No more excuses: How the LAMC failed British Columbians…and why it must become accountable once and for all.

Posted on by Laila

Last night I took a few moments before bed to re-read the older posts I’ve written on past spending and accounting scandals in the legislature, because I couldn’t stop thinking about the 17 people alleged to have been let go for raising concerns about spending or procedure.

We will get back to that shortly, but there has been a lot of confusion for newer readers as to what the LAMC is and what they do. OR don’t do which is really more appropriate, considering the details of the Plecas report.

The Legislative Assembly Management Committee aka LAMC, was created and empowered to : “consider any matters necessary for the efficient and effective operation and management of the Legislative Assembly, including reviewing estimates of expenditure for the Legislative Assembly under Vote 1. “

Sounds great in theory, but in practice it has been a disaster and quite honestly, a running embarrassment for the entire legislature. I’ve done two posts on this in the past, once in 2012 ( all of these issues should have been fixed then, but were not ) https://lailayuile.com/2012/07/27/politics-without-principle-makes-hypocrisy-a-governing-force-in-the-legislative-assembly/

Then, in 2014, we again took a walk down the unaccountable road of many excuses and promises to fix the issues : https://lailayuile.com/2014/03/26/politics-without-principle-2-0-just-because-you-candoesnt-mean-you-should/

The only issue is, that Craig James himself was in charge of a good amount of those improvements ( bulletproof, I believe he has been quoted as saying) and clearly that hasn’t worked out so well for anyone…least of all the 17 people who were let go.

So who sits on this mysterious committee?

For the 39th parliment, which ran from 2009-2013, the members were:

For the 40th Parliment, which ran from 2013 -2017, members were:

There is Linda Reid above, committee chair and currently under fire for allegedly asking an assistant to submit improper expenses…he refused and was subsequently fired he claims.

The current committee makeup is as follows below, and remember them, because these will be the people you need to hold responsible, along with every current mla, for fixing this once and for all.

Clearly, in past years the BC Liberals have outnumbered the NDP members of the committee… and as the auditor general said yesterday, the political will was just not there to enact substantive changes to prevent this and give actual true oversight to the committee.

This was reflected in the Plecas report:

In 2012, strengthening oversight was identified as urgent…2012…then again in 2014, it was still urgent. And yet here we are today. Ask your Liberal mla why this happened.

To be fair, some changes were made to how things were accounted for, but those changes were largely engineered by Craig James( appointed by the BC Liberals against objections, remember) But who has oversight over Craig James? Apparently no one.

Lets go to those 17 employees now,because what was written here is disturbing for several reasons.



Chilling. Apparently nothing was learned from the tragic health firings or the suicide of Rod MacIsaac. This line from the page above is very telling: ” this is a broader issue that appears to be modelled at the top of the hierarchy, but extends elsewhere in the Legislative Assembly. ” It is unacceptable that such an environment was fostered and allowed to continue unchecked.

Having been in power for 16 years, having unilaterally appointed Craig James to a lifetime appointment and having also outnumbered the NDP contingent on the LAMC, this all lands squarely on the shoulders of the BC Liberals who did nothing to fix this. They controlled everything.

But one must still ask, in the interest of it never happening again, why the alarm wasn’t sounded by the NDP members past and present on this committee? Particularly when you see statements like this in the press:

If there were signs that things were off Premier Horgan,why didn’t you act? If there are rumours of wrongdoing or other issues in the hallways, isn’t it your job, particularly while in opposition, to look into it,or have someone else look into it? How does all this happen in the legislative assembly and no one says or does a thing about serious issues that have been reported as a well known secret, until Plecas comes along? How?

To me, that is a big issue, and where immediate legislative powers of authority over the Clerk and other senior management officials in the legislature, along with explicit protocol detailing oversight and accountability of their work , must be granted to the LAMC. That this wasn’t done many years ago is without argument, a failing of the Liberal government to be sure, but also for those committees past and present. And while the new government has brought forth whistleblower legislation for the public sector, it doesn’t seem to have applied here. ( done in time? Or needs to be expanded to legislative employees for protection) https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018AG0026-000729

This is why todays presser with BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson is a joke if not an insult to every Britsh Columbian. It truly is just a repeat of what those of us who have been around long enough to remember similar assertions from past leaders.. as well as the broken promises to fix it. https://www.radionl.com/2019/01/24/opposition-leader-calls-for-an-end-to-partisan-sniping-and-for-work-to-begin-to-restore-faith-in-the-legislature/?sc_ref=twitter

Still under fire for ignoring if not aiding money laundering and speculators, his plea to halt partisan sniping comes off as self serving, considering he has yet to show enough class to even apologise to Plecas and Mullen for their very partisan smearing of the men prior to the report being made public.

Even Mary Polak, also on the LAMC committee, stands firm in her assertion Plecas did the wrong thing by not coming to the committee or the auditor general first with his concerns. ( Really Mary? And tip off the one person he had to establish a pattern of behaviour with, substantiated with evidence? Insert eyeroll here) Wilkinson talked around most questions today…which should tell you a lot about what more there may be to come from the rcmp investigation.

( not to mention a public inquiry which I suggest, AGAIN, Horgan get off the fence on)

The bright light here now, is that the current LAMC has two people that I think, will ensure the appropriate changes will finally be done. Sonia Furstenau and Gary Begg.

Gary is a former RCMP officer from Surrey and doesn’t suffer fools lightly. Sonia has shown herself to be a fierce defender of the people outside and inside the legislature, and I know she won’t be silent until it’s right.

