Weibo Watch #1: Mayor's Fake Fans?

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Here is that translation, with the original copied below.

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

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

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

I'll let you know how this develops.

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

What wasn't included in the Furlong and Keefe report

One of the biggest stories in Vancouver of 2011 was the Stanley Cup riot of June 15. A terrible blemish on the reputation of British Columbia unlikely to heal for some time.

When provincially-appointed reviewers John Furlong and Doug Keefe released their expensive report into the riot on Sept. 1, 2011, what they didn't include were the 85 submissions received via email and Canada Post from the public and various interest groups.

On Dec. 20 I finally received the records I requested via Freedom of Information. Here is my story from the Vancouver Courier.

Some of the comments were not flattering to Furlong, Premier Christy Clark or the Vancouver Canucks.

See the records (which were partially censored by the government) below.

Riot Review Submissions-Mackin

Mayor rings Bell with letter about lousy lights

Publicly, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is a rather placid fella.

So I found the tone of this Oct. 24 letter to Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell stern.

Bell is responsible for B.C. Pavilion Corporation, the provincial Crown corporation that operates B.C. Place Stadium. As part of the $563 million stadium renovation, Terry Fox Plaza was remade with Douglas Coupland's statues of the Canadian hero, forever heading west.

PavCo erected a giant video screen on the exterior of the stadium, angering area residents who won't tolerate bright lights flashing in their apartment windows. They were never consulted and are fighting back. PavCo used B.C. Place's provincial status under the B.C. Enterprise Corporation Act to bypass the city hall bureaucracy.

Not only did Robertson ask Bell to respect the city's sign bylaw, but he also asked PavCo to turn off the lights inside the stadium at night. PavCo has claimed that the stadium is more energy efficient than before the renovation, despite erecting so many video screens.

I obtained Robertson's letter via Freedom of Information. I am waiting for Bell's ministry to send me a copy of his reply, which apparently was sent Dec. 12 or 13.

Read my story here. See Robertson's letter below.

Vancouver Mayor's stern letter to Minister Responsible for PavCo

Occupy eviction intended to protect Grey Cup bank

What's really behind the City of Vancouver’s rush to disband Occupy Vancouver’s camp from the bark mulch and concrete of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s north plaza?

Grey Cup Festival organizers fear protesters could disrupt the Nov. 26 Grey Cup parade and embarrass a major sponsor. The B.C. Supreme Court granted an injunction that allows police to evict protesters if they don't remove tents and structures from the Vancouver Art Gallery's north plaza by 2 p.m. Nov. 21.

No Grey Cup events were planned for the VAG plaza, where the protest began Oct. 15, and the Saturday morning parade route uses Burrard Street. There is no intelligence that such a protest would happen and Occupy Vancouver has not made a public statement against the Grey Cup festival or its sponsors. But a source involved with the 99th Grey Cup game organization indicated that nobody wants to risk embarrassing Scotiabank.

The Occupy movement’s protest targets have included banks. In Vancouver, locations of TD Canada Trust and RBC have been protest sites. Occupy protesters have also picketed against Enbridge, the company that wants to build a pipeline between the Alberta tarsands and coastal British Columbia to carry oil for export to Asia. Aboriginals opposed to the proposed pipeline attended the Scotiabank annual general meeting in Halifax last April. A Yinka Dene Alliance news release claimed Scotiabank raised $10 billion for Enbridge.

The newly re-elected Vision Vancouver-dominated city council enacted restrictive measures before the 2010 Winter Olympics to protect VANOC sponsors. No similar bylaws are in place for the Grey Cup. Mayor Gregor Robertson and his opponent Coun. Suzanne Anton are among the Grey Cup Committee members.

Planning for the Grey Cup Festival has been complicated by the ugly legacy of the June 15, 2011 Stanley Cup riot. The 1966 Grey Cup parade was a night-time affair and revelers rioted with Vancouver Police and RCMP outside the Hotel Georgia and courthouse (now the art gallery).

