Seychelles reports 17% increase in South African visitors – Bizcommunity.com

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The latest figure from the Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics shows around 903 visitors entered the country in January, compared to 750 last year, marking a 17% increase.

Says David Germain, Seychelles Tourism Board, director for Africa and the Americas: We are extremely pleased about the latest figures from the South African market and we are looking forward to, in partnership with South African travellers and our trade partners, to grow at an even greater pace in the coming year.

Germain adds that the launch of Air Seychelles year-round flights from Durban to the Seychelles, on 30 March, will play a definitive role in opening up the destination to even more South Africans. The new service to Durban is in addition to Air Seychelles five flights a week from Johannesburg.

Also commenting on the latest figures, the deputy chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Jennifer Sinon said: We are now reaping the rewards of all the activities and strategies of last year as the benefits trickle down in the months and years to come.

We acknowledge that this year is going to be challenging both locally and internationally but we are optimistic that the destination will remain resilient.

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Seychelles reports 17% increase in South African visitors - Bizcommunity.com

Seychelles vies for its fair share of the China market – eTurboNews

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A workshop was hosted on Monday at the Kempinski Seychelles Resort whereby the trade was given an overview of the Guangdong Province and how Seychelles can get its fair share from this market.

A delegation from the Guangdong tourism industry was in Seychelles from February 26-28.

Led by the Vice-Director General of Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province, Zhang Zhenlin, the delegation consisted of the governors from the Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province, as well as representatives from travel agencies, tourism attractions, and hotel businesses there.

Mr. Zhang also introduced the 2017 Guangdong International Tourism Industry EXPO, which takes place in September in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province.

He extended an invitation to the Seychelles tourism trade partners to take part in the 2017 Guangdong International Tourism Industry EXPO.

Attending the workshop were the Seychelles Tourism Boards Deputy Chief Executive and Senior Marketing Executive, Stephanie Lablache.

The delegation then met the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, and the Principal Secretary for Tourism Anne Lafortune.

Also attending the meeting were the Chief Executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Sherin Francis, and Principal of the Seychelles Tourism Academy, Flavien Joubert.

The partnership with Guangdong tourism is set to be consolidated after the meeting.

Both the Gross domestic product (GDP) and capita GDP of Guangdong Province are ranked the first place in China for nearly 30 years. Hence, Guangdong becomes the biggest outbound source market in China with eight million outbound tourists in 2016, exclusive travelers to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau.

Guangdong Province also plays a very important role in Seychelles tourism roadmap on the Chinese market since the Seychelles Tourism Board office was established six years ago in China.

The delegation also visited the Seychelles Tourism Academy and had a discussion with the institutions Principal, Flavien Joubert.

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Seychelles vies for its fair share of the China market - eTurboNews

St.Ange from Seychelles receives more support from the Mauritius – FTNnews.com (press release)

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The Association of Inbound Operators of Mauritius (AIOM) have confirmed their support for Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Candidate for Secretary General for the UNWTO through a letter of endorsement forwarded by Firdaus Rawat, on behalf of Association of Inbound Operators (Mauritius).

The letter from their Port Louis Offices in Mauritius says AIOM are providing a recommendation letter in view of the Seychelles participation in the next election of UNWTO.

"On behalf of members of the AIOM, the ASSOCIATION OF INBOUND OPERATORS (MAURITIUS), I wish to support the candidature of Mr Alain St.Ange of Seychelles, for the post of Secretary General at the next election of the UNWTO. Our members have been well acquainted with Mr Alain St.Ange through the good tourism relationship which has always existed between Mauritius and Seychelles. Mr Alain St.Ange was very active and gave great visibility to the Indian Ocean through the Vanilla Islands Regional Organization" Mr Rawat of the AIOM writes.

Alain St.Ange has welcomed the latest endorsement received from the island of Mauritius. "Together the islands of the Indian Ocean through the Vanilla Islands created a new tourism region and we were successful at it. The islands of Mauritius, Seychelles, Reunion, Madagascar, Comoros and Mayotte all worked together for their tourism industry. Today another private tourism sector group, this time from Mauritius, have come out to endorse the Seychelles Candidate for the post of Secretary General of the UNWTO and we are indeed thankful" said Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Candidate for the coming UNWTO elections.

The Seychelles Candidate St.Ange is receiving more and more letters of endorsement from tourism private sector trade and from international press. The Seychelles Candidate has already received Letters of Endorsement from President Danny Faure of the Seychelles, from Sir James Mancham, Seychelles founding President who wrote an open letter about his support for the Seychelles St.Ange bid for the United Nations just a week before he passed away, the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Organisation (Comoros, Mayotte, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles), the Africa Ports Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA), Tanzania Society of Travel Agents (TASOTA), the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association (SHTA), Fred W. Finn, the World's Most Travelled Person Guinness World Records, the Seychelles Hindu Kovil Sangam Association, India's important N.R.I. Welfare Society, the Creole Travel Services of Seychelles and the Association of Tourism Professionals of Mauritius (ATP), Eden Island Seychelles, Bea Broda the known Producer/Writer/Host/Speaker from the Americas

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St.Ange from Seychelles receives more support from the Mauritius - FTNnews.com (press release)

Swans Flock to Caribbean – Sailing World

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The Rolex Swan Cup has been attracting fleets of Nautor's Swan boats to the iconic yachting haven of Porto Cervo, Sardinia since 1980. Although the Caribbean version of the event has just reached its third edition, it is already a firm fixture on the Caribbean racing calendar and has been gathering ever-more impressive fleets to the tropical sailing paradise of Virgin Gorda every two years since its institution. Eighteen yachts from around the globe are lined up at YCCS Marina for an event renowned for its unique combination of family atmosphere, thrilling racing and superb social events - a blend that organizers the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda have honed to perfection in over 30 years of collaboration with Nautor's Swan and title sponsor Rolex.

The variegated fleet bears testament to the Finnish shipyard's long history and to their commitment to both tradition and innovation. The models entered range from two of the latest Clubswan 50 one-design racer-cruiser models penned by Juan Kouyoumidjian to classic Sparkman and Stephens designs, and from two of the flagship Swan 115 superyachts to the dainty Best Buddies, a classic Swan 44 with a crew of friends and family that have travelled here from German especially for the event.

