Where have all the flowers gone?
Sanders says the Crocus scandal should be a wake-up call for Manitobans
Jim Sanders

In Greek mythology, Crocus, or Krokos, was a flower-boy and lover of Hermes, the Greek god of commerce and messenger to the gods.

The story goes that one day Hermes killed Crocus by accident while they were playing rough together. The blood of Crocus dropped on the earth and became the petals of a flower. The Crocus flower is named after Hermes’ dead lover.

The Prairie crocus is also the first wildflower to bloom after the thaw of a Manitoba winter. It is our provincial flower, a delicate little mauve harbinger of spring, and it symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings.

That’s something Manitobans should take to heart in light of the 2005 collapse of the Crocus Investment Fund and the subsequent drama that has unfolded — drama the Winnipeg Free Press now refers to as ‘The Crocus Affair.’

The Crocus Fund was a labour-sponsored investment fund that was trumpeted as a great way to invest in the Manitoba economy while also benefiting from the tax breaks such a fund receives. As I understand it, many financial advisors in Winnipeg recommended that their clients include Crocus in their investment portfolios.

With millions invested by its shareholders, the Crocus Fund engaged in an orgy of local investment, and many of Winnipeg’s elite benefited. Even our mayor’s baseball team got a million dollars.

The Crocus Affair indeed attracted strange bedfellows, but money makes people do funny things, especially politicians and union and business leaders. Still, it always perplexed me that a labour-backed fund would invest in luxury dining establishments —such as Green Gates and 529 Wellington — or in a place such as the MTS Centre, which is not a union house.

When the fund collapsed to over-valuation and mismanagement, at least 30,000 Manitobans were cut off from $150 million in invested savings.

The love affair with Crocus quickly turned sour. Angry investors are pursuing a class-action lawsuit, there are calls for a public inquiry, and our provincial government is currently embroiled in a pre-election brouhaha over the whole mess — quite a spectacular end to a financial initiative that seemed to have so much promise for the province.

I suspect that the Manitoba Legislature’s secret identity as an occult temple honouring the Golden Boy, Hermes, might have something to do with our leaders channelling this tragic Greek myth.

Just like the Greek god and his boy lover, our government and the Crocus Investment Fund engaged in financial roughhousing, but things got out of hand and many Manitobans lost their retirement savings.

Even though the current opposition parties are accusing the ruling NDP Party of being negligent in the fund’s handling, it was the Conservative party that first joined forces with the Manitoba Labour Federation to give birth to the Crocus Fund.

Like I said, many people and groups are involved in this affair.

I believe that unveiling the truth of the Crocus Affair will expose our local elite for what they are — greedy, short-sighted and deserving of losing their stranglehold on power. It’s high time that a new generation of Manitobans took charge and built an economy that benefits everyone, including the majority of us who can only dream of having savings to invest.

Like the little crocus flower that first blooms after a harsh Manitoba winter, the Crocus Affair should symbolize a new beginning for all Manitobans.

Jim Sanders is a local documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Dada World Data Productions.