Vision Vancouver: openness promise made, promise broken

George Affleck to the rescue.

The former CBC reporter and producer, who runs a public relations agency called Curve Communications, was elected as an NPA city councillor in the 2011 election. Almost two years on, he has seen from the inside what those of us in the media have experienced on the outside.

Vancouver city hall, under the Vision Vancouver majority and leadership of Mayor Gregor Robertson, has become a closed shop. It has adopted the same corporate communications system for dealing with the media that exists under the proroguing Conservatives in Ottawa and the no-fall-Legislature-sitting BC Liberals in Victoria. This ranges from late replies to calls or emails from reporters seeking basic facts to the now-glacial Freedom of Information process that defaults to secrecy. No longer are we allowed to call a senior bureaucrat for an interview or even basic information. All requests must go through a central channel. Rarely are senior managers made available for interviews anymore. Instead, we get a crafted-by-committee paragraph or less statement that, sometimes, doesn't come close to being relevant.

Former city councillor and mayoral candidate Peter Ladner summed it up in this Business in Vancouver column. So did Stanley Tromp in The Tyee, who took a critical look at the ludicrous theatre that surrounds the open data movement, of which City of Vancouver claims to be a champion. As I like to say, it's nice to know where all the fire hydrants are, but how much did they cost taxpayers, who supplied them and how did they get the contract?

Affleck: motion for openness

What is the reason why those in power feel the need to keep citizens in the dark and feed them excrement? The phenomenon of the permanent campaign. It's all about controlling the message and manufacturing consent. Those in power want to keep power. They use every available communications tool to control the message and prevent the slightest of embarrassment, every single day. And they do it on your dime. Their ultimate goal is to convince just enough of you to vote for them on election day, so that they can continue the cycle and satisfy those interest groups that donated to their cause.

Don't believe me? Denise Rudnicki is Canada's expert on the permanent campaign and how it is ultimately a detriment to democracy. Here's one of her shorter pieces: Inside the Government's Message-Making Machine.

Spending on communications has tripled at Vancouver city hall over the last seven years. The stakes are high. Vision Vancouver genuinely wants to see the Greenest City 2020 strategy that it imposed come to fruition in 2020. That means it wants another two election victories in 2014 and 2017, to go along with the 2008 and 2011 majorities.

Robertson: promised transparency

Vision Vancouver might just succeed. It has created a formidable machine that appeals to those on the left, centre and right. It is where political donations from big unions and big business go. Without an effective opposition (NPA and COPE are still licking their wounds from 2011) the ruling party needs only to stay afloat in the daily news cycle until voting day, Nov. 15, 2014. Lo and behold, folks in neighbourhoods throughout the city are pushing back at Vision's habit of rubber-stamping rezoning and development of condos and bike lanes. A citywide protest march on city hall, called #OurVancouver, is planned for Sept. 24.

When he was sworn-in on Dec. 8, 2008, Mayor Gregor Robertson promised to "ensure transparency, accountability and public debate at city hall."

"I will not let you down on making city hall more open and accountable," Robertson said in his speech, which you can read here.

It is now 2013. Robertson has not delivered openness. He has let Vancouverites down.

Here is Affleck's motion. Watch out for the Vision Vancouver spin.

Media Access to City of Vancouver Staff 

Whereas the City of Vancouver values openness and transparency; 

Whereas media has an important role in communicating the actions of the City of Vancouver, and are crucial to ensuring informed, engaged citizens; 

Whereas the budget allocated to the Communications Department has increased from $1.25 million to $1.94 million, and staffing has increased from 9 to 20 positions over the past four years; 

Whereas local media have raised concerns regarding open access to officials, timely interviews with officials, and the ability to receive information on city policies; 

Whereas city departmental staff are professional, have good judgement and are generally very knowledgeable in their fields of expertise; 

Whereas past policy permitted city hall staff to communicate directly with members of the media at the discretion of their direct managers with no noticeable negative effects; 

Therefore be it resolved that provide a report to Council within three months which will explain:

• 1)   Current policy relating to media access to Department Heads in the context of current global best practices;

• 2)    Clear and concise policy around timely access to information by media; and

• 3)    How the commensurate workload of the Communications Department could be monitored with the view of cutting costs in that department as part of continued efforts of the Shared Services Review. 