Each of the boats and crews here have their own story and their own special reason for participating, which is what sets the Rolex Swan Cup events in both Porto Cervo and Virgin Gorda apart from other regattas. Without doubt one of the most fascinating backstories of this particular edition is the participation of the historic Swan 65 Sayula. The surprise winner, in 1974, of the very first edition of the Whitbread Round the World Race - today known as the Volvo Ocean Race and still recognised as the most gruelling sailing challenge in existence - Sayula and her helmsman the late Ramon Carln were the subject of an award-winning 2016 documentary. Helmed now by Ramon's son Enrique, who was on board for the extraordinary victory in 1974, the Mexican boat sailed a journey over 3,000 nautical miles specifically to attend the Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean and boasts several generations of the Carln family among the crew.

"We came from Mexico specially just for the event." explained Enrique Carln. "We went from Puerto Vallarta, all the way down to the Panama Canal and we got here in about 20 days. We came to bring Sayula back together with the Swan family, to support this special brand, it's really a good brand, very strong. My two sons are on board and my grandchildren have already been at the helm of Sayula, so four generations of my family have helmed her."

Equally excited to participate, but with a decidedly more competitive spirit is Hendrik Brandis, owner of Earlybird, the latest Clubswan 50 hull which was christened at the YCCS Marina in Virgin Gorda just days ago. Together with Leonardo Ferragamo's Courdileone, these futuristic one-design yachts are sure to provide an electrifying spectacle in the easterly 20 knot breezes that are forecast for the coming days.

Brandis intends to enjoy becoming acquainted with his new yacht during its regatta debut: "We'll be getting to know the boat and as always with sailing, having a lot of fun. I must say the first days of sailing here in Virgin Gorda were impressive. This is the next generation, it's a planing boat and the downwind speed is just so much higher, it's a different kind of sailing. It's a great racer, it's one-design and it can even be used with the family for day sailing."

Racing is scheduled to get underway today, Thursday 2nd March at 11 a.m. with a coastal course planned for the fleet which will be divided into two separate classes.

In addition to exciting action on the water, the Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean also brings a host of happenings ashore. Owners and crews will attend an opening reception on the YCCS lawn this evening while a cocktail competition will have crews battling once again on Thursday evening. The elegant Rolex Dinner for owners at the YCCS Clubhouse and a relaxed Caribbean Barbecue at Bitter End Yacht Club will also take place before the final prize giving on Sunday March 5th.

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Swans Flock to Caribbean - Sailing World

Royal Caribbean becomes second cruise line to add lifeguards – Fox News

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Starting this week, Royal Caribbean will become the second major cruise line in the world to employ lifeguards on deck.

The cruise company is implementing a new water safety program that will station at least one full-time lifeguard at every pool during open hours.

The lifeguards will all be licensed and trained through StarGuard Elite, a consulting company in Florida.

In addition to the lifeguards, Royal Caribbean will also roll out updates specifically aimed at younger passengers. Although the cruise line has offered childrens swim vests for the past few years, they are now implementing signage to remind parents of the option.

Children who are part of the Adventure Ocean kids program will also participate in a water safety presentation during their orientation.

The entire fleet will be up to Royal Caribbeans new water safety standards by June.

Royal Caribbean says the new program is meant to raise awareness amongst our guests about the importance of vigilance while enjoying water features on our ships.

Most cruise lines have a policy where guests swim in pools at their own risk. The only other cruise line with onboard lifeguards is Disney, who only began employing lifeguards in 2013, after a near-drowning on one of their ships.

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Royal Caribbean becomes second cruise line to add lifeguards - Fox News

The Golden Vision, Caribbean cricket and European force Dunfermline – The Guardian (blog)

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Alex Young dinks one over the keeper. Photograph: Colorsport/Rex Shutterstock

1) Earlier this week, Alex Young, the Golden Vision, died. Heres Ken Loachs 1968 documentary about him and Everton; heres the trailer for Alex The Great; heres an interview with the great man from 2008; and here he is finishing a lovely move in clinical fashion, away to Wolves in October 1962.

2) Englands one-day cricketers are in the Caribbean, and the ODI series begins on Friday; heres an all-time great innings from Graham Gooch, 129 not out in Port of Spain, 1985-86. In the early era of pyjama cricket, West Indies could call upon the wonderful fielding of Roger Harper; in the Perth Challenge of 1986-87, he snaffled a jazzer to remove Allan Lamb, and heres a compilation of other interventions. More recently, Chris Gayle has had his way with England, so here he is tickling 80 off 43 balls at Barbados in 2009.

3) Apparently, David Haye will fight Tony Bellew this weekend. Heres Carl Thompson stopping Haye in 2004, and here are Adonis Stevenson and Tony Bellew exchanging pre-fight pleasantries in 2013, before Stevenson bombed him out in the sixth.

4) Once upon a time, Dunfermline were a force in European football. In 1962, under Jock Stein, they eliminated Evertons School of Science from the Fairs Cup; in the next round, they lost 4-0 in Valencia before thrashing them 6-2 in the return. And here they are in 1968, now managed by George Farm, beating Hearts 3-1 to win the Scottish Cup.

5) Venezuelas Adrian Solano chose a tough place to ski on snow for the first time, making a memorable appearance at the Nordic world championships in Lahti, Finland last week. Solano had only ever practiced on wheeled skis, and to be honest, it showed:

1) This is mad, and perhaps what GoPros were made for. Jumping, flying, snaking and sneaking through the beautiful streets of Valparaso in Chile makes for an exhilarating, dizzying ride whether its actually you doing it or youre just watching. Tomas Slavik and Bernardo Cruz are your guides and the best thing about it is that its Slavik commentating; the increasingly fraught pants as they get closer to the end are a joy to behold. Strap in.

2) Inspired by that man Roger Harper, and riffing on the theme of cricket fielding here are some of the very best ever, and its a very good watch. At the other end of the spectrum there was less fielding brilliance required because, well, Inzamam-ul-Haq is a roly-poly sort of fellow who isnt always the quickest between the wickets. So here are his 23 funniest run outs. Twenty-three! While were at it, more cricket: Jack Iverson, who took 21 wickets in five Tests to spin Australia to a 4-1 victory in the 1950-51 Ashes, before promptly retiring to take over his old mans real estate business. Strange old grip, but boy it worked.

