Proposed plant sprouting questions: proponent has big plans for Kenora, but NOB has trouble verifying his story.

• Author: Louiseize, Kelly
• Position: EXCLUSIVE

A new biotechnology initiative to extract plant oil for cancer fighting drugs is expected to take root in Kenora. However, Northern Ontario Business has learned there are some questions surrounding this project and the proponent, Gordon Summers.

In 2000, after a three-year investigation into the "Titania Oil and Gas Canada Inc.," Gordon Summers pleaded guilty in North Bay to two charges of fraud over $5,000, one count of possession of stolen property and one count of defrauding the general public amounting to $434,000.

He was sentenced to 27 months in jail. He will reappear before a judge Oct. 21 to address new charges of fraud and forging documents.

Hoping to start anew, Kenora-area resident Summers has been putting out feelers identifying new funding resources for his latest business Biotics, which has recently changed to Vigor Biotics Inc.

"We were forced to incorporate for the tax liability," Summers said.

On May 30, Summers said meetings with officials from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corp. had him hopeful that funding will flow in for a 10,000-square-foot biotechnology manufacturing facility. He said the plant, which will extract paclitaxel, the anti-cancer ingredient from the Canada Yew plant, will be located on airport-leased land.

"We are hoping to start (construction) June 15 and be open October 3," Summers said, maintaining that 112 jobs would sprout from the estimated $2 million initiative.

"We are on a leased piece of land from the airport authority in Kenora. This will be a 24-hour operation."

However, Kenora airport officials and the town's planning department have only received queries from Summers about the property. No land agreements have been drawn up.

"There is a fair level of skepticism about the whole thing," says Bernd Richardt, lawyer and chair of the Kenora Airport Authority.

"Certainly I am not aware of any lease being entered into at this point."

Summers clarified June 24 that past chair Don McDougal was his contact person. Planning has only reached query and application stages because the steel building that will be transported from Markham to Kenora is not building code compliant, he said. But the application for land "should be at my lawyer's office as we speak."

Mike Zroback, airport manager, says no leased land application has been issued and if there was such an initiative, he would be involved.

Summers claims to have financial backing from the the...