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On this edition, British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame curator and Vancouver 1954 British Empire Games book author Jason Beck discusses the legacy of the late Roger Bannister.

Bannister died March 3 at age 88 after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease. The 1954 Games put Vancouver on the map and Englishman Bannister’s race with Australia’s John Landy was a legendary moment in world sport and Canadian history. Beck tells host Bob Mackin that Bannister was much more than a runner and the Miracle Mile was more than a race. 

What happened on Aug. 7, 1954 had ripple effects that last to this day on the West Coast of Canada.

Enjoy this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast. If you missed any of the previous editions, click here. 

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On this edition, British Columbia Sports Hall

Bob Mackin 

Surrey Centre Liberal MP Randeep Sarai met last October with an executive from a credit union that is not only seeking to expand nationwide, but is the same credit union that sued Sarai and his business partners for defaulting on a loan. 

The federal lobbyist registry shows Coast Capital Savings Credit Union CEO Don Coulter reported communicating with Sarai on Oct. 17, 2017. The credit union, Canada’s biggest by membership, is headquartered in Sarai’s Surrey Centre riding. 

An Oct. 17, 2017 photograph on Twitter shows Sarai in his office with several people, including Coast Capital vice-president of communications Dave Cunningham. Coulter is not in the photograph. The reason for the meeting was the annual “Hike the Hill” National Credit Union Government Relations Forum. McDonald said Coulter was not at the meeting, but reports to the lobbying commissioner must be filed in the name of the most senior executive. 

Coulter left in January to join Saskatoon-based Concentra Bank as its CEO, yet Coast Capital has not updated its federal lobbying registration. 

The lawsuit, filed two years before Sarai was elected, was still active at the time of the meeting that Cunningham attended.

Coast Capital named Sarai, his numbered company 687495 B.C. Ltd., and two other men, Sandeep Bains and Inderdeep Mann, in a petition to B.C. Supreme Court on Oct. 18, 2013. The credit union sought repayment of $1,521,511.28 plus interest relating to a 2007 loan.

Liberal MP Randeep Sarai (centre) with credit union reps, including Coast Capital VP Dave Cunningham (right). (Twitter)

In 2012, Sarai and company wanted to redevelop a 0.79 acre parking lot on 2785 Gladwin Road in Abbotsford into a five-storey commercial building. The lot, which remains vacant, was assessed at $1.514 million last year. Sarai’s real estate holding company, 687495 B.C. Ltd., remains the first owner name on title.

The Nov. 22, 2013 response to the petition, via lawyer Rajdeep Deol, denied Sarai and company owed $1,521,511.28 as of Oct. 7, 2013 

“The fact is that all payments due pursuant to the mortgage were paid by the respondents on a timely basis but the petition respondents’ refinancing has been delayed,” said the respondents’ court filing.

A Jan. 23, 2014 court order set $1,492,468.54, plus $238.14 per diem, as the redemption amount. The Court Services Online database shows no other activity on the case until a Feb. 8, 2018 acknowledgement of payment. 

Sarai did not return email or phone calls from theBreaker. McDonald did not respond to questions about the lawsuit. 

In his conflict of interest disclosure, Sarai reported income in the last 12 months from referral fees from a real estate license with Planet Group Realty of Surrey. Planet Group was in the news Feb. 16 when one of its agents, Kam Rai, was shot to death in broad daylight in Vancouver’s posh Shaughnessy.

Sarai is also sole owner of Grand Fairway Development Inc., a land development company which holds significant interest in the 1041672 B.C. Ltd. holding company.

McDonald said Coast Capital has applied to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions for federal licensing. If OSFI recommends approval, Finance Minister Bill Morneau would have the final say. Last summer, Coast Capital’s application was approved by B.C.’s Financial Institutions Commission and Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Sarai quit Feb. 27 as head of the Liberal Party’s Pacific sub-caucus after photographs emerged of ex-convict Jaspal Atwal at a cocktail party in India with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife Sophie. Sarai initially took responsibility for Atwal’s appearance, but later told the Surrey Now Leader that he didn’t invite Atwal, a former Sikh separatist terrorist who was jailed for attempting to murder a visiting Indian cabinet minister in 1986. 