3) Nadezhda Olizarenko died last month, so here she is smashing the 800m world record to take gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. As has been mentioned BTL, that record has only been bettered by 0.15s in the 37 years since.

4) From leftfield, heres the cyclist Peter Sagan cooking beef. And quinoa and tuna. Even a chia pudding! Why, we hear you wail? Why? Well, he rides for Bora and they make kitchen kit. So obviously hes a chef now ... Ropey trilby hes rocking.

5) To round things off, last week there was a bit of patter about gaffers taking things into their own hands. So over to you, Kevin Muscat, to put them in their place ... Oh wait, John Kosminas grabbed his neck. Decent ding-dong.

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The Golden Vision, Caribbean cricket and European force Dunfermline - The Guardian (blog)

Weekly Chart: Women in the Workforce in Latin America and the … – AS/COA Online

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Womens participation in the global workforce has fallen 2 percent since 1990. But its a different case in Latin America and the Caribbean, where its jumped 14 points. The region saw women join the workforce at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world, adding up to 80 million more working women since the 1960s.

More women joining the labor force can also translate to billions more in a countrys GDP. For example, UK-based auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that Chiles GDP could see an increase of 19 percentor $80 billionif it were to match Swedens female employment rate, which stands at about 75 percent.

Getting women into the workforce, however, and into top decision-making roles in companies is another story. Latin America lags behind other regions with only 6.4 percent of board seats held by women. At that pace, itll take until 2042 for women to make up 30 percent of board seatsa general threshold companies and governments consider when drafting legislation or goals. U.S. and Canadian businesses, on the other hand, are expected to get there by 2021.

Ahead of International Womens Day 2017 on March 8, we look at how the region fares.

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Weekly Chart: Women in the Workforce in Latin America and the ... - AS/COA Online

5 cheap Caribbean deals to help you unwind this spring – Metro.us

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5 cheap Caribbean deals to help you unwind this spring - Metro.us

Deserted beaches and boutique hotels: Why unspoilt, laidback Vieques should be the island for your next Caribbean … – Metro

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Metro
Deserted beaches and boutique hotels: Why unspoilt, laidback Vieques should be the island for your next Caribbean ...
Metro
Nowhere else in the Caribbean can you find an island so unspoilt and uncrowded. If you want to sail on a turquoise ocean on a vintage boat with your own captain, fresh, homecooked food and rum cocktails on board, you have it, two minutes walk along a ...

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Deserted beaches and boutique hotels: Why unspoilt, laidback Vieques should be the island for your next Caribbean ... - Metro

Famous Swimming Pigs in the Bahamas Found Dead After Tourists Give Them Alcohol – Cosmopolitan.com

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Several of the Bahamas' famous colony of swimming pigs have died after tourists allegedly fed them junk food and alcohol, multiple sources report.

According to The Independent, seven of the pigs were found dead and floating in the water near the Exuma Cays last week, leaving around 15 members of the colony alive. Wayde Nixon, one of the pigs' owners who brought them to the uninhabited island years ago, stated that the cause of death was due to the animals being fed the "wrong food." However, local officials state that they're still investigating other possible causes.

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We had the government vet in there [who] examined them all thoroughly," Nixon told The Nassau Guardian. "He gave them shots, he gave them medicine, and I was there and I worked with them for three days straight. We had them pigs there almost 30 years, and never has this happened before, but now we are going to have to regulate it."

Right now its blowing out of proportion with people, anybody, bringing food there, anybody doing what they [want to] do," he continued. "We have people coming there giving the pigs beer, rum, riding on top of them, all kinds of stuff.

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The island's exceptionally friendly swimming pigs have long cohabited peacefully with tourists, who visit the island in hopes of getting to swim alongside them. However, because of this heartbreaking incident, officials now state that new regulations will be put into place that will prevent tourists from being able to feed them.

Its really a mystery, president of the Bahamas Humane Society Kim Aranha told a local newspaper. It could just be a horrible accident where they ate something poisonous. It could be malicious but I dont really see why someone would go out of their way to hurt those lovely animals.

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Famous Swimming Pigs in the Bahamas Found Dead After Tourists Give Them Alcohol - Cosmopolitan.com

DNA Party: PM Offers More Harm Than Good In Office – The Bahama Journal

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Posted on 02 March 2017. by Jones Bahamas

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) calls on Prime Minister Perry Christie to politely step down from the countrys leadership office.

DNA responds to prime ministers action of holding up his middle finger at Mondays outdoor Branch Meeting in front of Fox Hill, St. Annes and Marathon Constituencies.

The time has come and gone for the Prime Minister to politely step down from his office, and this action shows that he may do more harm to the office and the country if he allows petty and vague allegations to destabilize him, the party said.

This sends the wrong message to our populous, especially our young persons, as we are all faced with the task of teaching and learning appropriate conflict resolution skills.

Any leader of a country must show calm and restraint, even in the face of challenging and anger worthy scenarios.

We have already seen The Prime Minister place himself as a maximum God-like leader when he spoke about persons going to pastors and God, but ultimately having to go through him. This latest action shows that our Prime Minister is becoming or has become unhinged, and thinks too highly of himself that he could do this with no regard of the consequences.

The DNAs reaction comes alongside the same tone of Leader of the Free National Movement (FNM) party, Hubert Minnis.

What the PM did last night clearly shows the PM is no longer fit to be PM in this Bahamas, he is what I would term an obscene pm and his gesture was more than rude, his gesture was foul and has absolutely no place in the public domain, I along with all right thinking Bahamians was shocked and horrified by the public embarrassment by our Prime Minister, Dr. Minnis said.

This behavior to my knowledge is the first and hopefully the last time a sitting Prime Minister from our God-fearing nation publicly curse at the Bahamians by using such profane gesture.

Regardless of where he is, he represents The Bahamas, his arrogance has no limit.

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DNA Party: PM Offers More Harm Than Good In Office - The Bahama Journal

Tourists may have killed Bahamas’ famous swimming pigs – New York Post

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New York Post
Tourists may have killed Bahamas' famous swimming pigs
New York Post
A probe has been launched after a number of the famous swimming pigs of the Bahamas mysteriously died, prompting fears they could have been killed deliberately. Investigations are under way to determine what caused the deaths of the much-loved ...

