And the winners are...

You read and you responded to the Rename the B.C. Liberals Contest. Since it was such a difficult task to decide a single winner, I have chosen co-winners to mark the one-year countdown to the next scheduled British Columbia election.

Lori Shenher offered four suggestions:

B.C. Libercons (party theme: "Never Gonna Stop This Train")
CCCP (Christy Can't Close Party)
PEP Squad (Perpetually Eluding the People)
DeRail B.C. Party

The last was her winner. It denotes motion and alludes to the still unresolved B.C. Rail scandal. If the Glen Clark-era NDP has to wear the Fast Ferries forever, then the Gordon Campbell/Christy Clark Liberals must be tattooed with the B.C. Rail scandal.

Ryan Painter is the other winner. He suggested Social Credit Alliance Liberal Party (SCALP), which I think would be the ideal name for a unite-the-right movement in B.C. Politics is akin to hair-pulling in B.C. Citizens feel frustrated when their government ignores them. They also are spectators to the no-holds-barred attacks among the parties.

Since one can't simply cut an e-book in half, Lori and Ryan both get a copy of Red Mittens & Red Ink: The Vancouver Olympics. (Arrangements will be made to transmit your copy. Enjoy!)

Honourable mention to Norm Farrell (Christy Clark's Corporate Cartel Coalition), Eric Doherty (B.C. 1% Party) and C. Russell Sprout (Friends In Business Buying Economic Reign=FIBBER).

A message to Premier Christy Clark: even if you stick around long enough to change the party's name, rest assured that you'll hear the phrase "...the party formerly known as Liberal" ad nauseam.

Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't change the fact that it's still a pig.

Riot report ghost writer reluctant to talk about BC Rail briber

I got a call from Stewart Muir on Friday afternoon. Turns out he was the ghost writer for the report on the 2011 Stanley Cup riot that bears the names of John Furlong and Doug Keefe. Furlong, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics boss, hired him, he said.

The former Vancouver Sun deputy managing editor didn't seem very enthusiastic when I asked him about whether his wife, Athana Mentzelopoulos, influenced or was informed about the content of the report. His denial was emphatic, yet defensive.

It's not an unreasonable question. Muir is a veteran journalist who obviously knows our job is to watch those in power and keep an eye on those close to them. He has a family connection in the Office of the Premier. Mentzelopoulos was hired in August as Premier Christy Clark's deputy minister of corporate priorities. Mentzelopoulos was a deputy minister under ex-Premier Gordon Campbell and even served as a bridesmaid at Clark's wedding. Clark is a big Canucks' fan and enjoys the support of donors like Canucks and Rogers Arena owner Francesco Aquilini.

You can read my story on Muir here.

Before I finished the interview, I took the opportunity to ask about records mentioning Muir and Mentzelopoulos that are displayed on this blog entry by Alex Tsakumis.

Tsakumis managed to obtain expense reports filed by OmniTrax lobbyist Erik Bornmann that were collected by the RCMP in their investigation on the corrupt 2003 sale of BC Rail to CN Rail.

Bornmann was an admitted briber of public employees while he worked as a lobbyist for the BC Rail bidder. He was never charged in the BC Rail affair, but he agreed to become the star witness against ministerial aides David Basi and Bob Virk. Those two men accepted cash and gifts from Bornmann in exchange for information about the BC Rail sale.

Basi and Virk mysteriously copped a plea bargain in October 2010 just when the trial was about to get interesting. The B.C. Liberal government, under then-Premier Campbell, agreed to pay their $6 million legal bills, despite the fact they were guilty. Auditor General John Doyle is examining the highly unusual transaction.

Bornmann was admitted into the Law Society of Upper Canada, meaning he can practice law in Ontario, after this 2-1 decision. Read BC Railscam ace chronicler Bill Tieleman's blog here.

Bornmann's records on the Tsakumis blog show that Muir met with Bornmann on three occasions for what appear to be expensive meals, in the months before the BC Rail privatization was announced and the infamous raid on the B.C. Legislature happened:

July 8, 2003: "Entertainment Stewart Muir/Athana" $366.44
July 15, 2003: "Entertainment Stewart Muir and guests" $319.21
Oct. 7, 2003: "Entertainment - Business Editor - Vancouver Sun" $774.18

I sought Muir's comments on his infamous host and whether it was simply a traditional "reporter-source" relationship. (I was hoping he might have some insight about the scandal that dominated headlines in British Columbia for more than seven years.)

