• they were told that ACOA could provide all the financing for a project, up to 50%, but after they were inextricably involved with Nova Scotia, they were told that they would have to seek other sources of financing and that ACOA would only finance 25%;
• they were told ACOA could finance up to $1 million in project costs; ACOA later changed this to $500,000;
• they were never told they would have to immigrate to Canada and under NAFTA did not have to; ACOA later required this;
• they objected to an ACOA agreement presented to them once they were already in Canada; ACOA told them to sign anyway or face months of further delay;
• ACOA told them that there was a turn-around time of 21 days t0 assess applications; in fact the process took months and years;
• they told ACOA they were incorporating and dissolved their partnership, the corporation took ACOA financing, and ACOA officials told them the corporation was responsible; ACOA then decalred them personally in default and sued them pesonally;
• ACOA told them that the agency did not lend to Americans;

By the spring of 1998, the trio had gathered together over U.S. $500,000 in debt-free investment capital, and had already invested over $400,000 in Nova Scotia. However, by this time, they were also fed up with treatment at the hands of ACOA and began looking elsewhere to invest the money. ACOA then came to them with a promise of financing 50% of a scaled down project at 0% interest and enticed them to return to their plans.