Sarai told the local newspaper that he simply forwarded names of anyone who had contacted his office with interest in attending the Prime Minister’s events in India. 

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Bob Mackin  Surrey Centre Liberal MP Randeep Sarai

Bob Mackin 

When British Columbia trade minister Bruce Ralston hosted 11 of the province’s foreign trade representatives at the Legislature on March 7, one was missing. 

The representatives for offices in Japan, China, South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, United States, Europe and India did not include the Malaysian sultanate of Johor. 

Mike de Jong gave the Sultan of Johor a Canucks jersey during a November 2016 junket to Malaysia. (Facebook)

In April 2016, BC Liberal Finance Minister Mike de Jong told a reporter from Malaysia’s Star Online that B.C. would open a trade office in the Malaysian province near Singapore. The Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Ismail, was visiting B.C., but de Jong’s staff refused to acknowledge the Malaysian media report when contacted by this reporter. 

In November of that year, de Jong visited Johor and gave the Sultan a Canucks’ jersey. International trade minister Teresa Wat was in China, after being hospitalized for an injury suffered in a mysterious incident, so de Jong did the honours of announcing B.C. would open a trade office in Johor in early 2017

It never opened. 

“The office was primarily intended to advance B.C. relations with [state-owned] Petronas, with a secondary mandate to facilitate trade and investment ties with Malaysia and Singapore,” Tasha Schollen, a spokesperson for Ralston, told theBreaker. “On July 25, 2017, Petronas announced that the Pacific Northwest LNG Project was cancelled due to market conditions, so the former ministry never proceeded with its opening.”

Last September, the South China Morning Post reported on a joint venture between a Chinese company and a local partner owned by the Sultan of Johor that was building the $100 billion Forest City on four man-made islands for 700,000 people. It was being marketed as the “next Shenzhen.” 

When de Jong visited Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak was visiting China. De Jong’s staff said at the time that they spoke by phone. 

Razak remains under a cloud of controversy over the 1MDB state investment fund scandal. He was accused of embezzling US$700 million, but claimed the money was a gift from Saudi Arabia. 

The corruption scandal was a source of mirth, and, perhaps, envy, for Christy Clark when she was premier. In a late 2015 interview with The Tyee, she said: “Makes me feel like I went into business in the wrong country. It’s crazy. But you know, it’s just a different way of doing business, I guess…”

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Bob Mackin  When British Columbia trade minister Bruce

Captains of the 16 teams entered in the 2018 HSBC Canada Sevens rugby tournament posed for the traditional photo on March 7 in North Vancouver, with a twist. 

They were on the 140-metre long Capilano Suspension Bridge for the photo-by-drone. 

Bob Mackin of theBreaker was there. 

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Captains of the 16 teams entered in

Bob Mackin

theBreaker can exclusively show you photographs from the massive Site C dam construction area.

But little else. 

That is because BC Hydro, with the NDP government’s blessing, has censored most of the information about budgeting and scheduling for the $10.7 billion dam from the main civil works contractor’s 96-page, project status report for September 2017. 

theBreaker applied Nov. 8 under the freedom of information law for a copy of the Peace River Hydro Partners report for that pivotal month when the project went awry. BC Hydro finally delivered it on March 2 — almost three months after Premier John Horgan announced the BC Liberal-started dam would continue with “enhanced oversight.”

BC Hydro claims disclosure of this information would harm both BC Hydro and its contractors. theBreaker will appeal to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

PRHP is the $1.75 billion main civil works joint venture of South Korea’s Samsung and Spain’s Acciona. Alberta’s Petrowest was the third member, but it went into receivership in August. 

What is censored? The list is long.

The summary of risks; schedule progress; changes in critical activities; comparison of actual progress and the latest updated work program; graphs showing actual progress and planned progress; manpower allocation and forecast; actual equipment on-site and forecast; and safety report statistics. 

