TO TRY AND COVER THE UBC INTERNATIONALS LIABILITY DIRTY DOUG HAS PLACED THE COUNCIL IN TRUSTEESHIP.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
DOUGY WE HEARD YOU WENT NORTH OF THE BORDER RECENTLY TO SEE YOUR STOOGE ROWE TO DO SOME DAMAGE CONTROL
HEY DOUGY WHO THE HELL IS DAN SIVERTSON???
FOR THE RECORD DIRTY DOUG THE OLMS IS ALREADY LOOKING AT THE UBC INTERNATIONALS ACTIONS DURING THE LAST TRUSTEESHIP AND ROWES $4 MILLION HOUSE SCAM
CONSTRUCTION UNION FACES INTERNAL PROBE OVER PURCHASE OF $4 MILLION TORONTO AREA HOUSE
JEFF GRAY QUEENS AREA REPORTER
The
Carpenters’ Regional Council, one of Canada’s largest construction
unions, has been placed under the supervision of its U.S. parent
organization and will undergo an internal probe after The Globe and Mail
reported that it had quietly purchased a $4-million Toronto-area home
for the use of its top official.
The
CRC, which is based in Vaughan, Ont., and says it has 60,000 members in
30 locals across Ontario and Western Canada, is led by its executive
secretary-treasurer, Jason Rowe. It oversees hundreds of millions in
pension funds and has received millions from the federal and Ontario
governments for skills-training programs.
A
Globe investigation published last month revealed that in 2022, the
union used a numbered company that listed Mr. Rowe and his spouse − who
is also a union official − among its directors to buy a
4,400-square-foot home in Nobleton, Ont.
The
union acknowledged that the couple lived in the five-bedroom,
five-bathroom property for two years, from 2022 to 2024. The union’s
executive board was not told about the house and its intended purpose
and did not vote on the purchase, according
to a source familiar with the union’s decision, as The Globe reported.
The Globe did not name the source because they were not authorized to
speak publicly about the union’s internal matters.
Now,
according to a letter obtained by The Globe, the general president of
the Washington-headquartered United Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners of America, Douglas McCarron, has announced a “voluntary
trusteeship” for the CRC.
In
the letter, signed by Mr. McCarron and dated May 5, the long-time
American union leader says he met with the CRC’s executive board that
day “to discuss a recent article by the Globe and Mail that made
accusations concerning the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the CRC.”
The
document says the executive board, on a motion moved by Mr. Rowe and
passed “without dissent,” agreed to invite the international union in
for a voluntary trusteeship, so the U.S. parent could conduct “an
independent investigation.”
The
letter says the move cancels “all delegate meetings and elections”
while the trusteeship is in place. And it says a union official named
Dan Siverson would serve as the CRC’s supervisor.
In
a letter to the CRC’s member locals, obtained by The Globe, Mr.
Siverson says he is a 30-year member of the carpenters’ union and that
he “will supervise the investigation.” He also said he plans “on keeping
members informed on its progress as conclusions are reached.”
A
copy of the motion passed by the CRC executive, also obtained by The
Globe, is signed by eight members, including Mr. Rowe. It says the
executive members “welcome and consent” to the trusteeship and “need
independent supervision and oversight to promptly investigate the
serious allegations made against the CRC’s leadership as set forth in
The Globe and Mail article.”
It
also says the probe may also look into other matters that the
international union, known by the shortform the UBC, deems necessary.
The motion says the executive members “need the UBC to take corrective
actions to fix any problems found.”
A
spokesman for the Carpenters’ Regional Council did not respond to a
request for comment. Neither Mr. Rowe nor Mr. McCarron responded to
requests for comment on Wednesday.
In
2022, the union used a numbered company that listed Jason Rowe and his
spouse − who is also a union official − among its directors to buy this
4,400-square-foot home in Nobleton, Ont.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
The
purchase of the $4-million home for Mr. Rowe’s use was itself related
to a previous trusteeship imposed on the Ontario-based union by its
international parent.
A
numbered company, which the union says it owns, bought the property on
Nov. 11, 2022. At the time, a trusteeship had left control of the CRC
(then known as the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario) in the hands
of Mr. Rowe, who is also the international’s Canadian district
vice-president, and a small group of trustees.
Neither the CRC nor its U.S. parent have answered questions about why this previous trusteeship was imposed.
According
to a disclosure document filed with the U.S. Department of Labour, the
April, 2022, trusteeship was imposed to “correct corruption or financial
malpractice.” The document provides no details of any allegations or
what was done to address them at the time.
After
first telling The Globe that the $4-million home “was not purchased for
the use of any one person,” the union said the house was needed, on a
short-term basis, for Mr. Rowe, who lived in Manitoba before being
brought in to lead a restructuring of the Ontario-based organization.
In
an e-mailed statement last month, the union said the decision to
purchase the house “was disclosed to members of our executive board” and
“approved through our established governance processes, including
oversight under the organization’s bylaws.” But the union did not
directly answer questions on whether the executive board had voted on
the purchase, or provide details of what it says was disclosed.
The
statement also said the property was “acquired as part of a broader
strategy to strengthen the organization’s long-term financial position”
but was “also used as a short-term, employer-provided residence.”
The
property in Nobleton was transferred to the union-owned Carpenters’
Regional Council Building Corp. for $0 in May, 2024, for reasons the
union has declined to explain. It had undergone $290,000 in renovations,
according to material provided by real estate agents when the union
later listed it for sale at $3.75-million. It has since been taken off
the market, and is being rented out.
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