Speaking in Banff, Premier Ed Stelmach said he feels sympathy for the people who lost money in the alleged Calgarybased Ponzi scheme. But he said he's certain the province has strong securities legislation in place.
That's why there are loopholes that allow Ponzi schemes to proliferate in our province.
"My heart goes out to those people who took risk and went out and invested in what they thought was a reasonable investment-- but anyone that invests takes a certain amount of risk," Stelmach said.
So Ed... Would it be a correct assumption from your statement that a part of the risk is that a company may be fraudulent and stealing our money and that this is an acceptable risk according to YOUR government? I would argue that this is not a risk that was assumed or accepted by investors when they made their investments with these companies.
"I've been told by the federal government that our legislation for the Alberta Securities Commission is one of the best in the country of Canada, but we certainly want to know where there are maybe some gaps and ensure that it doesn't happen again."
You want to know where the gaps are? We're telling you and you're ignoring the facts before you.
Stelmach added there won't be compensation offered to investors stung by the scheme.
"It's risk-taking, but Alberta is always also known for its risk-taking," the premier said. "That's why we're as prosperous as we are."
Perfect. Welcome to Alberta. Open door to Ponzi schemes - buyer beware.
