Owned and operated by Lorne and Heather Rye, Brown & Ward has been in business since 1938. The company will continue to operate with the same friendly staff from the same historic location at 5024 – 51 Street under the Western Financial Group banner.

“The only difference our customers will see is access to a wider variety of products and services at very competitive prices,” said Lorne Rye. “This move means we’re joining a strong network with an excellent offering, including financial services such as banking.”

“We’re very happy to welcome Lorne and Heather and their team to our growing Western network,” said Scott Tannas, President and CEO of Western Financial Group. “We’re looking forward to rolling out a greater variety of services to our residential and commercial clients in and around Lacombe and we are truly excited to be a part of this thriving community. To me, Lacombe’s proud heritage and brilliant future are as good an example as you can find of the true Alberta spirit. It is an honour to see Western’s name grace the lovely old building on 51 Street, and you can count on us to be good neighbours as we grow in step with the city.”

Grant Thornton Limited has been appointed by the court as liquidator.

“The company faced unique challenges, business risks and insufficient capital to ensure long-term viability, which caused it ultimately to seek court protection,” said a statement from Grant Thornton.

“We will be focused on arranging the transfer of the policies to another life insurance company expeditiously in order to ensure the policyholders continue to be served seamlessly.  In the interim, operations of Union of Canada Life will continue from its head office in Ottawa”, said Michael Creber, the Grant Thornton partner in charge of the liquidation.

Union of Canada Life, incorporated in Ontario, services approximately 22,000 policies across Canada with most policies being in Quebec.

The Liquidator will be working closely with Assuris, the not for profit organization that protects Canadian policyholders in the event their life insurance company fails.  In general, during the transition period, policies will continue and benefits will be paid.  It is also anticipated that the policyholders will suffer no loss of benefits.

“However, if full recovery of policyholders’ benefits is not achieved in the transfer process, Assuris is committed to providing its protection to all policyholders” said Gordon Dunning, President and CEO of Assuris.

“Union of Canada Life was faced with unique challenges that caused the company to seek court protection,” Dunning added. “Our analysis indicates this company had extremely high strategic, market and operational risks and insufficient capital to ensure the long-term viability of the company in a low interest rate environment.”

“The Canadian life insurance industry is very stable,” Dunning said, “and Canada has one of the best regulatory systems monitoring financial institutions. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has been closely monitoring Union of Canada Life and has kept Assuris fully informed of all developments.” He added, “Assuris and FSCO’s priority has been, and continues to be, the protection of policyholders.”

All policyholders will be receiving a letter directly from the Liquidator on how their respective benefits are protected.  Other parties affected by the liquidation order will also be receiving a separate letter.  In the interim, policyholders are advised to continue paying their premiums as usual in order to ensure there is no interruption in their insurance coverage.

Policyholders with questions can visit www.GrantThornton.ca/Union_Canada_Life, call the Liquidator Information Centre at 1-855-390-4200 or email the Liquidator at Union_Canada_Info@ca.gt.com.

Flaherty made clear that changes are coming to the Old Age Security program that pays an average $500 a month to lower-income Canadians upon turning 65, and that he will outline the government’s thinking in the upcoming budget.

“This is not an issue that can be ignored unless we want to put at risk the fiscal track of the country, which would be a mistake,” he told reporters Thursday on a conference call from Tel Aviv, where he has been visiting for most of the week.

“The research we have, both within and outside government, has shown us for some time that the demographic challenge will bring substantial pressure on the long-term sustainability of these programs.”

The opposition parties and some experts have been critical of the government for presenting the issue as a clear-cut case of unsustainability.

Ottawa estimates the cost of OAS will rise from $36 billion in 2010 to $108 billion in 2030, while the number of taxpayers for every senior declines from four-to-one to two-to-one.

But as a slice of gross domestic product, or the size of the economy, OAS remains tiny fraction. It will only increase from the current 1.8 per cent to 2.5 per cent in 20 years. Adding in the Guaranteed Income Supplement that goes to the poorest of Canadians brings the total cost to 3.2 per cent of GDP in 2030.

An analysis commissioned by the government also concluded that Canada does not face a major affordability problem with public pension schemes, adding that there is “no pressing financial or fiscal need” to raise the age of eligibility.

New Democrats said they would ask the Commons to reject cutbacks to OAS.

“Advice commissioned by the Harper government contradicts these very claims. It’s time for the government to back down from this wrong-headed move,” said seniors critic Irene Mathyssen in a release to the media.

