Dare Foods heiress left in limbo

Carolyn Dare-Wilfred isn’t allowed to go to New Zealand after violating visa rules there

KITCHENER — Dare Foods heiress Carolyn Dare-Wilfred says she is still banned from returning to New Zealand, where she lives with her husband.

And she says her husband is a “political hostage” who can’t leave New Zealand.

“This is definitely a Catch-22 which leaves us in limbo,” she wrote in an email on Monday.

Dare-Wilfred, 65, a Canadian citizen, is the daughter of the late Carl Dare, patriarch of the Kitchener-based confectionary company that today has annual sales of $300 million.

She moved to New Zealand with her husband, Harmon Wilfred, in 2001. In September 2015, she left for what was to be a short visit to her daughter in Guelph.

But New Zealand says she overstayed her business visa there and won’t let her return.

“Within 24 hours of her departure, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) issued an all-ports ban to prevent her re-entry into New Zealand,” according to a “press release” Dare-Wilfred sent to The Record.

“Ever since, despite the existence of a visa waiver agreement with Canada, INZ has consistently refused to allow her back into the country to visit her husband.”

Her latest application, to be allowed entry on humanitarian grounds for at least a short visit with the husband, was rejected

earlier this month, the press release says.

Dare-Wilfred claims her husband was a “whistleblower” who worked for the CIA in the United States. Wilfred has been “stateless and without a passport” since 2005, when his application for political asylum was rejected, the press release says.

“INZ issued him with a deportation order in 2011, which, because of his lack of travel documents as a stateless person, cannot be enforced,” the press release says. “In short, he can neither legally depart New Zealand, nor legally arrive in any other country.”

Because her husband can’t leave and she is banned from entering New Zealand, “the loving couple, both in their 60s, face separation for the rest of their lives,” the press release says.

Dare-Wilfred said the press release was issued by Hugh Steadman, a director of a New Zealand company in which Dare-Wilfred is a 50 per cent shareholder. She said everything in the news release is accurate.

Dare-Wilfred is now living with friends in Germany.

Asked if she still hopes to be allowed into New Zealand, Dare-Wilfred said in the email, “Absolutely, as that is where my husband is being held as a ‘political hostage’ and can’t leave!”

Dare-Wilfred said politicians have been no help.

“I have tried everything, including writing a formal complaint to the Canadian foreign minister,” she said. “None of the members of the New Zealand parliament, including the opposition parties, will even talk to us to resolve this dilemma.”

Meanwhile, Dare-Wilfred is appealing last month’s Superior Court ruling in Toronto rejecting her bid to force her older brothers to buy her out of her business shares.

Dare-Wilfred filed the lawsuit in 2015 against her brothers, Bryan Dare, 71, and Graham Dare, 69, their holding companies and the holding company for Dare Foods.

She asked a court to appoint a third party to determine the value of her shares and order her brothers to buy them at that price. Justice Barbara Conway rejected Dare-Wilfred’s request, saying she “failed to establish any basis for the relief she seeks.”

In 2014, she offered to sell her shares to her brothers for $55 million. Her brothers rejected the offer.

On Friday, Dare-Wilfred filed an appeal of the ruling, alleging Conway made several errors in law.

Dare Foods employs 1,200 people. Its products include Breton crackers, Bear Paws cookies, Wagon Wheels snacks and a variety of candy under the Dare name.