Questions raised about funding for inner city kids’ rowing program in Toronto

Rowing is a sport usually limited to those who are well off, but Dominic Khan had a dream to make the sport available to inner city kids.

Khan made that a reality through the Bayside Rowing Club, a not-for-profit organization launched in 1993 that sold rowing memberships to cover the kids program, which was later branded “Eric the Red.”

“[We have] hundreds of kids every year for free, coming to a rowing club and rowing for free and we are proud of that,” said Khan.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "[We have] hundreds of kids every year for free, coming to a rowing club and rowing for free and we are proud of that," said Khan.

Khan also fundraised through pond hockey tournaments in the winter, and had high profile partners, including the Toronto Police Service.

Over the years, Khan received accolades and awards for his work. But somewhere along the line, things seemed to go sideways.

Earlier this year, Khan sent out a press release that stated Bayside Rowing was being evicted.

He blamed an unnamed Canada Revenue Agency investigator.

“Rogue bureaucrat sabotages relationship and revenues with a key partner,” wrote Khan in the press release.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Rogue bureaucrat sabotages relationship and revenues with a key partner," wrote Khan in the press release.

He alleged the agent lied, and told an organization that Bayside was “a for-profit organization” from which Khan was “looking to make profits.”

However, when reached by telephone, Khan blamed the landlord for the eviction.

After multiple attempts to set up an interview, a Global News crew tracked Khan down at work.

“We had no ability to raise money because we had lost the ability to issue tax receipts,” was his explanation about the eviction.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We had no ability to raise money because we had lost the ability to issue tax receipts," was his explanation about the eviction.

It turns out the Canadian Revenue Agency is involved, but with good reason.

Khan was asked whether Bayside Rowing filed tax returns every year.

“No, but we work with CRA to get up to date,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "No, but we work with CRA to get up to date," he said.

Khan declined to say how many tax filings Bayside missed.

On Khan’s “Eric the Red” LinkedIn account, he claimed that over the years they’ve raised over four million dollars for kids’ rowing.

Behind the scenes though things have been very different from what might be expect at a not-for-profit organization.

When Khan was asked if he used Bayside Rowing as a personal bank account, he replied “no.”

But when asked again if he had “never” done so, his response was “no comment.”

He later said he was entitled to money as he worked for the rowing club.

There are others who have plenty to comment — including a former employee who claimed she was there in 2012 and the inner-city kids program wasn’t running.

“There was no Eric the Red program, but he still advertised it,” she said.

Khan insisted it’s always been all about the kids.

“Every year we do the work with inner city kids.”