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From humble beginnings as a child swimmer in Ocean Falls, B.C. to a member of Canada’s Rome 1960 Olympics team, Dick Pound eventually became one of the leaders in world sport as a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee.

The outspoken Montreal lawyer, who recently turned 77, founded the World Anti-Doping Agency. He is now the most-senior member of the IOC. Pound was in Vancouver for the April 1 Canadian Club lunch. On March 28, theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin interviewed Pound.

This is the second of two parts, in which Pound talks about the commercialization and expansion of world sport, a legacy of his negotiation of IOC broadcast and sponsorship deals, and the quandary of escalating costs of Games hosting. 

Click below to listen or go to iTunes (aka Apple Podcasts) and subscribe. 

Plus the latest on the SNC-Lavalin scandal, and Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines and commentaries.

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.

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From humble beginnings as a child swimmer

Miscellany, News, Opinion

B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association 

A statement released April 1 by the Ministry of Citizens’ Services, which claims that “new legislative changes improve transparency and accountability for British Columbians,” is a significant misrepresentation of an effective duty to document and is a distraction from the pressing reforms that are necessary for BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Creating a legislated duty to document within FIPPA has been called for by an all-party Special Legislative Committee that reviewed the Act in 2016, and by Information and Privacy Commissioners David Loukidelis and Elizabeth Denham.

Mike de Jong (left) and Jinny Sims

These “new” legislative changes that NDP Minister Jinny Sims is promoting were actually initiated by the BC Liberal party in 2017. At that time, FIPA issued a press release that called the Liberal bill “a sad excuse for action on creating a duty to document government decisions” in the wake of the Triple Delete scandal that revealed an organized campaign to destroy government records.

In fact, the NDP put forward a private member’s bill at that time that proposed an actual duty to document in comparison to the Liberal’s ineffective bill.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in 2017, BC Liberal Minister Michael de Jong had claimed that their ineffective bill would “formalize this good practice in legislation while ensuring that British Columbia remains at the forefront of information management with strong oversight and consistent practice across government.”

Now, two years later, NDP Minister Jinny Sims is claiming that the same ineffective legislative change also “formalizes government’s obligation to document decisions and helps ensure records of decisions are available and accessible.”

The statements from the NDP and BC Liberal MLAs, made two years apart, are remarkably similar and entirely misleading. FIPA wants to see the creation of a meaningful duty to document — more in line with what the NDP was proposing two years ago — which would include:

  • The creation of mandatory documentation procedures. A discretionary duty to document is not sufficient.
  • Clear oversight from the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
  • The legislative change should be to the FIPPA, which affects over 2,900 public bodies, not the Information Management Act, which merely affects 41. 
(Note: theBreaker.news unsuccessfully sought an interview with Sims, to ask her why the NDP broke its 2017 election promise.)

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B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association  A

Miscellany, News, Sports

Bob Mackin

Alumni of Canada’s under-20 Women’s World Cup soccer team say they were shocked to learn that their former coach had returned to the sidelines for a youth team in South Surrey/White Rock.

“We all look back at our experience with Canada Soccer and the Vancouver Whitecaps and think the situation should have been handled differently,” reads a statement published online April 1. “During our time as part of the U20’s, we each witnessed incidents of abuse, manipulation, or inappropriate behaviour toward players.”

B.C. Soccer Association called a third-party investigation after former player Ciara McCormack went public on her blog in late February, alleging the CSA and Whitecaps did not conduct a full investigation more than a decade ago and that her confidentiality was breached when she complained about harassment and bullying.

The new statement does not list the players’ names, but a copy of it was sent to theBreaker.news by the group’s spokeswoman Eden Hingwing, who left the national team before the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, because she said she witnessed a toxic environment.

The statement refers to the Oct. 9, 2008 announcement by the Whitecaps and CSA that they had mutually agreed to part ways with coach Bob Birarda. The timing was suspect, because the national team was preparing for the Nov. 19, 2008 kickoff of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. The club and the national association’s news releases both used the same line, that Birarda’s departure was “in the best interest of both parties.”

Birarda had coached the W-League Whitecaps for three seasons, including the 2006 championship. By virtue of his U-20 position, he was also an assistant coach of Canada’s Olympic team for Beijing 2008.

The players, some of whom were minors at the time, say they were never informed why Birarda departed, nor were their parents, and, if an investigation took place, they were not interviewed.

