Clark outruns conflict of interest train, but BC Rail still runs

Before I get into how Premier Christy Clark scored a rare victory in the final week before the official election campaign and how independent MLA John van Dongen has serious reservations about how the game was refereed, you must see this.

It is a letter to me from the private contractor who handles Freedom of Information requests for BC Rail. 

Yes, BC Rail still exists as a legal entity, even though CN took over the railway after the controversial 2003 privatization. (Read the A-to-Z primer on the BC Rail scandal from The Tyee here. Listen to The Investigators documentary from CKNW AM 980 here.)

BC Rail doesn't want you or me to know what happened at board meetings from 2003 and 2004, until sometime after the May 14 provincial election. It wants to consult with an unspecified public body before deciding what, if anything, it will release by May 29. Some of these records are now a decade-old. Why should they be kept secret? 

The reason was not given, but I am very curious. The BC Rail board of directors in 2003 included Jim Shepard, the former forestry, pharmaceuticals, military and construction equipment bigwig and Clark loyalist behind the Concerned Citizens For B.C. anti-Adrian Dix ad campaign. 

Don't forget how the BC Liberals fought tooth-and-nail to block Auditor-General John Doyle from seeing a copy of the $6 million indemnity agreement that forgave aides Dave Basi and Bob Virk of their legal bills after their surprise guilty plea in October 2010. That's the same John Doyle that a Liberal-dominated committee chose to replace as Auditor-General. Doyle has a habit of asking tough questions and offering critical opinions that don't correspond with the government's desired spin on topics ranging from BC Hydro's funny math to the folly of carbon offsets. 

BCRC 13002 Extension Letter

Regina lawyer Gerald Gerrand submitted his opinion on April 9 to B.C. Conflict of Interest Commissioner Paul Fraser in van Dongen’s Sept. 21 complaint about whether Clark was in a conflict of interest during the 2003 privatization of BC Rail. 

Gerrand was put on the case after van Dongen discovered that Fraser was in conflict of interest because his son, John Paul Fraser, is an assistant deputy minister appointed by Clark. 

“It is a major thrust of the complainant’s written submissions that a reasonable interpretation of the available information in 2003 is that Ms. Clark knew she had a conflict or apparent conflict of interest in the BC Rail matter, that she should have recused herself form all aspects of the issue from start to finish, and that in failing to do so she failed to observe her statutory obligations under the Act."

“Ms. Clark was not in a position of conflict of interest or apparent conflict of interest in relation to the BC Rail matter as alleged by the complainant Mr. van Dongen," Gerrand concluded.

“I'm not satisfied we have facts,” van Dongen told me. “That was ultimately the mission I felt the public was entitled to a full accounting of the facts, what she did, why she did it. What was her involvement? There were serious inconsistencies. Some of the inconsistencies that gave rise to the complaint were not dealt with, they were deemed outside the scope of the Conflict of Interest Act.” 

“There is no appeal under the Act, this is an interesting area of law where we have a law on the books which normally should have similar status to any other law. But this one doesn't get tested in court where quite frankly it would be better if it was. Because everything would be out in the open and a wittiness would have to testify under oath out in the open and it would be subject to cross examination. The process we have here is entirely secret, while we have the benefit of what the commissioner chose to put in his report, we don't have the benefit of the complete interviews and transcripts and documents.”

Van Dongen had a bad gut feeling when he met Gerrand to give his testimony on Jan. 21. 

“From the line of questioning, which appeared to be from the point of view of defence lawyer questioning a plaintiff, which shouldn't be the context here under the law, I became more concerned about the process,” van Dongen said. “It seemed to be questions led by someone representing her, as opposed to a neutral fact-finder, which I believe the public is entitled to under this legislation.”

“There's a very consistent theme to condemn anyone or anything that is viewed as adverse to Christy Clark's view of the world and that applies to potential witnesses like Basi and Virk, and any testimony they would be checked and tested and viewed with sufficient caution, but it's still evidence. 

“And similarly the comments (in Gerrand's opinion) about Alex Tsakumis or any other blogger. The suggestion that absolutely everything that's posted on a blog has no credibility, it wears a little thin and it's disappointing to see Gerald Gerrand pick up that theme.”

(Tsakumis, who revealed new, untested evidence of the BC Rail scandal on his blog, was neither contacted nor named by Gerrand. Gerrand only identified Tsakumis as a "political blogger." Was that because Tsakumis revealed how Gerrand financially supports the Liberal Party of Canada, the same federal political party as Clark?)

