COLCO BOYCOTT TARGET

February 7, 2001

Raymond F. Kennedy, President
Masco Corporation
21001 Van Born Rd
Taylor, MI USA 48180

Dear Mr. Kennedy:

We write to bring a serious issue to your attention. The focus of this issue is an awards program here in British Columbia. One of the firms your company owns, Weiser Lock, was one of the sponsors for a British Columbia-based building industry awards program.  This award -- "The Georgies" -- is given out by the local construction and development industry to recognize ‘building excellence’.

You may not know that the British Columbia housing industry is in the midst of a severe downturn with housing starts with last year an all-time low. New home starts were 30% of the levels of just a few years ago.  One of the primary reasons for this economic debacle is the leaky condo disaster.  This social and economic nightmare directly affects more than 50,000 homes and 250,000 people in British Columbia and indirectly affects everyone in the B.C.  You can learn more about this disaster at our web site – www.myleakycondo.com.

The “Leaky Condo” disaster is a result of the shoddy construction and inappropriate designs used by the same people and organizations who have received Georgie Awards.  Weiser Lock, in sponsoring the Georgie Awards, is directly supporting this shameful and disgraceful group of people and organizations.  Please visit www.myleakycondo.com/portrait.htm to see a portrait of a past Gold Georgie Award winner.

COLCO has what it believes to be a more appropriate award for these people and organizations – The PourGees. You can learn more about our award program at www.myleakycondo.com/pourgee.htm. It is worth noting the tremendous interest we received in our award.  While the Georgie Awards received no media coverage on awards night or the next day, COLCO and the PourGee awards received extensive media coverage. We appeared on all of Vancouver’s television news programs. BCTV, the top news station in Vancouver, broadcast live from our event at the Westin Bayshore.

We were quite disappointed to learn that Weiser Lock, and therefore Masco, was a sponsor for the Georgie Awards.  Our group is putting together a boycott list of firms involved in or supporting the people and organizations responsible for this disaster.  As long as Weiser Lock sponsors the Georgie Awards, we will maintain your firm and all of its associated companies on our boycott list.  We also plan to contact ethical investment organizations and request that they investigate this issue and Masco’s role.

This issue is an unprecedented tragedy of social injustice in British Columbia. The average leaky condo owner faces bills of more than CDN$21,000.  People are exposed to dangerous biological hazards from the mould that is growing in these leaky rotten homes.  People are dying from illnesses and stress caused by this problem.  People are losing their entire savings and are being thrown out into the street. The Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners demands 100% compensation for these people.

We would like to know if Masco plans to continue its sponsorship of the Georgie Awards.  If it plans to do so, we would like to know if you will join us next year to accept your firm’s PourGee Award.
 

Sincerely,

The Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners
info@myleakycondo.com
 

cc: roberta_mau@mascohq.com
colleen@weiserlock.com