Bell chimes in on B.C. Place screen flap

Finally, the British Columbia government reveals the response by Pat Bell, minister responsible for B.C. Place Stadium, to Mayor Gregor Robertson on the controversial B.C. Place Stadium advertising screens.

These are the screens that the Vision Vancouver majority city council calls "not in compliance." They refuse to use the plain English expression "too big, too bright."

Bell claims in the reply to Robertson's Oct. 24, 2011 letter that B.C. Pavilion Corporation has reduced operating hours of the Beatty Street sign (at Terry Fox Plaza) and claimed neighbours complained during the testing phase "when it was brighter than planned." He claims the screen was dimmed by 50 percent during the day and 20 percent in the early evening. Similar dimming occurred on the outdoor screens that face the Cambie Bridge and Georgia Viaduct.

The Bell letter (below) was typed Nov. 23, 2011. Kevin Quinlan, Robertson's assistant, said it was received Dec. 12, 2011.

The signs, as I reported in the Vancouver Courier, are owned and operated by Telus. Telus was supposed to become the naming rights sponsor of the stadium. Bell continues to ignore my requests for an interview. So I'll make it easy for him:

How far above the $563 million budget did renovation costs escalate? Is it a $10 million overrun... $50 million... $100 million... $200 million?

How much does PavCo owe Telus?

And what about that lawsuit between Freyssinet and Canam?

There is a comments box below, Mr. Bell. You can also email or Tweet me.

Over to you, Mr. Bell.

PavCo Responds to Mayor

Clark jobs propaganda: $866,697 and counting

This isn't a handshake, this is a blog showing Premier Christy Clark's jobs and families plan in action!

Yes, she's spending taxpayers' dollars to support jobs at advertising agencies and (mostly) radio and TV stations. She's trying to prop-up her floundering popularity with propaganda. It's the British Columbia way. The Social Credit Party started doing this in the 1980s, the NDP thought they turned it into a fine art in the 1990s and then the Liberals came along and have been at it for more than a decade.

If you've been watching National Football League playoffs, you've seen the latest ads ad nauseam. The Liberals know this is so sensitive that they don't want to tell you or me about how many millions of dollars of advertising time has been booked for these ads in the weeks and months to come.

On Dec. 14, 2011, I filed a Freedom of Information request seeking the advertising plan, including budget and expenditures, for creation, production and placement of ads.

Below is the single-page document I received on Jan. 18, 2012, showing that $866,697 had been spent. The ads were created by Cossette and the media buyer is Vizeum. The campaign is far from over. And I am not done trying to find out exactly how much this campaign will cost.

The B.C. government spends about $30 million a year on advertising. Government has a legitimate reason to advertise information about public services, but B.C. is known for wasting millions of dollars on glitzy image campaigns intended to heighten the profile of the party in power.

Notice how the memo provided me was dated Dec. 22, 2011, but the response was dated Jan. 18, 2012.

Did Clark give jobs to families of sloths?

$866,697 and counting

B.C. Place's field of fire

I was first to report in the Vancouver Courier that Telus owns and operates B.C. Place Stadium's external video screens.

This means that area residents complaining of light pollution from privately owned signs on provincially governed B.C. Place property have a case to file a lawsuit.

Telus, which scored a 10-year, $1 billion telecommunications contract with the B.C. government, doesn't want to talk about it. B.C. Pavilion Corporation gave a wordy, non-answer. Minister responsible Pat Bell was hanging out with Telus director and former Conservative cabinet minister Stockwell Day in Prince George on Jan. 11 and his staff haven't made him available.

Telus installed the telecommunications and technology infrastructure at the stadium, from wifi to video monitors and the infamous outdoor advertising screens. In exchange, it was supposed to get the right to rename the stadium for the corporation or its Optik Internet TV product.

Telus chief financial officer Robert McFarlane told me in mid-October there would be a "coming out party" for what has been called the most technologically advanced stadium on the continent. The Sept. 30 reopening came and went. So did the 99th Grey Cup on Nov. 27. Its still B.C. Place. Neither Telus nor Cisco, which was hired to install its StadiumVision video management system, have done any media hype.

