NEWS ANCHOR

10
INDUSTRYNEWS
WINNIPEG Printer DENIES Wrongdoing
A Manitoba Provincial Auditor General’s
report that was prematurely leaked to the
media has led to an acrimonious dispute
between the Auditor General’s office and
the printing company that ran the job.
Rinella Printers Ltd. is a small 87year-old
family-owned business that has
been doing work for the Auditor
General’s office for the past few years.
“Even though the Auditor General’s
office had never requested any
confidentiality guarantees, we respected
confidentiality because it was the right
thing to do,” says Leslie Rinella Sabourin.
“We treat all our clients’ projects with
sensitivity and care. In the case of this
particular report, we are confident we
acted appropriately and honoured the
trust placed in us.”
BY MYRON LOVE
The Rinella family is particularly
upset that on January 27—two weeks
after Jon Singleton, the Auditor General,
launched an investigation into the source
of the leak (which is ongoing)—
Singleton told both the CBC and The
Winnipeg Free Press that he was satisfied
the leak didn’t come from his office and
that the source of the leak had to be
Rinella Printers. His evidence, a printer’s
mark on one version of the leaked report
which he claimed matched a Rinella file.
Rinella Sabourin argues that
Singleton’s office also had access to that
version of the report and charges that
there is no evidence whatsoever that a
Rinella staffer was the source of the leak.
She reports that in late March the
printing company, through its lawyer
Guy Giorno, complained to the Auditor
General, the Speaker and the House
Leaders about an investigation that was
unfair and lacked objectivity.
“It is clear the investigators were not
free to explore all possible causes,” she
says. “It’s also clear that what was leaked
was a PageMaker version of the report.
The fact remains that two entities had
access to the report—the Office of the
Auditor General, which sent us the file,
and our small family business.”
She notes that Rinella Printers has 19
employees, of whom six workers (two of
them members of the Rinella family)
were in possession of the WCB report.
On the other hand, the Auditor General’s
office is a 45-person operation.
Giorno also points out that the leaked
document appeared on the Auditor
General’s website more than 20 hours
before its official public release.
In the meantime, the Auditor General
will not be giving Rinella Printers any
further business pending the results of
the investigation. What most concerns
the Rinella Family is how this blot on
their reputation will effect the company’s
ability to attract new business.
The Auditor General refused
comment for this story.
PEOPLE
Transcontinental Inc.
has appointed Benoît
Huard as vice president
and Chief Financial
Officer. Huard has served
Huard as corporate treasurer
with the company since 2002, and
over the past 20 years he has held a
number of senior positions related to
the financial management of large
publicly traded companies, including
Quebecor Inc. and Avenor Inc.
Fuji Graphic Systems Canada
has appointed Richard
Thompson as account
manager to its central
sales team. Thompson
brings over 20 years
of industry experience,
most recently as senior Thompson
electronics and consumable manager
at Agfa Inc.
KBA North America has named
Carsten Ruebel to the position of
new product manager.
Most recently Ruebel
spent eight years as
sheetfed press product
manager with another
German-located press
Ruebel manufacturer. He’s also
worked as a printer at two German
print shops and carries a degree in
print engineering.
Mike Fox has been promoted to
company president at Screen (USA)
responsibe for Screen’s
portfolio throughout the
U.S., Canada and Latin
America. Most recently
senior vice president
of sales and services,
Fox has managed the
Fox
Screen (USA) sales team since 2000.
Fox succeeds Eiji (A.J.) Kakiuchi,
who will continue as a director of
Screen (USA) and president of the
Media Technology Company of
Dainippon Screen Mfg. Robert Prah,
replaces Fox as vice president, sales.
www.canadianprinter.com APRIL/MAY, 2006