October 15, 2006
Well, does he deserve it?
From: The Wall Street Journal
Conrad Black, Facing U.S. Trial, Embraces Canada He Once Vilified
By ELENA CHERNEY
October 13, 2006; Page B8
TORONTO -- When former newspaper baron Conrad Black renounced his Canadian citizenship five years ago, he derided the country of his birth as an underachieving, socialist land better suited to "someone just arrived from Haiti or Romania."
The chairman and chief executive of the trans-Atlantic newspaper publisher Hollinger International, Mr. Black also was a citizen of the United Kingdom, and he had just been named to the British House of Lords. The only catch: To become Lord Black of Crossharbour, the jet-setting Mr. Black had to give up his Canadian citizenship, because the Canadian government wouldn't agree to the peerage.
Now, Mr. Black appears to be having second thoughts as he prepares to stand trial next year in U.S. federal court in Chicago on fraud and racketeering charges. Charged along with three other former executives in connection with $84 million in company payments, Mr. Black has applied to have his Canadian citizenship restored. And he has embarked on a campaign to restore his tarnished image among Canadians, talking about Canada's international role -- and denouncing the case against him.
"He is re-establishing himself in the place where he's going to live," says Mr. Black's lawyer, Edward Greenspan. "This is where he was born, this is where he was raised, this is where he started his newspaper empire."
Since his indictment in the U.S. last year, Mr. Black has been living at his Toronto estate. He has been a regular on the Toronto social circuit. He declined through Mr. Greenspan to be interviewed.
Becoming a Canadian citizen wouldn't help Mr. Black avoid or delay the trial set for March, because he already has surrendered his right to fight extradition from Canada. But there is a potential benefit if Mr. Black is found guilty: Canada has nicer prisons. Canadians in the U.S. prison system can apply to transfer back to Canada. Mr. Black's former business partner, David Radler, who now is cooperating with prosecutors, indicated in his plea bargain he plans to apply to serve his sentence in Canada.
Mr. Greenspan dismisses the suggestion Mr. Black is seeking to regain citizenship so he can serve a sentence in Canada. "The only plan that we have is to be acquitted," he says.
In the meantime, Mr. Black is living under a cloud. "I want to get rid of any taint," he told an Ontario public-television interviewer last month in his first formal interview since his indictment.
Yesterday, Mr. Black got a warm welcome as the guest speaker at a luncheon of Toronto's Empire Club, which bills itself as North America's oldest speaking forum. After the traditional toast to "Her Majesty the Queen" and the lunch served by red-vested waitstaff, club president John Niles introduced Mr. Black as Lord Black of Crossharbour, to loud applause. "What is Canada after all without Lord Black, but diminished," said the Rev. Niles, who listed Mr. Black's accomplishments but made only a veiled reference to the charges against him, calling them "the difficulties."
Public attitudes toward Mr. Black appear to be softening. Some former associates he alienated say they now sympathize with him. "The Americans are being vicious with him," says Douglas Bassett, one of four independent directors who resigned from the board of parent company Hollinger Inc. three years ago, after the board at Hollinger International reported it had uncovered unauthorized payments to Mr. Black and other executives. (Hollinger International recently changed its name to Sun-Times Media Group Inc., after its flagship newspaper in Chicago.)
Mr. Bassett hasn't spoken to Mr. Black since resigning from the board. But he says his old friend "is innocent until proven guilty." The bail bond of more than $20 million that prosecutors demanded is overkill, Mr. Bassett adds.
Write to Elena Cherney at elena DOT cherney AT wsj DOT com
Conrad Black, Facing U.S. Trial, Embraces Canada He Once Vilified
By ELENA CHERNEY
October 13, 2006; Page B8
TORONTO -- When former newspaper baron Conrad Black renounced his Canadian citizenship five years ago, he derided the country of his birth as an underachieving, socialist land better suited to "someone just arrived from Haiti or Romania."
The chairman and chief executive of the trans-Atlantic newspaper publisher Hollinger International, Mr. Black also was a citizen of the United Kingdom, and he had just been named to the British House of Lords. The only catch: To become Lord Black of Crossharbour, the jet-setting Mr. Black had to give up his Canadian citizenship, because the Canadian government wouldn't agree to the peerage.
Now, Mr. Black appears to be having second thoughts as he prepares to stand trial next year in U.S. federal court in Chicago on fraud and racketeering charges. Charged along with three other former executives in connection with $84 million in company payments, Mr. Black has applied to have his Canadian citizenship restored. And he has embarked on a campaign to restore his tarnished image among Canadians, talking about Canada's international role -- and denouncing the case against him.
"He is re-establishing himself in the place where he's going to live," says Mr. Black's lawyer, Edward Greenspan. "This is where he was born, this is where he was raised, this is where he started his newspaper empire."
Since his indictment in the U.S. last year, Mr. Black has been living at his Toronto estate. He has been a regular on the Toronto social circuit. He declined through Mr. Greenspan to be interviewed.
Becoming a Canadian citizen wouldn't help Mr. Black avoid or delay the trial set for March, because he already has surrendered his right to fight extradition from Canada. But there is a potential benefit if Mr. Black is found guilty: Canada has nicer prisons. Canadians in the U.S. prison system can apply to transfer back to Canada. Mr. Black's former business partner, David Radler, who now is cooperating with prosecutors, indicated in his plea bargain he plans to apply to serve his sentence in Canada.
Mr. Greenspan dismisses the suggestion Mr. Black is seeking to regain citizenship so he can serve a sentence in Canada. "The only plan that we have is to be acquitted," he says.
In the meantime, Mr. Black is living under a cloud. "I want to get rid of any taint," he told an Ontario public-television interviewer last month in his first formal interview since his indictment.
Yesterday, Mr. Black got a warm welcome as the guest speaker at a luncheon of Toronto's Empire Club, which bills itself as North America's oldest speaking forum. After the traditional toast to "Her Majesty the Queen" and the lunch served by red-vested waitstaff, club president John Niles introduced Mr. Black as Lord Black of Crossharbour, to loud applause. "What is Canada after all without Lord Black, but diminished," said the Rev. Niles, who listed Mr. Black's accomplishments but made only a veiled reference to the charges against him, calling them "the difficulties."
Public attitudes toward Mr. Black appear to be softening. Some former associates he alienated say they now sympathize with him. "The Americans are being vicious with him," says Douglas Bassett, one of four independent directors who resigned from the board of parent company Hollinger Inc. three years ago, after the board at Hollinger International reported it had uncovered unauthorized payments to Mr. Black and other executives. (Hollinger International recently changed its name to Sun-Times Media Group Inc., after its flagship newspaper in Chicago.)
Mr. Bassett hasn't spoken to Mr. Black since resigning from the board. But he says his old friend "is innocent until proven guilty." The bail bond of more than $20 million that prosecutors demanded is overkill, Mr. Bassett adds.
Write to Elena Cherney at elena DOT cherney AT wsj DOT com
