Public Eye is going on vacation to enjoy the remainder of the holiday season. Postings will be infrequent until we've finished drinking a copious amount of eggnog.
Even on the day criminal charges were being laid against him, former ministerial assistant David Basi remained a consumate political operative. Here was a man who had been one of the most powerful Indo-Canadian organizers in the province, the right hand of Finance Minister Gary Collins, laid low by the law. And yet, at the Victoria courthouse, he was still backslapping reporters, even reaching across a row of cameras to shake hands while his pinstripped lawyer Michael Bolton was being scrummed. Only after what could be a long and drawn out legal proceeding, will we find out whether those charges become convinctions. And whether his relatives Bob Virk and Aneal Basi go from being suspects to criminals. But those aren't the only questions that should be answered. The charges laid against these three men have raised further questions about the legislative raid scandal. Here are four that should be pondered.
* The charges allege, "Aneal BASI did aid in the commission of an offence by laundering money accepted by Udhe Singh (Dave) BASI who, being an official of the Government of British Columbia, demanded, accepted or offered or agreed to accept for himself money as consideration for cooperation, assistance, exercise of influence or an act or omission in connection with matters of government business." This is the first time we've heard about actual money exchanging hands. But who did that alleged bribing? Why hasn't that person or those persons been charged? And how was the money laundered?
* The search warrants allege David "BASI obtained Government documents with regard to upcoming public tenders for sale from VIRK. BASI is believed to have offered, delivered or promised to have delivered government documents to (former provincial cabinet minister Christy Clark's brother Bruce) CLARK. This aspect of the Project is under investigation." Is that still the case?
* The charges allege David Basi and Mr. Virk "accepted from a person who has dealings with the government rewards, advantages and benefits being money, meals, travel and employment opportunities without having received consent in writing of the head of the branch of government of which (they) are an official." But should their ministers, Mr. Collins and Judith Reid, ought to have known about those transactions?
* Will there be any further charges? And when will they be laid?
Former ministerial assistants David Basi and Bob Virk (Mr. Basi's brother-in-law) have been charged with a number of offenses relating last year's police raid on the legislature. Those charges include breach of trust, accepting a bribe to influence government business and fraud over $5,000. Also charged with aiding in laundering the money allegedly accepted by Mr. Basi is his cousin, transportation public affairs officer Aneal Basi. The three men will appear in court on January 28. The following is copy of the charges.
INFORMATION/DENONCIATION
CANADA: PROVINICE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
PROVINCE DE LA COLUMBIE-BRITANNIQUE
"BY INDICTMENT"
This is the information of/Les presentes constituent la denonciation de Constable A. Cowan, a Peace Officer (the "informant"/le "denonciateur") of/de Victoria, British Columbia
The informant says that the informant has reasonable and probable grounds to believe and does believe that/Le denonciatuer declare qu'il a des motifs raisonnables et probables et croit effectivement que
Count 1
Udhe Singh (Dave) BASI, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, directly or indirectly, being an official, demanded, accepted or offered or agreed to accept for himself rewards, advantages and benefits being money, meals, travel and employment opportunities as consideration for cooperation, assistance, exercise of influence or an act or omission in connection with matters of government business including a bid by OmniTRAX Inc. to obtain the operating rights of BC Rail from the Government of British Columbia, contrary to Section 121 (1)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code.
Count 2
Bobby Singh VIRK, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, directly or indirectly, being an official, demanded, accepted or offered or agreed to accept for himself rewards, advantages and benefits being money, meals, travel and employment opportunities as consideration for cooperation, assistance, exercise of influence or an act or omission in connection with matters of government business including a bid by OmniTRAX Inc. to obtain the operating rights of BC Rail from the Government of British Columbia, contrary to Section 121 (1)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code.
Count 3
Udhe Singh (Dave) BASI, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, being an official of the Governmnet of British Columbia, accepted from a person who has dealings with the government rewards, advantages and benefits being money, meals, travel and employment opportunities without having received consent in writing of the head of the branch of government of which he is an official, contrary to Section 121(1)(c) of the Criminal Code.
Count 4
Bobby Singh VIRK, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, being an official of the Government of British Columbia, accepted from a person who has dealings with the government rewards, advantages and benefits being meals, travel and employment opportunities without having received consent in writing of the head of the branch of government of which he is an official, contrary to Section 121(1)(c) of the Criminal Code.
Count 5
Udhe Singh (Dave) BASI, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, being an official of the Government of British Columbia, having or pretending to have influence with the Government of British Columbia or a Minister of the Government of British Columbia, demanded, accepted or agreed to accept for himself rewards, advantages and benefits being money, meals, travel and employment opportunities as consideration for cooperation, assistance, exercise of influence or an act or omission in connection with matters of government business including a bid by OmniTRAX Inc. to obtain the operating rights of BC Rail from the Government of British Columbia, contrary to Section 121(1)(d) of the Criminal Code.
Count 6
Bobby Singh VIRK, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, being an official of the Government of British Columbia, having or pretending to have influence with the Government of British Columbia or a Minister of the Government of British Columbia, demanded, accepted or agreed to accept for himself rewards, advantages and benefits being money, meals, travel and employment opportunities as consideration for cooperation, assistance, exercise of influence or an act or omission in connection with matters of government business including a bid by OmniTRAX Inc. to obtain the operating rights of BC Rail from the Government of British Columbia, contrary to Section 121(1)(d) of the Criminal Code.
Count 7
Udhe Singh (Dave) BASI, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, being an official of the Government of British Columbia, did commit fraud or a breach of trust in connection with the duties of his office in disclosing to interested third parties confidential government documents and confidential government ijnformation including Cabinet confidences pertaining to the sale by the Government of British Columbia of the Freight Division of BC Rail, contrary to Section 122 of the Criminal Code.
Count 8
Bobby Singh VIRK, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, being an official of the Government of British Columbia, did commit fraud or a breach of trust in connection with the duties of his office in disclosing to interested third parties confidential government documents and confidential government ijnformation including Cabinet confidences pertaining to the sale by the Government of British Columbia of the Freight Division of BC Rail, contrary to Section 122 of the Criminal Code.
Count 9
Udhe Singh (Dave) BASIS and Bobby Singh VIRK, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 28th day of December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, did by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means, defraud Canadian National Railway Company, Canadian Pacific Railway, CIBC World Markets Inc., and the Government of British Columbia, of an amount exceeding $5,000.00, by recklessly putting at risk the bidding process for the Freight Division of BC Rail in disclosing to interested third parties confidential government documents and confidential government information including Cabinet confidences, contrary to Section 380(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.
Count 10
Udhe Singh (Dave) BASIS and Bobby Singh VIRK, between the 1st day of January, 2003 and the 28th day orf December, 2003, at or near Victoria, or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, did by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means, defraud(1)Macquarie North America Ltd. and OmniTRAX Inc.,(2)a consortium which included Canadian National Railway Company, Canadian Pacific Railway and the Vancouver Port Authority,(3)TD Securities Inc., and(4)the Government of British Columbia, of an amount exceeding $5,000.00, by recklessly putting at risk the bidding process for the Port Subdivision of BC Rail in disclosing to interested third parties confidential government documents and confidential government information including Cabinet confidences, contrary to Section 380(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.
Count 11
Aneal BASI, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 31st day of January, 2003, at or near Victoria or elsewhere in the Province of British Coluimbia, did aid in the commission of an offence by laundering money accepted by Udhe Singh (Dave) BASI who, directly or indirectly, being an official, demanded, accepted or offered or agreed to accept for himself money as consideration for cooperation, assistance, exercise of influence or an act or omission in connection with matters of government business including a bid by OmniTRAX Inc., to obtain the operating rights of BC Rail from the Government of British Columbia, contrary to Section 121(1)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code.
