Air Christy update: $201,000 and counting

On The Investigators on CKNW AM 980, I have twice explored Premier Christy Clark's frequent flying on the taxpayers' dime via Blackcomb Aviation, the airline owned by BC Liberal bagman and CN Rail chairman David McLean. Here is the Oct. 22 edition and the Nov. 13 sequel.

Government rules state ministers and their staff on government business can charter aircraft only when there is no scheduled service that can meet a minister’s schedule, or the cost is “economical” compared to scheduled service. But how many of Clark's trips were for governing purposes versus political photo ops? How many could have been replaced by two-way videoconferencing? 

Here are details on three of the Premier's latest Blackcomb Aviation trips, released to me via Freedom of Information.

Clark took assistant Gabe Garfinkel, issues management director Shane Mills, Advanced Education Minister John Yap and his assistant Rishi Sharma to Prince George on Sept. 18 to announce $17 million for skills training equipment at B.C. public colleges and universities. The flight from Vancouver departed 9:50 a.m. and returned at 1:55 p.m. Clark's agenda shows she was at the College of New Caledonia from 11:20 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Not even an hour. 

Event coordinator Kathryn Bergen joined the party on the return leg. Cost to taxpayers: $6,035.01.

Clark travelled with Garfinkel, now-ex communications director Sara MacIntyre to Kelowna and the secret agent man (a name that is consistently censored from passenger lists for security reasons) for a day on Sept. 20 to open the new Reichwald Health Sciences Centre at UBC Okanagan. The flight departed Vancouver at 8 a.m. The appearance at UBCO was from 8:50 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Not even three-quarters of an hour. There is no other entry on the agenda until the 7 p.m. flight was wheels down at YVR at 7:40 p.m. Cost to taxpayers: $4,062.64.

On Oct. 5, Clark took a one-day trip to Prince George for a chamber of commerce luncheon with Garfinkel, press secretary Mike Morton. "visual communications officer" Justin Schneider, and the secret agent man. The flight departed Vancouver at 10:30 a.m. for the 11:55 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. speaking engagement at the Ramada Hotel. On the return leg, which took-off at 2 p.m., they were joined by events coordinator Tara Zwaan. The charter was back at YVR at 3 p.m. Cost to taxpayers: $6,007.86.

On that trip, she had Schneider shoot this video where she again floated the fabled 57,000 jobs created statistic, which Sun Media's David Akin so deftly deconstructed and deflated in his well-read post, "Do Christy Clark's boasts on job creation hold up? Nope. Nada. Not even close."

Gotta love how The Prince George Citizen's editorial started: "Premier Christy Clark brings her bogus five conditions that must be met for her support of Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline to a Prince George Chamber of Commerce lunch today."

For those keeping score at home, Clark has traveled 17,222 nautical miles around B.C. on 28 Blackcomb Aviation round-trips since becoming Premier in March 2011. That's the equivalent of 31,895.1 kilometres. By comparison, the equator is 40,075. 

The total cost to taxpayers so far: $201,133.37. 

But there is more... much more than that. On Oct. 1, Clark, Garfinkel, deputy minister Neil Sweeney, Morton and the secret agent man jetted to Calgary aboard a London Air Services charter for what turned out to the Short and Frosty Summit with Alberta Premier Alison Redford. Clark and co. returned to YVR the next day. The cost of that charter trip has yet to be disclosed. 

Coincidentally, Clark hired a new communications director on Dec. 3. He is former TV news anchor and current Justin Trudeau supporter, Ben Chin. His last job? As a vice-president with the Air Miles frequent flyer consumer loyalty program. Response - LetterAirChristy

Furlong fights back -- will Straight stay steadfast?

John Furlong claims Ontario journalist Laura Robinson defamed him as recently as the last weekend of November.

Exactly two months after the Georgia Straight published Robinson’s expose on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics CEO, Furlong followed through Nov. 27 on a threatened defamation lawsuit seeking unspecified monetary damages, an apology and retraction, and an order that the weekly newspaper remove the story from the Internet. 

