Recent Posts
Connect with:
Friday / July 4.
  • No products in the cart.
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 156)

For the week of July 12, 2020.

Research Co. pollster Mario Canseco joins host Bob Mackin to ponder the pandemic, presidential race and a prime minister in a pickle.

Research Co. pollster Mario Canseco (Mackin)

Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and commentary.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn or Apple Podcasts.

Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

theBreaker.news Podcast
theBreaker.news Podcast
theBreaker.news Podcast: Pollster ponders the pandemic, presidency and a prime minister in a pickle
Loading
/

For the week of July 12, 2020.

Bob Mackin

The lead prosecutor in the U.S. college admissions scandal said Vancouver oil and gas investor David Sidoo stole two college admissions slots for his sons in a $200,000 fraud scheme.

Dylan (left), David and Jordan Sidoo

“By cheating on his son’s admissions test and fabricating his application essay, Sidoo deprived a deserving student of the opportunity to attend that elite school. In addition, Sidoo’s conduct was not just limited to paying money,” wrote U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling in a scathing sentencing memorandum filed on July 10. “Rather, Sidoo took an active role in facilitating the fraudulent scheme by sending [ringleader Rick] Singer documents and biographical information that allowed Singer to create multiple fake identification cards that [proctor Mark] Riddell used to pose as Sidoo’s sons for the exams.”

July 10 is, coincidentally, Sidoo’s birthday. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 15 for one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. His plea bargain was reached at the end of January, and made public in March. Pending a judge’s approval, Sidoo will serve 90 days in a minimum security prison and pay a $250,000 fine. A 12-month probation term is expected to be waived, because the court cannot enforce it outside the U.S.

Lelling’s sentencing memorandum also states that Riddell flew to Vancouver to pose as Dylan Sidoo for a December 2011 SAT exam. He returned in summer 2012 to take Dylan Sidoo’s high school exam. In fall 2013, David Sidoo and Singer crafted a college application essay that falsely claimed Sidoo’s oldest son had been held-up at gunpoint by a Los Angeles street gang and rescued by a rival gangster named “Nugget.” In 2015 and 2016, Riddell, Singer and David Sidoo explored cheating on other graduate school admissions tests, but abandoned their plan.

David Sidoo (left), Blake Nill (second from right) and Amrik Virk (third from right) celebrating UBC’s Vanier Cup win in 2015. (BC Gov)

Dylan Sidoo eventually entered Chapman University, but transferred to the University of Southern California.

Riddell also wrote the SAT on behalf of Jordan Sidoo in December 2012, who gained admission to and enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley.

“Sidoo engaged in serious criminal conduct involving fraud and deception that stretched over multiple years. His crimes warrant significant punishment,” Lelling wrote.

In the defence submission, Sidoo’s lawyer calls the guilty Vancouver investor and philanthropist a first-time offender without a criminal past who will continue to suffer after he serves his sentence.

“Mr. Sidoo is a 61-year-old man who made a tremendous mistake, out of misplaced love for his sons, that is inconsistent with his entire personal life story,” wrote Martin Weinberg in his July 10 submission. “Mr. Sidoo has and will pay a significant price for his conduct in this case. He will serve a period of incarceration, he will be excluded from the United States, and his reputation in the community that he has supported for many years is now significantly tarnished. Furthermore, Mr. Sidoo has suffered both physically and mentally.”

Until Sidoo negotiated the plea bargain, he had steadfastly maintained his innocence.

Sidoo posted a photo on his website in April, preparing to donate masks and sanitizer to Downtown Eastside homeless.

He was arrested in San Jose in March 2019, released after three days in jail on a $1 million bond and charged for paying more than $200,000 to have an impostor write exams for his sons, both St. George’s boys school alumni.

If the case went to trial, Sidoo could have been jailed up to 20 years.

Former Canadian Football League player Sidoo lives in a $31.7 million mansion on Belmont in Point Grey, a Vancouver neighbourhood often called “Billionaires’ Row.” Massachusetts Judge Nathaniel Gorton is allowing Sidoo to appear July 15 via Zoom videoconferencing, due to coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions.

Neither of the sons has been charged. Neither of the two California universities where they graduated has disclosed whether the diplomas tainted by their father’s fraud will be cancelled. 

“Mr. Sidoo is not accused of funnelling money through Key Worldwide Foundation to be provided to the schools, nor is he accused of having [ringleader Rick] Singer create false sports accolades,” Weinberg wrote.