Freedom of Information requests for agendas and minutes of the large events oversight committee, central management team and Grey Cup committee have been denied in-full by the City of Vancouver.

From tent city to the Village?

Occupy Vancouver's next rally, on Nov. 12 at 1:30 p.m., is a pro-housing march after a noontime speech by University of British Columbia Urban Studies chair Elvin Wyly on "the Vancouver housing shortage (and) overpriced condos" and a 1 p.m. speech by Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver mayoralty candidate and City Hall Watch-er Randy Helten on how campaign finance and corporate influence have tainted city hall.

Where will that pro-housing march go?

The Occupy Vancouver website doesn't show the route, but I'm going to guess: could this be the day that Occupy Vancouver meets the Olympic Village?

The Olympic Village, which went into receivership on Nov. 17, 2010, is now known as the Village on False Creek and remains the most controversial luxury housing development in Canada. The Olympic Village's lender once was a division of Fortress Investment Group, the debt-laden, Wall Street hedge fund that, through a subsidiary, foreclosed on victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

According to the fifth point of a six-point motion passed at the Nov. 10 general assembly (see below), Occupy Vancouver members would like to move to the Village, into the portion of units that were originally to be set aside as non-market, social housing. The inventory of 252 was halved when Vision Vancouver decided to give unionized first responders, teachers and nurses first dibs. Residents of the other half of the so-called affordable units have been burdened by a confusing and costly utilities regime run by a company with ties to Vision Vancouver.

In 2008, a different OV -- the Olympic Village -- changed the course of Vancouver politics and enabled Vision Vancouver to win election to Cambie and 12th.

It can be argued that Occupy Vancouver, though leaderless, has become the dominant force of the Nov. 19, 2011 civic election, dictating how both Vision Vancouver and the NPA have campaigned.

If Occupy Vancouver visits the Olympic Village, will that cause Vancouverites to ask more questions about the billion-dollar bailout, such as how much it's really costing taxpayers and could the money have been better spent on housing the homeless?

RESULTS OF TENT CITY NEGOTIATION WORKGROUP
Passed by General Assembly, Nov 10, 2011

That if BC Housing, Judy Graves, or any representative of any housing
agencies come to Occupy Vancouver to offer housing options to those on
site, that members of this tent city collectively, and in solidarity
with one another and the movement, negotiate as a block for housing
with the following, or other, stipulations.

1) That those receiving housing from the tent city at occupy Vancouver
be housed in the same vicinity as each other, and ideally, the same
building, to maintain the vital community that has grown here, and
continue the movement in accessible, local, social space.
2) That those housed continue to maintain collective bargaining rights
in dealing with building managers and non-profit housing providers
regarding tenancy rights issues once housing has been provided. This
is to ensure adequate and appropriate housing options for those with
families, pets, or other ‘barriers,’ and to avoid slumlords,
infestations, and restrictive conditions preventing guests.
3) That BC Housing or some other entity provide daily transportation
funds or provide a shuttle bus between the new housing and the
Vancouver Art Gallery, to ensure accessibility within the Occupy
Vancouver movement.
4) That the encampment at the Vancouver Art Gallery continue, in order
to, amongst other things, allow those who have not yet been provided
permanent housing an interim safe, warm, and dry space to sleep and to
connect with housing agencies to secure housing.
5) That this housing be at the site of the promised, but lost, social
and affordable housing at the Olympic Village.
6) Before a final decision is reached, it would be brought to the
General Assembly for approval.

#OccupyLawCourts?

City of Vancouver lawyer Ben Parkin has a 2 p.m. date on Nov. 8 with a judge at British Columbia Supreme Court in the Law Courts at Robson Square, near the Occupy Vancouver camp at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Or is it 9:45 a.m.? The chambers schedule (below) that includes the case known as City of Vancouver vs. Sean O'Flynn-Magee, Jane Doe, John Doe and other unknown persons (File S-117498) says it's in the 9:45 a.m. session.

