The Globe and Mail

Oh, we're in tough economic times indeed when a former chief executive officer has to buy his company's Canadian fishing camp, because the company cancelled the lease on the private jet that was needed to access the wilderness getaway.

Footnoted.org, which sifts through company filings looking for amusing and/or scandalous bits of information, found the following paragraph in a proxy filed by A. Schulman Inc., a plastics company which trades on the Nasdaq.

“During fiscal 2008, the Compensation Committee determined that maintaining a lease on a private airplane was no longer a cost-effective method for providing business-related transportation to our Named Executive Officers and Directors. The airplane was used only for business-related travel, and personal use was not permitted. With the termination of the lease on the airplane, it also became increasingly difficult and cost prohibitive to access our Canadian fish camp. Consequently, the fish camp, which was only used for business entertainment purposes, was offered for sale during 2008. The only offer to purchase the fish camp came from Terry L. Haines, our former Chief Executive Officer and President. Ultimately we negotiated with Mr. Haines to sell the fish camp for a purchase price of $55,000 and the transaction closed during fiscal year 2009.”

As footnoted.org points out, there's a lot to chew on there.

“I almost don't know where to begin,” Michelle Leder blogged. “The leased airplane for business purposes only? The fishing camp in Canada? The fact that the airplane was no longer necessary because the fishing camp was sold? The sale of the fishing camp to the former CEO? The bargain basement price? Clearly, this is in the running for footnote of the year.”