John Lecky

"The appeal to Dobbin may have been more than an opportunity to add to Sealand’s bottom line. It might have been personal. Dobbin’s winning the offshore oil contract from Okanagan a few years earlier had deeply angered one of Okanagan’s larger shareholders, John Lecky. Since that time, Lecky had acquired control of Okanagan, and Craig Dobbin may have enjoyed the chance to challenge him again, the son of a St. John’s lumber dealer matching wits with the Cambridge-educated sophisticate who was heir to the MacMillan Bloedel fortune. Many businesspeople, including Harry Steele and Robert Foster, liked and admired Lecky. Craig Dobbin did not. “John Lecky inherited a billion dollars,” Dobbin once noted, “and it’s become his hobby to blow it all away.”"

"After spending time and effort on the ou1P pitch, Jones was dispirited when he broke news of the province’s rejection to Craig Dobbin, expecting the Sealand owner to abandon the idea. Dobbin, however, had a different response. “The hell with the contract,” he grinned. “Let’s buy the buggers out and we'll get the contract that way! We'll start with Toronto.” Buy them? Jones thought. What a crazy idea. Toronto Helicopters was comparable to Sealand in size, providing craft and pilots for a wide range of services beyond the ouIP contract. It was also a very profitable company. What’s more, John Lecky had been attempting to purchase Toronto from company president Len Rutledge for some time; each effort was turned down flat. Why should Rutledge look with favour on Sealand’s offer? One of Craig Dobbin’s most popular aphorisms was “Never take no for an answer,” and he instructed Jones to contact Rutledge, set up a meeting and arrange a deal. To Jones’s surprise, Rutledge’s response to his request for a meeting was, “Sure, let’s talk.”"

"On Monday, October 19, 1987, stock markets around the world suffered their largest one-day decline in history, shaking the faith of investors the world over. Many took years to fully recover their losses. CHC’s 1P0 was the last in Canada before Black Monday, and shares of the company that had been snatched up at $10 dropped within a week to $2.50. Had the 1P0 been delayed by two weeks, it clearly would have failed. John Lecky would have retained his company and the one million dollars, and Craig Dobbin would have withdrawn to St. John’s, devoting his time to paying down the massive mortgages on everything he owned. But the luck of the Irish kicked in. Instead, Dobbin’s credit was up to AAA, and his prospects were brighter than ever."