City of Vancouver wouldn't hustle this matter before a judge when people aren't expecting? A stealth application to avoid an occupation of the court? UPDATE: The "Attendance List for the 8th Day of November, 2011" still lists the application in the 9:45 a.m. session, but the more authoritative "Vancouver Supreme Court List" shows the city application is to be heard by Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie in room 55 at 2 p.m. (MacKenzie was the judge who presided over the Basi-Virk B.C. Rail corruption trial, which occupiers might call a case of 1% crony capitalism.)

Website List

City of Vancouver's bid to end Occupy Vancouver on the docket

Parkin's mission, as ordered by Mayor Gregor Robertson and city manager Penny Ballem, is to convince a judge to order protest structures removed from the Vancouver Art Gallery where the protest began Oct. 15. The city also wants the authority to empower police to enforce the Land Regulation Bylaw on VAG property, which is leased by the city from the Province of British Columbia. Robertson and his governing Vision Vancouver party are desperate to end the protest camp for fear that NPA challenger Suzanne Anton will gain in popularity as the Nov. 19 election approaches.

The legal filings do not explain why Sean O'Flynn-Magee was chosen. Occupy Vancouver, like all the Occupy Wall Street clones, is supposedly leaderless. Magee is a digital journalist in Vancouver and here is his Facebook page.

The legal filings (below) spell out the reasons for the city's injunction and the laws it wants to enforce. Specifically, the Land Regulation Bylaw says it is illegal, without permission of the city manager, to:

(d) construct, erect, place, deposit, maintain, occupy, or cause to be constructed, erected, placed, deposited, maintained or occupied, any structure, tent, shelter, object, substance, or thing on city land.

The city is also pleading sections of the Bylaw that ban lighting fires and burning materials; depositing garbage outside of garbage containers; and removing soil.

This may not be a slam-dunk for the city. In fact, it's plausible that the protesters' lawyer could introduce a City of Vancouver Tweet sent Oct. 15 via Hootsuite as evidence that city manager Ballem permitted the protest!

@CityofVancouver #occupyvancouver rumour you will be kicked out at 10pm false, but pls allow others nearby to sleep tonight by lowering PA volume!

The city did not become serious about regulating activity on the site until Nov. 4, the day after a camper nearly died of a drug overdose and the day before a camper did die of an apparent drug overdose.

Even if the court approves the city's application, the Occupy Vancouver protesters vow to stay and resist authorities. Stay tuned.

City of Vancouver's application for a court order against Occupy Vancouver

Check the record, Robertson

Politicians say the darnedest things, don't they?

Case in point. Mayor Gregor Robertson on CKNW on Nov. 7, 2011 when Bill Good hosted a debate between the incumbent and his challenger, NPA Coun. Suzanne Anton. The dominant topic for the hour-long debate was the future of the Occupy Vancouver tent village protest, 21 storeys below the CKNW studios, at the Vancouver Art Gallery's north plaza. Host Good challenged Robertson on his support for the protest, which began Oct. 15, 2011. The exchange is at the 11:00 mark on the CKNW audio vault file.

Good: "Mr. Robertson, you did say the occupiers could stay indefinitely. Why did you say that?"

Robertson: "That's not correct, what I said was..."

Good: "You did say that."

Robertson: "No, you can check the record on that. The protest could be indefinite. People have a right to protest in Canada, that is our right. The encampment has never been acceptable. It's against city bylaws and we've been clear about that all along."

Oh, really, Mr. Mayor?

I checked the record.



Below are your quotes from Jeff Lee's story in the Vancouver Sun on Oct. 18, 2011. The headline was "Occupy Vancouver can continue if it remains peaceful: Gregor Robertson."

The story remains online and it contains no clarification or correction.

“Obviously safety and cleanliness is crucial to the protest continuing, and violence won’t be tolerated,” Robertson said. “It is premature to say in terms of timelines [how long the protest will last] given the magnitude of this protest globally. I think we’re close to a thousand cities with these protests.”

“I believe this movement has a lot of support and kudos to the protesters and police for keeping it constructive and peaceful,” he said.