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Tourists may have killed Bahamas' famous swimming pigs - New York Post

Rosewood Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas to open in 2018 | Rus … – RusTourismNews

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Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has been appointed by the Bahamian subsidiary of Hong Kong-based development company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) to operate and manage Rosewood Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas, which will open in Spring 2018. Set on the gorgeous white sands of Nassaus Cable Beach, Rosewood Baha Mar will be a sanctuary of exclusivity, located within the stunning Baha Mar Resort multi-property oasis in the Caribbean.

4Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has had a relationship with Baha Mar since 2011, and we are truly excited to re-engage as the operator of Baha Mars luxury resort through our partnership with CTFE, Baha Mar Resorts new owner, says Sonia Cheng, chief executive officer of Rosewood Hotel Group. We are fully committed to this project and look forward to raising our flag in The Bahamas as originally planned.

Featuring elegant British colonial architecture and interior styling, Rosewood Baha Mar will epitomize Bahamian refinement and sophistication. The resort will offer 185 ocean view rooms and suites, as well as five luxurious beachfront villas, which will be contemporary and residential in style. Each accommodation will be elegantly appointed with refined Bahamian art and dcor. Of note, all guestrooms will boast private balconies with outdoor living areas, while the luxurious four-bedroom villas will offer exceptional tranquility, exclusive services and a private pool.

Amenities at Rosewood Baha Mar will include four signature dining venues including Commonwealth, a farm-to-table restaurant that will include a private Rum Room for exclusive, island-style dinners; the Pool Grille an inspired, al fresco poolside restaurant that will serve fresh seafood, grilled dishes and cocktails; Bar Riva, a relaxed, nautical-themed bar where guests will enjoy craft cocktails and small plates, and the Library Lounge, which will feature Bahamian-style afternoon tea and unique tea cocktails. Recreational facilities will include Sense, A Rosewood Spa, salon, barber shop, fitness center, two private swimming pools and luxury cabanas. Additionally, guests will have direct and private beach access.

Eight meeting and event spaces will provide the perfect setting for corporate meetings, retreats and incentives. The venues including a 4,950-square-foot ballroom, meeting room, boardrooms, private dining room and two al fresco event areas will offer exquisite catering, refined service and state-of the art technology.

Rosewood Baha Mar will join a regional network of distinctive Rosewood properties in the Caribbean and Atlantic, including Jumby Bay, A Rosewood Resort, Rosewood Tuckers Point and Rosewood Little Dix Bay, which is slated to re-open in 2017.

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Rosewood Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas to open in 2018 | Rus ... - RusTourismNews

KPMG offshore tax dodge a ‘facade’ designed to hide money, ex-client says – CBC.ca

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A former client of the accounting giant KPMG says a tax dodge that involved wealthy people gifting their money to an offshore jurisdiction was a "facade" designed to hide money from the taxman.

The client, who spoke to CBC's the fifth estate and Radio-Canada's Enqute on the condition of anonymity, says KPMG made him sign a confidentiality agreement that prevents him from speaking publicly about the tax dodge.

In an exclusive interview to be aired Friday on the fifth estate documentary "The Untouchables," the former client says KPMG insisted on secrecy when it was promoting the tax avoidance scheme to wealthy Canadians as far back as 1999.

Documents obtained by the fifth estate and Enqute show 21 "high net worth" Canadian families signed up for the massive tax dodge from 1999 until 2012 when it was first detected by CRA auditors a scheme that deprived the federal treasury of tens of millions.

The KPMG tax dodge stirred controversy last spring when it was revealed the Canada Revenue Agency offered a secret amnesty to the accounting firm's clients who had been caught using the scheme.

The amnesty offer, leaked to CBC News in a brown envelope, granted KPMG clients "no penalties" as long as they paid back taxes and modest interest.

As a condition of the May 2015 amnesty offer, the CRA itself demanded that KPMG clients not talk about it in public.

Until now, no KPMG client has spoken out about their role in the scheme.

The client says the tax dodge was based on a simple if fictitious idea that "high net worth" clients give away their fortunes to an Isle of Man shell company. The money would be invested offshore and would be returned back to Canada, again untaxed, also as a so-called gift.

"So basically, I escaped the entire tax circle," the ex-client said.

Today, the client, who paid KPMG $100,000 to set up the Isle of Man tax dodge, says the "gift" was pure "fiction" and that, in reality, he never gave anything away.

"I still have absolute control over my money," he said. "The rest was just a facade... Everything else, every bit of piece of paper, everything is window dressing to create the appearance of 'I don't have control over this,' but in fact I do."

He says KPMG told those involved to keep quiet about their involvement.

"They're just going to keep their lips shut tight," he said. "How's Canada Revenue Agency going to detect it?"

In a written statement to the fifth estate, KPMG says it "emphatically" disputes the ex-client's claim.

KPMG says its offshore structure complied with "all laws" in Canada and was carefully reviewed by senior executives at the firm before it went ahead.

"Clients were explicitly told that they were giving up control of the assets," KPMG said. "To our knowledge, no member of KPMG would or did provide any advice or instruction to the contrary."

As a condition of the May 2015 amnesty offer, the Canada Revenue Agency demanded that KPMG clients not talk about it in public. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Still, the former client insists that's exactly what he was told, in private.

"Nobody gives away $20 million to an Isle of Man company and says: 'Hey, I busted my ass for 20 years to make it, but you know what, I'm feeling generous today so you can have it all, no strings attached.' I don't think so, not for a 100 grand cheque that you just wrote to KPMG."

In court documents, the Canada Revenue Agency has also alleged that the KPMG scheme was a "sham" that "intended to deceive" the federal treasury.

the fifth estate/Enqute investigation also looks at how much money KPMG made from its tax scheme.

The accounting giant is coming under scrutiny for its testimony before the House of Commons finance committee last spring.

The committee, which had begun a probe into why the CRA offered amnesty to those wealthy clients, called KPMG's former global head of tax, Gregory Wiebe, as its first witness.

Gregory Wiebe, former global head of tax for KPMG, testified at the House of Commons finance committee there were 16 'implementations' of the scheme. (Parliament of Canada)

MPs wanted to know exactly how much money KPMG itself made from running the offshore tax dodge.

Wiebe testified that the "total revenue" that KPMG received from the tax scheme was a $100,000 start up fee for each client.

