From:
Rick Fowler
Date: Thursday, March 29, 2001 6:17 PM
To:
DLaframboise@nationalpost.com
Cc.:
ecmas@geocities.com
Subject:
ECMAS Edmonton
Ms
Lafromboise:
My name is Rick
Fowler. I am the Co-Chair of the
Maintenance Committee for
Edmonton ECMAS. Before
this article on us appears, please allow me to say
this. [His words about the need for Mr. Adams
are throughout this email.] [Back]
Serious
problems between Maintenance Enforcement and myself prompted me to
join
with ECMAS approximately one year ago.
We began the Maintenance
Committee
with a meeting between upper management, my committee members, and
a
young lady whose friend had committed suicide.
Her testimony was
absolutely
gut-wrenching for all of us. This
gentleman had been very
gainfully
employed by his wife, and wound up with huge child support
payments
after their divorce. He had, of course,
become unemployed and went
immediately
into arrears. To make a long story
short, this gentleman wound
up
living in his car in order to make these payments, while his ex-wife
drove
the kids to lessons in her four-wheel drive.
After trying desperately
to
survive the heavy-handed collections tactics of MEP, and living in a car,
he
finally used the car's exhaust to end it.
You are probably also aware of
the
Darren White suicide in B.C. There are
others that we don't know about.
We
know only of the ones who have come to us.
Together
with upper management of MEP, we made a pact to try to prevent
these
senseless occurrences. Using the Men's Help Line and the ECMAS
Support
Group, we have in 10 months helped over 100 people through the
myriad
of complexities of MEP.
We have no way of telling how many suicides we have prevented. Without
[Tim] Adams and Ferrel Christensen, both the Men's
Help Line [run by FC]
and the Support Group are gone. It will then become a very simple task to
predict exactly how many suicides we will prevent. Next, destruction of the Calgary
group's plans
--concerning
which, when told about them, she reacted (recall) merely with personal pique [Next]
It is
also worthy to note that along the way, we have helped a number of
people
to enter the MEP system, who, for a variety of reasons, have been
evading
MEP for years. This has brought in
arrears to families and children
in the
order of order of over $100,000 so far.
Concerning
your information pertaining to this article, we were all aghast
when
it was revealed to us that these items were considered "secrets".
These
"secrets" of [Tim] Adams' have, over the past 4 years, been broadcast
over
every TV newsroom, radio station, and newspaper in Edmonton. Anyone in
Edmonton
not knowing this, has either been in a very long coma, or is new to
the
city. [Tim]
has apologized many times to
the public, to the Bar
Association,
and mostly to his children. He could
start a sentence in
Edmonton
by saying "Hi, I'm [Tim] Adams, I'm the guy who..."
He has never done
any business with anyone without first revealing his past.
His legal expertise and dedication to the cause
has been invaluable in
helping to restore hope to many many people whose
lives have been shattered
by divorce and separation.
The same can be
said of Ferrel Christensen. His tireless
dedication to the
cause has been an inspiration to all of us. I have worked closely with both
of these gentlemen now for almost one year, and
can honestly say that I have
never even heard a reference to sex from either
of them. The work that each
has done has been absolutely exemplary. [Back]To crucify Ferrel over a book
written
while an employee of the U of A, and published by a reputable
publisher,
is wrong. This was a study of human
sexuality and behavior and
has
always been on his list of credentials.
The first week I met Ferrel, I
read
this list. No one here has ever bothered
with the book because its
subject
matter is so incredibly far removed from anything that any of us
here
are doing. It is my understanding,
Donna, that you have yourself
written
some sexually liberal material. Please
be careful not to disagree
with
anything that Ms. Malenfant does or says for a very long while, as you
yourself
could end up on this sexual morals "hit list".
In the
2 years since the inception of the ECMAS Support Group, Ferrel and
[Tim]
have been integral in helping over 600 people whose lives have been
thrown
apart by divorce and separation. Of
these 600 people helped, the
only
complaint that we have received that I am aware of, has been from
Louise
Malenfant. Edmonton ECMAS keeps
meticulous records, and the Support
Group
is no exception. While Ms Malenfant
would appear to indicate that her
attendance
at the Support Group was frequent and ongoing, our records
clearly
indicate that all of this conjecture was based on attendance at one
meeting
only.
In
light of these inconsistencies, along with so many others, the following
question
begs an answer: Who in the entire
country would have more
resources
and first-hand knowledge of exactly how to destroy someone through
the
use of false allegations? Ironically,
this is one of the very things we
are
all fighting so hard against.
Finally,
I would just like to say that I could very easily have voted to
oust [Tim]
and Ferrel completely for the good of ECMAS. This would have been
very,
very easy. A part of me might have slept
well, knowing that I had
done
my bit to save ECMAS; however, a part of me may never have slept again,
knowing
full well that someone had forced me into doing the wrong thing.
Thank
you for your time. Please feel free to
reply by e-mail, phone
(780-471-0023),
or cell (780-984-1235).
Rick
Fowler
Co-Chair,
Maintenance Enforcement Committee
ECMAS Edmonton