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Bob Mackin

Want to become the next-door neighbour of the world’s most-famous telecom executive?

The 16,350 square foot lot at 1625 Matthews Avenue in Vancouver’s luxurious First Shaughnessy can be all yours. Time is running out to cut a deal and move in before Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou finally calls 1603 Matthews her home this weekend.

Property neighbouring Meng Wanzhou’s Shaughnessy mansion is for sale (Mackin)

But don’t despair. Whenever you arrive, the daughter of the billionaire founder of China’s biggest state-approved multinational might offer you a free pizza. Heck, she could be there for years, living on an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, as her lawyers try to keep her out of the United States, where federal authorities want to try her on fraud charges.

There are a couple of catches.

The real estate agent is now asking $12.38 million for the property, which was assessed for $9.44 million last year.

Chin up, it is now a buyer’s market.

The existing two-storey, five-bedroom white mansion with an indoor pool is boarded up and a burgundy Toyota Corolla VE without licence plates is parked on the unkept lawn. You could always pitch a tent for the time being or build a shelter from a pile of wood.

“Already have building plans for a 9,000 sq. foot home,” describes Royal Pacific real estate agent Winnie Chung’s website. “Still waiting for development permit approval. The property will be sold as is, where is.”

Since May 9, 2016, the example of mid-1970s faux Roman architecture has been in the name of self-described homemaker Jing Zhao.

A homemaker? Fancy that!

Peter German’s new Dirty Money investigation report on money laundering in B.C. real estate, released May 9, said that 3% of B.C. titles are held by persons whose occupation is listed as student, homemaker or unemployed.

“These tend to be expensive houses, with 88 houses over $10 million that are apparently owned by nominees,” German wrote. The coming beneficial ownership registry is supposed to unmask owners who would rather stay anonymous. 

Last-minute work to Meng Wanzhou’s Shaughnessy mansion on May 9 (Mackin)

The month of Jing Zhao’s transaction was also the month that Meng’s husband, the self-described investor and marketing developer Xiaozong Liu, bought 1603 Matthews. Meng’s name was not reported to the land title office. The property was mortgaged with HSBC, the same bank that the U.S. now accuses Meng of defrauding to overcome trade sanctions with Iran.

Meng — who also goes by Sabrina or Cathy — came to Vancouver 16 years ago and has a 10-year-old daughter with Liu. Documents submitted to a B.C. Supreme Court judge a day earlier, on May 8, said Meng is expected to move in to the Matthews mansion on May 11.

The chief executive of Lions Gate Risk Management, the security company appointed by the court to ensure Meng does not flee Canada, swore an April 29 affidavit in support of the move.

“Following our site visit, we have identified certain modifications to the Matthews Property that will facilitate meeting our duty to the court,” said Scot Filer’s sworn statement. “All these modifications can be completed by May 11, 2019, which we understand to be the proposed implementation date for Ms. Meng’s move to the Matthews property.”

Filer’s sworn statement said that there will be less disruption for neighbours of the gated $13.3 million Shaughnessy mansion than the $5 million house in Dunbar, owned in Liu’s name since October 2009.

The Dunbar house is on the northwest corner of Crown and 28th, exposed on three sides, with no gate or large trees. The backyard is fenced, however. On Matthews, “there are gates which will better enable Lions Gate to control access onto the property and egress from it,” Filer swore.

Meng Wanzhou leaves her Dunbar house on May 8.

“The Matthews property, unlike the 28th Avenue West property, has a clear distinction between public space and private space. Security staff inside the Matthews Property line will be away from direct contact with and questions from the public thereby improving their ability to do their jobs.”

Filer’s affidavit said that Meng has “strictly complied” with her bail conditions, including compliance with directions from Lions Gate employees.

Three years after buying, a move under unforeseen circumstances

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes’s bail variance sparked a flurry of activity the next day. The signs for Trasolini Construction and J&R Katz Design and Architecture remain near the sidewalk, but an I Move You company van was parked nearby. A handwritten note taped to the front door told contractors to enter through a side door. Workers could be seen inside the windows on the ground floor. A crew from G.K. Roofing arrived. Their names were checked against a list on a clipboard by a plainclothes security guard.

