Exclusive: Tell us, why Brown petered out of PavCo?

The mystery continues over why Peter Brown suddenly resigned from the B.C. Pavilion Corporation board of directors on Feb. 13.


All signs point to the Howe Street wheeler-dealer being frustrated over B.C. Liberal cabinet members overturning the PavCo recommendation for Telus to be the 20-year, $35 million to $40 million naming rights sponsor of B.C. Place Stadium. But the government wants to sweep it under the rug.


Brown's departure didn't become public knowledge until March 9, a week after Premier Christy Clark was a no-show at a Telus news conference where NDP leader Adrian Dix mugged for photos with the Vancouver-based, Liberal-friendly telecommunications giant's boss Darren Entwistle. 


The Liberals promised that some of the costs of the $563 million, taxpayer-funded renovation would be  paid by sponsorship. When they went into damage control mode, Clark, Finance minister Kevin Falcon and PavCo minister Pat Bell laughably said the deal was not in the best interest of taxpayers and claimed the B.C. Place name was "iconic." Such feeble excuses.


I received, via Freedom of Information, a copy of correspondence between Brown and Falcon, including Brown's Feb. 13 letter of immediate resignation from PavCo.


A key paragraph was censored, under section 13 of the FOI act, which broadly covers "advice or recommendations" for a public body. 


The missing section comes after a line that says: "In almost every case, the government dealt with us and third parties professionally, respectfully and in good faith." It appears Brown was setting up a paragraph in which he was going to give the government a piece of his mind. 


Evidently, the Liberal government is embarrassed to show you and me why one of the party's biggest donors and one of the province's best-known businessmen skedaddled from the Crown corporation.


The official explanation from Brown and Podmore after the news broke in March was that Brown wanted to lessen his busy schedule and that PavCo was transitioning from a construction phase to a marketing phase. Podmore has been in no apparent rush to fill Brown's empty spot at the board table. Nor is he in any rush to tell taxpayers the final price tag for the most-expensive stadium renovation in Canadian history.

Brown's letter was an immediate notice of resignation and, based on the tone of the third paragraph, it indicates that Brown had more on his mind than a desire to lessen his schedule or assist PavCo in evolving from construction to marketing functions. Within the documents below, you might also notice how Brown mentioned he was going to visit the High Commissioner in London? That would be a certain Gordon Campbell, the former Premier of B.C. who appointed Brown to the PavCo board. 


Neither Brown nor Podmore responded to my requests for comment. When will the government come clean, and just tell us the truth?


(The B.C. Lions' season opener at B.C. Place on June 29 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The rematch of the 2011 Grey Cup is sponsored by Telus. Could that be the night the consolation prize, the exclusive telecommunications supply deal for Telus, is announced?)
PeterBrownFOI Mackin

#LiquorLeaks reveals the "Ask Jay" memo

Ten days before he announced his resignation, British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch general manager Jay Chambers told employees in a memo that he would guide them through the coming months of uncertainty while private companies jockey to take over the taxpayer-owned company's warehousing and distribution.

Chambers even launched an email address to which curious employees could send him questions about the privatization.

Sources have told me post-privatization retirement was on Chambers's mind. (Chambers has not responded to several of my interview requests.) Now he is instead counting the days until his July 6 departure from LDB to start a new job as president of the Motor Vehicle Sales Authority of B.C., a B.C. Liberal-friendly, industry self-regulator.

The full memo is below. (The italicized emphasis is mine.)

Two items of note:

• The list of key dates at the end of the memo shows the negotiated request for proposals' release date as March 30. It was actually published April 30. 
• The body of Chambers's memo says that three companies would be shortlisted by July 20. In the timeline, it says "up to three." The NRFP documents says "up to the top three." On April 30, liquor minister Rich Coleman told reporters at the Legislature that the shortlist could be as short as one company. On May 8, I revealed in Business in Vancouver that one company, Exel Logistics, may have an advantage over the rest because of its intriguing connections to Coleman and the ruling B.C. Liberals.

Without further ado...

June 4, 2012  

Good afternoon,

As you know, the Provincial Government announced in its Budget speech that it would privatize the warehousing and distribution of beverage alcohol in British Columbia.  

Since this announcement, there has been extensive and ongoing media coverage about the government’s privatization plans. I appreciate that you will have many questions about how this decision may impact you and your colleagues.

We have a proud history of serving British Columbians for over 90 years and I often have opportunities to share stories about the long term dedication and commitment of LDB employees.  I am aware that uncertainty is stressful, so in the coming months, I will provide you with regular information updates about these privatization plans. 

Below you will find the timeline of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Some of these milestones have already passed. The next significant date is June 29 which is the RFP submission deadline. 

Currently, there are eight parties that have expressed an interest in submitting proposals for this  RFP — Centric Retail Logistics Inc., ContainerWorld Forwarding Services Inc., Dimex Distribution Corp., Exel Canada Ltd., GL Distribution, Green Light Distribution Services Inc., Kuehne + Nagel Ltd. and Schenker of Canada. The three shortlisted parties will be announced on or about July 20. 

