Justice is lost when leaders refuse to stand up for what’s right.

50 thoughts on “Justice is lost when leaders refuse to stand up for what’s right.”

1. Too bad it will never happen.
   There is not a politician in BC that can or will ever do the right thing for the people of BC.
   Never.
   Ever.
   It’s a game played by all of them.
   And they always win.
   It’s real and depressing.
   There is one cure, but I won’t say it here.

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   1. Not even Daryl Plecas?

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2. One of the biggest problems regarding the corruption and money laundering in B.C. is that no MSM outlet will report on it with any sustained efforts or provide space for some one who might. The media may refer to the German report and may report on the one person who suggested the “problem” might be a billion dollars, but that is the end of it. Not even the CBC will take on the project and do a series or a good segment on the issue.

   For this to really get out to the public a report/investigation would have to be done by people who aren’t going to be paid for their work and then have to purchase time on t.v. or space in the newspapers to publish, Oh, wait we might be able to get the New York Times to print it in some detail or Politico.

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   1. This isn’t actually accurate eaf. There have been extensive series, coverage and reports with both CBC and Global, as well as ongoing coverage in the Sun. I refer you to Integrity BC’s Facebook page or his Twitter feed – of which you don’t need an account to view, just google it- and you’ll see listed a plethora of stories on all of this money laundering, German report etc.
      This has been well covered and as discussed in our last discussions on the prior post, there is no excuse NOT to call an inquiry.

      It is true to say that no MSM picked it up and carried it back when Sean Holman was covering Coleman disbanding the team. And yes, it went largely unreported on for years after. But the media, in particular Sam Cooper, Ian Young, Kathy Thomlinson etc have all done exceptional work and reported enough to justify an inquiry right now.

      This is going to come down to the public vs the politicians will. The public must focus on getting that public inquiry, because this certainly didnt all happen without an extensive network of inside help.

      I also feel strongly an inquiry should not just focus on money laundering…it really needs to look at government protocol and process. I’ve written extensively on highly irregular bidding and procurement in public projects and as we know there are many who will feel compelled to speak under protection and oversight of an inquiry.
      Theres a good reason the BC rail trial was shut down. That kind of activity didnt stop.

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      1. to the best of my recollection Sam Cooper didn’t start writing until after the B.C. Lieberals had left office. Any really, they covered it, but in my opinion, they moved on and on. Never got too deep. In my opinion never asked enough questions.

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      2. Wasn’t Mike de jong the Attorney General who shut down the BC Rail file and announced his bullshit and spin to British Columbian’s about why it was shut down. Something along the lines it was becoming to expensive was one of the reason’s. More like it could become to expensive to expose how far up the ladder the filth and rot went in his circle he served.

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         1. De Jong told several conflicting versions of who did what to create the secret and illegal quid pro quo that ended the trial prematurely.

            Bottom line is that the citizens of British Columbia were denied a public accounting of how the government and the BC Liberals and their cronies transferred BC Rail to a corporation chaired by the Premier’s good friend and financial supporter in what major competitors called a rigged process. The illegal deal made the special prosecutor and the judge look like dupes.

            Mr. Eby has done nothing to rectify this despite previous NDP campaign promises to hold an inquiry into it and seems ready to do the same here despite his full admission that all he has is questions and no answers. He has even retained as his deputy the individual responsible for creating the BC Rail secret plea deal.

            Scared? Not me. I’m angry.

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         2. Two things :

            https://thebreaker.news/news/river-rock-conference/

            And this is interesting: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4973695
            Which is a bit of a conflict …for obvious reasons! What do you make of this Lew?

            https://vancouversun.com/news/politics/rcmps-b-c-commander-to-leave-for-government-position

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         3. In today’s news…

            ” Coleman comes into the case because documents suggest he helped TimberWest, which was then publicly traded and having financial trouble, find a buyer.

            A May 8, 2008 email that Coleman wrote to then TimberWest CEO McElligott said: “Have a green light. Need to meet on implementation. Made the sale, not sure they understand what they bought but they did. The roll out will be critical. Also have a reluctant partner in the east. They will play when pushed.”

            TimberWest — a company whose donations to the BC Liberals included $44,685 in 2007, $14,738 in 2008 and $60,988 in 2009 — was eventually sold to two funds that manage pension money for public sector employees.

            One was the BC Investment Management Corp., a provincial government agency that manages $135.5 billion for some 569,000 current and former public sector employees, accord to its website. It is supposed to operate free from political interference. It is now known as BCI.

            The other buyer was the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, now known as PSP Investments, which manages pension money for members of the federal public service, the RCMP and the Canadian Armed Forces.

            Dwight Harbottle, the lawyer representing the LeRoys, argued last June that Coleman would have knowledge that could be important for the case.