“Mr. Sidoo has pled guilty to providing funds to Key Worldwide Foundation in exchange for Mark Riddell writing the SAT exam for his sons. In fact [Dylan Sidoo] transferred to [USC] without Mr. Sidoo seeking any assistance of Mr. Singer or anyone in the Athletics Department. Accordingly, the sentence of 90 days in custody is consistent with the above stated sentences when the relative conduct is contrasted.”

David Sidoo accepting the Order of B.C. from Premier Christy Clark and Lt. Gov. Judith Guichon in 2016 (BC Gov)

Weinberg also wrote that Sidoo is no danger to the public, is remorseful and has remained compliant while on bail. Details of Sidoo’s alleged physical and emotional deterioration were censored from the public document.

Weinberg pointed to some of Sidoo’s recent losses. In March, University of B.C. said it would remove Sidoo’s name from the scoreboard and field at Thunderbird Stadium, where Sidoo starred with the 1982 Vanier Cup-winning football team.

In June, Sidoo lost his 2016-awarded Order of British Columbia.

The Ministry of Education told theBreaker.news that it has not been involved in this case and there has been no internal investigation into the exam cheating in B.C.

Sidoo’s submission to the court includes 18 character reference letters from many prominent individuals.

In an April 27 letter, former B.C. Supreme Court judge and former BC Liberal. Attorney General Wally Oppal said his 35-year acquaintance Sidoo is a “person of impeccable character and has an excellent reputation in this province.”

Former federal Liberal cabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal called him “an individual who fulfils his commitments.”

Thunderbird Stadium’s field was named for David Sidoo (Mackin)

Another letter came from Amrik Virk, the former Mountie who was the Advanced Education Minister when BC Liberal donor Sidoo was appointed to the UBC board of governors in 2014. Virk, a one-term BC Liberal MLA from Surrey, wrote that Sidoo has “repeated expressed remorse privately and publicly,” though he did not mention where and when Sidoo did so publicly.

“While I am in no way competent to offer a medical diagnosis, I am privy to and witnessed the deterioration in his physical and mental health,” Virk wrote. “While the media may portray the resilient, successful businessman facing judgement I have observed the effects on his spouse and children. I do not intend to paint him as a victim but merely to highlight the obvious impacts observed.”

Virk’s letter does not mention that he joined the Sidoo family’s Meridius Resources junior mining company as a director in 2019.

Other letters came from CFL and NFL hall of fame quarterback Warren Moon, Michael O’Connor, a 2019 Toronto Argonauts rookie drafted from UBC, Bobby Singh, the only player with Super Bowl, Grey Cup and XFL championship rings, former UBC head coach Frank Smith, and current UBC head coach Blake Nill.

Sidoo’s 13th Man Foundation booster club recruited O’Connor to join the UBC Thunderbirds in 2015 from Penn State and helped fund the program toward its Vanier Cup title that year.

TSN 1040 host Bob Marjanovich and TSN football reporter Farhan Lalji also chimed in.

Lalji, who coaches the New Westminster Secondary varsity football team, wrote on the team’s letterhead that Sidoo has donated $100,000 to the school and football program over 17 years. Lalji wrote that “inaccurate narratives have been created well outside the bounds of this case and many people have rushed to judgment.”

David Sidoo’s defence filings include a letter from one NDP cabinet minister and a certificate from another.

Marjanovich, who first met Sidoo during their high school days in 1978, wrote: “His improper actions have hurt the ones he loves the most and nothing can ever change that.”

The Sidoo file also includes a 2012 letter from now-NDP Energy and Mines minister Bruce Ralston congratulating Sidoo for a philanthropy award and a 2016 certificate of achievement from now-Attorney General David Eby, the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey, for receiving the Order of B.C.

Sidoo was the first person from British Columbia to be charged in the U.S. college admissions scandal, but the second to be sentenced.

A Surrey woman who is a Chinese citizen was sentenced to time already served in a Spanish jail. Xiaoning Sui, 48, admitted guilt in February and was fined $250,000 fine after five months behind bars.

Sui paid Singer a $400,000 bribe to have her tennis-playing son recruited to the University of California Los Angeles soccer team so that he could study there. He had no prior competitive soccer experience, but was falsely billed as a top player on two private teams in Canada.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin The lead prosecutor in the U.S.

The first Vancouver pro sport back in business since the coronavirus pandemic was declared in March is thoroughbred horse racing.

Hastings Racecourse reopened on July 6 for its 131st anniversary meet. theBreaker.news was there on July 7.

Race fans must watch online for now, because of the ban on mass-gatherings in B.C.