It is not known how many of these interested parties will submit a formal proposal by the deadline. Once the RFP submissions are received, they will be reviewed by the RFP team and narrowed to a list of up to three qualified proponents by late July.  

I am sure you will have many questions as we move through this process. During this challenging time, I would like to invite you to send your questions to me at askjay@bcldb.com. These questions and their answers will be shared with all LDB employees on a regular basis.

Jay  

Key Dates  Request for Proposal (RFP) Process

February 21   Provincial government announces distribution privatization plans

February 27   First meeting of RFP team

March 21        BCGEU signs Memorandum of Agreement with the government for post-privatization job security 

March 27        Victoria lawyer, economist and consultant George Macauley is appointed "Fairness Monitor" to oversee the procurement and evaluation process  

March 30        RFP is issued and posted on BC Bid website (http://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca/open.dll/showDisplayDocument?sessionID=27492391&disID=22111058&docType=Tender&dis_version_nos=3&doc_search_by=Tend&docTypeQual=TN) 

May 9               Industry information session 

May 10             LDB’s RFP information session and warehouse tour of Vancouver Distribution Centre

June 29           Deadline for RFP submissions 

July 20            The provincial government announces RFP shortlist (up to three potential candidates) 

October 16     Announcement of successful proponent 

March 1/13     Agreement negotiated and signed with successful Proponent by March 1, 2013.

P.S.: As usual, I remind kind and loyal readers that I gladly accept envelopes containing credible documents addressed to me at the following addresses:

Business in Vancouver

102 4th Ave. E., Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2 

The Tyee
PO Box 88484, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 4A7

#LiquorLeaks reveals Exel's contract terms

In this edition of #LiquorLeaks -- an excerpt from the Exel Logistics Oct. 6, 2009 Project Last Spike internal memo -- the Commercial Terms that Exel wants in the deal to privatize the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch's warehousing and distribution.

LDB put the contract out to tender on April 30, 2012. In the May 8 edition of Business in Vancouver, I revealed how Exel pondered using its relationship with B.C. liquor minister Rich Coleman to influence the writing of the request for proposals in its favour and discussed the possibility of buying out ContainerWorld, which has a business relationship with Exel sister company Giorgio Gori.

Commercial Terms 

The commercial terms of the project at (sic) outlined below: 

• Similar arrangement to Connect with the AGLC (Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission). Key details include a rate published to industry with a floor and cap on margin. The target margin will be 10% on total costs

• If Exel achieves the stretch level for the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the BCLDB will pay an additional margin of 1.5% on total costs on total costs

• Exel will be guaranteed the floor of 8.5% margin. Rates will be adjusted at any point in a year if required to ensure Exel receives this margin

• Director of Operations is assigned to the operation and funded by the BCLDB. Other standard allocations are funded by the BCLDB. 

• Operating agreement is a ten year term. Neither party may terminate for convenience 

• Exel will sign the lease. Its term will be ten years. Exel will have the pre-approved right to assign the lease to the BCLDB at any time 

• Exel will fund tenant improvements if required and built into the rates 

• Exel will supply the WMS 

• Severance provisions will be built into the rates each year to cover any such costs should they arise at the end of the contract 

• In event of BCLDB default or contract expiration, BCLDB is responsible for all in decommissioning costs the remaining net book value of all assets, and all lease commitments 

• Exel is in default if it breaches a material obligation and does not commence reasonable corrective action within 15 days of notice and correct breach within 90 days of receiving notice. 

• Start-up costs will be amortized over the first five years of the agreement 

• The payment terms are structured so Exel does not maintain an A/R balance that incurs BOAC charges 

• The BCLDB owns all products 

• There is an annual damage and loss allowance of .2% of annual throughput. Exel typically operates well within this allowance. 

• Exel will carry its standard insurance coverage. $2 Million commercial general liability insurance, $1 Million automobile liability coverage, and $2 Million warehouseman's legal liability coverage. The BCLDB insures the products and provide Exel a waiver of subrogation. 

• Indemnification is mutual and excludes lost profits, indirect, incidental, or consequential losses, damages or liabilities.

Full coverage in Business in Vancouver

Logistics giant targets lucrative LDB contract

NDP blasts liquor privatization process

Alberta’s experience: product diversity booms, costs balloon

Industry irked over Liberals' push for liquor privatization 

#LiquorLeaks -- the influence of Rich

Minister of Energy and Mines Rich Coleman, the Fort Langley-Aldergrove member, is in his fourth term. The B.C. Liberals' house leader's resume includes stints as Solicitor General, Minister of Social Development and Minister of Forests and Range. 


But they keep bringing him back into the liquor and gambling portfolio.
His latest tenure began Feb. 8 -- just 13 days before the government announced the privatization of the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch's logistics in the Feb. 21 budget. 


Coleman also had the liquor duties in October 2009 when Exel Logistics vice-president Scott Lyons penned the Project Last Spike internal memo that serves as the playbook for the company's plan to privatize B.C. liquor distribution and warehousing. The memo discusses using Exel's relationship with Coleman to influence the writing of the request for proposals in Exel's favour. Exel concedes that ContainerWorld might try the same tactic to further its goals or to act as an ally of Exel's. (Note: I have made repeated requests to interview Coleman, but I have been denied every time.)

