As of Nov 16 2011,
revision dates will
be used to help
identify new and/or
updated entries.

I'm usually not a big fan of advertising, but occasionally something interesting pops-up.

This page seems to have become an instant hit with 214 hits in its first 21 days of "life" on the net.
That number may sound small to some, but it's a specialized market, this page hasn't been fully indexed yet and it's already having an effect.

An overview

This webpage was started long after the adventure began, so I'll start off with a bit of history and eventually get caught up with the current situation.

I worked for the Thunder Bay Public Library at the time and I was dealing the public everyday. Al Sebastian became a regular visitor in the Fall of 2009 and started telling us about his big plans to relaunch his Canadian Classic Food Products fish fry batter and shore lunch business. As time went on I mentioned that I was a professional photographer, owned a small photography business and began discussions with Al concerning the possibility of supplying him with product and promotional photography in return for promoting my photography business to his resort clients.

Al began telling me about the details of his plan to relaunch his Canadian Classic Fish Fry business and claimed to have a business plan in place which would get him there for the 2011 season. Al eventually asked if I'd be interested in loaning him some money to enable to him to move his timetable ahead by one year.

In December 2009 I decided to loan Al the money in exchange for a 25% share of the profits* with the loan (+interest) to be repaid in full by September 2010. The repayment date was later verbally extended to December 2010. As of today (Oct 19/11), I haven't received any payments towards the loan or my share of the profits. I realized later that I should have agreed to a share of the sales not the profits.

Here's the URL for his Canadian Classic Food Products website (www.classicfishfry.com) and by the way, if you're also looking for Al his full name is Albert Michael Sebastian and he still lives on Donald Street in Thunder Bay.

* I realized later that I should have gone for a lower percentage based on gross sales which is much easier to prove in court. That's what happens when you trust someone who turns out to be professional con-artist.

Starting Out

During the early part of 2010 there were a few bumps along the way:

• Al was supposed to use the majority of my investment as seed money to leverage additional funds from government agencies, that never happened as Al came up with other ideas.
• One of his other ideas was something called "Sunset Country Resort Services" another was "The Fish & Chicken Shack". Where do these fit into the plan? I'm beginning to think Al has Champagne tastes and a bottled water budget. These other projects might be possible in the future, but why don't we concentrate on the core fishfry business and leave the dreamy stuff on the back burner until next year.
• Another idea that popped up out of nowhere was adding Jerky and Pepperettes to the product line. Al was all about expanding the product line to impress customers. What about concentrating on the basics instead drifting all over the place?
• Guess what? Let's add a selection of Premium Meats & Seafood to the bundle as well. Now all we need is a refrigerated vehicle to transport the frozen goodies, but Al knew where there was a "good deal" on a vehicle with a freezer/cooler.
• There were some packaging problems, Al didn't like the colours of the bags or something along those lines. These problems were eventually sorted out and the blame was placed on the supplier.
• It turns out Al didn't have a vehicle, the van in his parking spot wasn't road worthy. Another friend was supposed to let him use a van for the summer and Al was going to reimburse him for the use of the vehicle. The loaner vehicle never showed up and Summer was approaching, so I volunteered to use my vehicle until he could get something arranged. There were all sorts of excuses for this screw up.
• With all this messing around, is it any wonder that we ended up months behind schedule and didn't get any product out the door until sometime in June. Most fishing related businesses would have had their summer supplies already ordered by now.
• Al claimed he was spending a lot of time at the Thunder Bay & District Entrepreneur Centre. According to their website, "The Thunder Bay & District Entrepreneur Centre is funded through a partnership between the Province of Ontario and the City of Thunder Bay. We exist to offer free and confidential small business counselling services to both new and existing small businesses.". According to Al, he was one their best and most promising clients. Either Al was stretching the truth or someone needs to have a serious look at how the Entrepreneur Centre is operating.

On the road

Since Al didn't have a vehicle I wound up spending roughly every 2nd weekend during the summer on the road with him all over this part of the country. We covered Fort Frances, Kenora, Red Lake, Ignace, Dryden, Thunder Bay, Geraldton, Nipigon and several other locations throughout Northern & Northwestern Ontario. I turned down several paying photography jobs in order get this project off the ground.