Exclusive: Ballem bashes media, promotes city trash manager

On Sept. 11, Vancouver city manager Penny Ballem sent a memo to staff to defend acting sanitation manager Mike Zupan from reports in The Province about the hiring of a Hells Angel as a trashman. A day later, Zupan was promoted to manager of sanitation operations. That’s the way Penny rolls. 

This, despite an internal staff report that I published, which shows widespread anger among the sanitation department rank-and-file over bad management. The staff survey even includes allegations of rule-breaking and nepotism!

While Ballem mentions in her memo that civic hiring practices are “aligned with legislation,” one can reasonably wonder if they’re also aligned with the interests of the public. Specifically, are reasonable efforts undertaken by city hall to ensure that those hired by the city can be trusted to do the public’s work, on the public’s dime, regardless of their past? 

Ballem writes that the city has unspecified "safeguards and controls in place" to prevent organized crime from being affiliated with the city and that "we have no evidence of any involvement of organized crime in our organization. We are in close touch with (Vancouver Police Department) and they have not indicated any concern in this regard."

The city's corporate hiring policy states that only so-called “positions of trust” -- involving contact with vulnerable people, security and safety of people and assets, regulation and inspection or handling cash -- require police record checks, credit record checks and enhanced reliability checks. Evidently, that didn't apply to garbage collector Ronaldo Lising.

See Ballem’s full memo below, followed by the memo announcing Zupan’s promotion (and an important note to readers at bottom). 

________________________________________

From: City Managers Broadcast Account

Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 3:02 PM

To: All Staff (COV) - DL

Subject: COV Broadcast: Message from the City Manager

Dear Colleagues across the City of Vancouver,

I am writing to all our staff today in regards to an article in today’s edition of the Province newspaper.  This article is a follow up to one that ran on August 26 regarding the employment of a particular individual in Sanitation who is allegedly affiliated with the Hells Angels. In my response to the media in August, I indicated that we would be carefully reviewing that situation.  We hire hundreds of regular and auxiliary staff every year across the City departments, Boards and Agencies.  As we have indicated previously, we take the integrity of our hiring process very seriously and we continue to work to improve this very important function in our organization. The issue of organized crime being in any way affiliated with any organization is a serious risk and we have many safeguards and controls in place to prevent that from happening and we have no evidence of any involvement of organized crime in our organization. We are in close touch with VPD and they have not indicated any concern in this regard.

Our hiring practices are aligned with legislation – Human Rights Code, Labour Relations Code, Privacy legislation and related regulations and case law – and we have a very diverse and talented work force of which we are very proud.

However I am very concerned and dismayed about the unsubstantiated and irresponsible allegations and innuendo reported in the media today which is allegedly coming from our staff (and some of our retired staff) regarding Mike Zupan, our Acting Manager of Sanitation. I want to be very clear that Mike Zupan has the full confidence of this organization and there is absolutely no evidence that he had any previous relationship with Ronaldo Lising. His work with the City of Vancouver over the last 20 years has been exemplary.

Sanitation is an area where there is much change ahead, some of which is imposed on us through legislation while other elements are part of our overall goals for zero waste. We have an excellent leadership team which is working with many other parts of the organization to move changes along in a constructive, transparent way, and in a way which meets the needs of our citizens as well as our staff.  I know I can count on all of you to keep focused on our goals and work together productively toward serving our public which is why we all work for the City. Thank you. pb

Penny Ballem, MD, FRCP

City Manager

City of Vancouver

Cell:  604.551.XXXX

Fax:  604.873.7641

penny.ballem@vancouver.ca

From: ENG All Staff Broadcast

Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 10:10 AM

To: ENG All Staff (COV) - DL

Subject: Staff Announcement

I am very pleased to announce that Mike Zupan is our successful candidate in the recent competition for the Manager of Sanitation Operations.  Mike brings over 20 years of experience in progressively responsible positions with the City to his new role.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mike over the past 1 ½ years since I joined the City and continue to be impressed by his dedication and commitment to moving forward, adapting to change and making things better in the areas in which he is working. For the past 8 months Mike has been doing an excellent job as Acting Manager and has successfully implemented and number of changes in the branch to improve operations, employee engagement and overall morale within the branch.   I look forward to continuing to work with Mike in his new role as we continue to navigate the significant changes underway in Sanitation.  Please join me in congratulating Mike on his new role.