            “I personally think they were having difficulty selling this business and they needed a purchaser, and he’s going to have something to say about that, what he was told,” Harbottle said. “He’ll have knowledge as to why this company felt they had to go to a minister to assist in achieving a sale.”

            Despite objections from government lawyers acting for Coleman, Harbottle won the right to examine the former minister under oath…”

            https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/01/21/TimberWest-Rich-Coleman-Hells-Angels/?utm_source=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=210119

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   2. @ e.a.f. states, “No MSM outlet will report on it with any sustained efforts or provide space for some one who might”?

      No quite. Some won’t provide space, others do.

      One case in point:

      https://globalnews.ca/news/4871631/calls-mount-public-inquiry-money-laundering-organized-crime/

      If it helps I’ll provide multiple links on Casino Gate. Most are from investigative reporter [Sam Cooper] and other staffers at Global News, others are from the CBC, CTV, The Star, The Strait, Integrity BC, Laila, and so on. .

      But, you think that all will be for nothing unless our mass media supports public advocacy? Wrong. First: horse. Then cart.. The cart won’t pull itself.

      Remember Mr Campbell’s infamous HST? Remember Rafe Mair? One old man went on a lecture tour across BC simply to better inform the population as to why the HST should be axed. Was Mr Mair under less pressure to conform to accepted media indoctrination? Or more? How did he succeed, without media consent or the benefit of a massively interconnected social media?

      That said, if you can write copy for the NYT, Washington Post, LA Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer – or even send letters, be my guest.

      To expect partisan media to lead on an issue it clearly wants to avoid, and then lament that it does as expected – misses the point: Since you’re already here, and trust the site, why not direct people you know to all the sites on line where the information provided is trusted and believable?

      Would that work?

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3. Second paragraph:
   “There is a strong desire among many in law enforcement and justice to see this kind of inquiry that will firmly shine a light on the depth of corruption in BC…and not just in casinos.”

   This is no less disturbing than John Horgan and David Eby sitting on their hands.

   Someone needs to be a hero here and if “law enforcement and justice” do not buck the trend, perhaps go against hierarchy, then we, the lowly peons, can’t ever expect to bust the piñata.

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   1. “Snitches get stitches”

      Or worse.

      https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/06/30/opinion/stop-whitewashing-bloodstains-bcs-dirty-money-laundromat

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   2. Hey everyone, I got your emails and wanted to let you know I will fix the small font this weekend…I didn’t realise how small it was until I actually had to grab my reading glasses! 🤣

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   3. An awkward thought.

      According to Mr Eby’s latest Seduced And Abandoned complaint, he was not personally provided with [gasp!] ALL financial money laundering information Ottawa bureaucrats possessed!

      But wait. If Ottawa actually did forward that seemingly precious information, would Mr. Eby still have refused to hold an inquiry? Wouldn’t Ottawa’s effort have been wasted? And the security of those who provided it needlessly compromised?

      If Ottawa’s estimates on the extent of BC money laundering were understood to be irrelevant to holding a public inquiry, what is Mr. Eby’s basis for his it’s-all-their-fault complaint?

      As far as ‘my-dog-ate-my-homework’ excuses go it’s flimsy to justify shifting blame for inaction back east, while doing nothing,

      A public inquiry? Obviously it has never been intended, but claiming a faint-hope prospect, Mr Eby continues to defy justice, law and logic and still play coy with what’s still “…on the table.”

      Ever worked inside a large bureaucracy? Ever witnessed routine corporate dysfunction a la Dilbert? Ever seen inter-governmental, and cross-jurisdictional rivalries where withholding apparently vital information from other divisions is unstated policy?

      But what if Mr Eby’s data exclusion was more than some federal apparatchik declaring, ‘You can’t see this data! It’s OURS Alone!”?

      A more serious conflict? One which never could be admitted to let alone published?

      What if Ottawa, as a result of more than 20 years of chronic inaction on the organized crime file, simply doesn’t trust Victoria, regardless of who is AG?

      Then what?

      Please advise… .

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      1. That was my thought too, based on the recent story where a source revealed Farnworth and Eby were advocating for an inquiry, Horgan was on the fence, re cost and time, and…ZERO surprise here…Geoff Meggs and a contingent of bureaucrats were not in favour of a corruption inquiry.

         Meggs was chief of staff to not just Gregor Robertson but Larry Campbell as well I believe.Both administrations that may be examined in a corruption inquiry re money laundering/real estate/casino in Van.

         I don’t know why the ndp didnt get rid of the deputy ministers and ADM’s left over in some cases for a very long time. Big mistake. Huge.

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      2. Exactly. I’ve been saying for years that the Attorney General’s ministry needs a very good housecleaning. Anyone who reads John van Dongen’s affidavit to the Supreme Court in support of his application to join Auditor General Doyle’s application for documents in the BC Rail case cannot come to any other conclusion.