Remember this and take it to heart. The people who work in the legislature, whether elected or not, serve the people of British Columbia. As we well know, some of those people have grown too comfortable over the years and have become entitled. It is my opinion that the benefits given to an MLA are too generous in this day and age, and clearly the salaries and benefits given to other senior employees are as well. Considering people on disability in this province are still living on meagre allotments that are leaving many homeless, the entitlement to claim per diems you haven’t used or take spouses on trips, or claim a cash option housing allowance with no receipts is just wrong. Period.

I’ve gone too long here so let me leave it with these two things:

  1. It took an independent to bring this to light.
  2. Good advice from a reader, for readers, left on the 2014 post on that years legislative spending scandal:

READ the entire Plecas report and recommendations below

Click to access 2019-01-21_SpeakersReport.pdf

98 thoughts on “No more excuses: How the LAMC failed British Columbians…and why it must become accountable once and for all.”

  1. The Plecas report has given Bob Mackin, a stellar and tenacious journalist, something to really sink his teeth into and as with Laila, vindication.

    The following is a prime example and if read carefully, more than once, new nuggets will surface each time.

    https://thebreaker.news/news/reid-expenses/
    Right out of the gate:
    >>> (Linda Reid) “I would never knowingly, willingly claim for something I wasn’t entitled to,” Reid said, pledging to cooperate with an audit ordered Jan. 21 by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee. “I have never done that in my career.”

    In 2013, Reid knowingly and willingly claimed for her husband’s business class airfare, meals and hotel when she attended a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in South Africa. In March 2014, when Reid was exposed, she said she reimbursed the public treasury for $5,528.16 for the airfare and would eventually repay the rest of her husband’s costs. <<>>

    ****”The Legislative Assembly, however, lacks protection for workers, because it is not unionized and the Employment Standards Act and Human Rights Code do not apply.”****

    My apologies to those workers, who, it turns out, were employed in a medieval, arcane system.

    Like

    1. Bob is one of the greatest minds out there, aside from Dermod, for recalling and documenting where the press often has moved on. This is a great example. And as with Plecas, this has to be made right.

      And how did I miss that??? What year is this?? How has it gone this long they are exempt????

      And why isnt that fixed either??

      I saw a quote from him today( Plecas) where he said he wants everyone who was hurt to be whole again…I’ve massacred that likely but it stood out.

      Like

  4. Listening to Wilkinson on t.v. today, was very happy I wasn’t sitting at the computer. another key board might have been drenched. spitting coffee and all that. Wilkinson was ranting on about how Plecas and Mullen were out of control and as I recall Wilkinson was trying to mount a recall petition against Plecas. Oh, oh, how fast this all changed? So would Wilkinson please explain why he changed his mind? Is he going to stop trying to have Eby recalled also? Just asking, given Eby might be the one who finally calls for an inquiry.

    there is also another new comer on the committee, the new NDP, MLA, Janet Routledge. for Burnaby. She’s smart, principled and not a fool. Has a Masters, and spent years with the P.S.A.C. in various positions. She knows how to work and also knows how government works. Certainly expect something good from her. .

    Like

    1. You write.. “So would Wilkinson please explain why he changed his mind? Is he going to stop trying to have Eby recalled also? Just asking, given Eby might be the one who finally calls for an inquiry.”

      Really? It was Mr Wilkinson who initiated Mr Eby’s recall? Not anyone living in Mr Eby’s riding? Mr Wilkinson has the legal authority cancel any recall he wishes to? That’s how the recall system works?

      And you think that Mr Eby mustn’t be recalled because he “might call an inquiry.” …Finally?

      He’ll just plunge right to it, unlike the Casino Gate scandal?

      A final quote from The Breaker

      https://thebreaker.news/news/analysis-bc-media-elites-plecas/

      “While other outlets were madly intent on grilling the whistleblower and his aide, theBreaker.news was focused on specious spending and clandestine contracting in what is often called “the people’s house.” It was a scandal waiting to happen because the B.C. Legislature is an anachronism.”

      “James and Lenz never imagined their secrets would be exposed by the speaker (who they seemed to forget was a renowned criminology professor), because they functioned comfortably in a high-paying vacuum where B.C.’s freedom of information laws do not apply and, according to the Plecas report, those that questioned their authority were shown the door.”

      “Now it’s your turn, Premier Horgan, David Eby, Mike Farnworth and Jinny Sims, to amend the FOI laws, bring the Legislature into the 21st century and restore public trust and confidence.”

      “Will you?”

      Any bets e.a.f. on how long your favourite candidate for BC Premier can stall on this file?

      Just asking..

      Like

  5. Another excellent post Laila. The only quibble I have is with your statement about going on too long. Not something that should ever be said about your writing.

    The John Horgan quotes about rumours in the hallways, and signs that things were off remind me of correspondence I had with former NDP Justice and Attorney General critic Leonard Krog about the plea deal to end the BC Rail trial. He informed me that although he and his party considered the BC Rail matter “dead” and would no longer pursue it, he would go to his grave with doubts about how the deal went down. My reply was not kind, and although I did not say it to him then I remember thinking he might as well be in his grave for all the good he was doing.

    There is much greater evidence supporting the need for a public corruption inquiry in this province than the hallway “rumours” and “signs” John Horgan ignored about misspending, as you have so thoroughly and consistently demonstrated in your previous writing.

    Given his inaction John Horgan appears to be giving that evidence up for dead.

    Rumours and signs of BC Liberal relief will soon appear.

    Like

    1. Well put, Lew. We have some good diggers working this file and I think for once, there is more enjoyment than head banging in it for them.
      ————————-
      I like the bits in the Plecas report where, even though Lenz and James were supposedly running the same flim-flam they were ratting each other out.

      I also like how Mr. Plecas is using this lack of honour among thieves, as an old police tactic of publicly pitting one against the other. Which one will squeal for a deal first?

