Controversies
Gainers strike
While Pocklington's business empire realized its successes, it suffered its failures, too. Prime interest rates in the early 1980s topped out at 18.5%, a development that sapped the oil boom of its strength, collapsed the real estate market and sank Fidelity Trust in a sea of declining property values.
Pocklington's labour dispute with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union ended up crippling Gainers, which at the time was Canada's second-largest meat packer. During the union's six-month strike, Pocklington used strikebreakers, primarily from Quebec, to keep the plant operating despite the picket lines, a decision that earned him the enmity of Canada's labour movement. Eventually, he agreed to settle the strike and rehire the striking workers at the request of the Alberta government. In return, says Pocklington in his biography, then-Premier of Alberta Don Getty agreed to give Gainers an interest-free loan of $50 million. Gainers would give the province 10% of its operating profit every year for the next four years, and repay a conventional mortgage after that. Pocklington also insisted the province disband its pork marketing board, which fixed prices on pork at a rate higher than what the meat packers could sell it in the marketplace. Instead, the government gave Gainers $55 million at 10.5% interest, refusing to disband the marketing board. "They said, 'Take it or leave it,'" Pocklington told his biographers.[2] Crippled with a debt-servicing cost it did not anticipate and handicapped by inflated production costs created by the marketing board, Gainers immediately began to drown in debt. Loan repayments were missed and within three years, the Alberta government took over Gainers. The province lost $89 million on the venture in the four years it operated Gainers—more than double the rate of loss in Pocklington's last few years at the helm—and eventually sold the company for 1/20 of the price Pocklington paid for it 11 years earlier.
Stanley Cup
After the Edmonton Oilers won their first Stanley Cup in 1983–84, Peter Pocklington included his father, Basil Pocklington, on the list of people and players who were to have their names engraved on the trophy. The NHL did not check the validity of the names on the list, and the Cup was engraved as usual. NHL executives, via the Hockey Hall of Fame, had the engraver strike out the name of the senior Pocklington by engraving a series of Xs over his name. When Peter Pocklington was confronted with the issue, he protested it was the engraver's fault, not his, that the engraver had mixed up the people who were actually technical members of the team (Basil was not one of them) with a list of individuals who were to receive miniature replica Cups (Basil was one of them).
After this error, the NHL and Hockey Hall of Fame adopted policies to confirm the roster and the relation of the people on the engraving list to the championship team. Of the two dozen engraving errors that appear on the Stanley Cup all but one are spelling errors. Basil Pocklington was the only name that was covered until November 2021, when the Hall of Fame struck the name of 2009–10 Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich due to sexual assault charges during that season.[6]
Gretzky trade
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Main article: The Trade |
On August 9, 1988, Pocklington shocked hockey fans by trading Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gélinas, $15 million cash, and the Kings' first-round draft picks in 1989, 1991 and 1993. One member of the House of Commons of Canada demanded the government block the trade, another man burned Pocklington in effigy, and Gretzky's bride, actress Janet Jones, was branded hockey's "Yoko Ono".
There is debate as to whether Gretzky "jumped" or was "pushed". A book by former Kings owner Bruce McNall quotes Pocklington as saying Gretzky had become impossible to deal with since he began dating Jones, who let it be known that she was not going to live in Edmonton after they got married. Pocklington claims he has had only nice things to say about the couple, yet he has repeatedly defended the trade as being a sound business decision that he would not hesitate to make again. However, he would later admit the trade to be a difficult and regrettable decision, but nevertheless a vital transaction to keep the team financially afloat.[7]
Losing the Oilers
By the late 1980s, increasing player salaries led the Oilers to trade Gretzky and other stars, such as Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe and Grant Fuhr. By the mid-1990s, the Oilers were still losing money and Pocklington expressed an unwillingness to use his other businesses to bankroll his hockey team. He publicly threatened to move the team to Hamilton and Minneapolis, but never made good on the threats. He would almost sell the team to then Houston Rockets owner Les Alexander, and the team almost moved to Houston until a locally-based investors group bought the team shortly before the conclusion of the 1997-98 season in May 1998, which elected to keep them in Edmonton.[8]
Pocklington operated the team on a line of credit, paying 19% interest to the Alberta Treasury Branches (ATB). He asked the ATB to convert the outstanding amount, about $120 million into a conventional mortgage he could pay down. The ATB refused and instead called his loan. His remaining business empire was sold off piece by piece, including the Oilers and Trappers and Cambra Foods. "Losing the Oilers was like having my heart torn out," Pocklington told his biographers.[2]
Stanley Cup rings
In May 2012, Pocklington announced his family was auctioning memorabilia from his time as owner of the Oilers, including his rings from their Stanley Cup championships. According to the Edmonton Journal, this was the second time the rings were put up for auction. In 2008, an anonymous bidder offered $272,829 for the rings, but withdrew his bid amid rumours the rings were not the only set Pocklington had commissioned. Pocklington later claimed in his biography the confusion stemmed from a set of rings he had made for his father, and were sold by his father’s estate in 2001. The rings offered in 2008 and again in 2012 have been certified as authentic, he said.[9]
Business setbacks
Pocklington invested in several businesses in the U.S., including the nutraceutical maker Naturade, and golf club manufacturers Golf Gear and Sonartec. However, those investments yielded more heartache than profit, and what he claims was fiduciary malfeasance by some partners in these ventures left Pocklington the target of numerous lawsuits. In the summer of 2008, one of those suits resulted in raids by U.S. Marshals of the Pocklington home in Indian Wells, California, where a number of items belonging to his wife, including gowns, shoes and purses, as well as Andy Warhol prints of Mick Jagger, were seized. These were eventually returned.