“No third-party organization, nor the authorities, stepped in to provide an outlet for these conversations,” the statement reads. “There was never any follow-up to ensure the health and safety of the athletes on our team.”

Birarda has not commented. CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli did not respond.

The Whitecaps issued a quote-less statement late April 1 that said there is “no higher priority” than the safety and well-being of its personnel, who can access an independent ombudsperson on an anonymous basis.  “We are concerned there may be new information related to this matter that did not come forward in 2008 or since.”

The Whitecaps say they contacted the Vancouver Police Department about the new allegations. Sgt. Jason Robillard confirmed that the VPD “has been made aware of the blog,” but did not confirm whether it learned of it first from the Whitecaps. “We have no further information to provide,” Robillard said by email.

The Whitecaps’ W-League home games were in Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium, an RCMP jurisdiction, but the players lived in a Vancouver apartment building owned by team owner Greg Kerfoot.

Diane Voice, who was the team’s manager, told theBreaker.news that she reported her concerns to the front office. 

“[Players] felt they weren’t listened to and, in fact, many of them weren’t heard or listened to,” Voice said in an interview. “The Whitecaps are saying that they knew nothing prior to that time or until they heard this. They did know.” 

“When they gave him an apartment in the same building as the players, I said ‘oh no, you can’t do that, that is not right. It is too close’,” Voice said. “They said so many organizations do it.”

Voice said the players were reluctant to confide in her at the time because she was perceived as Birarda’s assistant. 

“They didn’t know that my being there was for the team. I was the team manager, not Bob’s manager,” she said.

Voice said a player did show her concerning text messages from Birarda. She said the club “guaranteed they were going to protect her and she would not be blackballed from soccer. My understanding now is she never played soccer again.”

The Whitecaps and CSA hired lawyer Anne Chopra in 2008, but she told theBreaker.news that she was bound by confidentiality from discussing her findings which led to Birarda’s departure.

When Chopra began her work, Voice said she was told the situation was under control, but she was never interviewed. 

After McCormack went public, Coastal FC suspended under-17 team coach Birarda pending a review that remains ongoing. The organization has not disclosed who is conducting the review or what the terms of reference are for the review.

Coastal FC’s March 10 statement said the association conducted criminal a standard record background check, reference check, interview and vetting at the committee and board level prior to Birarda’s appointment. The association admitted that it was “aware of a single, unsubstantiated rumour regarding alleged conduct concerning an adult player… at no time were we aware of allegations of inappropriate behaviour with minors. Nor are we aware of any such allegations during his time at Coastal FC.”

The players’ statement says they believe, based on former Whitecaps and senior national team captain Andrea Neil’s late March statement, that the CSA and Vancouver Whitecaps were aware of the misconduct allegations.

The former players want the CSA and Whitecaps to implement best practices policies, like Hockey Canada’s, withdraw coaching licences for inappropriate or abusive behaviour, and to address what happened in 2008.

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Bob Mackin Alumni of Canada’s under-20 Women’s World

Miscellany, News

Bob Mackin

A judge awarded a former University of British Columbia student $329,000 after the BMW supercar that his mother bought him went missing in China.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker’s April 3 written judgment, the result of last summer’s 11-day trial, said Da Bei (David) Li’s mother, Danna Zhu, bought him a $159,809 BMW i8 luxury car in February 2015 to celebrate his graduation. Li agreed to pay USD$116,645.22 to Harry Piao to pick up the car, prepare customs paperwork, ship the car to China, and arrange for customs clearance.

Li transferred the payment to Piao’s company, Top Car Seller Inc., and the car was picked up. Li had instructed Piao to use his mother as the consignee for the i8, because she would receive the i8 for her son. But he has not seen the car since March 2015 and remains out of pocket for the money transferred to Top Car. 

Baker wrote that what appears to be a straightforward breach of contract “is complicated by a dense web of corporate and personal dealings between Mr. Piao, Top Car, and the defendants and third parties Qun Wang, Maxblue Enterprises Ltd., and Tianjin East China International Trade Co. Ltd.”

Baker found Piao and Top Car jointly liable for $145,288.62, the value in Canadian dollars of the payment in the contract. 

“If the Li Agreement had been performed he would have had possession of the i8 in China since 2015, and would have received the value of his payment for shipping and customs clearance,” reads Baker’s verdict. “The i8 is no longer available to the parties. Therefore, because Mr. Li has received nothing from his payment of the required fees under the Li agreement, and has lost the i8, Mr. Li’s damages are measured by the monies paid under the Li Agreement, and the value of the i8.”