"It was a fixed fee per implementation, it was not a contingent fee or whatever," Wiebe told MPs.

In other words, the firm did not earn fees based on the taxes dodged by their clients.

However, new records in a Vancouver court action appear to show KPMG made far more money off the scheme than they told the House of Commons committee.

Documents filed in the Tax Court of Canada in January show that one wealthy family stated they paid a yearly fee to KPMG "based on" their "annual tax savings."

In that one case alone,KPMGearned additional annual payments that totalled $300,000 over several years,according to the documents.

In a statement to CBC News, KPMG says those court documents filed in the Vancouver tax court case contain unproven court allegations.

"[KPMG] provided accurate information to the finance committee on this point and on all other points in his testimony."

KPMG may also have understated the number of offshore companies it set up for Canadian multimillionaires and billionaires, according to the fifth estate/Enqute investigation.

Wiebe testified at the finance committee there were 16 "implementations" of the scheme.

However, using search techniques the fifth estate and Enqute developed using the Isle of Man's public registry, journalists found five additional structures set up for wealthy Canadian families.

KPMG now says it did create those five structures, but didn't mention those numbers to the finance committee because those clients "aborted" their involvement in the scheme before they dodged any taxes.

Sherbrooke University tax Prof. MarwahRizqy says KPMG should have included those additional Canadian families in its totals to the finance committee and to the Canada Revenue Agency.

"It's very important to disclose that type of information," Rizqy said. "Here we're talking about a tax structure, about the intention to evade tax. The CRA can go and investigate these families and see if they actually did something else."

Marwah Rizqy, a tax professor at Sherbrooke University, says KPMG should have disclosed the five additional tax structures to authorities. (CBC)

Rizqy says KPMG's testimony before the committee is concerning.

"There's a lack of credibility here," Rizqy said. "They misled the Parliament, they also misled Canadians."

The inquiry was abruptly halted last June after KPMG lawyers sent a letter to MPs on the finance committee.

Lawyers for the accounting firm complained that it would be "fundamentally unfair and improper" for the inquiry to hear from tax experts critical of the offshore scheme amid ongoing court cases.

Critics pointed out that KPMG only sent the letter to the finance committee after its former head of global tax, Wiebe, had already given his side of the story.

Rizqy, who has reviewed internal KPMG and other court documents in the Isle of Man scheme, questions why the federal government continues to do business with KPMG in light of the revelations.

The firm was brought in to audit the F-35 fighter jet spending, as well as Senate travel expenses, for example.

In 2016, the federal government gave KPMG at least $9 million in contracts, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada. During the previousgovernment, KPMG was given more than $80 million in government contracts.

"It doesn't make any sense," Rizqy said. "I mean if on one hand we know that you're promoting tax shelters, you should be banned to be part of any public contract. I think it's the time to ask KPMG to step aside from every public contract."

Rizqy who is in the running to be a candidate for the Liberal Party in an upcoming federal byelection in Quebec does not shy away from criticizing Ottawa's handling of the KPMG affair.

She is recommending the Liberal government call a full-scale inquiry into the KPMG revelations, including the secret amnesty deal it negotiated with the CRA for its wealthy clients.

"I think this is the time to conduct a real investigation about KPMG, about the deal, about the tax structure."

Link:

KPMG offshore tax dodge a 'facade' designed to hide money, ex-client says - CBC.ca

You Can’t Have Offshore Wind Power Without Petroleum – Forbes

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Forbes
You Can't Have Offshore Wind Power Without Petroleum
Forbes
The Block Island Wind farm's launch late last year signified the United States' official entry into the offshore wind industry. And while European countries have been generating electricity by spinning turbines offshore since 1991, the US is eager to ...
Regulators updated on 1st US offshore wind farm operationsWPRI 12 Eyewitness News
OC offshore meteorological tower step toward wind farmDelmarva Daily Times

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You Can't Have Offshore Wind Power Without Petroleum - Forbes

David Warneke: Own an offshore trust? After Budget 2017 get advice quick or pay big fines – BizNews

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Just when wealthy South Africans thought theyd absorbed all the blows, hidden in the fine print of SAs Budget 2017 was a bombshell that is about to hit creators of offshore trusts really hard. BDOs David Warneke explains the SARS version of a poison pill which adds significantly to the risks of those who are involved with offshore trusts. And it goes way beyond the recent legislation on transfer pricing. Alec Hogg

This special podcast is brought to you by BDO, whose David Warneke joins us now on the line from Cape Town. David, good to talk to you. There was a lot in the budget for people like yourself to digest, but one of the shocks you wrote on BizNews this week was the taxation of offshore trusts. Now, how prevalent are offshore trusts among South Africans?

I think its fair to say that a lot of wealthy South Africans have offshore trusts. I dont have an exact number for you, but I think it is quite prevalent within South Africa, thats my impression, not nearly as prevalent (I dare say) as local trusts, but certainly, there are a good number of wealthy South African families that have offshore trusts.

What would the incentive be to have a structure like that?

Its quite a good question, actually, because its not as straight-forward as it seems from the point of view that its not simply a question of that a South African residents can set up an offshore trust in a place like Mauritius or wherever it is, which would then hold shares in a company (typically, thats the way that the structure works) and do investments through the company. The basic tax problem that arises, (which I dont know if anybody out there appreciates), is that we have transfer pricing legislation in our Income Tax Act. In other words, the way of transferring those assets into a trust would typically be by way of the offshore allowances, assuming it was all done legally (and hopefully, it is), would be by way of using the offshore investment allowance.

Then the question is how do you divest yourself of the money that youre putting into the trust and normally what happens then is people dont donate it to those trusts because there is a donations tax implication. Normally what happens is that they make a loan, they advance a loan to the trust. Usually they end up being connected persons in relation to the trust from an income tax point of view. Thats where the problem comes in because youve got this Transfer Pricing Legislation that says if you have a transaction between a resident and a non-resident, you are connected personally with the sign in the Act, in relation to one another, that the transaction must be on arms length terms and conditions and if its not, then its deemed to be an arms length terms and conditions.