In this edition of #LiquorLeaks you will see the entry about Coleman from the list of "key contacts" targeted by the Exel pursuit team.

ContainerWorld -- a private bonded warehouse on contract to LDB -- is listed as a "competitor," but the Exel memo also says it has a longstanding relationship with Italian alcohol logistics company Giorgio Gori whereby Gori would someday purchase ContainerWorld. Gori is conveniently owned by Deutsche Post DHL, the same parent company as Exel. Therefore Gori and Exel are sister companies!


In the memo, Exel also ponders buying Richmond-based ContainerWorld for $24 million and concludes "an acquisition approach is overall economically viable" to eventually take over the LDB contract. 

Key Contacts (from Exel's Project Last Spike memo, Oct. 6, 2009)

Name:  

Rich Coleman

Title:  

Minister of Housing and Minister Responsible for Liquor and Gaming 

Who owns relationship?:  

Mark Jiles

Coach/Influencer/Decision Maker/Gatekeeper: 

Decision Maker

Past Experience?:  

Strong cabinet minister. Premier looks to Rich, and takes on toughest portfolios -- softwood lumber, housing

Key concern?  

-Desire to transform system. Likes Alberta system, wants less government control 

-He is long in the tooth. He does not want to stick head out too far 

-Wants to understand why it is good for consumer, government, and union-Will sell it, but needs the bullets 

-Public perception 

Any relationship with competitor (Y/N)? 

Yes - Dennis Christmas (sic) of ContainerWorld is a contributor

Full coverage in Business in Vancouver

Logistics giant targets lucrative LDB contract

NDP blasts liquor privatization process

Alberta’s experience: product diversity booms, costs balloon

Industry irked over Liberals' push for liquor privatization 

Candy is dandy

Variety is the spice of life and I'm offering a little candy intermission from the posts on the brewing scandal that is the privatization of British Columbia's liquor distribution and warehousing.

That photograph was part of $3,600 of taxpayers' money blown in one afternoon by Premier Christy Clark on a ceremony closed to the public and media.

On March 24, 2012, a news release was issued at 5:30 p.m. notifying B.C. that John Yap had been sworn-in as Minister of State for Multiculturalism. It didn't say where the ceremony took place. I found out, via Freedom of Information, that audio/visual services cost $2,300 (including $100 to rent a B.C. flag and stand), a hired videographer billed $616 to shoot the ceremony and the room at the Chinese Cultural Centre was rented for $150.

This was on the second-to-last Saturday of Clark's March from hell (read about that here). It was also the second-to-last Saturday of the fiscal year in which the Office of the Premier was budgeted $9 million. Governments like to spend their full budgets instead of pump unused bucks back into the coffers. It's a "use it or lose it" mentality that doesn't respect the fact that the money isn't theirs. It's yours.

Read more in my Vancouver Courier story.

See the documents below. (And prepare yourself for more #LiquorLeaks)

FOI John Yap Swearing-In

Whither the workers in Liberal booze privatization

A key part of the Exel Logistics strategy to privatize B.C.'s liquor distribution and warehousing involves labour peace.

Getting an agreement with the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union is a vital ingredient to the company's estimated $55 million to $95 million annual revenue haul. (That equates to $550 million to $950 million over Exel's hoped-for 10-year deal.)

Excerpted from my May 8, 2012 Business in Vancouver story:

"There are three key steps selling this project," said the Oct. 6, 2009 Last Spike internal memo, prepared by Toronto-based Exel vice-president Scott Lyons. "First, the (BC Government and Service Employees' Union [BCGEU]) must be onboard. Second, the government needs to be onside. Third, the industry cannot object in a meaningful way, and ideally supports the initiative."

"When the B.C. government awards the LDB work to Exel, the BCGEU workers and the new collective agreement will follow the work," the memo said. "Going forward the extent of the relationship between Exel and the BCGEU will be that of employer and union representing the workers."

The liquor privatization was announced on Budget Day, Feb. 21, 2012. Lo and behold, a month later on March 21, 2012, the BCGEU had a deal with the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch for post-privatization job security and orderly separation, for those who qualify.

The BCGEU announced this deal on March 23, 2012. Just before the privatization RFP was released, the union announced a "Fight Back" campaign to stop the privatization.

The Memorandum of Agreement is below. More to come.

BCGEU LDB Memorandum of Agreement

Exclusive: Launching #LiquorLeaks

In the first instalment of #LiquorLeaks, Exel Logistics vice-president Scott Lyons explains in the Oct. 6, 2009, "Last Spike" internal memo who the executives, staff and contractors are involved in the company's strategy to become the private warehouser and distributor of liquor in British Columbia.

For reasons not yet clear, the B.C. government did not follow through in 2010 to privatize liquor logistics under then-Premier Gordon Campbell. His successor, Christy Clark, approved the privatization plan in February 2012. Clark came to power in February 2011 with the help of Liberal campaign strategist Patrick Kinsella, who was registered to lobby for Exel until March 30, 2012 -- just a month before the request for proposals was published.

