Douglas Parker Rudderham, a prominent Montreal businessman, collided with and fatally injured motorcyclist John Macleod MacDonald on Sept. 14th, and will fight the $399 ticked he’s been issued as a result of the incident.
MacDonald, 67, was riding his Honda along Grand Lake Road, in Sydney, at approximately 4:00 p.m., when he slowed down to turn onto Kyte’s Hill Road. For reasons unknown, Cape-Breton-born Rudderham, who was at the wheel of his Cadillac Escalade, failed to see MacDonald and hit the motorcyclist from the rear. MacDonald was pronounced dead at the scene.
A police investigation cleared Rudderham of any criminal wrongdoing in the incident, though authorities found he was responsible for the collision and charged him with failing to operate a motor vehicle in a careful and prudent manner.
He was given a ticket for $399.91 and may be docked six demerit points should he be found guilty of the offence. He plans on contesting the ticket, insisting he was not driving in an unsafe manner.
Rudderham, who is CEO of Pharmacy Wholesale Services Inc. and owns Coltsfoot Publishing, Farnon Herriot & Beckett real estate, and also owns Amedeo’s Italian Bistro in Sydney, Nova Scotia, is no stranger to controversy. Last month Pharmacy Wholesale Services was fined $325,000 for tax evasion.
Following a Canada Revenue Agency investigation, it was discovered that the company falsified expense invoices to reduce taxable income by more than $1 million.
