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Pa ge 1 8 T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 28 , 2 01 6 - T he IF P - H al to n H ill s - w w w .th ei fp .c a COMMENT There you go again Paul. Trifling with the truth about the news- paper industry. Paul, of course, is Paul Godfrey CEO of Postmedia the newspaper chain that just announced the merger of newsrooms in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ot- tawa and the laying off of 90 more staff. The move has sparked a firestorm of criticism and Godfrey seems to be out on a speaking blitz arguing his case. One of the major bones of contention has been the virtual control of the company by New York hedge funds, Golden Tree in partic- ular. Godfrey spoke Monday to the C.D. Howe Institute and has given separate in- terviews. There is one major point he has been emphasizing, to what end is not clear. Here's how he put it. "If it wasn't for Golden Tree Asset Management, this chain may not be in ex- istence today, because there were no Ca- nadians who stepped up to buy (the pa- pers)….People should be happy that least somebody (bought) the newspapers) and kept a lot of people employed." Really Paul. What he is referring to is the process in 2010 when a bankrupt CanWest was forced to put its big city newspapers on the trading block. The New York hedge funds, with God- frey as their front, eventually won the day. Were there any Canadian bidders? You bet. How about Torstar, of which I am the Chair of the Board? And we are Canadian. We submitted a bid of approximately $800 million and in fact, we announced so publicly on May 3, 2010. I did a Google search and there were at least 20 stories in The Globe, Marketing Magazine, Canoe, J-Source, and The Star about our bid. It was public knowledge. And how about Birch Hill Equity Part- ners, another Canadian firm? Led by David Samuel and involving former Osprey owner and longtime news- paper proprietor Michael Sifton, Birch Hill also put in a bid. Again, everyone in the process knew about this. So where were you Paul? And what about those subsequent chats you and I have had about that pro- cess and what unfolded? Have you forgot- ten? And while we're at it, what about your bald statement that Golden Tree is only an equity player and not involved in the company's staggering debt. Postmedia's own Management Infor- mation Circular, posted on its website, states clearly "Golden Tree and certain investment funds to which it serves as an investment advisor own Variable Vot- ing Shares and a portion of the first-lien (debt) and second-lien (debt.)" Seems pretty clear to me. John Honderich is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Torstar Corporation, the parent company of The Toronto Star and Metroland Media Group, of which this newspaper is a member. He served as publisher of The Toronto Star from 1994 to 2004, and as Editor, from 1988-1994. John Honderich Setting the record straight on Paul's trifling By John Honderich Chair of Torstar 0087-778)509(