Using my vehicle and trailer was not part of the original agreement, my involvement was supposed to be limited to being the money-guy. We split the cost of the gas 50/50, but nothing was offered for vehicle wear and tear (and we spent a lot time on the road, probably in the neighbourhood of 5,000 kms).
We moved a lot of Canadian Classic Fish Fry that summer. I was surprised how well it sold and impressed by how much the customers loved the products. I began to hope this endeavour might work out after all.


It seemed like whenever Al talked to local distributors about handling the product he came back with something like ".. they don't know what they're doing... they don't know how to sell my stuff...". I began to wonder what he was up to, these companies have been around for decades and I figured they must be doing something right.

Al was always going on about how important trust is and how his "previous business partner" (Don Harris of Sebastian's Fine Foods) had left him with a pile of debts and good old honorable Al was making sure everyone would get paid. As time went on I began wondering if the "woe is me" story I was hearing had the names reversed and maybe it was Don Harris who might have been the victim.
FYI: I had an interesting chat with Don at a much later date. It turns out that Don's experiences and financial losses in connection with Al Sebastian's Canadian Classic Fishfry plans were much worse than mine. Don was definitely the victim from their association.

Al was also always talking about how he liked to use other peoples money instead of risking his own money, be the middle-man as he put it. Al mentioned fairly often that his reason for being in the fish coating business was to support his fishing habit, at the time I thought he was joking. I'm the money guy in this situation and this is what he's bragging about (should I be getting concerned yet)?

Typical...

The following series of E-Mail messages regarding a sales/promotional trip planned for the May long weekend turned out to be the typical pattern for the rest of the "adventure". It changes from things are going great..., to there's no money... or something/someone screwed up,...

On 5/14/2010 10:30 PM, Canadian Classic Food Products wrote:
> Hi Rob,
> Give me call this weekend, we'll have tea. We need to talk about the long weekend (May
> 24th). I haven't formulated a game plan and will not do so without discussing things with
> you first. I don't want to commit you to doing something without your prior approval. So,
> lets make a plan to establish a set criteria and agenda with clearly defined tasks to be
> completed during our weekend adventure. We have an established list on my site so lets try
> to complete it. We just need to discuss how and where we're going to do it, cost sharing,
> logistics, etc.
> Oh yeah, things are going great. Better than expected. I'll tell you all about it when I
> see you. Give me a call. I'm up early.
>
> Regards, Al


> Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 20:28:30 -0400
> From: rob@rcp.ca
> To: ccfp10@hotmail.com
> Subject: this weekend
>
> hi Al
>
> Just thought I'd touch base and see how things are shaping for this weekend's trip.
>
> Thanks
> Rob


>On 5/20/2010 7:15 AM, Canadian Classic Food Products wrote:
> Hi Rob,
> It's not looking good for this weekend. I'm out of money until James comes for the van.
> He's waiting for a deposit on a job contract. It will be any day now. That's O.K. because
> I can keep working from here to get some more sales. More good news. I have another
> meeting with one of the two Canadian Tire General Managers this morning. He is now helping
> me to put our products in all 478 stores. He is directly responsible for 2 Thunder Bay
> fishing tackle manufacturers having their products in Canadian Tire. Both Thunder Bay
> stores are supporting the idea. They know how to get it done so they want to help.
>
> I have a bit of work ahead of me yet. I need to do a few things that will cost money that
> I don't have yet. New nutrition panels, new recipes, new label designs. All this is very
> near completion. If things go as planned our products will be in Canadian Tire stores
> early in 2011 with an initial order of roughly $1.25 million before the end of this year.
>
> You know that I don't want to ask but time is of the essence. James is buying the Van as
> soon as he comes up with the money. He's been here 3 times about it because he really
> needs it. Can you loan me $2,000.00 until the Van is paid for. If so, I can get everything
> done and on the website before the end of the month. Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops are also
> waiting for samples and our proposal.
>
> There have been lots of unexpected expenses but I suppose that was to be expected. When I
> start creating something unrestricted, well, you can see first hand what can happen.
>
> Any how, let me know if you are in the position to do anything. If not, I'll just have to
> wait until I have the money. Now, or a week from now, it's going to happen either way.
>
> Regards, Al

Would you like to buy some? These are just a few of the locations that are (or were) carrying the products.