      I’m also amused with the silence from those two who love the sound of their own voices, Clark and Coleman and that no media has tracked them down.

      Like

  6. Just heard John Horgan interviewed by Jon McComb on ‘NW.

    Asked about whether he had heard anything in all his years in the legislature, especially about people being let go for raising concerns, Mr. Horgan said that senior members of the gallery like Mike Smyth, Vaughn, and Keith Baldrey were there before he arrived. He actually then stated that they would have heard the rumours, and as journalists would have tracked them down and if there was anything to them, they would have seen the light of day.

    Houston, we have a problem.

    Like

    2. Horgan is correct however,…….
      Horgan knows that during the time all of this was going on Smyth, Palmer, Baldrey and others were part of the press gallery. They, in my opinion, ought to have done their jobs. The press knew 17 people had gone from a small work group and no one ever questioned it??????? Now if I were a betting person, I’d put a far amount of money on that thing they have in horse racing if you bet correctly on who comes in 1, 2, and 3…….. who in the press gallery knew what and when. More than one blogger and commenter over the years “commented” on how the MSM was working more like a press release organization for the B.C. Lieberals than an actual press. No deep questions, no digging, on much of anything. Sam Coooper wrote some great articles, but not until the B.C. Lieberals were out of office were they published.

      So as this thing comes to a boil, Horgan is simply give the press a good kick in the nuts while they go for him and the NDP. Would be interesting how they react because if they knew a lot and kept quiet about it, one could conclude they were complicit and derelict in their responsibilities as members of a “free” press. On corruption and money laundering in this province, the press does not get a pass. The only true reporting that was done following the election of el gordo was by you and some of the other bloggers.

      Like

  7. On June 2, 2011, Rich Coleman tabled motion to hire Craig James as clerk-for-life, w/out competition. Liberals voted 47-31 for James.
    (Bob Mackin)

    Like

  9. Lailayuile you have never sat on LAMC nor to my knowledge have you ever been elected. I sat on LAMC for 4 years. Mike Farnsworth and Jenny Kwan were on the NDP side and to my recall not once were expense claims ever reviewed by LAMC. Vote 1 does not break down into trips, clothing, or souvenirs.
    Much of what is in the report has been longstanding practice which has a rationale that can be argued either way. The Speaker’s liquor cabinet for example. The Speaker often entertains international guests in his offices and it can be argued both ways whether liquor is appropriate. For decades it has been provided.
    Wine has been served in receptions following inauguration on numerous occasions. That would be ordered through the clerk’s office I would think.
    My point is that LAMC cannot fix what it does not know is broken. Travel and related expenses don’t get onto LAMC’s agenda nor should they. LAMC members are MLAs and have no audit responsibility. We also do not design the vote 1 budget. Indeed, all budgets are staff created and are to fall generally in line with direction given from the legislature. All are scrutinized in the budget estimates process.
    If the Auditor General pushed the responsibility for examining travel and othe expenses back onto LAMC, I would suggest that this is a deflection of where responsibility truly lies. LAMC has zero audit responsibility!
    Lastly, in every organization there are those that will take advantage for personal gain. To make this political and suggest it belongs to a political party is an insult to the vast majority of MLAs and staff from all parties that work diligently and with integrity to respect the taxpayer’s dollar.

    Like

    1. With respect Mr.Hawes, the auditor general(s) made it excruciatingly clear what was broken, more than once. The initial recommendations were quite clear and, quite ignored for the most part and that has been well reported on not only here but in several media outlets. I’d offer to direct you once again to those old reports but that’s not my job.

      The worst excuse I have ever heard for justifying what should not be justified, is that it was standard practice,or that’s the way it was always done. You of all people can do better than that,Randy,since I’ve seen how you schooled Ryan once on why Plecas is the only person who can hold his head high following the turnabout Clark did.https://www.google.ca/amp/s/lailayuile.com/2017/09/10/educating-ryan/amp/

      The management committee has made efforts, yes, to improve the shoddy accounting. Where the failure lies is as I have detailed above. The political will was not there to bring the legislature quickly and completely into a state of management that might have stopped this.

      No one appears to have oversight over the one man who is in charge of most of this. That is not the auditors fault.

      You are welcome to disagree, but it is no longer flying with the public,who,thankfully due to the man you once defended, now know how wretched the legislature has been managed and taken advantage of.

      It’s for the public and all those people allegedly let go for political and self serving reasons, that this needs to be fixed. Just because you can, does not mean you should.

      Like

      1. And Randy? This was sent on while I was out, it appears that you may want to refresh what exactly occurred under LAMC.

        https://mobile.twitter.com/KevinSMcArthur/status/1088900553902440448

        If they can access this info, so can you. Oh wait, here you go:
        ”
        https://www.leg.bc.ca/content/committeedocuments/40th-parliament/4th-session/lamc/hansard/20140506pm-LAMC-n6.htm ”

        The people in the Leg that have done no wrong, take no offence at my words because they know it isn’t directed towards them. As for making this political? Its unavoidable to point out which party was in power, therefore holds ultimate responsibility.

        Like

  10. The powers and duties of the committee are established by the LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE ACT, which proscribes that the committee is responsible for the appointment, supervision and management of staff of the Legislative Assembly, other than permanent officers of the Legislative Assembly.

    Supervision and management of the permanent officers at the heart of this controversy are within the Speaker’s ambit. But the committee is responsible for analyses of expenditures and commitments of the Legislative Assembly. So if the committee was discussing matters relating to the permanent officers, it must have been budget related. It is not clear to me how it could undertake that duty with zero audit responsibility.