Avoiding prison time
While a lower court had retroactively revoked Peter Pocklington's probation on a perjury conviction and sentenced him to six months in prison, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling on appeal.[10] "The Probation Office was crystal clear about the absence of anything resembling probable cause," wrote Judge Margaret McKeown.[11] The court had earlier heard evidence that Pocklington had, over a 19-month period, failed to disclose consulting fees paid to a company controlled by his wife. Pocklington argued that was not the case, that all income was reported through tax returns and bank statements. Nevertheless, California District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips gave Pocklington until December 9, 2013, to report to prison.[12][13]
At the time, Pocklington released a statement saying, "I accept full responsibility for my actions."[14]
On December 6, 2013, the CBC reported Pocklington would appeal his sentence, had been released on $100,000 bail and would not be reporting to prison as ordered.[15]
On July 3, 2015, the Toronto Sun reported that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had reversed the ruling. In vacating Judge Phillips' original order, "The district court lacked jurisdiction to extend Pocklington’s probation beyond its October 26, 2012, expiration date," the appeal court panel said in a written judgment.[16][17]
Conjecture
In April 2012, investigators with the Arizona Corporation Commission alleged Pocklington and an associate, John McNeil, had engaged in securities fraud related to Crystal Pistol Resources LLC and Liberty Bell Resources 1, LLC. Pocklington vigorously denied the allegations, insisted he and McNeil had done nothing wrong, and that investors in the mining venture were not being misled. The geologists associated with the project were, according to the mining company newsletter, also vigorously defending their data. Those geologists "boast impeccable reputations and have been conscientious and thorough in their testing", Pocklington wrote in a letter to the Edmonton Journal. "We do not tell our investors anything their data is not telling us."[18]
On June 4, 2013, a decision rendered by the Arizona Corporations Commission ordered the respondents to pay the commission $5,149,316, and an administrative penalty for $100,000. The Commission would disburse the funds on a pro-rata basis to investors. A statement by Pocklington's company was included in Canadian media accounts, which stated “the allegations of wrongdoing ... have been laid to rest” with the commission’s decision. "We have done nothing wrong," Pocklington said in the release. "We have worked diligently and honestly with all of our investors and have been conscientious in guiding the company through the necessary regulatory frameworks. We are committed to raising capital in accordance with existing rules and regulations." He added that any errors were "born of inexperience and naivete, not malice or avarice", and were quickly rectified.[19][20][21]
On December 6, 2013, a report by the CBC stated that the $5,149,316 fine remains unpaid.[15]
Edmonton Oilers' 1984 reunion
On October 8, 2014, Pocklington was the focus of a media opportunity organized by the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club to promote the 30-year reunion of the 1984 Stanley Cup championship team. When asked if he was concerned about the reception he would get from Edmontonians, he replied, "I really don't give a damn what some of the unwashed have to say."[22] His comment resulted in a social media storm that continued until his appearance at the October 10 Edmonton Oilers 1985 Stanley Cup Reunion at Rexall Place in Edmonton. Media polls indicated he was in for a rough reception at the event.[23] However, he received a standing ovation from fans in attendance. He subsequently sent letters to the editors of The Edmonton Sun. The Sun published the letter of thanks intact on October 14, 2014.[24]
