I still don't follow you.
As I mentioned in my initial post... “long story short”. There are countless articles online that cover Paul E.P. Martin’s time in government (as Finance Minister and Prime Minister) and his ownership of CSL. During this time, he faced tremendous scrutiny from the media, lobby groups and the Official Opposition.
He faced questions about CSL International’s use of Flags of Convenience, government grants and contracts (originally stated as $137,000 but later found to be $79 million) and CSL International’s use of tax shelters. There were even questions of how and where their ships were scrapped (* notice how we no longer say “scrap” but now use the term “recycle”). Even after he sold CSL to his three sons, there were allegations of interdependence.
The rebuild of the Jean Parisien was the first vessel to be rebuilt while Mr. Martin was Prime Minister. There are all kinds of ridiculous scenarios that politicians and lobbyists can make up and CSL wanted to distance themselves from
all politics (perceived or real) and took a few extra steps to distance themselves from any scrutiny.
When the announcement was made, it was a simple press release posted on their website and distributed to a handful of trade papers and insiders. It was picked up by local, regional and national news outlets, but it wasn't a large celebratory announcement as you might imagine. CSL also made it clear the rebuild was “self financed”.
A decision was also made to not just paint out the name, but all markings on the Jean Parisien. The stack, the billboards, the port of registry; everything was painted out. For the uninitiated, there was no way of knowing which vessel it was or who the owner was. This was done to keep the boat anonymous before the announcement and when the former hull section went to scrap.
I understand that it is easy to debate that decision and its necessity and effectiveness nearly 20 years after the fact. But that was the decision made at the time.
To this day, Mr. Martin continues to face allegations and forced to defend his role with CSL years after exiting politics. In 2017, he was named in the Paradise Papers facing allegations from when he no longer owned the company. Go figure!