This is the podcast that I did with Mark Silverthorn.

	Listen Now! 12 mins - Part 1
	Listen Now! 10 mins - Part 2

This is a link to Mark Silverthorn's ebook - A How-to Guide for Dealing with Collection Agencies in Canada

This ebook is 218 pages which means that it's probably the most comprehensive ebook on collection agencies that I am aware of.

It definitely has alot of detailed information for readers to learn about their rights in dealing with aggressive collection agencies in Canada.

Hmm.. I looks as if this thread took a little zig zag...
I was hoping to get some input as to questions that I can ask Mark Silverthorn .

We actually did a podcast and recorded it, however the recording got messed up with some technical glitches.

We're going to redo our introduction podcast and then we're going to have a full length podcast with mark where he will answer questions for our visitors and members.

A tale of 2 cities, a tale of 2 standards. One hypocritical, one not.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/06/national/main4503354.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._4503354

For Richard Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, it's certainly been the best of times. In fact, it's been so good, the above CBS News article details how he took home $484,000,000 dollars in compensation since 2000. But what's a half a billion compared to $700,000 000,000, he no doubt asked himself as Lehman Brothers steered millions to departing executives even while waiting for a federal rescue. As well, executives who feared for their bonuses in the company's last months were told not to worry, according to documents cited at a congressional hearing. One executive said he was embarrasssed when employees suggested to him that Lehman brass forgo bonuses and asked them if they were on drugs for asking such stupid questions.

The list of executives looting their organization out of millions is long whether the times are good or bad. Whether it's Nortel in Canada, our major banks or Worldcom, the leaders always make sure that they reserve the lifeboat with the golden oars. Let the steerage swim for it - if they can swim.

Even when the times are good, a bank tellers salary rarely keeps pace with inflation, while banks' ceo compensation packages skyrocket. In fact, an executive of a major Canadian bank recently fired off a private memo to its branches which contained a picture of a shark swimming in a tank of small fish. The captioned picture reminded the employees that "the fish that swim the fastest get eaten last." After all, someone has to pay that 12 million dollar salary.

Obviously, when a company goes belly up, the brass lose their jobs and so do the staff. The brass get a golden handshake, the steerage gets a collection letter from Deanna Natale or Joel Miskin. One escapes on a luxury lifeboat, the other gets thrown a lead anchor while dog paddling to stay afloat. These "Lord Jim" captains never go down with the ship.

There are other happy faces. The credit crunch and personal debt crisis certainy has an anticorrelation with the collection agency, collection lawyer and debt buying industry. You can almost hear the owners at Natale Law Offices, AktivKapital, CBV and TCR rustling their feathers and smacking their beaks as they get ready for some formation flying missions.

Ray

*sad sigh*

No Tupac, you STILL aren't getting it. I don't have to 'convince' myself of anything at all, thank you very much.

If you had ACTUALLY read my posts dear little boy, you'd know that *I* stated very clearly in one of my responses to you that I knew full well that not all collectors are bullies and jerks, just the vast majority. *I* stated in a response to you (that by the way, you seem to be ignoring, typical) that *I* PERSONALLY have dealt with an intelligent and reasonable collector who understood my situation and worked out a payment plan I could handle, one I kept to, thank you very much.

I have also VERY CLEARLY stated that I would NOT deal with any collector who was a bully and who harrassed me. And I DO NOT. This DOES NOT equal non-payment of debts owed, so don't interprete it in that way.

And NO ONE should. That is why the GOVERNMENT set up the Collection Agency Act. Mayhap you should read it?

Stop accusing me of things I have not said nor supported. I do not appreciate it in the least.

And stop ignoring the vast majority of my words in your haste to accuse me of things I have not said nor supported.

Much to your dismay vampchick21 I'm still here! I do read the posts as well, and as always with the two of you, you argue one point over and over and over and convince yourself that you are right and ONLY you are right! I can acknowledge the fact that in certain situations there are mitigating circumstances where someone is unable to take care of their obligation. This does not warrant the mindless behaviour that you seem to think we live and breathe for! To quote a common expression, "you can't get blood from a stone"! All I'm trying to point out is that there is good and bad on both sides of the phone, and I'm simply trying to state that the good always out weighs the bad, and try to co-operate as not all bill collectors are mindless collection agencies!!! Have a great nite all!!!