  (Dec 11/11)

I lost count of the number of places we visited and delivered product to during the summer of 2010.
The Trading Post Esso between Upsala and Raith.	Upsala's General Store.
Gramma's in Ignace. They sold a lot of Canadian Classic Fishfry in 2010.	Black Bear gifts, also in Ignace.
KA Tackle and Sports in Dryden.	Tony's Bait and Tackle, also in Dryden.
Indian Lake Lodge, on the way to Red Lake. Indian Lake Lodge had plans to order a lot of Canadian Classic Fishfry for 2011 and participate in the Canadian Classic Food Products private label program. Their plan was to give a package of fishfry to each customer as a thank you gift.	Red Lake Marine, home of the annual Red Lake Fall Fishing Derby. This is a huge event bringing in professional anglers from all over North America. Have you heard about the gold boom in Red Lake? Canadian Classic Food products should be selling like crazy around here.
Wabigoon Lake Community Store, near Vermillion Bay.	Pakwash Lake Lodge, just south of Red Lake.
Plus: •  Zechners (Nipigon)   •  Family Foods (Red Rock)   •  Daneff's Food Market (Geraldton)   •  York Variety (Longlac) •  Jelicoe General Store    •  Lake Helen Community Store (Nipigon)    •  Quality Market (Thunder Bay) •  Maltese Grocery (Thunder Bay)    •  Eagle Lake Lodge (Vermillion Bay)    •  Kahooter's Pit Stop (Ear Falls/Lac Seul) •  Northern Lights Gift Shop (Sioux Narrows)    •  Rusty Myers Resorts (Fort Francis)

Getting into the American Market

On one of our visits to a fishing lodge near Dryden (it may have been at Andy Myers Lodge on Eagle Lake) we met up with Pro Angler Tony Puccio from Bait Rigs Fishing Tackle. The plan with Tony was that we (as Sunset Country Resort Services?) were to distribute his high-end tackle in Northwestern Ontario and Tony would get Canadian Classic Fishfry into the Gander Mountain and Cabela's outdoors stores in the States. I was told Tony had good connections with both companies and his Bait Rigs Tackle products was carried in a lot of their stores.

Did this breakthrough ever happen?? Beats me, everything sounded good at the time.

That's a photo of Al Sebastian and Tony Puccio posing with a couple of bags of Canadian Classic FishFry during a photoshoot on July 7, 2010.

Gone fishin'... (maybe)

Canadian Classic Food Products was supposed to be involved with the Red Lake Fall Classic Walleye Tournament in September 2010 as a sponsor. Al supposedly had signage made up and a couple of pro anglers had agreed to attach the signs to their boats & vehicles.

Again... it all sounded great, until it was actually time to head up to Red Lake and join in the fun. Al said the place where we were supposed to stay had been taken by someone else, there was no place else to stay, blah-blah-blah and besides it's probably not worth driving all the way to Red Lake just for the derby (WHAT!!). His alternate plan was... let's go to Nipigon, they have a fish derby on that weekend as well. I don't have anything against Nipigon, but their derby was nothing compared to the one going on in Red Lake.

Fish processing plant and a food show

  (Feb 12/12)

In September 2010 Al was telling me about a big deal in Kenora with a newly renovated fish processing plant and how they had confirmed orders for literally tons of frozen fish products, but they needed a good quality fish coating. He wanted additional funds to visit the owners in Kenora and get the contracts in place.

In an E-Mail Al claimed "I spoke to the Graphic Artist today in Kenora who is designing the labels for James Cameron (not the director). The project is officially under way.". James is the president of Anishinaabe Marketing Freshwater Fish Inc and is the fellow in-charge of the new Kenora fish plant.

Did you know the Canadian Government is the fish business? Their Fresh Water Fish Marketing Corporation specialises in the purchase and marketing of fresh water fish products throughout Canada. How could it go wrong with the Federal Government as a customer and promoter?