         I’ll repeat part of my comment to Laila’s post The Enemy Is Corruption. Period.

         “It could be systemic incompetence. It could also be that the RCMP has good reason to distrust the provincial law enforcement bureaucracy. The bureaucracy where Mr. Eby gets his advice. And the same bureaucracy that has much to fear from a public inquiry.”

         John Horgan needs a new broom.

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4. Having Peter German in this investigative capacity is disgusting. Shame on Eby and Horgan and the whole shameful spineless works for jamming out on justice. We had the bad guys in power running the town before them for 16 years and all the dirty players they cavorted with that they let ruin the town, for their money, and then the new sherriff and his deputy rode in to clean it up for the town’s people, and get the one’s responsible for allowing it all to happen. And then…. they just wimped out and threw their badges away and rode out of town. F…..g cowards.

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5. I was one of those who didn’t see a need for an inquiry, at one point, well up until the figure was at a billion via the casinos. it would be expense and what was done, was done, just clean it up and move on. Well at a billion, it had my attention and believe we need an enquiry. Now it may be that the NDP is waiting for the right time to have an inquiry. Not all of the civil service will want one and you don’t want to upset them too much or they can ruin a government. Then there is the small matter of all the MLAs, what if they aren’t on board? So you wait. The figure has been revised from the original figure, to $700M to one billion via the casinos, now its one billion via casinos and one billion via real estate. Wait another week and I suspect another figure may come out, then call the inquiry, you know about the same time as the election in Nanaimo. Its almost as if some one were waiting to built it up. if I were a politician I’d time it so the results were out about the time the next election has to start. Finish off the B.C. Lieberals and have it so the greens don’t have enough strength yet to be the government.

   My question has been what did Ottawa know and when did they know it. When the B.C. Lieberal canned the RCMP unit, did they report it to the Comm. in Ottawa and did he discuss it with any of those Harper Cabinet Ministers and later any federal Liberal cabinet ministers.

   right now all we hve heard from the media is $2 billion a year in this province, but given how well our province did during these years concerning real estate and the increase in fent. coming into “Canada, I’d suggest the figure is more like $8 to $10 billion.

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   1. I’m feeling like the issue is that a lot of people are willing to let the ndp do whatever they want or dont want, just to keep the Liberals at bay. Corruption? Sure. Lng dreams? Ok. Treat everyone like they are a speculator until they prove they aren’t? No problem.
      Sadly this leads only to bad policy in some of these areas. They know their core supporters wont leave them so why bother?

      No one wants to see those Libs back in power. But its like the ndp forgot they did not win a majority and that the non party public are fickle voters who tend to vote against their own best interests…as we saw with the last 16 years.

      I have been here writing about corruption and government wrongdoing for a decade. And one of the worst examples I wrote about began under the last ndp government and ended in a 10 year court case.

      Guess what? Some of the people involved in changing bidders names on a document after bids were accepted so they could win the bid, are still in government.
      And that might be something others can ignore but I wont. One of those people has been involved in several other projects and I’m pretty sure those unethical practices followed him.

      Just ask yourselves what you’d be doing if it were the Libs stalling on an inquiry. Because I know I’d be doing the same thing I am right now.

      I don’t see supporters who have influence in the party pushing for this. I see the almighty whip keeping everyone in line. Exactly how much can you all turn the cheek on before you make some angry phone calls to the Premiers office?

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6. BC Liberal “rat’s nest of rot”:

   https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-dirty-money-casinos-1.4985203

   And,

   https://globalnews.ca/news/4866790/richard-lee-new-candidate-burnaby-south/

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   1. Yeah,
      I noticed the federal Libs dumped “visible” minority candidate Karen Wang like a hot potato because “gasp” she pointed out she’s “gasp” of Chinese.heritage ..
      Apparently , a candidate pointing out the obvious 800 lb gorilla in the room isnt politically correct for Trudeau’s squeaky clean Party.
      Then the federal Libs appoint another Chinese candidate in the same riding because “gasp” a very large block of voters in the Peoples Republic of Burnaby are “gasp” of Chinese heritage?
      The politicians of all stripes fall all over themselves to poo poo the idea that they pander to race based politics….and then time and time again they scramble to find the most racially appealing candidates in their ridings….
      Hypocrites
      Which begs the obvious unspoken question.
      Why the hell isnt the NDP’s Mr Singh running in Surrey???????

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      1. Most interesting is Mr. Lee comes with his own team. He doesn’t use Liberal Party people. Now that is interesting.

         As to why Mr. Singh isn’t running in Surrey is one of my questions also, but my other question is, why is he running in B.C. The man is from Ontario is he not? why not run in Ontario or were other NDP, M.P.s unwilling to step aside. My sense of things is Mr. Singh was able to sign up enough new members to win the leadership, but he wasn’t really wanted by the party or the existing M.P.s hence the B.C. move.