Minister Rich Coleman is a key figure, mentioned several times in the Exel memo. He regained the responsibility for the Liquor Distribution Branch on Feb. 8, 2012. The privatization was announced Feb. 21, 2012. LDB general manager Jay Chambers reports to Coleman, who is a member of Treasury Board. Treasury Board is expected to approve or disapprove of LDB's recommendation for the successful bidder.

The "Last Spike" memo is the basis for the exclusive May 8, 2012, Business in Vancouver story Logistics giant targets lucrative LDB contract

Pursuit Team (from Exel Logistics "Last Spike" internal memo, Oct. 6, 2009)

This is a highly confidential pursuit. The pursuit team is led by Scott Lyons, VP of Business Development (right; Linkedin), and includes Rob Madore of Carvel Consulting, Mark Jiles President of The Bluestone Group, and Greg Foreman VP of Operations of Connect Logistics.

Rob Madore was the Director of Operations of Connect Logistics and established the original contacts with the BCGEU over five years ago. In January 2008, Rob retired from Exel and set up a consulting practice. He is under contract to Exel. Rob provides relationship management support with the AGLC on behalf of Connect Logistics. He also assists with Canadian business development activities in the beverage alcohol arena.

Mark Jiles (right; B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation/Andrew Chin) is the founder and President of The Bluestone Group. Mark is a professional lobbyist and very closely tied to the current Liberal government in BC. Mark also has close ties to Jeff Fox who is the Director of Business Development for the BCGEU and President of the BC NDP party.


Greg Foreman is the VP of Operations at Connect Logistics. Greg will have operational responsibility for this business.


Sarah Farrell is a Senior Director of Business Development. She will providing business development support.

The pursuit team consults regularly with Larry Sylvester, Regional Director of Human Resources, Adrian Kumar, VP Solutions Americas, and Robert Rujevcan, Director Finance.
The pursuit team will need to expand to include representation from IT, contracts, real estate, construction, and project management. It is not recommended to expand the team until Exel and the BCGEU to present an outline of how an arrangement would work to Rich Coleman and Rich Coleman signals a desire to move forward.

Auditor General getting ex-Solicitor General's help

British Columbia Auditor General John Doyle's efforts to compile a report on government indemnity for government personnel involved in legal proceedings have been frustrated by resistance from the B.C. Liberal government.

John van Dongen, a former Liberal Solicitor General, applied May 7 for intervenor status in Doyle's lawsuit against the government.

Doyle is trying to get to the bottom of the $6 million payoff for Dave Basi and Bob Virk's legal bills in October 2010, which was connected to the abrupt end of a corruption trial. When the trial ended with surprise guilty pleas, various current and former B.C. Liberal politicians and party insiders breathed a sigh of relief. They wouldn't have to testify.

Van Dongen cited the legacy of the B.C. Rail privatization scandal as a central reason for his stunning March 26 resignation from the B.C. Liberal caucus.

The citizens of B.C. have still not been supplied with the promised explanation for how the B.C. Rail privatization was mishandled. Premier Christy Clark -- who was deputy premier when the Crown corporation was effectively sold -- has refused to call a public inquiry.

Through the efforts of Doyle, and now van Dongen, the truth may eventually be told.


2012 05 07 Notice of Application

Mischievous Bloy

When Harry Bloy resigned from cabinet on March 15, for leaking an email from a Province reporter to the company of a B.C. Liberal Party supporter, he tried his best to make it look like an honourable departure. He "felt it important" to take responsibility for his actions, according to his resignation letter.

It was either quit or be fired. He simply could not have continued as Minister of State for Multiculturalism.

I obtained, via Freedom of Information, Bloy's three-part oath of office. It includes an oath of confidentiality. The release of a reporter's email to an outsider breached his oath of office.

Interesting to note: the document signed by Bloy and Lt. Gov. Steven Point contains a key error: the first name of the lieutenant governor, the Queen's representative in B.C., is misspelled. The website for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of B.C. indicates Mr. Point's first name is correctly spelled "Steven" -- NOT Stephen, as it appears on Bloy's oath of office.

Harry Bloy's oath of office

Face and voice of VANOC switches off Hydro

Very quietly, BC Hydro's senior vice-president of communications quit her post in mid-March.

Renee Smith-Valade went to the most-powerful (in more ways than one) Crown corporation in British Columbia after the May 2010 hiring of Dave Cobb as chief executive. Cobb was deputy CEO to John Furlong at the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee. Cobb was also vice-president Smith-Valade's boss at VANOC, where she ran the 2010 Winter Games' communications and media relations department. She brought staffers Chris Brumwell, Greg Alexis and Jennifer Young with her.

Last fall, Cobb quit his $550,000-a-year job at BC Hydro to join the Jim Pattison Group where he works as managing director of corporate development, with president and ex-Premier Glen Clark and billionaire chairman Pattison.

Brumwell, a former Canucks and VANOC communications manager, preceded Smith-Valade out the BC Hydro door to work for Vancouver yoga wear juggernaut Lululemon.

