UPDATE (11/04/2018): The Ministry of Labour has confirmed that the compliance order is being appealed to the Ontario Labour Board.
In comments made to GuelphToday Butch Carter indicated he would be appealing the decision and that he was out of the country dealing with a personal matter and never received notice from the Ministry of Labour on this matter.
He also said the dollar amount provided by the Ministry of Labour is inaccurate.
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The Ministry of Labour has ruled that a dormant basketball league operated and partially owned by former Toronto Raptors coach Butch Carter owes four former employees $138,457 in unpaid wages.
At least one of those former employees worked for the team that was located in Guelph.
The Canadian Basketball League consisted of four teams, including the Wellington Gryphons that played in the University of Guelph's Athletic Centre. The league played just one season, from Dec. 2016 to March 2017.
The Ministry of Labour has issued a compliance order against the Canadian Basketball League and an affiliated company named Canadian Basketball GP Inc.
Carter, who coached the Raptors for three seasons, lists himself as a “general partner” in the league on his Twitter account, which is active. He did not respond to a request for comment.
The league Twitter account hasn’t had a post since Dec. 4, 2017, and the league’s web site has been suspended.
There has been no news of the league resurfacing, although it was charging $152 for players to attend open tryouts advertised for several provinces and U.S. states as late as last October. The tryout page said the league would be starting a new season in December of 2017.
While the names of those filing the complaint are not part of the public record, the Ministry of Labour provided the total amount owed to the four employees for wages, vacation pay and termination pay.
“The employer has 30 days to pay or appeal the order. If the order is not paid or appealed, it is generally sent to MOF (Ministry of Finance) shortly after for collections,” the Ministry of Labour said.
At press conference held at Cutten Fields prior to the season opening, Carter said one of the money men behind the league was a retired Wells Fargo executive.
"There's nothing about the CBL I'm afraid of. What I'm more afraid of is not being successful," Carter said at the time.
"You're going to burn some money in your first year," Carter said that day.
He said at the time that teams would operate on a budget of roughly $200,000 a year.
The league had franchises in Guelph, Durham, Hamilton and Scarborough, and some games were broadcast on television.
While the Wellington Basketball Club franchise drew fairly well at the University of Guelph Athletic Centre, topping 1,000 people a couple of times, overall the league struggled to attract fans.