“I think everyone’s waiting to see what takes shape in terms of outcomes and agendas. There is a lot of energy around it and it has yet to be seen what results from this.”

The key word in the well-meaning Occupy Wall Street-inspired protests around the world is occupy. Occupy means "to take or hold possession or control" and "to reside in as an owner or tenant." In the context of the Occupy movement, protest and camp are one and the same. From these protest camps, the followers aim to create a movement. Mr. Mayor, you encouraged and enabled the protest camp, even when occupiers said they were gearing up for a long stay outside VAG. You accepted the camp, despite the bylaws that exist. Bylaws that could have afforded you a chance to strike a constitutional balance between public order and free speech. Don't hide from it. Now you're trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube and it's not going to be a pretty end.

Here's a suggestion. And you can thank me later for this. Charter a BC Ferry, invite all the occupiers for an all expenses-paid cruise up the coast to the campground at your Hollyhock getaway on Cortes Island and feed them as much juice and soup from your Burnaby-based Happy Planet Foods company for the rest of winter. Set-up a round-the-clock Livestream feed so that Vancouverites and others around the world can watch the general assemblies and other activities for months to come.

#OccupyHollyhock would be cheaper in the end and create the peaceful outcome you say you want.

Vancouver Police have more important things to do than a mass arrest of protesters. (Like solving the gang war.) Crown counsel has more important things to do. (Like reviewing the charges recommended against 60 alleged Stanley Cup rioters and looters.)

You have more important things to do. Like clowning around with your fake Movember mustache and campaigning for re-election on Nov. 19.

Because you surely don't want to go down in history as just a three-year NDP MLA and three-year Vision Vancouver Mayor. And you surely don't want to hear these three words: "Mayor Suzanne Anton."

Does this mean we can call Ballem "Nickel"?

Penny Ballem is not just Vancouver's $313,577-a-year city manager, but she's also the star of a five-part series of technical briefings on the terminally troubled Olympic Village. Her nickname might as well be "Not for Attribution Senior City Staffer." I'm guessing she'll appear for a curtain call. Part six, anyone?

On April 12, Ballem conducted the post-briefing news conference after her not-for-attribution performance for the media in a second floor meeting room. Coun. Geoff Meggs was in the room, but Mayor Gregor Robertson was not. Robertson also was conveniently off in Burnaby on April 8 for a Metro Vancouver board meeting and didn't want to take a five-minute break to give a cursory comment on a speakerphone. Instead he left the duties to Meggs (who some have called the real mayor).

The April 12 meeting was called in reaction to Gary Mason's Globe and Mail column estimating the loss to taxpayers for the Village to be $230 million. Ballem insists it is just $48 million. She also downplayed Millennium's original $200 million deal for the land. She said it was "aspirational" but never assumed by the accountants. Now the land costs $27 million. Millennium put a $29 million deposit on the land, but the remaining $171 million isn't counted as a loss.

Or is the loss $199 million, if you take the $48 million writedown and add the $87 million for the community centre, Salt Building and parks along plus the $64 million for social housing?

Even if it's just $48 million, that's 48 billion pennies and 153 Ballems -- based on the city manager's annual pay. Sure the city has a billion-dollar Property Endowment Fund (which doesn't meet nor does it publish a list of assets and values), but that $48 million could have been used for better things if the Village had been managed properly by the succession of NPA, COPE and Vision Vancouver councils.

While the city claims to put its stock in auditor KPMG, is it not time for the BC NDP to dust off that letter former leader Carole James sent to Auditor General John Doyle in January 2009? She requested an investigation into the Village's financing. There could not be a better time than now.

The only thing that was truly achieved at the April 12 briefing was a defeat of the city hall communications department's nonsensical attempt to ban reporters from Tweeting and blogging during the briefing. They claimed media outlets complained when a certain reporter (me!) Tweeted during the April 8 briefing. I did so openly and without any restrictions. None of my colleagues objected April 12. Why would they? It's another way to report to readers. The only reason for city hall to attempt an embargo was to control the message.

