Exclusive: Russia buys Vancouver landmark in hostile takeover

Russian clowns fooling around at Science World in 2010 (Sochi 2014)

The Russians are coming (back), the Russians are coming (back)!

Four years after Science World was temporarily transformed into Sochi World during the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Russian Federation government is set to buy the Vancouver science museum for good. 

A management source indicated the Russians had executed a hostile, $50 million takeover of the False Creek East property, financed entirely by state-owned oil and gas giant Gazprom. All 100 employees received layoff notices. It is expected they will be replaced by temporary foreign workers from Vladivostok.

“They just walked in last week and gave us notice to be out April 15,” said Avril Duren, one of the curators. “They insisted in giving us the bad news in memos printed in cyrillic; we had to use Google Translate to figure out what was going on. I can sympathize with Ukrainians in Crimea.”

The government of President Vladimir Putin plans to showcase Russian space and military innovations in the main gallery, with an emphasis on Gazprom's evolution. Art, culture and sport will have a gallery of its own. It will also contain the world's first hall of fame for oligarchs, to celebrate their contribution to building the new Russia.

The Omnimax Theatre will be programmed to show Russian cinematic works like the classic Battleship Potemkin and 2013’s Stalingrad, the highest-grossing film in Russian history. There will be special showings of Russian medal winning performances from the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Paralympics, plus repeats of the opening and closing ceremonies. The giant, crying Russian bear from the closing ceremony will be on display outside Science World through the end of summer. 

“We feel Vancouver is the ideal city in North America from where we can begin to re-educate the west about Russia’s aspirations of greatness, its desire to spread the wings of the Russian eagle so as to give the world a giant Russian bear hug and never let go,” read a statement prepared by the Russian foreign ministry. “The good feelings created by the Sochi Games ignited a Russia-wide rediscovery of ourselves, it overflowed into Crimea and is ripe for sharing with our friends in the west.” 

A restaurant serving Russian fare, such as borscht, caviar and salads, will include a bar specializing in the finest imported vodka. A vodka distillery will be built on site. The building will serve as a hospitality centre during the Gazprom-sponsored 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup to help promote the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 

Opening day is scheduled for June 12, Russia’s national holiday. The planned opening day two-for-one promotion for heterosexual couples is sure to grab headlines and attract the attention of Canadian human rights watchdogs.

“Great... a potemkin village near the Olympic Village,” laid-off staffer Duren said of the Russian government plans. "Where are students supposed to go on science-related field trips now?"

Science World opened in 1985 as the Expo Centre to act as a preview for the following year’s Expo 86 world’s fair on transportation and communication. After the fair, the geodesic dome became the permanent home of the Arts, Science and Technology Centre. Leaks in the roof were fixed and a new low-energy decorative lighting system was installed.

In 2012-2013, Science World attracted 631,617 visitors and program participants and counted $10.774 million in revenue, $9.351 million expenses and a net surplus of $1.088 million. 

Russia's junior acting assistant vice deputy of foreign affairs, Deney Duraka, is scheduled to make the plan official at a news conference just before noon on April 1st.  

Caps off for successful student philanthropy project

A fledgling students’ group at Capilano University in North Vancouver has raised more than enough money to house the family of a sick child at Ronald McDonald House for a year.

Ronald’s Helping Heroes, a directed study project in the School of Business, hoped to raise $27,375 by Oct. 18. The sum represents 365 nights at $75 per, the cost of housing a family at the Angus Drive property. As of 7 p.m. on Oct. 15, they had raised $28,683. 

The project was the brainchild of Sian Hebden and Kimia Tajbakhsh, who did fundraising and cooking three times a week at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver over a two-month period last semester to more than satisfy the requirement of a one-day leadership class assignment. 

“We could've gone to the SPCA and walked dogs or fed the homeless, but Kimia and I decided we wanted to do more than that. We started researching charities, we decided we wanted to do something to help children who were sick and Ronald McDonald house fits that,” Hebden said. 