Flaherty agreed that the changes are for the long term and do not impact on the government’s current deficit, which is slated to decline rapidly each of the next three years to a balanced position.

He reiterates that any measures in this year’s budget, which is expected in March, will not impact anyone currently receiving OAS or about to start receiving the benefits.

It remains unclear whether the government plans to announce a review of the programs or announce specific changes to OAS in the upcoming budget.

Flaherty said he would not reveal what is in the budget, but has previously called the budgetary item on pensions a “review.”

In another key measure of the budget – cutbacks to spending – Flaherty said the special committee of the Treasury had concluded its work on the three-year austerity program announced last year and that Finance officials are studying the recommendation.

In the 2011 budget, Flaherty said the government was looking to cut at least $4 billion from departmental discretionary spending in the next three years, but Treasury Board President Tony Clement has suggested cuts could total $8 billion.

This estimate is based on a proprietary analysis that considers characteristics unique to this year’s event including the participating teams, host community attributes, national economic conditions, corporate and other ancillary activities, and other factors.

This year’s event is estimated to generate a level of spending comparable to recent Super Bowls in destinations such as Tampa in 2009 and South Florida in 2010, as the following “direct visitor spending” chart illustrates:

Super Bowl Direct Visitor Spending. (PRNewsFoto/PwC) Click to enlarge.

“To successfully host the Super Bowl, a destination must not only be capable of providing quality venues, hotels, restaurants, transportation, and entertainment, but must also be willing to invest in security, special events, recruitment and volunteer training as well as clean-up and sanitation.  Indianapolis has a history of strong commitment by its leaders to create and sustain a tourism industry based largely on major sporting events and conventions,” said Robert Canton, director, sports and tourism sector, PwC US.

Hosting the Super Bowl in Indianapolis presents an opportunity for the surrounding region to experience the game’s related events and generate a notable level of economic impact on the host community.  The city is located within driving distance of many major markets, enabling event organizers to extend their reach and increase visitor levels to activities such as the NFL Experience and Super Bowl Village.

“With a newly renovated convention center, a concentration of quality hotels downtown, and a great history of hosting events like the Indy 500 and several NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship Final Four games, Indianapolis has shown it is an ideal location to host major sporting events,” noted Canton.

Employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers using the same eight criteria as the national competition: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

2012 WINNERS (in alphabetical order):

Click below to read why each employer was selected:

Access Communications Co-operative Ltd.
Cameco Corporation
Co-operators Life Insurance Company
Group Medical Services / GMS
Information Services Corporation / ISC
ISM Canada
Magna Electric Corporation
Prince Albert Parkland Health Region
Ranch Ehrlo Society
Regina Police Service
Saskatchewan Government Insurance
Saskatoon Health Region
Saskatoon, City of
SaskEnergy Incorporated
SaskPower
SaskTel
Solvera Solutions
University of Regina
University of Saskatchewan
Workers’ Compensation Board of Saskatchewan

You might also be interested in: Canada’s top 100 employers for 2012 

Odd Super Bowl Bets

The Super Bowl always brings out the crazy side of humanity, and to add to the absurdity, bookmakers have conceived some pretty creative prop bets regarding this year’s big game.  The following is a list of scenarios that people can actually bet on.  We couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.

1)      Will Kelly Clarkson’s bare belly be showing when she sings the national anthem?

2)      How many aircraft will fly over during the national anthem?

3)      What color will Madonna’s hair be when she begins the halftime show?

4)      Will Madonna be wearing fishnet stockings?

5)      How many times will Peyton Manning be shown during the broadcast?

6)      Which Manning will be shown first, Archie or Peyton?

7)      Will play-by-play announcer Al Michaels say the word ‘miracle’ any time in the first quarter?

8)      Will Al Michaels or color analyst Chris Collinsworth say ‘Tebow’ at any time in the first quarter?

9)      Will the winning coach get a sports drink bath on the field before regulation time ends?

10)   If Tom Brady’s son is shown on TV, will he be wearing a Tom Brady jersey?

You may also be interested in Strange Facts about the Super Bowl

“Given our recent financial performance and general economic conditions, we have taken proactive steps to adjust and add more rigor to our performance pay plan,” Adam Grossman, ICBC’s Senior Media Relations Advisor told ILSTV in an email.