"I haven't seen the material," Muir said.

I offered to email him a link, but I told him I didn't have his email address. Could I have his email address? He didn't seem interested.

"You can Google it," he said.

I have no proof whatsoever of any wrongdoing by Muir or Mentzelopoulos. Just because they met with Bornmann does not mean you or I should think less of them.

I remain interested in what Muir might have to say about those meetings with someone who eventually became known as a central player in the BC Rail scandal.

If he wants to comment, he does not have to Google my contact information.

When open doesn't necessarily mean open

If you read this blog after July 25, you'd know that A) the British Columbia government is heralding a new "open government" policy and B) it's just a superficial, smoke and mirrors public relations campaign. Premier Christy Clark's staff manipulated the release of records (and the records themselves) about the Harmonized Sales Tax referendum. See for yourself.

Clark is banging the open government drum because she wants you to vote for her B.C. Liberal Party in the next election. If Clark was serious about increasing transparency, her government would change the laws to put the power (and information) in the hands of the citizens. For inspiration, she need look no further than the State of Washington.

So here is the latest absurdity. The government is delaying disclosure of documents about the July 19 open government announcement. It invoked its power to delay disclosure from Aug. 31 to Oct. 14.

Is this another sign pointing to a late September or early October provincial election?

Open Government? Hahaha!

Christy Clark's "open" government? Don't believe the hype

On March 25, 2011, Attorney General Barry Penner announced British Columbians would vote on whether to keep the Harmonized Sales Tax before the planned Sept. 24, 2011 single-day, election-style poll. This referendum would be done by mail. He said it would save taxpayers $18 million and reduce voter fatigue.

Great. I wanted to see the reports that would justify that decision. So I filed a Freedom of Information request. (It's free and you can do it, too: just click here to start the process.)

Just three days letter, on March 28, 2011, I was sent a letter of acknowledgement with a deadline for response of May 10, 2011.

Intake 032811

The Premier's Office had no records, but Penner's ministry did. It sought a unilateral delay in this May 3, 2011 letter. I was supposed to receive a response no later than June 22, 2011.

AGT-2011-00073 extension 050311

June 22, 2011 came and went. Then came this June 28, 2011 letter, which said I would get a response no later than July 13, 2011 because someone at the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner allegedly granted the government two weeks to consult an unidentified public body and/or third-party.

AGT-2011-00073 extension 062811

Lo and behold, July 13, 2011 came and went. On July 22 -- at 19 minutes after 9 a.m., precisely -- I received a letter dated July 21 that included heavily censored documents.

July 22 was also the last day for British Columbians to request an HST referendum ballot. A coincidence? I think not.

Exclusive: Campbell crony helped craft HST referendum

Why so much secrecy around the Harmonized Sales Tax? If HST is such a smart tax for B.C. and the mail-in referendum such an efficient method of democracy, why not show us the report?

Or is the government embarrassed that Tom Syer, a key aide to ex-Premier Gordon Campbell (who co-fathered the HST with ex-Finance Minister Colin Hansen) has had a direct hand in the HST referendum? (Read that story here).

Earlier in the same week -- on July 19 -- Premier Christy Clark announced a new "open government" policy. Based on what was supplied and how it was supplied to me on July 22, 2011, one four-letter word comes to mind to describe Clark and co.

Sham.

Exclusive: Campbell crony helped craft vote-by-snail mail concept

What is the real reason that the British Columbia Liberal government scrapped the planned Sept. 24, 2011 election-style referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax and employ a mail-in ballot system?

Attorney General Barry Penner said on March 25, 2011 that moving the referendum ahead and employing a mail-in ballot "was expected to" save taxpayers $18 million and reduce voter fatigue.

Who could argue with saving taxpayers money or making democracy swift and fair?

My curiosity was piqued. I wanted to see proof. I wanted answers.

What was the methodology for the alleged $18 million savings? What proof was there that voter fatigue would hinder citizen participation in the HST referendum? Did politicians and staff do their homework and know about the potential impact of a Canada Post strike or lockout on a mail-in ballot?

The same day it was announced, I filed a Freedom of Information request with the Office of the Premier, Ministry of Attorney General and Public Affairs Bureau for the communications plan announcement of the HST referendum process, including the briefing notes for Attorney General Barry Penner and Premier Christy Clark; cost-benefit analysis or business case for a mail-in ballot vs. general election-style balloting.

After several delays by the government, I finally received the documents on July 22, 2011 -- which just so happens to be the last day for citizens to request a ballot to either vote yes to extinguish the HST or no to keep it. A coincidence? I think not.