Albert Shamess

Director - Waste Management and Resource Recovery

City of Vancouver

604-873-XXXX | albert.shamess@vancouver.ca

IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS: Is Vancouver city manager Penny Ballem on the ball or is she out to lunch? Is Vancouver city hall really a gleaming example of the ideal government workplace, free of corruption or has it gone "Montreal-style" and been infiltrated by organized (or disorganized) crime? If you have proof of organized crime, fraud or other corruption at Vancouver city hall, any of its departments or agencies (or, for that matter, any federal, provincial, civic or aboriginal government office), please contact me here. I also gladly accept confidential, brown paper envelopes (addressed to me) at this address and that address. 

Updated: Duplex for a Doula, Man-cave for a Mayor

Some interesting questions have been raised about Mayor Gregor Robertson’s real estate transactions by the Whispers from the Edge of the Rainforest blog. 

Also known as the Village Whisper, it broke the story about Robertson and his wife Amy (aka “The Bicycling Doula”) selling their 912 West 23rd house. Asking price is $1.95 million. 

I was tipped by a reliable source that the city’s “first couple” is moving into a duplex at 1645 Stephens St., near the proposed Point Grey separated bike lane. My source says it cost them $1.575 million. 

Why it is relevant is because the Mayor’s office reacted to the Village Whisper piece by saying he sought a legal opinion over the perception of conflict of interest and has decided to abstain from voting on the bike lane. (The Georgia Straight also noted that the house is in the Vancouver-Quadra riding held by Joyce Murray, who lost a bid for the federal Liberal leadership. Robertson is being wooed to run in the 2015 federal election for the Grits under Justin Trudeau. Before Trudeau became leader, Robertson had met on several occasions with Bob Rae.)

The 1979-built, 2007-renovated pad has two bedrooms plus a den and office with “showstopping ocean and mountain views” on a quiet street, a half-block from the beach. It was featured in the Canadian House and Home 2008 Makeover Issue and includes a one-year-old home theatre system with built-in surround-sound and a 42-inch Samsung wall-mounted TV and single-car garage. If the bicycling mayor doesn't park a car there, he could certainly use it for his bikes and perhaps even tuba-honking jam space.

The property has an interesting pedigree. It was sold by BMW dealer Brian Jessel in August 2006 for $1.111 million, sold in September 2008 for $1.503 million by L. Young and R. Hodgins and sold in June of this year to the Robertsons, by David Farrar and Susan Addario.

Farrar and Addario are former University of Toronto administrators. Farrar is the Provost and Vice-President of Academic for the University of B.C. Addario was the Director of Student Services and Registrar for the Justice Institute of B.C. and was appointed the College of Massage Therapists of B.C.'s Registrar and CEO in February 2012. 

B.C. Land Title and Survey records list the registered owner in 2008 as the University of B.C.

UPDATE (July 15): We may never find out when Robertson made his querty query to the city solicitor for a legal opinion related to his move -- unless Robertson volunteers that information, which led to his decision to abstain from voting on the proposed bike lane.

City Solicitor Francie Connell said the timeline and the advice given both fall under information protected by solicitor/client privilege.

“Opinions of this kind may be withheld from release under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and we do not publicly release them,” Connell wrote in a July 15 email.

The province has a Conflict of Interest Commissioner that reports to the Legislative Assembly. There is no similar watchdog for municipal councils in British Columbia. 

“The Legal Services Department reports to the City Manager, is not an independent body and is not authorized to make rulings regarding any alleged breaches of the Vancouver Charter's conflict of interest rules,” Connell wrote. “We provide legal advice, protected by solicitor/client privilege, solely to our client.”