Radio station CKNW reports that a memo sent to ICBC employees says full bonuses will only be paid if the company meets its 2011 target of $217 million profit.

In the first nine months of 2011, ICBC reported net income of $52 million, down from $331 million from the same time period in 2010.

Grossman said “If there is a performance plan payout for 2011, the greatest reductions in payout will apply to our CEO and members of the Executive.”

The memo to staff, according to CKNW, states if there’s a net loss, there will be no bonuses. If profits only reach $35 million, there will be no payout for the CEO or executives, and profits between $35 million and$ 217 million will mean discounted bonuses.

In 2009, staged accidents caused more than $3 million in fraudulent insurance claims in the Greater Toronto Area alone. While police have been proactive in dismantling some of the organized crime rings that stage accidents, the sophistication of some groups makes it a daunting task.

Now, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN) are sponsoring training so police officers across the country can learn more about staged accidents.

“Insurance fraud is a serious problem right across Canada and we all pay for it in the form of increased premiums.  In terms of staged collisions, at times, innocent drivers are drawn into these dangerous situations and we hope this initiative will help police deal with the crime,” says Rick Dubin, Vice-President, Investigative Services, IBC. “The more informed police officers are on this issue, the more we can disrupt and disable these types of criminal operations.”

Ontario’s insurance industry, which has been hit the hardest, has initiated measures to counteract auto-related fraud.  In addition to recent reforms that have been put into place by the Ontario government to tighten auto insurance loopholes, IBC partnered with York Regional Police to develop online training to educate frontline officers on how to identify and investigate staged collisions. Identifying Staged Collisions is a 45-minute online course that uses videos to illustrate common types of staged collision scenarios and provides information on the various signs, indicators and behaviours that may characterize a staged collision.  It also describes investigation techniques police can use after a collision that is concerning.

“More and more, our officers are called out to suspect collision scenes,” says Sergeant Tony Cummins, York Regional Police Training and Education Bureau. “In cooperation with IBC experts, we’ve developed this course to address a growing problem in our region. But it also provides practical information that any responding officer, in any part of the country, can use to recognize and investigate a staged collision.”

“This course is just one line of defence against a litany of organized insurance scams,” adds Dubin. “But we believe that making it accessible to a national police audience will significantly improve the detection and conviction of fraudsters.”

You might also be interested in: How to avoid staged accidents

Employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers using the same eight criteria as the national competition: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

2012 WINNERS (in alphabetical order):

Click below to read why each employer was selected!

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
Agrium Inc.
Alberta Blue Cross
Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan
Alberta Utilities Commission
Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc.
AltaGas Ltd.
ATB Financial
Athabasca University
Bayer CropScience Canada Inc.
Bennett Jones LLP
Bethany Care Society
Big Rock Brewery Inc.
BioWare ULC
Bonavista Energy Corporation
Calgary Airport Authority, The
Calgary Laboratory Services
Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1
Carewest
Cognera Corp.
Collins Barrow Calgary LLP
Edmonton Regional Airports Authority
Enbridge Inc.
Encana Corporation
Enerflex Ltd.
ENMAX Corporation
EPCOR Utilities Inc.
First Calgary Financial Credit Union Ltd.
Golder Associates Ltd.
Graham Group Ltd.
Keyera Corporation
Lethbridge, City of
Matrix Solutions Inc.
Medicine Hat, City of
MEGlobal Canada Inc.
National Energy Board
Newalta Corporation
Nexen Inc.
North American Construction Group Inc.
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, The / NAIT
PCL Constructors Inc.
RedPoint Media Group Inc.
Rogers Insurance Ltd.
Shell Canada Limited
SMART Technologies Inc.
Stantec Consulting Ltd.
Suncor Energy Inc.
Syncrude Canada Ltd.
TAQA North Ltd.
TransCanada Corporation
Trican Well Service Ltd.
University of Alberta
Upside Software Inc.
WestJet Airlines Ltd.
Williams Engineering Canada Inc.

You might also be interested in: Canada’s top 100 employers for 2012 

The force’s Integrated Riot Investigation Team (IRIT) is still looking to find – and potentially charge – hundreds of citizens for their involvement in the June 15, 2011 riot following the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver.

With the launch of the new website – riot211.vpd.ca – more than 350 photographs are on display for identification.

“I can tell you that most of the suspects’ images are alleged to have committed at least a break-and-entering and participating in a riot,” said Inspector Yeo.