The group has gone classroom to classroom wearing pyjamas, some branded with Ronald’s Helping Heroes, and elicited donations from fellow students, faculty and staff.  

“We're trying to create what is known as a changemaker campus, we're trying to really build a community here of changemakers, people that go out and do projects,” Hebden said. “We want to create things that go outside the four walls of school and reading textbooks. We think it's important to 

engage in the community.”

The Oct. 18 deadline coincides with the annual We Day inspirational conference/concert at Rogers Arena. One of the members of Ronald’s Helping Heroes is scheduled to speak to the full house of Lower Mainland schoolchildren about the project. 

“In an organization there are approvals that have to happen, there hasn't been any drama, these kids are focused on getting it down in five weeks,” said instructor and convenor Carolyn Stern. “They've learned the process of how things get done.”

Stern has been teaching at Capilano for 13 years and student projects normally “stay within the department or stay within the faculty.” 

“I've never seen a student group get an office. They've been given this office to use for this project but they have bigger plans.”

The website, including an explanatory video, is the start of that under the Cap U We Do name. And donations are still accepted.  

Coming in 2016: a value added tax at the urban resort?

Sept. 24, 2013 was the anniversary of Premier Christy Clark's announcement that her chief of staff Ken Boessenkool resigned for an "incident of concern."

It was another great day for euphemisms. Let's have two.

John Winter, the CEO of the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce, is lobbying for the resurrection of the Harmonized Sales Tax. Except he’s not calling it that. Nosiree. It’s a Value-Added Tax. Get it? 

According to Barbara Yaffe in the Sept. 24 Vancouver Sun: 

“Winter says the chamber is not trying to resurrect an HST debate, which he calls 'a nonstarter' in this province. 'What we are proposing is a way to leave our HST angst behind and move B.C. forward into tax dialogues.
"By not taxing business inputs, a VAT would allow B.C. to grow its prosperity by encouraging entrepreneurs, innovators and job creators."

In a June 8, 2010 Georgia Straight editorial ("HST is key to a strong economy in B.C."), Winter used the terms in the same sentence. 

“Experience in Atlantic Canada and other jurisdictions confirms that shifting to a value-added sales tax like the HST paves the way for increased capital spending on machinery, equipment, structures, new technologies, and other productive assets.”

The HST was imposed on British Columbians by Premier Gordon Campbell on July 1, 2010. It was announced July 23, 2009, just over two months after the BC Liberals won an election in which they vowed to be disinterested in giving B.C. a VAT. In the July 23, 2009 government news release, the HST was described as a VAT.

"More than 130 countries, including 29 of the 30 OECD countries, along with four Canadian provinces, have adopted taxes similar to the HST, called value-added taxes, which reimburse most businesses for the tax they pay on their inputs."

The HST was phased out March 31, 2013 after almost 55% of those who voted opted to extinguish the tax and return to the Provincial Sales Tax. 

Winter, by the way, knows a different kind of vat. He had a three-decade management career with Molson Brewery, including presidency of its Western Canada division. 

Also on Sept. 24, Paragon Gaming unveiled its plans for "Vancouver's Urban Resort."  This, two-and-a-half months after I broke the story in Business in Vancouver about financially troubled Paragon inking a revised deal with B.C. Pavilion Corporation to lease land next to B.C. Place Stadium. The original $6 million a year toward the $514 million stadium renovation will now be $3 million if the complex gets built. 

Yes, this Las Vegas company doesn’t want us to call it the proposed, $535 million new home of Edgewater Casino or a hotel/casino complex. Especially after Vancouver city council threw a curveball and quashed its bid to expand the 75-table, 600-slot machine casino to 150 tables and 1,500 slots in April 2011. Instead, it gave Paragon the go-ahead to move the existing licence to land for lease beside B.C. Place Stadium. Paragon's original $6 million-a-year, 70-year lease was cut to $3 million in a deal agreed to in March 2013. 