See the documents below.

Whatever Deputy Attorney General David Loukidelis recommended was censored.

However, the documents do show that a key aide to the father of the HST, Gordon Campbell, had a hand in crafting the mail-in referendum. This suggests that the government is engineering the process to reach the outcome it wants: to keep the HST.

An email sent March 9, 2011 by Loukidelis to Penner said the report to the March 16, 2011 cabinet meeting "has been developed with commentary from Tom Syer along the way."

Who is Tom Syer and who did Syer call sire?

Syer was Campbell's Deputy Chief of Staff who, after a stint as a lobbyist, returned to government to head the HST Information Office that was announced October 25, 2010 -- two days before Campbell spent $240,000 of taxpayers funds to buy TV airtime on October 27, 2010 for a televised speech intended to boost the HST.

The HST Information Office was supposed to inform, not persuade. Its website includes news releases with headlines such as: "Harmonized Sales Tax To Boost Investment, Job Creation," "HST, The Right Move at the Right Time," and "Look Who's Backing the HST." It's spending $5 million on the famous stick-man TV ads.

I ask again: Is the mail-in ballot system engineered by the government to convince you to agree to keep the HST?

Is this exercise in democracy really just an expensive sham?

Why the secrecy, Mr. Penner? Why the secrecy, Ms. Clark?

(NOTE: If you want information on the HST Referendum, go to the Elections BC website here. If you don't have it already, you have until midnight July 22, 2011 to ask Elections BC for your ballot. Call 1-800-661-8683 as soon as possible.)

Exclusive: Campbell crony helped craft HST referendum

Riot 2011: Clueless in Victoria (and Vancouver-Point Grey)?

Premier Christy Clark has been called many things.

"Cluck-Cluck" for avoiding all-candidates meetings and a debate with NDP challenger David Eby during the campaign for the May 11 by-election. She even turned down an offer of airtime on CKNW, her former employer, to question and be questioned by her Vancouver-Point Grey competitors.

"Choo-Choo" for her undeniable connections to the biggest case of government corruption in British Columbia history, BC Railscam. (Her husband-at-the-time and brother were both involved, although not criminally, and there is evidence that appears to show she leaked confidential cabinet information about the sale of major taxpayer-owned assets while she was a member of cabinet!)

"Jersey Girl" because of that famous Province front page of her in a Canucks' jersey and her appearances while wearing the blue, white and green of the National Hockey League franchise owned by campaign donor Francesco Aquilini (who gave her free tickets to Game 7 of the final).

Now she can be called "Clueless Clark."

I thought it would be reasonable for the top elected official in the province to have some immediate curiosity about the worst case of public disorder in the province she governs since 1994. Surely her staff would have provided her an urgent report about implications of the riot to the provincial government, which regulates policing and liquor distribution. Surely she would have been provided information about what went on that night from a public safety standpoint. Evidently not, according to the reply below from her office.

This may answer why she ordered the Doug Keefe/John Furlong riot review.

Riot 2011: Clueless in Victoria (and Vancouver-Point Grey)?

The busiest woman in B.C.? Oh, really?

Citizens of Vancouver-Point Grey will go to the polls on May 11 to elect a successor to Liberal MLA Gordon Campbell, who was Premier from May 2001 until February 2011 when Christy Clark was elected new leader of the B.C. Liberal Party.

The by-election will happen without the star candidate attending an all-candidates meeting. She even pooh-poohed an invitation to appear with her opponents on CKNW, the radio station that employed her as a talkshow host and gave her the microphone and profile that she exploited for her political comeback.

Clark claims she is too busy and needs to spend her time wisely, because she's a mom and she's a premier.

How busy is she? Ms. Openness and Engagement doesn't proactively disclose her agenda, but I was able to obtain a copy of what she did during the first week-and-a-half on the job.

You'd think that taking over the top elected office in the province would translate into a packed schedule of 16-hour days to learn absolutely everything there is to know about overseeing a government with a $41.9 billion budget in a jurisdiction of 4.5 million people. After all, one would want to have the job for years to come.

Some two weeks after winning the Liberal nod, Clark was sworn-in on March 14 at Government House in Victoria. Some of her closest friends were there, including her campaign mastermind Patrick Kinsella and his horseracing buddy Glen Todd. That was her busiest day of work in her first week-and-a-half on the job.

