Dear editor,
As the Comox Valley’s expert antiques appraiser, I am amazed that the Record (April 22) should mislead the public by choosing to feature feature a blatant commercial advertisement in the guise of a news story on the front page.
The event described as a Canadian Collectors Roadshow is not a roadshow, nor is it an appraisal event and I have had several phone calls over the Easter weekend asking me if these people are indeed connected with the legitimate CBC Canadian Antiques Roadshow.
As readers of my regular column in the MidWeek should know by now, a professional appraiser never offers to purchase items that they have appraised — to do so is a conflict of interest and is against the ethical code of all antique appraisers.
For a number of years I have been one of the team of appraisers on the CBC’s Canadian Antiques Roadshow, which offers independent impartial appraisals and advice to the public. At no time did, or would any of the team of appraisers offer to purchase any item brought in for assessment.
I sincerely hope that in future the Record will do some fact-checking before so blatantly promoting a venture that is purely commercial.
Tony Duke,
Fanny Bay
Editor’s note: Tony Duke owns Tony Duke Appraisals.