Baker also found Wang liable for conversion in relation to the i8 and Piao and Top Car liable for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. 

Wang, Piao and Top Car were found jointly liable to Li for $183,780.35, the value of the i8, including taxes.

“While I have found Mr. Piao, Top Car and Mr. Wang are jointly liable to Mr. Li for the value of the i8, as between Top Car and Mr. Wang, I find that Mr. Wang is liable to Top Car for the full value of the i8,” Baker wrote. 

Piao converted the remaining funds for his own use, so Baker granted Li a tracing order against Piao and Top Car.

Li, Piao and Wang’s testimony was translated from Mandarin. Baker wrote that while Li’s evidence was credible, Piao was evasive and equivocal and Wang was even more evasive.

“At one point Mr. Wang said that a payment of 210,000 [Chinese renminbi] he received from Mr. Piao was used by Mr. Wang as reimbursement for his losses on an unrelated transaction between him and Mr. Jia. At another point in his testimony Mr. Wang said that the RMB210,000 was spent by Mr. Jia on obtaining a permit for the i8, which was why the money could not be returned. These two explanations are completely inconsistent,” Baker wrote. 

“Mr. Wang explained one of the reasons he changed his evidence from discovery two years earlier was because of the testimony he heard during the trial. In other words, he tailored his evidence in response to what he heard during the testimony of Mr. Li and Mr. Piao.”

The court heard that Piao and Wang had a business relationship since 2013 in which Piao would supply Wang luxury cars to be sold to customers in China. At the same time as they were dealing with the i8 situation, Piao and Wang were in a dispute over shipment of other vehicles. Wang gave Piao a US$100,000 line of credit to buy cars and ship them to China, but Wang demanded the right vehicles or his money back after Piao bought the wrong colour. 

“In July 2015, Mr. Wang used the i8 as leverage in his dispute with Mr. Piao in relation to the other vehicles. For example, on July 29, 2015 Mr. Wang wrote the following messages to Mr. Piao:

2015 BMW i8 (BMW)

  • “If I can’t get the Bill of Lading [referring to other transactions, not the i8] by Friday, I will contact JJ motor myself, arrange for the revocation of the Letter of Credit, and use i8 as a security to exchange for a refund of 100,000 USD commission. Once the money is received, i8 will be shipped back.”
  • “I8 was delivered to me by you. If you don’t return my money to me, I have no choice but to assume that you want to use i8 to pay the debt.”
  • “I don’t care about the i8 matter. I only care about my vehicle.”

There was no written agreement between Piao and Wang which predated the arrival of the i8 in China; the judge found there was an unwritten agreement in advance of the i8 being shipped on April 26, 2015. 

“This agreement was that Mr. Wang would take care of the customs clearance process once the i8 arrived in China. Unfortunately, Mr. Piao did not take steps to formalize the agreement in writing before the car was shipped, leading to the calamity of errors that followed.”

The dispute is eerily similar to another matter heard in B.C. Supreme Court last year and reported exclusively by theBreaker.news last December.

After a 16-day trial, a Lower Mainland real estate investor, whose company supplied steel to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, failed to convince a judge who was responsible for losing the BMW she bought and sent to China. 

Shu E. Liu paid a broker $240,000 for a gently used BMW 750Li to be shipped to China. Liu does not have a licence to drive, though she does have a collection of cars in China, including a Bentley and Porsche. 

“But she had a particular fondness for big BMWs, in which she could be comfortably driven,” the judge wrote.

In that case, the court heard that after July 2010, Chinese authorities restricted importation of cars to government representatives, high-level personnel and specially invited experts.

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Bob Mackin A judge awarded a former University

Business, Miscellany, News

Bob Mackin

B.C. government officials were vetting applications from companies wanting to build the new $1.4 billion Pattullo Bridge when lobbyists for SNC-Lavalin came calling to Victoria last fall.

Whistler consultant Richard Prokopanko registered with B.C.’s lobbying overseer on behalf of the controversial Montreal engineering and construction firm from Nov. 6 to Dec. 31. A newly minted director of pro-industry public relations campaign Resource Works, Prokopanko proceeded to contact various officials to set-up a meeting with SNC-Lavalin executive vice-president Joseph Lichon and vice-president of government relations Sam Boutziouvis.

