The Ontario Bond Scandal of 1924 Re-examined

Ian Kyer, The Ontario Bond Scandal of 1924 Re-examined, published by Irwin Law. Ian Kyer is an independent scholar and has published three books with the Osgoode Society. In October, 1924, Peter Smith, the former treasurer of the Province of Ontario, and Aemilius Jarvis, one of Canada’s most prominent businessmen and a champion yachtsman, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy to defraud the Ontario government in connection with the repurchase of three series of succession duty–free bonds four years before. Were they truly guilty? Academics and the general public have differed dramatically in their answer to that question. Based on extensive research and his own knowledge of corporate finance and government, the author skillfully takes us through the bond transactions, the investigations, the criminal charges, the trial, the extradition and subsequent trial of another of the alleged conspirators, the appeals and the extensive efforts of Jarvis and his supporters to overturn the verdict. He explains how and why the jury came to the wrong verdict and why the legal appeals were unsuccessful. Although the subject matter is somewhat technical, the author makes everything clear to the general reader.