Three empty black SUVs for hire were parked in a row on the opposite side of the street to the west. The drivers talked amongst themselves around the corner. One of them took a break from their chat and was allowed to use the Sunrise Washroom Rental cart at the far end of Meng and Liu’s driveway.

Two other black Chevrolet SUVs came and went from the mansion. They briefly parked and five plainclothes security guards huddled, shook hands and moved items from one trunk to another. Two of them looked as if they were not pleased to see a photographer on the sidewalk across the street, but they otherwise went about their business.

Filer’s affidavit makes no mention of the media, but some reporters from Bloomberg and South China Morning Post have complained in print of intimidation by his staff. Security officers in B.C. must be provincially licensed and are regulated by provincial law.

While Meng was not seen during the time theBreaker.news observed, Meng’s husband, Liu, did come and go in a silver Lexus GX460. 

A May 11 moving day would mark five months to the day since she was freed on $10 million bail after her Dec. 1, 2018 arrest at Vancouver International Airport on a stop between Hong Kong and Mexico. She spent a week-and-a-half in a women’s jail in Maple Ridge.

Meng wears a GPS monitor on her left ankle and is restricted to traveling within City of Vancouver and parts of Richmond and the North Shore. She cannot go near the airport. She is under 24-hour watch of Lions Gate and her next court date is Sept. 23 for a hearing where her four lawyers and one for the Attorney General of Canada will argue over evidence disclosure. No date has been set for the actual extradition hearing, but her lawyers want the extradition case stayed before it can be heard. They accuse Canadian police and border guards and President Donald Trump of abuse of process. 

May 11 is also five months since the world learned about the arrest of Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave. Chinese police nabbed Kovrig a day earlier in Beijing, in a move widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng. Another Canadian Michael, businessman Spavor, was also arrested. While Meng is free to go shopping or a walk in a park, neither Spavor nor Kovrig have been allowed to see relatives, cannot turn off the lights at night or see sunshine in daytime and are subject to hours of daily interrogation.

If you have more than $12 million to become their next-door neighbour, do introduce yourself to the folks in the mansion near the east end of the block. Maybe they would even invite you to their 4th of July Party.

The former William Shelly mansion is the official residence of the United States Consul General since 1946. The distance between the two properties is roughly half the length of a football field, an unofficial American form of measurement.

When theBreaker.news sought the official reaction of Consul Gen. Katherine Dhanani to Uncle Sam’s intriguing new neighbour, public affairs advisor Glenda Wallace Ainsworth said the consulate had no comment.

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Bob Mackin Want to become the next-door neighbour

Bob Mackin

A new report to the B.C. NDP government estimates that $5.3 billion was laundered in real estate last year.

Combatting Money Laundering in B.C. Real Estate estimated that $47 billion was laundered in Canada last year, of which $7.4 billion of the dirty money was in B.C.

The best estimate of the expert panel that authored the report is that money laundering makes house prices 3.7% to 7.5% higher in B.C.

Mansions in West Vancouver owned by a former Chinese government official and his daughter (Mackin)

“If money laundering investment is distributed throughout B.C. based on property values, then 83% would be in residential properties and 17% in identified non-residential property types,” the panel, led by former B.C. government bureaucrat Maureen Maloney, said in the May 9-released report. “At 4.5% of the volume of transactions for each property type, that would imply amounts of $4.6 billion for residential property and $0.7 billion for non-residential property.”

Maloney’s report made 29 recommendations. In a nutshell, the report concluded: “More agencies, regulatory improvements, new tools, better information, more investigation, enhanced coordination lead to less money laundering.”

The report emphasized the need for a beneficial ownership registry, which the NDP government has already adopted and is developing. However, Maloney made special mention of ease and economy of access to ensure transparency.

“Our work to date has indicated that the disclosure of the beneficial ownership of real estate is one of the most important measures of a regulator nature that can be taken to combat money laundering in real estate,” said a January letter from the panel to Minister of Finance Carole James. “Such disclosure is also important to combat tax avoidance and evasion. Without it, the actual ownership can be easily and effectively obscured by using a corporation and trust.”

Citing the Tax Justice Network, the panel supports a public registry, in open data format, and available for free or at a minimal cost.