The 11-page civil claim denied the abuse claims made in the story, which was headlined “John Furlong Biography Omits Secret Past in Burns Lake,” and was filed in B.C. Supreme Court by lawyers John Hunter and Claire Hunter of Hunter Litigation Chambers. Attached to the claim is the story itself. See the full filing below.

The named defendants are Robinson, publisher Dan McLeod, editor Charlie Smith and Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corporation, the parent company of the Georgia Straight. No other media outlet is named in the lawsuit. CBC TV reported about the allegations also on Sept. 27 and included an interview with a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by Furlong. Neither Robinson nor Smith would comment on the lawsuit, but both have defended the story. In October, Robinson even threatened to countersue Furlong, after he released a statement his website that she claimed defamed her.

Robinson interviewed eight people who swore statements claiming Furlong abused them while he was their physical education teacher at Immaculata Elementary School in Burns Lake, where he arrived as an 18-year-old fresh out of high school in Ireland. Furlong’s post-Olympic memoir, Patriot Hearts, made no mention of being in Canada prior to 1974 when he arrived at Edmonton International Airport to take up permanent residence, nor did his book mention he originally came to Canada as a member of the Catholic Frontier Apostolate lay missionary group.

"During his time as a teacher, the plaintiff (Furlong) never engaged in abuse of his students, nor did the plaintiff engage in bullying or racial taunting, as alleged or at all,” said Furlong’s court filing.

Furlong claims that his personal history in Patriot Hearts -- including the circumstances of the death of his cousin Siobhan Roice, his father's death, the birth of his son and his immigration to Canada -- are true. 

"The allegation in the Georgia Straight article that the plaintiff was not honestly recounting his personal history in Patriot Hearts is false and defamatory and was included in the article solely to further the objective of the defendant Robinson to discredit the plaintiff in the estimation of the public,” said the court filing.

Robinson is working on a follow-up story after more alleged victims have come forward in response to the first story. Furlong claims Robinson further defamed him in a Nov. 8 email to Chris Dornan of Own the Podium, of which Furlong is the chairman. It said Robinson wrote, in part, that: "There is a great deal of confirmation that Mr. Furlong was violent and a racist."

In a Nov. 25 email, Robinson is alleged to have written: "Former students of John Furlong's have made very serious allegations recently in signed documents about his violence against women and children." The civil claim said Furlong has suffered “grave damage to his character and reputation,” that his family have “suffered distress and embarrassment,” and that unspecified, paid speaking engagements have been cancelled. 

Furlong appeared as scheduled in Grande Prairie, Alta., at the Alberta Sport Development Centre awards on Oct. 13 and at the Abbotsford B.C. economic symposium on Nov. 20. An Oct. 16 Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon, billed as “Behind the Bench: An Insider’s Look at Whitecaps FC,” was quietly cancelled on Oct. 2. Board of Trade spokesman Greg Hoekstra told me for a Business in Vancouver story in October that “John Furlong and the Whitecaps initiated the postponement.”

Furlong, however, remains executive chairman of the Vancouver Whitecaps, chairman of Own the Podium and Rocky Mountaineer railtours and a director of Whistler Blackcomb and Canadian Tire.

The lawsuit mentions Robinson’s previously published work was critical of Furlong and VANOC, including the Olympic organizing committee’s relations with aboriginals, female ski jumpers who weren’t allowed to compete at the 2010 Games and athlete safety. Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died from a crash at the Whistler Sliding Centre on the Games’ opening day. CBC’s Fifth Estate obtained a March 2009 internal VANOC email by Furlong to senior executives at VANOC about track safety concerns. Athletes were reaching speeds that were faster than what the track had been designed for.

The filing said Furlong knew the story was going to be published on Sept. 25 and his lawyer, Marvin Storrow, wrote to Smith, admitting they had met with the RCMP. “In the event that anything defamatory is published by anyone concerning Mr. Furlong that a civil defamation action will be 

commenced forthwith thereafter."

The filing also said Robinson filed a report with the RCMP and that in August, the RCMP advised Smith that "there were inconsistencies between the accounts of the defendant Robinson and the former student named" by Robinson. On Sept. 27, when the story was published, the RCMP admitted that an investigation was ongoing. 