    Previous Speakers and past members of the committee will be called upon to explain and justify how they undertook and discharged their respective responsibilities. It looks like that process is well under way.

    http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96258_01

    Like

    1. I hope everyone stands up strong together against this. 😠 I’m still digesting the fact these employees weren’t covered by employment standards!
      The more I find out how things run in Victoria the more angry I get. It’s so hard for most people to make ends meet, even two income families, let alone seniors and youth and pwd..and Randy comes along and says many items could be argued either way?

      No, they cant. Its public funds. Period. You want to preach affordability and a better BC? Stop the free for all. And dragging others into it.

      And threats against Plecas and Mullan??

      Stupid. Very very stupid.

      Like

  16. Folks wanting to stay on top of this thing, should include Integrity BC in there list of go to sites.
    For a taste, hit this link and scroll down to the heading “A few days after that purchase…”

    IF most of what we are reading, about Mr. James extravagances and his emerging ties to the Liberals, past and present, it seems to me his appointment and unlimited use of tax dollars was a great incentive to cover, hide, erase or otherwise see that lots of stuff was cleansed from view.

    Again though, my fear is, this sexy little scandal is just the diversion to have us forget about an inquiry.

    Like

  17. It would have been insane for Plecus to have gone to Mary Polack and the commitee first. That’s exactly what she wanted so Plecus could be put in a corner. Such dirty rotten scoundrels and snakes like Polack still sitting and sucking on the taxpayers straw. It would be like Plecus walking into a spiders web to his destruction.

    Like

  18. Sounds like Christy Clark’s name is getting dragged into the fray on the firings issues. And it is absolutely deserving. She’s no innocent. No where near it. She was the Premier for god’s sake. Overseer of all, and totally in the loop on everything dirty, and stinking rotten for years and years. Some of her expenditures don’t sound so innocent either. Go Plecus Go. Give it to these morally corrupt bums. The whole filthy works. Bring the whole stinking shit pile down on top of them because most British Columbian’s are on your side now. Then we can hopefully finish the pigs off with a corruption Inquiry. That’s if our new leader has the guts to call one. HAAH, did i say leader. Sorry.

    Like

    1. The James’ and Clarks have been the simple, easy to use hand tools of some very skilled craftsmen.

      Only when names like Brown, Bennett, Washington, Armstrong, Kinsella, Bornmann, Loukidelis, Whitmarsh and on and on, are dragged from behind the curtain, will it be clear who has really been the dysentery that has ravaged BC

      Like

    1. Sorry these were caught in spam and I just found them. I’ve been under a spambot attack since the night after I wrote this post and have had to tighten moderation to ensure they all go into trash right away. So, if anyone comments and it doesnt show, its likely in spam and I will be checking when I can 🙂

      Like

  21. Isn’t there something about Mary. Mary Polak i mean. Former trustee and chair of the Surrey School Board and cheerleader of trying to ban books on same sex parents and related stuff about tolerance learning and acceptance etc. It even went to the Supreme court and because of her and that discriminating intolerant pack of snakes. The court ruled in favour of the books, and because of this, around a million of our bucks were wasted. Imagine that money could have gone to help people and kids. Shameful and disgusting.
    Mary Polack of Environment Ministry and Shawnigan lake waste dump and pollution fame. A dump allowed in a watershed that give water to the areas residents. Sick.
    How many kids continued to sadly fall between the cracks under her watch as Children and Family Development Minister. Just like it happened under other ministers of that tainted porfolio. Such disgusting negligence. And she wanted Mr. Plecus to come her and the LAMC with his concerns when he is badly hated by so many of her pals and thugs on the floor of the house of shame where not many moral compasses work. Yes there sure is something about Mary.

    Like

  22. On the ferry, with nothing better to do, I opened the list of Plecas exhibits for a look.
    https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/committees-calendar/20190121-LAMC-1200

    I did not go deep, but rather just scrolled through and picked out random bits that caught my eye.

    What struck me immediately was the number of receipts, with scribbled notes, that would make any oversight daunting and therefore easy to just whack away with the rubber stamp. The desired result?

    I made it through the first 12 of 31 exhibits and had to quit because, if I went further, I would surely do as Plecas suggested and just throw up.

    As a decades-long taxpayer, I am disgusted. As a senior, whose hydro, MSP, ICBC and most other government services have increased year over year, I am personally insulted.

    Here’s what I spotted and I’ll get the only bit of ironic humour out of the way first:

    Exhibit 9 has receipts for an annual subscription to one of “UK’s bestselling magazines” Private Eye. Also in Exhibit 9 was a monthly payment of $212.93 for Spot satellite tracking service. Both receipts submitted by Clerk Craig James.

    Other items that jumped out from exhibits 1 to 12 were:

    #2 Business class air fare to Calgary, return with the justification that if he had driven, the mileage would have been “$450 more.” Such a good little servant.

    #2 and #6 London Post Office $266.53 and $170.26

    #5 Several receipts totalling $367.50 with scribbled notes; “all Chinese writing” and “I don’t recall what these was for.”

    #6, June an $1138.34 luggage purchase in Hong Kong and in December, another $743.92 luggage purchase in London with the scribbled note; “receipt missing.”

    #8 First class rail London to Edinburgh and return by air to retrieve a forgotten passport. Also receipts for “misc. uniform items” of a brooch, tie and scarf.

    #10 Camera, case, tripod and memory cards totalling $1563.68 and “Bose noise cancelling headphones for travelling” $504.44. (I use Speedo ear plugs, purchased at the Commonwealth Pool, for about six bucks). Also in #10 is the famous tie for $46, with the word ‘tabs” written in the margin. The store, Brooks Brothers, does not sell tabs.

    #11 Clipper Vacations to Seattle for an LABC conference which included the names Richard and Karen Lenz.

    I may continue reading after I pick up a couple bottles of Gravol.