“The bias of the commissioner shows, he's not a neutral fact finder. Admittedly some of it's subtle, but some of it's not so subtle,” van Dongen said.

Van Dongen had much to say to me about three specific points in Gerrand's report. 

GERRAND: “Ms. Clark confirms that she attended cabinet meetings on the following days when matters related to the sale and/or lease of assets of BC Rail were a subject of some discussion: March 27, 2002, Dec. 4, 2002, June 18, 2003, Oct. 29, 2003, Nov. 19, 2003 (recusal on the BC Rail issue).”

Van Dongen: “He confirms the meetings she was in and the relevant ones for my submission... The meeting of July 23, I find it very hard to believe she wasn't in that meeting, but I would like to see more detail. 

“The emails of July 27, 2003 between Kieran to Bornmann and Bornmann back to Kieran give very detailed information that come out of cabinet that I don't believe were fabricated, there was no basis for someone fabricating that. 

“When the email is as explicit as Kieran saying to Bornmann, talk to Christy find out what's happening, words to that effect, there needs to be serious cross-examination of that, the issues around that memo, the issues around the July 23 meeting. We don't have anything conclusive around that.” 

(Read more about Bornmann in Canadian Lawyer Magazine's story "Admitted briber gets green light to practise law in Ontario.")

GERRAND: “Ms. Clark was present at the Oct. 29, 2003 meeting at which BC Rail was discussed. Following that cabinet meeting, Ms. Clark met with Commissioner Oliver in the afternoon at his office for approximately 90 minutes.... Ms. Clark has testified that she does not recall whether it was she or Commissioner Oliver who made the connection between (then-husband Mark Marissen’s Burrard Communications) contract with CIBC WM (the company handling the sale) and the BC Rail file, but she states it was discussed. While she did not consider there was a conflict of interest. Commissioner Oliver indicated that he would consider the question further and in the interim, she should be cautious.“It is Ms. Clark’s recollection that following her meeting with Commissioner Oliver on Oct. 29, 2003 she had no further involvement respecting the BC Rail issue.”

Van Dongen: “She goes to a cabinet meeting and after that on the same day has a meeting for 90 minutes, was the meeting set up ahead of time or did she ask for it on the spur of the moment after the cabinet meeting? We don't know that. 

“A one and a half hour meeting is a very long meeting on a so called conflict that they both claim now was not a conflict at all. She doesn't recall who raised, who made the connection. You mean it came up by accident? There's a huge unanswered question here about why she went to the meeting.

“It is relevant to ask why would she do these disclosures on a very superficial basis, leave the impression with everyone she was declaring a conflict of interest, we find out now there was absolutely no conflict, it was black and white. It's relevant to ask: why'd you go through all that drama?”

GERRAND: “While Mr. Bornmann was unable to confirm the authenticity of that specific document ( Pilothouse June 24, 2003 briefing note about the June 18, 2003 cabinet meeting attended by Clark)... I will assume for purposes of this discussion that  it is authentic...”

Van Dongen: “A fascinating statement. Unable or unwilling? He remembers enough detail to say it was different than the one the RCMP showed him. It's interesting when you read the transcript of Bornmann's interview with the RCMP, the detail that he claims he can remember and then everything that he doesn't recall. Some of what he doesn't recall and some of what he does remember is pretty self-serving in terms of the narrative that ultimately unfolded here. This guy has no credibility, he wasn't put under oath, he responded to written questions. But he goes out of his way to claim that she was not a source for anything. How does he explain the July 27 memo, that wasn't put to him?”

“You had a person two-and-a-half years ago presenting herself as candidate for leader of the party and, in turn, the position of premier, which is the most powerful and responsible position in B.C. It behooves us to know everything we can about the candidate, it certainly behooves us to look at past performance, and where there are gaps of information, it behooves us to ask the questions. I’m simply motivated by getting the facts. 

"To suggest I'm an accuser, is not legitimate. To suggest I don't like Christy Clark is irrelevant."

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. 

The trials and tribulations of TOIFA

When it's all over, will the inaugural Times of India Film Awards in Vancouver be considered a quick win or a case of haste makes waste?

The British Columbia government gave an arm of the Times of India Group a $9.5 million, sole-source contract last December to manage, conceptualize, plan and produce the event. It budgeted another $1.5 million on a fashion show and business conference, among other things. The budget was $11 million. What will be the final tally?

The government doesn't want you or me to see the contract and business case before TOIFA. It could be released under Freedom of Information after mid-April. I'll keep you posted.