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20081007%2fChild_poverty_081007

Here's the MSN article about the state of child poverty in Canada.

There are 1.600,000 in Canada or 23%.

Our "friendly" collector TUPAC has left us in a huff to chase down their parents (who are not all at the bingo hall sucking back a six pack).

Ray

TUPAC, just go away already. You don't get it, you never will get it. Period, end of story.

And for the record dearest, this isn't Raymond's forum, it's Monty's. If you paid attention and actually read a few things around here you'd not have jammed your foot down your throat.

Again, as I have said REPEATEDLY and which YOU have IGNORED...

NOT ONE IS SAYING TO IGNORE ONE'S FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DEBTS!!!!!!!!!!!

Try getting that through your bill collector brain buddy boy. It's about rights and responsibilities and what the law stats that a collector can and cannot do.

Ex - Collector! No end to the moronicity of a collection agent. At least, I get to keep my $300 billion.

Ray

Raymond at his best simply throwing insults around, and you accuse me of being mindless! Trophies are being handed out at 11pm with the local news Ray! Sorry to say but I cannot claim your prize as, no I do not know of a collector who has had their license pulled from them or an agency that has lost their license. Believe it or not (and this is quite evidently a huge, overwhelming NOT), not all of us are the mindless Ebenezer Scrooge's you believe we are. But there is no convincing any of you, not with Chief Ray running the show, a bitter ex-collector who was probably fired from his job in collections and decided to start up this beautiful forum where he can release his rants about the industry on people who are asking for his honest unbiased opinion. Good jub Ray you are to be commended on getting your point across: wait until the account becomes stat barred and than simply forget about paying the account as no one is going to do anything about the money you owe, in the meantime whenever some pea brain collector calls you, making $13-$14/hr simply tell them to screw off and hang up on them because that is the right thing to do.

Well, the point was that these CEO's were fleecing their own companies deliberately for megabucks while the poor were doing so unintentionally through misfortune for relatively small amounts. Thus a double (hypocritical) standard of judgment was being employed. Since you were into firing off Bible quotes, I thought I'd bring up the one about ignoring the log in your own eye while pointing out the speck in someone else's. But never mind....

The point about the dynamics of capitalism, as per Finance 101, is that investment always eats up available assets and concentrates them in fewer and fewer hands. That why 1% of the world's population owns 40% of its wealth. Moscow now has the greatest number of billionaires of any world city (74), with 3 having over $25 billion each.

I used the example of a construction worker because not too long ago, a simple construction labourer in Toronto could be a single family breadwinner, buy a house, a new car every 3 years or so, and send his kids to college.

I was just on aother blog with about 25 long distance tractor trailer drivers, most of who were middle aged. They used to be able to do the same thing. But that this middle class existence has ended for them, they all concur. Their wages haven't risen in 20 years. Diesel that cost 19 cents a liter in 1980 now costs $1.40 (although it's a down temporarily). But their wages have only gone up 20 or 25%.

A house is an impossible dream for a young couple starting out. I was the best man at a wedding last weekend. The couple wants to buy a good house. They make about 175K a year but it will be touch and go. As the Toronto Star has pointed out, what was formerly the middle class domain is now being reserved for the upper class.

That's because money has bought up all the real estate/land anywhere around a big city and pushed the price up to where less and less can afford it as demand increases. All my friends' parents had cottages when I was small. Not anymore.

There are far more children living below the poverty line today than there were in 1989. Percentage wise it's about the same but far more in actual numbers; 23%. The median wage when adjusted for inflation, has actually fallen since 1990.

Just think, our mindless collector doesn't want me referring to the example of a single mother supporting children. It's unfair! Duh! To who? I use it because there are thousands of them out there and they are living at or below the poverty line. And so when any accident or contingency occurs, it pushes them over the edge financilaly. That's when the collection agencies with their mindless moralizing swoop in. I.e.; to wit [in the finest tradition of Ebenezer Scrooge]

"......I know I am just another collection agency parasite, but hey I, and this is not directed at anyone at all (before you jump down my throat again), can sleep well at night knowing that I have done the best job I know how. "

May "The Ghost of Christmas Past" illuminate you because the dynamics of capitalism will ultimately make life in our society A Tale of Two Cities."

Ray

As far as evading a point goes, the challenge goes unanswered by even experienced collectors. Even they can't name one instance of a collector or collection agency losing their license. I can't seem to give this money away!!