In this type of situation the trick is really that loan thats made interest-free is actually deemed to be interest bearing as an arms length interest rate and that interest is supposed to then be declared by the South African lender in their tax return. Thats the problem and I think what often has happened is that people dont know about that or they conveniently overlook it and therefore, that interest ends up not being charged, which would obviously undermine the tax effectiveness of the whole scheme.

David, just so that I can understand it, maybe from a practical perspective, if as a wealthy South African you have an offshore trust and you get all the approvals from the exchange control for R10m for arguments sake and that trust then invests in equities in other parts of the world, at this point, is it necessary to charge interest or for that trust to pay interest to the South African taxpayer who has actually set it up?

Yes, provided that the taxpayer or that person that set it up or any of his relatives or any connected person in relation to him is a beneficiary of the trust, which invariably is the case because one would set it up such that your immediate family would be discretionary beneficiaries usually, of such a trust. In that case, they are connected persons, the trust is connected in relation to you, or the person setting it up and therefore, if lower than an arms length interest rate is charged on the loan and if the money does go in as a loan as opposed to a donation, for example, then the interest is deemed to accrue to you, whether youve charged it or not, an arms length rate of interest.

How high is that, what rate of interest is that?

The enquiry would really be, at what rate could the trust have borrowed from an external, unconnected third party such as the bank, for example, on the strength of this balance sheet and that would then be the rate.

The fact being that most people, I guess would not be charging the trust interest, because they dont want to increase their tax liability, but they could be fined for that emission in future or now.

That is the problem with that and yes, I think many people, as I say, dont realise that that provision is listed and they just dont charge interest and they go about their business, but actually theres definitely a tax issue there.

What else was there in this budget that would worry you about offshore trusts?

In this particular budget, if you look at the statement made regarding offshore trusts, it was particularly that structure that Ive just described now, where you have an offshore trust which holds shares in an offshore company. For example, lets just use Mauritius again as an example, we have a trust set up there and we have a company set up there and the trust holds all the shares in that company and South African residents have set that trust up with that structure. The announcement that was made, was not entirely clear, but what it seems to be saying is that there is going to be an attempt to deem the company that is held by the trusts to be whats called a controlled foreign company from the South African tax point of view.

Basically with the controlled foreign company then, in proportion to whatever their participation rights are in the company, South African residents would have to include the net income of that underlying company in their own income tax returns, almost as if they held the shares in that company directly and you were looking straight through the company at whatever its underlying income was. So, its difficult to see how thats practically going to work because obviously those individuals who might have set that structure up, dont actually hold the shares in the company, the offshore trust holds the shares in the company.

In what proportion, if you have, lets say, four or five beneficiaries of that offshore trust to South Africa, does one then just say, Well, 25 percent of that is deemed to an individual ones income, 25 individual two, three, four, or is one just looking at the founder of that trust including 100 percent of the underlying company in that persons income? Its really not clear how that would be brought about.

What does seem to be clear is that the advantage that an offshore trust might have had is now being eliminated. Are there still any advantages in having this structure if these proposals go ahead?

Yes it might work for somebody who went overseas, worked overseas for a number of years, and wasnt for a while a South African tax resident, then came back into South Africa, but before they came back they set the structure up. Possibly it might work for them. I think transfer pricing, in any case, would be a problem. I think even there, if theres a loan outstanding between a South African resident and a non-resident, one could argue that the transfer pricing provisions would still deem a market-related interest rate to apply. I think that if SARS were to work with the provisions in the Act that are already there, namely the Transfer Pricing Provisions, I think thats the main one in Section 7.8, if they were to work with those, theres actually enough to make foreign trust arrangements, certainly on the whole, not beneficial from a South African tax point of view.

Read also:Reasons to be afraid very afraid if youre hiding money offshore: MPs warn South Africans

Alec, I might just add, sometimes what people do is that loan to the trust, they denominate it in a hard currency, where the rates of interest then are argued to be very low, in other words, an arms length, its an interest on a US Dollar denominated loan between the South African resident and an offshore trust might carry a fractional, a very low rate of interest so that the transfer pricing provisions at the moment, one might think that its still worth having that structure and suffering the tax on that rate of interest when you convert it back into Rands because its quite low to begin with, but one must also remember that over the time, the rates of interest are subject to fluctuation obviously, they might well go up. Theyre low at the moment, but theyre unlikely to always be that.

Also then by having that loan denominated in hard currency, ones actually creating a future estate duty problem because that loan is an asset in that lenders estate for estate duty purposes and one would then have to convert that on their death back into Rands for purposes of calculation of estate duty, which then might make the estate duty liability worse down the line by having it in hard currency.

Whats the motivation behind all of this? Its pretty complex stuff, but where are the tax authorities, whats driving their intention?

Well, I think that tax authorities worldwide have been taking aim at offshore trusts. We have that situation in Europe, in America, and in Canada. They just dont like residents to be beneficiaries or participants in offshore trust arrangements, I think largely because despite having transfer pricing and other legislation in place, what they have found is that people simply arent compliant with that legislation and historically its been difficult to get information on those offshore trusts, so that if people dont declare those interests in the offshore trusts then the revenue authorities are none-the-wiser.

Historically, thats been the case. Of course, now with the common reporting standards coming into play and worldwide transparency being enhanced, information sharing between revenue authorities and so on, I think that those days are largely over, but I think that its fair to say that its not just a South African peculiarity, I think largely offshore jurisdictions as well, take a dim view of trusts in the developed world.

Your advice to someone who does have an offshore trust, get some expert consultancy quick.

Well, for sure, yes, one does need to review that. One of the recommendations of the Davis Tax Committee as well, in their final report on the state duty, which also included trusts, was that SARS should very comprehensively investigate all offshore trust arrangements and I think that the reasoning behind that is that if one digs down into it, you might well find that its not properly set up. For example, one of the issues is that for the offshore trust arrangements to have any benefits at all, it would have to be a non- South African tax resident trust to begin with. For example, the usual thing is that you have an offshore trust company doing the management of the trust and you have trustees who are all offshore, you might have a South African one.

The problem though is, from an income tax point of view, our definition of resident in the case of a trust would be basically, if the effective management of that trust is offshore as opposed to in South Africa. Then what would happen would be that one would have to look at where are the actual decisions regarding largely the strategic management of the trust are actually formulated, are they formulated offshore or are they formulated onshore and one might well find that although one almost has the veneer of these offshore trustees taking the decisions and minuting them and all the rest of it, that the actual underlying decisions are really made by the founder here in South Africa who just tells them basically what to do, in which case the trace of effective management of that trust is actually South Africa, which means that the offshore trust is actually a South African resident trust thats, for tax purposes, not actually a non-resident to begin with.

