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YkTix failing to repay remainder of 2008 ticket sales Laura Busch Northern News Services Published Wednesday, November 9, 2011
"The last payment received was for May," said Van Tighem. "They were monthly up until that time." In November 2008, Tony Watier, the owner of YkTix, was ordered in territorial court to repay $113,000 to the city. This judgment has helped the city regain most of this money, Van Tighem said, however, there is now the question of whether Watier or his company has enough money to repay the balance. "He made significant efforts to pay it down," said Van Tighem. In a court document dated Feb. 18, 2011 on the matter of the bankruptcy of the Birchwood Gallery - also owned by Watier - a proposal was given where Birchwood would make $10,000 payments every month beginning on March 15. In the same document, 17 unsecured creditors were said to be owed $128,975, including Watier who claimed to be owed $30,000 from the failing store. On top of this, Birchwood Gallery was stated to owe the Canada Revenue Agency $91,000 for a grand total of $219,975 in liabilities. Birchwood Gallery was stated to only have a total of $33,000 in assets, equaling a deficiency of $186,975 owing - and this was before court, lawyer and accounting fees. "Well, we have a judgment against the owner and the company and therefore it's a matter of determining if the owner and the company have the wherewithal to find some money somewhere," said Van Tighem. "So that's the part that's in process now." All of this financial trouble began in 2008, when the city asked YkTix to turn over the money it had collected from ticket sales to the Yk Arctic Winter Games. "The company YkTix was contracted to sell the tickets to the Arctic Winter Games," said Van Tighem. "The city was the sponsor of the Arctic Winter Games and therefore responsible for anything that goes right and anything that goes wrong." If Watier and YkTix do not have the funds available to make any further payments to the city, "then it will be un-collectable," said Van Tighem. The last cheque the city received, in May, was difficult to get certified, Van Tighem said, which indicated there may be a problem. "Also at about that time or a little earlier than that, his store was closed. So there were a few indicators there," he said. Watier has not been in contact with the city to explain the lack of payments as far as the mayor is aware. "And when communication breaks down, that's an even better indication that it's going to get tough," said Van Tighem. Watier could not be reached for comment by press time.
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