SNC-Lavalin lobbyist Sam Boutziouvis (Twitter)

Lichon is the Houston-based head of the company’s oil and gas division. Boutziouvis is the company’s top lobbyist who communicated four times last fall with Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick in a bid to convince the federal Liberal government to negotiate a plea bargain so it could avoid a criminal trial over bribing Libyan officials.

Wrote Prokopanko: “The proposed itinerary of the meeting is: i. introductory overview of SNC-Lavalin’s history and recent projects in Canada; ii. describe SNC-Lavalin’s expertise and other capabilities in the oil and gas projects; iii. understand the status of the LNG and other resource projects in B.C.”

Premier John Horgan’s deputy minister Don Wright, chief of staff Geoff Meggs and energy minister Michelle Mungall were unavailable for the proposed Nov. 26 and 27 dates. Prokopanko pursued transportation minister Claire Trevena.

“Even if we can have a 10 minute stand hand shake and greeting,” Prokopanko wrote Nov. 23, in email obtained by theBreaker.news under the freedom of information laws. “The group is flexible. She would be the only B.C. minister they will meet.”

Trevena aide Charly Leverman responded to say that the minister was unavailable, but “we are still interested in having a meeting.”

“We would like to extend an invitation to hold a meeting on Feb. 6, 3:30 p.m. at the Legislature,” Leverman wrote in a Nov. 27 email.

Trevena spokesman David Crebo told theBreaker.news that the minister did not meet with SNC-Lavalin.

A meeting did take place on Nov. 26. Labour deputy minister Trevor Hughes arranged to have jobs and trade deputy minister Fazil Mihlar, energy deputy minister Dave Nikolejsin and energy assistant deputy minister Les MacLaren meet Lichon and Boutziouvis in-person. Transportation deputy minister Grant Main joined by phone.

Transportation deputy minister Grant Main (BC Gov)

Labour spokeswoman Julianne McCaffrey said it was a “meet-and-greet only.” Main did not respond to theBreaker.news request for comment, but Crebo said SNC-Lavalin officials “presented their credentials with respect to the energy industry.”

“At no time did anything to do with Ministry of Transportation responsibilities come up,” Crebo said. “This includes infrastructure projects, including the Pattullo Bridge replacement project.”

Dermod Travis of watchdog IntegrityBC said SNC-Lavalin has been constantly trying to guarantee its survival in the face of legal problems that jeopardize the company.

“Do we want companies that are bidding on contracts to be lobbying deputy ministers and politicians on areas that overlap with those contracts they may be bidding on?” Travis said. “PartnershipsBC, in the past, was quite clear and quite categorical on this.”

The July 2018-issued request for qualifications, which involved the PartnershipsBC agency, included a standard no-lobbying clause, prohibiting respondents and their team members and contractors from communicating directly or indirectly in relation to the project, with any elected official or staff, except as expressly directed or permitted by the province.

Prokopanko did not respond, but Daniela Pizzuto, director of external communications for SNC-Lavalin, said “at no time was there an attempt” to influence or arrange a policy, program, law or contract, and that SNC-Lavalin did not lobby the B.C. government more than 100 hours last year.

“The purpose of the meeting was to introduce Mr. Lichon to those present and to provide an overview of SNC-Lavalin’s professional capabilities and expertise in the design, engineering, and construction of major oil and gas projects, as well as to provide a brief on SNC-Lavalin in terms of operational structure, distribution of workforce, and broad business priorities,” Pizzuto said.

SNC-Lavalin is no stranger to the B.C. government, yet Prokopanko’s entry is the only one showing for SNC-Lavalin on the Lobbyist Registry website. SNC-Lavalin has a contract for design of major civil components and the generating station for Site C. It built the John Hart Generating Station for BC Hydro and the Evergreen Line SkyTrain extension and Canada Line for TransLink, among other recent B.C. projects. 

Prokopanko forwarded a thank-you note to Hughes on behalf of Lichon on Dec. 10.

Artist’s rendering of the new Pattullo Bridge (BC Gov)

“The opportunity to share SNC-Lavalin’s global and diverse expertise and provide insights to constructing LNG projects on time and within budget was most appreciated. The B.C. government’s efforts to ensure the first major LNG project in B.C. will be a success is admirable and SNC-Lavalin are able and willing to assist where appropriate,” Lichon wrote, referring to LNG Canada’s Oct. 1 decision to green light its Kitimat megaproject.

