Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Thanks for correcting the record

It is noted that The Gazette has corrected the error in its headline of Aug. 18th, which stated Voyageur Foundation was soliciting through its web site.


Due to an editing error, an article published on Aug. 18 contained an incorrect website address for Voyageur, a Costa Rica-based investment foundation. The new website referred to in the article is https: //voyageurlearninggroup.com. As well, the headline on the article incorrectly said the foundation is soliciting Quebecers on the site; the article said a visitor to the password-protected site was unable to determine whether it was being used to sell investments.
The Gazette regrets the errors.
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
As The Gazette updates the record, two other corrections could be added to the list, the first regarding the newspaper's description of Voyageur as a "banned foundation." Banned by whom, and for what?

To be strictly accurate, the foundation is banned from selling securities, an activity that Voyageur Foundation states that it does not do.  Voyageur Foundation is an investors club, and represents the interests of its members in any dealings with investment companies. It does not sell investments, nor represent investment companies. 

We hope this will become clear as the AMF completes its review of Voyageur Foundation.

Secondly, the newspaper could correct its statement that the AMF "is conducting an investigation into the foundation's activities to determine whether it is a Ponzi scheme." The cease-trade order against Voyageur Foundation, its founder and three of its members, does not state there is an investigation of Voyageur to determine if it is a Ponzi scheme. The Gazette may need to review its sources and document further when it alleges that Voyageur Foundation is being investigated as a Ponzi.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Voyageur Web Informs and Supports Members

Voyageur Foundation is in the Montreal news again, this time because of an international web site it has set up to inform members affected by the ongoing default of Eiger Capital Corp, the former majority owner of Merendon Mining Ltd. Corp.

The Montreal Gazette admits that it isn't sure whether the site is being use to sell investments or not, because apparently no one has actually entered the password-protected site to read the content. But this didn't stop the newspaper from running the Aug. 18th headline: "Banned foundation 'still soliciting Quebecers' through new website."

Side note to Gazette Editor: please read the email from AMF spokesperson Caty Beausejour again. She is quoted in your newspaper as writing: "If it appears that Voyageur Foundation .....[is] still soliciting Quebecers..."  
In fact, she uses that important "if" word several times in the quotes recorded by your reporter, "if" being a conditional statement, not a declared accusation.

So the question is - is Voyageur Foundation selling investments through its web site?

The answer is no: Voyageur Foundation is not selling investments through its web site. 

To clear up that point of doubt and for the public record, Voyageur Foundation has a short statement concerning its web site:

"Voyageur Foundation’s private web site is strictly to inform and support its members. The information it contains is not for solicitation or promotion of investments."