No briefing note for the Premier on Haida Gwaii quake

Premier Christy Clark has 23 people listed in the government directory as her staff in the Office of the Premier, but not one of them got around to creating a briefing note after the Oct. 27 Haida Gwaii earthquake. That, according to a Dec. 10 "no records" letter sent to me by the government.

Briefing notes are a cornerstone of government communications and decision-making, as this government web page explains.

That magnitude 7.8 shaker could be felt far and wide across British Columbia and served as a wake-up call to remind us we live in a seismically active corner of the world. It took almost 50 minutes for Emergency Management B.C. to get into action. American authorities had already issued a tsunami alert.

Clark's chief of staff Dan Doyle and Deputy Solicitor General Lori Wanamaker were monitoring the situation, as their emails below indicate. Clark was apparently advised, via Athana Mentzelopoulos, the Deputy Minister of Government Communications and Public Engagement (and Clark's onetime bridesmaid). Justice Minister Shirley Bond did a media conference call late that night. She said Minister Bill Bennett was also involved, communicating with coastal communities.

Clark may have been preoccupied with social gatherings in Whistler after the end of the BC Liberals' pre-Hallowe'en "open" convention. It wasn't the first time a major provincial event passed without a briefing note for the Premier. The 2012 Stanley Cup riot was not documented, despite all the reasons why it should have been. (I do know that the Premier left Rogers Arena and went home that chaotic night, instead of attending an emergency operations centre.)

Communications staffers worked the morning after the quake and produced a briefing note for Environment Minister Terry Lake. 

No briefing note for the Premier

Dan Doyle's email on quake night

Terry Lake briefing note 

Moray Keith drives away from viaSport

Keith

A big shakeup at viaSport, the organization formerly known as the B.C. Sport Agency.

CEO Scott Ackles dropped the bombshell Dec. 10 when he announced Moray Keith (right) was quitting as chairman of the 2010 Legacies Now spinoff. 

Ackles and Keith were named March 1 as the leaders of the "bold new sport agency for B.C." that was to "simplify" and "strengthen" the B.C. sport sector. 

Keith is a big wheel, in more ways than one. His Dueck GM is Canada's biggest auto dealership. He's a director of the Motor Vehicle Sales Authority of B.C., B.C. Lottery Corporation, Richmond Oval Corporation and B.C. Football Hall of Fame. He led private groups that partnered with municipalities to build junior hockey rinks in Chilliwack and Langley. In 2011, B.C. Lions' Waterboys co-founder Keith chaired the 99th Grey Cup Committee, of which Ackles was the general manager. Now Keith has left viaSport, with no explanation given.

Here's the Ackles memo:

Good morning everybody, Please be advised Moray Keith has resigned from his position as chair of the viaSport Board of Directors.  We thank Moray for his leadership and contributions to sport by leaving the organization in great shape financially, meeting all of its first year goals, and building a strong relationship with the sector and the provincial government. He has been integral to positioning viaSport for future success.  Current board member, Cathy Priestner Allinger, will take over the position of Chair. Cathy is a long-time champion for sport in B.C. and we look forward to her continued leadership. The board will implement a strategy to recruit new directors in the new year.  Please join me in thanking Moray for his service, and in welcoming Cathy to the position of Chair. Regards, Scott Ackles CEO

Priestner Allinger

Keith, I might add, is also cosy with the governing BC Liberals. By all credible public opinion polls, the party led by Premier Christy Clark is past its best-before date and a change in government is forecast for the May 14, 2013 provincial election. Keith donated nearly $100,000 to the Libs since 2005, according to Elections B.C. Deputy Premier Rich "Liquor & Lotteries" Coleman maintains his Fort Langley-Aldergrove constituency office near the main entrance of the Keith-developed Langley Events Centre. 

Keith's successor Cathy Priestner Allinger (left) is no stranger to viaSport. She was also his predecessor as the interim chair. Priestner Allinger is the Innsbruck 1976 speedskating silver medallist who was the executive vice-president of sport and venue management for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics after authoring the Own the Podium blueprint. She also served as managing director of Games operations at Turin 2006 and managing director of sport at Salt Lake 2002. 

Priestner Allinger also chairs the B.C. Games Society and the organizing committee for the 2014 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games in Vancouver. 

UPDATE (Dec. 12): Moray Keith says there is "no magic." His departure from viaSport was amicable and part of the short-term plan. He was the startup chairman.

"I'm very content and happy with where the whole thing is going," Keith told me. "I've done my part to get it going and up and to tell you the truth I'm getting older every day and there's too many things going on. It's time for some other folks to grab a hold of the reins and take it to the next level. 

"I can't say enough about Scott Ackles and how well he works, his crew and people around him, I think they're doing a wonderful job.

"Thanks to Ida Chong and Bill Bennett and Rich Coleman. frankly, they really helped us set the stage for where this thing can grow in the future. It was well planned and Cathy Priestner (Allinger) was the one who put the initial planning in place, she's the new chair and I will ride off in the sunset and it will carry on just famously well. I'm very pleased.

"We believe that out of the $24 million budget we have, we're putting about $4 million more to the end sport user than we were a year ago. If on every 20 (million dollars) we can change it by 20% or 25%, that's huge. It's through efficiencies."

Are fences the first sign of casino move?

D is for December and dormant. B.C. Place Stadium is dormant most of December. The only two events scheduled inside are the B.C. High School Football Subway Bowl that kicked off the month and the Contact Winter Music Festival rave on Boxing Day.