When I broke the news of Smith-Valade's departure via Twitter on May 2, Bill Tieleman was quick to re-Tweet and then add his speculation:

@BillTieleman
Twitter math: Premier Christy Clark's office - Rebecca Scott + BC Hydro spokesperson Renee Smith-Valade quits = new Clark staffer? #bcpoli

Scott's move out of Premier Christy Clark's office and into Government Communications and Public Engagement (read: propaganda office) became public earlier in the day. Scott's position became newsworthy in recent months because her husband is the CBC's talented Legislature reporter Stephen Smart. One of their wedding guests was Premier Christy Clark. The Smart/Scott relationship was the subject of an investigation by CBC's ombudsman Kirk LaPointe. LaPointe "found a violation of CBC Journalistic Standards and Practices."

Clark has had a revolving door of press secretaries. Chris Olsen, the consumer reporter who was "On Our Side," quit CTV to be on "her side." Now he's on the outside. In January, Clark figuratively kicked Olsen on the backside, with a $67,000 severance.

She filled the job with Sara MacIntyre, who was an effective spokesperson for the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation but went on to work in the Prime Minister's Office under Stephen Harper. MacIntyre is part of Clark's bid to be a Liberal in Conservative clothing. It hasn't worked so far and MacIntyre was notorious for the poorly handled photo and interview opportunity with Clark at the Globe 2012 trade show.

At Hydro, Smith-Valade's job included leading the marketing communications, website management, media and public affairs, community relations and customer care and conservation teams. On her LinkedIn page, Smith-Valade describes herself as a "creative consultant" with her own RSV Strategic Communications firm. Her list of qualifications ends with "government/public affairs support."

Here is the email to BC Hydro staff announcing her departure:

From: News, BCH Corporate 

Sent: 2012, March 14 12:21 PM

Subject: A Message from Charles Reid: The Departure of Renee Smith-Valade, Senior Vice-President, Customer Care, Conservation and Communications

Good Afternoon:

After a year and a half leading our Communications team and, more recently, also the Customer Care and Conservation teams, Renee Smith-Valade has resigned from her position as Senior Vice-President on the Executive Team to take some time off and then pursue other opportunities in communications.

Renee joined BC Hydro shortly after finishing up five years with VANOC and jumped in with both feet into leading the Communications team. Over the last 20 months, Renee has confidently led the Communications team through many challenges including supporting the rollout of the Safety Taskforce recommendations and the Smart Metering Program, the Fraser River Towers incident, rate increases, the communication of the Government Review and its outcomes, and the rollout of seasonal Power Smart marketing communications programs, to name just a few highlights. Through all of this, she maintained dedication and passion for her team and BC Hydro. Most recently, she relished the chance to start working with the Power Smart and Customer Care teams in August to help them to continue to deliver strong conservation programs and our highly regarded customer service.

Renee has often commented on how fortunate she is to work with such a strong team and how enjoyable it has been to work with the dedicated people at BC Hydro. I am taking some time to assess how we can best ensure the continued strong performance of the Communications, Customer Care and Conservation teams, and particularly how to maximize the strong leadership of these areas that Renee has told me she values enormously. I will let you know when those decisions are made. In the meantime, I am confident that Lisa Coltart (Power Smart and Customer Care), Steve Vanagas (Corporate Communications), Cynthia Dyson (Marketing Communications and Brand Strategy) and Thoren Hudyma (Community Engagement and Capital Projects Communications) will continue to do a great job as we meet the opportunities and challenges ahead.

On behalf of the Executive Team, I would like to thank Renee for her hard work and dedication through a very challenging year. I know all of you will join me in wishing Renee the very best as she takes some well-earned time off with family and explores other opportunities.

Thank you,
Charles

Will she end up in government, helping Clark rescue her political career? Will she be reunited with Cobb at the Jim Pattison Group or Furlong with the Vancouver Whitecaps? Or somewhere else? For now, she's not talking.

Asked for an interview about leaving BC Hydro, her emailed response to me was:

"I appreciate the request and your interest however I'm going to decline for now. Can we revisit this again In a few weeks time?"

I'll wait to find out what she says and does.

What's the Premier's office hiding about Atwal?

Remember the story about the Ghuman and the gunman?

The Ghuman was Tariq Ghuman, a B.C. Liberal Party director. The gunman was Jaspal Singh Atwal, the buddy Ghuman brought to the 2012 B.C. Budget speech on Feb. 21 in the Legislature.

Atwal, a Liberal supporter, was convicted in 1987 for his attempt to murder Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu, who was visiting British Columbia in May 1986.

On Feb. 27, Kim Bolan of the Vancouver Sun reported the following:

Shane Mills, Premier Christy Clark's director of communications, said Monday that Atwal only made his way onto the guest list when another person invited by the premier's office asked for an extra ticket to attend.

"His name was on a list. It was put on the list at the request of an invited guest," Mills said. "If we had known his background, he would not have been invited."

Mills said Atwal's name was just given to government the day before the budget speech.

"And we don't normally vet those kind of things. So we were unaware of the person's background and we will be working to improve the vetting and working with the Speaker's office on that," he said.

Ghuman resigned, but popped up at party events shortly after.