Yeo said the new site will provide more capacity and versatility for investigators and improved navigation for visitors, but the public’s help is greatly needed.

“That night, many of you saw acts of bravery and courage by Good Samaritans. Robert MacKay was one of those people,” Yeo said.

“Despite viewing thousands of hours of video, and hundreds of criminal acts, investigators were sickened as they watched Robert MacKay being swarmed, beaten and pepper-sprayed while he lay on the ground.”

Three of those most recent charges by the Crown are alleged to be involved in the assault on MacKay.

“I’m asking for the public’s help in identifying these six rioters. Look closely at the video,” Yeo said. “They may be your co-workers, your neighbour or your classmate.”

We need your help in bringing them to justice for their cowardly and gutless attack.

If you recognize a suspected rioter contact the VPD:

-  by email at riot@vpd.ca

-  leave a message at 604-717-9999, or

-  Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477

On January 31, Crown approved 11 charges against five rioters:  Bedow, Garcia and Wise have been charged with the assault on Robert Mackay.

1) Tanner Bedow

• 25 year old Surrey resident

• Court file # 223530-1-V

• Approved charges:

-  participating in a riot

-  break and enter

-  assault

2) Armando Garcia

• 19 year old Surrey resident

• Court file # 223530-1-V

• Approved charges:

-  participating in a riot

-  assault

3) Brandon Wise

• 18 year old Surrey resident

• Court file # 223530-1-V

• Approved charges:

-  participating in a riot

-  assault

4) Name Withheld (Young Offender)

• 17 year old Langley resident

• Approved charges:

-  participating in a riot

-  break and enter

5) Eric Hodson

• 18 year old Surrey resident

• Court file # 223532-1-V

• Approved charges:

-  participating in a riot

-  mischief

You might also be interested in: ICBC’s facial recognition technology to help police ID rioters 

Mondial Assistance Canada is a subsidiary of Allianz Global Assistance, an international leader in assistance and insurance services with operation centres in 28 countries, which in turn has been part of the Allianz Group for more than ten years.

According to Canadian CEO Scott McKellar, this rebranding will bring both enhanced brand recognition and business opportunities.

“Our company in Canada has been supporting Canadian travelers with value-added assistance services for over 24 years. We became a member of the Allianz Group 10 years ago, and have grown considerably as a result; this growth has positioned us as a true single source for specialty insurance and assistance products to the Canadian market,”Mr. McKellar said.

“We’re now excited to adopt the Allianz Global Assistance name in Canada as we continue to enrich, and care for, the brands of our partners. Taking on this globally recognized brand will exemplify strength and stability and provide our client with a sense of security, as they will be accompanied by one of the world’s leading insurance companies.”

View the video here on your mobile device.

Or are you this person?

Office Etiquette Course from ILScorp and Dynamic Leadership

Through humorous segments this online course helps employees understand what is expected from them in the workplace and how to display appropriate behaviour at all times.

It may seem like common sense, but to many it is not. Topics Include:

• Dressing for success
• Customer service
• Teamwork
• Respect
• Company property
• What not to do

If you want to enhance your reputation and advance your career, take ILScorp’s Office Etiquette online course today for just $29.

Receiving the most votes – and the grand prize of $4,000 to be put toward a dry graduation celebration – was “One Way” from George Elliot Secondary School in Oyama, BC.

Second place – and $2,000 towards a dry grad celebration – went to Hugh McRoberts Secondary School in Richmond, BC for its submission called “It Could Be You”.

With its entry of “The Choice Is Yours”, New Westminster Secondary School takes home third place and $1,000.

In BC, based on a five-year average of police-reported incidents (the latest data available), 16- to 25-year-olds account for the highest number of the province’s impaired drivers each year. The latest B.C. Traffic Collision Statistics report indicates teen drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 years account for the second-highest number of all alcohol-related crashes, behind those 21- to 25-years old.

“We want to empower teens to make responsible driving choices and encourage them to support one another,” says Tim Condon, BCAA President and CEO. “By providing young people a platform to speak to their peers, we’re hoping the message that alcohol, drugs and driving don’t mix, resonates amongst teens and, any adults for that matter, who watch these powerful videos.”

The friendly takeover offer will be open until Feb. 29. It had been set to expire Jan. 31.

The group says it will continue to extend the deadline until it receives a verdict from provincial and federal regulators, which are reviewing how the deal to amalgamate trading and clearing platforms would affect Canada’s capital markets.