But there is activity of another sort outside the stadium, beneath the westside video billboard that faces the Cambie Bridge. 

Crews have erected wooden fences around the trees on the grassy knoll, a telltale sign of impending site preparation for excavation or even construction. 

The west side of the stadium is earmarked to become the new home of Edgewater Casino. Parent Paragon Gaming extended the lease at the Plaza of Nations until 2015 after its expansion bid was shot down in April 2011 by widespread public opposition. But Vancouver city council gave Paragon the okay to move the existing licence across the street. 

B.C. Pavilion Corporation, B.C. Lottery Corporation and Paragon executives huddled through the summer of 2012 about the development plan, as I revealed in this Vancouver Courier story. PavCo, BCLC and Paragon have been hush-hush, knowing that even a relocation of Edgewater will spark some public opposition. 

Last spring, stadium management was getting ready for something to happen on the site. 

According to the May minutes of the stadium's Facility Management committee: 

"The Cambie Street Video Board at the West end may need to come down if development goes ahead; working through the details of this. 

"Ongoing discussions with Paragon continue to take place for West End development and an announcement date is getting near, followed by the development permit application. If it all goes ahead, ground breaking is anticipated in the fall. This will impact the west entry for BC Place. GR (Graham Ramsay) said we would need to start coming up with alternate plans now.  Some relocation of services to the other side of Smyth (sic) St. will also be required. KD (Kathy deLisser) advised that a construction schedule is needed."

What are the odds that the wooden fences and orange nets around the trees are related to the new Edgewater? 

UPDATE (Dec. 12): PavCo interim CEO Dana Hayden did not respond to my query, but B.C. Place manager of marketing and communications Duncan Blomfield did. 

"Concord Pacific is preparing to redevelop their site located to the west of B.C. Place stadium.  The redevelopment of Concord’s site requires the removal of a pedestrian overpass stretches over the Concord site, connecting the Cambie St. Bridge to the stadium. The temporary fencing around trees on the BC Place site is to protect the trees from being damaged by demolition activity in the area. There are currently no plans to remove the board." 

He is referring to 68 Smithe Street, the former Terry Fox Way. The plans show an "entertainment destination complex" on the stadium side of the street. Notice how it didn't say "proposed" and the naughty word "casino" is also missing? 

The Butler did it.

The Butler did it. Again. 

Richard Butler, a high-ranking lawyer from the Legal Services Branch, swore his fifth affidavit on Nov. 16. The 12-page statement was the first surprise of the day Dec. 3 at B.C. Supreme Court when the Office of the Auditor General's bid to see the $6 million deal with Dave Basi and Bob Virk resumed. 

A quick refresher: The two BC Liberal government aides copped a plea bargain on Oct. 18, 2010 after steadfastly maintaining their innocence over the 2003 BC Rail scandal. They both got house arrest for two years for taking bribes from lobbyists for Omnitrax. Their legal bills were paid by taxpayers, which is contrary to government policy. Auditor-General Doyle is suing the government to examine the legal indemnity. The government claims it is covered by solicitor/client privilege. Listen to The Investigators from CKNW AM 980 for all the history of this scandal.

van Dongen

Abbotsford-South independent MLA John van Dongen successfully applied for intervenor status and has spent $100,000 of his own money so far in his quest to get the truth on the billion-dollar sale of the people's railway. The case was held over four days in September and scheduled for another two in December. It wrapped up in less than a full-day on Dec. 3. That was the second surprise.

In this 11th hour affidavit, Butler made the startling revelation that he did not look at billing certificates when they were submitted and blamed "failure of memory" for making misstatements a year earlier. Read the affidavit at the bottom of this post.

Chief Justice Robert Bauman granted a sealing order for certain documents mentioned in the Butler affidavit. Still, one only needs to read the affidavit to realize how odd it is for such a highly educated and qualified legal mind to bungle the file.

"Here we are right near the end of a case, we've had five days of hearings, virtually finished argument, just getting into reply, the final stage of the case," van Dongen told me outside the Law Courts. "The senior lawyer in government involved in all the indemnity files tables an affidavit saying 'I made a mistake in the previous affidavit,' and points out he was relying on his memory, didn't check the documents before they went out and realized there was obviously a significant misstatement in the earlier affidavit.

"Every step of the way there's a surprise," van Dongen said. "The advice I've been given is it's very unusual for parties to be filing things this close to the end of the case. Yet it happens in this case."

Meanwhile, van Dongen's conflict of interest complaint against Premier Christy Clark is in the hands of Northwest Territories conflict of interest commissioner Gerald Gerrand after B.C.'s Paul Fraser was compelled to hand it over on Nov. 13. Van Dongen found out that Fraser's son, John Paul, is a Government Communications and Public Engagement assistant deputy minister appointed by Clark. Clark and John Paul Fraser are longtime friends.

New information shows that Clark met with the elder Fraser on Oct. 4. The Premier's agenda (obtained by me via Freedom of Information), does not indicate the reason for the meeting. It was, coincidentally, almost two weeks after van Dongen hand-delivered his "grounds for belief and nature of alleged contraventions" about Clark to the commissioner on Sept. 21.

In the absence of a public inquiry about the corrupt sale of BC Rail, British Columbians who care deeply about democracy and integrity of their government are waiting patiently for Bauman's verdict and Gerrand's report. 

Butler Affidavit

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.)