Wow. There are some advantages to waking up prior to 5 am, and this would be one of them- seeing the news ticker on the CBC site toss a headline about political governments in Canada being under the influence of the foreign countries, in particular China.
In fact, CBC has already contacted Premier Gordon Campbell for comment on this story, and he refused. As of yet, CBC seems to be the only local news on this developing story, and the timing cold not be more interesting as the Chinese president arrives in Canada for a visit. Here is an excerpt from the written story :
Some politicians under foreign sway: CSIS
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 | 12:45 AM ET Comments648Recommend387
CBC News
“There are several municipal politicians in British Columbia and in at least two provinces there are ministers of the Crown who we think are under at least the general influence of a foreign government.”
Several members of B.C. municipal governments are also under suspicion, Richard Fadden, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told CBC News in an exclusive interview.
“We’re in fact a bit worried in a couple of provinces that we have an indication that there’s some political figures who have developed quite an attachment to foreign countries,” Fadden said.
“The individual becomes in a position to make decisions that affect the country or the province or a municipality. All of a sudden, decisions aren’t taken on the basis of the public good but on the basis of another country’s preoccupations.”
He said the politicians and public servants see it as a long-standing relationship and have no idea they are being used.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/06/22/spying-csis.html#ixzz0rgC13T00
There is also a video link to the interview with CSIS on the right hand side bar of the CBC page this story occurs on.
I also located this link: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9016949.html that details more:
VICTORIA — National security experts are questioning the timing of a stunning allegation by the head of Canada’s spy agency that several Canadian politicians, including two provincial cabinet ministers, are under the control of foreign governments.
Richard Fadden, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told CBC News Tuesday night that CSIS and the Privy Council Office are discussing the best way to inform those provinces.
Wesley Wark, a national security expert at the University of Toronto, was puzzled by CSIS rush to inform the public before contacting the jurisdictions involved.
“This puts CSIS dangerously out front in what could become a serious and damaging political issue,” Wark told The Canadian Press in an email early Wednesday.
“It’s not the business of CSIS to finger politicians it believes are threats to national security.”
Fadden declined to name the two cabinet ministers or their provinces, but he said a number of public servants in British Columbia are also under suspicion.
He said those politicians have not hidden their association with the foreign governments. But there have recently been indications that they are shifting their public policies because of the involvement with that particular country.
A veteran B.C. political scientist called the allegations against several B.C politicians “very serious” and said Canadians should be concerned.
“Given the source, there’s a certain amount of legitimacy attached to the suggestion,” said University of Victoria Prof. Norman Ruff.
“It suggests that public policy in this province isn’t necessarily being conducted in the best interests of British Columbians,” said Ruff.
“There are influences on public policy in British Columbia both on the local and provincial level which aren’t solely in the interests of British Columbians.”
~snip~
Meanwhile, officials in British Columbia were caught off guard by the allegations that some among them could have a foreign government’s interests at heart.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell’s office said the premier would not be available for comment.
Municipal officials in Victoria and Vancouver appeared surprised at Fadden’s statement and declined to comment.
Now, while the story did not name names, if one were to contemplate such allegations, and contemplate which foreign country seems to hold a ton of political clout, China is definitely the first name that springs to mind . The BC Liberals have pursued a long relationship with the Chinese government, one that has always spoken to me of ulterior motive, when it appears China benefits far more than those workers here in BC.
We have long been exporting raw logs to China, even as more and more sawmills here in BC have closed, leaving workers unemployed and penniless.
Hell, the BC government even has a webpage dedicated to the their Asia Pacific Intiative, part of which is the building of the South Fraser Perimeter Road to facilitate the movement of goods being imported and exported into BC. You can read all of that here: http://www.gov.bc.ca/fortherecord/asia/as_economy.html?src=/economy/as_economy.html
The premier has travelled to China very frequently in the past few years on trade missions, as has forestry minister, Pat Bell – as this google search will detail : http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&q=pat+bell+to+china&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=35789763958bd7d8
Just saying. Should be fun to watch where this one goes, but perhaps it might be the beginning of the end, of our gradual sell-off of BC assets to foreign stakeholders.
Let me leave you to think about what this shocking story means for all of us. And if you really want to see how far off into left field Gordon Campbell and his closest ministers are when it comes to what British Columbians want and need, watch this, their latest attempt at… hmmm. Ahh ? Oh bother, I don’t even know what they are attempting on this one. Just watch it and shake your head like I did.