Enjoy the notices of city hall technical briefings -- all five of 'em! -- and the financial information from the April 12 edition. Bonus content is a Feb. 18, 2009 statement from Mayor Gregor Robertson, patting his party on the back for cutting interest costs to $90 million.


April 12 technical briefing on the Olympic Village





Technical Briefings advisories: collect the whole set!

Statement From the Office of the Mayor

Green Gregor to balance budget with bike tolls?

Vancouver city hall's latest bid to balance the budget is a plan to toll cyclists on downtown bike lanes.

A document obtained by QMI shows that sensors were embedded in the pavement along Dunsmuir and Hornby streets and the Burrard Bridge. A sole-source contract was awarded to Cubic Technologies, the San Diego company behind
TransLink's 2013 Compass card and fare gates, to sell the mandatory transponders to cyclists.

Cyclists will be required to pay $5 to affix the transponder to their bikes. They will be charged 25 cents per city block and be billed monthly by Verrus, which also handles mobile phone parking meter payments for the city.

A press conference is planned for noon April 1.

Lights on at the Green House

There are 8,760 hours in a year on Earth (8,784 in a leap year), but the World Wildlife Fund chooses one on the last Saturday of March for its Earth Hour promotion.

WWF reported $224,159,728 in revenue in 2010 and spent $186,770 on programs. WWF is a savvy marketer, having forged relations with Mars and perennial Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola. (Some readers might question WWF's intentions because of Coca-Cola's labour relations in Third World countries, as seen in the National Film Board's Coca Cola Case.)

WWF uses Earth Hour to stoke the flames of fear, particularly on climate change, and to earn a donation or two. Turn off your lights and the world will be a better place. Leave them on and you're going to bring the planet and humanity closer to the brink. Those who go with the flow get a shiny, happy feeling, then go about their lives for the next 8,700-plus hours until they can do it all over again. It may be the biggest single-day of publicity WWF gets in a year. Imagine all the people rushing to view the WWF website and use the donation portal -- things one can't do without electricity.

Earth Hour seems to have lost its novelty. In Vancouver, lights were on at the Vancouver Convention Centre (including the Olympic cauldron and spinning globe) and B.C. Place Stadium, where construction continues. Bon Jovi was rocking Rogers Arena and, I understand, it was not a hippy-dippy, acoustic affair in the dark. A Hollywood North film shoot closed Pender Street near Thurlow as floodlights turned night into day. A public art installation outside the Vancouver Public Library at Homer and Robson remained on.

City hall was mostly dim, but not the house of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. From the street, I could clearly see lights were on inside the front window on the main floor. Most of the Mayor's neighbours were also not drinking Earth Hour juice: one neighbour had Christmas lights on in what may have been a show of defiance against Mr. Green Capital. I found out later that the Mayor was in Calgary at the Inter-American Development Bank annual meeting. Evidently someone in his own house didn't get the Earth Hour memo. Or they all mistakenly thought that Vancouver is a big city without a single curious reporter.

I'm exercising discretion and not publishing the Mayor's home address. British Columbia politicians like former Premiers Bill Vander Zalm and Glen Clark gave up their privacy because of sleazy business deals that mixed their personal real estate with their political duties. I have no evidence that Robertson is in the same league. I'm also not going to publish the photograph of Robertson's house for now. I won't hesitate if his minions doubt my credibility.

Conservation is a noble goal, but the rhetoric and spin are outrageous. The world is not running out of oil or natural gas. It's just that it costs a lot of money and creates a lot of waste and pollution to extract and use such resources. Waste and pollution are not healthy, and wouldn't it be nice if more money could be spent on finding a cure for cancer or HIV, feeding the famished and housing the homeless.

The United Nations wants to spend $100 billion by 2020 from a climate change pool funded by taxpayers around the world, based on the conclusions of some (but not all) scientists that humans are to blame. Imagine if that money was spent instead to help victims of earthquakes and tsunamis rebuild their shattered lives and to do whatever is needed to prepare for the potential of deadly tremors and waves in the most vulnerable, seismically hyperactive places on Earth.