UPDATE (Sept. 10): The public registry of B.C. Land Title & Survey has been updated. The application was received Sept. 4 and entered on Sept. 6. Under "registered owner in fee simple" are two names: Gregor Angus Robertson, Mayor, and Amy Oswald Robertson, doula, as joint tenants. A mortgage was registered Sept. 4 (CA3330724) with Vancouver City Savings Credit Union In Trust (DF BL051963). The legal description is: "Strata Lot 2 District Lot 192 Strata Plan VR. 745, together with an interest in the common property in proportion to the unit entitlement of the strata lot as shown on Form 1." Declared value is $1.575 million. 

Burrard Bridge's safety secrecy

The May 23 partial collapse of the 1955-built, Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington has sparked a renewed interest in the structural safety of bridges across the continent. 

In Vancouver, the Burrard Street Bridge will turn 81 years-old on July 1. The 1932-built concrete and steel bridge cost $3 million to build, but is visibly crumbling and rusting. A seismic upgrade program finished in 2006. Bike lanes were installed in 2009 at a cost of $1.3 million. 

The Burrard Bridge's uncertain future was the focus of my Investigators segment on the Simi Sara Show on CKNW AM 980 on May 24. Unfortunately, neither city hall's chief engineer Peter Judd nor city hall spokeswoman Mairi Welman responded to my requests for comment. 

In 2012, City of Vancouver paid almost $1.24 million to Associated Engineering to conduct a series of reports. More than 500 pages of were released to me via Freedom of Information, but almost 380 pages have been "greyed-out" -- withheld in their entirety, like the one on the right. City hall claims the reports contain advice that, if disclosed, could harm the city financially. 

The minuscule amount of information that is visible claims the bridge is in fair or poor condition. While it does not indicate imminent danger, the lack of information disclosed raises important questions about whether it really is safe. The detailed report card on the bridge and cost estimates were censored. Why does Vision Vancouver want to hide information from you about such an important piece of the city's infrastructure? 

The reports I received via FOI are linked below. Click on the titles and see for yourself. Notice all the censored pages. 

UPDATE (May 27): I found the following online about different bridges in different B.C. jurisdictions on Vancouver Island: Reports about the E&N Railway bridges and the Johnson Street Bridge. Perhaps City of Vancouver could learn a lesson about transparency from these documents. Meanwhile, the Ontario provincial government offers information about its bridges. Ontario proactively discloses a list of bridges that includes names, locations, condition rating, ages and most-recent year of inspection. B.C.'s government has a database, but, according to the Ministry of Transportation, is "very technical and wasn't designed as a public-facing website, but we are looking at ways we can provide information to the public."

Burrard Street Bridge Coating Assessment 2011 

Vision Vancouver: "Greyest City 2013 Secrecy Plan"

Burrard Street Bridge Condition Assessment Report 

Burrard Bridge Deck Rehabilitation Deck Cross Section, Rev. B

Bridge Evaluation Report

Burrard Street Bridge Girder Strenghtening

Burrard Street Bridge Rehabilitation Design Load Rating 

Burrard Bridge Rehabilitation Vessel Impact Protection - Revision 1

Burrard Bridge Close-up Visual Inspection of Sliding Bearing Areas

Detailed Inspection and Condition Assessment for Approach Bearing Replacement

Burrard Street Bridge Expansion Joint Rehabilitation 

Burrard Street Bridge North End Widening Feasibility Study

Burrard Street Bridge Rehabilitation Pedestrian Fence Options

Routine Inspections by Marco Biagini

Liberal big shots skip historic news conference

The March 21 announcement that FIFA chose Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium as the site of the 2015 Women’s World Cup final was both historic and underwhelming.

Vancouver's nine games, including the championship final, will make this the biggest international sporting event in the city since the 2010 Winter Olympics climaxed with the men’s Olympic gold medal hockey game at Rogers Arena. 

The July 5, 2015 final will likely have a bigger international TV audience, in more countries, than the biggest hockey game in history. FIFA estimated 62.8 million people tuned-in for Japan's upset of the United States in 2011 at Commerzbank Arena, the Frankfurt, Germany stadium that inspired B.C. Place's retractable roof. 

