Quebec ‘Dragon’ files for bankruptcy
MONTREAL — News that celebrity Quebec jewelrymaker Caroline Néron filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday is shining a harsh light on the qualifications of stars chosen for the province’s Frenchlanguage version of the deal-making show Dragon’s Den.
Described by news media as a “thunderclap” in Quebec’s retail industry, Néron’s financial troubles have called into question her aptitude for assessing entrepreneurial talent on Radio-Canada’s Dans l’oeil du dragon. The show features prominent businesspeople deciding whether to invest in the pitches of budding entrepreneurs.
François Lambert, a former panellist on the show, said the French CBC does not ask its prospective stars to reveal their riches or demonstrate they have the time and liquidity to properly invest in start-ups.
“They never asked to see my numbers,” Lambert said in an interview. “They can say that they ask to see people’s numbers, but they don’t, because they never did it with me. And this week it exploded in their faces.”
Other embarrassing choices to play the role of dragons include Gilbert Rozon, the disgraced founder of Just for Laughs facing sex-crimes charges, and Martin-Luc Archambault, who quit the show in September under a cloud. An investigation by the privacy commissioner of Canada revealed his IT company violated numerous provisions in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
Montreal’s La Presse reported Friday that it contacted all eight of the entrepreneurs with whom Néron made deals on the latest season of the show, which ended in June 2018. Not one of them had received any money from the jewelry-maker. Néron left the show in December.
During an interview with the TVA television network, Néron said she is closing nine of 14 boutiques in the province and letting go 64 of 152 employees. She rose to prominence in Quebec as a singer and actor.
Lambert, who was not invited back for the next season of Dans l’oeil du dragon, said Néron’s story should serve as a lesson to all entrepreneurs “who spread themselves so thin and do anything and everything, instead of managing their own company.”