    Like

  23. Just received my latest article from Blog Borg Collective. It has an interesting record up of an exchange between Horgan and Lenz/Craig in some committee meeting and they’re talking about $500K. Interesting read if you’re following the all things financial at the B.C. Leg.

    Like

      1. “So why the hell didn’t Horgan take that further?”
        That question has been asked on so many issues. So many.

        While I like Sheila Malcolmson and think it would be a general loss if she were out of politics for a spell and even though I know very little about Sheila Ney, I will not be upset if the greens take Nanaimo.

        Like

      2. Horgan was in opposition when this was going on and would have been out voted. It wasn’t going anywhere. I do believe it happened in 2013 and he didn’t become Premier for a few years later on. when you get into politics, you sometimes get side tracked. I doubt if it was anything deliberate that Horgan did to forget.

        Like

  24. Another little nugget, from Integrity BC.
    Gulliver would have been very jealous of Mr. Craig’s travels.

    Add a 2nd Bangladesh trip in 2017 to the clerk’s other ports-of-call: El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Lucia, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan, India, Nigeria, Malaysia, South Africa, Malta, Thailand, Kenya, Guyana, Australia & the UK.
    (Integrity BC0)

    Not too shabby for a civil servant, who took not a single vacation day, in all his years as clerk.

    Like

    1. Annnnddd….why do we have an LAMC??

      A friend forwarded an editorial that follows my post to a T, along with a Globe and Mail feature that touches on this too.

      Glad to see Corp media uses this blog as a resource.Took them a while to catch up though…

      Like

    1. Love this.

      Love, that after 12 years of advocating for independent mla’s, that an independent mla is the one behind all this:)❤

      It almost….almost…restores my faith.

      Like

    1. He was on the committee for 4 years. He questioned issues he saw as abnormal..and where did that go?

      Everyone needs to double down on calls to MLA offices for a full Charbonneau style inquiry run independent of government with full powers of subpoena.

      Like

        1. We need a slugger…period. This govt is rife with corruption and bloat and I havent seen any hard hits or home runs yet.
          The ndp seem to just be counting on..” we arent them”, which is exactly the lack of passion and conviction that resulted in them being in a minority govt. With all this ammo being handed over on a silver platter by the BC liberals and everyone they’ve hurt,the by election in Nanaimo should be a landslide but it isnt.

          Question: Why did Horgan surround himself with people from Vision, when Vision is a big factor in the biggest issues hurting Vancouver?

          Like

    1. Don’t know who Kyla Lee is, but her article is more in line with Matthew Nathanson. If Plecas’s report had not been tabled we would not have known about what happened. As tax payers we have the right to know. As to tainting a jury pool, not so much. Over the years there have been much worse things printed and the trials went ahead, just fine. I’ve been following things in this province since the late 1950s.

      When we weight the corruption in this province against any potential defendant being disadvantaged, its more important for the public to ensure the public has the right to know. You see they don’t need to have a jury trial, they can always have a trial by Judge alone. Lots of defendants do that if they want a fair and impartial trial. There is no evidence any of this news will taint the jury pool. We may follow all of this, but the average person, not so much.

      Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more “opinions” by criminal and civil lawyers along these lines. They could well have clients who don’t want the public to know what their clients have been up to. the reason all of this corruption has been going on at the Leg and casinos is no one was telling the public, the taxpayers, etc. Had their been “sun shine” legislation some of this may not have happened. Had the MSM done their jobs, a lot of this might have not happened.

      In the last decade I “goggled” crooks, coal, casinos, and politics. An Alabama blog popped up, which I had seen on RossK’s blog roll. I started following it because it was dealing with corruption and gambling. learnt a lot. When it was finely revealed what was going on with money launder in the casinos and real estate here, none of it was a surprise to me. I’d all ready seen the show in Alabama. it also wasn’t a surprise because I’d been following politics in B.C. since the late 1950s.

      Many younger people don’t know before there was the B.C. Lieberal party there was the Socred party. different name, a lot of the same players in the early days and the same, in my opinion, ethics. Not much changes in politics, just the names and the dates.

      Like

    2. Wow. This explains a lot. Huge ruling that will,without fail,have bearing on the current debacle in the legislature. Unreal actually

      https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/ian-mulgrew-victoria-loses-compensation-fight-legislature-not-beyond-judicial-scrutiny/amp?__twitter_impression=true

      “While there is a role for parliamentary privilege, the chief justice said there was a limit.

      “I find that the parliamentary privilege asserted, in this case, is cast too broadly,” Hinkson concluded.

      “The privilege to which the Legislative Assembly is entitled is the right to regulate its internal affairs, proceedings, and the plaintiff’s appointment, but its scope does not preclude the enforcement of the plaintiff’s contractual rights to the compensation she was entitled to receive for her role once appointed, nor her claim for damages if she was induced into accepting an appointment as the RCY by the negligent representations of those permitted to discuss her compensation with her. The plaintiff’s claim does not impugn any acts of the Legislative Assembly that are sufficiently connected to its core legislative and deliberative functions such that a court’s review of those acts would interfere with its work.”

      Now director of residential school history and dialogue centre at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, Turpel-Lafond credited the moral support of former legislature staff who contacted her during the litigation to say they were mistreated but didn’t have the resources to fight back.

      “I hope this helps others in the future so they will be protected,” she said. “Like all of us, the legislature needs to be under the law and not a law unto themselves.”

      Like

  29. It is my impression there may be a whole lot of people who don’t want inquiries of any type. Bloggers also writing on the various corruption scandals are Blog Borg Collective, Norm Farrell’s In Sight.ca., and RossK’s The Pacific Gazetteer. The Gazetteer post of 26 Jan 2019, at the end, refers to an editorial in Post Media’s, The Province.

    It is written by Matthew Nathanson, an excellent B.C. criminal lawyer. He compares David Eby twice to Donald Trump, writing, “like Trump, B.C. A.G. Eby’s politicking undermines public confidence in our institutions”. He then goes on to write, Eby’s “new doomsday scenario is money laundering which he claims has infected every nook and cranny of our economy”; Nathanson goes on writing this is a “convient way to blame the Liberals for being asleep at the switch and letting this disaster go unchecked”.

    My questions would be, why is Matthew Nathanson attacking Eby and why is the Province printing this editorial. My conclusion is some one or a whole lot of some ones is scared shitless that Eby will call an enquiry.

    Wilkinson has tried to launch a recall campaign against Eby, so if it hasn’t worked perhaps this is plan B. Wilkinson also has one against Plecas.

    Interesting note: , Matthew Nathanson represented one of those charged in the money laundering case which included a raid by the RCMP on the accused Richmond business. He is still representing one of the former accused who is attempting to have the government return to them over $2M seized in the raid. It has been alleged, Nathanson has represented members of the Hell’s Angels. (yes every one is entitled to the best defense lawyer they can obtain) However, in my opinion, attacking the Attorney General for doing his job is a tad strange, even if you have clients like Nathanson’s. Its even stranger that The Province would print it.

    As usual my question is, why did Nathanson write the op ed and why did The Province print it? Does Post Media want Eby and the NDP out of office? Do they miss all the money the B.C. Lieberals used to spend on advertising in their papers?

    We have heard Horgan, on this evening’s news, announce they will conduct an audit in to the matters at the Leg.

    NOW WE NEED TO HAVE AN INQUIRY INTO THE MONEY LAUNDERING EVEN IF NATHANSON THINKS its just all about politics.

    Like

  30. I just threw up.

    Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, who fought tirelessly for children in BC and was clearly an enemy of the liberal government, had to spend “in excess of $100,000” chasing the government, to have a Clerk James promise fulfilled.

    The judge was not impressed.
    https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/ian-mulgrew-victoria-loses-compensation-fight-legislature-not-beyond-judicial-scrutiny

    Two things to note in the piece are the arguments for the defence by Geoff Plant and Terpel-Lafond’s reinforcement of imprisoned employees; “Turpel-Lafond credited the moral support of former legislature staff who contacted her during the litigation to say they were mistreated but didn’t have the resources to fight back.”

    Meanwhile, Integrity BC discovered a (fraudulent?) reimbursement claim: “,,,one of the discrepancies is found on a receipt…showing a purchase for $714 (CDN) with a handwritten note stating “luggage.” However, the product number shows the item to be a Maverick Large Black Edition Victorinox watch.”

    So many adjectives come to mind when speaking of Mister James. So many; all of which are unprintable

    Like

  31. Another name added to the greedy pig trough list from CKNW. Claire Trevana. 60,000 DOLLARS to Africa to study democracy related stuff with others. Craig James and known names and Trevana’s husband too. WTF !!! Sam Cooper is bringing out more great information on money laundering involving Banks and Bank drafts. Wholly shit. Imagine how much dirty money is in the banks too. But i geuss that’s not new news. But it’s part of the complicity of institutions that turned a willful blind eye and became dirty and accessories to crime just like the BC Liberal leadership.
    David Eby will be on CKNW and some the talk and questions is on an inquiry. We will see if it’s more waffling and bullshit from him and his master I Just Want an Easy Ride Through My Term Horgan. Gonna listen now. It’s all getting VEEERRY INTERESTING. And yes, call or write to your MLA’S the headqaurter’s even the premier office if you want. Whatever it takes. Slam them good. Don’t be easy with them. No quarter. It’s our system these F…..r’s are being paid to protect. They will take advantage of that and try to deflect if your easy with them. I have given them my thoughts in colourful ways. I’m probably not a favourite complainer, but F..KEM, it’s the only way that get’s through the thickness.

    Like

  32. Saw Sam Cooper on Global last evening reporting on the bank drafts. Wish he would have started this while the B.C. Lieberals were still in office.
    My question to Matthew Nathanson, still think its just politics?

    Like

  34. The difference between B.C. and Quebec when it comes to public corruption can be seen in an article in today’s CBC newsletter. It is reporting former SNC-Lavalin V.P., Duhaime, who was arrested in 2012 on corruption charges, today pled guilty and was sentenced. This involved bribes from SNC Lavalin to two top executives involved in the building of a new super hospital in Montreal. (cost a billion and change) Duhaime didn’t actually do the bribing, he signed off on them, with out investigating. Do wonder if people here will be arrested and tried for signing off on corrupt payments.

    Not only did Quebec have a corruption inquiry, they have a corruption unit within their police structure. Wonder if B.C. will ever get one?

    Once upon a time we had an RCMP unit which was to look into the “workings” of the casinos and all that happened was, it was disbanded when their report didn’t “meet” the “standards” of the B.C. Lieberals, o.k. there were things the RCMP unit thought needed to be changed to deal with “corruption”.

    Thankfully the NDP won the election in Nanaimo. Listening to Wilkinson waxing on about renewal within the B.C. Lieberal party nearly caused me to spew my coffee all over the key board. There can be no renewal within the B.C. Lieberal party until they all come clean. Wilkinson was part of the party while the corruption was going on and he talks about renewal? If there is to be renewal, he needs to resign as party leader. Lets not forget he was Attorney General of B.C. during the reign of Christy. One might say, a number of those B.C. Lieberal MLAs chose not see or as they say, none are so blind as those who will not see. They all need to go. Like Duhaime they were all there while it was going on. It would be very difficult to believe they all knew nothing.