“I would’t be surprised at all, quite frankly, if they were lobbying numerous provincial governments at the same time on the simple basis of hoping to be able to get those provinces to apply pressure on the federal government for the deferred prosecution agreement,” Travis said. “It would seem to be something logical for a company like SNC-Lavalin to do based on their behaviour in the past. They did, in fact, lobby Quebec’s government on the issue.”

Coincidentally, three days after the SNC-Lavalin meeting, Main’s calendar shows he attended a plenary keynote address by then-Attorney General Wilson-Raybould at the Vancouver Convention Centre during a meeting of First Nations chiefs and the Horgan cabinet. Wilson-Raybould was shuffled to Veterans Affairs in January and she quit cabinet Feb. 12 over pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to meddle in the SNC-Lavalin prosecution.

On Feb. 14, Trevena’s ministry announced the shortlist for the $1.4 billion, four-lane crossing: SNC-Lavalin Capital and fellow Site C contractor Acciona Infrastructure, Kiewit-led Fraser Community Connectors and Flatiron/Dragados/Carlson joint venture. The bridge that connects key NDP ridings in New Westminster and Surrey is scheduled for a 2023 opening. SNC-Lavalin was shortlisted by the BC Liberal government in fall 2016 for the $3.5 billion Massey Tunnel Replacement Project that was cancelled by the NDP. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Attorney General has refused to disclose all briefing notes related to SNC-Lavalin that were created or updated since Jan. 1 of this year. The NDP government told theBreaker.news that it is withholding the briefing notes in their entirety because they contain legal advice and personal information. 

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Bob Mackin B.C. government officials were vetting applications

Miscellany, News

Now that ICBC reforms are in place, the NDP government has moved to the next phase of its plan to douse the “dumpster fire” that is the Crown auto insurer’s financial outlook.

A new revenue stream: merchandising.

T-shirts, coffee mugs and bumper stickers are among the initial offerings, playing off social media chatter about the popular N and L decals that novice and learning drivers must display on their rear bumpers. Some of the edgier merchandise actually mentions the dumpster fire phrase that Attorney General David Eby popularized in early 2018 to describe what the BC Liberals left behind. 

According to a business plan leaked to theBreaker.news, the program could be worth $10 million in new revenue within three years.

The summary says that target markets include ironic hipsters, cheeky politicos and disgruntled employees. Prices for T-shirts will start at $20 each and will be delivered in partnership with Amazon.

The products are scheduled to be launched just before noon today, by ICBC’s new vice-president of merchandise, Patti P. Protoprilia.

 

 

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Now that ICBC reforms are in place,

Business, Miscellany, News, Opinion, Sports

Dick Pound, the most-senior member of the International Olympic Committee, is in Vancouver to speak to the Canadian Club on April 1. 

On March 28, theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin sat down with the outspoken Montreal lawyer and author, who negotiated broadcast and sponsorship agreements that led to massive growth in world sport. 

In part I, Mackin asks the 77-year-old Pound about Calgary’s failed 2026 Winter Olympics bid, China’s human rights record as the Beijing 2022 Winter Games approach and whether there should be a body like the World Anti-Doping Agency (which he founded) to protect athletes from abuse and to protect sport from corruption. 

Click below to listen or go to iTunes (aka Apple Podcasts) and subscribe. 

Plus the latest on the SNC-Lavalin scandal, Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines and commentaries.

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

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Dick Pound, the most-senior member of the

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Bob Mackin

The BC Liberal government launched a secret project involving Uber almost two-and-a half years ago to create an insurance policy for the ride-hailing app’s drivers, says an Information and Privacy Commissioner’s order obtained by theBreaker.news.

According to adjudicator Layli Antinuk’s March 29 findings, the Ministry of Transportation began the Modernizing of Passenger Transportation Services Project in 2015 to update passenger transportation policies and laws, including those that govern taxis and so-called transportation network companies (TNC). It asked the Insurance Corporation of B.C. to participate.

B.C. government was secretly collaborating with Uber in 2016.

“The Ministry required every ICBC employee involved in the project to sign a confidentiality undertaking because of the sensitive and controversial nature of the project,” Antinuk wrote. “The Ministry and ICBC also interacted with Uber in relation to the project. To this end, the Ministry and Uber entered into a non-disclosure agreement in November of 2016.”

During 2016, former Christy Clark aide Dimitri Pantazopoulos and former Gordon Campbell aide Carling Dick were registered as Uber’s lobbyists in B.C. The BC Liberals heavily promoted Uber during two unsuccessful February 2016 by-election campaigns. In the same month, Minister Peter Fassbender challenged the taxi industry to improve, but also offered continued support from the government in a speech to taxi owners. 