The 2015 Women’s World Cup final broadcast will also draw 10 times more pairs of eyeballs than the anticipated audience of the 2014 Grey Cup. 

The Grey Cup was announced March 8 with much fanfare in a B.C. Place news conference starring Premier Christy Clark (who didn’t mention Vancouver once during her speech). Nobody from Vancouver city hall was invited, not even Mayor Gregor Robertson. That was the end of a hell week for Clark, who was hammered with the Quick Wins Multicultural Outreach scandal and the Prince George plyscraper procurement scandal. Her handlers wanted a quick win before the weekend.

The March 21 Women’s World Cup news conference was a low-key affair, held at the Hampton Inn hotel across from B.C. Place. National Organizing Committee spokesman Richard Scott said top officials from all three levels of government were invited at the start of the week for the announcements in Vancouver and Edmonton, once it was confirmed that the Canada 2015 schedule would be on the FIFA executive committee agenda's March 21 meeting in Zurich. (It was not on the agenda released March 13.)

Federal Conservatives were unavailable, because of the federal budget in Ottawa. 

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel hosted Alberta Tourism Minister Richard Starke at city hall in Edmonton, where the City of Champions was told it would host the opening match on June 6, 2015.

Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs subbed for Robertson, who was apparently out-of-town. Small Business Minister Naomi Yamamoto attended on behalf of the provincial government. Clark, Sport Minister Bill Bennett, Tourism Minister Pat Bell and Deputy Premier/B.C. Pavilion Corporation Minister Rich Coleman were all unavailable. 

Normally, politicians would rearrange their agendas and flock, like moths to light, to a photo opportunity at a good news announcement about a global event coming to their jurisdiction. Evidently, Canada 2015 is not top of mind for the Liberals, because they may have no future after May 14, 2013. 

Polling suggests the Liberals are en route to defeat and they are focusing on clinging to power in ridings that are in jeopardy of falling to the NDP. Additionally, too many big city reporters still have too many questions about the lingering Liberal scandals, whether it be public employees breaking rules by doing party work on government time, the Prince George plyscraper procurement or a new investigation by the Information and Privacy Commissioner into public employees using personal email accounts to elude the Freedom of Information act. 

While Clark was campaigning in the interior, the Liberals quietly tweaked their website to remove the link to their MLAs and replace it with content all about candidates for the May 14 election. Make no mistake, the Liberals are in full campaign mode. The website now implores Liberal supporters to "push back" against "misinformation and bias" on radio and "misinformation and spin" in newspapers. 

The 2013 Liberals would be foolish to neglect history. Demonization of the media was also a feature of the 1991 Social Credit Party and 2001 NDP. Those drunk-on-power parties went into election campaigns desperate and emerged decimated after voting day. The Socreds fell from 47 to seven seats, the NDP collapsed from 39 to just two. 

Today's BC Liberals have 45. For now.

Morning Interviews, Liberally Fixed

More information is emerging on how Clark got into the MILF mess last year. That infamous interview with Justin "Drex" Wilcomes on 98.9 Jet FM was part of a nine interview blitz on FM morning drive shows over three December mornings, according to entries in her agenda that I obtained via Freedom of Information. 

The last interview was with a Victoria station. The preceding eight were all with small market outlets where the Liberals could suffer defeat in the election. 

Dec. 14: 7:30 a.m.-7:40 a.m. Dawn Tyndall, KISS FM Vernon, 7:50 a.m.-8 a.m. Brian Martin and Vicki Proulx, Sun FM Vernon, 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m. Kevin and Sonia, Sun FM Mornings, Kelowna; Dec. 18: 6:35 a.m.-6:45 a.m. Darren McPeak and John Helm, Mountain FM Kootenays, 6:45 a.m.-6:50 a.m. Bob Johnston and Bill Nation, The Eagle, Courtenay, 6:50 a.m.-6:55 a.m. Kyle Wightman, The Wolf FM Prince George; Dec. 19: 6:45 a.m.-6:50 a.m. Uncle Scotty, The River, Campbell River, 6:50 a.m.-6:55 a.m. Drex of Jet FM Comox Valley and 8:40 a.m.-8:50 a.m. Robin and Brian, Kool FM Victoria. 