The government has already decided that the Land Titles and Survey Authority of B.C. will handle the beneficial ownership registry, but has not made a regulation on the costs or which sectors will be exempt, other than government and law enforcement. LTSA handles the existing land titles database, which costs roughly $10 per property search. Last year, LTSA stopped providing the first owner name on title for free, a practice that had lasted for decades.

The report estimated $4.9 billion of dirty money in 2015 came to Canada from the United States and $3.5 billion from Europe and only $750 million from Eastern Asia. The authors admitted the latter figures may not be reliable.

“The result for Eastern Asia seems surprisingly low given the perception in B.C. that a lot of dirty money in the province flows from China. As suggested earlier in relation to limitations of the gravity model, if the incidence of crime in China is under reported even after the data is adjusted by the United Nations, then inflows from China to Canada will be underestimated. As B.C. has particularly close ties to China as a result of long-term migration flows, this will disproportionately affect the B.C. money laundering estimate.” 

More than 3,400 individuals bought more than three properties in less than two years, according to Peter German’s second Dirty Money report, released May 9.

“Approximately 42% of the properties acquired through buying sprees are condominiums. Most of the remainder are single-family detached and semi-detached homes. Many of these prolific buyers acquire multiple units within the same building. There are 46 individuals who own eight or more units in a single development.”

From the Maloney report (BC Gov)

The report gave three examples:

A student in 2001, with a service address at a rented office outside B.C., bought more than 15 properties in the same Vancouver condo for $2.9 million. The properties are now worth $11 million;

A self-described homemaker went on two buying sprees, buying more than a dozen downtown row houses for $4.1 million; they are now worth $15 million.

Between 2014 and 2017, another homemaker bought fie luxury homes for $21 million, but only one is mortgaged. Her husband is believed to be the guarantor.

German’s report said that the use of nominees or straw buyers is common and is exploited by beneficial owners, including money launderers.

“Three per cent of B.C. titles (33,292 in 20 years) are held by persons whose occupation is listed as student, homemaker, or unemployed and approximately 25% of them had clear title. These tend to be expensive houses, with 88 houses over $10 million that are apparently owned by nominees.”

More than $16 billion of residential properties — almost 14,000 — are owned by persons with service addresses outside Canada, one in five are in high-risk money laundering jurisdictions. Twenty properties registered in the British Virgin Islands are owned by shell companies, that shield the names of directors, shareholders and beneficial owners.

German found more than 3,100 residential properties whose owners have a service address in one of 87 high-risk jurisdictions. Hong Kong (1,345) and China (774) are the two most common.

“Breaking down that total by property type, we see that the majority are condominiums, followed by single-family detached homes. A small number of agricultural properties and multi-family apartment buildings are owned by titleholders in high-risk jurisdictions.”

German pointed to weaknesses in data collection by the LTSA database, where there are buyers who have described themselves as “superdad,” “funemployed,”  “wanna be ski bum,” “domestic diva,” “trophy wife,” and even “launderer.”

More to come…

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Bob Mackin A new report to the B.C.

Bob Mackin

Let the NDP belly-aching and navel-gazing begin, after Jagmeet Singh’s party lost its seat in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith by-election.

Quite simply, the Greens had the right candidate for the right party at the right time in the form of Paul Manly, a local multimedia producer whose father is a former NDP MP.

The NDP blew it when they chose North Vancouver’s Bob Chamberlin and voters agreed. Chamberlin finished a distant third, almost 6,000 votes behind Manly and 700 behind runner-up John Hirst of the Conservatives.   

It may have been because of his scant ties to Nanaimo (he went to high school there) or because theBreaker.news revealed that he financially supported the unpopular prime minister late last year.

Chamberlin donated $1,390.25 to attend a cash for access cocktail party to help fund Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s re-election campaign with 75 others at the Gleneagles golf course clubhouse last Nov. 1 in West Vancouver. The number of people outside protesting Trudeau’s approval of the Woodfibre LNG plant near Squamish rivalled the number on the guest list.

Liberal donors in 2018, NDP supporters in 2019: Bob Chamberlin (left) and Melissa Louie. (Twitter)

Chamberlin, a vice-president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, did not respond to email or phone messages last November, when the Liberal Party published the list and theBreaker.news wanted to know why he attended.