     
Al also claimed "Webb Wholesale [in Fort Frances] are signing on as distributors" and "Cabelas and Bass Pro shops are onboard as well".

Al wanted to send product samples and have product displays created for an upcoming food show being held in Vancouver (Oct 2010). The food show was being coordinated by Inland Pacific Distributors (a national distributor) out of Langley BC.
FYI: Inland Pacific Distributors changed its name to BRS Canada Acquisition Inc. effective Sept 1, 2011. BRS (Big Rock Sports) purchased Inland Pacific as part of their plans to enter the Canadian market. More info here.

I verbally agreed to the plan and advanced additional funds to cover these expenses, with a verbal agreement to repay the money at the end of 2010.

Al returned from Kenora with nothing except something along the lines of the "they don't know what they're doing..." story (again) and the big break-through food show in Vancouver seems to have dropped off the radar even though we supposedly shipped them several cases of the Canadian Classic Fishfry product.

What about the "deals" that were supposedly signed, sealed and underway? The Webb, Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops connections disappeared as well. To top it all off, the additional funds that had been ear-marked for these projects was gone without a trace.

More ideas... more money...

In October 2010 Al was onto another "big idea" about expanding the product line (adding fish and games spices) and increasing sales (open a storefront operation, "fish and chicken shack"). He'd been talking about the Fish and Chicken Shack idea for a while, his plan was to franchise it and compete with M&M Meats.

This time he wanted an additional $8,000 and in return my share of the operation would increase from 25% to 49% although my share of the profits would remain at 25%. Needless to say I turned him down. The conversation got to the point where he was visibly upset and was demanding the additional funds. He was saying something along the lines of "... you've got assets, you can get a loan... I don't have any assets, so I can't get a loan.". I told him I could probably get a loan, but who's going to make the loan payments?

After all that's happened since then I'm glad I didn't go along with that big idea.

October 2010 - Last contact...

Here's the last E-Mail I received from Al. Visiting the Innovation Centre and investigating sources of funding is what he was supposed to have done last January.

On 10/16/2010 7:11 AM, Canadian Classic Food Products wrote:
> Hi Rob,
> I know you check your e-mails regularily. I'm thinking that you did not phone yesterday
> after work because you think I'm going to ask you for more money. Well, I'm not going to
> now, or ever again. You are not the Canadian Imperial Bank of Rob. I want to apologize for
> putting you on the spot the way I did. I should not have asked for money I already knew
> was not available. You have already contributed much more than originally agreed. I was so
> excited about the prospect of setting up shop at Peter's that I temporarily lost my mind.
> Please accept my apology.
>
> Regarding this weekend's road trip, I should have focused my attention on that instead of
> spending so much effort on Peter's. I neglected to pick up samples at the warehouse or
> make a plan of action. Also, I didn't want to risk having to spend what little cash I have
> left on a trip that I was not properly prepared for. If you are willing, let me know when
> you have another weekend off and I'll be fully prepared to go.
>
> Since I have nearly completed revising the business plan I might as well finish it before
> I put it away. Now that my brain is back to normal I need to focus all of my attention on
> what we have in hand. Any idea of a Fish n Chicken Shack will have to wait awhile. I still
> plan to attend the meeting with the Innovation Centre on Tuesday. At the very least I'll
> gain a better understanding about the funding programs. At best, she may be able to guide
> me in the right direction.
>
> So, if you're not overly busy give me a call. We'll have tea. Oh yeah, don't worry about
> the future of the business. A minor, temporary cash flow shortfall isn't anything to be
> concerned about. We have lots of Fishfry inventory and Spices on the way. I just have to
> do my job and sell it. Talk to you soon.
>
> Al
>

March 2011 - What's up...

I haven't received any money from Al Sebastian (or Canadian Classic Food Products / Sunset Country Resort Services) and have been unable to contact him regarding plans for the 2011 season. He still lives in Thunder Bay but will not return phone calls or e-mails. Now I'm starting to get pissed off. Because of Al's financial irresponsibility and questionable ethics I've had to cancel a project that was planned for the Summer of 2011. I think it might be time follow some advice a former employer of mine often repeated... don't get mad, get even.

May-June 2011 - Let the games begin...