The 2011-proposed casino/hotel complex

Paragon revealed the architect's drawings for the casino complex.... er, urban resort... and its investors at a Sept. 24 news conference. Evidently my invitation was lost in the mail. 

I did some digging and found the company's CEO Diana Bennett and president Scott Menke registered a company called Paragon Holdings (Vancouver Resort) ULC on Aug. 8. They are the only directors of the company. Bennett and Menke are also the sole directors of Paragon Gaming Training School Ltd. Their Paragon Development is not to be confused with Paragon Development Inc. of Richmond, whose directors are Julie Chan and Terry Lai. 

The corporate registry doesn’t yet show executives of Paragon backers 360 Vox or Dundee Corporation as directors of Paragon Holdings (Vancouver Resort) ULC. 

The 2013-proposed urban resort... yeah, urban resort

Montreal-headquartered, TSX-V-listed 360 Vox is the umbrella for Enchantment Group Hotels, Resorts and Spas, Sotheby's International Realty Canada, Blueprint Global Marketing and 360 blu. Its asset management portfolio includes Fairmont Hotels including the Empress in Victoria, Olympic in Seattle, Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Royal York in Toronto and Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. 360 Vox is also the project marketer for the CityCenter development in Las Vegas and developer of  two resorts in Dalian, China and three hotels in Cuba. 

Those Cuban properties are the subject of 360 Vox's $25.5 million lawsuit filed in Florida against the PGA of America. Vox 360 claimed PGA cancelled its licensing deal in December 2012 to use the PGA Village Cuba and PGA National Golf Academy Cuba names. 

Dundee Corp. owns 18% of 360 Vox and both companies are chaired by Ned Goodman who, according to the Globe and Mail, sleeps like a baby. Dundee, by the way, owns 58% of oil and gas exploration, development and production company Dundee Energy Ltd. and it owns 83% of Blue Goose Capital Corp., which bought the 14,052-acre Diamond S Ranch in Pavilion, B.C., for $14.8 million. Blue Goose, according to Dundee's annual report, is “focused on the production of clean protein.” (That’s another euphemism for another day.)

Vancouver Not Vegas coalition leader Sandy Garossino was not feeling enthusiastic about Paragon's euphemism. The casino development is not welcome and will be vigorously opposed, she said. Vancouver Not Vegas has already filed a petition, seeking a B.C. Supreme Court order to overturn city council's decision to allow the relocation.

“The people of Vancouver and Vancouver city council roundly rejected the first time this mega casino was proposed. Now we have the appearance of a smaller casino but there still has been no disclosure, there are still too many questions unanswered," Garossino said. "This is really an attempt to do an end run around city council. It makes no economic sense to do such a substantial development around a casino as small as the existing Edgewater is, it’s not going to anchor a development on a scale as being advanced here. We’re very skeptical this is the reality Vancouver is eventually going to have.” 

Yes, here comes another great casino debate about an urban resort.

Which is really just a value-added casino.

Exclusive: mutiny festering as internal survey claims city sanitation management rot

Vancouver trash workers unhappy, survey shows

The year started off seemingly well for City of Vancouver’s 1,600 outside workers when the garbage, recycling, street repair and parks and facilities maintenance workers got a four-year contract with 6.75% in pay raises.

Then came word of dissent among the rank-and-file, when the executive of CUPE Local 1004 wanted to suspend the stewards’ council. There were allegations that president Mike Jackson took unauthorized leave and that under his leadership, there were financial irregularities.

It got even worse on April 18 when a worker from another union, for reasons not entirely clear, attempted self-immolation in the CUPE Local 1004 office, destroying furniture, fixtures, equipment and files. 

In late May, CUPE’s national office intervened and fired the Local 1004 executive, including Jackson. 

The Province newspaper revealed Aug. 26 that Ronaldo Lising had been hired as a part-time trashman by City of Vancouver, despite a criminal record for drugs, guns and assault offences and membership in the Hells Angels when the RCMP busted the East End clubhouse in 2005. 