Give it up Campbell. We just don’t care to hear anything you have to say any more.
*****Updated 1:23 pm .
Gordon Campbell has come out swinging at CSIS for the comments made during a CBC interview: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Gordon+Campbell+slams+CSIS+director+over+foreign+infiltration+allegations/3191469/story.html
This can only be good, I say, either way – at least we might get some answers as to how this information was arrived at and who CSIS may or may not be investigating.
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Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
Embarassing to say the least. One question though…Where the hell are the NDP these days? I’m beginning to think they don’t really want to be in power.
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Mike de Jong………… “we are the servants and we serve the people”.
Ha, ha, ha!
Cheers
Gary L.
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If, and I repeat IF, a person like Campbell were to be one of those involved then he may just resign. But he would also put emphasis on the HST debacle, deflecting questions from the real reason.
I also find it troubling that CSIS has done this. Was the reason it was done to give those involved a chance to resign. Treason is still treason whether you are still in office or not.
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Stuart. The NDP is happy to sit back and watch the liberals blow their feet off every day. It’s quite masterful really. As long as they don’t open their mouths the liberals can’t blame them for anything in rebuttal.
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Just a note before I head out – And I have more to say about this story from CSIS- but I found it quite interesting to note this repeat visitor to this post this morning :
IP Tracing and IP Tracking (199.198.251.100)
Tracing 199.198.251.100. please wait
199.198.251.100 IP address location & more:
IP address [?]: 199.198.251.100 [Copy][Whois] [Reverse IP]
IP country code: CA
IP address country: Canada
IP address state: Ontario
IP address city: Toronto
IP address latitude: 43.6667
IP address longitude: -79.4167
ISP of this IP [?]: CIBC World Markets
Organization: CIBC World Markets
Host of this IP: [?]: 199-198-251-100.cibc.com [Whois] [Trace]
Local time in Canada: 2010-06-23 10:23
Funny, isn’t it, how CIBC would be so interested in this? …aha
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Apparently, they have many interests, all of which centre upon their own best “interests”. If that makes me a crazy conspiracy theorist, then so be it 😉
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Surprised? Not. Now the names please. Federal/provincial/municipal. All of them. To even raise the matter, begs for the answer and the information. Charges? Yes, all and everyone involved.
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Who was the only Canadian politician to attend the annual Bilderberg meeting in 2010? Gordon Campbell. You do the math.
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Gary, as I mentioned on your blog this morning, the timing of this announcement is being criticized by some, as this new cbc article states:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/06/23/fadden-csis-spy.html
Interesting enough , Fadden seems to be backing down from the statements he made in the CBC interview, but I believe CSIS may have already obtained the objective they ( he) had in mind.
One, it could have been one way to let those under suspicion know that they are being watched, in hopes they halt any such relationship immediately.
Two, it certainly would give those people time to jump ship, although as you state, if there was proof of treason, it wouldn’t matter.
I think perhaps this could also be a PR exercise aimed at deflecting the heat CSIS has taken as a result of the Air India findings.
Regardless, Fadden issued statements in the story I saw this morning that have raised significant concerns in my mind, regardless of what backtracking is done now, and that can only be a good thing. When a government gets too cosy with one particular country, contractor, whatever, it must always be examined why that has or is occurring.
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Just a further thought.
Campbell is known for NOT talking about or addressing any allegations made towards his government.
But other than the CBC news story that ran on the telly this morning, no one directly pointed a finger at him.
I find it remarkable that for a man who likes to keep his mouth shut other than issuing the standard ” no comment”, he charges out with vehement denials of anything going on and how dare CSIS make such statements….
Now, I don’t know much about how or why CSIS conducts such investigations, or where their intel comes from, but I do know that they are not going to be making such statements lightly, or without substantiation.
I also find it ironic that so many are yelping now about the racial angle of this, when clearly it is not directed at a race, but at a government known for it’s history of subversive and unethical activities.
This country of ours has long, LONG been thought of as a quiet, off the radar place for all sorts of criminal and unethical individuals to conduct business.
