We have been busy for the past few days, working on various projects pertaining to a subject that is directly relatable to our ongoing expose documentary about fraud by usury, or loan sharking, as was committed by the brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station, and an abuse of public trust undertaken by detectives of the South Simcoe Police Service who were somehow motivated by the multi-million-dollar brokers or their multi-billion-dollar allies to omit key evidence that proves conclusively that the wealthy and influential small town business owners committed the indictable offence of usury that brings with it a prison term of up to five years.

It is obvious why neither The Mortgage Station nor the South Simcoe Police Service has contested any of our allegations, nor challenged our evidence in any court.

Homelessness is attributable in many cases to mortgage fraud and breaches of financing laws, which are being covering as part of our expose documentary through a story that is related directly to the crimes and ethical breaches of trust committed by David Flude, Renee Dadswell, and Lisa Purchase, the brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station, and their allies W. Mark Squire, President and Chief Operating Officer, Verico Financial Group Inc. and Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher, Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales of HomeEquity Bank.

In Barrie, the mayor and council have declared open war on the 500 or so people who, due mostly to no fault of their own, are surviving without shelter, yet they are ignoring the causes and all viable solutions.

On Saturday, we recorded a province-wide demonstration to end homelessness that ran simultaneously in multiple cities. Through it, we further developed a network of connections across the province, and even the nation, while establishing friendships with passionate people and groups who are eager to help tell our story through demonstrations and other media and public-awareness oriented actions. Demonstrations pertaining to the loan sharking and other ethical breaches undertaken by the brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station, and their allies at Verico Financial Group Inc., and HomeEquity Bank will occur without notice at their offices.

Our frequent posts on the issue have attracted a lot of attention, with hundreds of shares, likes, and comments, which are making our page a central point of contact for many activists.

On May 21, 2024, we released a video about how the mayor and council of Barrie tried to sidestep the rights of the homeless through eviction notices to those in the homeless community. We also showed how the action contravened a 2023 ruling of the Superior Court of Justice that granted those without permanent shelter to remain in encampments on public property. That video was recorded on May 6, 2024, at which time we were observed by City of Barrie staff to be on the property with our broadcast quality video cameras and recording equipment.

Within 24 hours of our being at the encampment, the City of Barrie back pedalled on the threatened action.

That knee jerk decision to flip flop on the policy was caused by fear of public exposure, which our crew and activists had generated by revealing the illegal nature of the threatened eviction. Then, on May 23, 2024, we 'crashed' a 'friendly-media-only' press conference to which we were not invited, through which our mayor announced new 'safety' measures for downtown Barrie that would inhibit and violate the rights of the homeless. The new plan included blocking the homeless population from the downtown library under the absurd and blatantly biased claim that they are 'a danger to children'. On Saturday, May 25, we covered the multi-city protest in support of the homeless community, and on Tuesday, May 28, we are doing likewise at a large province-wide demonstration at Queen's Park in support of Safe Consumption Sites.

As investigative journalists, we expose the wrong doings of corrupt and abusive politicians, whose job is to represent us, all of us, and not just focus on their own personal beliefs or benefits.

We have no doubt that David Flude will use these assignments as examples of how our Producer , who under the previous council was nominated for and voted to the highest levels for an award for altruism, is nothing but an agitator. That is, after all, what he claimed from the shadows to another potential client before being slapped down by her for being a repetitive liar. Although mainstream corporate media in Canada has lost the passion for their work, choosing profits over integrity, it is the job of journalists and documentary producers to expose the wrongs of our society for all to see. Watergate would never have been made public if not for investigative journalists, and most of what we know about Donald Trump would have remained locked away from the public eye. In fact, if not for the work of true journalists, the disgraced former President would not now be subject to prosecution through the trial in New York.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was created to ensure our unquestionable ability to live safe from abuses by both government bodies and wealthy corporations, and it applies equally to everybody.