I reported on CKNW AM 980 on Jan. 25 that there had been a solid bid submitted for the International Indian Film Academy Awards, but talks broke-off between the government and promoter Wizcraft. Here is the bid book for the proposed June 21-23 IIFA festival, which would have been a regional celebration of Indian culture. It would have also been after the provincial election.

Lux boss Ashok Todi

With only 10 weeks between the Jan. 22 announcement and the event itself, TOIFA failed to land a big-bucks Canadian title sponsor. Big, mainstream, national brands weren't willing to open their wallets for a first-time event at such short notice.

I revealed on the Simi Sara Show on CKNW AM 980 that TOIFA did find a title sponsor, Lux Cozi, which is well-known in India. And not just for the underwear it makes and markets. Listen to The Investigators podcast here.

In a nutshell: Chairman Ashok Todi was implicated in the death of a 30-year-old man who married his daughter, Priyanka, in 2007. Rizwanur Rahman's body was found beside train tracks in Kolkata. Murder charges didn't stick, but Todi and six others (including his brother and three cops) were accused of "abetting suicide."

Tourism Minister Pat Bell's office referred questions to TOIFA spokeswoman Laura Ballance about Lux and Todi. Ballance wouldn't comment because the matter is before the courts.

When I get the contract via FOI, I will be curious to find out if the government really signed it without including a clause requiring it be consulted on the types of sponsors, to ensure they are aligned with the values of B.C.

Bell already put his foot in his mouth when he proclaimed in the Legislature on March 5 that TOIFA was "sold out." That was not true. Thousands of seats remained empty for the Pacific Coliseum concert on April 4. Organizers admitted they sold 4,800 in the arena, which can hold 17,000 for a full concert. There were more than 500 entries on Craigslist from people hoping to unload their tickets to the April 6 awards ceremony at B.C. Place. TicketMaster still has a wide selection across several pricing categories. Various websites have popped up, offering discount tickets. One of them is TOIFA Events. It is unclear whether they are officially TOIFA-authorized.

Clark on her 2011 India tour

TOIFA has claimed it changed the configuration to expand capacity at B.C. Place from 20,000 to 35,000. A 22-page sponsorship prospectus drafted in December shows that the April 6 event was always planned for "35,000 ticket holders and invitees."

One of those who will be there is Premier Christy Clark, in her $750, custom-made sari from Surrey.

Need more? Here is my latest from Business in Vancouver from April 5. And, in The Tyee, a look back at Music '91, a post-Expo 86 tourism promotion throughout B.C. in 1991 that was supposed to help the ruling Social Credit Party, but instead backfired.

Here's hoping the TOIFA awards show is a success, but I can't help but wonder: is history repeating?

Did you receive tickets to TOIFA from a source other than TicketMaster? Do you have questions about the legitimacy of your tickets? Please contact me. 

TOIFA Supporter and Hospitality Package by BobMackin

Toifa Sponsorship Experience by BobMackin

Of Times of India and Taxpayers of British Columbia

A lot is at stake on the first weekend of April in Vancouver, and I'm not referring to Canada's Davis Cup quarterfinal tie with Italy at Thunderbird Arena.

Instead, this post is about the inaugural Times of India Film Awards, which feature a concert on April 4 at the Pacific Coliseum and the gala awards at B.C. Place Stadium on April 6. Thousands of tickets are available, even after Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training Minister Pat Bell said in Question Period on March 5, during an exchange with the NDP's Raj Chouhan, that it was "sold out."

The British Columbia government was bidding to bring the International Indian Film Academy awards to Vancouver in June 2013, but negotiations broke down with producer Wizcraft International of Mumbai in May 2012.

Elephant in the room: Clark clutching the TOIFA trophy.

So Premier Christy Clark created a pre-election Bollywood awards show under the guise of promoting B.C. as a tourist destination for Indians with a broadcast on Sony Television in India. It was announced Jan. 22 -- just 72 days before the event.

I took a critical look at the $11 million-plus, taxpayer-subsidized event on The Investigators on CKNW AM 980 on Jan. 25. Here is the podcast.

Depending on how you look at it, TOIFA is the scandal-plagued BC Liberals' last hurrah before an election they're expected to lose or a desperate, multicultural outreach ploy to gain votes from the 260,000-plus Indo-Canadians in B.C. Not surprisingly, no mainstream, Canadian brand has sponsored TOIFA; sophisticated companies tend not to invest in unproven properties, especially when faced with such little advance notice.

Only five companies well-known within the Indo-Canadian community have come forward. The values and structures of the deals have not been disclosed. Toronto's 2011 IIFA had 18 months lead-time and was able to compile an impressive sponsor roster, topped by CIBC, one of Canada's biggest banks.

As much as Bell and Clark try to downplay, distract or deny, they refuse to show British Columbians in a timely manner whether due diligence was applied to this venture before Treasury Board approved. I asked, via Freedom of Information, for the business case and contract. If it exists, the government won't give it to me before the awards. (See the bottom of this post.)

I did get confirmation, via a separate FOI request, that the government made a sole-source award of a $9.5 million contract to BCCL International Events Private Ltd., the Times of India Group's events arm. That contract was effective Dec. 12, 2012. (See below.)

What does this mean?

Quite simply, we may never know how our money was spent. Times of India Group is a private, foreign company. As such, it is outside the FOI law. The government's contractual sleight of hand is a likely legacy of the 2011 IIFA event in Toronto, where the CBC and other media outlets eventually got detailed spending reports via FOI.

The news only gets worse for TOIFA, after the Surrey Board of Trade issued a March 28 news release slamming the promoter for failing to schedule an event in Surrey, where 30% of residents are South Asian. The bid book for IIFA (which you can read here) included letters of support from Mayor Dianne Watts and Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman. Suggested events included a Bollywood film festival at Surrey's Strawberry Hill cinemas. I broke the news about the imminent Surrey snub on March 6 in Business in Vancouver.

Blaming the Times of India Group for the snub doesn't add up. The BC Liberals let the contract and hold the purse. As the saying goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune. Might Clark and co. have punished Surrey for turning down the Gateway Casino application to city council the weekend before the TOIFA news conference? According to Vancouver Desi, Surrey's Sikh community played a key role in the anti-casino lobby. A March 2 TOIFA fashion show was held at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond -- a casino in a municipality other than Surrey.

TOIFA has also stirred anger within the Indo-Canadian community. Vikram Bajwa, a disenchanted BC Liberal in Surrey, has announced plans for a protest outside TOIFA events to oppose the taxpayer-subsidy.

Much more to come on TOIFA...

Have you obtained TOIFA tickets from a source other than TicketMaster? How much did you pay? Did you get them for free? Please email me and tell me your story. 

Times of India, Taxpayers of British Columbia

Times of India Film Awards -- The Cliffhanger

Pandas for the PM, elephant for the Premier

Prime Minister Stephen Harper received two giant pandas as a gift from the People's Republic of China on March 25 in Toronto. Female Er Shun and male Da Mao will make Canada their home for the next decade.

Meanwhile, Premier Christy Clark is expected to receive an Indian elephant on behalf of British Columbians as a gift for hosting the inaugural, April 4-6 Times of India Film Awards in Vancouver. 

TOIFA trophy unveiling on Jan. 22 in Vancouver.

TOIFA has been dogged by controversy since the Jan. 22 announcement because of the $11 million taxpayer subsidy and the timing, just five weeks before the provincial election. Tickets are still available. Many tickets.

Tourism Vancouver is having fun with TOIFA.

The special mammal cargo from the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary was sent as a gift of the Government of India, aboard the freighter Prabhu Daya, with a veterinarian and a trainer. The Singapore-flagged bulk carrier arrived in Port Metro Vancouver last week from Mumbai and the pachyderm was delivered under cover of night to a secret barn at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove (Fort Langley-Aldergrove's MLA is Deputy Premier Rich Coleman).

The two-tonne female elephant named Murkha was chosen because it was born Feb. 26, 2011, the day Clark won her party's leadership contest. Murkha is expected to be featured in the "Jai Ho" grand finale number of the gala awards at B.C. Place Stadium; a loading bay at the stadium has been outfitted as Murkha's "dressing room." The Times of India Film Awards' trophy features a black elephant holding a film reel in its trunk. 

Spokeswoman Avril Tromper said a photo opportunity, featuring Clark and Coleman riding Murkha the Elephant, is expected to happen just before noon on April 1.

Obituary: Harmonized Sales Tax of British Columbia

HARMONIZED SALES TAX OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (born: July 1, 2010-died: March 31, 2013): The Harmonized Sales Tax died peacefully across the Province of British Columbia at the end of March 31, 2013.