    Like

    1. I can only imagine what scary movie we would have been treated to if Wilkinson was AG for longer than a month if the Liberals stayed in power. Barf bags anyone. But the real focus as far as attorney generals and Justice Ministers are concerned, [and heres where we can actually use the barf bags] Shirley Bond from 2011 to 2013 and Susanne Anton from 2013 to 2017. Look at those dates. These were our so called Ministers of Justice. WTF eh. A joke or what. Throw Rich Coleman’s name in there too when the police task force was shut down 2011. The contraversies about a buried report and info to Mike de Jong on money laundering by MNP. The donations from the casinos. This looks like the higher points and timezone of the big bad money laundering issues when things started to heat up, that was rearing it’s ugly head and doing it’s damage to BC and it’s people.
      And just to keep things in a more balanced way, kinda sorta. The BCNDP have some ghosts in their closet too like a couple of 10000 dollar donations from Treasure Trove casino. Almost 8000 from Great Canadian Gaming. Gee, don’t they own River Rock. Oh there were a lot of blind eyes i think on both sides of the house. There’s one good reason i think among others why Horgan has been a complete chicken shit for not jumping at an inquiry yet. When we hear him say anymore crap about it being expensive or it collects dust we can tell him to shove his lies up his ass. I,m quite sure they would have let us all get screwed just like the BC Liberals leaders did. I don’t get it though, why they have been reluctant, they weren’t the ones who were ultimately responsible for what happened. It was the slugs in power at the time. They’re the ones who left us all in their trail of slime and should ultimately pay for what they did.

      Like

    2. The police task force was shut down in 2009. My mistake. But in making my mistake i seen that Barry Penner was AG from 2009 to 2010. But whooahh. Mr. BC Rail Mike de Jong was AG 2010 TO 2011. then Shirley Bond, Then Anton. We see the passing of the Torch of Shame. The joke called Justice.

      Like

    1. Oh here I come to post that and you already have!
      👌🏻
      Busy week and no time for the post I had intended, so I will try to make some time early next week.

      Like

      1. Take your time young lady, breath, relax, hit the beach.

        I like the part in the Dermod piece where he talks about the taxpayers sending Mr. James to the London conference. Among the 100s of conference galley pictures, no Craigie. Out on the streets at the same time, Mr. AND Missus smiling for the taxpayer bought camera.

        Like

        1. Caught that too. And the info that the other provinces rarely sent delegates to these junkets. No wonder the clerk and SA didn’t take holidays – they couldn’t fit them in to their busy ‘work’ schedules.

          Like

        2. Hi John;
          I think Dermod was right on the money with regards to the RCMP on this file; there being much more and not being concerned with what Plecas released.

          Also, I really don’t know what these two can present, in response to the Plecas report, that could possibly enhance their position.

          I would have expected big time lawyers to be saying “just get on with it; charge my clients or let them go back to work.

          The taxpayer is still on the hook for $750,000 a month, plus their Starbucks cards, while they’re at home chopping wood by hand.

          Like

        3. The other bit and it made Lynda gag on her Danish; James always sucked a wiling MLA, usually one from each side of the house, to go along for the ride. Then they couldn’t squawk.

          Like

        4. Some interesting news to read and the let me tell you why:

          https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5000518

          ” …eventually received $10 million from Sierra Asset Management.

          In exchange for the money, Elbaz admitted he did three things: supplied SNC-Lavalin with confidential information about the bidding process, had unauthorized communications with Duhaime and Ben Aissa before the proposal deadline and lobbied other members of the selection committee to vote for SNC’s proposal.

          The SNC-Lavalin executive in charge of preparing the proposal, Charles Chebl, told a public anti-corruption inquiry in 2014 that his superiors gave him details about a rival bid.

          He was instructed to alter SNC’s own proposal with that information, Chebl testified…..

          ….the former SNC-Lavalin CEO acknowledged that early in his tenure, in 2009, he’d been told that an employee was in contact with Elbaz.

          That was right around the time SNC-Lavalin was trying to secure the superhospital contract.

          “He acted with wilful blindness, with the goal of helping SNC-Lavalin obtain the MUHC contract,” his lawyers acknowledge in Duhaime’s statement of defence.

          By failing to look into that employee’s actions, Duhaime committed a crime, the Crown said.

          “Instead of acting upon that knowledge, and stopping this from happening, which he could have done, he chose to look the other way,” said Robert Rouleau, a senior Crown prosecutor. ”

          Hmm. Where have I heard this before? Sounds remarkably like a few stories I’ve written here on a few different projects…and SNC’s involvement in them still leave unanswered questions.
          Ironically over the years I passed on info to several different ndp mla’s for follow up, but nothing ever came of any except the sea to any retaining walls in which…after a year of stories that I broke, it was proven that Kiewit had used substandard rebar which failed. Two walls if not more, were rebuilt and reinforced

          Snc handled a lot on that project in more ways than one…

          Lots of links to read here on the relationship between the Liberals

          https://lailayuile.com/2013/02/11/friends-helping-friends-the-story-of-how-the-bc-liberal-snclavalin-connection-persists-with-christy-clark/

          Like

        5. the beach???? how about the local public pool in Courtenay, the beach, only in a wet suit. Now breath, relax, go for a massage, breath, relax, pizza, breath relax, walk on the trails…………

          Like

  36. If caught, these things always seen end the same way.

    Pierre Duhaime pulling in $5 million a year as CEO admits to bit role, fourteen other charges against him were dropped (and) he was sentenced on the spot to 20 months’ house arrest and 240 hours of community service.

    Or plan B, the cops, crown or government blunders and it goes away.

    Like

  37. When you write the information out like that, in detail, you just “gotta suspect” much the same would have gone on in B.C., allegedly…….

    WE NEED AN INQUIRY. THE B.C. LIEBERALS DON’T NEED RENEWAL, THEY NEED TO RESIGN.