So yes, I do agree with you. I think that people with those structures really need to have them reviewed as a matter of urgency to make sure that all the boxes are ticked and in terms of what they perceive the arrangement to be, that that does in fact hold water to begin with and then following on from that, even if the arrangement is what its purported to be, what are really the South African tax consequences of those arrangements, taking into account the transfer pricing provisions in Section 7.8, deemed income provisions and the other provisions in our Income Tax Act.

Well, not a very good budget for those who hold offshore trusts, David Warneke informing us there and this special podcast was brought to you by BDO.

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David Warneke: Own an offshore trust? After Budget 2017 get advice quick or pay big fines - BizNews

MMA Offshore offloads supply bases to Toll Group – Splash 247

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March 2nd, 2017 Grant Rowles Asia, Offshore 0 comments

Australias MMA Offshore, which just reported a A$324 million ($248m) loss for the first half of its financial year, has announced the sale of its Dampier and Broome Supply Bases to Japanese-owned Toll Group.

MMA said it will realise around A$44.1 million ($33.8m) from the sale of the Dampier Supply Base asset and A$8.7 million ($6.7m) from its 50% interest in the Toll Mermaid Logistics Broome Supply Base. Net proceeds from the transactions will be applied to debt reduction.

As part of the agreement, MMA will continue to operate the Dampier Slipway facility for at least 12 months under a service agreement, and it will continue to serve as a vessel maintenance and repair facility for MMAs Australian fleet as well as third party vessel operators in the region.

Tony Howarth, chairman of MMA Offshore, said: The sale of the Supply Base assets marks a significant step in the strategic repositioning of MMAs asset portfolio and is supported by the Companys Banking Syndicate.

Historically the Supply Base assets were a significant contributor to the earnings of our predominantly Australian focussed operations. However, in recent years the Supply Base business has become less significant as the Company has focused its strategy on its Australian and international offshore vessel operations.

The sale is part of MMAs strategy to rationalise non-core assets and reduce debt, which Howarth says will better position the companyto take advantage of improved oil and gas market conditions when they occur.

The Dampier Supply Base sale is expected to complete by June 2017, while the Broome Supply Base sale should be completed by April 2017. The deals are subject to regulatory approval.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrades Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.

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MMA Offshore offloads supply bases to Toll Group - Splash 247

Masters of the waves talk of high seas, thrills & spills – The New Indian Express

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MUMBAI: John Donnelly and Kevin Burdock are two of the fastest men on water and hold the P1 Super Stock World Speed Record of 107.69 kmph. But they recall the video that brought them social media fame was that of their crash in June last year at the P1 Superstock powerboat race in Greenock, Scotland. The sea in Scotland can be tricky because there are waves coming from many different directions, says Donnelly, the powerboat teams pilot, in an interview in Mumbai on Tuesday evening ahead of the inaugural Nexa P1 Powerboat, Indian Grand Prix of the Seas.

There were two of us going into the turn. Stuart and Sarah Cureton, who are also here, were in the other boat. I guess one of us misjudged the turn, slammed into each other and they were thrown off the boat. Thats when it hits home that it can be a very dangerous place to be in, chips in his navigator Burdock, who also owns their racing boat. The most difficult thing was that we didnt know they were okay. The rescue teams were on it straightaway, and they took them away. We were sinking in our boat and had to call for help. Our boat was really badly damaged but we fixed it overnight, went out again the next day and won the following race.

Theres always that element of risk, like in all motorsport, says Donnelly. Thats the adventure. Even after the accident, we couldnt just quit. It helped that both the Englishmen having engineering backgrounds. While Donnelly was a marine engineer and used to work for Honda boat racing teams, Burdock is an F1 transmission engineer.

I am the guy in the background who secretly wants to be in the F1 car, quips Burdock, who is also a not-so-secret James Bond fan and has designed his own range of 007 memorabilia. The 49-year-old Burdock took to the sport in 2015 mainly because it was more democratic and didnt need the big bucks of motor-racing in a car.

Donnelly and Budrock are the glamour team, in tennis parlance, the top seeds, for the Nexa P1 Powerboat, Indian Grand Prix of the Seas, which will take place on Marine Drive on the coming weekend. Though their engineering background helps them tinker with the boat, within rules obviously, the unique thing about the P1 series is that the panther boats, which will be used for this weekends race, and all the same and powered by the 250HP BRP Evinrude engine. We got at average speeds of 70 mph, says Burdock. Some people might say thats not a lot, but on the water, its like driving at more than 100 mph, on a rocky road, in the rain without a windshield! All this while racing other roaring boats and trying to avoid them.

deeptipatwardhan@newindianexpress.com

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Masters of the waves talk of high seas, thrills & spills - The New Indian Express

The Wall Street Journal explores trends in Christian community life sort of – GetReligion (blog)

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The article goes on to refer to Rod friend of this blog Drehers upcoming "The Benedict Option" book, then swings back into a lengthy piece on the good and bad points of setting up a communal life in the sticks. When I finished it, I was not convinced that this movement is a trend by any means, as the writer only cites one other community to make his case.

That community - which only got two paragraphs in the story -- is a group of Orthodox Christians who live within walking distance of St. John Orthodox Cathedral in Eagle River, Alaska.

Its a shame the WSJ writer didnt visit that group, as its a whole different scene than what he discovered in Oklahoma.

I dropped by the cathedral (pictured with this article) back in 2015 for a Sunday service and noticed the local streets named after saints and how many of the congregants lived walking distance from the church. Located a 20-minute drive north of Anchorage, its nowhere near as isolated as is the Clear Creek group.

Attention editors: There are dangers to taking an upcoming book, visiting one specific community (apparently) mentioned in the book, citing another and then extrapolating a national trend from it all.

When I came out with a book on Christian community in 2009, I was looking all over the country for likeminded communities that would welcome it. What I found was slim pickings. Id be interested in learning that a mass movement had happened in the eight intervening years, but Ive found that experiments like Clear Creek and St. Johns Cathedral are the exception.