Will the so-called "coming out party" ever happen?

That is one of many unanswered questions.

How much has Telus invested in the stadium and how much is Telus owed, should it remain B.C. Place?

What is the final cost of the stadium for taxpayers? How much is it over the $563 million figure that PavCo has mysteriously stopped quoting?

Will it require the auditor general to investigate?

While we ponder those questions -- and wait for the B.C. Liberal government to provide answers -- the new retractable roof continues to leak whenever Vancouver is hit by heavy rains. A portion of the leak-drenched field was restricted by makeshift barriers on Jan. 5 -- the fifth anniversary of the original roof's embarrassing rip and collapse.

Unfortunately, one problem was not able to solve another problem on Jan. 11. There was no rain when crews accidentally burned the Polytan Ligaturf synthetic playing field. A source told me it happened during a smoke test of the stadium's ventilation. The stadium's next event is the Jan. 19-29 CONCACAF women's Olympic soccer qualifying tournament.

According to a statement from B.C. Place spokesman Duncan Blomfield:

"During routine pyrotechnic testing on Wednesday, some errant sparks from the devices made contact with the turf. In a small area of the field, some of the turf’s fibres were singed. The supplier has examined the field and deemed the required repairs to be minor -- they will repair the affected area, using extra turf kept on site at the stadium, within the next 24 hours."

The workers used to call this place the Blunderdome.

 

After 204 days, the wait is over!

Finally.

The Stanley Cup riot 2011 accountability clock has been deactivated and removed from this blog.

It took 204 days for someone to admit guilt on Jan. 6, 2012.



Let it be known that the first person was 20-year-old Ryan Dickinson.

He was charged Dec. 5, 2011 with participating in a riot, two counts of mischief over $5,000 and for breaking curfew on the night of the riot. He was arrested two days later by Coquitlam RCMP and spent Christmas in jail, according to a story in The Province.

On Jan. 6, Dickinson copped a plea bargain and entered a guilty plea in Vancouver Provincial Court for participating in a riot and breach of recognizance. He is to be sentenced Feb. 7 and the hearing could be broadcast, if the judge approves a government-driven Crown counsel application.

Dickinson was put on probation for a year in October after a separate assault conviction. He is, coincidentally, a sheet-metal apprentice who works at a window-repair company. The streets were riddled with broken metal and glass on June 15, when the Vancouver Canucks were embarrassed on home ice to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final.

No public officials, whether they be elected politicians or appointed staff, have taken fault for the poorly planned Stanley Cup fan zone in downtown Vancouver on June 15.

If one ever does, you'll read about it here.

2010 Games live forever at B.C. Sports Hall of Fame

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics opened and closed at B.C. Place Stadium, and that’s where the tangible memories are now housed.

Almost two years after the Games, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum doors reopen Jan. 6 at Gate A with its marquee Vancouver 2010 Gallery.

The 2,000 artifacts in the Olympic and Paralympic collection include gold, silver and bronze medals, mascots Miga, Quatchi and Sumi, a podium, torches, the late Jack Poole’s Olympic Order award, athlete uniforms and equipment and gifts brought by national Olympic committees. For Olympic pinheads, the Hall purports to have every single one of the keepsakes made for the 2010 Games.



The treasures were gathered via the tireless efforts of president Sue Griffin, curator Jason Beck, operations director Allison Mailer and trustee Joanie McMaster. Griffin reasonably feared before the Games that cash-strapped VANOC was going to put everything up for auction.

Much of the collection is organized in five display cases resembling each of the Olympic rings and representing the venues where the Games took place. You will find artifacts worn, used or signed by Canada's stars of the Games, like Alexandre Bilodeau, Joannie Rochette, Maelle Ricker, Jon Montgomery, Sidney Crosby and Hayley Wickenheiser. But there is a plethora of other nuggets that might surprise you.

There is a suit, helmet, goggles and practice snowboard that belonged to Johnny Lyall, who flew through the air on a ramp from level 4 and landed on the floor of B.C. Place to greet opening ceremony viewers from around the world. His script on a folded white piece of paper in large Helvetica type is included in the display case: "Welcome to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games! Bienvenue!"