On March 24, while running for the nomination, Chamberlin Tweeted that he went “to support my friend [West Vancouver Liberal MP] Pam Goldsmith-Jones, we were friends before she became an MP and we remain friends to this day.”

There are other ways and other days on which to support a friend. At least two come to mind and the occasions are annual. Namely, birthday and Christmas. Both are truly non-partisan occasions. 

Chamberlin denied he was endorsing the Liberal Party. But it certainly looked like he was. Despite previously protesting against the Trans Mountain Pipeline (that Trudeau bought with our money), Chamberlin did not explicitly criticize the Liberal Party until an April 2 Tweet in support of ex-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould: “Honesty and integrity are unwelcome in the Liberal Gov.” 

But it is still a puzzle why Chamberlin waited until he threw his hat in the ring to explain to a reporter (albeit publicly) why he shelled out cash to hang out with Trudeau. His partner, Melissa Louie, made matters worse when she Tweeted on March 25 that “nobody is actually accountable to, or owes anything to, a newspaper.”

It is no wonder that Louie eventually locked her Twitter account from public view to prevent another bozo eruption after wantonly disparaging the media while Chamberlin was running for office. 

Louie is a lawyer at Morgan and Associates in West Vancouver. She is also listed in the Elections Canada database, and on the Liberal Party website, as an attendee and donor of $1,390.25 to the same Nov. 1 event. Louie provided her law office address, rather than her residential address, to the Liberal Party and, in turn, Elections Canada.

In an email, Louie said that her law firm has nothing to do with her personal life. “It’s just a place where I work. I filled out with my work address because I have a long standing practice of receiving mail and packages at my work because I spend so much time there.”

Elections Canada spokeswoman Natasha Gauthier said the federal campaign finance law states that the contributor’s home address must be recorded, for any contribution over $200.

The by-election was called after the NDP’s Sheila Malcolmson quit to successfully run to replace Leonard Krog as the area MLA, after Krog won Nanaimo’s mayoralty and quit the Legislature.

No word yet whether Chamberlin will try again on Oct. 21 or if the NDP will find a Nanaimoan to challenge Manly. 

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Bob Mackin Let the NDP belly-aching and navel-gazing

Bob Mackin

British Columbia is home to a thriving underground market for luxury vehicle exports to China that provides a “wonderful opportunity for large-scale money laundering with very little chance of detection,” wrote Peter German in his report released May 7.

One of several Burrard Street supercar stores (Mackin)

According to German, the money laundering expert and former senior Mountie hired by Attorney General David Eby, there were less than 100 luxury vehicles exported to China from B.C. in 2013. By 2018, that number had exploded to more than 4,400, according to Ministry of Finance data.

These vehicles are purchased for domestic use by straw buyers, working for a fee or commission on behalf of exporters, who then rapidly ship the vehicles overseas where international price differentials ensure huge profits,” German wrote. “B.C.’s unique geographic location and ethnography make it an incredibly attractive venue for this activity.”

German, who was assisted by former Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Doug LePard, found that exporters will work with a network of family, friends and sometimes people who are recruited online or word of mouth. The straw buyers will sign paperwork at dealerships, buy cars and drop them off to be exported. They receive a small commission, from a few thousand dollars to less than 5% of a vehicle’s value.

German found that during the 2016-2017 fiscal year, one straw buyer made in excess of 25 purchases, 1,000 straw buyers were apparently linked to one exporter and, in many cases, the identification provided by the straw purchaser is a People’s Republic of China passport, not a B.C. driver’s licence. Straw buyers had an incentive to flip the cars quickly to exporters. If resold within seven days of purchase, the provincial government refunds the provincial sales tax. There were refunds of at least $55 million on nearly 8,000 vehicles sold that year, with a total purchase value of $555 million. 

theBreaker.news was first to report about the outcomes of two sensational disputes before the B.C. Supreme Court. They were both cases of luxury car exports to China gone awry. 

A Lower Mainland real estate investor, whose company supplied steel to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, failed to convince a judge last year who was responsible for losing the BMW she bought and sent to China. In April, 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.

In his verdict on the former case, Justice Christopher Grauer wrote that since 2010, only Chinese government representatives, high-level personnel and specially invited experts have been allowed to import cars into China.

