Toronto lawyer Purdy Crawford faced disgruntled retail investors Monday morning at the first stop on a five-city tour across Canada to explain the restructuring plan for $33 billion in asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP).

Many investors were angry and confused. “You chose, as a collective, not to have individual investors on your team,” one retail investor told Crawford, who was flanked by representatives from J.P. Morgan and Goodman’s LLP, both advisors to the committee.

The lack of retail investors on the Crawford-led Pan Canadian Investors Committee for Third Party ABCP was one of the many issues raised at the meeting. “The process was not fair,” said another investor who lined up for the microphone during the comment period following the presentation. “People like me were not represented at your table. People like me face severe financial injury.”

The committee had no idea who the retail investors were initially, according to Crawford. “They came up asking [to be involved] when we were 95% done,” he told reporters at a press conference after the meeting. “And at that point it’s very difficult to bring somebody in and start over again,”

The series of investor meetings this week comes after an Ontario court approved, on March 17, bankruptcy protection for the notes until noteholders vote to approve or throw out the complex restructuring plan. Investors were mailed an encyclopedia-sized package of information on March 20 and will vote on the plan on April 25.

Today’s meeting was designed to explain the plan and answer any questions or concerns from investors, with a focus on the individual or retail investor. But most expressed confusion after the PowerPoint presentation concluded and the floor was opened to questions. “I didn’t understand 80% of what was said,” one investor complained. Many echoed this sentiment.

Crawford said he too began this process with very little knowledge of the subject and assured the meeting that the committee will further simplify the presentation for upcoming sessions in Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

There are roughly 1,800 retail investors holding the troubled ABCP, according to estimates. The notes have been frozen since August, when Crawford and the committee began the process of creating a restructuring plan. Under the restructuring plan newly created notes with maturation dates of up to 9 years would replace the original short-term notes.

Sandy Currie, an Oakville, Ont.-based retail investor said he has been invested with Canaccord Capital Inc. for about 13 years. With about $204,000 in personal investments tied up in the frozen ABCP, Currie believes Canaccord should buy him out. Along with Credential Securities, Vancouver-based Canaccord was one of the major sellers of the now-frozen notes.

There have been reports of e-mails from Canaccord that refer to possible buyouts for some investors, although the firm has said it does not have the capital to purchase it all back. Currie said he received an e-mail, and he believes the firm should have met with its investors over the weekend to explain exactly what they are prepared to do. “If they know something, they should do something about it, “ he told reporters.

Canaccord representatives did not attend today’s meeting. “Canaccord is continuing our efforts on behalf of smaller holders to achieve an equitable outcome to this difficult situation,” the company said in a press release this morning, encouraging investors to attend the presentation and asking for their patience.

A group of retail investors, who convened through a Facebook group, retained the legal counsel of Juroviesky and Ricci LLP to represent them in regard to the ABCP they hold and in any negotiations related to the restructuring plan. Retail investors were given flyers at today’s meeting in Toronto, which called Crawford’s restructuring plan “a highly uncertain solution, with no assurance that we will ever see any of our money.”

The flyer questioned the universal release clause, which protects virtually all those involved—including the sellers of the paper and ratings agency DBRS—from any future lawsuits. “We are entitled to be made whole by those who created and sold this product without disclosure of any of the material risks,” read the flyer. “We expect no less.”

The Facebook group and its lawyers are looking to sell all of their notes immediately at full value, 100 cents to the dollar. Last week Crawford told a Toronto audience that his committee is prepared to “make a deal” with the retail investors.

@page_break@“Both sides, or three sides can develop a rather tough approach to this. My job and the job of our advisors is to do everything possible to avoid that and see if we can help the noteholders in the greatest way possible,” said Crawford. He declined to comment further on any current negotiations.