I began taking legal action through Small Claims Court. Small Claims Court is designed to handle claims up to a certain amount and increasing my investment by another $8,000 back in October would have eliminated my being able to pursue him through the Small Claims Court system. When the amount exceeds Small Claims upper limit, a lawyer is required, it's handled by the regular court process and the legal bills start adding up very quickly. I've got a feeling Al knew about this limit and wanted to push my investment above it.

During the Small Claims process Al kept a low profile (invisible, actually), didn't dispute any of my claims and as a result he's been found guilty. Now that I have a legal judgement against him the next hurdle will be recovering my investment plus accumulating legal costs. As far as I know he doesn't have a full-time job, he does a lot of cash deals and he appears to be very good at hiding his money. You'd think most people would have some sort of reaction to receiving court documents (I know I would) but not Al, he seems to be ignoring the entire matter hoping it'll go away. I'm getting the feeling that he's familiar with the legal process and maybe this isn't the first time he been in trouble.

Will the real Chef please stand up...

Al always claimed he was a certified Red Seal Chef who had lots of experience in the food industry and his former business partner Don Harris was just sort of involved with the business. Guess what... it turns out that Don Harris is a Certified Red Seal Chef (C.C.C, O.C.T). For your information, C.C.C is the Certified Chef de Cuisine designation which is the highest professional culinary recognition and accreditation in Canada. It sounds like Al was stretching things right from day one.

Financial fun 'n games...

I paid a visit to his bank with a Notice of Garnishment in hand. The nice folks at the bank informed me that his account has been closed since April 2011. They also told me that they remembered dealing with Al and didn't think much of him (that's a polite version of what I was told).
Here's the important bit though... I was told by the bank that "the bank initiated the account closure not the client", that sounds interesting I wonder what sort of "tricks" he was trying pull?

I had a look at some of my cancelled cheques. It turns out that Al used his birth certificate and a gold Mastercard for identification when he cashed one of the cheques. Al had to show identification because he didn't have an account with that bank, what I find curious is why didn't the bank ask for his Drivers Licence as photo ID? A Drivers Licence would make tracking him down so much easier (he probably knew that and avoided showing his Drivers Licence).

Odds 'n Ends...

  (Nov 16/11)

The product line seems to have expanded. Look what I found during my travels in 2011, more on these discoveries later.


These photos were taken at several retail locations around Northern & Northwestern Ontario in the late summer.


It looks like the Canadian Classic Food Products line is being sold all over the place.


There's only one problem, Al filed paperwork with the Ontario Ministry of Finance claiming he had ceased operations on April 21, 2011. Here's the Business Name Report I obtained from the Ministry of Government Services showing the cancellation. I wonder if Revenue Canada might be interested in hearing about Al's "creative" business practices?



A bigger bag?? More signs of recent business activity... Bigger?? It's still 560g, maybe the bag is physically larger... It's also being sold for more than the old "smaller" 560g bags, I guess that's what some people call marketing.

« Come to think of it it... Al must have some cash-flow in order to pay for product labels (like this one by Shout Media) and pay Due North Marketing to maintain his website.


When I started this page about my "adventures with Al" I wasn't sure if I'd be able to avoid using words such fraud, misleading, unethical, dishonest or con artist. It appears I was successful and managed to keep things as business like as possible.

Did you notice the sponsored ads scattered around the page? I'm hoping they'll help offset some of my legal fees.

He's back...

  (Nov 16/11)

Sunset Country is the region's travel & tourism promotion organization and their slogan is "The Great Canadian Experience". They've got a nice slogan, but I don't know if I'd call dealing with Al Sebastian a great Canadian experience. Al's also changed his promotional angle, he's now promoting himself as "Sunset Country Resort Services" although as you can see from this screen capture of their website it all points back to Canadian Classic Fishfry and Canadian Classic Food Products.
Update (Nov 18/11): It looks like Al's Sunset Country Resort Services page has been removed from Sunset Country's travel & tourism website. Who knows, maybe they found these notes and decided to take action. A big THANK YOU goes out to the Kenora Sunset Country organization!

Spreading the joy...