Nancy Greene-Raine’s torch relay uniform and the torch she used to light the ceremonial cauldron was autographed by Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash, Catriona Le May Doan and Rick Hansen.

Two dozen of the 84 nations of the Games donated a set of ceremonial uniforms.

"Azerbaijan, they've got some good pants, just as good as the Norwegian curling crew,” said the hall’s operations director Allison Mailer during a preview tour.



Hockey superfan Dave Ash, who owns Regina-based Dash Tours, donated his white hockey helmet with the red siren light and his giant Canada flag that Corey Perry borrowed for Team Canada’s victory celebration. Ash paid $3,000 for his front-row seat to the Feb. 28, 2010 gold medal hockey game.

Pakistani alpine skier Muhammad Abbas, who was 79th in the giant slalom, donated the hand-carved, wood plank skis on which he learned as a child.

"Our wish list has been completed, we're just so thrilled,” Mailer said. “The only thing we really want is a Shaun White snowboard. I think we'll still work on it. Maybe we'll send him pictures of the gallery and tell him what's missing."



The provincial sports shrine also reopens with a redesigned Hall of Champions that features a touchscreen multimedia archive of all 325 individuals and 54 teams inducted since its 1966 establishment. Nearby is a display case that include mementoes of Vancouver visits by the 20th century’s greatest athletes -- a Santos jersey worn and signed by Pele and handwraps autographed by Muhammad Ali -- plus the puck used to score the Vancouver Canucks’ first National Hockey League goal and a stopwatch that timed the famed 1954 Miracle Mile between Roger Bannister and John Landy at Empire Stadium.

Elsewhere, the hall includes jerseys, trophies and gear spanning the histories of the B.C. Lions, Canucks, Vancouver Whitecaps and Vancouver Canadians, plus galleries devoted to Hansen, late race car driver Greg Moore and national hero Terry Fox.

The grand reopening is planned for Feb. 10, two days before the second anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Five years ago today: where were you when the roof went down?

(Originally published Jan. 5, 2011)

Where were you on Jan. 5, 2007?

It was a cold day with occasional drizzle, even wet snow. I was watching the World Junior Hockey Championship final broadcast when a friend frantically called and told me to turn on CKNW, because the B.C. Place Stadium roof collapsed. (This is how it all went down.)

I did, then hastily called a source who might know what really happened. What an embarrassment for the 2010 Olympic stadium! I was told the roof had numerous patches and that management cut back on use of the snow melting system. For the next week, B.C. Place management denied snow was a factor, despite the evidence I was supplied.

Reporters allowed into the east airlock of the dome were speechless at the downed roof, damaged equipment, puddles of water and piles of snow. Here is my report from Jan. 5, 2007.

A year later, a Geiger Engineers report (dated Oct. 12, 2007) was issued that confirmed it was preventable. Snow had accumulated and five snow alarms ignored. Finally the air pressure was frantically increased, the snow avalanched and ripped the roof. PavCo called it a controlled deflation but my sources told me that chaos reigned while the big top came down. There is even more in this report by the B.C. Place joint health and safety committee.

On Jan. 19, 2007, the patched roof was reinflated. A major renovation, including the new roof, was announced by Premier Gordon Campbell on May 18, 2008. A heavy-duty roof heating system by Genivar was installed before the 2010 Winter Olympics. If you went to B.C. Lions' games in 2009, you may have spotted those big, white bent finger pipes in each of the corners. The roof barely made it through the Olympics. The weight of lights and speakers caused it to flatten. Crews were stationed atop the roof around the clock to prevent big puddles that could have ripped the roof. That almost happened on Jan. 14, 2010.

The roof was finally deflated for good on May 4, 2010. 24 Hours' videographer Mark Yuen shot the definitive time-lapse video of the historic morning. Some of the material was shipped to Celista, a community near Kamloops, where it is now a liner for an outdoor hockey rink. The rest went to Minnesota for repurposing. Some of the material was kept for a B.C. Sports Hall of Fame fundraiser.