Fear of global warming is not something that keeps residents of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti; Banda Aceh, Indonesia; Chengdu, China; Christchurch, New Zealand; or Sendai, Japan up at night. Instead, it's the memories of dead friends and loved ones.

Mayor's Mysterious Middle Kingdom trip

Mayor Gregor Robertson was the world's most famous mayor in February 2010 when he waved the Olympic flag during the Vancouver 2010 closing ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium. Throughout 2010, he has made attempts to capitalize on the notoriety. But it has only led to questions that have not been adequately answered.

It has taken months to extract information about the Mayor's trip to New York City. The bill has now reached more than $10,000.

In September, Robertson led a trade mission to China. Among the expenses I found out was that Vancouver taxpayers were charged the equivalent of $500 to plant a cedar tree in sister city Guangzhou, China on Sept. 15.

A cash receipt was included in documents supplied to 24 hours after a Freedom of Information request about Mayor Gregor Robertson’s trade mission.

Robertson and assistant Lara Honrado visited China Sept. 4-16, while chief of staff Mike Magee went Sept. 7-14 and Coun. Raymond Louie Sept. 9-16. They submitted claims for a combined $27,327.03. Expenses were to be reimbursed by the taxpayer-funded Vancouver Economic Development Commission.

The four spent a total $7,760.20 on luxury hotel rooms at the St. Regis in Beijing, Ritz-Carlton Portman in Shanghai, Sheraton and Tuan Bo Lake Hotspring Hotel in Tianjin and the Shangri-La Hotel in Guangzhou.

Taxpayers got billed $2,184 for a lunch hosted at the South Sea Forest Park restaurant in Guangzhou on Sept. 16, but the names and affiliations of attendees were not disclosed.

The city also paid the Canadian consulate in Guangzhou $1,372 for interpreter services and a photographer and $468 to hire Beijing Liangdian Photography Services for Robertson’s Sept. 7 stops in Shijiazhuang and Baoding. The MayorofVancouver.ca website includes only seven photos from China.

Honrado, who accounted for $11,979.93 in expenses, did not respond to an interview request. Likewise, silence from Magee.

The trip included visits to the Shanghai World Expo and Tianjin World Economic Forum. Representatives of 22 companies joined Robertson on the trip. Three symbolic agreements were signed, but no contracts.

Let the wine and cheese begin!

The most exclusive party in Canada during the 2010 Winter Olympics may have been the one at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver before the Feb. 12 opening ceremony. The bill for the bash was $32,161.50.

It cost $14,000 to rent and set-up the Pacific Ballroom, $8,500 for food, $2,500 for the host bar and wines, $100 for a children's buffet, $1,750 for "reception food - placed - media," $900 for coffee break refreshments, plus service charges and applicable taxes.

The event was an opportunity for Canadian politicians to grip and grin with people more famous than them. A photographer paid $25,000 was at the ready to snap shots like the one above, which features lil' Gary Lunn, Canada's Minister of State for Sport and action movie star and former steroid-using bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California. Of course, it was all about international diplomacy and strengthening trade ties.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was among the guests. Guests put down their wine glasses and cheese plates briefly for a moment of silence for Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old luger who died earlier on the opening day of the 21st Winter Olympics while training at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

So, while we wait for Lunn, Canadian Heritage minister James Moore or even Treasury Board president Stockwell Day to tell us exactly how much Ottawa spent on the Olympics, do enjoy reading the menu, agenda and guest list for the Governor General and Prime Minister's shindig.