Click below and watch theBreaker.news at the races. 

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

The first Vancouver pro sport back in

Bob Mackin

There were 84 ambulance calls to Stanley Park during the first five months of 2020.

But how many involved bicycles?

B.C. Emergency Health Services data provided to theBreaker.news shows total ambulance calls to the park increased 266% from April to May.

Stanley Park Drive in late June 2020.

There were 11 in January, 16 in February and 15 in March. Emergency calls fell to nine in April, the first full month of the coronavirus state of emergency. Then it spiked in May with 33.

“It’s a difficult request to narrow down in terms of paramedic response,” said EHS spokeswoman Shannon Miller. “A bicycle incident may be categorized as traffic incident or a fall, or someone unconscious. It depends on how the 9-1-1 call information was transmitted to us.” 

The leading causes for calls in May were falls (9), traumatic injuries (8), unconscious (4), traffic/transportation (2), potential overdoses (2) and other/unknown (8).

The Vancouver Park Board banned vehicles from Stanley Park Drive in March to give cyclists a monopoly. The COPE/Green alliance that forms the board’s majority initially refused to reopen Stanley Park Drive to vehicles, but relented after a public outcry. It allowed one lane for vehicles on June 22, but did not restore full parking and continues to block access from the Causeway to the park’s northern area.

Park Board bureaucrats continue to study a permanent closure, while opponents have threatened a lawsuit because seniors and people with disabilities who rely on vehicles for transportation are unable to enjoy full access to the park as they did for decades.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin There were 84 ambulance calls to

For the week of July 5, 2020.

It is the year that feels like a decade.

It began with the United States and Iran seemingly headed for war, until Iran shot down a passenger jet and killed all on board.

Anti-pipeline protesters closed highways and railways across Canada in sympathy with Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, who opposed the Coastal GasLink pipeline in Northern B.C.

Shut Down Canada activists also disrupted operations at the B.C. Legislature.

Tensions rose between the West and China. Meng Wanzhou’s extradition will continue. As will China’s hostage-taking of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

The United States presidential election approaches. 

Then the coronavirus pandemic spread from Wuhan to the rest of the world. Entire economies were put on pause, sparking a recession. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021. 

The Black Lives Matter movement erupted with violent protests after shocking incidents of police brutality.

The year is only half over.

Take a time out and relive the highlights so far on this week’s edition of theBreaker.news Podcast with host Bob Mackin.

Hear clips from Mario Canseco of ResearchCo., Australian anti-CCP activist Drew Pavlou, Green interim leader Adam Olsen, Speaker Darryl Plecas’s chief of staff Alan Mullen, Dr. Bonnie Henry, Health Minister Adrian Dix, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, Sean Holman and the late Dermod Travis. 

Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and commentary.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn or Apple Podcasts.

Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

theBreaker.news Podcast
theBreaker.news Podcast
theBreaker.news Podcast: It's only half over? Looking back at 2020's first six months
Loading
/

For the week of July 5, 2020. It

Joint statement from a group of concerned Canadians of Chinese descent

Not long after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou for extradition to the U.S., two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were detained by the Chinese government, now for over 560 days.

Following Meng’s loss in her first bid to avoid extradition, and the court ruling that her extradition hearings will proceed, the Chinese government announced that the two Michaels are charged with the serious felony of espionage. A top spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs even suggested that the two Canadians could be released if Ottawa intervenes in Meng’s extradition case and sets her free.

Louis Huang protested outside Meng Wanzhou’s March 6 court date (Mackin)

“Such options are within the rule of law and could open up space for resolution to the situation of the two Canadians,” the same spokesperson said.

The case of Meng and the two Michaels illustrates how the Chinese government uses the rhetoric of “the rule of law” to advance its political agenda, while engaging in hostage diplomacy and toying with human lives.  

When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) speaks of upholding “the rule of law,” it is not referring to the democratic idea of separation of powers within a government which ensures the restraint of power for the protection of the rights and liberties of its citizens. Instead, the “rule of law,” as invoked by the CCP, is merely a political buzz word to cover up the “co-operation” of the three powers under its one-party rule. This stands in direct contradiction to the legal system in Hong Kong and other democratic countries with judicial independence. This difference is precisely the problem with CCP’s imposition of the “National Security Law” on Hong Kong in the name of national security. 

The move also contravenes the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a legally-binding international treaty registered with the United Nations, as well as in direct contradiction with the Hong Kong Basic Law.

The CCP’s argument is that national security is a greater priority than maintaining the “one country two systems” principle, and since democratic countries also have national security laws, they don’t have the right to interfere in China’s internal need for the same.