While the B.C. Civil Liberties Association believes criminals who have served their sentence should not be subject to discrimination, a Sept. 10 Province story further questions City of Vancouver hiring practices: who knew what and when and why won't city manager Penny Ballem or the manager who hired Lising, Mike Zupan, explain? The Province story mentions a staff survey, but it doesn’t show you the internal Sanitation Services Department survey.

You've come to the right place, because you can read the report below. 

It's called "Employee Engagement Notes: Day Shift and Afternoon Shift" and was compiled from table discussions in January 2013 sessions. The report is dated Feb. 19, 2013 and provided to me by a source concerned that city hall's ruling Vision Vancouver party does not care for the men and women who handle the city's waste and work in the least-glorious division of the city. 

Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver are intent on making Vancouver the world's greenest city by 2020, but there are serious questions about how Robertson and co. are managing the city's operations and finances in 2013. 

According to one of the comments, it is a “toxic work environment" in the city's sanitation department. But there is more. Much more. 

The top 10 selection of comments: 

• "Maps are 40 years out of date”
• “Mgmt. needs to follow and enforce the rules consistently”
• “Tell us the truth; tell us what you know and what you don't” 
• “Be consistent; stop changing story every week”
• “Rules are being broken conveniently and it’s ‘encouraged’ to get the work done”
• “Stop favouritism/nepotism”
• “Lying, no transparency, no communication, no accountability, no integrity”
• "They build resentment they don't build people"
• “When leaders pass the buck, you end up passing the buck”
• “Dysfunctional environment is the norm, rumours are constant”

Read the entire report below: 

Employee Engagement Notes: Day Shift and Afternoon Shift

Park Ranger keeps mind nimble amid OneCard kerfuffle

Below are photographs of a Vancouver Park Ranger passing time with a skill-testing newspaper crossword puzzle.

Vancouver Park Rangers are normally busy in summertime helping visitors enjoy the city's parks. Ambassadors of the flora and fauna.

Synonym for controversy...

That is not the photograph of a lazy Park Ranger. The proper word is bored. For this new assignment -- to be the eyes and ears of the Vision Vancouver dominated Board of Parks and Recreation at a half-dozen rebel community centres -- at least one Park Ranger became a modern equivalent of the Maytag Man.

This Park Ranger has been assigned to a community centre to intervene in a dispute and perform a job that he may actually not be licensed to perform. This is what the Park Rangers are qualified to do. Notice the lack of the word "security."

My source told me the photograph was shot the morning of Sept. 3 at Kensington Community Centre.

Kensington is one of the six community centres run by volunteer associations that are refusing to submit to Vancouver city hall's centralization of power and imposition of the OneCard universal access card. The other 16 community associations are toeing the line.

The rebel six pack of community centre associations filed this B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit against City of Vancouver on Aug. 20. City of Vancouver replied with this news release on Aug. 22. The six associations were notified a week later by the Park Board that their joint operating agreements will be cancelled on Dec. 31, 2013. Park Rangers were then deployed to keep an eye on things.

On Sept. 4, I sent a list of questions to Park Board Chair Sarah Blyth and general manager Malcolm Bromley, to find out more about the deployment of Park Rangers. Neither Blyth nor Bromley responded with answers, but I am hoping that this will spur them into action. Because you deserve to know.

I want to find out how many Park Rangers are being deployed to these community centres and at what cost to Vancouverites. I am also curious about the qualifications of the Park Rangers: Is it true that the Board of Parks and Recreation does not require Park Rangers to hold a provincial security licence under the Security Services Act, even though the services they provide include security? This job ad says Park Ranger candidates require a driver's licence and first aid certificate. A Grade 12 education is desired. Pay begins at $23 an hour. Not too shabby. Under B.C. law, workers have the right to refuse unsafe work.