Premier Christy Clark's first agenda

On March 19, Clark's only appointment was the Vancouver Whitecaps' first Major League Soccer game at Empire Field. There she beat a drum before kickoff with Whitecaps' co-owner Steve Nash and MLS commissioner Don Garber and then sat in her own seats. The next day her schedule says "family day" -- a euphemism for day off. Isn't every day supposed to be family day under Clark?

On March 22 at night she attended Cavalia, the equine circus under the tents next to the Olympic Village.

The real reason Clark avoids all-candidates meetings like the plague? Because David Eby would be there. The NDP candidate and former B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director is intelligent, humorous and hip. Eby is much more than his fair-to-middling cover of Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer at the NDP convention. (He deserves applause for the effort in front of a tough crowd that would rather hear Pete Seeger than Bon Jovi.)

I witnessed Eby beat former Attorney General Wally Oppal in a Fraser Institute debate on Olympic security in January 2010. He delivered a scathing critique of the RCMP and VANOC before storming out of a public forum on Olympic security in November 2009. He would certainly make mincemeat out of Clark in a debate.

Clark's campaign boss is none other than Colin "HST" Hansen, who knows how weak his candidate is among political foes. Certainly neither Hansen nor Clark can forget her abysmal, embarrassing performance on Sept. 20, 2005 against Coun. Sam Sullivan. Clark and Sullivan were vying for the NPA's mayoral nomination. Clark literally lost it.

The headline on a column by The Tyee's Mark Leiren-Young read "Man in Wheelchair Runs over Christy Clark!"

In the Sept. 21, 2005 Vancouver Sun, Frances Bula wrote:

Most of the audience appeared to be decided on who they will be voting for at NPA elections on Saturday.
But one couple, Bill and Sonia Easton, said they came down to help make up their minds.
"We're looking at how much understanding Christy Clark has of municipal issues," said Bill Easton.
"We know Sam has a long background in politics, which can be good and bad. We're here to find out more about Christy."
One thing they learned is that Clark is still getting familiar with Vancouver names. She referred to the Southeast False Creek project as the south False Creek project and twice she said COPE when she meant NPA.
The second time, after she was wrapping up her opening speech with "Let's return a COPE majority to city council," audience members called out to correct her.

Olympics boss gets another board gig with a VANOC contractor

The gigs keep coming for VANOC chief executive John Furlong.

First he was named chairman of the Own the Podium advisory board after the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Then came last fall's appointment as a director of the reorganized Whistler Blackcomb. Now he is a director of Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, the luxury train that run from North Vancouver to Whistler and Banff.

Furlong's duties with Own the Podium are logical. VANOC and the Canadian Olympic Committee created the high performance funding plan that helped Canadian athletes win a record 14 gold medals at home after giving Canadians golden goose eggs at Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988.

The other two appointments are worthy of greater scrutiny.

Furlong is not only a director, but chairman of the corporate governance committee for the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Whistler Blackcomb Holdings. One of his boardmates is Wall Street bigshot Wesley Edens, whose Fortress Investment Group paid the way too high price of $2.8 billion for Whistler Blackcomb parent Intrawest in 2006 and whose Fortress Credit Corporation walked away from financing the Vancouver Olympic Village when the Great Recession began in September 2008. Fortress exploited a loophole in the Olympic Village deal that allowed it to exit because the City of Vancouver promised to complete the project, now in receivership. Intrawest was on its knees in early 2010 and there was even some worry that bailiffs would padlock the Olympic venue.

Whistler Blackcomb reported last fall that it got $32.1 million in its make-whole compensation deal with VANOC, but felt it was shortchanged by $6 million. Whistler Creekside hosted alpine skiing and Blackcomb is site of the Whistler Sliding Centre.

I asked VANOC ethics commissioner Martin Taylor on Nov. 16, 2010 whether his advice had been sought regarding Furlong's role on the board of private sector venue owner Whistler Blackcomb. This was Taylor's answer:

"During the present calendar year I have not been called on by VANOC for advice or ruling on any matter, including that which you mention, nor have I conducted any investigation this year in my capacity as Ethics Commissioner."

We may not know the truth about VANOC's business machinations until 2025 when VANOC meeting minutes and financial statements are unsealed by the City of Vancouver archives. A deal signed by city manager Penny Ballem included a loophole that shields the records from the Freedom of Information act.

Now Furlong, whose name is on a SkyTrain car, is on the board of another tourism company that did business with VANOC and its sponsors.