The BC Liberals waited until March 2017, just before the provincial election, to reveal their “made-in-B.C.” plan for ride-sharing companies. But the news release made no mention that the government was collaborating with Uber. Instead, the news release mentioned that it was “collaborating with the taxi industry to streamline the claims process, and is committed to working with the industry to improve their insurance to make it more flexible and cost effective, which could save taxi drivers significantly. Depending on the number of kilometres they drive, these savings could be in the range of 25%.”

The BC Liberals promised a 2017 holiday season rollout for ride-sharing companies, but the Clark government was toppled in a confidence vote after the election by the NDP and Greens.

Trevena (left) and Horgan. (BC Gov)

The John Horgan government delayed the introduction of ride-hailing with more studies in order to enable the taxi cartel to launch its answer to Uber through Surrey’s Kater, whose cause was championed by former NDP cabinet minister and party president Moe Sihota.

NDP transportation minister Claire Trevena said last November, when the ride hailing legislation was tabled, that “We are limited by insurance. Nobody’s going to be on the road until there is an insurance product that works for them.”

But the relationship with Uber dating back to the Nov. 20, 2016 non-disclosure agreement suggests some kind of “insurance product” has been developed.

The records in dispute include a project charter, internal emails, draft briefing notes, PowerPoint presentations, an implementation plan, insurance for TNCs sheet, question and answer sheet, insurance backgrounder, technical fact sheet and a letter from ICBC to Uber. None of the information is related to Lyft, however.

Antinuk ordered a variety of information about ICBC’s project be disclosed by May 14 to the applicant, after dismissing ICBC’s claims that disclosure would breach cabinet confidentiality and solicitor-client privilege and harm ICBC and Uber’s business interests. Some information, however, falls under advice or recommendations and will be withheld.

The project charter “describes the objectives, critical success factors, scope, assumptions and dependencies for the project,” not recommendations or advice. Same with four email chains that include correspondence with Nicholas Jimenez, who is now CEO, and with Uber’s senior director of insurance.

“ICBC prepared the implementation plan for the Ministry. It contains a recommended insurance regime for TNCs and part-time taxis and a proposed work-plan and timeline,” Antinuk wrote. “ICBC also provides its opinion on foreseeable challenges and the potential impact of the recommended insurance regime. In my view, all of this information qualifies as advice or recommendations.

BC Liberals promoted Uber and similar companies before a 2016 by-election (Twitter)

“The Ministry prepared the technical fact sheet for the Minister. It explains and summarizes the proposed insurance regime ICBC developed for TNCs and taxis. As such, the release of the information in the fact sheet would reveal the advice and recommendations ICBC developed for the Ministry.”

Antinuk was not satisfied the disclosure of the information in dispute could reasonably harm Uber’s competitive position.

“ICBC does not explain how or why Uber could lose business to competitors if competitors knew about the proposed insurance product or prices described in the letter,” Antinuk wrote.

“Furthermore, I do not see how knowing what ICBC proposed with respect to premium pricing would allow a competitor to understand Uber’s expense load. The letter does not reveal what ICBC and Uber eventually agreed to in terms of price or whether ICBC and Uber came to any such agreement at all. In other words, the disclosure of the information in the letter would not allow a competitor to understand how much Uber spends on insurance.”

Antinuk’s order said that Uber argues its drivers pose less of a risk than taxi drivers, because TNC drivers spend less time on the road, driving fewer kilometres and the TNC drivers own the vehicles they use. Therefore, they drive with greater care and attention than taxis.

ICBC and Uber have until May 14 to seek a judicial review, which would have the immediate effect of delaying disclosure. The NDP legislation requires drivers for app-based companies follow the same rules as taxi drivers and be licensed commercially. The ICBC website says it will sell blanket insurance to ride-hailing companies beginning this fall. 

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Bob Mackin The BC Liberal government launched a

Miscellany, News

Bob Mackin

Three days after the BC Liberal government chose Craig James to fill-in as chief electoral officer in 2010, the Legislature’s law clerk made a court application on behalf of James, theBreaker.news has learned. 

James was the Legislature’s clerk of committees when he became the acting head of Elections BC by cabinet order on June 4, 2010. James, who was named clerk of the house a year later, was suspended with pay, along with sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz, last November because of an RCMP investigation into alleged misconduct. They both deny any wrongdoing and nobody has been charged.