Although Canada and many democratic countries indeed have their own national security laws, such laws do not criminalize people for applying political pressure on the government, expressing criticism of the head of state, or even calling for the governing party to step down. Quebecers’ or Californians’ sovereignty movements, for example, are not illegal; as freedom of speech and the freedom to protest and demonstrate are guaranteed constitutional rights.

Such are not the case in Mainland China, where expressing opposition to officials’ corruption, critiquing government officials and the CCP, advocating for democracy, freedom, and rights protection can all be deemed as subversive actions or treason against the state, and any citizens so charged are subject to secret trial and indefinite imprisonment.  

When the Chinese government talks about national security, it is primarily concerned with the protection of the security of the Chinese Community Party and its leaders, and not the security of its citizens’ rights as set out in its constitution. Therefore, CCP’s so-called “National Security Law” is really a “CCP Security Law” in disguise.

Fearing that Hong Kong’s freedoms of speech and assembly may destabilize the regime, the CCP introduced the “National Security Law” to override Hong Kong’s judicial independence, thereby extending its practice of suppression of such freedoms to Hong Kong.

After such Law’s implementation, both residents and non-residents in Hong Kong will lose their basic human rights and freedoms. The Chinese government and its lackeys will crackdown on dissidents who have raised criticisms of the Hong Kong and Beijing administrations, or those who have been in communication with (and therefore deemed to be conspiring with) foreign governments. 

Sadly, the unlawful detention of the two Canadian Michaels is just a prelude to the fate of many Hong Kong people now that the National Security Law has come into effect.

Pro-Hong Kong protest at Robson Square in Vancouver in September 2019 (Mackin)

With article 38 of Hong Kong’s National Security Law incriminating those critical of CCP even if they are non-residents outside of Hong Kong, Canada and the international community can no longer be bystanders. In the face of brutal human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Canada must not limit its action to statements of concern or verbal condemnations.

We hereby call on the Canadian government to:

  1. Develop a comprehensive strategic policy towards China and share that with all levels of government;
  2. Take strong actions to repatriate the two Michaels back to Canada without yielding to the CCP’s hostage diplomacy and other bullying tactics;
  3. Extend assistance including asylum to Hong Kong democracy activists facing   persecution;
  4. Take punitive actions against Chinese and Hong Kong government officials and their accomplices who have committed human rights abuses.

A group of concerned Canadians of Chinese descent (in alphabetical order, organizational titles are for identification purpose only and do not represent the opinion of the respective named organization)

  • Bill Chu, Founder of Canadians for Reconciliation Society
  • Gloria Fung President of Canada-Hong Kong Link
  • Victor L.M. Ho, Co-founder of Vancouver-based Media Analytica Inc.
  • Liane Lee, Former HK student union delegate in Beijing 1989, Tiananmen Massacre eyewitness & Vice-Chair of Toronto Association for Democracy in China
  • Eric Li, Past President of Canada-Hong Kong Link
  • Ivy Li, Retired design professor
  • Mabel Li, Chair of Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement
  • Thekla Lit, Founder and President of B.C. Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA). 
  • Thomas Lou, Retired journalist
  • Dora Ng, LGBTQ activist
  • Stanley Ng, President of Institute for Christian Action  & Contemplation 
  • Winnie Ng, Chair of Toronto Association for Democracy in China
  • Fenella Sung Core Member of Canadian Friends of Hong Kong
  • Tommy Tao, Retired lawyer
  • Ken Tung, Past Chairperson of S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
  • Anna Victoria Wong, Doctor of Speech-Language Pathology
  • Yan Chun Kau, Writer
  • Gabriel Yiu, Former Chair of Hong Kong Forum
  • Eleanor Yuen Former Head of Asian Library, UBC
  • Rev. Howard Yeung, Spiritual Director of Institute for Christian Action  & Contemplation

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Joint statement from a group of concerned

Bob Mackin

The all-party committee that manages British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly met July 2 and wasted no time to release one report budgeted for $100,000.

But it did not discuss the one that cost only $13,000 and recommended saving $1 million.

The latter report was finished almost seven months ago by Speaker Darryl Plecas’s chief of staff Alan Mullen, who toured assemblies on both sides of the border last summer. Mullen found B.C.’s $226,000-a-year sergeant-at-arms is overpaid and the Parliament Buildings’ police force should become a lower-cost security department.