“We always said we would table an offer to investors once we’ve met certain conditions, chief among them being regulatory approval,” said spokesman Peter Block.

“So we’re not making investors bet that we will get regulatory approval or we won’t.”

Maple has made numerous submissions to regulators in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as the federal Competition Bureau in an effort to get approvals for a deal that values the TMX Group (TSX:X) at $3.8 billion.

As part of its bid, Maple plans to buy all of Alpha Trading, an alternative trading system owned by the major players in the Canadian securities industry including the big banks, and CDS Inc., a clearing and depository firm, and add them to TMX Group.

Some smaller investment firms have complained the big brokerages owned by Maple members could receive preferential treatment if the deal goes through and regulators are looking at whether to approve an enlarged TMX.

The Maple group has also tabled two new proposals that it believes will help alleviate some of the concerns, including the CDS pricing model and proposed remedies to address concerns regarding equities trading, Block said Tuesday.

“(The proposals were tabled) with the idea that these two key pieces will address the concerns expressed by the regulators and market participants,” Block said.

The terms of those proposals are not yet being made public.

CDS Inc. is a little-known but central part of Canada’s stock and securities trading. Among other things, it manages the transactions required to complete purchases and sales of securities on Canada’s public markets.

It also manages a number of national databases on behalf of the provincial securities regulators, including the SEDAR repository for regulatory filings by publicly traded companies.

The investors in the Maple Group include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, several of the big banks and Manulife.

The Maple Group was formed after TMX Group announced early last year that it wanted to merge with the company that owns the London and Milan stock exchanges, creating a transatlantic organization with special strength in mining.

That deal fell apart, however, after the TMX failed to get sufficient support from its shareholders.

To date, nearly 8.5 million Mustangs have been sold in the United States, but more than 600,000 of those have been stolen.

The US-based National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is looking at the Ford Mustang in its Hot Wheels Classics report.

NICB reviewed Mustang theft data from 1964-2011 and identified 611,093 theft records. Although data for all years is available, confidence in pre-1981 records is low due to the inconsistency in reporting protocols and vehicle identification number (VIN) systems in use prior to 1981.

Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration required VIN standardization beginning with the 1981 model year, that year is the oldest reliable data used in this report, NICB says.  Data prior to 1981 is provided for information only.

Overall, from 1981 through 2011, a total of 411,155 Mustangs were reported stolen. The most thefts occurred in 1981 (20,708) and the fewest in 2011 (4,347).

Thefts vs. Sales

During the 30-year period from 1981-2011, a total of 4,110,110 Mustangs were sold in the United States.  However, over the Mustang’s entire lifespan through the end of 2011, a total of 8,450,741 units have been sold in the United States.  The single year with the most U.S. sales was 1966 with 549,436. Conversely, 2009 logged the fewest Mustang sales reaching only 66,623 units.*

The following graph shows the top 10 most stolen Mustang model years for the period 2001-2011. Overall, a total of 91,152 Mustangs were stolen during this time frame; the top 10 listed below accounts for 45,421 thefts or 50 percent of all thefts during that period.

The NICB once helped reunite a stolen Shelby GT-350 with its owner … 25 years later. In 1982, a Mustang owned by a young Marine stationed at Cherry Point, North Carolina, was stolen.  This was no ordinary Mustang; it was a 1965 Shelby GT-350.  The Marine soon deployed and never saw that car again—until 2007 when an NICB agent contacted him with news that his Mustang was located in Maryland.

In the intervening years since it was stolen, the Mustang’s true identity — its VIN — had been painstakingly altered and matched with a fraudulent title.  It was then sold to an unsuspecting buyer who eventually put a new $12,000 Shelby engine in it.

The duped owner was contacted in 2007 by the Maryland State Police and an NICB special agent asking to inspect his Shelby.  As you can imagine, he was absolutely dazed when they informed him that his prized possession was, in fact, stolen property.

That young Marine from 1982—now a professional airline pilot—was overjoyed when he was notified that his dream car had been recovered and was in excellent condition.  And, in a classy gesture of goodwill—he was not legally required to do so—the pilot gave the former owner a check for $12,000 for the engine.

Watch the video of this reunion from NICB:

You might also be interested in: Top 10 stolen vehicles in the United States in 2010 

Leroux was elected Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group on March 15, 2008, and officially took office on March 29, 2008. On March 31, 2012 she will begin her second and last mandate, which will end in March 2016.