These interviews were part of a coordinated strategy, perhaps inspired by the Swing Teams playbook revealed by reporter Cassidy Olivier in The Province. 

Bell, Bond, de-BID

PCL Constructors Westcoast was chosen to design and build the Wood Innovation and Design Centre "plyscraper" in Prince George. The announcement came March 22 in Prince George. The company is a major donor to the BC Liberals that expanded the Vancouver Convention Centre and renovated B.C. Place Stadium. The Auditor General investigated the $883.2 million convention centre expansion and is conducting a fact-finding mission on the $514 million B.C. Place project. PCL was named a defendant (along with B.C. Pavilion Corporation) in cable installer Freyssinet's B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit. 

Serious questions remain about the integrity of the procurement for this plyscraper. A representative of the BID Group responded on behalf of CEO Brian Fehr, turning down my request for an interview to learn more about the situation and his quotes that appear on Alex Tsakumis’s blog. 

Fehr claimed Minister Pat Bell reneged on a pledge that his company would be shortlisted for the plyscraper job. On Tsakumis's blog, Fehr is quoted as saying he met with the Premier, who apparently called, texted and emailed him about the project. Clark was quoted by the Vancouver Sun as saying "the issue has been handled by civil servants. It hasn't been handled by politicians at all." The NDP has called for an independent inquiry.

These are very serious allegations that deserve to be confirmed or denied, but my queries to Bell and to the Premier’s press secretary Mike Morton were met with silence. 

Lawyer Jane Shackell was the government-hired fairness monitor on the WIDC tendering, but her terms of reference were too narrow to do anything about Fehr's claims of unfairness. Here is her final report, dated March 18. Elections BC records show Shackell donated $700 to the BC Liberals in 2009.

Shackell was also the fairness monitor on the Evergreen Line Project. The main $889 million contract was awarded to SNC-Lavalin, the Montreal-based engineering giant that is accused of widespread corruption on a number of fronts. 

SNC-Lavalin donated $27,647 to the Liberals from 2005 to 2010. SNC-Lavalin board chairman Gwyn Morgan was on Clark's transition team when she won the Liberal leadership in 2011 and donated $117,510 from 2009 to 2012, including $10,000 to Clark's leadership bid. Director Claude Mongeau is the CEO of CN, which privatized BC Rail amid controversy in 2003 while Clark was deputy premier. Clark is under investigation by the Conflict of Interest office after MLA John van Dongen's fall 2012 complaint. 

According to meeting minutes that I received from the Evergreen Line Project board, Shackell's final fairness report was received by the board on Sept. 21, 2012. That was six months ago. It has still not been published. 

The Partnerships BC and the Ministry of Transportation media offices play an Alphonse and Gaston routine whenever I ask for the Shackell report on SNC-Lavalin. 

I'm not amused.

Green Mayor's foster son to jail for white powder and silver bullets

Clutching a yellow notepard and dressed all in black, Jinagh Farrouch Navas-Rivas stood up and approached the podium in courtroom 106 at Richmond Provincial Court on March 13.

The last time he was in front of a notable crowd was  civic election night, Nov. 19, 2011. Vision Vancouver had just been re-elected the majority party at Vancouver city hall, park board and school board. Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" blared on the speakers in the Sheraton Wall Centre hotel ballroom. Despite the controversies of the Stanley Cup riot and Occupy Vancouver and questions about campaign financing, Vision Vancouver repeated.  

Gregor Robertson, Mayor of the City of Vancouver, Chairman of the Vancouver Police Board and Navas-Rivas’s foster father, finished his victory speech: 

Mayor Gregor 

"One more thank-you that I know all of us candidates want to make, the words are not powerful enough to truly thank our families for their support and the sacrifices they make in political life. So, to my sweetheart Amy, to my kids Hanna, Satchel, Terra and birthday boy Jinagh, thank-you for putting up with the empty seat at the dinner table night after night, thank you for smiling and handing out, (in) monsoon-like conditions, leaflets, door-knocking and for keeping me grounded at justt the right times. Thank you and I love you."