For some reason, David Flude, his fellow brokers, and their allies at Verico Financial Group Inc. and HomeEquity Bank seem to believe that the team that will take on corruption and abuse of power at City Hall will simply fold to vacuous threats of civil action that they have proven they are too afraid to file with any court. From their ongoing 'research' of our various websites as undertaken during the past few weeks, it seems obvious that the multi-million-dollar loan shark brokers who we have been reporting about for almost two years without contest and their multi-billion-dollar allies are starting to get the message that they cannot hide forever and that every day more people are learning the truth of their actions. They also seem to be getting the message that if we will challenge and win against abusive police officers, public corruption, abuse of electoral power, and other potentially dangerous issues, what chance do they have of deterring our desire to expose their crimes to the public? For those who do not know our true reputation as journalists, we were the subject of three drive by shootings at our studio because we stood up to rabid anti-vaxxers, and we ended it by our Producer challenging the cowardly gunman to come to our studio to discuss his issues, and he even offered that the shooter could bring his rifle with them if they needed the support.

Simply put, we don't blink, and we don't yield, which is characteristic of good journalists.

We know how many are finding our reports and videos, and how many have moved on to other financing options after they learn the truth about the loan sharking and defrauding of seniors and veterans by brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station. Since day one of our reporting, we have asked for NOTHING from the brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station and/or their allies at Verico Financial Group Inc. and HomeEquity Bank other than to sit down for a civilized on-camera interview at which time they could validate their handling of our allegations, and possibly even end this expose documentary. Instead, David Flude lied six times in two emails (1) (2) so he could evade investigation by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), and W. Mark Squire, President and Chief Operating Officer, Verico Financial Group Inc. and Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher, Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales of HomeEquity Bank chose to ignore our concerns. Then, without explanation, the head of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), who was initially open to being interviewed, suddenly flip flopped without explanation, refusing to discuss publicly the crimes and ethical abuses of the multi-million and multi-billion-dollar corporations.

The government watchdog was willing at first, and wanted to schedule the interview, but then they about faced without explaining what 'motivated' their sudden decision to withdraw from public scrutiny.

We also asked the lenders to do their own research and to consider the character of those telling this story. On one side you have a team that is dedicated to their community in which they actively help and support every benevolent group that comes to them for assistance. On the other, you have trusted brokers who have all admitted to committing fraud by usury against a senior and veteran, then lied six times in two emails (1) (2) to evade investigation by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), then hid for 18 months to evade having to answer for their actions, then 'motivated' an officer of the local South Simcoe Police Service to omit evidence and falsify calculations, and then 'threatened' our producer and specifically our twenty-something-year-old interns and apprentices with an unscrupulous Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) lawsuit through a lame, legally unsupported, do-it-yourself allegation of libel that we so fully debunked, the anonymous writer representing the interests of the multi-million and multi-billion-dollar corporations lost the courage to file the claim in any court throughout the past seventy days.

The management team of Verico Financial Group Inc. and board of directors of HomeEquity Bank chose profit over principals, and sided with the loan sharks, apparently believing we would just go away.

We have been very open about how we have exposed multiple crimes committed by influential and well-connected businesspeople and the wealthy. In each and every case, those who thought they were above the law refused to consider that our reporting would have any affect. They refused to explain their breaches of the law of their ethics, and they stupidly all, 100% of them, crashed and burned as a result of our ongoing exposure, their arrogance, and public exposure.