German wrote that certain resellers have sullied the reputation of resellers in general, because of their willingness to deal with nefarious characters. Identities of cash providers are not recorded and underground banks are often used. One dealer, whose name was not published, said customers use the Chinese WeChat Pay and UnionPay systems. Another said large cash transactions happen monthly and even recalled how a young person brought $200,000 in cash to buy a car. 

Said another: “About 10 times a month we’ll get a foreign student with zero credit, zero job income, but proof of income through incoming wire transfers and the bank will provide financing because they are accepting the wire transfers and bank statements as proof of income. It’s unequivocally money laundering. People who are not employed, don’t pay tax, showing bank statements with large sums being wired frequently into their accounts…”

Peter German’s original Dirty Money report was released June 27, 2018 (Mackin)

German wrote that certain high-end, luxury vehicle dealers are known to police, including for serious drug and other offences. But the absence of mandatory financial reporting to [federal financial intelligence agency] FinTRAC is a serious impediment with respect to resellers as it is with new car dealers.

Another problem is the lack of dedicated police officers in the ports of Vancouver, Surrey and Prince Rupert.

There aren’t any.

The federal Liberal government shut down the Ports Canada Police in 1997 in a controversial move spearheaded by then-Fisheries and Oceans Minister David Anderson. That left municipal police to monitor the waterfront in their jurisdiction.

“The comparison to Seattle is stark, where the Port of Seattle Police Department has 150 staff to police SeaTac Airport and the seaport, including numerous specialized units,” German wrote. “In addition, U.S. federal authorities are present at the ports, including border patrol, customs officers, and others.”

Presently there is a “huge gap” which allows the grey market to operate, but German said the problem could be solved by a requirement of luxury car dealers to report to FinTRAC.

German’s report said the province should consider preventing dealers from accepting deposits or payments on vehicles of more than $10,000, and it should consider allowing the Vehicle Sales Authority to suspend resellers and require the principals to undergo criminal record and background checks.

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Bob Mackin British Columbia is home to a

Bob Mackin

A former captain of the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s team said she has no recollection of an investigation into the conduct of the head coach.

Tiffeny Milbrett, the star forward inducted last year to the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame, played for the Whitecaps from 2006 to 2008. Bob Birarda was head coach for the same three seasons. The team won the W-League championship in 2006.

Ex-Whitecaps W-League captain Tiffeny Milbrett (USSF)

“I’m two heads to this,” Milbrett said in a phone interview with theBreaker.news. “I feel fortunate that I was treated respectfully, professionally by him. But it makes me very sad to hear some of these other players explaining how they were treated and what their experience was for them.”

The Whitecaps announced in October 2008 that Birarda suddenly left the team because of a mutual separation. More than a decade later, in late February of this year, ex-player Ciara McCormack went public with allegations of harassment and bullying dating back to 2007. That prompted the May 1 open letter from two of the club’s four owners, Greg Kerfoot and Jeff Mallett, that said the head coach’s contract was terminated after sexualized text messages with a player.

The Whitecaps and the Canadian Soccer Association retained lawyer Anne Chopra to investigate complaints beginning in late May of 2008, but have not released her report. Milbrett said she does not remember Chopra. Nor did anyone ask for her input.

“If there was this supposed investigation, I’m just telling you it didn’t feel like it,” Milbrett said. “I don’t really remember anything remotely close to something of an investigation.”

Milbrett said she did not hear complaints about harassment and bullying. She said she did not socialize with Birarda, beyond sitting with him and his family to watch a Whitecaps men’s game at Swangard Stadium. Milbrett, now 46, said she was not a confidante for any of the players on the predominantly young and Canadian squad. The roster became heavily stocked with national team players. Birarda coached the under-20 national team and was an assistant for the senior team. 

Milbrett at the 2018 U.S. soccer hall of fame induction (NSHoF)

“Even though I was the captain of the team, I was completely separated and insulated from probably anything they’re describing now,” Milbrett said.

“I’m very, very thankful that I didn’t experience what they’re saying they experienced, but I also feel in this day and age, I know plenty of players, plenty of stories about coaches, it’s unfortunate that you are to hear about these allegations.”

Midfielder Andrea Neil, who retired from the Whitecaps in 2006 and the national team in 2007, said in late March that she co-operated with Chopra’s investigation, but felt it was incomplete.