It is a fact that Campbell’s government has long initiated and aggressively pursued trade and economic relationships with China, and I say again, often the to the detriment of British Columbians, not as am advantage. One would wonder how those relationships are facilitated, and asking those questions does not make one racist, nor does it negate what the chinese community has done in BC. ( see above updated link to Campbells outrage)
I suspect Campbell’s only true concern is a possible bad image of himself within the chinese community locally, which the Liberals often look to for strong votes.
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Copy of my post to your FB page:
Yeah I saw that in the halifax edition of Metro. But I gather they don’t mean the nc government being outsourced to US companies, and while some BC cabinet ministers are surely under US (=Republican) control i doubt very much thsts what CSIS is talking about, and wouldnt cate about I’m betting pretty much as a sure thing that one of the countries … See moremeant is China. But the other one – that’s a wild card huh?
At one time of course, most cabinet ministers were undr British control, amd/or were actually British
What ore the odds this has something to do with that new twist in the BC Rail trial that came out yesterday, that we’re not allowed to know about. Not the least reason bring that the biggest freight contracts on the lines in question are for resources heading to China?
—–
Since then I’ve given thought to the other country involved, discounting the US which of course is the elephant in the room and the primary country involved IMO, and it’s not hard at all to juxtapose what CSIS is saying re the China question and apply the same logic to US influence. But of the other countries possible, and who would have a reason to, I’m puzzled. Japan? South Korea? India? Pakistan? It’s not like Indonesia or the Kingdom of Thailand would have interests here of that kind…..in the old days it would be easy enough to point to the UK of course, and before 1914 in fact to Germany, as far as investment/polliticking in BC went…..
But other names came to mind on the homeward leg of my long walk…..Chile almost seems obvious, despite being a minor player, and Mexico’s increasing role in supplying labour to BC (think Canada Line) comes to mind……but what ulterior motives would they have that would be significant enough to tweak CSIS’ interest?
It does bring to mind the dismantling of the Falun Gong demonstrator-booth that used to be in front of the Chinese Consulate on Granville….or was that a pro-Tibet booth? Its peremptory taking-down was never full explained, although it’s a given that it was due to pressure from the Chinese government. I wonder if Epoch Times is going to cover this story; if so they will probably do so in depth. I remember when I said somewhere online that the repression of free speech entailed in that decision epitomized British Columbia’s becoming a colony of China, one very virulent denunciation demanded I produce proof that China had any influence on our politicians, as if formal control were all that colonization was about. Clearly we are informally a colony – “Chinese America”, a North American “New China” like New France and New England and indeed that’s often the propaganda that’s trotted out, including allusions to Custer as the justification for injustice in China (somehow Custer is used as a rationale for Tibetan repression – go figure – as if all of us were General Custer and/or culpable for his crimes/sins). Our workforce has been colonized, even segregated in many industries/companies, and our education system has been colonized, both in faculty and students, as has our history and our cultural institutions. There will be those who will denounce such obvious observations as “racism” but the facts are what they are; especially when you factor in cooperation, even collusion, on the part of our senior politicians and bureaucrats with the economic and cultural expansionism agenda of the current Chinese regime…..
But back to the US, and BC Rail – and BC Hydro, and all the rest of BC’s government that has been being outsourced to the US, either to corporations or in the form of ideological harmonization with the GOP agenda. That includes the mysterious goings-on in the province’s northwest, which seem (from what I’m reading into them) largely to benefit Alaska in the long run, in the same way the BC Hydro thing benefits primarily California……exactly who was it that Gordon Campbell has been going to New York to see? And what were his meetings with Dick Cheney about? And Sarah Palin?
It’s not like he went to see President Obama…..
CSIS, if you’re reading this (and no doubt you are), take the same analytical tools you’ve used to point the finger at China and apply them to US investment and US contracting in British Columbia, and the role of campaign donations to the Liberal Party from US-backed/owned companies etc etc etc. And also consider the virulence of Premier Campbell’s denunciation of your analysis. Methinks he doth protest too loudly, for one thing, but consider also he may be playing along to divert attention from the REAL political sell-out. Which is to the US, and US interests….
Not that I don’t have my own reasons to support annexation with the Union; I just think it should be done above-board, and with public participation, not behind our backs as it has been…..
( Skookum, I highlighted in bold the portion I find extremely interesting, and right along with what I am endlessly investigating. We here in BC have an ever increasing offshore and US presence with respect to many companies that have less than steller international reputations ; LY)
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….might be worth looking up and comparing the history of the Rio Tinto/China fandango that Australia just went through (and backed down on because of China’s evident political pressure/meddling/spying).