1. In 2008, our Producer learned through his father, a retired CRA auditor, that his former employer, Mustang Investigations, had defrauded his family and hundreds of others through breaches of employment and tax laws. The multi-million-dollar company responded by hiring lawyers to try to scare away the man they had defrauded with threats of a lawsuit valued at half a million dollars. The abusive litigants were not ready for a fight, and despite hiring nine lawyers from three Bay Street law firms, including a convicted felon and ex-convict turned lawyer, and using some sketchy tactics to sway the court which all backfired, the family-owned company lost every motion of significance when argued against the self-represented litigant because the evidence proved they were lying. After spending $400,000.00 in legal fees and losing $500,000.00 in business due to our Producer's ongoing exposure, the abusers begged the court to be released from their own action, to which the Honourable Justice Paul M. Perell noted: "Mustang moved for leave to discontinue the proceedings. Ironside, acting on his own behalf, opposed the motion on the ground that he required his day in court in order to vindicate his reputation." The company went broke, and they lost the massive Victorian home and office that would be worth millions on the current market. The disgraced and ostracized owner is now running a dog rescue while her sons are tending bar somewhere in Toronto.
2. In 2012, our Producer was arrested on dubious grounds by a corrupt detective of the Barrie Police Service after the internationally experienced journalist published a story detailing how a prominent local politician had abused his position to help two friends skim $60,000.00 from the public coffers by pretending to be part of a local not-for-profit. our Producer refused to sign a 'conditional discharge' regardless of how many times the detective tried to coerce him to do so, and he forced the allegations to trial. Once in front of a judge, all charges were dismissed as violations of the journalist's rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The abusing company went bust, and the two disgraced owners were forced to seek work in other industries. The detective was last seen in uniform, without a side arm, working in the evidence room, which is hardly a sign of upward advancement within the department.
3. Then there was the 'untouchable' landlord who was getting away with defrauding approximately 20 single mothers by renting to all of them the same apartment. The Barrie Police Service claimed the crime was a civil matter, at least until we released the story. We are told the end result was about 15 charges of fraud, and our report and video helped several of the mothers to find alternative housing.
4. Then our Producer obtained a lifetime order of vexatious litigation against a serial litigant who had sued dozens of people, businesses, and at least one charity. By his own written admission, the twice judged defamatory libelist used the courts and the Internet in an extortive manner, knowing it was cheaper for his targets to pay him a 'settlement' than fight him through the services of a lawyer, while he evaded costs because he 'rode Welfare', which was his term, not ours.
5. Finally, in 2022, we published the story of Bear, a good man who was dependent upon Disability, who died suddenly during the coldest days of February after being found in a rented frozen summer trailer that had no insulation other than what had been donated by concerned neighbours, and virtually no heat. our Producer led a campaign against the slumlord that resulted in a failed threat of litigation and the forced sale of the house by the slumlord who simply could not show his face in Barrie anymore.

For some reason, David Flude, Renee Dadswell, and Lisa Purchase, the brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station, and their allies W. Mark Squire, President and Chief Operating Officer, Verico Financial Group Inc. and Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher, Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales of HomeEquity Bank, appear to believe that because they are backed by millions or billions of dollars, they are untouchable, and will not be affected by public opinion.

They are apparently oblivious to the fact that the services they sell are purchased solely by the same general public, and that people often choose not to deal with loan sharks who defraud seniors and veterans.

The examples above should demonstrate that nobody is so perfectly shielded that they can bury their own crimes and abuses of ethics, especially when somebody with our experience, technology, and proven tenacity are determined to expose them for who they really are. The mayor of Barrie was smart enough to know who we are and that we do not fear reprisals from his office. By reversing his decision he saved face and even convinced some of the electorate that what he was saying was true. It is a well-established public fact that every single person, corporation, lawyer, or government entity that has chosen to challenge us, ignore our reporting, or hide from their accountability, has paid the price to the fullest extent through self-inflicted public humiliation.

The reason why the mayor and council will not take action to silence us is obvious, as every attempt to do so, through abuses of the civil or criminal courts, has ended badly for the abuser, who essentially lost it all.

Now, across Canada, our story is being found by families and individuals seeking financing for a mortgage, and in more cases than would make any of these corporations comfortable, they are finding our reports and videos. It does not take much reading, about one to two minutes, before they close whatever page they found on our website and move onto a different brokerage. The old saying about too much smoke to be no fire applies, as does the reality that despite their unsupportable claims of libel and specific cowardly threats against our twenty-something year old interns and apprentices, their huff, puff, and bluff sabre rattling about pending legal action, now stale for 142 days, has fallen flat as the brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station, and their allies W. Mark Squire, President and Chief Operating Officer, Verico Financial Group Inc. and Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher, Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales of HomeEquity Bank have only been able to hide and fester in their own arrogance. Do they even consider the other brokers working under the umbrella of Verico Financial Group Inc., and how their crimes and ethical abuses are affecting them? Is Katherin Dudtschak, the incoming President and CEO at HomeEquity Bank going to follow along with the decision by Steven Ranson, the retiring President and CEO, who despite having enjoyed a 27-year career building the reverse mortgage industry in Canada refused to risk revealing the truth of the crimes and ethical abuses committed by the brokers at Verico the Mortgage Station? How long will one little brokerage in the lakefront village of Lefroy be protected now that exposure is growing, as is media attention, and that of competitors and colleagues alike? How will they react when organized protests draw mainstream media and public interest to demonstrations held at their various offices?

That is the power of truly free media in today's world, as the Internet never turns off, the truth is accessible to everybody all day every day, and the only 'authority' who can stop our evidence-supported reporting is us.