Navas-Rivas stood to the Mayor's right. What a way to celebrate a 21st birthday! Smiles all around. 

Being the foster son of the Mayor had its privileges, even after moving out of the Mayor's house. On Feb. 12, 2010, Navas-Rivas was at the exclusive Hotel Vancouver party hosted by Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean before the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, United States Vice-President Joe Biden and even California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were there. When the Games ended on Feb. 28, 2010, Navas-Rivas had a seat in the dignitaries box at B.C. Place Stadium. The name card on his chair read "Jinagh Robertson."

Little did anyone know, that on election night 2011, Navas-Rivas was addicted to cocaine. The night before, he had brokered the sale of a handgun to an undercover cop. He had been under police surveillance for two weeks. 

But on this rainy Wednesday afternoon in mid-March, Navas-Rivas was the centre of attention. He knew he would exit the room in handcuffs with a jail sentence no less than three years. Rather than endure a parade of evidence, including surveillance recordings, at a 10-day trial, he pleaded guilty last December to trafficking in cocaine between Nov. 4-Dec. 9, 2011 and to the Nov. 18, 2011 transfer of a Ruger .22 calibre handgun (serial no. 220-11838), Remington brand ammunition and two magazines. 

Police got a warrant for his arrest before Christmas 2011. Prompted by Robertson’s plea for him to surrender, Navas-Rivas admitted his involvement in a dial-a-dope gang to police on Jan. 5, 2012. Five months later, he was out on bail, in the care of Kathy Leavens and Peter Noble, his original foster parents who took him in at age 9. When they were out-of-town, Navas-Rivas returned to live at the Robertson household. He got a job as a labourer and chose to finish several high school courses, achieving high marks in math and sciences. 

Navas-Rivas’s mother and grandmother were in the gallery. The Mayor was not. Amy Robertson and daughter, Hanna were, to offer their support before a tearful goodbye and bear hugs. It was Hanna that introduced Navas-Rivas to the family in 2007 after he moved away from the Leavens/Noble house. Back then, Robertson was an NDP MLA and a local organic juice magnate.

On this day, however, Navas-Rivas was going to the big house. 

“I’d like to say I'm deeply sorry for the mistakes that I've made,” Navas-Rivas told the court.  

“When I reflect on these mistakes in my past, I see how depressed and sad I was at the time and how all this contributed directly to my actions. I know there's no excuse for what I've done, and now it’s time for me to take responsibility and serve my punishment. 

“I’ve been working on developing as a person and focussing on the good things in my life, such as loved ones and school. I’d like to continue school in jail if that’s a possibility, I’d like to continue to focus on mathematics... I have a renewed interest in school and taken a general liking to my studies. I believe that there is some good to come out of this experience. This experience really opened my eyes and changed me as a person, I want to be a better person, through and through. I’d like to thank everyone that’s supported me through this process. I’d like to say I’m sorry again and how much I regret my actions.” 

If Robertson runs again in 2014, Navas-Rivas won't be at the Vision Vancouver party. Justice Patrick Chen sentenced Navas-Rivas to time served (five months in jail), plus six months in prison on the first count. On the second count, three-and-a-half years. Four years, total. Plus a lifetime ban on firearms and to submit a DNA sample. 

This is what Chen said during the sentencing hearing, after the submissions of defence lawyer Emmet Duncan and Crown counsel Ernie Froess.

Navas-Rivas in 2011 RCMP news release.

“During the investigation, the undercover officer was introduced to the accused by (Vinh Hoang) David Le when the accused was asked to handle the Nov. 4, 2011 transaction of one pound of cocaine. 

“During the undercover officer’s communication with the accused, during this transaction they discussed further drug transactions and also the sale of firearms. The accused bragged that he was a broker who could supply both drugs and firearms. The investigation at that point began to focus on the accused and on firearms, as well as drugs. The undercover officer made further requests to the accused to purchase more cocaine and also firearms. Ultimately the Ruger semi automatic .22 calibre handgun together with extra clip and a box of bullets was supplied on Nov. 18, 2011. 