    If some of the NDP GET CAUGHT IN IT, THEY NEED TO RESIGN ALSO. Horgan could start by firing Meggs so he isn’t caught later if things start to come out about the City of Vancouver. You gotta love deGenovia for putting forward the motion they stop accepting so much cash. The news reported last year they took in $13M in cash. Ms. deGenovia made a very reasonable motion and it passed. Now why can’t more politicians do that.

    Like

  38. We’ve had our Legislature raided by the RCMP in the past, and the RCMP and two special prosecutors are currently investigating the activities of the Clerk and Sergeant at Arms of our Legislature.

    Credible reports of money laundering involving billions of dollars through our provincially regulated casinos are making international headlines.

    It would be interesting to hear John Horgan explain why he thinks SNC-Lavalin or any number of multi-national corporations doing billions of dollars of business in BC and involved in bribery cases in other jurisdictions play strictly by the rule of law here of all places.

    Like

    1. Hypothetically speaking of course, imagine a company dividing a massive public project into bits,and making it known only certain people or companies could bid on certain portions. (Cartels)
      Imagine if some of those people were allowed to write tenders so specific that they could also create a bid that would match it…and get the job. That inside info was standard.(bidrigging)

      Hypothetically of course.

      Like

      1. “They hide the names of companies given huge no-bid contracts and they hide the names of people awarding lucrative deals.

        The Narwhal reports:
        BC Hydro has gone to court to avoid revealing the names of public employees who decide which companies are awarded lucrative Site C project contracts during construction of the $10.7 billion hydro dam.

        Secrecy and corruption go hand in hand.”
        –Norn Farrell Feb 02, 2019

        The full article here:
        https://in-sights.ca/2019/02/02/site-c-again/
        ———————————————————
        And of course everyone is following Dermod Travis, right?

        And Bob Mackin as well, right?

        Like

      2. It’s always unnerving when we have to be an audience to the news of bad ethics or even downright malfeasance by our paid public officials in bid procurement processes like the one surrounding the Prince George Wood Innovationand Design Project where two Cabinet Ministers. Former Minister of Forests Pat Bell and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Shirley Bond were involved. It makes my ears steam, especially when we constantly hear our bad employees [POLITICIANS] being involved in Dirty dealings and then even become Fucking Justice Ministers and Attorney Generals like de Jong Bond and Anton. Now if that Doesn’t make one want to run for gravol then i don’t know what will. We need a whole story alone on Justice Ministers AGs in this province especially the bums under the BC Cabinet of Crime of the Time for 16 years. I must be angry cause i spelled out the F word. Have a great day and keep up the good work putting out the muck on the peoples bad employees. And i do think many of them should have Honourable dropped from their titles and have it as Dishonourable.

        Like

  39. Two years can go by very quickly and the next provincial election will be on us in no time.

    People want to see two things happening way before then; charges stemming from the Plecas report and a made for BC public inquiry into ALL the veins of corruption.

    Part 1…
    To the Plecas report;
    If Mr. Horgan has any gravitas at all, he will be a BC citizen instead of a politician, take the highest road possible and say; “let’s just blow this thing wide open and deal with whatever shrapnel we take.”

    If you’re in the brothel when vice busts the door, you get your picture took. Simple as that and they all need to live with any of their indiscretions. Period!

    If he takes the moral high ground and gets some prosecutions and house cleaning underway before 2021, he should have an easy time getting a second term, but that can only be done with everything out in the open regardless of consequences to those he now seems willing to protect.

    He needn’t concern himself with beating Wilkinson and his sorry band of crooks; he only needs to produce results of doing what’s right and good for the people of BC; if he can grasp that concept.

    Sadly, he may have lost either his reading glasses or the high road map, because on election night in Nanaimo he stole the spotlight from Sheila Malcolmson. It was her night, not his and honestly, she looked uncomfortable on the sidelines, as he blew smoke.

    Part 2…
    Darryl Plecas should be aggressively working the crowd, gathering a viable group of honest, open, non-partisan, people to run as independents in 2021. He is on a roll and if done correctly, could make history. Good history.

    He could start with the return of Vicki Huntington and surely there are two or three others in BC with a working moral compass.
    —————————————————————
    I suppose there is a chance Mr. Horgan sees a corruption beast so big, so far reaching, he doesn’t know which way is up; doesn’t know where to begin.

    That alone, if admitted to, should be reason enough to bring in those who have done inquiries before and know what they are doing.

    Real, hard-ass inquiry people, not Wally’s

    Like

  40. Reflecting on our state of affairs on this cold in BC February day .
    I’m thinking of all the resource workers that make this province roll and how they literally risk life and limb .
    These are the folks that pay the earnings ( and I say earnings lightly ) for our politicians and powerful legislature employees .
    Yes , the ones who live at the coast with their smooth leather shoes , clean hands and pampered lifestyles .
    You should all be ashamed of yourselves for your conduct and thievery , disgusting RATS the lot of you .
    Including the ones who did not partake but knew of the backroom dealings in absconding with the taxpayers EARNINGS .

    Like

  43. Good grief….these men are unreal.

    I’m sure you all may have seen this but posting anyways.

    https://thebreaker.news/news/lamc-feb21/

    The question still remains why the LAMC did not bring the Clerk etc under their control back when Horgan was on the LAMC and brought that up. He expressed being uncomfortable with them NOT being accountable to the committee, they discussed this and at the following meeting everyone voted to do it differently. I actually went and read that in Hansard. ( will post it when I can)

    The point is, this should never have happened. At the point it was discussed to bring Craig James and the Speaker under LAMC control and accountability, and the committee decided not to, that committee also failed the taxpayers of BC.

    Like

Comments are closed.