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Note 13 - Non-Controlling Interests | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2011
Noncontrolling Interest Disclosure [Text Block] |
13. | Non-controlling interests
The minority equity positions in the Company’s subsidiaries are referred to as non-controlling interests (“NCI”). The NCI are considered to be redeemable securities. Accordingly, the NCI is recorded at the greater of (i) the redemption amount or (ii) the amount initially recorded as NCI at the date of inception of the minority equity position. This amount is recorded in the “mezzanine” section of the balance sheet, outside of shareholders’ equity. Changes in the NCI amount are recognized immediately as they occur. The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending NCI amounts:
|  | 2011 |  |  | 2010 |
Balance, January 1 |  | $ | 174,358 |  |  | $ | 164,168 |
NCI share of earnings |  |  | 14,692 |  |  |  | 15,420 |
NCI share of other comprehensive earnings |  |  | (171 | ) |  |  | 842 |
NCI redemption increment |  |  | 12,941 |  |  |  | 18,916 |
Distributions paid to NCI |  |  | (10,617 | ) |  |  | (8,654 | )
Purchases of interests from NCI, net |  |  | (57,037 | ) |  |  | (46,480 | )
NCI recognized on business acquisitions |  |  | 7,238 |  |  |  | 30,146 |
Balance, December 31 |  | $ | 141,404 |  |  | $ | 174,358 |
The Company has shareholders’ agreements in place at each of its non-wholly owned subsidiaries. These agreements allow the Company to “call” the non-controlling interest at a price determined with the use of a formula price, which is usually equal to a fixed multiple of average annual net earnings before extraordinary items, income taxes, interest, depreciation, and amortization. The agreements also have redemption features which allow the owners of the NCI to “put” their equity to the Company at the same price subject to certain limitations. The formula price is referred to as the redemption amount and may be paid in cash or in Subordinate Voting Shares. The redemption amount as of December 31, 2011 was $127,018 (2010 - $160,425). The redemption amount is lower than that recorded on the balance sheet as the formula price of certain NCI are lower than the amount initially recorded at the inception of the minority equity position. If all put or call options were settled with Subordinate Voting Shares as at December 31, 2011, approximately 4,900,000 (2010 - 5,600,000) such shares would be issued.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiaries, which could include the name of the subsidiary, the ownership percentage held by the parent, the ownership percentage held by the noncontrolling owners, the amount of the noncontrolling interest, the location of this amount on the balance sheet (when not reported separately), an explanation of the increase or decrease in the amount of the noncontrolling interest, the noncontrolling interest share of the net Income or Loss of the subsidiary, the location of this amount on the income statement (when not reported separately), the nature of the noncontrolling interest such as background information and terms, the amount of the noncontrolling interest represented by preferred stock, a description of the preferred stock, and the dividend requirements of the preferred stock. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.31) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6921930&loc=SL4573702-111684 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB) -Number 51 -Paragraph 38 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. + Details
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