“In my opinion, the scope of the investigation was actually quite limited, and I think the soccer community deserves to know why the Whitecaps and Canada Soccer chose to conclude it as quickly as they did,” Neil wrote on her blog.

Bob Birarda in 2005 (CSA)

“I, like many others, was understandably puzzled when the inquiry then concluded with the ‘mutual decision’ to part ways. Despite what I had been told by the independent fact-finder, in the end the inquiry was brief, the conclusion swift and the outcome seemingly amicable for all parties. All parties except, of course, the players.” 

In April, Diane Voice, who was the W-League team’s manager, told theBreaker.news that a player showed 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.”

Milbrett is a Portland, Ore. native who scored 100 times in 206 appearances with the U.S. national team. She played key roles in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 1999 Women’s World Cup championship teams. In April, she was hired to be director of player development with the Tampa Bay United Rowdies.

Milbrett said there is a general lack of human resources checks and balances in sports. She said the system often fails people who make complaints and proper investigations are not always undertaken. 

“Am I concerned any time there’s a situation where it seems like something wasn’t followed through to the appropriate complaint, or serious allegations were not addressed? Absolutely,” she said. “It makes me very angry and if this was one of those situations, sure, it makes me very angry.”

Birarda was suspended from coaching a teenage girls’ team with Coastal FC in late February and has not commented. B.C. Soccer Association said it would conduct a third-party review. Vancouver Police are aware of the allegations, but have not said whether they are investigating.

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Bob Mackin A former captain of the Vancouver

Bob Mackin

A rare protest in Ambleside, as West Vancouverites took time out from Christmas shopping last year to rally against TransLink’s plan to remove parking spots to make way for a B-Line express bus all the way to Dundarave.

Photo of protesters in West Vancouver (Vanagas/TransLink)

A TransLink executive was also there, taking photographs of the citizens who were worried that less parking would mean fewer customers and more empty storefronts.

theBreaker.news spotted vice-president of customer communications and public affairs Steve Vanagas head to his car after he finished snapping photos from the south side of Marine Drive on Dec. 8.

TransLink did not create a briefing note about the protest, but Vanagas, who was paid more than $200,000 in 2017, did file the photographs that he shot facing the north side of Marine.

TransLink’s freedom of information office censored the faces of protesters and licence plates on vehicles.

In April, District of West Vancouver council voted against the B-Line’s expansion beyond Park Royal. 

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TransLink VP Steve Vanagas (Mackin)

Photo of protesters in West Vancouver (Vanagas/TransLink)

Bob Mackin A rare protest in Ambleside, as

Meng Wanzhou is headed back to court in Vancouver on May 8, as her extradition hearing inches nearer. The United States wants to try the Huawei chief financial officer on fraud charges, but that may be years away for the Dunbar resident living under round-the-clock security and a nighttime curfew.

Meng’s arrest last December at Vancouver International Airport prompted sympathizers to emerge, which then drew attention to the Chinese Communist Party and its program aimed at gaining influence elsewhere in the Pacific Rim under the banner of the United Front Work Department.

Clive Hamilton (CliveHamilton.com)

Clive Hamilton, a professor at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, Australia, says that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s Liberal government were caught like a deer in the headlights, dealing with a China that is acting more like a dragon than the panda they believed it to be. 

Hamilton is author of “Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia” and a recent visitor to Canada where he saw many parallels.   

Agents of influence in Beijing-friendly business, expat and cultural clubs are exploiting the democratic practices of both Australia and Canada. They are using the free press (including social media platforms) to push the party line, using the legal process to silence critics, infiltrating political parties and grooming candidates for office. Their goal, through United Front,  is to undermine resistance to the Chinese Communist Party.

“People whose allegiance is to a foreign country and a totalitarian foreign political party are now being represented at the local, provincial and federal level,” said Hamilton, in an interview with theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin. “It’s something that we, in democratic countries, have to grapple with.

“The CCP knows that its program of influence-buying and influence-gathering over the last decades has been extremely effective, so effective that it can get away with outrageous bullying and not get any pushback. Whether or not the government will push back depends, essentially, on the Canadian people.”

On this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, hear from Hamilton, as the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre approaches. 