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and re this:
This country of ours has long, LONG been thought of as a quiet, off the radar place for all sorts of criminal and unethical individuals to conduct business.
Not that Mao was criminal or unethical 😐 (ahem) but the international headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party were located for a very long time in the 2nd floor of the building on the SW corner of Fisgard and Government in Victoria…….conversely, Kuomintang headquarters were at one point in Vancouver (though primarily in San Francisco I think), and pre-World War I BC was also a refuge for other Chinese political and/or criminal factions, including the Boxers (the Glorious Fist) and refugees from the strangely messianic-Christian-but-anti-white Taiping Rebellion….it would be hard to pick an era, in fact, when Chinese government or non-government political influence and/or interference was NOT felt in British Columbia……
In fact, Ottawa’s long resistance to bringing in and/or raising the Head Tax which BC had originally tried to legislate itself (but was overturned) had to do with trade and diplomatic relations with the government of China; cf. (among other sources for that) Joseph Morton’s “In The Sea of Sterile Mountains: A History of the Chinese in British Columbia”, published about 1976 (and now academically taboo because it presents the contemporary British Columbian version of the rationale for what have since been denounced as “racist” policies). In other words, the Chinese government and Chinese companies have ALWAYS had clout in BC, even during the years when the Exclusion Act held sway (despite its many exemptions, which Morton also details).
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Just watched the video – what a sickening piece of propaganda. Do I detect signs of desperation in Campbell – I sure hope so.
Campbell is protesting too much – especially given the fact that he was not named or necessarily implicated by the CSIS announcement.
I agree with you, the CSIS announcement was a wake up call to whoever. It did precisely what CSIS wanted and that was to get public attention to a potentially serious problem. Goven that Campbell has risen to the bait, pretty much confirms a lot of suspicions and was probably the last thing Campbell should have done. This man has no crediibility or integrity and yet, again, tries to tell others how to do their jobs !!
Wahoo, Campbell is not going to be around for much longer – he is making too many classic bad judgement moves.
Thanks
workforfun
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BTW just as an aside, but in the context of US interests here vs. Chinese interests, that’s an old theme in BC history – and in fact the subject of a notable recent paper on the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and the associated Indian war; there were three elements in the colonization – British, “Californian” (including others than just Yanks), and Chinese. And, interestingly, the first attempt to pass a Head Tax in British Columbia was during the early days of the colony – but it was to be levelled on Americans. Head Taxes were illegal in the British Empire, so it was overruled by London (being something like a poll tax). It was only later that the head tax notion was revived in relation to the Chinese only, and only because of the railway labour issue, not because of their (often dominant) position in the mining industry.
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Fadden only spoke of, what the citizens of BC already knew. It’s in our face obvious, that Campbell has sold BC out to China. Labor is cheap in China, child labor is even more cheap. The dirty oil tankers, are also from China. The economy of central and northern BC, was our mills. There has been nothing to replace our industry. There are now, entire families, who live in poverty. The rest of our assets and natural have been given to the USA. The site C dam, is to give Arnold S. from California hydro, seems he is running out. Our clean drinking water, is going to some states and Mexico. Campbell, is now fighting to drill, off shore oil and gas wells, off the BC coast, where there have been many small earthquakes. The drilling company, is rumored to be, BP of the Gulf spill. And yes, Campbell would, still be actually stupid enough to drill in, an earthquake zone. That oil will also go to China. Campbell has caused this province, billions of dollars of debt. He is rabid for money, to pay the debt down, before it is known by the public, he knows, he would be lynched. The anger out there, is red hot.
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I am sure the general public has no idea of how much money Campbell has racked up in total debt. I know I have found a figure of around $60 billion inone or two of the blogs sites. I am sure the government won’t admit to more than 3 or 4 $billion.
What scares me is what has been done in goverment that the news media and public know nothing about. Given Campbells state of mind, which is not really known but does indicate he is working for other interests outside of British Columbia, where the best interest of the “other interests” are paramount – dick all for British Columbia.
I cannot imagine that Campbell would really try to do a provincial trip to push HST – he safety could not be assured and he would hear a lot of things he doesn’t want to know.
Roll on the RECALL IN THE FALL – maybe some sanity will return to this province.
Thx
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