A German-engineered retractable system is being installed. Fall and winter winds have not been kind to the construction schedule. All 36 cable-support towers were supposed to be installed by the end of 2010, but the last three may not be done until Jan. 9. B.C. Pavilion Corporation is sticking to its "early fall" completion and subsequent opening. Chairman David Podmore said in November he'd have a better idea in March. An Aug. 20 construction committee document, however, says Nov. 1, 2011 is the estimate for "substantial completion." The Vanier Cup (Nov. 25) and Grey Cup (Nov. 27) are the only confirmed events.

The B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps are at the mercy of PavCo, which is ultimately at the mercy of construction-safe weather conditions. The Caps and Leos will both start their seasons at Empire Field but are selling tickets based on moving into B.C. Place in September.

UPDATE: B.C. Place reopened on Sept. 30, 2011. Documents show the stadium remained a construction site when 50,213 people were there. Area neighbours continue to complain about the bright lights from the Telus-installed advertising video screen at Terry Fox Plaza. The budget for the renovation was $563 million, but PavCo is stalling the release of several Freedom of Information requests that would show whether there are indeed major overruns. Two key contractors are suing each other for millions of dollars and, in the process, exposing the troubles of the renovation.

As for the roof? I shot photographs during the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Grey Cup week practice on Nov. 25, 2011 -- the day after heavy rains hit the Vancouver area and caused more leaks. Notice the makeshift barriers of the area drenched by leaks from the new roof.


Vancouver was hit by heavy rains again Jan. 3-4. The same area of the B.C. Place field's east end was again cordoned off when I visited the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame on Jan. 5 (below). Construction workers in hardhats and safety vests were seen on the roof and ring beam around 11 a.m.

Similar leak problems dogged Frankfurt, Germany's Commerzbank Arena for many months after it opened in 2005 with a retractable roof system that inspired the B.C. Place renovation.

That's a wrap for "plenty"-eleven

After hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics last year, some of you thought Vancouver would revert to its old, boring self.

The year 2011 was anything but dull and kept us journalists on our toes.

The Stanley Cup riot on June 15 was the biggest local news story of the year and the ripple effects will continue in 2012 as accused rioters and looters are slowly prosecuted. Those of us who remembered 1994 were hoping for a victory parade instead of that ugly, four-letter word.

There was only one day better than the Vancouver Whitecaps' triumphant Major League Soccer debut under sunny skies at Empire Field on March 19. That was Nov. 27 when the B.C. Lions won the Grey Cup at home for the second time. The first time was Nov. 27, 1994. Yes, that year also included a riot by Canucks' fans.



B.C. Place Stadium reopened from a $563 million renovation on Sept. 30. The jury is still out on the engineering marvel and we don't know the final cost to taxpayers. Telus was supposed to become the naming rights sponsor; the deal mysteriously went sideways. A proposed mega-casino was supposed to help pay for the project, but an effective campaign forced city council to vote it down on April 19.

The Occupy movement provided citizens across the broad political spectrum a chance to come together Oct. 15 at the Vancouver Art Gallery's north plaza to vent their frustration at the varying degrees of government action and inaction with the problem of so-called crony capitalism. The movement was part of a broader wave of global rage against corruption that toppled dictators. What next?

There were elections. Federal on May 2 and municipal on Nov. 19. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives got a majority and Mayor Gregor Robertson's Vision Vancouver got three more years. On both counts, however, turnout was disappointing. Civic independents in Vancouver are pondering an alliance to neuter the influence of the real estate development lobby on governing Vision Vancouver and the opposition Non-Partisan Association. A desired fall provincial vote was scuttled by new Premier Christy Clark on Aug. 31. Clark was installed by the B.C. Liberal Party in February to replace Gordon Campbell. Clark has done little governing and plenty of campaigning. Evidently, you can take the host out of the talkshow, but you can't take the talkshow out of the host.