When Robinson and the Georgia Straight file their defence statement, you’ll see it here. 

Furlong v Georgia Straight

#LiquorLeaks turns into a #LiquorFlood

Another day, another booze controversy in British Columbia, where it seems as if government liquor policy is drafted on the back of a napkin at a loud bar after a couple rounds of bending elbows.

Prince George-based Pacific Western Brewing (purveyors of, ahem, Scandal Ale) has threatened to lay-off staff and shut down for a month if it hits the 160,000-hectolitre threshold where a tax penalty kicks in. This could ruin Christmas for members of the brewers' union and their families. But the threshold was raised to 400,000 hl, based on this Nov. 14, 2012 Liquor Distribution Branch memo. This could, according to some reports, save BC Liberal-donor PWB $10 million a year.

Liquor minister Rich Coleman claims the memo was sent out in error. Knowing how Deputy Premier Coleman micro-manages his vast cabinet portfolios, I find this exceedingly difficult to believe.

PWB is not only a client of Patrick Kinsella's Progressive Group lobbying shop, but it was also a supporter of the long-running, but ultimately unsuccessful, Exel Logistics push to privatize LDB. The following is from page 6 of the Business in Vancouver-revealed, Oct. 6, 2009 "Project Last Spike" memo by vice-president Scott Lyons to his superiors:

Exel reached out to the following key industry participants to sell them the value of this initiative to their business, and they are onside:
Tim Crowhurst, Executive Director Import Vintners Association of BC -
Kim Hackstad (sic), Executive Director of ABLE (Pub Association)
Lorne Valinski, Executive Director Spirits Canada-BC Division
Mark Von Schellwitz, Vice President, Canadian Restaurants Food Services Association
Kazuko Komatsu, President and CEO President of Pacific Western Brewing Company (left, with 1998 Order of B.C. medallion)

But there are bigger stories, folks.

First of all, the entire online library that once was for the eyes only of LDB bidders has been liberated from government files via Business in Vancouver (and the intervention of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner). Warning, it is twice as long as War & Peace. You might call it Hops & Grapes or Drunk & Sober. Here is the story and the link, in the first paragraph, to the entire set of documents. 

Secondly, did you know that the government kissed and made up with Telus over the $40 million B.C. Place Stadium naming rights fiasco? Instead of a consolation prize -- making the "Future Is Friendly" company the official or exclusive supplier or sponsor of telecommunications and technology -- the government cut a very big cheque and paid Telus a handsome sum of your money for the goods and services installed at B.C. Place. Except, neither the government nor Telus wants to tell us how big the payment was for this supply-only deal. Read about it here.

If the government was proud of saving money, it would have issued a news release in August when this happened.

It didn't save money and it didn't issue a news release.

#LiquorLeaks - still pouring

Coleman

In this Nov. 2 Business in Vancouver story, I revealed how the British Columbia government conducted secret consultations with select industry players about the plan to privatize the Liquor Distribution Branch's warehousing and distribution.

The internal documents on which the story is based are below. They are from briefings for Liquor Minister Rich Coleman and then-Finance Minister Kevin Falcon. They show that the government was concerned with the well-being of ContainerWorld, the largest of the pre-distribution warehouses on contract with LDB. ContainerWorld is owned by B.C. Liberal supporter Dennis Chrismas, who met with Coleman on March 2.

Falcon

Chrismas was originally opposed to any change in the liquor distribution system. When bidding opened, ContainerWorld was involved because the privatization would have phased out the pre-distribution program. In this May 29 Business in Vancouver story, I detailed the interesting relationship between ContainerWorld and Exel, the company that lobbied the B.C. Liberals heavily for seven years to privatize. From an observer's point of view, two of the four shortlisted companies may have been too close for comfort.

On page 89 of the documents below, you'll even find that an unidentified person scrawled "Dennis Chrismas." Either Mr. Chrismas's name came up during the ministerial briefing or it was top-of-mind for one of the participants.

The privatization was scrapped Sept. 27 when the government and B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union agreed on a new contract. The premature cancellation was announced the next day. And we still don't know the real reason why.