Peter Armstrong's Gray Line West was listed as the successful proponent for VANOC Request for Proposals 065. The contract size was not disclosed, but it was awarded Nov. 29, 2006. Armstrong bought Gray Line West from Greyhound in 2005, but shut down the Vancouver operation in late 2007. The Victoria and Banff operations remained open.

VANOC's deal with Gray Line shifted to MTR Western, a Seattle company with Oregon-plated, luxury motorcoaches. MTR shuttled official VANOC visitors, including those at the 2008 World Press Briefing, throughout Vancouver and Whistler.

MTR's owner Darren Berg became the Cascadian answer to Bernie Madoff in 2010 when his empire collapsed and he was charged in a Ponzi scheme. He faces trial in October 2011.

Armstrong's company offered VANOC use of its Rocky Mountaineer Railtours rolling stock, which runs on the same BC Rail right-of-way effectively owned by CN Rail. The successful 2003 bid even contemplated using rail to shuttle Games-goers. But the Olympic organization opted to go all rubber-tire for its transport of ticketholders, media and dignitaries from Vancouver to Whistler. (VANOC revealed in December 2010 that it paid $173.5 million for transportation -- $50 million more than budgeted in May 2007!)

Alberta, which became a provincial sponsor of VANOC, did a complex $6 million deal with Rocky Mountaineer to rent its False Creek flats station for parties and to charter its trains for daily round-trips to promote Alberta tourism.

Armstrong is also politically connected, known for delivering loads and loads of cash into B.C. Liberal party coffers.

Elections BC political finance records show that Armstrong and his Rocky Mountaineer Railtours and Great Canadian Railtour Company made 43 donations worth $197,170 to the governing Liberals between 2005 and 2009.

Most recently, Great Canadian gave finance minister Kevin Falcon $10,000 for his leadership campaign and $2,000 to George Abbott's bid.

Wannabe premiers show their donation dockets

The score is Kevin Falcon $708,664.58, Christy Clark $519,040 and George Abbott $427,842.

Those are the donation tallies released Feb. 22 by three of the four candidates in the race to succeed Gordon "Red Mittens" Campbell as B.C. Liberal leader and the new premier of British Columbia. A telephone and Internet vote will be held Feb. 26. Will the winner have the biggest war chest or will it be a cost-effective victory?

Why do people donate to politicians and parties? The tax receipt is often secondary or tertiary. Sometimes the donors are friends or business associates. Often it's a way to get noticed and even, ahem, receive future considerations. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. There are even some who -- gasp -- donate money because they actually believe in the policies of the candidate.

A closer look at the lists reveal some interesting connections.

Francesco Aquilini, owner of the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, stayed true to his word. He told me in January after a Board of Trade lunch that he'd be happy with Abbott, Clark or Falcon. The owner of the rink where the biggest hockey game in history happened Feb. 28, 2010 sent $25,000 cheques to each of them.

Concord Pacific, which hosted Molson Canadian Hockey House during the Games, gave $5,000 to Falcon and $2,500 each to Abbott and Clark. (Coincidentally, Abbott Street leads to Concord property and Clark Drive isn't far away. Falcons are few and far between on False Creek.)

Clark got $500 from former Canadian tennis pro Grant Connell, now a high-end real estate agent. Oh-so-popular and tenant-friendly landlord (oh, the sarcasm!) Hollyburn Properties donated $10,000. Does this mean Clark is beholden to the West End's notorious "renovictionists"?

Encana, the company whose northern B.C. pipelines were allegedly (and suspiciously) bombed in the months leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, gave $1,500 to Clark but $3,000 to Abbott. (Hey, whatever happened to Wiebo Ludwig or was that RCMP raid a form of "security theatre" connected to the Olympic torch relay? Just askin'.) They both received $1,500 cheques from MDA Corporation, the Richmond-based military contractor which mysteriously became involved in the RCMP surveillance camera contract for the Olympics.

Lurking in the shadows of Clark's campaign is Patrick Kinsella, the veteran political strategist, lobbyist and racehorse owner. Kinsella's Progressive Group donated $20,000. Kinsella was behind Social Credit Premier Rita Johnston's epic 1991 election loss and Tory Prime Minister Kim Campbell's equally impressive 1993 federal loss. Johnston and Campbell were crowned by their parties, but the people voted against them because of their unfit to govern parties.

Will the K-Man use Clark to complete his trifecta of female futility? For those keeping score at home, he's the Liberal insider involved heavily in BC Railscam who figuratively boasted he had a "foot into" VANOC. Who's powerful leg it was attached to remains a mystery.