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theBreaker.news Podcast: A closer look at China's campaign to influence Canadian elections
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Meng Wanzhou is headed back to court

Bob Mackin

The retired Mountie who was the BC Liberal minister in charge of universities has joined the board of a company part-owned by a key figure in the U.S. college admissions scandal.

Amrik Virk is a new director of Meridius Resources, a junior mining company located in Vancouver with holdings in Quebec. Point Grey resident David Sidoo, who is charged with mail fraud and money laundering, is corporate secretary and a director of Meridius. His older son Dylan Sidoo is president and CEO and younger son Jordan is a director.

David Sidoo (left) visited BC Liberals in April 2016 with the Vanier Cup. Amrik Virk is third from right. (BC Gov)

Virk was a one-term BC Liberal MLA in Surrey-Tynehead. He was defeated in the 2017 election in the new Surrey-Guildford riding by another ex-Mountie, Garry Begg of the NDP.

In December 2013, as Advanced Education Minister, Virk signed the cabinet order to appoint former CFL player David Sidoo to the University of B.C. board of governors. Virk did not respond to messages left with the company on May 2. 

David Sidoo donated more than $166,000 to the BC Liberals between 2005 and 2017.

He has pleaded not guilty to paying $400,000 for Mark Riddell to write college entrance exams for his sons, who eventually received degrees from universities in California. Riddell pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston and is co-operating with prosecutors. The indictment against David Sidoo also accuses him of paying Riddell to travel to Vancouver in June 2012 to write a provincial exam for Dylan Sidoo. 

Jordan (left) and Dylan Sidoo (Disappears.com Inc.)

Virk replaces the resigned Douglas Leishman on the board. His addition to the Meridius board was announced in an April 22 news release that touted his 26-year RCMP career and cabinet posts. It did not mention that Premier Christy Clark shuffled Virk out of Advanced Education before Christmas 2014 and into Technology, Innovation and Citizens Services after he misled the Legislature about a salary top-up for a vice-president at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Virk was the vice-chair of KPU before running for office.

A February information circular for Meridius shows that Dylan and Jordan Sidoo each hold 18.7% of shares in the company and David Sidoo has a 17.4% interest.

Dylan Sidoo graduated in 2016 from the University of Southern California’s film school. Jordan Sidoo graduated in 2018 from the University of California Berkeley with a political economy and history degree. The week after David Sidoo’s March arrest in San Jose, UC Berkeley confirmed that it was investigating Jordan Sidoo’s admission.

 The circular states that the company is “currently undertaking a strategic review of its business and, additionally reviewing new business sectors with a view to entering an emerging industry instead of the current business.”

Meridius trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MRI.V. It closed at 18.5 cents on May 2.

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Bob Mackin The retired Mountie who was the

Bob Mackin

The NDP cabinet minister responsible for sport and B.C. Place Stadium is disturbed by reports of sexual harassment, bullying and racism in the Vancouver Whitecaps organization.

Tourism Minister Lisa Beare (BC Gov)

“Any physical, sexual or psychological harassment and abuse of athletes is completely unacceptable,” according to Minister Lisa Beare in a statement provided to theBreaker.news. “Athletes have the right to play free of abuse, discrimination and harassment. Inclusion and respect for all British Columbians is a fundamental principle of this government, and we stand with those who have experienced abuse or misconduct in sport or any other part of life.”

The Whitecaps issued a statement signed by owners Greg Kerfoot and Jeff Mallett on May 1, more than two months after former women’s team player Ciara McCormack blew the whistle about ex-coach Bob Birarda. The soccer club never explained publicly why it severed ties with Birarda in October 2008, but is now apologizing and admitting there were complaints of inappropriate sexual behaviour. Vancouver Police are aware of the situation, but have not said whether they are investigating.

McCormack said on Twitter that the club has not contacted her. She said the Kerfoot/Mallett letter lacks sincerity and accountability. 

The club also employs former Notts County youth coach Brett Adams, who was hired in 2013 after he left Notts County while under investigation for racism against players. The Adams matter was not mentioned in Kerfoot and Mallett’s statement.