"A further purchase of 5 oz. of cocaine was arranged by the accused on Dec. 9, 2011. The accused did not appear to be the principal offender or supplier in any of these transactions, for either the cocaine or handgun. Other co-accused appeared to be playing the more controlling and dominating role. These others also appeared to be directing the accused during these transactions, for example, to count money... the accused never handled the handgun which was handed to the undercover officer in exchange for cash by other unidentified persons... he was never more than a small player in these criminal transactions.  

"His submission was that he was paid $100 to $200 for his role in each of these transactions. A paltry amount considering the amount of money that was exchanged.  

“While the accused bragged to the undercover officer about the scale and sophistication of his criminal activity and enterprise, police surveillance contradicted virtually all of his claims, which the accused now attributes to puffery or salesmanship. Police surveillance shows during the entirety of their investigation the accused was not living the life of a successful drug dealer. He did not own a car and relied on public transit to get around. He had no place to live except a three bedroom apartment shared by five people that he did not have a key to... 

“The accused was prepared to participate in the sale of a handgun to a person he believed to be a drug dealer, he understood the only purpose a drug dealer would want to purchase such a handgun would be for protection. In other words, used to injure or kill people that might be viewed as a threat. It is fair, in my view, to consider the mayhem and carnage that guns have caused in this society, in this province, in the context of the business of illegal drug enterprises, and the danger that that has caused to the public as a whole... 

“Notwithstanding that he was playing the role of broker, and his role was never as principal offender or supplier, it is clear to me from the circumstances that are provided to me that during the period of these offences, it was the aim or the ambition of the accused to embark on a criminal lifestyle. Also, the sale of illegal handguns and firearms is inherently dangerous...  

"The accused made a number of calculated decisions to break the law over a period of time. these were not offences of mere opportunity or momentary lapses in judgment. There was some planning and deliberation involved. 

“The amount of cocaine involved in these two transactions, particularly the second one, was not insignificant, 5 oz. for several thousands of dollars.  

"Further, the accused was motivated by greed. I accept he was also addicted, but he had a strong support network that could have suggested a different path... 

“The courts have for some time now recognized the widespread impact of trafficking in schedule 1 drugs. In particular, dial-a-dope operations are generally regarded as offences that require some deterrence and denunciation. These are the kinds of criminal drug enterprises that bring drugs into every community.  

“There are also, however, many mitigating circumstances. 

“Firstly, the accused has no prior criminal history. He has plead guilty at an early opportunity. He is very young, 22 years old and 20 and 21 at the time of these offences. He’s also in many ways a young 22 year old and in other ways an older and wiser 22 year old...  

"But he's still a very young man. I accept defence counsel's submission that the accused has remained drug free, that he has complied with very strict terms of bail which are tantamount to a modified house arrest, he was on a curfew seven days a week and he has not committed any breaches of bail.... 

“This very strong support network of friends, family, foster family, that appear to be very committed to assisting the accused in his rehabilitation...  

“They are hopeful, they give one hope that the accused can overcome the criminality and the other stresses that have led to that criminality to make a life for himself that is free of criminality. 

“The accused must himself balance the various influences and experiences he’s gone through, he’s gone through a lot. He was abandoned as a young child, his mother left him to fend for himself. It’s not surprising... he has low self-esteem. That is a very negative experience.  

“On the other hand, he has the benefit of these positive experiences of being surrounded by loving and supportive foster family members and friends and a mother who is now trying to re-establish a positive role in his life. Few people are blessed to have such a strong support network. At the same time the accused has already demonstrated the vulnerability of being influenced by negative peers, that is what led him to this criminal lifestyle that he was doing his best to embark on.  

“I do accept the accused has taken his own initial steps to his own rehabilitation... the efforts the accused makes himself are the most important ones. 

“In prison the accused will meet more negative peers, that goes without saying. Hopefully he will not stray from the new path that his support group insists he is now dedicating himself to... that he will use his time to better himself and forge a new life that will not only bring a brighter future for himself, but will justify the faith his family and friends have for him.”