  (Nov 18/11)

Wow... the product has spread to Southern Ontario. Anglers Choice near Sarnia is apparently stocking Canadian Classic Fishfry. I wonder if they have any idea of what they might be in for? Have they heard about the Sunset Country Resort Services personalized bottled water program?

A bigger pond...

  (Nov 28/11)

Not even Facebook is safe from Al Sebastian. Sunset Country Resort Services now has a Facebook page and the icon that's displayed is a briefcase or possibly a suitcase. That seems appropriate since he's appears to be on the move and keeping a low profile. His page isn't public, so you need to sign up for Facebook before you can interact with him. How would you like to be his newest best friend?
Update (Nov 21/11): It turns out that the Sunset Country Resort Services Facebook page belongs to a fellow named Stafford who also lives in Thunder Bay. I found Stafford mentioned elsewhere as being the owner of Sunset Country Resort Services. There's only one problem... according to the Ministry of Government Services (Ontario), Sunset Country Resort Services is registered as a sole proprietorship belonging to our "pal" Al Sebastian. Maybe someone should give Stafford a "heads up", just in case.
Update (Nov 28/11): Sunset Country Resort Services Facebook page no longer lists Stafford as being the owner. Actually there's no longer any information listed on SCRS's Facebook page. This process of finding traces of "Al Activity" followed by a withdrawal reminds me of an old kids game called "Whack-A-Mole".

Maybe there is some truth in advertising...

  (Nov 21/11)

I just noticed the Canadian Classic Fish & Game Spice logo... "Same Game, New Rules". At last a degree of honesty, he's definitely playing the same game with whomever he can draw in. New rules probably applies to the slight changes introduced in each iteration of the game.

Why is this taking so long...

  (Nov 21/11)

When dealing with the court system everything takes time. Documents have be filed in a certain sequence and the defendant has a predefined amount of time to respond to most documents. In Al's case he didn't respond to a anything, so getting a judgment was relatively straight forward. The problems start when you're trying to Garnishee "stuff". There are only 2 steps in the process, it's the second one that contains a condition that favours the debtor (Al in this case) and throws a wrench into the works:

• Step 1: COMPLETE and FILE a Notice of Garnishment form and an Affidavit for Enforcement Request (Form 20P) with the court office. The clerk will stamp the notice.
• Step 2: SERVE. You then serve a copy of the stamped notice of garnishment and a blank Garnishee's Statement form (Form 20F) on the person or business that has the money (the "garnishee") owed to the debtor. You also serve a copy of the stamped notice and the affidavit on the debtor.

The part about giving a copy to the debtor gives the debtor a slight advantage. He knows what you're up to and can change tactics to avoid getting caught.

Spreading more joy...

  (Nov 28/11)

According to York Variety's (located in Longlac, Ontario) Facebook page they started carrying the complete line of Canadian Classic Fishfry and Fish & Game Spice products on October 7/11. Al certainly has been busy making new friends. All this recent activity could be an indication that Al has found another (to put it politely) financial backer. I wonder what sort of outrageous claims Al made to lure in his latest "partner"?

What, I missed the big Spring Sale???

  (Nov 30/11)

This sale flyer from May 26/11 appears to be the type that is widely distributed as a newspaper advertising supplement and for promoting sales at specific sporting goods & outdoor adventure stores. Here's a close-up of page 3 featuring Canadian Classic Fishfry. The entire flyer is available here (it's a large file, please be patient).

Will the real Al Sebastian please stand up, please stand up...

  (Dec 10/11)

I've heard an interesting story from another person who was chasing Al a while ago. This person lives out of town and hired local agents to handle the legal paperwork. When the process server appeared at Al's door to serve him with the usual court documents, Al apparently denied being Al and would not accept delivery of the documents. You'd think lying to an agent of the court would be an offence of some kind.

To be continued...

It's time to call in some professionals. I've been in touch with someone who has a lot of experience dealing with this sort of fraudulent activity. I'm just waiting for some additional paperwork to arrive before... (use your imagination)
Jan 13/12: I know it's been a while since my last update, don't worry I haven't given up. Actually it's just the opposite, I had an interesting chat with someone the other day and things are about to get interesting.