Power to the people who defeated the Hated Sales Tax. A mail-in ballotseemingly engineered to give the government the result it wanted -- to keep the Harmonized Sales Tax -- resulted in 54.73 percent of voters opting to quash the tax. The two Dutch Bills -- right-winger Vander Zalm and left-winger Tieleman -- celebrated at Jack Poole Plaza, in the shadow of the Olympic cauldron, on Aug. 26.

Alas, Tieleman (and others like Alex Tsakumis) still hope and wait for an inquiry into the corrupt sale of B.C. Rail.



Here's wishing Premier Clark has a courageous change of heart and orders one in 2012.

Families want jobs, but they also deserve a transparent government they can trust.

Happy New Year. Play hard and play fair in 2012.

TransLink ticket scandal revealed

On Oct. 25, 2011, Transit Police announced two men were accused of stealing thousands of FareSavers tickets from the Richmond recycling warehouse where they worked.

Documents released to me by TransLink indicate the taxpayer-funded regional transit company was negligent in the way it handled the destruction of tickets deemed obsolete by a fare increase.

Read my story from the Vancouver Courier here.

The source documents below show the faulty decision-making and new policies to beef-up security next time bulk tickets are to be destroyed.

TransLink Ticket Destruction FOI Release - 2011-167 - MACKIN, Bob

City hall's first family rocked

Eight years ago, on Dec. 28, 2003, police raided the B.C. Legislature. They didn't tell us at the time it was about the corrupt sale of B.C. Rail, but indicated it was connected to an organized crime investigation. Premier Gordon Campbell was away in Hawaii.

On Dec. 29, 2011, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson was away in Hawaii when the Richmond Review reported that his foster son Jinagh Farrouch Navas-Rivas is wanted for serious guns and drugs charges by the Richmond RCMP. An arrest warrant was issued Dec. 23.

Robertson's prepared statement issued to the media at 4:54 p.m. Dec. 29 aims to distance Navas-Rivas from the family, claiming:

"My wife and I foster parented Jinagh for two years until 2009. We have always believed that providing support to youth in need is of great importance and that fostering is an important contribution our family can make."

“It was in this spirit that we took in Jinagh to live with us. He has been on his own now since June 2009."

The Mayor's Dec. 14-updated bio on the city hall website says: "Gregor and his wife Amy have four children: Terra, Satchel, Jinagh and Johanna." (The same bio also claims Robertson's organic juice company Happy Planet is "Vancouver-based," but my Vancouver Courier story in October revealed it is actually now based in Burnaby.)

The 21-year-old Jinagh was onstage at the Wall Centre for Robertson's re-election victory party on Nov. 19 and introduced by Robertson as the "birthday boy."

Jinagh also had exclusive access to the Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean-hosted Hotel Vancouver party with foreign dignitaries before the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony and he also sat in the dignitaries box at B.C. Place Stadium for the closing ceremony. On the official guest list for the Feb. 12, 2010 event and on the name card attached to his chair for the Feb. 28, 2010 ceremony, he was identified only as Jinagh Robertson.

According to Court Services Online, Navas-Rivas is charged with alleged trafficking in a controlled substance on Nov. 4 in Vancouver and Dec. 9 in Richmond. He is also accused of manufacturing or transferring a firearm on Nov. 18 in New Westminster -- the eve of the election! See the charge sheet below.

This puts the Mayor, who is also chairman of the Vancouver Police Board, in a very uncomfortable position.

Court Services Online charge sheet

What wasn't included in the Furlong and Keefe report

One of the biggest stories in Vancouver of 2011 was the Stanley Cup riot of June 15. A terrible blemish on the reputation of British Columbia unlikely to heal for some time.

When provincially-appointed reviewers John Furlong and Doug Keefe released their expensive report into the riot on Sept. 1, 2011, what they didn't include were the 85 submissions received via email and Canada Post from the public and various interest groups.

On Dec. 20 I finally received the records I requested via Freedom of Information. Here is my story from the Vancouver Courier.

Some of the comments were not flattering to Furlong, Premier Christy Clark or the Vancouver Canucks.

See the records (which were partially censored by the government) below.

Riot Review Submissions-Mackin