         It isn’t just “another Chinese” candidate, its a mandarin speaker, who is fairly new to Canada because the accent on both candidates is as wide as the Fraser at the mouth. which means, they either don’t speak enough English to loose the accent or are still relatively new. My take on it is both Liberal candidates were from mainland china, which makes them different from those from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc. The Chinese community in B.C. is not one big happy family and there are definite factions based on country of origin, language, and length of time in the country i.e. anywhere from recent to the being here since Confederation.

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         1. e.a.f.
            Yes Mr. Singh is from Ontario and this article shows, at least to me, just how lacking in smarts and strategy he is.

            https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/12/02/ndp-sputtering-as-singhs-sticks-to-risky-strategy.html

            “Then, a gift appeared seemingly from nowhere: the Liberal MP who represented the very same seat in the House of Commons that Singh had represented in the Ontario Legislature, stepped down. In a by-election, Singh, a political celebrity in Brampton East and whose brother now represents the riding provincially, would have been a shoe-in.”

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7. C’mon Horgan, do something for society before your Party comes crashing down. Do something honourable to be remembered by. Call an Inquiry and you’ll be forgiven for your Site C and LNG blunders.
   It’s not just the Billions in ill gotten gain that’s an issue here. It’s the impact its had on average, normal citizens that can no longer afford a home, have been priced out of the real estate market. The ones priced out of the labour market because they no longer can afford to live where they work.
   Call an Inquiry John, and you’ll be anointed a HERO! Don’t, and fade into history as a footnote to failure.

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8. An inquiry would be good because the money being laundered was from Fent and that drug continues to kill citizens right across our country. At some level a lot of people benefited from the fent. crisis, well they did launder the money through real estate and luxury goods. However, that stuff is killing our friends, family, etc. Until we fix it so they can’t launder their money here, this will continue.

   It reminds me of when cocaine came from Columbia and the money was laundered via Florida. Now its fent. from China and its laundered through B.C. However, an inquiry may shine the light on other provinces. How much money is being laundered through other provinces?

   We need to know how this started. We need to know who “welcomed” the money launderers into B.C. We need to know why the RCMP squad was disbanded, what Ottawa knew about it and when and why they did nothing.

   If the feds are not sharing some information with Eby, why? I still think its “weird” that the Richmond money laundering case didn’t go forward because a federal prosecutor “revealed” the name of a witness. We were told it was accidental. I’m not so sure. The rationale was to go forward would endanger the life of the witness. How about the endangered lives of all those who are dying of fent. and all the first responders who develop PTSD from dealing with the situation. It all stinks.

   RossK over at the Gazetteer has posted on the subject.

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   1. Do you really believe that “those that need to know” don’t already know who the witness is? I wonder if he/she is still alive.

      We all know who welcomed the money launderers into BC. She who garnered thousands of frequent flier’s points for her numerous excursions to China early in her mandate. Where is she now?

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9. Andre weaver an opportunity awaits
   Poli corrupt cowards
   The bully the bullied and the bystanders
   Get ICIJ right on it

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   1. Weaver isn’t going to do or say anything to endanger his current position. He has never had it so good. In my opinion, Weaver is simply a B.C. Lieberal in a shabby professor type suit. the other two members of the Greens seem so much better and dedicated. I expect at some time they will kick him to the curb because he just isn’t progress enough.

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      1. Perhaps he will take Horgan with him…lol. It’s a shame Eby decided not to go for NDP leadership. He is so much better suited to the role than Horgan. That’s clear from the story I just posted on what’s happening internally with the ndp right now. Horgan surrounded himself with tight circle of yes men and women…including Meggs.

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10. BC has a legal system not a justice system
    Justice doesn’t take 6 years ?

    Also

    https://thetyee.ca/News/2019/01/21/TimberWest-Rich-Coleman-Hells-Angels/?utm_source=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=210119

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    1. Funny you should have written that, I was just coming to Laila’s blog to write to her about it. I live in Nanaimo and am wondering if it will gather must coverage from the MSM. Wrote to the Nanaimo Bulletin asking if they were going to cover it. That mess goes back all the way to 2008 when Gordon (el gordo) changed legislation to enable logging companies to sell to developers or develop their land themselves. Perhaps they were making it easy if developers wanted to launder their money via Vancouver Island where Timber west owns a whole lot of land, all of the original E & N Rail Way land grant and then some. At the time el gordo also changed the game rules so that private held forestry lands didn’t have to replant after logging. Saved a lot of corporate money that way.

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11. Anyone who’s modifies a BC government contract should get 10 years prison no parolee

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    1. THIS just in. https://globalnews.ca/news/4871631/calls-mount-public-inquiry-money-laundering-organized-crime/

       First, good on the bcgeu for this. They have a lot of great members and significant influence – more on this in a bit.
       This quote: ” According to several party insiders, Horgan’s influential chief of staff Geoff Meggs — a former City of Vancouver councillor and chief of staff for former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell — and some bureaucratic factions in B.C.’s government are against an inquiry.”