This is also not the first time the Clear Creek and Eagle River folks have appeared together in an article. A 2014 piece in Crisis magazine cites Dreher's work and names the same two communities and is similar to the Journal piece, albeit it's critical of the Benedict Option. If you're going to profile a movement, try not to use the same two examples that other writers have used.

Its too bad more of Rods quotes on how many of these communities are out there were not included. Im curious too as to how these folks are different from the Amish, Bruderhof (some tmatt coverage here) and Hutterite communities that have been doing much the same thing for decades.

Im glad the writer found one person who disagreed with the community concept, but unfortunately, she was the wrong person to cite.

A lone fundamentalist Christian church in red-state Florida is not the same as an intentional rural community like Clear Creek. You can't just cite an independent Protestant group in criticism of hierarchical Catholic and Orthodox groups. It's apples and oranges.

If youre going to find a critic, latch onto Facebook groups of people whove lived in multi-household communities where they are geographically close to a church, have some form of income sharing or engage in a common industry. I listen in to one such group (of disenchanted Catholics whove been part of a group of Midwestern charismatic communities) whose members could have provided much better quotes.

I appreciated the piece and the effort taken to report it, but the article needed more.

What does the local bishop think of this group? How connected is Clear Creek to the Diocese of Tulsa? Yes, there are photos on the monastery's webpage of a visit by Cardinal Raymond Burke, but that says more about the community's isolation because Burke is not exactly in Pope Francis' good graces at the moment. If theres anything Ive heard from Catholics whove been members of such communities, its that they wished they hadnt veered so far from the mainstream church but had found some way of integrating more parishes into their vision.

Then again, the monastery has been featured recently by Our Sunday Visitor.Also by the Tulsa World. Can't get much more mainstream than that. But the Journal focused on the lay community near the monastery; a different kettle of fish. There's been a lot written about how even the best-intentioned communities sink into authoritarian tendencies. What steps is Clear Creek taking to make sure the Benedict Option doesn't go bad?

Those are the questions people are asking and which journalists should be answering.

Photos are by the author and from clearcreekmonks.org.

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Family School rebuts report on lack of diversity – Coastal View News

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Carpinteria Family School representatives at the Feb. 28 Carpinteria Unified School District Board of Education meeting rebutted points in a report released last fall that affirmed the school has become an enclave of relative whiteness and wealthiness within the school district. Fashioned in the schools trademark tone of compassionate communication, CFS defended its position in the district as a progressive alternative to mainstream public education while detailing many steps it has taken to overcome its inclusivity problem.

The Family School is just one of many important solutions to education in Carpinteria. We (educate) through compassionate communication, creativity, local and global service projects, high level parental involvement, environmental awareness, student leadership and a prosperous, loving community thats open to all, said CFS second- and third-grade teacher Jan Silk.

Following complaints levied against the school district last spring, a third party investigation was conducted, and a report concluded that the district needed to correct the social and ethnic divide between CFS and Canalino School, which share the same campus. Some of the friction between the two schools is rooted in shared resources like the library and cafeteria and who pays for them.

The discussion on race in schools created ill will on the campus. Silk cited an instance of CFS being referred to as Caucasian Family School as being particularly hurtful, and more so to the many ethnically diverse families at CFS. Silk said representatives of the school all wished to put the report behind them and move forward in a way that addresses concerns but also continues to respect the schools important place within CUSD, much in the same way the new Dual Language Immersion program is an attractive alternative for many families.

Acting Superintendent Jamie Persoon, who is also Canalino School principal and acting CFS principal, described the many steps that have been taken since the report to attempt to make the CFS population reflect the CUSD population. The report did not find any intentional effort to create a less diverse school population at CFS, but the responsibility fell to the school and school district to correct the issue through outreach and greater collaboration between Canalino and CFS in regard to shared resources and a more united campus culture. It is illegal for school districts to simply shuffle students between schools to engineer equally diverse populations.

Persoon gave the example of shared student assemblies to encourage integration between the schools and a cost-sharing system of billing CFS 12 percent for shared resources, since CFS comprises 12 percent of the campus population.

Efforts to increase diversity starting next school year include prioritizing entry to CFS for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Each year CFS enrolls 12 new kindergartners through a lottery, and in the past, siblings of CFS students were given priority entrance before the lottery, which left significantly fewer spots available in the lottery. The school district eliminated the sibling policy and will give spaces to students qualifying for free or reduced lunch priority placement in the school before a lottery would be used to fill any remaining spaces.

In 2015-2016, the lottery for CFS included 20 white children, two Hispanics and one English learner.

Co-president of Parents for CFS Caroline Haines took issue with the way the investigation was conducted. She said nobody from CFS was interviewed as part of the investigation other than former principal Leslie Gravitz, who had been released by the school district before the investigation. She also contested the part of the report that said CFS has fewer students in its classrooms than other elementary schools in the district, stating that in fact much of the time there are more students in CFS classrooms than the average.

The differences in demographics between school populations should not be seen as intentional or desirable. As a community we wholeheartedly believe that diversity is a value to our community, Haines said.

CFS will join with other district elementary schools on March 2 at a bilingual transitional kindergarten and kindergarten information night in order to present all schools equally. All sides acknowledged through the process of the complaint and report that CFS could be more proactive in informing spanish speaking and lower income families about the school and the process of enrollment. The school was founded on principles high parent involvement and had suggested it had policies of $500 annual contributions per student and mandatory classroom time in previous materials, but that language has since been eliminated, a move that could persuade families of lower socioeconomic status to feel welcomed.

The CFS and Canalino communities are significantly divided, with the racial and socioeconomic disparity between the schools creating an unsustainable us versus them mentality that models segregation for the students, stated the report written by lawyer Felicita Torres released last fall.

Supe search on track for April 8, 9 interviews

About six candidates for the vacant superintendent position will be interviewed on April 8 and 9. Recruiters hired by the district to conduct the search said applications have been coming in and the window is open through mid March. At that point, they will take a week to scoop the creme de la creme from the top of the stack and invite those candidates for in person interviews. The recruiters held multiple community meetings to gather public feedback about the school district and what qualities will be most attractive in a superintendent to lead the local public schools.

Editors note: The author of this article has a child at Carpinteria Family School.

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Family School rebuts report on lack of diversity - Coastal View News