The Park Rangers are members of CUPE local 15, but president Leanne Toderian and city sector representative Dierdre Bradshaw did not respond either. 

This is an open invitation to Blyth, Bromley and CUPE local 15 to have their responses published here. 

Also, if you're a Vancouver Park Ranger, please contact me confidentially. 

UPDATE (Sept. 9): Blyth did not respond, but vice-chair Aaron Jasper did. He said Park Ranger deployment to the six dissident community centres was mandated by general manager Malcolm Bromley after incidents on Aug. 20 and 23 at a community centre that Jasper refused to name. Jasper also refused to tell me how much this is costing Vancouverites.

"In one of the instances the general manager had to intervene and the person was actually escorted off the property by a Vancouver Police officer. and subsequently to that incident a WorkSafeBC investigation was initiated because of a staff complaint of potential harassment and threats to their ability to perform their work," Jasper said. "We have an obligation to provide a safe and supportive working environment. The politics and the disagreement between the associations and the park board is not an excuse for members of the public or association executive members to harass our staff, we make no apologies, I support the general manager's decision to have a park ranger on site."

VPD spokesman Const. Brian Montague confirmed there was an incident on Aug. 23 at Hillcrest Community Centre. "There was no allegation of an assault and no evidence indicating that one had occurred. The matter was resolved without charges." 

Riley Park/Hillcrest Community Association president Jesse Johl said he witnessed Hillcrest recreation supervisor Peter Fox wave his finger in association treasurer Todd Constant's face. Johl said Constant has been "on top" of the community centre's finances "to the point where we account for everything and as a lot of questions and staff don't like it." 

Bromley attended and told Constant he would be banned from the community centre. Constant reminded the general manager that there was a joint operating agreement between the parties and that he had no authority to ban community centre association executives from the community centre. Johl said the police officer who attended, Const. Savage, did not escort anyone away. 

"There was only one witness to the entire event, that was me," Johl said. "Todd was not being abusive, Todd was not being aggressive."

But back to the question about the Park Rangers' qualifications. 

Jasper admitted they're not required to be security-certified, but they are deployed "to help assure, there is a safe, secure work environment for our staff." 

"You're sort of fixating on that aspect, in my mind the issue here is why did the park board general manager feel compelled to take this action," Jasper said. 

"Our park rangers do go through conflict resolution training, they're out there in the public dealing with potentially very volatile situations…. they know what their limits are, so if it's a situation they deem requires a backup they get on the phone, they contact the police.   

"I'm confident they have adequate training. If our park rangers are qualified enough to be out there in the summer months in all sorts of instances across our park system, surely they're OK to be sitting in the lobby of a community centre just monitoring, making sure everyone is conducting themselves respectfully."

The last word goes to the Security Services Act, which states, in Section 2: 

"An individual must not engage in any kind of security work, or hold himself or herself out to be so employed or employable, unless the individual holds a valid security worker licence for that kind of security work."  

Another city staffer finds greener pastures

Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation is losing its second in command.

Deputy General Manager Peter Kuran's resignation was announced July 18 (see the email below). Kuran was Director of the Stanley District from January 2008 until October 2010 when he was promoted to Deputy GM.

No word yet on a replacement... or if there will be one. As more power is centralized in city hall, some insiders wonder whether Canada's only elected park department will be made redundant in years to come.

From: Boomhower, Pat On Behalf Of Bromley, Malcolm
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 4:40 PM
To: Park Board Commissioners - DL; Corporate Management Team (COV) - DL; PB All Staff (COV) - DL
Subject: Staff Announcement

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to announce that Peter Kuran is moving on.  It is with deep appreciation and recognition of the excellent work Peter has done at the Park  Board since 2008. Peter has been selected as the CEO of External Properties for the University of Victoria. This is a wonderful opportunity for Peter and his wife Kim and daughter Loren.