EGM-2012-00187

Exclusive: The Last Days of Ken Boessenkool

On Nov. 2 in Business in Vancouver, I revealed details of Ken Boessenkool's last days as chief of staff to B.C. Premier Christy Clark.

In a nutshell: The former aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Hill + Knowlton lobbyist returned to his family in Calgary after resigning Sept. 23. He was involved in what Clark would only call an "incident of concern." What really went on Sept. 7 at the Bard and Banker Pub in Victoria remains a mystery, but Global TV reported it involved a female subordinate. Here is Jas Johal's Sept. 24 report.

Boessenkool

Despite the Premier declaring that the government's human resources procedures were followed "to the letter," the government claimed on Oct. 29 that the Public Service Agency's investigation was all verbal. The government claims it has not a single record about the investigation or about the Sept. 7 golf tournament that preceded the pub party.

Well, it did document Boessenkool's agenda and here it is below.

Clark

Before you read it, you need to know a few things.

The redactions were done by government for fear of harm to law enforcement (sec. 15 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act), fear of harm to the financial or economic interests of a public body (sec. 17), and fear of harm to personal privacy (sec. 22). We don't know how legitimate the censorship is. Sometimes government errs on the side of secrecy when it should be doing the opposite.

You will see that the day after the Sept. 7 "incident of concern," Boessenkool flew off to Hong Kong for the start of Clark's trip that also included stops in Shenzhen, Tianjin and Beijing. (The times for the Hong Kong/China trip in Boessenkool's agenda were not adjusted.)

Boessenkool had an unusual amount of private time while on a trip paid for by the taxpayer. Notice the sec. 22 (personal privacy) redactions of 100 minutes under Sept. 9, 95 minutes under Sept. 10 and four hours and 45 minutes under Sept. 11. What was Boessenkool doing, why is it hidden from you and me and does the Premier even know where he was and what he was doing?

Tarras

Nowhere on the agenda does it indicate Boessenkool met or spoke with Lynda Tarras, the head of the Public Service Agency. Clark said she was the one investigating Boessenkool. It does, however, show an hour-long meeting on Sept. 18 with John Dyble, Clark's Deputy Minister in charge of the public service. That happened after a brief five-minute chat with Clark. (Neither Tarras nor Dyble responded to my interview requests.)

Dyble

Clark and Boessenkool spoke again, but for 45 minutes on Sept. 20. That appeared to be his last, full day on the job. The FOI disclosure ends with a whimper with only two minor appointments on Sept. 21. Nothing was disclosed for either Sept. 22 or 23, the day he apparently wrote the resignation letter.

What really went on Sept. 7 and was there really an investigation into Boessenkool's behaviour? Or did the Premier only jump into action when Global's Johal started asking questions?

Will the Premier, a champion of the anti-bullying movement, ever tell us what happened about the alleged case of workplace harassment that cost her chief of staff his job?

The Last Days of Ken Boessenkool

Weibo Watch #1: Mayor's Fake Fans?

Mayor Gregor Robertson has been showered with gee-whiz stories from various media outlets for setting up an account on Sina Weibo, China's state-censored answer to Facebook and Twitter rolled into one.

You may remember how Robertson praised China and pooh-poohed democracies during his September 2010 trade junket, that included a stop at the Shanghai World Expo.

His trans-Pacific social media move comes in the wake of Vancouver social media juggernaut HootSuite launching a Chinese app that integrated Weibo on Oct. 9.


A Nov. 1 Globe and Mail story said Robertson signed up the previous morning and had amassed 16,000 followers just hours before the story was published. You can find the Mayor's page here.

Notice the background photo is a lovely aerial shot of the City of Vancouver, with Stanley Park in the foreground. Notice it doesn't include East Vancouver. Only the Westside and West End, with a bit of downtown.

The fans just keep coming. By the afternoon of Nov. 3, Robertson had a whopping 37,659-plus fans on Weibo. Impressive, since it took nearly four years for him to build his Twitter following over the 27,000 level. Quite an achievement and, I quickly assumed, it must have something to do with being related to Canadian-born, Chinese hero Dr. Norman Bethune.

