As I received the largest public voting support behind Estonian (Toronto) Credit Union endorsed board candidates at the last Eesti Maja Annual General Meeting, I became entitled to become an Eesti Maja Board member when Markus Alliksaar resigned.  Accordingly, Chairman of the Board Raivo Remmel sent me by email the invitation to proceed on January 25, 2018, which prompted some vital questions from my part about potential liability as a director and confusion about the non-disclosure policy to be signed. 

My response email to Raivo Remmel was on January 27, 2018 and my blind copied correspondents have advised me they received the email. These matters needed to be clarified so that I would not unwittingly become entangled in legal proceedings arising from prior Eesti Maja Board behaviour.

Unfortunately neither Raivo Remmel nor any other authorized Eesti Maja Board member has replied to my concerns to date.  Furthermore I have not been invited to any Eesti Maja Board meetings to date. I am extremely disappointed and concerned about the failure in corporate governance on this matter, which must be attributed to Raivo Remmel and his colleagues as Eesti Maja board members.  The email correspondence accompanies this note.

Regardless of the issues surrounding my prior placement on the Board, I am announcing my candidacy for a position of Director on the Board of Estonian House Toronto Limited and I look forward to receiving shareholder support for my candidacy.
 

Regards, Väino Keelmann

Consent to act as director (Keelmann)
EM Conflict of Interest Policy - Effective November 27, 2017
Keelmann January 27th email
Keelmann Invitation as sent (illegible)

EWR contacted the Toronto Estonian House board for comment and received the following reply.

The invitation to join the board was issued to Väino Keelmann on January 25, 2018. Since Väino Keelmann’s candidacy to the Board occurred almost 9 months prior to this invitation it is proper protocol to offer him the position and to request that he sign a standard Consent to Serve form to indicate that he was still agreeable to serving.  A Consent to Serve form and a copy of our Conflict of Interest Policy were included with the invitation so that he would be fully aware of the commitment he would be making. His response was to request legal advice.  It would be inappropriate and irresponsible for the Board of the Estonian House in Toronto to provide legal advice which he should seek from his own lawyer.  As a professional businessman this would be something he should clearly be aware of.  At no time did Väino sign a Consent to Serve form and as such it was our conclusion that he had either decided to not join the board or was still in the process of deciding.  We are disappointed that Väino Keelmann has not communicated a clear decision to the Estonian House Board.

Raivo Remmel
Chairman of the Estonian House Board

This article was updated 11am to add Mr. Keelmann's announcement of his candidacy.
 

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