       Yes no doubt Meggs doesnt want one, Larry Campbell voted in favour of slots in Vancouver back in the day when none other than John Horgan and friends created a campaign to bring slots into Vancouver : https://www.straight.com/article/ndpers-campaigned-for-slots

       An inquiry for them just brings up stuff neither is going to want to address, but for Horgans part its still peanuts compared to what developed under the BC Liberals.

       However great this news is, it alarms me to no end that the push for a public inquiry from the union focuses solely on money laundering.

       There is a reason why, as quoted from the new link, that “some bureaucratic factions in B.C.’s government are against an inquiry.”

       Those bureaucratic factions might also be concerned about the amount of evidence that indicates there are issues with how bidding and procurement in public projects is happening in BC, very similar to what was uncovered in Quebec.

       Over the years there has been wide support for my stories covering public projects in BC, and in fact I called the feds to get a copy of their corruption report, which was released to me without need for an FOI, because they had expanded their report to include BC.

       What they found was that no one in public projects in construction here in BC wanted to talk about corruption,or instances of corruption like bid rigging, cartels or organized crime in public projects.

       Imagine that. No one denied it… because no one wanted to even talk about it.

       I detailed some of what I found here in this post from 2012. https://lailayuile.com/2012/06/19/money-and-corruption-are-ruining-the-land/

       And as in Quebec where corruption lead to years of public projects that needed repair because corners were cut and substandard material was used to make as much profit as possible, we have already seen that happen in BC. The retaining walls on the Port Mann project,spalling from the bridge,( Kiewit) the retaining walls on the sea to sky with substandard rebar being used and somehow, imagine this, approved during inspections. Even though then minister Todd Stone denied it and actually said there was nothing wrong, a year after I broke the story, they were quietly repairing walls and rebuilding them. (Kiewit)

       SO yeah, we need a public inquiry. But please, please do not limit it to just money laundering in casinos.

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       1. The pressure on the NDP to move on this is mounting as the heat gets turned up by their pals.
          https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-s-largest-public-sector-union-wants-inquiry-into-money-laundering-drugs-1.4262729

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          1. See comment I just posted in response to r 🙂

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12. Yes, as you write, more than just into money laundering would be good because as “r” posted, the trial which will be starting tomorrow in Nanaimo. its TLT (Ted Leroy) Trucking vs. Timber West. TLT is alleging Timber West forced it into bankruptcy; “plaintiffs claims are based in conspiracy and fraud. The company was the largest of 3 which dealt with Timber West. the Second largest, Muns Lumber, (owner–Geoff Courtnall, former hockey player) has already won a judgement against Timber West for negotiating in bad faith.
    The third company which dealt in the same field with Timber West was operated by Lyle Newton, member or former member of the Hell’s Angel’s. More reading led to articles back in the last decade, 16 July 2008, C.B.C, when “Auditor General, John Doyle, voiced displeasure at Colemen’s decision allowing Western Forest Products, of which his brother was an executive to remove the land from 3 tree farm licenses for residential development. Doyle was concerned about conflict of interest and insider trading by government staff.

    Now when that change was made there was also the change of privately held forestry land no longer being required to re plant following loggings, that saved logging companies a lot of money and also allowed developers to purchase land, log it, make enough money to almost pay for the land and then develop it.

    Now The Vancouver Sun, 18 June 2011 wrote along the lines that the B.C. Supreme Court approved the BILLION DOLLAR acquisition of Timber West by two pension funds. Now one of those pension funds was the one for b.C. government works and the other was a federal pension fund, which was for military, RCMP, and federal government workers. During my reading of various articles its clear the RCMP weren’t happy about having their pension money involved with Timber West because they were doing business with a company which had as its owner a member or former member of the Hell’s Angels.

    So again I think we really need an inquiry because it maybe that as you write it just isn’t about money laundering, its about corruption inside the government going back a decade and/or more. There isn’t much I can find, but haven’t done an extensive search.

    No province becomes corrupt over night. It starts small and grows and then it moves from sector to sector.

    Now when Timber West was sold to the two pension funds Coleman did have his hand in it and there is a quote of an email he wrote to the CEO of Timber West regarding his efforts.

    As things changed in the lumber industry in B.C. one company took over another, things folded into other companies, so I might get my act together and try to check some things out.

    But when TLT Trucking when bankrupt it employed 530 people. That is a big company and what did Coleman and the rest get out of it. We know from the little available we know what the former Hell’s Angel’s got out of it. He lowered his bid for work and , well he was the last of the 3 left standing. should check out what that company is doing today.