The Jaspal Atwal controversy garnered Clark the revulsion of commentators on opposite sides of the political spectrum, from Bill Tieleman (who found Atwal's buddy Ghuman literally rubbing shoulders with Port Moody-Coquitlam by-election candidate Dennis Marsden and former Tory MP Stockwell Day) to Alex Tsakumis (who claims a source told him Clark unsuccessfully lobbied an Indian diplomat to grant Atwal a visa so he could travel with her on last fall's trade mission to India). When I asked Mills about this, he denied the Premier did so.

I was curious. Who were all the people on the guest list? What did the invitation look like? What was being said internally in the Office of the Premier about Atwal? Could there have been correspondence with the Indian consul about Atwal? Or correspondence with Atwal, himself?

So I filed a Freedom of Information request. Lo and behold, the Office of the Premier claimed it had no records. My laughter ensued.

See the two denial letters below. Then compare them with the records received when I asked for the guest list and invitation for the Clark-and-cabinet swearing-in ceremony of March 14, 2011. Remember how Clark claimed she was a champion of openness and transparency? Apparently not anymore.

Message to the Office of the Premier: I was born at night, but not last night. Kindly cough up the guest list for the B.C. Budget speech, show me the Atwal correspondence. I just hope the documents, didn't grow legs and jump into your paper shredder on their own.

UPDATE (April 24, 2012): I have formally asked for the Information and Privacy Commissioner to intervene.

Another request denied

Another request denied

Premier Christy Clark's swearing-in guest list

PavCo loses another director

Will the last person left please turn out the floodlights?

Another director has left the board of B.C. Pavilion Corporation, the taxpayer-owned company that operates B.C. Place Stadium and the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Peter Brown's February departure wasn't confirmed until March. The Howe Street tycoon, Order of B.C. recipient and Liberal bagman (right) claimed he wants to slow down, but the real reason was his disgust over Premier Christy Clark turning down the $35 million to $40 million B.C. Place Stadium naming rights deal with Telus.

Now joining Brown on the outside-looking-in is Derek Brindle. Brindle (below) is a lawyer with the Vancouver firm Singleton Urquhart, has a Queen's Counsel designation, and his bio states he "acts as an arbitrator and in mediations involving construction and insurance disputes. Derek advises Crown institutions and industry on risk mitigation strategies in major procurement."

UPDATE: 8:33 p.m. April 12

PavCo chairman David Podmore has emailed me this statement:

"Derek left the board in February 2012.

"He joined the Board at my invitation in 2007 to be available to provide construction legal expertise as PavCo proceeded through completion of the VCC West expansion and the BC Place Refurbishment.

"With completion of both major construction efforts PavCo is moving to a focus on business development to ensure that the business potential of these assets (VCC West, VCC East, and BC Place) are maximized, consequentially the business focus will gradually shift away from construction and more emphasis will be placed in sales and marketing as well as operations.

"Derek's advice and expertise has been most helpful through the past years where the focus has been on completion of the new facilities and the BC Place upgrade.

"Derek has been exceptionally helpful through these stages, and has resigned to allow PavCo to move to the next stage where the focus must be on business development to maximize utilization of these exceptional assets which he helped deliver, and recruit the Directors that will have the appropriate expertise to provide the guidance and advice to maximize the utilization of the exceptional facilities created during Derek' s participation on the PavCo Board."

UPDATE: 10 a.m. April 13

Brindle responded to my phone message via email:

"I resigned in February after nearly 5 years on the Board.

"I initially joined at the Chair's invitation as someone with experience and interest in construction. My preferred area of practice was, and is, in construction law. It was not my intention to overstay the construction projects to be undertaken.

"After the completion of the final construction project near the end of 2011, it was timely to move off the Board to allow for an orderly transition and focus on marketing and operations.

"Any further questions can be directed to Pavco."

UPDATE: 12:41 p.m. April 13

Here is the response when I asked if Brindle might have a few minutes to answer questions about whether his departure from the board was affected by the government-nixed Telus naming rights deal and the lawsuit by two roof contractors:

"Thank you, however, I have nothing further to add to my earlier e-mail response to your questions."

Questions persist, I say. Why no public announcement of Brown and Brindle's departures? Can one call it an "orderly transition" when there is no immediate replacement for directors who leave before the May 27 end-of-term? Why do taxpayers have to wait until a reporter gets a tip?

PavCo, coincidentally, is one of the parties named in a $6.5 million lawsuit filed by steel cable installer Freyssinet. Steel contractor Canam Group filed a $26.15 million countersuit against Freyssinet. The messy dispute, which may ultimately tell the story of this difficult renovation, could be settled in a marathon court trial to begin in October 2013.

We still have no update on the cost of the B.C. Place renovations, which were budgeted at $563 million. The government is not likely to tell us the truth while it's contesting by-elections in Port Moody and Chilliwack, for fear of losing two seats in the Legislature.

March madness seals Clark’s fate

Mamas, don’t let your children grow up to be British Columbia premiers.

Why? Because they would have to endure the monstrous month of March. The west coast version of the Ides of March hath 31 days and its legacy is one of resignation and rejection.

In 1991, it was the last full month in power for Social Credit Party Premier Bill Vander Zalm. The Socreds, B.C.’s free enterprise coalition, lost six by-elections, 11 cabinet ministers either quit or were fired and party members defected.