Portrait of Craig James outside the Clerk’s Office at the Parliament Buildings (Mackin)

Legislature law clerk Ian Izard filed a requisition to the B.C. Supreme Court registry in Victoria on June 7, 2010 for a grant of probate regarding the estate of James’s mother Eileen, who passed away at age 86 in March of that year. Izard also witnessed her Dec. 17, 1999-signed will, which named James as the executor, trustee and one of nine beneficiaries.

When contacted by theBreaker.news, Izard said “I’m not going to answer any questions” and hung up the phone. Neither of James’s lawyers, Mark Andrews and Gavin Cameron, responded to requests for comment. 

Izard was called to the B.C. bar in 1974 and became the Legislature’s law clerk in 1977. He also offered legal services at the Clay and Company firm in Victoria. Izard was awarded a Queen’s Counsel designation by the government in 2003, but the news release does not mention any private practice work. Izard was paid $178,888 in 2010-2011, his last full fiscal year at the Legislature. In November 2015, Izard ceased practising as a lawyer and became a retired member of the Law Society. Izard is an honorary governor and former chair of the board of the Victoria Foundation.

Independent watchdog Dermod Travis of IntegrityBC called it “inappropriate” for Izard to have handled co-worker James’s personal legal matters. He said the outcome of the Legislature scandal needs to be “adequate separation of work-related activities and personal activities.” 

“You would like to think, as well, that people appointed to these positions would know better, that even in the absence of guidelines they would clue-in,” Travis said. “Obviously they didn’t and this is going to be one of the tasks for the Legislative Assembly Management Committee to tackle.”

The Legislature operates separately from the Public Service Agency, the human resources office of government. The PSA does have a code of conduct that states a conflict of interest can happen when an employee uses his or her position, office, or government affiliation to pursue personal interests or the interests of another organization.

One of the four NDP members on the eight-member LAMC said Legislative officers should not be allowed to moonlight like Izard did.

Ian Izard (Association of Former MLAs of British Columbia)

“I would strongly advocate that all employees in positions like these be prohibited from other employment that might reasonably be inferred to be in conflict with their duties at the Legislature,” said Garry Begg, the Government Whip and Surrey-Guildford MLA. “I am not aware of what steps were/were not taken to ensure there was not a real or perceived conflict, but I am confident that matters such as this will be covered by the pending Workplace Review that is to be conducted.”

Izard received an $80,224 payout after his Jan. 15, 2012 retirement. That was only revealed in January of this year when LAMC released Speaker Darryl Plecas’s damning report about waste and corruption in the Legislature. Izard and three other officials were part of a $660,000 retirement payout scheme that saw James receive more than $257,000 in 2012. In February 2013, deputy clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd had a change of heart and returned her $119,000 payout.

James and Lenz were suspended with pay on Nov. 20 by the Legislature. An RCMP investigation, with two special prosecutors, was announced the same day. James and Lenz have pledged to assist the investigation and demanded their reinstatement. 

Retired Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is scheduled to report to LAMC by May 3 on whether James and Lenz used their positions for improper personal gain. She has the power to put witnesses under oath and order production of documents. LAMC will use McLachlin’s report to determine whether James and Lenz should be fired.

In early February, NDP house leader and LAMC member Mike Farnworth pledged to add the Legislature to the freedom of information law. The spring sitting of the Legislature is half over and the NDP government has not tabled the promised amendments.

Clerk George MacMinn swore-in Premier Christy Clark as Vancouver-Point Grey MLA in 2011 (BC Gov)

How the dominos fell 

In February 2010, Elections BC head Harry Neufeld approved a petition seeking a referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax. Neufeld’s first term as head of Elections BC was to expire June 5, 2010, but, according to the Plecas Report, Speaker Bill Barisoff told him in April 2010 that he would not be reappointed for a second term. The May 6-struck, all-party committee to find Neufeld’s replacement met only once, on May 18 of that year. Instead of giving it time to advertise and interview applicants, the BC Liberal government appointed James. 

James was still the acting head of Elections BC on June 2, 2011 when the BC Liberal government appointed him clerk of the house effective Sept. 1, 2011. The NDP opposition was furious because it was not consulted.

The Plecas Report said that James was the fourth-ranking clerk and that Izard would have been the natural choice to replace 50-year veteran clerk George MacMinn. Instead of retiring outright when James was promoted, MacMinn scored a two-year “clerk consultant” assignment for $500,000. Under pressure from the NDP, MacMinn later agreed to bequeath $500,000 to the Legislature Library through his will.