Count 12
Aneal BASI, between the 1st day of April, 2002 and the 31st day of January, 2004, at or near Victoria or elsewhere in the Province of British Columbia, did aid in the commission of an offence by laundering money accepted by Udhe Singh (Dave) BASI who being an official of the Government of British Columbia, did commit fraud or breach of trust in connection with the duties of his office, to wit: in disclosing to interested third parties confidential government documents pertaining to the sale by the Government of British Columbia of the Freight Division of BC Rail, contrary to Section 122 of the Criminal Code.
SWORN BEFORE ME/ASSERMENTE DEVANT MOI ON/CE 21st DAY OF/JOUR DE December, 2004.
AT/A Victoria
BRITISH COLUMBIA/COLUMBIE-BRITANNIQUE
A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE IN AND FOR THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
JUGE DE PAIX DANS ET POUR LA PROVINCE DE LA COLOMBIE-BRITANNIQUE
(SIGNATURE OF INFROMANT)
(SIGNATURE DU DENONCIATEUR)
Warrant to Issue
PROCESS CONFIRMED/ACTE DE PROCEDURE CONFIRME
A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE IN AND FOR THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
JUGE DE PAIX DANS ET POUR LA PROVINCE DE LA COLOMBIE-BRITANNIQUE
Following the announcement charges would be laid against former ministerial assistants David Basi and Bob Virk, as well as public affairs officer Aneal Basi, Attorney General Geoff Plant phoned the press gallery to give government's take on the day's events. During that call, Attorney General Plant acknowledged the charges are not limited to the Roberts Bank deal, but rather the whole British Columbia Rail privatization initiative. He refused to speculate on whether Finance Minister Gary Collins would have been forced to resign because of those charges had he not already left government last week. The following is a rush transcript of the scrum.
Media Do you have a statement or do you want us to shout questions?
Attorney General Plant I do not have a statement.
Media What is the government's response to this situation in terms of public's confidence in the B.c. Rail deal.
Attorney General Plant My responsibility, first and foremost, is as Attorney General to say this is a process that has clearly taken a next, very serious step forward. The decision to lay charges is not a decision that would be made lightly. In this case, its been made by a special prosecutor who is independent of government. There is a very carefully structured process to make sure that decision like this are free from political influence. So I don't know a whole lot really about what's happened today other than the information that I received a copy of an hour or so ago. It's important to point out that the laying of charges doesn't represent anything like a finding of guilt. There will now be a court process. And, at the end of the day, the question of whether or not these individuals have done anything wrong will be decided by a court. And that's how it should be. As a member of government, I'm disappointed that this has taken the next step. But I'm not, frankly, completely surprised given that the police took this all very seriously a year ago when they went to get a warrant to seize documents at the legislature. And the question of how this relates to various aspects of B.C. Rail and the CN Rail partnership is a question that is more appropriately directed to Kevin Falcon.
Media Will Kevin Falcon be made available today?
Attorney General Plant I'm not responsible for Kevin's whereabouts. But I'm pretty sure he's around somewhere. I chatted to him. We both obviously have been following the news. And I wanted him to know what the information said in summary.
Media Geoff, when did government become aware that charges were going to be laid?
Attorney General Plant I knew a day or so ago that there was expectation that Mr. Berardino do what he said he would do a few months ago, which was to make a decision before the end of the year.
Media You've read the information. Were you surprised? I think the public had been led to believe that anything that happened related to the Roberts Bank line. Were you surprised, as a member of government, when you read the information that it was much more extensive?
Attorney General Plant Well what I can say is to confirm the second part of your statement Paul (Willcocks). Which is to say, on the face of it, the charges here are not limited to the port subdivision contract. And I don't know anything about these charges beyond what's on the face of the information. But they clearly appear to be more general - although they appear to only relate to OmniTRAX.
Media Nor do they seem confined to just B.C. Rail. Because my reading of the information (seems to indicate the charges are) related to matters of government business including OmniTRAX. That would suggest that this is not exclusively limited to B.C. Rail.
Attorney General Plant The words lend themselves to that interpretation. But the words are also fairly standard language for an information laying a criminal charge. I don't know one way or another as to whether they're intended to go more broadly than that.
Media Can you just fill us in on Aneal Basi. Does he still work for government? When did he stop working for the government?
Attorney General Plant I'm pretty sure Aneal Basi worked for the government as of the first thing this morning. Martyn Brown, as the chief of staff, was responsible for making some employment-related decisions a year ago when the search warranted was executed on the legislature. I know that he is thinking about what the significance of today's developments are for the employment status of Bobby Virk and Aneal Basi. But, as of an hour or so ago, when I last spoke to Martyn, he had not as yet made a decision so far as I know.
Media We had the resignation last week of a colleague of yours, Gary Collins, and the assumption was that (his resignation) was not connected to the legislative raids or charges. Given what's happened today, would it be fair to say that this is a situation today where Gary Collins would have had to resign given the very serious charges that have been laid against his former aide?
Attorney General Plant I can't, at this point, draw those conclusions. I am just reading these allegations this afternoon for the first time. They are serious. They clearly relate to the performance of duties of office - at least by Dave Basi and Mr. Virk. Beyond that, I can't really go much further in speculating about what the implications might have been for people who are no longer members of cabinet.
Media To the best of your knowledge Geoff, when it comes to information about the charges, who else was aware of what was going to happen and when were they aware?
Attorney General Plant To the best of my knowledge, the solicitor general was aware earlier today because he called me.
Media But no one else?
Attorney General Plant I don't know if anyone else knew that charges would be laid. I know that there were some folks in the premier's office who were aware of this sort of ticking clock on the fact that the special prosecutor had said he was going to make a decision by the end of the year. But that's the extent of what I know.
Earlier, Public Eye reported rumours further charges flowing from Operation Everywhichway could be laid on the week of December 20. And now, according to palace gossipmongers, that rumour could become a reality as early as today, with an announcement being made at around 4:00. Others say tomorrow morning is more likely.
Today, the Vancouver Sun reported "Olympic gold medallist Daniel Igali is being courted by the B.C. Liberal party to run in the next provincial election...The Liberals' interest in Igali as a star candidate was confirmed by Tony Bhullar, the current MLA for Surrey-Newton, who said he is moving over to the riding of Surrey-Panorama Ridge at the request of the party to take on a tough fight against the new NDP MLA, Jagrup Brar." Public Eye broke that story yesterday. The Sun added, "the champion wrestler is also mulling an offer to be Nigeria's new minister of sport." And Terminal City columnist Ian King has posted some interesting background information about Mr. Igali on his Website.
Boy, the provincial government must be really proud of their climate change action plan. After all, the Liberal released that report last Wednesday (ten days before Christmas), burying the announcement at the bottom of a seemingly unrelated news release - a guaranteed way to get the media's attention. But, to date, it seems that cunning reverse psychology strategy hasn't worked. So Public Eye thought we'd crack open the report to let our readers know what innovative ideas the Campbell administration has come up with to save the world.
Hmmm...that's funny. It looks like the report is a laundry list of ideas the government is already working on. In fact, the report even points out, "many of these actions are supported by significant steps and investments already taken in B.C." - which seems to be a roundabout way of saying the Liberal's plan will basically maintain the status quo when it comes to environmental initiatives. And that's a disappointment, because this was a really opportunity for the government to come up with a comprehensive strategy to deal with climate change.
Public Eye has learned Surrey-Newton government backbencher Tony Bhullar is switching ridings. He'll be seeking the provincial Liberal nomination in Surrey-Panorama Ridge. And our spies tell us there's a good chance Olympic wrestling gold medalist Daniel Igali will announce he's looking to become the party's replacement candidate for Surrey-Newton. Mr. Igali, who won the medal during the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, is also frequently called upon by the media to talk about sports issues.
With friends like this, provincial New Democrat nomination candidate Chuck Puchmayr doesn't need any enemies: in an endorsement written on the back of his competitor's brochure, Brewery, Winery and Distillery Workers' Union president Roy Graham writes "Even though Steve McClurg's opponent was our business agent, our union voted to support Steve for the New Westminster nomination because, when it comes to supporting working people, Steve not only talks the talk, he walks the walk."
Today, the Vancouver Sun reported, "a messy split over who should be the Liberal candidate in West Vancouver-Garibaldi has led one riding association executive to resign and three others to contemplate quitting as well. On Thursday night, Joan McIntyre-Pottinger handily won the nomination over Tim Duholke, a chartered accountant, who entered the race only to find out he couldn't sell memberships and wouldn't be allowed to give speeches at any of the three nomination voting meetings." Public Eye broke that story yesterday.
Three executive members of the West Vancouver-Garibaldi provincial Liberal constituency association are planning on resigning over concerns the nominating process in their riding was biased in favour of winning candidate and pollster Joan McIntyre-Pottinger, Public Eye has learned. They include vice-president Kelly Thomas, special events coordinator and fundraising chair Sharron Cant and community events coordinator Ron Erickson.
Neil McIver, the association's policy chair, has already resigned from the executive. But there seems to be some dispute over the reason for that resignation. Mr. McIver, who is on vacation, could not be reached for comment.
According to insiders, the resigning members are convinced their colleagues manipulated the selection meeting dates to prevent competitor and accountant Tim Duholke from signing up supporters. But, in an interview, association president Dave Davenport denied those allegations.
Much of the controversy centres around a motion, passed by the association executive on October 14, recommending "if no further approved or likely to be approved candidates (other than Ms. McIntyre-Pottinger) are identified by Monday, October 25, the candidate selection meeting should be held as soon as possible - that is 42 days after October 25/04. If additional approved candidates appear by October 25, the candidate selection meeting should not be held until early 2005, perhaps in the first week of February."
Fifteen days later, Liberal headquarters approved the association's selection meeting date for December 14, 15 and 16 - which meant candidates couldn't signup any more new members. That decision was made even though Mr. Duholke, who is a partner with Sheinin and Company, advised candidate selection committee chair Bryan Baynham back in August he was interested in running.
But Mr. Davenport says the executive didn't feel a need to postpone the nomination process because Mr. Duholke wasn't considered a serious candidate. After all, he points out the accountant didn't file his nomination package nor join the party until November 2. And Mr. Baynham, who eventually became Ms. McIntyre-Pottinger's campaign manager, says he repeatedly encouraged Mr. Duhloke to submit those papers but didn't receive any response.
In retrospect, Mr. Davenport adds "Obviously (Mr. Duhloke) was serious about (running). But there was no indication of that. And there was a whole lot of people we would have taken seriously before we got to Tim," noting Squamish mayor Ian Sutherland was also considering seeking the nomination.
The resigning executives also seem to have concerns with the Liberal's vote and go candidate selection system, which is being used in some of the larger ridings. Under that system, party members drop off a preferential ballot at a designated location rather than sticking around for a nomination meeting.
That saves time. But it also means candidates may not get a chance to speak, as happened in West Vancouver-Garibaldi. And that could be a violation of Liberal nomination guidelines that state "all nominees will be given the opportunity of addressing the meeting briefly."
At publication time, no complaint about the nomination process has been filed with party headquarters.
Ms. McIntyre-Pottinger co-founded McIntyre and Mustel Research Associates Ltd. with Evi Mustel in 1980. The company did work for the Liberals until Western Opinion Research took over the contract nine years ago. Her candidacy was endorsed by the riding's retiring MLA Ted Nebbeling. She is the past president of the constituency association. The following is a copy of the October 14 meeting minutes.
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WEST VANCOUVER-GARIBALDI
B.C. LIBERAL RIDING ASSOCIATION
MEETING MINUTES
DATE: Thursday, October 14, 2004
Location: Riding Office (Room #402, 545 Clyde Avenue, West Vancouver, B.C., V7G 1P5)
Attendees: Bill Betts, Brenda Brown, Bryan Baynham, Dave Davenport, Neil McIver, Helene Michaels, Gordon Prescott, Melanie Thomas
Absent: Sharron Cant, Ron Erickson, Bob Faast, Ken Haycock, tom Horler, Paul Lalli, Philip Langridge, Kelly Thomas
Chair: Dave Davenport, President
1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m.
2. CONSIDERATION OF AGENDA
It was MOVED/SECONDED (Baynham/Betts) to approve the agenda.
3. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS EXECUTIVE MEETING
It was MOVED/SECONDED (Brown/M. Thomas) to adopt the minutes of the last meeting dated September 9, 2004. MOTION CARRIED.
4. SMALL BUSINESS INITIATIVE - Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee presented the resulted of the Small Business Outreach Program Initiative project he undertook last summer. The initiative's objectives were to ask small business owners in the West Vancouver-Garibaldi riding to comment on the provincial government's performance to date and to determine whether these owners would be interested in establishing a business committee in the riding. 457 businesses were contacted, with 135 business owners or their representatives directly responding to Mr. Lee's questionnaire. The report's findings will be reviewed by Mr. Nebbeling. The riding executive recommends that the findings in this report be forwarded to the Premier's Office and to government policy makers, for their consideration and possible action.
5. MEMBERSHIP UPDATE - Bill Betts
There are currently 425 members in the riding and it is expected that the membership will irse to 500 members by christmas.
6. MLA REPORT - Ted Nebbeling
No report was given.
7. CANDIDATE SEARCH COMMITTEE - Bryan Baynham
The Candidate Search Committee, whose members include Bryan Baynham, Neil McIver and Ken Haycock, met three times and identified and approached four potential candidates. To date, only one candidate submitted the appropriate paperwork and that candidate has subsequently been approved by Headquarters. Having conducted a thorough search over a three month period, Mr. Baynham asked that the committee be disbanded as its mandate had been met.
It was MOVED/SECONDED (Betts/Brown) that, if no further candidates have been approved by Sunday, October 24, 2004, the Candidate Search Committee will be disbanded and that, until then, no further committee work will be done. MOTION CARRIED.
With the Executive's approval, Dave Daveport will recommend to Liberal Headquarters that, if no further approved (or likely to be approved) candidates are identified by Monday, October 25, 2004, the Candidate Selection Meeting should be held as soon as is possible - that is, 42 days after October 25, 2004. If additional approved candidates appear by October 25, 2004, the Candidate Selection Meeting should not be held until early in 2005 - perhaps in the first week of February.
8. FALL FUNDRIASER - Dave Davenport (for Ron Erickson)
The ted Nebbeling tribute Dinner, originally scheduled for November 25, 2004, has been postponed until early Spring 2005, closer to the actual date of Mr. Nebbeling's retirement.
9. PRESIDENT'S REPORT - Dave Davenport
Financial Position of Riding
An Income Statement, for the period January 1, 2004 to October 13, 2004, and a Balance Sheet, as of October 13, 2004, were tabled for the Executive's information.
Cash Flow Forecast
A Cash Flow Forecast, for the period April 2004 to October 2005, was tabled, for the Executive's information.
Volunteers for Convention
Melanie Thomas, Dave Davenport, Andrew Pottinger and Helene Michaels have volunteered their time at the November Provincial Convention and General Meeting taking place at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler from Thursday, November 4-6, 2004.
10. DATABASE UPDATE - Bill Betts and Neil McIver
The revised database update cost estimate is $17,000.
11. OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
12. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.
Today, Go Direct Marketing Inc. president Virginia Greene will announce she's seeking the provincial Liberal nomination in Vancouver-Fairview. Ms. Greene was the assistant deputy minister of tourism for the British Columbia government during the eighties. She was previously involved with Bob Plecas, a powerful deputy minister who served under several Socred administrations and eventually the New Democrats. Mr. Plecas is the former president of the British Columbia Lumber Trade Council.
Yesterday, Public Eye outed several of the provincial Liberal's paid staffers, including field organizer Barb McClarty. News reports identify an individual with the same name as the women's commission chair on Solicitor General Rich Coleman's Fort Langley-Aldergrove constituency association and Nelson-Creston backbencher Blair Suffredine's former constituency assistant. Ms. McClarty did not return repeated calls to confirm this information. But not to worry. Jordan Bateman at Langley Politics Dotcom is on the case. Today, Mr. Bateman, a former Langley Advance News staffer, reports the field organizer is the same woman "I serve with on the Fort Langley-Aldergrove riding association."
Public Eye took a number of phone calls yesterday from operatives wondering who would be responsible for the public affairs bureau now that Finance Minister Gary Collins has resigned. And the answer, ladies and gentlemen, is his replacement Colin Hansen. But, according to insiders, there's some question marks surrounding how active Minister Hansen will be in managing that file - perhaps leaving most of the responsibility to the bureau's deputy minister Athana Mentzelopoulos.
Last Christmas, the cops paid a visit to the legislature. This year, Rockpile residents returned the favour. Press gallery members Jeff Davies, Justine Hunter, Lindsay Kines, Moira McLean, Phillippe Murat, Jeff Rudd and Scott Sutherland visited Victoria police headquarters earlier today for eggnog and news that Constable Ravinder Singh Dosanjh has been charged with attempting to obstruct justice. According to Chief Constable Paul Battershill, those charges are indirectly linked to the drug investigation involving former ministerial assistant David Basi. But the legislature's scribblers and gabbers weren't the only ones who showed up for some holiday cheer. Provincial Liberal caucus communications director Shane Mills was also there. He was not, however, wearing a Santa Claus suit (although Public Eye thought his grey jacket was quite fetching).
Public Eye is proud to announce we're helping the provincial Liberals keep their promise to run the most open and accountable administration in North America - whether they like it or not. Despite the best efforts of party executive director Kelly von Reichert, who seems to be under the mistaken impression that Liberal business is none of our business, we've managed to put together a list of the party's paid staffers. And, according to our research, more than a few of them have strong connections to the meat-eating side of the Liberal coalition. The party has refused to confirm or deny those names because the identities of its field organizers are classified as "strategic information." And those organizers seem to be following the same orders. The following is a copy of that list, with backgrounders on each staffer.
Party nomination director Bruce Strongitharm was previously a ministerial assistant to Stan Hagen and Murray Coell. Mr. Strongitharm also has a close relationship with Solicitor General Rich Coleman, who introduced him in the legislature as "a very good friend of mine."
In 1996, Mr. Strongitharm was a township council candidate for the Langley Leadership Team, a defunct municipal party whose members had strong personal connections to the Fort Langley-Aldergrove MLA. During that election, the team, which won a majority on city council and the mayoralty, was accused of raising money via anonymous $99 donations, thereby hiding the identities of campaign contributors.
The team repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But, in a 2002 judgement relating to those and other accusations, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Bryan Ralph found "The most troubling aspect of the allegations arises out of the manner in which funds were solicited for the LLT. The $99 practice and in particular, the manner in which it was said that cumulatively one could donate indirectly thousands of dollars is unseemly. Although it is not necessary for me to decide in this case, the practice is probably illegal." Mr. Strongitharm, who didn't win a council seat but became the team's chair after the election, was not involved with those fundraising activities.
His wife Cheryl works as Solicitor General Coleman's constituency assistant and is the secretary/treasurer of his constituency association. Mr. Strongitharm also sits as a director on that association.
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Harvey Grigg is working on a special project with the ridings. Mr. Grigg ran as the federal Conservative candidate in Vancouver East during the last election. He made headlines when he told a heckling audience member during an all-candidate debate, "you can go home now, we've cleaned out your cage." Revenue Minister Rick Thorpe introduced him in the legislature as "a good friend."
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Party communication officer Chad Pederson is the former president of the Simon Fraser University Young Liberals. Public Eye enjoys having amusing but usually non-informative conversations with Mr. Pederson.
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Field organizer Joanne Anderson is the former president of the Peace River South constituency association, backbencher Blair Lekstrom's riding.
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Field organizer Brian Bonney was previously investigated by Public Eye.
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Field organizer Dallas Henault is the former president of the University of Victoria Young Liberals. He is also listed as a member of the campus Young Republicans executive. But, in an interview, Mr. Henault denied belonging to that executive, saying a friend had signed him up. He added, "I'm far from being a Republican." In fact, we're told Mr. Henault, who is a dual Canadian/American citizen, voted Democrat in the last presidential election.
He made headlines in February for writing an email promising "booze...and all the good stuff" to Young Liberal attending a party convention in Vancouver. That email was read out in the legislature by Opposition leader Joy MacPhail.
Mr. Henault also ran unsuccessfully to become chair of the University of Victoria Students Society as a member of the centre-right Students for Change. During that campaign, opponents slammed him for sitting behind Gary Collins while the finance minister was delivering his budget speech.
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Field organizer Ed Masters was previously an executive assistant to Children and Family Development Minister Gordon Hogg. While working for Minister Hogg, Developmental Disabilities Association executive director Alanna Hendren sent Mr. Masters an email warning him serious accusations of fraud had been made against Doug Walls, a senior government consultant who eventually went onto become chief executive officer of the interim authority for community living. He was also a special advisor to Manitoba Education Ministers Leonard Derkach when the Conservative Filmon government was in power.
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Field organizer Barb McClarty appears to have worked as Nelson-Creston backbencher Blair Suffredine's constituency assistant before she moved to the Lower Mainland. An individual with the same name is listed as being the women's commission chair for the Fort Langley-Aldergrove constituency association, Solicitor General Coleman's riding. Ms. McClarty hasn't returned repeated phone calls from Public Eye to confirm this information, despite an earlier promise to speak with us.
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Field organizer Linda Reid was previously an executive assistant and later ministerial assistant to Kevin Falcon when he was the minister of state responsible for deregulation.
***
Field organizer Ted Skwarok is a former constituency assistant to North Island backbencher Rod Visser. He was previously married to Primrose Carson, who works in the premier's office as the director internal liason.
On CKNW this morning, Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer confirmed he was on holidays when news broke that Finance Minister Gary Collins was resigning. He added, "This happens everytime I'm on holidays. I was on holiday when (New Democrat Premier) Glen Clark resigned. I was on holiday when the police raided the legislature. It's become a standing joke around the capital that the politicians wait for me to go on holidays before they do anything outrageous." Which begs the age old question: does provincial politics rotate around Mr. Palmer or does Mr. Palmer rotate around provincial politics?
Oh, how the might have fallen! Just three short months ago, federal Liberal sympathizers Christy Clark, Gary Collins, Geoff Plant and Colin Hansen occupied four of the most powerful seats around the provincial cabinet table: the deputy premier's office, finance, the attorney general's office and health. But now that Ministers Clark and Collins have vacated their chairs, Liberal influence within the Campbell administration is on life support. And, according to the rumour mill, Attorney General Plant may also be looking to exit British Columbia politics or even resign.
His theoretical departure would make Minister Hansen the only remaining true Grit supporter in the government's elected inner circle, surrounded by an increasing number of federal Conservative legislative staffers. Add that together with the fact right wingers have a firm grip on provincial Liberal headquarters, and we could be looking at the complete collapse of the big tent party the premier has worked so hard to erect.
Barry Penner must think he's got an enormous capital L tattooed on his forehead. Despite having more political smarts than most cabinet ministers, Mr. Penner languished in the backbenches for two years before the premier named him parliamentary secretary to House Leader Gary Collins. At the time, Mr. Penner was told he was being groomed for his new boss's job. But now it looks like the premier has passed him over for the house leader spot, instead putting Labour Minister Graham Bruce into that position. We're pretty sure this decision has made Mr. Penner very, very, very happy. But we're just guessing. Of course, Mr. Penner's predicament will come as no surprise to Ralph Sultan, the Harvard economist, former bank executive and government MLA who also remains inexplicably excluded from cabinet.
Premier Gordon Campbell has announced Colin Hansen will be taking Finance Minister Gary Collins's portfolio and Labour Minister Graham Bruce gets the house leader job. Shirley Bond replaces Minister Hansen in health services and planning. Ida Chong moves into Minister Bond's old job in advanced education. And caucus chair Wendy McMahon becomes responsible for women's and senior's services. Premier Campbell said he hasn't decided who will replace Minister Collins as the provincial Liberal's re-election campaign co-chair.
In a news conference, Finance Minister Gary Collins provided two reasons why he was resigning his cabinet and legislative seats to become chief executive officer of Harmony Airways. Number one: "it's an important time to be close to my family" because his wife Wendy Cox is expecting their second child. And number two: "flying has always been a passion of mine."
Minister Collins denied his resignation had anything to do with the legislative raids saying, "If I thought it was necessary to step aside over that issue, I would have done so a year ago." Rumours are circulating further charges relating to those raids may be laid next week.
Minister Collins also said he made his decision to leave politics before the provincial Liberal's convention in early November. And he talked with the Premier Gordon Campbell about that decision shortly after. Minister Collins didn't rule out a return to politics but said it was "the furthest thing from my mind."
So why did Finance Minister Gary Collins, a former flight instructor, choose Harmony Airways as his private sector landing strip? Well it might have something to do with the fact the company owner, Hong Kong tobacco fortune heir David Ho, happens to be a big provincial and federal Liberal donor. Last year alone, Mr. Ho and his companies donated more than $102,000 to the provincial Liberals. And he contributed $100,000 to Prime Minister Paul Martin's leadership campaign.
Finance Minister Gary Collins is resigning his cabinet and legislative seats to become chief executive officer of Harmony Airways, which is operated by HMY Airlines Inc. A news conference at the premier's office in Vancouver is expected at 4:00. But, in the meantime, the scribes in the press gallery are busy writing Minister Collins's political obituary and operatives in both parties are speculating on the reason why he resigned and who will replace him. Early bets seem to include Labour Minister Graham Bruce, Solicitor General Rich Coleman and Health Minister Colin Hansen. We're putting our money on Minister Bruce.
More shenanigans at the Saanich South provincial New Democrat nomination meeting. Earlier, Public Eye reported agents unknown slipped pro-Liberal leaflets under the windshield wipers of cars parked outside that meeting. And now, a New Democrat apparatchik who was there tells us that, during party leader Carole James's speech, "there was a young man with a video camera standing outside the front doors of the hall taping Carole. We quickly spotted him and shut the door. Perhaps he was the same gentleman putting literature under car windshields?" Or perhaps he was simply looking for candid shots of Ms. James to post on his bathroom wall? Nah. It's probably the former.
The provincial New Democrats are recruiting three new staffers in preparation for the upcoming election. According to an email sent out last Thursday, those staffers include a pre-election production coordinator who will be responsible for designing and producing campaign materials. Interestingly, the job description specifically requires the coordinator to "develop media capacity to reach members of Indo-Canadian, Chinese, Filipino, First Nations and other cultural communities with leaflets and both radio and print ads." Earlier, Public Eye reported the New Democrats provincial council seemed especially concerned about encouraging "Indo-Canadian participation" during the next election and mobilizing ethnic voters. The party is also hiring a pre-election organizer (northern British Columbia) and a volunteer and training organizer. The following is a copy of the email.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nikki Hill
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 2:02 PM
Subject: BC NDP Job Postings: Pre-election Organizers and Pre-election Production Co-ordinator
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY (TWO ATTACHMENTS)
JOB POSTING
Pre-election Production Co-ordinator
The Pre-election Production Co-ordinator provides support to the Party and its local candidates and campaigns in the co-ordination and production of written and designed materials including leaflets and posters, radio and print ads, web site content, special publications and e-campaign tools, and other duties as assigned leading up to the May 2005 provincial election.
The Pre-election Production Co-ordinator is a full time and limited term position until May 17, 2005. Membership in CUPE Local 3787 will be a condition of employment.
Job Duties
* Provide design and production of campaign material (leaflets, fact sheets, election signs etc) for local campaigns and providing liaison with the provincial campaign in that context.
* Provide paid media support (print and radio advertising) for local campaigns.
* Maintain the central campaign web site and assist local campaigns posting local content in candidate section of central site.
* Co-ordinate e-campaign outreach and fundraising.
* Support research needs of local campaigns.
* Plan, prepare and conduct workshops on leaflet and ad design for Party activists and members.
* Assist in developing paid media capability for local election campaigns.
* Develop media capacity to reach members of Indo-Canadian, Chinese, Filipino, First Nations and other cultural communities with leaflets and both radio and print ads.
* Co-ordinate production of the Party's pre-election and campaign direct mail fundraising pieces.
* Provide support to constituency associations as assigned.
* Field questions and requests from NDP members/supporters and the general public as appropriate.
Job Qualifications
* Thorough knowledge of the structure, history, policies and principles of the New Democratic Party of Canada and BC.
* Thorough knowledge of BC politics.
* Demonstrated recent election and pre-election campaign experience.
* Exceptional skill in written and verbal communications.
* Experience with advanced design software including InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat.
* Experience with web design and HTML.
* Proven ability to motivate and organize volunteers.
* Ability to work in a team environment.
* Strong interpersonal, communication and organizational skills.
* Proven ability to work under pressure in stressful situations.
* Be prepared to travel as required and work flexible hours and
weekends.
* Valid drivers license and reliable vehicle.
Compensation as per the CUPE 3787 collective agreement.
Apply by email to:
David Bieber, BC NDP Communications.
Please include references.
Closing date for applications is Monday, January 3, 2004 at 5 pm.
------------
Job Posting
Pre-election Organizer positions
General
The BC NDP is hiring two pre-election organizers to start in January 2005.
The Pre-election Organizer positions are full time and limited term. Membership in CUPE Local 3787 is a condition of employment.
Job Summary - Pre-election Organizer (Northern BC)
Under the supervision of the Director of Organization, pre-election organizers are responsible for working with NDP constituency bodies and activists to organize membership activity, training, outreach, fundraising, pre-election planning and other constituency organizing duties as assigned leading up to the May 2005 provincial election.
Successful candidates will be expected to work and travel extensively throughout Northern BC leading up to the May 2005 election.
Job Summary - Volunteer and Training Organizer
Under the supervision of the Director of Organization, the volunteer and training coordinator will be primarily responsible for developing and strengthening central and local systems for recruiting and mobilizing volunteers for pre-election and election campaign needs as well as major organizing initiatives.
In addition, this organizer will coordinate and develop training initiatives as directed, including assisting with the evaluation and revision of current training materials, organizing training sessions and development of new materials to assist constituencies with campaign planning and organization.
The position is based from the BC NDP Provincial Office in Burnaby.
General Pre-election Organizer Duties
* Work with constituency associations to organize provincial pre-election activities including election preparedness, membership drives, fundraising activities, community outreach, public communications and events.
* Plan, prepare and conduct workshops, seminars and other training sessions for Party members.
* Contact local activists in provincial constituencies and federal ridings to provide information, support, and guidance from the Provincial Office, Federal Office, Provincial Executive, Provincial Council and relevant election planning bodies.
* Assist constituencies in developing pre-election and election plans.
* Organize election campaigns during the May 2005 provincial election.
* Provide information to members on the structure and processes of the NDP and work with Party members within these structures at constituency and riding meetings, Provincial Council meetings, conventions and committee meetings.
* Field questions and requests from NDP members/supporters and the general public as appropriate.
* Organize special events as required.
* Support the work of BC NDP Committees as assigned.
* Perform general organizing duties as assigned.
Job Qualifications
* Demonstrated recent adult education or training experience.
* Thorough knowledge of the structure, history, policies and principles of the New Democratic Party of Canada and BC.
* Demonstrated recent election and pre-election experience, including communications, organization, fundraising and management skills.
* Proven ability to motivate and organize volunteers.
* Ability to work in a team environment.
* Strong interpersonal, communication and organizational skills.
* Proven ability to work under pressure in stressful situations.
* Be prepared to travel as required and work flexible hours and weekends.
* Valid drivers license and reliable vehicle.
* Compensation as per the CUPE 3787 collective agreement.
Apply by email to: Nicola Hill, Director of Organization by Tuesday, December 28, 2004 at 5 pm.
Please include relevant references. Questions about the positions should be made by email.
Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell and city councilors Jim Green, Raymond Louie and Tim Stevenson will announce they're quitting the Coalition of Progressive Electors caucus at 1:00 today. But, according our spies, they won't officially be leaving the civic party. Those same sources also say Mayor Campbell and his council supporters will be fundraising seperately from the coalition. And CKNW is reporting they'll be running as an independent slate in the next election.
Former road warrior Harry Lali, who is running for the provincial New Democrats in Yale-Lillooet, is playing the race card against Indo-Canadian Liberal backbencher Patty Sahota. In a letter published yesterday in the Indo-Canadian Voice, Mr. Lali claims she has "completely abrogated her responsibility to her race and, along with the other six South Asians in her caucus, has left the task of representing South Asian interests for the last three and a half years to Gordon Campbell and the other non-Indo-Canadian MLAs." Racial responsibilities eh? What are are those? Please do tell Harry. We're all listening. The following is a copy of that letter.
Politics does make for strange bedfellows. It is understandable why sycophant Liberal backbencher Patty Sahota continues to blindly and passionately tie her political future ever so tightly to the mean-spirited and untrustworthy Gordon Campbell and his sinking ship, the S.S. Liberal Titanic. After all, the soon-to-be ex-MLA did get elected in a Liberal tidal wave in 2001, considering even lead-weight will float when attached to a piece of wood.
Again, it is understandable why Patty Sahota, "the one-term wonder", is a Gordon Campbell loyalist (he did help her to get elected), but where does her newfound love for Paul Martin sycophant, Ujjal Dosanjh, come from? The fact is she has been silent on every issue of consequence to the very South Asian community that gave her the Liberal nomination four years ago. After the election Ms. Sahota turned her back on the community. Like her boss, the increasingly hated Mr. Campbell, she has broken every promise made prior to the election.
Patty Sahota believes that one doesn't have to be an Indo-Canadian to represent the interests of Indo-Canadians. I suppose in her case she is absolutely right. Being an Indo-Canadian, Patty Sahota has completely abrogated her responsibility to her race and, along with the other six South Asians in her caucus, has left the task of representing South Asian interests for the last three and a half years to Gordon Campbell and the other non-Indo-Canadian MLAs. Her silence has been deafening.
If the Campbell Liberals supposedly did such a good job of delivering so much on behalf of the South Asian community then why did the latter demonstrate their appreciation to Gordon Campbell by handing Jagroop Brar and the NDP a landslide victory in Surrey-Panorama? It was made abundantly clear by the Indo-Canadian community in the by-election that they had turned their backs on the totally "Non-magnificent Seven" in the Liberal Caucus. Surrey-Panorama was a devastating slap on the faces of the Liberal Caucus, and especially a humiliating slap in the faces of the seven Punjabi MLAs. They have failed the South Asian community.
No matter how many lies the B.C. Liberal Government tries to feed to the people with their own tax dollars in the recent Liberal partisan ads the public will not be fooled. If the economy is so rosy and British Columbia's future is so bright why do the Liberals need to spend millions of dollars of your money to promote themselves? Gordon Campbell cannot be trusted to keep any of his promises. The Campbell Liberals lied about not privatizing B.C. Rail. The Campbell Liberals lied about not privatizing B.C. Hydro. The Campbell Liberals lied about not closing hospitals and healthcare services. As a matter of fact, there isn't much that the Campbell Liberals haven't lied to British Columbians about. Their booklet, "B.C. Liberals: A New Era," shouldn't it be more appropriately called "B.C. Liberals: A Litany of Lies"?
Everywhere I go people tell me that healthcare was much better under the NDP. The Campbell Liberals have increased hospital surgery waitlists by 300%. While the NDP made education its top priority in government the Campbell Liberals closed 113 schools across B.C. and increased class sizes to 1980's levels. While NDP froze tuition fees for six years for students, the Campbell Liberals increased tuition by over 300%. While the NDP froze ICBC and B.C. Hydro rates for five years and gave back rebates, the Campbell Liberals increased rates by 48% and 60%, respectively.
While the NDP gave tax breaks to lower and middle income earners and to small business, the Campbell Liberals gave the biggest tax breaks to the wealthiest 2% of society and to Big Corporations. While the NDP left behind the largest surplus in the history of British Columbia at $2.1 billion, the Campbell Liberals created a record $3.4 billion deficit after taking office. While the NDP built this province's highways, bridges, hospitals, universities, schools, hockey rinks, community centres, fire halls, playgrounds, etc., the Campbell Liberals went on a drunken path of destruction of our healthcare, education and social safety net. All that the likes of Patty Sahota could muster was to play dead in front of Gordon Campbell's mean-spirited, steam-rolling agenda. Politics is about having the courage to stand up for your convictions and not about sycophancy and self-interest. Sadly, the misguided Ms Sahota doesn't know the difference.
While Gordon Campbell has been mean-spirited, arrogant, untrustworthy and out of touch with British Columbians, NDP Leader Carol James is caring, honest, balanced and fair. Like NDP premiers Dave Barrett, Mike Harcourt and Glen Clark before her Carol James will be the next premier of B.C. and will put people's priorities first, including the priorities of the province's visible minorities.
Biker babe Deborah Grey is rolling onto the airwaves later next month. Between January 17 to 21, the federal Reform movement's grande dame will be filling-in for a vacationing Rafe Mair on AM 600 in Vancouver. That temp job would have usually gone to Mr. Mair's producer Shiral Tobin. But she's going on maternity leave for six months as of January 14.
The commissars who control the provincial New Democrat constituency association in Vancouver-Kingsway are accusing party leaders of running "an unclean nomination meeting" in their riding. According to an email authored by the puritans, offenses include the fact "only one of the candidates, (nomination winner) Adrian Dix, was provided with a musical background before and after his speech" and "people had no privacy when marking their ballots" because "the voting took place in a gym where the chairs were tightly packed together." Oh my God! Tightly packed seats! Nothing is more offensive to democratic process than that!
The puritans have also levelled several more serious accusations against the party. They claim some of those who showed up for the nomination voted twice and others were not allowed to cast their ballots. In an interview, provincial secretary Gerry Scott confirmed the New Democrats are investigating the complaint. Public Eye readers will recall the New Democrat brass took over Vancouver-Kingsway's nomination meeting following seperate accusations the local association was biased in favour of Mr. Dix's competitor Comandante Alicia Barsallo. The following is the email containing the association's counter-complaint.
***
To: BC NDP Provincial Executive
Attention: Mr. Jeff Fox, president, 604-291-9611, jeff.fox@bcgeu.ca
cc: BC NDP Provincial Council
Vancouver-Kingsway NDP members / NDP members
SERIOUS IRREGULARITIES OCCURRED IN THE CONDUCT OF THE VANCOUVER-KINGSWAY NDP NOMINATION MEETING ON DECEMBER 5TH. WE DEMAND ANOTHER VOTE. PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE TAKE-OVER LEADS TO UNCLEAN NOMINATION MEETING
In an unprecedented move, the BC NDP provincial executive decided to take over the Vancouver-Kingsway NDP nomination meeting shortly before December 5th. The move was unconstitutional as it went against article 9 of the BC NDP constitution which places the responsibility for conducting nomination meetings on the local executive. The local executive protested the provincial executive take-over of the Vancouver-Kingsway NDP nomination meeting, to no avail. Despite this, the local executive hoped that the provincial executive's conduct of the nomination meeting would be reasonably clean. Unfortunately, this was not the case. And, as the local executive, we cannot allow ourselves to be connected in any way with the irregularities and improprieties that have
taken place.
COMPLAINTS OF WIDESPREAD IRREGULARITIES AT THE NOMINATION MEETING LEAD LOCAL EXECUTIVE TO CHALLENGE RESULTS
After receiving numerous complaints from Vancouver-Kingsway NDP members and from members of other ridings who attended the nomination meeting on December 5th, the Vancouver-Kingsway NDP Executive has decided to challenge the results of the nomination meeting.
THESE ARE THE REASONS:
1. NO SAFE AREA WAS PROVIDED FOR VOTING. Between the first and the second round of voting a number of Indo-Canadian seniors had their ballot books snatched and marked for them. One Indo-Canadian senior approached the chair showing a ballot where the name Dix had been selected against his wishes. The chair provided him no solution.
2. PEOPLE HAD NO PRIVACY WHEN MARKING THEIR BALLOTS. The election of the NDP candidate must be done, under the constitution, by secret vote. Yet the secrecy of the vote was compromised. Despite prior warnings by the local executive, the voting took place in the gym where the chairs were tightly packed together. The fewer than 10 optional voting booths were inadequate for the 700 people who voted in the first round and the 500 people who voted in the second round. People mostly filled their ballots in their seats.
3. THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO VOTED MULTIPLE TIMES. The requirement that each person in attendance be allowed only one vote was not enforced. The ballot boxes were circulated around the gymnasium without giving scrutineers the opportunity to oversee the process. People could place their ballot in any box. This gave people with access to ballots left behind by people who went home an opportunity to cast multiple votes at various ballot boxes. Some people were allowed to place two or more ballots in the same ballot box. This was allowed by the people holding the ballot boxes, and, in at least one case, it happened in front of witnesses who had protested.
4. THE DOORS TO THE VOTING AREA WERE NOT CONTROLLED AFTER THE FIRST BALLOT. People going home were not asked to surrender their ballot books, and there are numerous reports that the ballot books then changed hands. The four reasons above are sufficient to question the validity of the results of the December 5th nomination meeting, particularly since the difference between the two finalists was small (28 votes out of 500). But there is more:
5. UNTRAINED AND OPENLY BIASED REGISTRARS. We have received complaints that registrars did not follow proper procedures and showed bias. People who entered with passports and cards without address and presented no other document were allowed to register to vote. Some scrutineers also noticed what they called cozy relationships between the registrars and Mr. Dix's reps. Scrutineers for other candidates were treated improperly and had their comments ignored.
6. MEMBERS OF VANCOUVER-KINGSWAY NDP WITH THE PROPER IDENTIFICATION WERE NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE. Some of these had been wrongly left off the list weeks before the nomination meeting. We were given assurances that they had been put on the list. At the time of the nomination meeting, however, their names were not on the list. When our membership secretary approached provincial secretary Gerry Scott about two people who had not been allowed to register, Scott told him they had. We later found out that this was not the case.
7. VOTING AT THE NOMINATION MEETING WERE PEOPLE WHO DO NOT RESIDE IN THE RIDING. Under the BC NDP constitution, only members who reside in the riding can vote at a nomination meeting. This rule was not enforced. No investigation followed the local executive's complaint weeks before the nomination meeting that people who did not live in the riding appeared as voting members in the membership list for Vancouver-Kingsway. To this day there have been no findings and we have received no report that any one was taken off the list for that reason.
8. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE FIRST ROUND OF VOTING THE CHAIR ANNOUNCED TO THOSE IN ATTENDANCE THAT THEY COULD LEAVE, BUT DID NOT WARN THEM THAT THERE COULD BE A SECOND ROUND OF VOTING. Given the fact that this was the first nomination meeting for many, the chair's omission caused many to go home in the belief that no more needed to be done.
9. THE CHAIR'S ACTIONS LACKED IMPARTIALITY. Many people were talking and some were very impolite while candidate Roberto Rous was giving his speech. There was rude clapping from non-voters in the top level balcony. The chair did nothing to address this issue. Furthermore, Roberto was not invited to the stage to say a few words upon losing on first round. Candidate Shavinder Parmar had to fight for his right to himself convey to the audience his desire to drop out and endorse candidate Alicia Barsallo. Both the chair and provincial secretary Gerry Scott there present argued that he could not do this. It was only after much argument that the chair opted for asking the meeting whether they would allow candidate Parmar to speak.
10. ONLY ONE OF THE CANDIDATES, ADRIAN DIX, WAS PROVIDED WITH A MUSICAL BACKGROUND BEFORE AND AFTER HIS SPEECH. When Mr. Dix went on the stage and spoke, there was loud background music as if the Prime Minister had just entered the room. There was no music when the other three candidates entered. The other candidates were not offered this service.
FURTHERMORE, AN INTIMIDATING CAMPAIGN BY PROVINCIAL OFFICE TO QUESTION CERTAIN NEW MEMBERS ABOUT THEIR DECISION TO BECOME MEMBERS PRECEDED THE NOMINATION MEETING. Throughout the pre-nomination period, certain new members were phoned by provincial office personnel and were grilled as to whether or not they realized they had joined a political party and they would have to participate in campaigns and make financial donations. Those who finally acquiesced that they did not know this received a letter from provincial secretary Gerry Scott rejecting their membership. Because of this, Alicia Barsallo's campaign lost a Chinese Canadian senior she had recruited on her block and a Jewish senior she had recruited at one of the coops. Memberships of people who upon being phoned said they had borrowed money from relatives or friends on the picket line were rejected. Alicia Barsallo's campaign had at least two members rejected on these improper grounds. We know of at least one offensive call to a landed immigrant that she should not have joined the NDP because she is not yet a citizen. Some people were not phoned at all, but had their membership returned. The Shavinder Parmar and Roberto Rous campaigns lost members under similar circumstances. The Vancouver-Kingsway executive asked Mr. Fox and Mr. Scott to provide it with the names of people they had approached so that the Vancouver-Kingsway executive might explain matters to them. We never got that list. To this day we do not know how many new members were stopped from participating in the nomination process through the phone calls from provincial office. Several of the new members affected wrote letters to Scott demanding that they be reinstated as members. Ms Leslie Kerr on behalf of Mr. Gerry Scott told the local executive that they were to be reinstated. On nomination day we found that this was not the case. Those of our members who went to vote despite the suffered abuse were rejected for a second time.