Leroux had announced her intention to renew her mandate in a communication transmitted on January 19 to the members of the Board of Directors and the members of the Election Committee of Desjardins Group.

“I am undertaking my second term with the support of the Board of Directors and all the elected officers, and together we will continue making progress on many projects already underway, in particular the Co-opme Education and Cooperation Program which we launched in 2011,” said Leroux. Co-opme is a group of concrete actions promoting personal commitment, education, responsible finance management, and recognition for cooperatives and cooperation. “We will be strengthening the role of Fondation Desjardins, revitalizing the Desjardins Cooperative Institute, and focusing particular attention on the development of individuals—our greatest asset,” added Leroux.

Desjardins Group is a leading cooperative financial group in Canada with assets of nearly $190 billion. Drawing on the strength of its caisse network in Québec and Ontario, and its subsidiaries across Canada, it offers a full range of financial products and services to its 5.8 million members and clients. Desjardins specializes in Wealth Management and Life and Health Insurance, in Property and Casualty Insurance, in Personal Services, in Business and Institutional Services.

Jules Giasson has been named branch manager for the Winnipeg, Brandon, Regina and Saskatoon offices. Giasson joined Crawford last year from a management role with TEIG in Calgary and has been working closely on management, customer and employee recruitment initiatives.

Randy LaBrash has been appointed as director, GTS in western Canada. LaBrash will focus primarily on commercial large loss file handling within the region, as well as assume responsibility for growing the GTS product line in western Canada, both in terms of claims and personnel recruitment and advancement.

Shelley Upton-Landry has joined the company as director of operations for the Atlantic region. Upton-Landry is a bilingual claims insurance professional who has worked as a telephone and road adjuster and held various roles such as team lead and director of claims. She also has managed corporate services, including administration and information technology.

“Jules, Randy and Shelley bring a great deal of experience, knowledge and passion to their new roles in our organization,” said John Sharoun, chief executive officer of Crawford & Company (Canada) in a statement. “We are looking forward to the leadership they will provide to our claims and GTS operations.”

View the video here on your mobile device.

Narrator: He spent 27 years as an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and now Christopher Giovino is in charge of the Forensic Analysis practice with Dempsey Partners, a risk management consulting and investigative firm based in the United States. He explains to ILSTV how the skills he learned in the DEA transfer to his role in the public sector.

Christopher Giovino: The back story of what I used to do for a living was a combination of a lot of undercover work; anti-money laundering work; recently fighting narco terrorism, especially down in South America and over in South West Asia and over in the Middle East, vis-a-vis either heroin or cocaine trafficking, and the movement of dollars, Euros, gold.

And just down and dirty investigative skills. As you come up as a new agent, if you are paying attention at all and you are working with the right people. And for me, working with the right people was actually working with New York City police officers, or LA County people. I mean people who typically most agents will not work with, you learn a lot. You become a better agent, a better investigator for it.

It’s a vastly different set of skills most people have. It’s a combination of skills and I think perspectives, and contacts. DEA in our country, the US, is really the only law enforcement agency that is technically allowed to work overseas. And when I say ‘work’ I mean operationally. The FBI is outside the US but they are collecting information and evidence. They’re creating liaisons wherever they go, they’re doing a really, really good job. But DEA agents are actually working undercover, doing surveillances, jumping out of helicopters, hitting the jungles, developing informants and contacts.

That line of contacts is really important in my business as I work globally. It’s ultra important up here in Canada. When I find the need to reach out for a strong law enforcement partner on behalf of my client, that might be someone from Vancouver PD, or from the Ontario Provincial Police, or Quebec. You really need to know who to call and that’s a skill set most people don’t have. My clients find that amazing. They typically pick up the phone and call the wrong agency and then they pay for it later.

There’s a work ethic most people don’t recognize and I think it’s shared universally by most federal agencies; the Mounties for you would be the closest thing, and that is the need to work until the job is done. It’s a salaried position. You don’t get paid by the hour. If you work ten days in a row, three weeks in a row, thirty hours in a row, it doesn’t matter. You go home when you are done. You don’t go home at the end of eight hours. It doesn’t happen. If you are not ready for that, then get out.

I think as you cross over into the private sector you know it’s not really required, but you can’t change. I can’t change, and the expectations I have of my people, they’re not very happy with but  I expect the same out of them.