Pubdate: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON) Copyright: 2008 The Standard Contact: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676 Author: Jennifer Pellegrini ANTI-DRUG SPEAKER ON TRIAL FOR FRAUD A motivational speaker who once travelled to schools to preach to students about the dangers of drugs often took narcotics before making his presentations. That was the testimony of Andrew McRae, a 24-year-old Niagara Falls man who was offered the job as assistant to Fort Erie resident Paul Christie during his Rotary-sponsored "Be Real" tour across Ontario in 2005. Christie is on trial in Fort Erie facing six counts of fraud over $5,000, dating back to 2002. He pleaded not guilty to each of those charges, as well as a charge of uttering a threat and possession of a dangerous weapon, at the Ontario Court of Justice Tuesday. During the opening day of testimony, McRae - a recovering addict - said Christie sent him to obtain prescription medications such as Oxycodone and Percocet to help him "come down" after his high-energy presentations to schools. He also used the drugs to prepare himself for the presentations, McRae told court. "What did you think of that?" Crown attorney Graeme Leach asked McRae. "I thought it was wrong," McRae said. "I thought it was a complete contradiction of what he was supposed to be about - his whole presentation and his business." McRae is one of 14 witnesses scheduled to testify in the five-day trial. Also on the witness stand was McRae's mother, Joanne, who co-signed a $10,000 loan for her son to invest in Christie's plan to visit 262 schools in 35 weeks through his "Glory Clouds" organization. Joanne McRae testified she contacted Christie after seeing an article about his plans to partner with the Lewiston/Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary Club to take his anti-drug message on the road. "I thought it was a good idea (for Christie and her son to meet)," McRae testified. "He seemed on the up and up and I thought it would keep Andy on the straight and narrow." After a short e-mail exchange and a one-time meeting, Christie offered Andrew McRae the chance to work with him, travelling to schools to share his own stories of addiction and drumming up corporate sponsors to help fund the website and tour. McRae testified her son quit his job at a Niagara Falls restaurant to work with Christie on the understanding he would receive a salary and a share of any profits. After he received the $10,000, Joanne McRae testified, Christie asked for an additional $7,000 "so he could pay off some debts and have a stress-free summer." McRae said the idea was for Andrew to stay with Christie over the summer, working on plans for the "Be Real" tour and his own sobriety. "I thought it was a good idea," McRae said. But shortly after Christie received the money, she said, the relationship soured. Andrew's calls were not returned and the Dec. 1 deadline for repayment of the $7,000 loan - which McRae and her husband pulled from their personal line of credit - came and went. "He knew that when you have a child with an addiction, that you will do anything to help them stay clean," she said. "He preyed on our emotions." In the meantime, she said, Andrew had lapsed further into addiction, taking the Oxycodone pills Christie sent him out to get from street dealers. McRae said although he did accompany Christie to schools, he was only once ever paid $75 - one-quarter of $300 McRae arranged for an online ad on Christie's gloryclouds.com website, which is still active. Defence lawyer Charlie Ryall questioned Joanne McRae about the timing of the demise of the "friendly relationship" between her family and Christie, and challenged her about a contract signed between Christie, Andrew, herself and her husband that stipulated Andrew would receive a $365 salary and five per cent of any profits after the school tour season ended in 2006, 2007 and 2008, provided he passed random drug tests. "The contract says $365," Ryall said. "Is that weekly? Monthly? Annually? You have some business acumen. You had problems with spelling and grammar and had the contract revised three times. What about picking up this?" Ryall said McRae didn't continue as Christie's assistant because he had lapsed back into drug addiction. "The fact is, there was a lot of potential here but it never really got off the ground because of his own addictions," Ryall said of Andrew McRae. "As you know with addictions, the first thing to go is a job." The trial is to continue today. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek