Friends helping friends: The story of how the BC Liberal – SNC Lavalin connection persists with Christy Clark.

Posted on by Laila

Click on the photo below to see Gwyn Morgans person contributions to the BC Liberals and Christy Clark.

Gwyn Morgan

Now…. let’s go back and read this story, detailing some of the conflicts behind the proposed Victoria LRT line, SNC and Clark.

The BC Liberal – SNC Lavalin connection: Moral hazard is when they take your money and then are not responsible for what they do with it.

And yes…. no surprise here… SNC gets the new skytrain line project:

SNC Lavalin awarded Evergreen Line rapid transit project in Metro Vancouver

Former SNC head Pierre Duhaime formally charged with fraud.  ( yes that would be the very same Pierre whose indignant quotes regarding the corruption report in Quebec are included in the first link above)

In a related story, the revelations and allegations keep piling up in Quebec’s Charbonneau inquiry into corruption in the construction industry there : an engineering firm confirmed today that it engaged in  “inappropriate conduct” in the financing of political parties in Quebec and the awarding of municipal contracts as outlined in recent allegations to the province’s corruption inquiry. http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Charbonneau+allegations+Genivar+confirms+inappropriate/7948176/story.html

One can only wonder if there is a politician in British Columbia who is ready to take on similar and ongoing allegations relating to bidding “irregularities” for both provincial and municipal contracts in our fine province, several of which I’ve written about here on this site.

When companies bidding on contracts:

  • wine and dine politicians and senior staff members;
  •  engage in the excessive financing of political parties and candidates;
  • advise and mentor politicians while holding active contracts;
  • provide access to entertainment, go on personal vacations with and otherwise provide gains to provincial and municipal politicians that would, without a doubt, be considered a conflict of interest or influence peddling….

… then we have entered the realm of corruption.

It has been revealed in the ongoing corruption inquiry in Quebec that Habs tickets were the currency of choice for companies eager to corrupt city and provincial officials and staff. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/02/10/habs-ticket-corruption-inquiry.html?cmp=rss

Hmm…anybody sweating yet?

We find ourselves with a premier who campaigned on bringing open government to the people and then quickly revealed herself as being more secretive than Campbell ever was. A premier who mandates transparency and accountability to ensure tax dollars are being spent wisely to give British Columbians a better quality of life… but applies that mandate selectively, targeting her foes and protecting her friends.

My repeated calls for a full investigation into the government bidding process within all ministries of the government of B.C. ( and certain municipalities) have gone unheeded or acknowledged by any party in British Columbia, even when bolstered with a federal report indicating a lack of accountability, experience and transparency in the process.

To do anything less, is to condone corruption within government by our elected officials, by those deemed with the power to stop it.

33 thoughts on “Friends helping friends: The story of how the BC Liberal – SNC Lavalin connection persists with Christy Clark.”

  2. “The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Franklin D. Roosevelt, said that in his Message to congress on April 29, 1938. I think he knew what he was talking about. Reading your post, it seems to me that private power runs our Province. Armed with your information, I believe it’s time to call it what it is – more and more it looks like we have fascist governence.

    Over the weekend (on twitter) I called the Federal Government a fascist state for that very same reason. I was amazed that anyone would deny it. I was told that it was insulting to say such things… but you know, when we can’t figure out what is happening with our democracy we are in trouble. Winston Churchill originally praised Mussolini for getting tough on crime and getting Italy back to work. Had Churchill the benefit of hindsight – I doubt he would have seen it that way. Western societies have seen this before.

    Thanks Laila, for all that you do to keep up the pressure.

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    1. Thank you Priscilla, for your continued support and belief!

      That’s why democratic reform is essential for good government.It is ridiculous to accept such large donations – $100,000 from Gwyn Morgan, the chairman of the Board of SNC Lavalin, http://www.snclavalin.com/about_board.php?lang=en , a man who had stated he is interesting in helping shape public policy….. advising our premier, while SNC has current contracts, is bidding on contracts and being awarded contracts?

      If that isn’t a true or perceived conflict of interest for our premier, the BC Liberals and SNC Lavalin, I don’t know what is. That first link, titled Moral Hazard, brings forth some concerning questions, that when compared to revelations and admissions in the Quebec Corruption inquiry, make me shake my head at why no politician is standing up and calling for the same commission to occur here.

      It’s all the same crap in a different pile. This kind of corruption is flying entirely under the radar here in BC.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. As a former SNC employee I recall , with irony, the annual “Conflict of Interest disclosure statements ” we all had to sign.
    All employees were also required to read and sign documents about bribery and work place harrassment. Blah blah blah.

    These documents were the most insulting, frustrating, demoralizing, exercises in futility I can remember. Does anyone really think a thief will stop stealing because they were forced to sign a piece of paper saying, “I promise not to steal.”?

    Asinine doesnt even begin to describe it.

    Apprently the CEO and others in that organization didnt have to sign the same documents as the rest of the plebes in the “salt mine”.

    And now there are Class Action Law Suits by shareholders against SNC for all this bad news driving the stock price down……

    Potential shareholders take note.

    Christy Clark in front of a Corruption Commision answering questions?
    Cant wait for THAT “Deer in the headlights” moment………

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      1. Your perspective as a former employee is particularly of interest to me DC….. in particular if you’ve worked in BC. I’ve been sitting on a story for a long time that should see the light of day before this coming election.
        Should you wish to share, or chat more on that privately, let me know and I’ll email my secure contact info. 😉

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        1. And that expression would not be limited to Clark… I could see some sudden departures should such a commission ever happen here in BC. If I could start one myself I certainly would have years ago.

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        2. The company I worked for was “absorbed” by SNC several years back.
          In the past 2 years, 95% of the people that worked for the previous company have resigned rather than stay with SNC. I am talking about people with 20 + years of senority, 4 weeks holidays, etc. quitting for their sanity….yes, their sanity. The endless beaurocracy ,the mindless attention to useless details we were required to follow, the creation of depts for the sole purpose of “billing the client”. It was purposeless, fiscally irresponsible and while not criminal…..purely profit motivated and morally reprehensible.
          SNC seems to have reinvented the phrase ‘avaricious corporate stupidity’ .
          The majority of the people in senior management seem to have been gleaned from the ranks of newly retired senior govt employees( both federal and provincial) who were either cut in govt downsizing or retired. Which raises the ugly potential for “reverse bribery” ( I’ll award you this govt contract IF i get a job “inteview” with you when I retire…wink wink nudge nudge)
          These managers entered SNC with an accompanying govt. beaurocratic mindset. The more employees the better. Irreguardless of the cost to the company ( which ultimately the customers pays…… plus a management fee…of course).
          I never saw anything that appeared illegal or criminal while working at SNC. Just incredibly stupid managers with zero empathy for staff . Which, judging by their current employee attrition rate….nothing has changed.
          As for their customers…once the contract is signed….their just a means to profit. Nothing more. A piece of meat to be eaten.

          I wouldnt trust SNC to clean dogshit from a sidewalk .
          Or , more correctly, I couldnt afford to hire them because it would involve
          , A salesperson, a manager, a contract, a call center, a vendor, a shit scraper, a accountant, and an inordinate amount of time for this to all occur.

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        3. I think we might have spoken about this previously, but could be wrong. The file just keeps growing.Good to know you didn’t see the criminal from your perspective,but it sounds like it you’re totally onto the cronyism that exists between this government and SNC, in both directions. Tercon touched on this https://lailayuile.com/2010/02/17/tercon-contracters-ltd-vs-british-columbia-the-rest-of-the-story/ with Tom Tasaka, and of course Robert(Bob) Tribe,who was a VP of SNC and on the board of directors for Translink. http://www.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=-2011111491&page_url=//www.translink.bc.ca/About_TransLink/Board_Members.asp&page_last_updated=2008-01-18T13:58:28&firstName=Robert&lastName=Tribe

          Interesting comments, and I’ve heard similar from others across Canada that mirror this sentiment.

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  4. Let’s see… if it looks like a skunk, smells like a skunk, and walks like a skunk, chances are it’s not your pet beagle. All of these crooks should be sent away for a long time, but that’s not the real world. Unfortunately, in this day and age, they probably won’t even get the proverbial slap on the wrist. Pity.

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  6. There is a light although still dim. People shut down the HST by saying no we do not consent. A small number of BC Hydro customers(share holders) shut down mandatory(no such thing) installation of the privacy invading and health jeopardizing Smart Meters by saying no we do not consent. Don’t like getting tolled to cross our own bridge take off the licence plate just say no I do not consent. Where exactly does all the road tax go? To general revenue where it disappears in the black hole of corporate government corruption. Anyways, wasn’t it Nancy Reagan that said “Just say No” It is a hell of a word let’s start to demonstrate that we do not consent. The discard of the licence plate is an easy way to voice by action our non consent. Just say No.

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  8. Very strong,compelling post. The moral hazard link is one that’s been missed in importance because it addresses how SNC and other companies over engineer projects to build profits and the government is too stupid and inexperienced to know better in some cases,or completely fine to go along with bilking taxpayers in others.

    Your copy of the corruption in construction report is excellent and I appreciate that you have clearly taken on the job of trying to shed light on this with your obvious contract law and procurement knowledge. For those of us with smaller but local companies who get left out by the cartel like presence of SNC and other multinational corporations,it’s nice to see someone telling it like it is.

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  9. And some people still think the N.D.P. are corrupt because a guy built a deck on Glen Clarks’ place at the same time he was trying to get a casino licence! !!!!! Wow what a slipery slope we’ve been on since then

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  11. Hi Laila, this was emailed to me,

    If you have an unwanted smart meter, or if you know someone who does, please consider the following and let us know.

    Thanks!

    Linda Ewart

    Citizens for Safe Technology Society

    http://www.citizensforsafetechnology.org

    Empowering the public to protect children and nature from unsafe wireless technologies.

    http://citizensforsafetechnology.org/Remove-Unwanted-Smart-Meter–PLEASE-INFORM,85,2869

    Remove Unwanted Smart Meter? PLEASE INFORM.

    For those in BC who have received a Smart Meter against their wishes.

    Goal for receiving information is early March, 2013

    “REMOVE UNWANTED SMART METER”

    Until late January, B.C. Hydro kept saying that “only 7% or 140,000 homes have refused” a BC Hydro smart meter. Now they are playing with the numbers of those who have “opted out”, saying more and more have come on-side after being “informed.”

    Imagine how many would have refused these wireless transmitters if they had known they could? How many still would? How many people would have refused if they had not been harassed and intimidated? How many would have refused if they had known all of the safety, security, health and financial concerns associated with them?

    How many did not give informed consent?

    The Coalition to Stop Smart Meters and Citizens for Safe Technology Society would like everyone who has had a wireless smart meter installed, and wants it removed, to let us know.

    To do so, e-mail dsnoble@shaw.ca with a short and simple statement to that effect, and put “REMOVE METER” in the subject line.

    We want to form a large list of the many thousands of BC residents who want this device removed. We would like to present it to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) in early March 2013.

    Please pass this request to friends and neighbours as well.

    This will be important information to give to politicians at campaign time to show how unwanted this program is.

    Thank you!

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  12. From that story:

    “With cash-strapped governments looking to turn more to the private sector, P3 experts say that the charges are a “wake-up call” — not just for P3s but for the entire construction industry.

    “It’s so important that we’re vigilant here,” said Matti Siemiatycki who teaches in the department of geography and planning at the University of Toronto. “This is public money but it’s also public confidence — and corruption takes many forms. It can be overinflating the price of the contracts. Another type of corruption is doing shoddy work and that is almost more frightening because we all drive on the roads and use the hospitals.

    My sense, given the construction inquiry, this is one piece of a broader story
    .
    “But I wonder: Is this a P3 story or is this an infrastructure story? My sense, given the construction inquiry, this is one piece of a broader story.”

    I’m more than willing to direct or assist in getting things done here in BC.

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  13. rocktenn bc (NewWest)company -renegs on concession agreement due to legal language loophole-Each employee gave up 5 grand a year during rough patch concession on agreement of it returning at end of contract july 1 2012.union went to management who said forget it.currently looking for short contract with little paychange.and productivity is way up.

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  14. I am just so totally disgusted with the corruption, saturating every nook and cranny of this country. While Harper was in BC, he went about the Chinese community in Vancouver and, was kissing their butts, big time. Harper likely wants them, to help push the Enbridge pipeline and, his selling out Canada to Communist China. China will sue in BC, if we alter the course of the Enbridge pipeline. China has sued in BC to take the mining jobs. Harper’s Omnibull-S-Bill said, China can do exactly that.

    How many prayer groups has Christy participated in? How many different races and their religions, has Christy participated with? As if we didn’t know, she works for Harper, as Campbell did before her. Harper has a special gift for hiring degenerates, to do his dirty work for him. I see, Boessenkool has had the gall, to resurface again. He, Topp and Don Guy are setting up a consulting firm.

    We saw how the BC judicial system worked, during the trial of Campbell’s theft and corrupt sale of the BCR.

    We have seen how the judicial system has performed, during the many lawsuits against Harper. He also uses the judicial system himself, to stall what he doesn’t want to surface.

    The robo-call election fraud, has now spread to, the Saskatchewan Tory’s.

    Trying to do things correctly by due process of the law, does not work in Canada, and most certainly not in BC.

    There are no morals nor ethics left in this country, what-so-ever. Our Democracy is vanishing. Our Civil Rights and Liberties have been taken from us. A new take on our Freedom of Speech announced. Our Human Rights are being eroded.

    We have to deal with monsters Laila. They are not ordinary decent people. They are in the lowest form of the human species. Didn’t you see Shepard on TV? He reminded me of the dirty tactics used against the BC people, during our fight against the HST. Just another wealthy parasite, wanting to take even more from us. He too is running around this province, peddling his outrageous lies and crap. Christy peddles her lies and deceit, with our money paying for the most evil and asinine false ads on TV ever.

    Harper and Christy declaring themselves, devout Christians? Convince me.

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  15. I have a friend who works for BC hydro and has worked and traveled extensively to hydro projects in the interior of BC. He tells me that any job SNC is involved in is a total fuckup and is costing BC Hydro millions more than necessary because of bad planing ,incompetent engineering and implementation.
    Most of the SNC people he deals with are clueless morons.
    SNC appears to be one of the most corruptly run companies in Canada, why are we not surprised they are digging in the Lieberal trough in BC.

    CGHZD

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  16. CGHZD
    Your comment,”Most of the SNC people he deals with are clueless morons”

    THAT was the main reason I left the company. Anyone that was employable elsewhere, left.
    Their mindless paperwork, wrapped around ridiculous work processes drove everyone that was even remotely good at their job away….
    The only people left are the lazy asskissers that dont care where they work so long as the pay cheque keeps coming.
    But they keep hiring and the revolving door keeps swinging……..
    HR at SNC must be sooooooo proud.
    The ones that arent off on stress leave that is…..

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  22. You do have to ask about the involvement with our provincial government/Crown corporations back to 2001, and the projects here. Appears to be widespread, worldwide by SNC.
    The industry here stinks as well, imo.
    Bring in the corruption police and investigators to British Columbia and left no stone unturned regarding agreements, “representation agreements”, contracts, signed by those in our province supposedly representing the interests of BC residents.

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