    So it will be interesting to see if any MSM goes and checks out the trail which starts tomorrow or even if the Nanaimo Bulletin covers it. Well we do have an election going on and perhaps the B.C. Liberal candidate would like to comment on the corruption in this province when “his” party was government for 16 years. Like did his car company supply any of the vehicles to any of these 3 other companies?

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13. Rookie cabinet ministers quickly learn that they know very little about the actual workings of an operational government ministry and must rely heavily on the existing bureaucracy. This is true for any new minister, but one in an incoming government taking over a bureaucracy custom staffed and appointed for 16 years by B.C. Liberals must be very strong, and have the complete backing of the Premier’s Office and Cabinet if major changes are to be made. That’s just on the policy front.

    Former Energy and Mines Minister Bennett was recently quoted as being “pleasantly surprised” by the actions of the NDP on Site C and resource extraction files. Anyone wondering whether the new energy minister influenced the bureaucracy or was instead influenced by it should find that quote instructive.

    As damaging as maintaining the BC Liberal energy direction might be to the province, it can be argued that at least it boils down to a difference of opinion on matters of public policy, notwithstanding the deliberate insertion of crony middlemen in whatever direction the BC Liberals move on anything.

    But surely whether or not to uphold the law is not a debatable policy matter. Which is why the Attorney General must not be regarded nor should he or she act like a regular cabinet minister.

    The Attorney General Act leaves no doubt as to what Mr. Eby’s duty is. In part, it proscribes that the Attorney General “must see that the administration of public affairs is in accordance with law”. And as the saying goes, “Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Sussex_Justices,_ex_p_McCarthy

    We aren’t seeing that in British Columbia. Instead we see an Attorney General who continues to happily employ a deputy who he knows damn well engineered a secret plea deal that a former Attorney General said would be illegal, and was the exact opposite of the appearance of justice. We see an Attorney General whining about being left in the dark by the feds and impotently adrift in the face of growing public calls for a public corruption inquiry. We see an Attorney General subject because of his (in)actions to public rumours that he is being hamstrung in the exercise of his duty by political masters. And we see an Attorney General allowing, if not orchestrating, strategic appointments with questionable fitness for the position. Don’t ever forget the Information Commissioner hastily plucked from his post to be installed as Deputy Attorney General in a manner that left many shaking their heads in wonder, and what he went on to do before resigning from government to accept various other lucrative appointments.

    The title of this post is very timely and very apt. Mr. Eby should ruminate on whether he wants it as his legacy.

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    1. Mr. Eby himself can not call the inquiry, to the best of my knowledge. This evening’s news is reporting he and Farnsworth are in favour of one, Horgan a tad and Meggs not so much. Not surprised Meggs isn’t in favour, his years at Vancouver City hall and all the building which went on in Vancouver while he sat on council, needs a bit of explaining. they just let it all happen. He and Robertson, in my opinion, were a gift to the developers.

       The news is reporting the first order of business for Eby and Farnsworth was to stop what had been going on with the money laundering and now they’re waiting for the second report from Germain.

       My suggestion is fire Meggs now, then give a date for when the inquiry starts. They’re going to have to do a forensic audit on the various offices in the Speaker’s dept. and those who conduct that will most likely come from other speakers’ offices from other Provinces. They might as well start canvasing for the head of the enquiry and the staff because non of them can be from B.C. Perhaps the former Chief of the Supreme Court of Canada might be interested or as some have suggest. Charbonneau.

       Your comment regarding his deputy, there is another old saying, “hold your friends close, but hold your enemies closer”.

       We don’t know what the deputy is saying or doing, so lets not jump to conclusions.

       While reading a number of documents and articles, , it was entertaining to read through how the Chief of the Electoral dept. got his job. do recall some comments and articles at the time Craig James got the job, now we know more.

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       1. “…let’s not jump to conclusions.”

          Like Eby’s deputy is his enemy?

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14. Bob Mackin, on the Plecas Report;
    https://thebreaker.news/news/speaker-report-lamc/

    They say “don’t sweat the small stuff,” but this little bit of shite says volumes about (I suggest) entitlement.

    “He was reimbursed for $966.83 in September 2018 for seven dress shirts and a tie at Brooks Brothers.

    Notably, the word tie is crossed off and “tabs” is hand written in. Mr. James’ house uniform includes judicial tabs; it does not include conventional neckties.

    Brooks Brothers confirmed in a recent telephone call that the store does not sell tabs.”

    It seems to me, it was not just ok to rip off the people, but to BS the expense sheets to boot.

    Ok then, I can’t wait to see the big stuff.