Canadian Reception
Pacific Ballroom
Feb. 12, 2010

Passed Canapes:

Cold
Hot smoked wild Fraser River salmon on bannock bread
Salt Spring Island goat cheese en croute
Beet cured Queen Charlotte Halibut, organic Barnston Island micro green
Phillo basquet with roasted organic vegetables

Hot
Petit Quebec tourtière
Howe Sound dungeness crab cake
Nova Scotia lobster tartelette
Chinatown crispy wonton prawn, sweet chili dipping sauce

Food Stations (very small offering)
Wild mushroom risotto (vegetarian) with Chiliwack (sic) free range pheasant
Gulf Island lamb 'lollipop' with a mustard and honey crust
Albeta beef tenderloin on a brioche
Digby scallop, citrus beurre blanc

Cheeses Station
Selection of Canadian cheeses
La "Corbeille du Boulanger"

Sweet station
Mini Nanaimo bars
Petit four
Assorted macaroons
Chocolate dipped strawberries


RECEPTION FOR VISITING HEADS OF STATE/GOVERNMENT
PRIOR TO OPENING CEREMONY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010
PACIFIC BALLROOM, FAIRMONT HOTEL VANCOUVER

15:15 ARRIVAL of Canadian dignitaries.

15:35 ARRIVAL of Official Party (Governor General and Prime Minister).

15:45 ARRIVAL of international dignitaries.

16:05 INTRODUCTION of the media by the Master of Ceremonies.

16:10 FORMAL REMARKS by the Master of Ceremonies.

16:11 INTRODCUTION of the official party to the stage by the Master of Ceremonies.

16:12 INTRODUCTION of the Prime Minister by the Master of Ceremonies.

16:13 REMARKS made by the Prime Minister.

16:16 THANKING of the first speaker and introduction of the Governor General by the Master of Ceremonies.

16:17 REMARKS made by the Governor General.

16:20 CONCLUSION of formal portion of reception by the Master of Ceremonies.

17:15 ANNOUNCEMENT by the Master of Ceremonies regarding departures for B.C Place for the Opening Ceremony.

Reception on the occasion of the Opening of the XXI Olympic Games
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada
February 12, 2009

GUEST LIST

HOSTS :

Leurs Excellences la très honorable Michaëlle Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Gouverneure générale du Canada
et monsieur Jean-Daniel Lafond

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
and Mrs. Laureen Harper

HEADS OF STATE / GOVERNMENT

CZECH REPUBLIC
His Excellency Jan Fischer
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
and Mrs. Daniela Fischerová

ESTONIA
His Excellency Toomas Hendrik Ilves
President of the Republic of Estonia
and Mrs. Evelin Ilves

GEORGIA
His Excellency Mikheil Saakashvili
President of Georgia
and Mr. Levan Vashalomidze

LATVIA
His Excellency Valdis Zatlers
President of the Republic of Latvia
and Mrs. Lilita Zatlere

MONACO
His Serene Highness Prince Albert II
Principality of Monaco
and Ms. Charlene Wittstock

NETHERLANDS
Mr. Jan Peter Balkenende
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
and Mr. Henk M. Brons

RUSSIA
His Excellency Alexander Zhukov
Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation
and Ms. Ekaterina Zhukova

SWITZERLAND
Her Excellency Doris Leuthard
President of the Swiss Confederation (Switzerland)
and Madame Sandra Läuchli

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The Honourable Joe Biden
Vice President of the United States of America
and Dr. Jill Biden

OTHER DIGNITARIES

His Royal Highness
Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat
(HRH Crown Prince Frederik)
and HRH Crown Princess Mary

His Royal Highness
Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Oranje
(HRH Prince Willem-Alexander)
and HRH Princess Máxima

His Royal Highnesses
The Crown Prince of Norway
(HRH Crown Prince Haakon)

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal

The Honourable William McKeeva Bush
Premier of the Cayman Islands
and Ms. Kerry Bush

Monsieur Pascal Couchepin
Grand Témoin de la Francophonie
et Monsieur Alexandre Fasel

Son Excellence monsieur Abdou Diouf
Secrétaire général de la Francophonie
et Son Excellence Ousmane Pave

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of the State of California
and Ms. Maria Shriver
(+ Christopher Schwarzenegger will be in an adjoining room with other children)

The Honorable Chris Gregoire
Governor of the State of Washington
and Mr. Mike Gregoire

