. The sale has not been closed, contrary to a report in SEE Magazine last week. ..."

"... years before there ever was a Vue Weekly. On July 1, 1992, I published the first issue of See Magazine. It bore little resemblance to the See and Vue of today; it was printed in ponytab format (the size of the Journal's and Sun's TV guides), it came out just once a month, and it was financed entirely by my savings and a mortgage on my home..."

"... Under the Canadian Income Tax Act, there are limits on non-Canadian ownership of Canadian Newspapers. At present, the Company does not meet those limits and, if this continues beyond a specified cure period, there could be adverse effects on advertising revenue. The Company will take the necessary steps to ensure that it is in compliance before the cure period expires.. ..."

"... Under the Canadian Income Tax Act, there are limits on non-Canadian ownership of Canadian newspapers. At present, we do not meet those limits and, if this continues beyond a specified cure period, there could be adverse effects on advertising revenue. We will take the necessary steps to ensure that we are in compliance before the cure period expires. ..."

"... Although the Company believes that it has a structure in place that meets the ITA Canadian ownership rules for at least a portion of the period since June 2001, that structure may be challenged by the CRA. Should any challenge be successful, advertisers might seek compensation from the Company for any advertising costs disallowed or otherwise seek a reduction of advertising rates for certain Canadian newspaper publications ..."

• January 19, 2005 - Editor and Publisher Article - "Is a Time Bomb Buried In Hollinger's Late Filing?"

"... This could be déjà vu all over again for Chicago-based Hollinger, which this summer revealed its flagship Chicago Sun-Times had fraudulently overstated its circulation when Black crony David Radler was publisher. The paper has been sued by nearly a dozen advertisers and has put aside $27 million to settle claims for compensation. ..."

• October 27, 2005 - Globe and Mail Article - "PUBLISHER SUES HOLLINGER OVER RIVAL PAPER'S CANADIAN STATUS"

" The owner of a small weekly newspaper in Edmonton plans to sue the federal government today, alleging that Conrad Black's one-time media empire, Hollinger International Inc. , -- which owns a rival paper -- no longer qualifies as Canadian under tax rules. ..."

"... Accordingly, Vue argues that Hollinger papers should not be subject to tax provisions allowing taxpayers to deduct advertising in newspapers that are published by companies incorporated in Canada and that are at least 75% Canadian-owned. ..."

"... Under income-tax rules, advertisers can claim deductions in newspapers that are no more than 25-percent foreign-owned. Garth alleged that See Magazine is 70-percent owned by Hollinger International Inc. , which is based in the U.S. Therefore, he claimed, See 's advertisers shouldn't be allowed to deduct advertising costs as a business expense. ..."

"Action No. 0503 18023.

In the court of Queens Bench of Alberta Judicial District of Edmonton.

BETWEEN

783783 ALBERTA LTD. carrying on business as VUE WEEKLY - Plaintiff.

and

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA, THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE, SEE MAGAZINE, GREAT WEST NEWSPAPER GROUP LTD., GAZETTE PRESS LTD., JAMISON NEWSPAPERS INC., HOLLINGER CANADIAN PUBLISHING HOLDINGS CO., HOLLINGER INC., and HOLLINGER INTERNATIONAL INC. - Defendants ..."

"... A lawsuit filed in Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench yesterday is challenging the status of the Hollinger-owned newspapers that are published across Canada. In the claim, which could have a serious impact upon the manner in which newspapers are held in Canada, Vue Weekly, an independent weekly published in Edmonton, is suing a number of Hollinger affiliates for $5,000,000. ..."

• November 1, 2005 - Editor and Publisher Article - "Hollinger Tax Time Bomb Ticks Louder"

"... But this January, when Hollinger finally was able to make enough sense of it tangled finances to file its annual report for 2003 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company acknowledged that it could be on the hook for significant payments to the tax man, and to advertisers who would retroactively lose their ad deduction -- and would seek compensation from the papers. ..."

• November 3, 2005 - Excerpt - "HOLLINGER INTERNATIONAL YEAR END 10K REPORT 2004"

"... On October 27, 2005, a claim was filed in the Court of Queens Bench of Alberta by the operator of a weekly magazine in Edmonton , Alberta , Canada against the Company, certain of its subsidiaries, the Minister of National Revenue for Canada , and others. The plaintiff alleges that one of the Company's magazines made certain misrepresentations to customers regarding the magazine's ownership, resulting in damage to the plaintiff. ..."

• November 19, 2005 - Chicago Tribune Article - "LEAP INTO LORDSHIP LANDS PAPERS IN TAX TROUBLE"

"...Hollinger International still controls almost 20 weeklies in western Canada, along with a few in Ontario and Quebec. In 2004, Hollinger International's Canadian operations generated revenues of $89 million, 16 percent of the parent's total, and had $4.1 million in operating profit. Those operations are at the center of Hollinger International's latest difficulty.. ..."

 

• July 6, 2006 - (CP) - "Hollinger Inc. suing Conrad Black and others demanding over $700M"

"...The suit also alleges, among other things, that assets formerly owned directly by Hollinger Inc. - including the London Telegraph and the UniMedia and Sterling newspapers it owned in Canada - were transferred to U.S. subsidiary Hollinger International Inc. at below-market prices. ..."

 

• July 7, 2006 - Globe and Mail Article - "BLACK NAMED IN TWO HOLLINGER SUITS "

"...In 1995, Lord Black began reorganizing the Hollinger group's assets and eventually transferred nearly all of Hollinger's assets — including 26 Canadian papers and majority ownership in Britain's Telegraph PLC — into American Publishing, which was renamed Hollinger International Inc. ..."

 

• October 13, 2006 - E&P Article - "As Black Re-Embraces Canada, Lawsuit Grinds On"

"... Canadian ownership is no small matter for Canadian newspapers -- and it could have huge implications for those papers, their advertisers, and Hollinger International, which this summer changed its name to Sun-Times Media Group. The chain years ago sold the last of its Canadian and overseas papers to center its business on the Chicago Sun-Times, and dozens of other dailies and community papers in the greater Chicago market.

What makes Canadian ownership such a critical issue is Section 19 of the Canadian Income Tax Act. That rule provides that Canadian businesses that advertise in Canadian-owned newspapers and magazine can deduct the full cost of ads from their income taxes. There's no such allowance for advertising in papers deemed to be foreign-owned. ..."