Vander Zalm came to power as Bill Bennett’s successor in 1986 as the dark-horse, outsider candidate in the famed Whistler leadership convention. By March 1991, he was under investigation by conflict of interest commissioner Ted Hughes for his role in the sale of his Fantasy Garden World in Richmond to Taiwanese billionaire Tan Yu.

Finance minister Mel Couvelier resigned in protest, proclaiming that Vander Zalm should have stepped aside while under a cloud. Vander Zalm finally quit on April 2. Deputy Premier and Transportation Minister Rita Johnston, who ran a Surrey trailer park, took over as the first female premier in Canadian history but lost the Oct. 17 election. The Socreds fell from 47 seats to seven, Mike Harcourt and the NDP took power with 51 seats and the upstart B.C. Liberals went from zero to 17, making Gordon Wilson the leader of the opposition.



Fast forward eight years to 1999. New Democratic Party Premier Glen Clark’s evening was ruined March 2 when RCMP officers (who were trailed by BCTV cameras) raided his East Vancouver house to search for clues in the North Burnaby Inn casino licence caper. Two weeks later, police searched Clark’s office in Victoria. He quit the premiership on Aug. 21 and the NDP was reduced to just two seats in the Legislature after Gordon Campbell and the Liberals won the May 16, 2001 election by a landslide.

Now Premier Christy Clark (no relation to Glen Clark) is suffering the worst month of her political career. If history is your guide, she is at a point of no return -- stick a fork in her, she's done. She will be looking for a new job immediately after the May 14, 2013 election. Maybe sooner. All because of the March from hell.

Consider the timeline for Clark's chaotic, career-defining March of 2012:

March 2: The infamous Telus news conference with the Darren Entwistle/Adrian Dix photo opportunity. Clark was inexplicably absent from a jobs and investment announcement by the biggest private corporation in B.C. (A Liberal donor, to boot.) Two days later, the government broke its silence and claimed she wasn’t invited because of a certain unresolved issue: the B.C. Place Stadium naming rights negotiations with Telus.

March 5: School’s out. B.C. Teachers Federation stages a three-day, province-wide strike over the deadlock in contract negotiations and the government's plan to legislate a new deal.



March 6: B.C. Supreme Court trial management conference between lawyers for Quebec’s Canam Group and France’s Freyssinet reveals grease leaks from support cables have damaged B.C. Place Stadium’s new fabric roof. It could cost up to $10 million to fix. An 85-day trial is in the works to begin October 2013.

March 7: Minister responsible Pat Bell confirms the $40 million Telus naming rights deal is dead. Bell claims the B.C. Place name is “iconic.” The government claims the deal was $35 million and wasn’t “good” for taxpayers. When that explanation doesn’t fly, it desperately claims the Telus Place signs were too big.

March 9: The resignation of Liberal bagman and Howe Street tycoon Peter Brown from the B.C. Pavilion Corporation board is confirmed.

March 11: The Province begins a series of stories on the private college company Eminata Group, calling into question the credibility of government oversight of for-profit, post-secondary education. Eminata owner Peter Chung's previous private colleges in California were fined $12 million for defrauding students. Chung donated $4,100 to the Liberals in 2009.

March 13: Clark’s news conference at the Washington Marine Group shipyard in North Vancouver to hype the half-anniversary of her B.C. Jobs Plan is overshadowed by reporters’ questions about the failed B.C. Place naming rights deal, despite new communications director Sara MacIntyre’s attempt to make a list of reporters and limit them to one question apiece.

March 14: Gum-chewing MacIntyre prevents reporters from asking questions of Clark at a photo opportunity in the Globe 2012 trade show, despite a media advisory that invited reporters to come and ask Clark questions.

March 15: The Ides of March! Bill 22 to end the teachers’ strike and outlaw another walkout passes, but the day is all about multiculturalism minister of state Harry Bloy’s resignation for breaching his oath of confidentiality by giving a Province newspaper reporter’s email to an Eminata executive. Bloy was the only MLA to support Clark's leadership campaign in 2011.

March 22: Liberal MLAs Randy Hawes and Marc Dalton quoted in the Abbotsford Times after claiming $185,000 in repairs for a Mission hockey rink’s dehumidifiers came from a non-existent $30 million surplus from the B.C. Place renovation.

Clark calls April 19 by-elections in Port Moody and Chilliwack, labels popular ex-Port Moody Mayor, former supporter and new NDP candidate Joe Trasolini a “party-switcher,” and announces an audit of TransLink to find $30 million. Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom found out about the audit like the rest of us -- from reporters.

March 24: Clark works a rare Saturday as she joins John Yap (multiculturalism), Rob Howard (transportation secretary) and Moira Stilwell (health secretary) for a hastily called, staged swearing-in ceremony with Lt.-Gov. Steven Point for their new junior cabinet posts.

March 26: Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen, the former Solicitor General and a five-time election winner, stood up in Question Period and dropped the biggest bombshell of the month. He quit the Liberal caucus and party to sit as an independent MLA and join the B.C. Conservatives. He cited Clark’s ties to the B.C. Rail privatization scandal and the B.C. Place naming rights deal. He also announced the hiring of a lawyer to investigate Clark over the B.C. Rail matter.