International Olympic Committee - IOC

Comte Jacques Rogge
Président du COI - IOC President
et Madame Anne Rogge

Mr. Richard W. Pound, O.C., O.Q.
Canadian IOC Member
and Ms. Julie Keith

Ms. Rebecca Scott (TBC)
Canadian IOC Member
and Mr. Justin Wadsworth (TBC)

Canadian Olympic Committee

Mr. Michael Chambers
Canadian Olympic Committee President
and Ms. Joan Chambers

Monsieur Marcel Aubut
Président du Comité olympique canadien / Canadian Olympic Committee President

VANOC

Mr. John Furlong
and Mrs. Darlene Poole

Mr. Ruston E.T. (Rusty) Goepel
and Ms. Lindy Goepel

Monsieur Jacques Gauthier
et madame Manon Girardin

OTHER CANADIAN DIGNITARIES

The Honourable Chuck Strahl, P.C., M.P.
and Ms. Deb Strahl

The Honourable Stockwell Day, P.C., M.P.
and Mrs. Valorie Day

The Honourable James Moore, P.C., M.P.
and Dr. James Moore

The Honourable Gary Lunn, P.C., M.P.

The Honourable Peter G. MacKay, P.C., M.P.
and Ms. Jana Juginovic (fiancée)

The Honourable Rona Ambrose, P.C., M.P.
and Ms. Colleen Chapchuk (mother)

The Honourable Peter Van Loan, P.C., M.P.
and Ms. Cheryl Carson

The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., M.P.
and Mrs. Karen Prentice

Mr. Michael Ignatieff
Leader of the Official Opposition
and Ms. Zsuzsanna Zsohar

Ms. Alice Wong, M.P. 
(M.P. for Richmond)

Mr. John Weston, M.P. 
(MP West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country)
and Mrs. Donna Weston

His Honour the Honourable Steven L. Point, O.B.C.
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
and Her Honour Mrs. Gwendolyn Point

L'honorable Jean Charest
Premier ministre du Québec
et madame Michèle Dionne

The Honourable Darrell Dexter
Premier of Nova Scotia

The Honourable Gordon Campbell, M.L.A.
Premier of British Columbia
and Mrs. Nancy Campbell

The Honourable Robert Ghiz
Premier of Prince Edward Island
and Dr. Kate Ellis Ghiz

The Honourable Ed Stelmach
Premier of Alberta
and Mrs. Marie Stelmach

The Honourable Floyd Roland
Premier of the Northwest Territories

The Honourable Dennis Fentie
Premier of the Yukon

The Honourable Eva Aariak
Premier of Nunavut

His Worship Gregor Robertson
Mayor of Vancouver
and Mrs. Amy Robertson
(+ Tara, Satchel and Jinagh Robertson - will be in an adjoining room with other children)

His Worship Ken Melamed
Mayor of Whistler
and Ms. Uschi Scherer

His Worship Malcolm Brodie
Mayor of Richmond
and Mrs. Christine A. Brodie

Chief Leonard Andrew (TBC)
Chief of Lil'wat Nation
and Mrs. Florence Andrew

Chief Ernest Campell (TBC)
Chief of the Musqueam Nation
and guest

Chief Bill Williams
Chief of the Squamish Nation
and Ms. Julie Baker

Chief Justin George
Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation
and Mrs. Heidi George

Chief Shawn Atleo
National Chief of the Assembly of the First Nations
and Mrs. Nancy Atleo

National Chief Betty Ann Lavallée, C.D., Q.J. (Ret'd)
National Chief, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
and Ms. Jessica Bolduc

Ms. Mary Simon
National Inuit Leader and President of ITK 
and Mr. Whit Fraser

Mr. Clément Chartier
Métis National Council President

Ms. Jeannette Corbiere Lavell
President, Native Women's Association of Canada 
and Ms. Merle Greene

The Honourable Nancy Greene Raine, Senator
Canada's Olympic Ambassador for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games
and Mr. Alan E. Raine