There is a list of environmental incidents. The dates and locations are visible, but the nature of each incident is not. 

What is not censored? 

Fuel use.

As of September, 11.6 million litres of fuel (10.07 million litres of diesel) had been used for construction on the left bank, while 23.49 million litres of diesel had been used on the right bank. That would create a lot of exhaust for a project that BC Hydro has branded “clean.” 

There were five media inquiries made to PRHP in September, all on the same topic: the 200 workers laid-off Sept. 24-25.

The layoffs were a sign of major trouble brewing on the horizon.

BC Hydro claimed in a letter to the B.C. Utilities Commission on Aug. 30 that the project was “on time and on budget” for $8.335 billion, and it would likely not have to dip into the $440 million set aside by Treasury Board. 

On Oct. 4, BC Hydro CEO Chris O’Riley revealed to the BCUC that there had been “some geotechnical and construction challenges on the project.” The 2019 river diversion would be delayed by a year and the cost would jump $610 million. 

The NDP cabinet decided Dec. 6 that the project would go ahead at $10.7 billion — which is $4.1 billion more than the 2010-announced budget by the BC Liberals. 

In a Jan. 25 affidavit for Sage Legal, on behalf of the West Moberly First Nation, ex-BC Hydro CEO Marc Eliesen accused BC Hydro of mismanaging the project and misleading taxpayers about the costs and schedule. 

“In less than three and a half months, Site C costs increased from $8.335 billion to $10.7 billion, an increase of almost 30%,” Eliesen wrote. “There still remains seven years of scheduled construction to complete the project. BC Hydro claims to have been caught unaware by the material increases in its costs.”

Meanwhile, BC Hydro is downplaying the impacts of pausing work to clear a 29-kilometre stretch for a transmission line corridor. West Moberly First Nation convinced a B.C. Supreme Court judge to hold a 10-day injunction hearing between July 24 and Sept. 10. BC Hydro agreed to suspend the road clearing work until Oct. 1 or when a decision is made, whichever is soonest. 

BC Hydro spokeswoman Mora Scott told theBreaker “there is no impact” to the project schedule and BC Hydro is assessing potential cost implications. 

“Any increase in costs related to the work stoppage we expect to be covered by the project’s contingency,” Scott wrote. “We are proceeding with clearing and access road development along the transmission corridor outside of this area and waste wood disposal and hauling of already felled merchantable timber will continue along the entire transmission corridor.” 

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See the heavily censored Site C September 2017 project report

September PRHP .pdf by BobMackin on Scribd

See the Site C picture show

Bob Mackin theBreaker can exclusively show you photographs

Bob Mackin

The Vancouver advertising agency that helped the NDP regain power in British Columbia last year has the contract for a $600,000 campaign to promote the Horgan government’s 2018 provincial budget.

theBreaker confirmed that the Government Communications and Public Engagement office chose Now Communications Group from a list of preferred suppliers. The campaign launched Feb. 28, eight days after Finance Minister Carole James tabled the budget. It runs through March 18. 

A prepared statement from the ministry’s communications office, provided to theBreaker, said: “All agencies on the standing offers list had the opportunity to submit a bid for this work. The Now Communications Group bid was accepted based upon our standing offer proposal process which includes pre-determined evaluation criteria.”

GCPE spent $663,000 to promote the BC Liberals’ pre-2017 election budget and $773,000 to promote the party’s 2016 tax-and-spend blueprint.  

Marie Della Mattia (left), Robb Gibbs and Michele Della Mattia.

The NDP-appointed assistant deputy minister of strategic communications is former Now creative director Robb Gibbs. Gibbs oversees the government’s advertising and marketing office. Gibbs did not respond for comment. 

Deputy Minister Evan Lloyd did respond, but declined an interview request.