Then I looked closely at the Mayor's Weibo page. I copied and pasted some of the messages into Google Translate. One user made the shocking allegation that 95% of the Mayor's Weibo fans are from fake accounts!

Here is that translation, with the original copied below.

@ Canada homes
[Vancouver Mayor @ Robertson letter Gregor microblogging why so many zombie fans? Who is behind? ] Saying that Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson came microblogging been the the Vancouver local Chinese and Chinese microblogging touted. Xiaobian mayor of less than 1 million fans, even behind. 3 days after the mayor of the microblogging fans number 35000, allegedly in excess of the number of Twitter 4 years! Browse to the mayor's fan list inadvertently shocked: newest fans 95% + are zombie powder
@加拿大家园
【温哥华市长@罗品信Gregor 微博 为什么那么多僵尸粉丝？谁是幕后黑手？】话说，温哥华市长罗品信来到微博，受到温哥华本地华人和主要华人微博力捧。小编在市长不到1百粉丝时就力挺。3天后市长微博粉丝数3.5万，据称超过Twitter 4年数量！不经意间浏览到市长的粉丝列表，震惊：最新粉丝95%+都是僵尸粉

Here is the translation of the response from the Mayor (or whoever is staffing his Weibo account).

Thank news! We will investigate with Sina.
谢谢消息！我们会跟新浪 调查一下。Thank you for the help, let us know if there is anything we can do @加拿大家园

I'll let you know how this develops.

(For those keeping score at home, 5% of Robertson's Twitter followers are faked accounts, 18% are inactive and 77% are good, according to the Status People Fake Follower Check.)

Getting to know the Finance Ministry

It's definitely not "Finance Ministry for Dummies."

When Mike de Jong was appointed Minister of Finance on Sept. 5 by Premier Christy Clark, he got a 52-page package of information about the ministry, its operations and its key people. This is better known as the "briefing book."

It contains no major revelations, but it does offer a glimpse into how the most-important ministry of government works.

FIN MIN Briefing Book - 0214

Anyone working at the Ministry of Labour?

The British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union represents more than 25,000 government workers in B.C. and on Sept. 27 it reached a tentative agreement with the government.

The deal was announced the next day by Premier Christy Clark at the Union of B.C. Municipalities' convention in Victoria. It included the immediate corking of the controversial privatization of the Liquor Distribution Branch.

I requested, via Freedom of Information, a copy of the labour accord from the Ministry of Labour. After the Sept. 5 cabinet shuffle, Jobs, Tourism and Investment Minister Pat Bell also became Labour Minister. My request was processed and, on Oct. 29, I received notice that the Ministry of Labour doesn't have a copy of the BCGEU settlement.

Truth is stranger than fiction. See below.

(BCGEU members will be glad to know their union has a copy of the tentative agreement, which can be read here.)

LBR-2012-00040

Premier's office claims no dimples & draught day records

Both Jonathan Fowlie, the Vancouver Sun's reporter at the Legislature, and I made Freedom of Information requests to find out about the investigation into the conduct of ex-Chief of Staff Ken Boessenkool. Fowlie Tweeted that the government claims there are no records, because the investigation was done verbally. See the government's Oct. 29 denial letter to me below.

Boessenkool became the ex-Chief of Staff for Premier Christy Clark on Sept. 23, when he tendered his resignation. The Premier said on Sept. 24 that it was because of an "incident of concern." She made the resignation letter public. She wouldn't offer any further information, hiding behind privacy laws.

The "incident of concern" happened Sept. 7 in Victoria at a bar, after a golf tournament attended by Boessenkool, among others. Yet, the Office of the Premier claims there are no records about the day's events.

This is part of a growing trend toward the government claiming no records exist. The B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association has complained to the Information Commissioner. The big question is this: is the government hiding information or is it not documenting its business?