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15. skimmed through the whole report. The really fun stuff is the log splitter they purchased. A log splitter. OMG, didn’t know the Leg. needed one because they were still burning logs. But the two on leave with pay are saying, on this evening’s news, they’ll be commenting later. It wasn’t a cheap log splitter either. Allegedly it was delivered along with a trailer to one of their homes, where they use it. I still can’t get over it, a log splitter. Ran through the whole list of things, the payments, the increased salaries, etc, the clothing, jewellry, etc. but a log splitter, that just takes the cake. On the other hand, this is Vancouver Island, and lots of people have them, but really a log splitter.

    Of course all the booze on the tax payers’ dime is a tad rich also. The whole report is on line, its an easy read. Plecas wrote it in such a manner any one could read it.

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16. Couple thoughts;
    The Plecas report was top spot on Global online for about an hour, then was pushed down 4 spots below the lost Coquihalla dog.

    I hope there is not too much trial by social media and the two men are granted fair hearings.

    We can only hope, people on the inside will start feeling comfortable about talking now; about bigger things.

    Lenz said “we don’t want an audit.”
    When it happens, will it blow things wide open?

    “Lenz wanted to get James removed from office.”
    Will Lenz squeal, to save his own latter parts?

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17. O.M.G! Laila’s finally been vindicated! If this Plecas thing doesn’t warrant an inquiry, I don’t know what will. Kudos to him – he deserves an Order of BC, or Canada.
    And if you believe this is exclusive to the Clerk and Sargent at Arms, I have a bridge to sell……
    Oh, the ramifications!

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    1. Completely agree John.

       In some ways, one has to have a bit of, just a bit of, sympathy for Lenz and Craig, if only because they were the ones who got caught. I suspect, as any clear thinking person would, Lenz and Craig were part of the “we’ve always done it that way” crowd.

       I would like to have been a fly on the wall at the LAMC in camera meeting.
       Who was squirming, obfuscating, objecting?
       Who didn’t want the report made public and voted in favour, so as to not attract special attention?

       Did Mr. Plecas have to threaten to go rogue and release it, with or without committee consent?

       Anyone who has followed Sean Holman and Bob Mackin, is very familiar with the letters FOI and this blog by Norm Farrell is very short and to the point.

       https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwBVMhQbrhNHzlkRbVFpFkfdpsw

       Has there ever been an election where “open, honest and transparent” were not used by the gasbags and circus barkers?

       Personal opinions of Mr. Plecas aside, he is to be thanked and encouraged.

       Mr. Horgan, Mr. Eby, step away from the garbage, do the right thing for BC and uphold the “accountable” plank that helped get you elected.

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18. You forgot “on time on budget ” its a car allowance , there’s an investigation poli propa?
    It’s a Hydro
    Dividend… but we borrowed to cover the dividend.?
    We’re building site C but demand has been flat for 12 years but we still buy IPP contracts and sellColumbia river treaty power for pennies

    Also
    In last 16 years BC debt has gone from 34 to 68 billion dollars that’s 68000 million dollars . A liberal endeavour?

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19. This just in.
    Experts including one from Charbonneau, contradict Eby and say YES, an inquiry can be started right away

    https://globalnews.ca/news/4780016/bc-public-inquiry-money-laundering/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

    ” Quebec’s Charbonneau Commission has served as an example for those calling for an inquiry into money laundering.

    That commission spent four years looking into “collusion and corruption in the awarding and management of public contracts” in Quebec’s construction industry; it also looked at “any links to the financing of political parties.”

    The inquiry found that corruption was more “deeply rooted” than investigators thought.

    Engineering firms had colluded with companies to support political candidates so that they could obtain public contracts after elections, the inquiry found. Videos played at the inquiry showed alleged Mafiosi stuffing money into their socks.

    Charbonneau Commission deputy chief prosecutor Simon Tremblay offered a firm “yes” when asked whether B.C. should hold an inquiry into money laundering.

    The purpose of an inquiry, he explained, “is to understand the schemes, to understand what happened, where are the holes in the laws.”

    And such an inquiry, Tremblay said, could exist side-by-side with any other investigation in B.C.

    When the Charbonneau Commission began, “the first month was experts testifying about how organized crime works,” Tremblay explained.

    As the inquiry moved forward, the commission worked alongside the police. Eventually a provincial body that investigates corruption arrested 37 people including former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.

    The former mayor was sentenced to six years in prison for fraud, conspiracy and breach of trust. He was ordered to pay $9 million to the city as part of his sentence.

    Spend $35 million, make $95 million

    The City of Laval, where Tremblay now works as head of the legal department, ultimately recovered over $40 million in funds associated with the awarding of contracts, he said.

    That alone was more than the $35 million that was earmarked to hold the inquiry in the first place — deals were reached to repay as much as $95 million across Quebec.

    And even that likely doesn’t capture the full breadth of what was recovered, Tremblay said.

    “It’s huge money that we save,” he said. “And also, all the processes in place now are much better so, for me, it’s a huge investment.”

    3 experts vs
    1 Attorney General

    Who in this government is holding Eby back? And why exactly are you so hesitant?

