Canada PoliticsDisgraced theatre mogul Garth Drabinsky fighting to keep his Order of Canada
Updated at 12:45 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2013
It appears that Conrad Black isn't Canada's only white collar criminal fighting to keep his Order of Canada.
[ Related: Conrad Black loses bid to have remaining convictions dismissed ]
The Toronto Star is reporting that, at the advice of the Advisory Committee of the Order of Canada, Governor General David Johnstone signed the “Ordinance of Termination” for Garth Drabinsky — the theatre impresario whose Livent company revitalized Toronto's theatre scene in the 1990s — on November 29, 2012.
But Drabinsky — who earned the OAC in 1995 — intends to fight the ordinance.
He is applying to federal court for a judicial review, arguing he was denied a “reasonable opportunity to make full and complete representations” by the independent advisory council that determines who wins and loses the country’s top civilian honour because he was incarcerated at the time.
He hopes the panel will be ordered to reconsider his case with additional submissions — something that has never happened before according to a spokesperson for the Governor General’s office.
Drabinsky's entertainment empire crumbled in 1998 when his company went bankrupt and he was accused of defrauding investors of millions of dollars. After years of court battles, he was finally convicted for falsifying financial statements and is now in the midst of serving a 5 year sentence.
[ More Political Points : Court records detail alleged violent confrontation between Senator Patrick Brazeau and female complainant ]
According to a recent article by the Toronto Star, Drabinsky only spent 17 months in prison and is now on day parole spending every night at a halfway house in Toronto.
While he's not allowed to own a public company or manage anybody's money, the Star suggests he's already planning a comeback and is working on a remake of the 1980 horror movie The Changeling.
I guess we can expect to hear the name 'Drabinsky' in the news again and — for that matter Conrad 'Black.'
It's just like the 1990s all over again.
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