Boessenkool was replaced by Dan Doyle, the former highways deputy minister who was recycled from the chairmanship of BC Hydro and the executive vice-presidency of construction for VANOC. Here is Boessenkool's Feb. 10, 2012 appointment letter to the $195,148.22-a-year job. Doyle's Sept. 25 appointment letter is below. Doyle's appointment ends April 16, 2013 -- the eve of the provincial election campaign. Like Boessenkool before him, Doyle has Deputy Minister status.

OOP-2012-00659

OOP-2012-00666

Dan Doyle Appointment Letter

Why it's called PavCo, not AnswerCo

David Podmore vacated his chair on the B.C. Pavilion Corporation board of directors at the end of September, just before the first anniversary of B.C. Place Stadium's reopening from a taxpayer-funded renovation. 

It was also the end of interim president Dana Hayden's second full month as the replacement for Warren Buckley, who resigned at the end of July. 

Neither of them responded to my repeated email and phone requests for an interview. 

Stadium marketing and communications manager Duncan Blomfield (right) ran interference for his bosses. Instead of arranging an interview, he invited me on Sept. 25 to send questions. I did just that, the very next day. (See the whole list below.)

That was a month ago. I still don't have the answers.

Despite frequent reminders, Mr. Blomfield claims that the official response is going through an "approval process." 

Mr. Blomfield and others at PavCo were easier to deal with before the Sept. 5 cabinet shuffle that saw the affable Pat Bell hand the responsibility for PavCo to Rich Coleman. 

Deputy Premier Coleman's portfolio already includes energy, mines, natural gas, liquor, gambling and housing. Now he also oversees the stadium and the Vancouver Convention Centre. I honestly don't know how he rates on the affability scale, because Mr. Coleman has never agreed to a one-on-one interview with me. 

So I'm going public. 

On 2012-09-25, at 3:39 PM, Duncan Blomfield wrote:
Hi Bob,
Regarding the ‘one-year anniversary’ interview request – please send me your specific questions and I will endeavor to provide specific answers.
Duncan 

Bob Mackin
Subject: Re: media request: Terracover Date: September 26, 2012 4:16:28 PM PDT 

Unfortunately, I have not received any assistance in arranging interviews.
As you asked for my questions, I have many. My hard deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday. I look forward to your answers.  

A) What is the detailed breakdown of the $514M spent on the renovation?  

B) What is the cost of the ongoing work to repair leaks and stains on the roof? When will it be complete?  

C) How many people are in management positions at B.C. Place, vs. union positions? 

D) What is the total amount of bonuses paid to management in 2011-2012 vs. 2010-2011? 

E) Has an agreement been reached with Telus for official or exclusive supplier status? 

F) What is the total owed by PavCo to Telus for its 2011 installation in anticipation of the naming rights? 

G) What was the cost of the Terracover V system?  (Bob's note: that is the plastic field cover system used to protect the field during concerts and trade shows.)

H) What was the cost to remedy the problems experienced with Terracover in February and March?   

I) What is the ideal conversion time frame for laying the Terracover after a football or soccer game? What is the ideal conversion time for removing the Terracover after a trade show or concert?  

J) Why did B.C. Place use more power and pay higher hydro rates in fall 2011/winter 2012 versus fall 2008/winter 2009, the last regular fall/winter before the temporary VANOC takeover and before the old roof was removed?  

K) What was the methodology for the $58M in annual economic benefits pre-renovation and $100M in economic benefits post-renovation?  

L) How many times was the roof opened in 2011?  

M) Why is the roof not left open as a default position and closed only in case of inclement weather? As it is, the roof is only opened for events. Are there problems with the drainage?  

N) Are event promoters charged a fee for the roof to be opened and, if so, what is the cost? 

O) Are the Whitecaps and/or Lions paying any rent whatsoever, beyond a nominal fee? Is it true that PavCo receives food and beverage revenue in exchange for the teams not paying the full price of rent for regular season games? What precisely are the Whitecaps and Lions paying for rent?  

While we wait for the answers, mark Oct. 21, 2013 on your calendar. That's the scheduled beginning of an 85-day civil trial in B.C. Supreme Court between B.C. Place steel and cable contractors Canam and Freyssinet. It will provide the most complete glimpse into troubles encountered with the the most complex stadium renovation in history.