Legislative Assembly Protective Services badges (Leg.BC.ca)

Legislative Assembly Protective Services cost $5 million in 2018-2019 to police the 12-acre precinct and charged $1.8 in overtime from 2013 to 2018. Meanwhile, it cost taxpayers in suburban Oak Bay $4.7 million for its full service municipal police department.

Inexplicably, the Legislative Assembly Management Committee kept Mullen’s January report secret and the house leaders of the three parties did not respond when theBreaker.news asked why. It took a leak for it to finally become public on June 22, the day the Legislature reconvened after a three-month pandemic hiatus.

During its 45-minute open session on July 2, LAMC only discussed the ADR Education workplace review. The workplace review stemmed from Plecas’s bombshell January 2019 report about corruption by the clerk and sergeant-at-arms.

LAMC hired ADR last fall. Its 27-page report, based on more than 150 interviews by a five-member team, described Legislature staff working in a “climate of fear.” Workers were afraid to speak out for fear of being fired, before what ADR called “the events of November 2018.”

That was when Clerk Craig James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz were suspended by unanimous vote of MLAs and escorted from the building because of an RCMP corruption investigation.

“Perceptions of unfair employment practices were expressed, specifically that people could be summarily dismissed seemingly without cause,” the ADR report said. “Both current and former employees described situations where they perceived that decision-making was undertaken with little or no rationale, thereby creating uncertainty, suspicion and reducing trust.”

Anonymized comments included:

  • “Back in the day we were all just following orders, we couldn’t stick our heads up. People would get fired.”
  • “It felt like you couldn’t ask questions. Things were decided and you just kept your head down and did what you were told.”
  • “Abuse of authority at the top creates a climate of fear.”

ADR said conditions are improving since the Plecas report, but there continues to be a hangover effect, which causes some workers to “remain suspicious and a little fearful.”

Craig James (standing left) and Gary Lenz (back to camera) minutes before their suspension was announced in the B.C. Legislature (Hansard TV)

“Many were left feeling as if they were unfairly, ‘tarred with the same brush’ and that public perception shifted dramatically, making them feel somewhat ashamed to be affiliated with the organization. Moreover, people reported that they were shocked and dismayed at what was being revealed and as a result, lost confidence in the Legislative Assembly as a whole. The resulting investigations and reports have left some people feeling that confidentiality was breached and that they are being unfairly penalized for the actions of a few. All of this was compounded by a feeling of being ‘rudderless’ without a permanent Clerk and Sergeant at Arms in place.”

The report, however, does not explain that when James and Lenz were suspended Nov. 20, 2018, several veterans in the Press Gallery focused on the whistleblowers instead of the subjects of the police investigation. Several commentators sympathetic to James and Lenz sided with the opposition BC Liberals and suggested Plecas and Mullen be replaced.

James and Lenz held a news conference six days after they were suspended. They proclaimed their innocence and demanded their jobs back. However, in May 2019, James retired in disgrace after retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin found he committed misconduct. At the end of September 2019, Lenz did the same, when former Deputy Vancouver Police Chief Doug LePard found he violated the Police Act for lying to McLachlan and failing to investigate James.

The RCMP investigation is ongoing.

Retired-in-disgrace Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz (BC Leg)

The ADR report did not focus on the Speaker’s office, but instead the office of the clerk, now occupied by James’s former deputy Kate Ryan-Lloyd.

ADR concluded “too much power and management oversight [is] concentrated in the Clerk’s office.”

“The impact of the perception that, ‘all lanes lead to the Clerk’s Office’ creates a perceived decision-making ‘bottle-neck’ that contributes to delays, inefficiencies and can have a disempowering impact when people feel they are not trusted to exercise their authority and leadership. Many people expressed a concern that the disempowering effect was leading to lethargy and disengagement.”

The five reviewers also concluded the Legislative Assembly is a resilient workplace in transition, still recovering from “the events of 2018.” But there is growing confidence it is moving in the right direction.

“Trust is being re-established incrementally and most staff expressed being engaged, committed, and hopeful about the future of their workplace and its evolving culture.”

ADR recommended the Legislative Assembly should create an internal communications strategy, publish a virtual handbook of workplace policies and procedures, institute a performance appraisal system for all employees, expand professional development training, conduct a team building, leadership retreat for senior management and conduct a followup review in nine-to-12 months.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin The all-party committee that manages

Bob Mackin

The bill to quarantine travellers and temporary foreign workers at a Richmond hotel could be as high as $12 million, theBreaker.news has learned.

On April 10, no-bid contracts worth $8.5 million and $3.5 million were awarded under emergency procurement rules to Richmond Inn Investments Inc., the company that owns the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.

Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.

April 10 was also the day the B.C. government seconded some of its workers to Vancouver International Airport and land border crossings when it deemed federal government efforts to enforce quarantine laws insufficient. The secondment program ended June 20, but Service B.C. will continue compliance and wellness checks.

Emergency Management B.C. told theBreaker.news on June 30 that the B.C. government “funded the cost for any international travellers arriving in B.C. who were provided self-isolation accommodations by the province. This includes temporary foreign workers. Total costs for the program are not yet available.”

EMBC said it “drafted contracts to ensure returning travellers and temporary foreign workers had the supports they needed to keep themselves and others safe,” but it did not explain why it chose Richmond Inn Investments Inc., whose directors are Larco Investments’ partner Amin Lalji and Larco vice-president of taxation Tracy MacKinnon.

In 2016, Business in Vancouver reported that hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE discovered Larco-associated companies were in the Panama Papers database of offshore companies for registering assets in tax havens. The closely held West Vancouver-based company’s multi-billion-dollar real estate portfolio ranges from luxury hotels and casinos to buildings that house Canada Revenue Agency offices. 

As of June 5, NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon Tweeted that 31,276 travellers had been checked by B.C. government staff through land border crossings, 24,778 at airports and 137 quarantined.

The Canadian Red Cross was hired on a $493,000 no-bid contract for self-isolation support and Yellow Cabs received a $50,000 sole source gig to taxi quarantine subjects from the airport to the hotel. OXD Consulting, formerly OpenRoad Communications, was contracted for $90,000 to develop plans for temporary foreign workers entering B.C. and to establish silviculture camps.

The total for the above no-bid contracts: $13.35 million.

Meanwhile, EMBC hired KPMG for $500,000 on a no-bid contract to “plan, allocate and distribute” critical supplies to healthcare institutions. That was for the COVID-19 Supply Hub program website for health authorities to buy medical supplies and personal protective equipment.

Amin Lalji (right) in 2013 with Premier Christy Clark (BC Gov)

In related projects, the government contracted 18 Wheels Logistics Inc. for $150,000 for warehousing, distribution and logistics for the COVID-19 response and $74,000 to 7 Consulting Inc. of Victoria to “develop process to engage the vendor community in aiding with technology-related challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The latter contract may be the biggest eyebrow-raiser of them all.

Lucky 7 

A corporate records search by theBreaker.news found that 7 Consulting’s only director is Nicola “Nikki” Sieben, a former 20-year veteran of the B.C. Public Service and wife of Deputy Solicitor General Mark Sieben.

Nikki Sieben (whose last name is the German word for seven) established her consultancy at home near Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park in 2018 after almost three years as IBM Canada’s associate partner for B.C. public sector contracts and a year as the chief transformation officer in the Provincial Health Services Authority.

Mark Sieben has been Deputy Solicitor General since June 2016.

The Ministry of Citizens’ Services’ digital platforms and data division “sought to increase internal capacity,” said a ministry statement to theBreaker.news. “7 Consulting Inc.’s prior experience working with DPD set it out as singularly qualified and available to do this work on the timelines called for in the circumstances.

“Further, as an independent contractor, and one not seeking to sell COVID-related solutions into government, 7 Consulting Inc. could provide the independence and objectivity of analysis required to fulfil the work contemplated in the present contract.”

Normally, any service contract between $25,000 and $75,000 must be awarded under a competitive process by posting to the B.C. Bid procurement website or by obtaining at least three quotes.

But B.C. government procurement rules also allow for emergency contract awards. B.C. has been under an official state of emergency since March 18, as declared by Mark Sieben’s superior, Solicitor General Mike Farnworth. Mark Sieben is part of a committee of deputy ministers that is coordinating the government response to the pandemic.

Mark and Nikki Sieben

“Ministries may directly acquire goods and services when an unforeseen emergency exists,” reads the core policy. “Emergency Purchase Orders must only be used to meet extraordinary deadlines that have pre-empted the ability to access the normal acquisition processes for goods and services.”

Government policy also states that “employees who find themselves in an actual, perceived or potential conflict of interest must disclose the matter to their supervisor or manager.”

It is not clear whether Mark Sieben did any of that. Neither Mark Sieben nor Farnworth responded to theBreaker.news for comment.

Meanwhile, Hooper Access and Privacy Consulting was contracted to process an FOI request “involving employees at Information Access Operations,” the office in the Citizens’ Services ministry that processes FOI requests across government.

But the ministry would not comment on specifics of Bev Hooper’s contract, citing privacy and confidentiality.