Then there's $10,000 from Pacific Customs Brokers. That's the company run by Kinsella's horse racing partner Glen Todd. PCB received a lucrative and exclusive contract by VANOC to handle customs clearance and freight forwarding for the 2010 Games. Not a small job, seeing as how PCB had its hands all over heavy and expensive things like backup power generators, bobsleds and satellite dishes that came and went across the border. At previous Olympics, global logistics giant Schenker signed sponsorship/supply deals. The Vancouver 2010 bid book in 2003 mentioned customs clearance and freight forwarding as a potential sponsorship category. For some reason, never properly explained by VANOC, PCB was given a service contract. Meanwhile, Brenda J. Kinsella kicked in $3,000.

Who else is on the Clark list? Condo king Bob Rennie's Rennie Marketing Systems ($15,000) and Peter S. Malek ($2,500) of Millennium Development. Remember Millennium, don't you? The company's division that developed the Olympic Village went into receivership on Nov. 17, 2010 over a $740 million debt to Vancouver taxpayers.

Clark's coffers were also filled by developer Peter Wall ($15,000), Bruno Wall ($10,000) and Wall Financial ($25,000).

Falcon's campaign may be brought to you by the letter K. Kebet Holdings is another name for the Beedie Group. Real estate tycoon Ryan Beedie's $30,000 was only exceeded by the $40,000 from Keg Restaurants. Kyle Washington, whose company supplied the barge on which the Olympic rings floated in Coal Harbour, gave $10,000.

Shato Holdings (the Toigo family company which owns the Vancouver Giants) gave $5,000 to Falcon and Abbott. Richmond builders and former Vancouver 86ers' owners Maureen and Milan Ilich sent $5,000 to each of the three. Falcon doesn't have a slush fund, but a Slurpee fund. He had $4,000 from 7-Eleven.

Falcon is a former highways minister, so it's no surprise that Langley Concrete Group ($5,000), Mainland Sand and Gravel ($2,000), Mainroad Home ($5,000) and Pacific Blasting ($5,000) shovelled cash his way. They all had Olympic contracts. Dueck -- the massive GM dealership owned by Moray Keith -- gave $1,000 to Falcon and Abbott.

Theresa Emerson, wife of former federal Olympics minister David Emerson, gave $1,000 to Falcon but $500 to Abbott.

Rusty Goepel, the longtime Gordon Campbell loyalist and chairman of VANOC (yes, it still exists) gave $250 to Abbott. Interesting, because Abbott's logo is a crudely drawn torch.

Exclusive: Premier's Vancouver "throne"

Feb. 15, 2011 was the last British Columbia budget of the Gordon Campbell era. And it was probably the last time under Campbell rule that reporters would access the office in Canada Place's World Trade Centre where Campbell and his cabinet work and meet when they're in downtown Vancouver.

The seventh-floor suite is near the German and Swiss consulates, but has no sign on the door. There is a combo doorbell/surveillance camera. The security measures probably stem from the Feb. 21, 2008 invasion by members of the Anti-Poverty Committee.

Those who gain entry must walk along a short corridor, past a gallery of Olympic photographs and newspaper front pages before the main door.

Hallways are riddled with framed photographs of Campbell with ex-B.C. Premier Bill Bennett, Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and ex-Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean.

A photograph of Campbell greeting the Dalai Lama was once above a photograph of Campbell and Chinese president Hu Jintao. They have been rearranged and are now horizontally separated by a photograph of Campbell and ex-President Bill Clinton.

A mysterious box wrapped in yellow silk was propped up against the wall.

Campbell's office is off-limits to nosy wanderers, but the (ahem) "office" is not.

Nature did call and this time I brought my camera. The loo appeared unchanged from my previous visit during the September 2009 budget lockup.

On this day at least, it was BYOB (bring-your-own-book). It has the usual amenities, including a mirror and sink. A bottle of hand sanitizer was available.

The walls were a reminder of who's in charge (until Feb. 26) and what his pet project was.

The decor includes: a Vancouver 2010 Candidate City poster, Spirit of 2010 poster; The Province Welcoming the world in six years Olympic countdown poster; three small posters from the 2009 election campaign; a poster showing front pages of the Vancouver Sun and Globe and Mail from the Liberals' 2005 re-election; a 2003-2010 Alcan-sponsored "Grow with the Games" calendar with height measurement; panoramic photographs of the Cariboo Chilcotin and William R. Bennett Bridge.