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    1. After several insightful comments above…

       From Sam Cooper:

       “But on the other side of the debate, inside Horgan’s cabinet, influential members including Eby and Farnworth are privately advancing arguments for an inquiry, sources with knowledge of cabinet discussions, said.”

       Privately? As in, Rebelliously? Fomenting a political mutiny?

       Good question, Ms Yuile: What is it that prevents a supposedly independent Mr Eby from making his own inquiry decision and assuming his party rank and file will back a full Public Inquiry?

       Perhaps in haste to deflect responsibility for – objectively and from Day One – refusing to allow a Public Inquiry, Mr Eby inadvertently has opened a different entrance to Pandora’s Box.

       Qui Bono? Can someone explain what benefit accrues to Mr Horgan’s tenuous hold on power while more voters move from doubt to mistrust, and finally to outrage about all this fence-sitting jurisprudence?

       Outside of presumably relieved ranks within Organized Crime, and who knows how many other culprits, why would anyone hoping to clean up BC insist that a real investigation, under oath, with fines and prison sentences as the result, must be blocked to preserve an untenable status quo? To accomplish what?

       How is doing nothing especially helpful to any hope of retaining majority control of the Legislature beyond one term? Like it or not, ignore it or not, the NDP now witnesses growing public demand for an Inquiry, including demands from NDP-supporters like the BCGEU. What sense does it make to defy so many thousands of friends?

       When this scandal first went public it was entirely in the BC libs court. And it was politically smart to keep it there. Now? It looks more and more like another party, for unknown reasons is running a cover-up.

       Ever heard of Marc Cohodes? Someone important apparently does know him. On 1 July last year he was quoted at length.

       https://globalnews.ca/news/4306119/marc-cohodes-money-laundering-vancouver/

       ”Cohodes admits he’s friends with B.C. Attorney General David Eby, who last September hired former deputy commissioner of the RCMP Peter German to conduct an investigation into the province’s money laundering problem.”

       “In an interview with Global National’s Robin Gill, Cohodes says Eby has all kinds of tools at his disposal do to something now, and he shouldn’t be afraid to use them.

       ““I think [Eby] should prosecute and investigative people who fueled this, people who profited from it on the backs of hardworking B.C.-ers,” he said.”

       “But Cohodes goes even further with a proposed fix:”

       ““I think the B.C. government needs to seize assets, sell the assets at an auction, split half the money with the Chinese government, split half the money with B.C. and give the whistleblower or finder, say, 10 per cent.””

       “It’s a dramatic proposal for a dramatic problem in British Columbia: the blend of organized crime, drug trafficking and a housing affordability crisis.”

       “In his report, German recommended the establishment of an independent regulator for the casino industry to rein in money laundering.”

       “But that doesn’t go far enough for Cohodes.”

       ““You have to do drastic things and drastic measures need to be taken so asset seizure is one place to really start.””

       “Cohodes takes issue with the finding in Dirty Money that only $100 million has been illegally funneled through B.C. casinos.”

       “The numbers in my mind are in the tens of billions of dollars and I think the reasons those numbers don’t come out is because the government doesn’t want to scare the hell out of people,” he said.

       “He’s recommended to Eby that authorities reward whistleblowers who tip off the government to drug trades or luxury home and car ownership.”

       ““Seizing assets would take property out of the hands of criminals, put it back on the market, reset prices and help B.C. coffers for any dislocation, according to Cohodes.””

       “But Canadians’ penchant for politeness means it won’t be easy for Eby to garner support for the revolution he deems necessary, he says.”

       Wrong. Massive public support already is available and growing.

       It is Mr Eby who remains AWOL. While, um “privately” wishing he didn’t have to?

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20. who in this government is holding Eby back? most likely Horgan and some in the party but most likely the one holding him back the most is Meggs, because in my opinion he and Robertson are the two on the left with most to loose. the right, well their will be a whole lot of politicians who have a lot to loose because they were in office for 16 years when this all became big business, the money laundering that is.

    Some people thing Eby ought to have been the Premier, but Eby needs to be the A.G. He’s good at it and in my opinion, just about any one can be Premier, these days but a really good A. G. that takes more talent and Eby has it. Eby just has to go kick some ass.

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21. https://globalnews.ca/news/4897032/bc-casinos-money-laundering/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

    What amount of evidence is required to kick Johnny off the fence on a full Charbonneau style inquiry?

    The German report is useless, tainted and grossly underestimated the scope of the problem.

    The legislature is a shambles.

    And no reporter save Dermod of Integrity BC and myself has even gotten into the procurement issues on public projects….

    Will the Vision BC faction surrounding the premier come under examination?

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22. https://globalnews.ca/news/4905610/river-rock-casino-paul-king-jin/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

    Time to get off the fence Horgan.

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