We will all miss Peter' s sense of humour and respectful  approach to managing issues. On a personal note I want to thank Peter for providing me with unwavering support and loyalty. He is a true gentleman and consummate professional.

We will be hosting Peter and his family at a going away celebration   Details to follow.


Malcolm

--------------------
Malcolm Bromley
General Manager
Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
2099 Beach Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6G 1Z4

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. 

B.C. horse racing future remains muddy

An April 12-published report says the uncertain future of aging Hastings Racecourse and the public’s perception of the potential danger to racehorses are among the biggest risks to the sport of kings in British Columbia.

Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver: "a stunning physical setting"

Published on the eve of Hastings’ 69-day, 2013 live season, the Horse Racing Industry Management Committee’s draft report was originally expected last summer. A final report will be released at an unspecified date after more consultation by the committee, which was struck in November 2009. 

The report expects the two-year Great Canadian Gaming Corporation lease extension at civic-owned Hastings to be followed by a long-term pact after 2014, but “the Hastings facility in particular is in need of upgrading, requiring significant capital expenditures. The business plan must reflect this need.”

Great Canadian promised upgrades when it was granted a casino licence in 2004, but balked at renovating the barns or building a parkade. 

Safety of the sport is also a concern. 

“A number of media outlets across North America have reported about thoroughbred horse injuries, deaths and drugging,” the report said. “The public perception regarding horse health has the potential to have a serious impact on any industry rejuvenation. The B.C. industry must continue to do all it can to make B.C. tracks as safe as possible and communicate effectively on this issue.”

Twenty horses died at Hastings from January 2010 to September 2011, according to figures released in December 2011. 

The report recommended thoroughbred and standardbred racing be decoupled and the breed associations and track operators form corresponding management groups. 

“The funding model should reflect this decoupling so that benefits derived from the execution of independent strategies flow to reward the breeds’ actions,” the report said. “A financial transparency program should be put in place to promote trust and understanding between industry partners.”

The report recommended a so-called “governance triangle,” whereby the thoroughbred and standardbred management groups report to the industry management committee and the financial working group. It also said B.C. Lottery Corporation should have a bigger hand in marketing the Teletheatre B.C. off-track betting parlors.

The report said the province’s 2004 support for slot machine installation at Hastings Racecourse and Fraser Downs flopped. A percentage of royalties was earmarked for the sport, including purses. 

“Unfortunately, revenues from the racetrack slot machines were, and continue to be, lower than anticipated.”

Live racing wagering was up 7.6% in 2012 at the tracks, but the amount wagered on simulcast at the tracks and via teletheatres continued to fall. Fraser Downs’ handle fell 9.8% and Hastings fell 7.9%. Teletheatre BC fell 1.9%. Overall, a 4.4% drop.  

"In the past 15 years consumer preferences have changed. Horse racing is no longer the only legal form of gambling in the province, and it is far from the only option British Columbians have for a fun afternoon or evening out. Horse racing is now in a much tougher entertainment environment.”

The province topped-up the combined $6 million slot machine revenues with $4 million extra in 2011 and 2012. Last December, the provincial government replaced the top-up grants by increasing the industry’s share of net slot machine revenue to 25% from 15.5%. The net effect is funding will remain at $10 million a year.  

The report said the industry has to become less reliant on government. It also noted Hastings’ competitive advantages, such as a hyper-social sporting event with free-flowing movement of people; a stunning physical setting with the view of the North Shore mountains; and “celebrity ambassador” 

Mario Gutierrez, the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winning jockey aboard I’ll Have 

Another. Mexican import Gutierrez honed his skills at Hastings and returned to race on several occasions after his Cinderella springtime. 

The 23-page draft report was released at 5 p.m. on April 12, the last Friday before the provincial election’s formal April 16 start. Industry stakeholders were given a preview earlier in the day. The government did not respond to a request for media access. 

Click here to listen to a 2012 documentary on the past, present and uncertain future of horse racing in British Columbia, from The Investigators on CKNW AM 980. 

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.