“This was an exceptional situation requiring an impartial individual to process the request. This step was taken to protect privacy/confidentiality and ensure a level of comfort for current employees.”   

Figures compiled by the late Dermod Travis of IntegrityBC show that between 2013 and 2018, Hooper billed the B.C. government and Crown corporations PartnershipsBC, Transportation Investment Corp., BC Rail and B.C. Pavilion Corporation a combined total of more than $1.5 million.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

 

Bob Mackin The bill to quarantine travellers

Bob Mackin (Updated June 30)

Documents filed June 29 with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal allege the former CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics got special treatment from the RCMP and that the force discriminated against the indigenous men and women who claimed to be childhood victims of John Furlong.

Six members of the Lake Babine Nation are accusing the RCMP of racism and bias in a case that the Canadian Human Rights Commission decided in January would proceed to the tribunal. Hearing dates are pending.

In the complainants’ statement of particulars, Cathy Woodgate, Richard Perry, Dorothy Williams, Ann Tom, Maurice Joseph and Emma Williams claim they suffered discrimination by the RCMP contrary to the Canadian Human Rights Act. They also claim the RCMP protected Furlong because the Mounties were assigned the $900 million task of securing the Games.

John Furlong (left) and RCMP Olympic security head Bud Mercer in 2010 (BudMercer.ca)

“The complainants’ claim is about the RCMP’s investigation into their experiences of childhood abuse in Northern British Columbia, but it represents the experiences of many other indigenous people nationwide,” said the filing from London, Ont. human-rights lawyer Karen Bellehumeur.

“This case also demonstrates how the protection of powerful individuals serves to exacerbate the discrimination of oppressed groups.”

The filing explains how Beverley Abraham gave a statement to a constable in July 2012 at the Burns Lake detachment, but the file was transferred to Cpl. Quinton Mackie at Prince George because Burns Lake was short-staffed. Abraham was a former student at Immaculata Elementary School in Burns Lake when Furlong first came to Canada from Ireland, as a volunteer gym teacher with a Catholic lay group called the Frontier Apostles.

“Ms. Abraham had alleged the abuse occurred in 1969-70, but the Olympic CEO had written a biography and given many speeches in which he said he arrived in Canada in 1974,” the filing says. “Sgt. Beson reported back that there had been no security clearance done on the CEO. RCMP files show Cpl. Mackie did not ever ask the VANOC CEO why he said he came to Canada in 1974, five years after he had actually arrived, which was 1969.”

Abraham was among 22 former Immaculata and/or Prince George College students interviewed by Ontario journalist Laura Robinson for her Sept. 27, 2012 expose on Furlong in the Georgia Straight (“John Furlong biography omits secret past in Burns Lake”). Robinson found numerous omissions and inconsistencies in Furlong’s 2011-published memoir, Patriot Hearts.

Laura Robinson’s expose in the Georgia Straight, Sept. 27, 2012.

Furlong has always denied the abuse allegations. None of the allegations has been tested in a criminal or civil court. He filed defamation lawsuits in B.C. Supreme Court against the Georgia Straight and Robinson in late 2012, but later withdrew them. Robinson lost her defamation case against Furlong in 2015.

The filing mentions that The Tyee reported Sept. 27, 2012 that Furlong’s co-writer, Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason, said he had never been told about Furlong’s time in Burns Lake. According to documents obtained by the complainants, Mackie met on Oct. 23, 2012 with Furlong, his lawyer Marvin Storrow and Andrea Shaw, a former VANOC vice-president and founder of the TwentyTen Group sports marketing firm.

“Cpl. Mackie’s notes show that the VANOC CEO mentioned that 35,000 words had to be cut out of his book, and that’s why there was no mention of his earlier arrival to Canada. An RCMP Witness List shows Cpl. Mackie was to obtain a Production Order for the first draft of his book, Patriot Hearts. He did not obtain one.”

At a news conference the same day as Robinson’s story hit the streets, Furlong conceded that he did live in Burns Lake in 1969, but called his time in the community “brief” and “uneventful.” He also called his book a memoir, not a biography. When a Chinese version of Patriot Hearts was published in 2018, the chapter that led to complaints to the RCMP and Robinson’s story was substantially the same as the 2011 version.

Mason stands behind his original statement from September 2012.
“I really can’t add anything beyond my original comments to you several years ago when this whole thing broke,” Mason said by email. “John did not mention his time in B.C. to me prior to arriving as a landed immigrant in 1974 during the writing of the book.”
Shaw has not responded for comment.