When contacted by theBreaker.news, MacMinn declined comment on the Legislature scandal, choosing to wait for McLachlin’s findings instead.

“I spent 50 years there and they were all non-controversial, cooperative and pleasant. That’s really the whole story of my life, I’m retired now and happily watching the world,” MacMinn said. “I’m not going to go near this thing in terms interjecting myself into the difficulties.” 

In a 2012 report, Auditor General John Doyle concluded that the Legislature had done little to improve transparency and accountability since a 2007 audit.  

“The Legislative Assembly Management Committee, the Speaker [Barisoff], and the Clerk [MacMinn] are not effectively operating as a governance and management oversight body to ensure that the Legislative Assembly’s resources are properly utilized and that its operations are well managed and in compliance with all relevant legislation and stakeholder expectations,” Doyle wrote.

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Bob Mackin Three days after the BC Liberal

Miscellany, News

Bob Mackin

A member of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal likened a Christian fundamentalist’s flyers against a transgender NDP candidate in 2017 to a “whites only” sign.

Morgane Oger fell short of unseating BC Liberal incumbent Sam Sullivan by 560 votes in the May 9, 2017 provincial election. William Whatcott distributed 1,500 flyers under the title “Transgenderism vs. Truth in Vancouver‐False Creek” on street corners, taped to doors and in mailboxes around the riding, prompting B.C. NDP vice-president Oger to file a human rights complaint.

Morgane Oger (Twitter/NDP)

Whatcott was not a resident of the riding and he decided not to vote in the election, but claimed he was inspired by God to print the flyers against Oger. He claimed that a candidate’s morality and integrity are fair to scrutinize, pointing to Bill Clinton, Roy Moore, Donald Trump and even David Duke.

In a written decision, released March 27, tribunal member Devyn Cousineau dismissed the morality argument and called Whatcott’s smear campaign “an attempt to block the doors of government with a message that the political realm is for ‘cisgender people only’.”

Cousineau and fellow panelists Diana Juricevic and Norman Trerise found Whatcott violated section 7(1)(a) of the Human Rights Code and awarded Oger $35,000 plus $20,000 in costs. The section of the Code makes it illegal to publish any statement that indicates discrimination or an intention to discriminate against a person or group because of race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or age.

Cousineau wrote that Whatcott deliberately identified Oger as a transgender woman and, “on that basis alone, impugned her moral integrity and fitness to hold public office.” The flyer used rhetorical techniques aimed at exposing Oger and transgender people to hatred and contempt and was designed to interfere with her participation in politics, she wrote.

William Whatcott and the anti-Oger flyer in 2017 (Lifesitenews)

“It drew on the most insidious stereotypes and myths about transgender people and called on the electorate to conclude that Ms. Oger was, by sole virtue of her gender identity, unsuitable for public office,” Cousineau wrote.

The flyer caused Oger to seek help from the Vancouver Police, who advised her not to park her car in front of her house and to advise the hate crimes division when she was going to appear at public events and to follow complex security arrangements.

Cousineau diplomatically described Whatcott’s conduct at the Dec. 11-17, 2018 hearing as “improper.” For instance, every day he wore a T-shirt with a large picture of Oger that said, on the front, “Mr. Oger, no matter how you use the state to silence your critics, you are still a guy” and “Male and Female he created them: Genesis 5:2” on the back.

Whatcott referred to the process in social media posts published during the hearing as a “kangaroo inquisition” and the panelists “kangaroo judges.” He testified it was an “affront to freedom of speech, freedom of conscience.”

Cousineau demanded Whatcott pay $20,000 in costs as the “strongest possible condemnation” of his behaviour during the hearing.

“Most people would not have been able to withstand the level of discrimination that Ms. Oger faced during the Tribunal’s hearing,” Cousineau wrote. “More importantly: they should not have to. All people, and here I identify transgender people in particular, should know that if they choose to file a complaint at this Tribunal they will be treated with dignity and respect. Ms. Oger’s experience suggests the opposite. I cannot think of conduct that strikes more directly at the heart of the integrity of this Tribunal’s process and its mission. To her immense credit, Ms. Oger comported herself with grace and dignity in the face of the persistent efforts to insult, undermine, and humiliate her.”

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Bob Mackin A member of the B.C. Human

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