COMMUNITY DESERVES A CLEAN NOMINATION MEETING There is widespread frustration in the Vancouver-Kingsway community that what should have been a clean and democratic nomination meeting turned out to be one where the will of the membership was lost in a chaotic voting procedure that allowed voting improprieties. In the eyes of many observers, Mr. Dix was obviously supported strongly by the provincial executive.
A NEW VOTE IS IN THE INTERESTS OF THE NDP In the interests of democracy and of the NDP, we demand that the provincial executive set things straight by promptly calling a new nomination meeting where residency is properly checked, the right of members to a safe and secret vote is guaranteed, and where the one person one vote rule is abided by.
COMPLAINT SHALL NOT END WITH CHANGE OF EXECUTIVE ON DECEMBER 19TH The take-over of the Vancouver-Kingsway executive by Mr. Dix's people at the December 19th 2004 AGM (3 pm at the Trout Lake Community Centre) shall not mark the end of this complaint. We write on behalf of the outgoing executive and as individual members. We expect a timely reply.
Yours truly,
Arlene Schimmelpfennig, President, 604-219-9243, arlene9999@shaw.ca
Isabel Lopez, Vice-President, 604-324-4484, godoylopez@shaw.ca
Andrew Adler, Membership Secretary, 604-224-1249, adler@math.ubc.ca
Sylvia Dodd, Treasurer, 604-255-6776, hwdodd@telus.net
Victor Finberg, Provincial Council Alternate, vfinberg@sfu.ca
Michele Todd, Fundraising Convenor, 604-299-7994, mictodd@telus.net
Alvin Lau, Committee Chair, 604-432-1081, senateveto@hotmail.com
Sharon Hager, Committee Chair, 604-435-7373, hager@vcn.bc.ca
This letter has been endorsed by candidates to the nomination
Shavinder Parmar, 604-435-4849, shav@hotmail.com,
Roberto Rous, 604-438-9535, robertlrous@yahoo.ca, and
Alicia Barsallo, 879-3246, alicia@aliciabarsallo.net
To Vancouver-Kingsway NDP Members
If you know of additional improprieties surrounding the nomination process, please e-mail Andrew Adler at adler@math.ubc.ca or leave a telephone message at 604-224-1249.
To those of you who are considering tearing up your NDP card, please do not. We need people like you in the NDP to prevent a further erosion of constituency autonomy and democratic values. Please keep in touch. The members of the outgoing local executive are committed to continuing to work to empower our community.
In an interview today, Paul Daynes, who has single-handedly proven grassroots provincial Liberals aren't mythic creatures, talked about his experienced handing out anti-New Democrat leaflets at the British Columbia Federation of Labour's convention. Deadpanning, Mr. Daynes said "I can reveal to you one very, very interesting aspect of this whole exercise. I've discovered a large number of B.C. Federation of Labour delegates - at least the ones I spoke with - have a very unusual set of priorities. Basically, they wanted me to have sex with myself. And they seemed particularly obsessed with Premier Campbell going away and having sex with himself." The following email, which seems to have become something of a holy relic among Liberals, provides a more in-depth account of that experience.
-----Original Message-----
From: paul daynes
Sent: December 2, 2004 3:58 PM
Subject: SPEAKING OUT
Re: Taking a Stand at the BC Fed Convention for Good Government
On Wednesday , I stood outside the BC Fed Convention and stood up for good
government. The persistent misinformation campaigns emanating from public sector unions and the BC Federation of Labour are wearing on me.
I don't blame the rank and file members. Rather, these tactics are driven by the union leaders and bosses who see the return of an NDP government as an opportunity to call the shots again - no matter what the cost will be to average British Columbians like you and me.
And I don't need to tell you what a disaster the 1990s were for this province. I don't want to go back. But I am realizing that there is a real threat that the NDP and their ideological bedmates could take over the controls in BC again. I am not prepared to see that happen. That's why I decided to stand outside the BC Fed Convention and hand out a simple flyer.
On one side of the flyer, it has positive headlines from three years of economic growth and renewed prosperity under the BC Liberals. On the other side, it has ten years of negative headlines to remind us all of what happened under the NDP.
So, there I was, with an accomplice, passing out our flyers to BC Fed delegates. We even passed one to Carole James. I hope she had time to read
it before she marched in to take her orders.
The December cold became decidedly more frosty when some delegates started to read what we were handing them. They are not used to contrary perspectives, evidently. In fact, it became downright abusive. But we stood our ground.
One union guy came over and lectured us on the "evils of outsourcing". This I found very ironic. Earlier, I had been told in the coffee shop that the union movement would be importing union officials from all over Canada and even the United States to fight the May election against the Liberals.
This raises a key point - are British Columbians going to be allowed to decide this election, or are the union heavies and the NDP going to use their muscle - from all over the continent - to bully their way to victory?
We stuck it out for a couple of hours. It was a small act in favour of good
government and a strong economy.
Toward the end of our adventure, one delegate approached us and said: "This is good stuff". And he meant it. He was from a public sector union that loves to spend their members' dues on partisan advertising. I was heartened that at least one BC Fed delegate issued his quiet dissent against the bosses. I'm sure there were others.
We can't take this election for granted. I urge anyone who reads this - who cares about free enterprise and good government - to take a stand. Whether it's writing a letter to the editor, speaking up, giving money, or volunteering.
We simply cannot afford to go back.
Paul Daynes
Earlier, we reported a pro-Liberal leaflet was slipped under the windshield wipers of cars parked outside the provincial New Democrat's nomination meeting in Saanich South. The leaflet, which was distributed by agents unknown, didn't identify who produced it. But, in an interview with Public Eye, plain vanilla Liberal member Paul Daynes admirably owned up to being the author. Mr. Daynes explained, "I think the left, to their credit, are socially active and get out and put their viewpoint out to the public. And I think, on the centre-right, it's always been my personal feeling that we're a bit lazy. So I just decided to exercise my right to free speech and association" by putting together the leaflet.
He added, "I sent out a few emails (with the leaflet) to my circulation list, which would be about 10 or 15 people. And they sent it off all over the place. And the responses I've had back have been incredible. People like the Chamber of Commerce said they were going to send it out to all of their members. I've had a couple of industry associations say they were going to send it out...And now it's all over the province." Mr. Daynes handed out those leaflets in person at the British Columbia Federation of Labour convention earlier this month.
The election race in Saanich South has gotten off to a bit of a dirty start. A pro-Liberal leaflet was slipped under the windshield wipers of cars parked outside the provincial New Democrat's nomination meeting, which was held earlier today. One side of the leaflet proclaims "BC is on track to be a have province again" because the Campbell administration has introduced "real balanced budgets" and "lower taxes." The other side warns "despite our resources, BC became a Have-Not province" during the "NDP Decade of Decline." Each side features a collage of photocopied newspaper articles with headlines supporting those statements. Some of those articles date back to 1997. The leaflet doesn't identify who produced it.