HST, as it was better known, was a long-term resident of a public policy hospice since the loss of a province-wide, mail-in referendum on Aug. 26, 2011 left it immobilized. The events of Aug. 26, 2011 also bruised the collective ego of the ruling B.C. Liberal Party, which will be long remembered for helping prolong HST's life to the detriment of its popularity.  

The victim of death-by-democracy was originally announced July 23, 2009 by Premier Gordon Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen, who jointly claimed the tax reform measure would boost investment and job creation. It would be the “single-biggest” thing to improve B.C.’s economy, they said -- but they said it just 10 weeks after winning a provincial election in which their campaign pledged not to harmonize.

The HST Stickman, in happier days.

The value-added tax was a multi-stage merger of the 1948-established, 7% Provincial Sales Tax (also known as the social services tax) and 5% federal Goods and Services Tax. 
Born July 1, 2010, HST was never widely welcomed nor respected by the majority of citizens. 

HST increased the prices of airline tickets within Canada, funeral services, real estate fees, health club memberships, dry cleaning, haircuts, tickets for movies, concerts and sporting events, plumbing repairs, and professional services. 

Besides the 2010 Winter Olympics, the revenue HST brought in helped pay for the $514 million renovation of B.C. Place Stadium, the $17 million B.C. Jobs Plan advertising campaign, the $11 million-plus Times of India Film Awards, the Premier's Office's $475,000 credit card bill, her $201,000-plus charter flights to news conferences and programs such as the B.C. Liberals' Multicultural Outreach Strategy and the Pacific Carbon Trust's purchase of carbon offsets -- which the Auditor General called a waste of taxpayers' money. 

The film industry and manufacturers loved it, because they said it simplified paperwork and reduced the cost of doing business. The Liberal-allied Smart Tax Alliance was its biggest booster. But real estate agents, restaurateurs and publicans (among many) hated it. The HST (coupled with a more powerful Canadian dollar) stimulated a newfound passion for cross-border shopping. It plunged Gordon Campbell’s approval rating fell to 9% and he resigned Nov. 3, 2010. 

HST was the product of the stubborn realization by Campbell that British Columbia’s deficit was understated during the 2009 provincial election and the financial risks of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics were far greater than anticipated. While insisting the idea was hatched after the election, documents released via Freedom of Information proved B.C. officials were talking with federal counterparts early in 2009. Hansen was even briefed about the HST in March 2009.

The Fight HST campaign led by ex-Social Credit Premier Bill Vander Zalm and organized by NDP strategist Bill Tieleman successfully pointed out that the HST was a shift of the tax burden from business to individuals. Their pivotal Sept. 19, 2009 rally on the site of the future Olympic cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza led to a petition that met the threshold of 10% of registered voters across the province. The 700,000-plus signature petition was delivered to Elections B.C. in June 2010 and it withstood an August 2010 B.C. Supreme Court legal challenge in  brought by six Liberal-allied business groups. 

After Christy Clark won the B.C. Liberal leadership in February 2011 and came to power as Campbell’s successor, she dangled a carrot at voters, hoping they'd agree to vote to keep the HST in exchange for her pledge to cut the tax by 2% in 2014. The province’s $5 million stickman ad campaign that was supposed to be informative, not persuasive. Advertising, by its very nature, is persuasive. For the HST, however, not enough people were persuaded to support the HST. 

The referendum received 1,610,125 votes, of which 881,198 (54.73%) were against the HST. It was hailed as a triumph for democracy by the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, despite the confusing wording of the referendum question (yes meant no). The result forced Clark to cancel her planned early election call for fall 2011. At the time, Clark was more popular than her party and could have won an election. Now, polls say 62% of British Columbians want a new government.

On April 1, 2013, the HST was finally replaced by the resurrected PST -- which had been called “better-stupid” by ex-Finance Minister Kevin Falcon -- and the returned GST.

The HST is survived by Gordon Campbell, Colin Hansen, Christy Clark, Kevin Falcon and his successor Mike de Jong, along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper played a special role, by enticing B.C. to sign up for the HST with a $1.6 billion lump sum transition payment to help pay the cost of the Olympics. 

Campbell won three terms as B.C. Premier, but failed to finish his last one. He is now Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, thanks to an appointment from Harper. Hansen is a retiring Vancouver-Quilchena MLA who remains on Treasury Board and the Planning and Priorities Committee. 

No memorial service will be held, but the HST will no doubt be remembered when British Columbians vote in the May 14 provincial election. 

Donations and sympathy cards, in lieu of flowers, can be sent to the Christy Clark fund, ℅ Today's B.C. Liberals. 

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.