The commission filing also says that the investigation into abuse at Immaculata continued into late 2013 and was split in two separate investigations, one for the allegations by Abraham and the other for all abuse at Immaculata. No file was assigned to the allegations at Prince George College.

By May 2014, a concluding report on both files determined that ‘all individuals interviewed had recollections that were devoid of “details for time, place, identity of suspect, and any corroborating events that could possibly overcome these deficiencies.”

Other than for Abraham, none of the complainants was offered support services or translation services (English was not the first language of several complainants).

Covers of Furlong’s 2011 book and 2018 Chinese translation.

The concluding report said of the 18 interviews conducted, only six had been recorded. No charges were laid.

“Those findings were made even though witnesses interviewed had been asked very few questions about details and no follow-up interviews had been conducted.”

Except for Abraham, none of the individuals interviewed was told of the outcome or reasons for the lack of charges.

“Ms. Abraham received a letter saying there was not enough evidence for Crown counsel to recommend charges, however a RCMP file indicates: ‘In the end the Crown made no recommendations because they did not have intimate file knowledge but did say that there is a threshold that needs to be met for charge approval’.”

The filing alleged that Furlong was friendly with then Premier-Christy Clark and then-Attorney General Suzanne Anton, and that the RCMP afforded him special treatment because he had been the head of an Olympics that resulted in the biggest, most-expensive peacetime operation in Canadian history.

Two senior officers overseeing the investigation, Paul Richards and Rod Booth, were also senior officers in the Olympic security operation, the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit, but did not recuse themselves. Instead, the senior officers had significant influence over officers conducting the investigation, under their command. 

The filing also said the complainants against Furlong were not treated the same as those who had complained against convicted junior hockey coach Graham James. The complainants against Furlong were indigenous and James’s victims were not.

“The complainants in the Graham James investigation did not experience the kind of adverse impacts experienced by the complainants in this case. Once identified, witnesses were interviewed promptly and thoroughly and were also supported. Those that reported abuse were kept informed about the investigation and the results.”

A June 29 statement from Lake Babine Nation Hereditary Chief Ronnie West said he gave an affidavit in May 2012 alleging he witnessed abuse by Furlong, but was never interviewed by the RCMP. 

“We were characterized as liars. We are not liars,” West said. “What we said happened, happened and the RCMP didn’t investigate.”

During February’s 10th anniversary celebrations of Vancouver 2010, Furlong suggested the city bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

 

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Woodgate Et Al v RCMP by Bob Mackin on Scribd

Bob Mackin (Updated June 30) Documents filed June

For the week of June 28, 2020.

Last summer, the BC Liberals were ridiculing Alan Mullen for spending $13,000 on a tour of legislatures on both sides of the border. They called it his excellent summer road trip.  

In the wake of the corruption scandal and RCMP investigation that rocked the Legislature, Speaker Darryl Plecas sent his chief of staff on a fact-finding mission to learn how B.C. could save money at the seat of government.

Mullen tabled a report in January that recommends how to save at least $1 million.

Alan Mullen, chief of staff to Speaker Darryl Plecas. (Mackin)

But the all-party Legislative Assembly Management Committee chose to keep the report secret for six months. It finally leaked out last week, when lawmakers reconvened after a three-month pandemic hiatus. 

“Why did you go silent?” Mullen asks. “Because if you were so concerned back in August and September that this was a gross waste of money, why, when you received it in January, did you not give it to the British Columbia taxpayer and say ‘here’s what you got for your $13,000, you tell us, is it worth it or or is it not?'” 

It turns out Mullen’s report was prescient, because he advocated defunding the Legislative Assembly Protective Services and replacing the Parliament Buildings’ police force with a security department.

It costs more for LAPS to police 12 acres than what Victoria suburbs Oak Bay and Central Saanich pay for their full-service police departments. LAPS is over-staffed and prone to charging overtime, even though it has to call-in the Victoria Police to deal with protests.

Mullen also proposed phasing out the $226,000-a-year, full-time sergeant-at-arms position.

Read a copy of the Mullen Report, click here. Click below to listen to Alan Mullen, this week’s featured guest on theBreaker.news Podcast with host Bob Mackin

Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and commentary, including Mackin’s proposal for how Canada can achieve freedom for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor without returning Meng Wanzhou to China.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn or Apple Podcasts.

Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

theBreaker.news Podcast
theBreaker.news Podcast
theBreaker.news Podcast: MLAs hid report that recommends cutting waste at B.C. Legislature
Loading
/

For the week of June 28, 2020.