Kerfoot (left) and Mallett

“The Whitecaps are an independent professional sport organization, accountable to their leadership and their fans as stakeholders,” Beare also said. “Reports that a coach of a major soccer league [organization] acted contrary to a safe, inclusive sport environment and made racist remarks are extremely disturbing. I am encouraged to hear the Whitecaps are committed to working with sport partners to take a leadership role in safe sport initiatives.  It is incumbent on all sports organizations to ensure players are protected and any incident of player abuse should be reported to the appropriate authorities for investigation.”

The situation happens while the provincially-funded amateur sport group viaSport holds a five-day meeting with athletes, coaches and sport leaders on making sport safer. On May 8-9, meetings are scheduled for Ottawa to discuss a new National Code of Conduct for amateur sport.

Tremendous work is being done right now within amateur sport at both the national and provincial levels. We will share the outcomes of that meeting with all sport organizations in B.C., including the Vancouver Whitecaps, to ensure they have complete information on best practices,” Beare said.

Whitecaps supporters clubs, led by the Southsiders, held walkout protests during the last 10 minutes of the first half at the last two home games to bring attention to the Whitecaps’ slow response to the scandals.

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Bob Mackin The NDP cabinet minister responsible for

Bob Mackin

A former Vancouver-based SNC-Lavalin executive owes it to Canadians to explain whether the engineering and construction giant reimbursed him for donations he made to the Liberals and Conservatives, says an NDP Member of Parliament.

theBreaker.news reported on James A. Burke’s nearly $8,500 in political donations from 2008 to 2011, while he was the executive vice-president of SNC-Lavalin in charge of B.C. operations. South Surrey resident Burke made two donations  to Conservative riding associations in Quebec in 2009. In 2008, he donated $1,100 three times to the Liberal Party and twice to the Michael Ignatieff leadership campaign. The individual cap was $1,100 for total donations to a registered party and a leadership contestant in 2008.

SNC-Lavalin’s B.C. head James Burke in a 2014 Canada Line video (SNC-Lavalin)

“I can’t speak to Mr. Burke, I haven’t heard his side of the story, he hasn’t commented, but he has a duty to come clean and investigate and provide whatever information is required to either clear him or shed total light on what went on in this case,” said Vancouver-Kingsway MP Don Davies in an interview. “This is not just a private issue, this is an issue of public interest. We all have an interest in our public democratic institutions and fairness of our elections.”

Burke’s pattern of donating was eerily similar to that of 18 SNC-Lavalin executives, directors and spouses who were illegally reimbursed by the company for contributions between 2004 and 2011, according to a list leaked to CBC. The donations to the Liberals totalled $100,000 and to the Conservatives $8,000. The Commissioner of Canada Elections originally sent the list to the Liberal Party in 2016, the same year SNC-Lavalin made a compliance agreement to avoid penalties.

theBreaker.news contacted the Commissioner of Canada Elections with questions about Burke’s donations, but spokeswoman Michelle Laliberté said the agency does not confirm whether it has investigated or is in the process of investigating a particular matter.

Vancouver-Kingsway NDP MP Don Davies (HoC)

Burke worked for SNC-Lavalin from 1995 until 2015, when he left the company and started Cougar Creek Consulting. The corporate registry lists the Dentons law firm as Cougar Creek’s registered office. Dentons’ Vancouver managing partner John Sandrelli said he was unable to connect theBreaker.news with Burke’s lawyer because of solicitor-client privilege.

“The Liberal Party received the confidential memo from Elections Canada in 2016 and they kept that under wraps for almost three years,” Davies said. “Mr. Trudeau promised a new transparency in government as an approach and we’re seeing anything but that.

“They’re clearly attempting to hide this and they’re acting like these contributions don’t matter. If I’ve got a spending limit in my riding of $100,000, $10,000 or $20,000 makes a huge difference, it can tip the balance. I was very disappointed with Mr. Trudeau’s dismissive attitude.”

Davies said it is crucial that campaign finance violations be properly investigated and publicly reported.

Normand Morin, a former vice-president of SNC-Lavalin, was the only person charged. He was fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to two campaign finance charges in court last November. Davies called that “pocket change.” By comparison, Conservative Dean Del Mastro was sentenced to a month in jail for overspending by $21,000 during the 2008 election.

“A lot of the rules in our system work on the honour system,” he said. “It’s so critical to make sure that those who would cheat are fully exposed.”

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Bob Mackin A former Vancouver-based SNC-Lavalin executive owes