"Mr. Speaker, I had hoped that there would have been renewal in my party and in government. But, in the past 12 months, that has not happened. Indeed, every week constituents question government actions and issues that I am not able to defend. What I believe people expect from political leadership are core values that include integrity and a genuine commitment to public service.

"Integrity includes honesty, ethics and personal character. Integrity is non-negotiable. It is foundational for a strong organization. Most importantly, integrity includes accountability.

"To this day, Mr. Speaker, there are still serious unanswered questions regarding the writing-off of 6 million dollars in legal fees in the BC Rail case contrary to government policy. Questions I have been asking for a year-and-a-half, and questions the Auditor General is seeking answers to through the courts.

"Most recently, the unexplainable cancellation of a 35 million dollar naming rights agreement with Telus is another example of failed leadership.

"There have been other lapses in proper accountability and I expect more to come. When more and more decisions are being made for the wrong reasons, then you have an organization that is heading for failure."

Clark's whereabouts are publicly unknown.

March 27: Appearing weary and with deep bags under her eyes, Clark resurfaced for a news conference to criticize van Dongen. "The only thing John van Dongen accomplished yesterday was making it a little easier for the NDP to get elected in British Columbia." Clark once again uses the "nothing to see here, move along" tactic, claiming a B.C. Rail public inquiry is unnecessary. (Two of the scandal's expert observers beg to differ on the need to know all the facts about the biggest government corruption case in the province's history.)

Meanwhile, an Angus Reid Public Opinion said her approval rating fell nine points since August 2011 to 33 percent -- the second worst in the country.

Liberal defector Rick Peterson, a prominent supporter of Finance Minister Kevin Falcon’s failed 2011 leadership bid, launches his campaign for the Conservative nomination in Vancouver-Quilchena, the riding held by ex-finance minister Colin Hansen. Peterson scoffs at Clark's claims that supporting the Conservatives will pave the way for the NDP. He says free enterprise is about competition and there should be competition for the free enterprise vote in 2013.

March 28: Liberal-friendly, Prince George academic Charles Jago appointed as mediator for the BCTF dispute at a rate of $2,000-a-day. Jago, the former president of the University of Northern B.C., called his task “mission impossible.” How’s that for optimism?

Jago has no apparent mediation experience and donated $1,000 to Liberal fundraising golf tournaments in 2007 and 2010. Jago was appointed to the boards of Partnerships B.C. and 2010 Legacies Now. The September 2007 opening of the $31 million UNBC sports centre named for him drew a who’s who of B.C. cabinet, including Premier Gordon Campbell.

Falcon and Education minister George Abbott tell reporters they might not run in the next election. The two leadership losers were gearing up for a fall 2011 campaign and, had they won seats, would be six months into a four-year term. Now they are waffling as it appears their party's grip on power is fading. Life is a little less interesting on the opposition side of the house, not to mention the paycheque smaller.

Was Falcon’s claim that he might quit politics in 2013 to devote more time to his young family an intentional or unintentional subliminal jab at Clark, a single-mother who is struggling as premier after only a year on the job?

March 30: The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union announces that it has reached an impasse in talks with the government for a new master agreement for its 25,000 members. The contract expires March 31. A strike vote is planned for April.

Clark's government, which previously said public sector workers would get no raises, is offering a 3 percent increase over two years, but BCGEU wants a 4 percent annual increase.

(The previous week, the BCGEU reached a deal with government that it claims will protect the 500 Liquor Distribution Branch workers when and if a private company takes over the government's warehousing and distribution of liquor in B.C. Odd how it took a quick month from Finance minister Kevin Falcon's announcement until the BCGEU announcement.)

March 31: The one-year countdown to the end of the Harmonized Sales Tax. The Aug. 26, 2011 referendum result effectively scuttled a fall election and forced Clark to phase-out the tax that ruined Gordon Campbell's premiership. The mail-in referendum attracted 1.61 million ballots (compared to 1.64 million total votes cast in the previous election.) Votes to scrap the HST (881,198) exceeded the number of votes the Liberals had in the 2009 election (751,661). Consumers and businesspeople alike have criticized Clark for her reluctance to phase-out the cash cow HST sooner.

In early March, Clark publicly repudiated the Telus naming rights deal for B.C. Place that would have eased the burden on taxpayers for the budgeted $563 million renovation. She ended the month in West Kelowna for the Hockey Night in Canada announcement of the $100,000 2012 Kraft Hockeyville winner.

Yes, the same Premier who declined the $35 million to $40 million deal because it wasn't "good for taxpayers" got involved in the cheese, crackers and snacks company's nationwide marketing promotion in the hopes that it would help renovate a public hockey rink.

Alas, the result was errantly leaked by Kraft to media outlets early Saturday morning. Stirling-Rowdon, Ontario beat West Kelowna by 1.2 million votes and will also get to host a National Hockey League exhibition game as a prize. West Kelowna got a $25,000 consolation prize to spruce up its rink.

Unlike the rest of her problems in March, there is no evidence that Clark is to blame. Just another case of bad luck and bad optics.