How could I forget?

Day one of my first newspaper job. Fresh out of uni, freshly married, freshly broke, happy to land a job for $100 a week (it was 1974) with a small-town daily.

I arrived at first light. Eager. Then the crusty veteran newsroom editor walked in. He looked at me, disgusted. “New guy,” he bellowed. “What the **** are you doing? There’s no news in here. Get the **** out there.”

Thus began my career. Out there. Connect with people. Learn the truth. Bring it back. And only then, sit and write about it.

Full circle now, as I volunteer for The Lake Report — once again chasing truth in a small town. To do that well, people must talk to me. When they don’t, I wonder why. Lately the list of those who are actively avoiding me has been lengthening.

For example, Tim Jennings. The dude in charge of the Shaw Festival — now at the epicentre of a court challenge, heritage crisis and NOTL’s biggest-ever downtown construction job — has been ducking me since late 2025.

We all need to know a little more about how this outfit has evolved. Its contribution to the economy of the town is not in question. That’s huge. By some estimates, $200 million a year. One retailer close to the star-crossed Royal George figures the theatre brought 20,000 people a month to the main drag. But no more, of course. Not until 2029, after the massive $85-million rebuild is over.

But I’d like to ask Jennings some questions — especially now with a federal cabinet minister on the way to (presumably) shower more tax money on this growing enterprise. Word on the street, or at least among some neighbours, is that the Shaw has not secured all of the funding required to finish the mega complex that historic buildings have already died for. Is that true?

By the way, the Shaw ran through almost $40 million last year and paid 600 employees. Just half of that came from selling tickets to its productions. Sales actually fell 8 per cent in 2025, while costs went up. That seems a problem.

Is this related to the aging-out of its audiences?  The fastest-growing demographic among ticket-buyers, the festival says, are people over 80. Yikes.

And while the Shaw took in $15 million from the feds last year, then $35 million from the Doug Ford government for the George rebuild, plus millions more from the province and Ottawa in various grants as well as over $16 million from private sources, it paid NOTL no property tax. Zero. Despite owning $45 million worth of real estate.

The Shaw also pays no income tax to Ontario nor to Canada. Being a charity, it skates around these obligations. It gives donors a break on their own taxes.

This is a big business. The Shaw’s endowment foundation has tens of millions stuffed in it, mostly in income and capital gains-generating pooled Fiera investment funds, managed by Letko, Brosseau & Associates.

But at the same time, the outfit has almost $12 million in a revolving line of credit plus a $15 million mortgage. Given the level of public support, it would be good to know more about how this web of interests is being run. Is it sustainable? What happens in an economic downturn, with a half-built theatre complex?

I’d also like Mr. Jennings to explain a portfolio of almost $40 million in liquid assets while sucking off so much public money. Plus, what’s the status of the Shaw Foundation incorporated in Buffalo. Or the for-profit Shaw Anchorage Land Limited?

Then there’s the artists’ village complex, an ongoing construction site where the Upper Canada old folks residence used to be. Lots of private money has gone into it (the Burton Foundation handed over $5 million), but what’s the plan for long-term sustainability on a complex of five buildings? Why didn’t a new theatre go there?

To be clear, the Shaw’s a massive driver of economic growth in NOTL. Its viability also hangs off the largesse of donors and governments. It’s in the process of constructing two more massive complexes — at the same time operational revenues are down, and just a year after losing millions.

Things might work out great. Or with the economy losing altitude, this could be folly.

Did Mr. Jennings share enough with our leaders before they greenlit projects forever, irreversibly, altering the place?

He’s not talking. The truth is out there.

Garth Turner is a NOTL resident, journalist, author, wealth manager and former federal MP and minister. garth@garth.ca