“The Now Group is one of 10 firms that secured a place on GCPE’s standing offer list, effective Jan. 1,” Lloyd said by email. “In anticipation of this start-work date, a standing offer proposal request was issued to all 10 firms [on the Jan. 1-effective preferred suppliers’ list] relating to the Feb. 20 provincial budget and its specific housing and child care components.

“This SOPR was issued in late December with a decision made in early January. It was anticipated, due to the extensive nature of this SOPR, a minimum of two firms would be selected. In fact, three firms were selected from this SOPR: Captus, NOW, and Trapeze. Their work is ongoing.”

Gibbs’s wife, Marie Della Mattia, was Now’s CEO until 2016 when she left to become John Horgan’s campaign advisor. After Horgan was sworn-in last July, the new premier hired Della Mattia to be his special advisor for $30,000, but she left in mid-January. Her LinkedIn profile describes Della Mattia’s self-employment as a coach “with attitude.” Her sister, Michele Della Mattia, is Now’s vice-president of operations. theBreaker exclusively reported Jan. 8 that Now was among 16 advertising and advertising research companies chosen for a three-year roster of pre-qualified suppliers. 

Now was established at the end of 1991, by Ron Johnson and Shane Lunny from the team that helped Mike Harcourt become B.C.’s second NDP premier. 

Now’s $165,000 contract in March 1992 for the Commission on Resources and Environment was the Harcourt government’s first scandal. Johnson co-wrote the party’s 1991 platform, which bluntly stated that a “Harcourt government will put an end to secret deals and special favours for political friends.” 

In May 1995, Auditor General George Morfitt reported that the NDP government spent $21.3 million on contracts with 10 ad agencies over four years, but Now was the top supplier at $4.8 million. Despite Now’s close ties with Harcourt, Morfitt surprised the ad industry by finding no pattern of favouritism. He was, however, “perturbed” that Now concealed the names and amounts paid to some of its subcontractors from the U.S.

The Horgan NDP government is using a system of prequalified companies for advertising contracts inherited from the BC Liberals. Otherwise, government procurement rules set $25,000 as the floor for a competitive process through advertising on BC Bid or obtaining three quotes. A public call for proposals is mandatory if a service contract is worth $75,000 or more. 

NDP ad agency Now Communications Group.

The BC Liberals spent $20 million on the controversial “Our Opportunity Is Here” B.C. services campaign, which sparked a class action lawsuit that ultimately wants the party to repay the public treasury. Two of the agencies contracted were owned by BC Liberal party campaign workers and friends of then-Premier Christy Clark. When the non-essential campaign launched in November 2015, then-opposition leader Horgan slammed the BC Liberals for “padding the pockets of their political pals.”

The NDP promised it would ban partisan advertising by the government and that it would empower the auditor general to approve or reject ad campaigns. 

The NDP budget ad campaign is the most-important, so far, from a strategic standpoint. But it is not the most-expensive. 

The StopOverdoseBC ad campaign through Traction Creative, Vizeum and Jungle Media is costing $2 million. The NDP government also ran a $300,000 campaign through St. Bernadine Mission and Captus Advertising to promote the “How We Vote” public comment period for electoral system reform. 

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Bob Mackin The Vancouver advertising agency that helped

On this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, host Bob Mackin speaks to Vincent Gogolek, who retired at the end of February as the executive director of the British Columbia Freedon of Information and Privacy Association. 

As head of B.C. FIPA, Gogolek became one of Canada’s most important voices in the ongoing battle for citizens’ information access and privacy rights. Gogolek has a background in both law and journalism. In the interview, he recounts some of the victories and what still needs to be done. 

Plus, commentaries on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Delhi Debacle and how the media and public in the State of Washington banded together against secrecy in their state capital. 

Enjoy this week’s edition and spread the word. If you missed a previous edition, go here.

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theBreaker.news Podcast: Saluting a warrior in the battle for transparency and accountability
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On this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, host

Bob Mackin

Burnaby’s NDP-leaning civic party had almost $600,000 in the bank last November, according to documents obtained by theBreaker

With less than a year until the Oct. 20 election, the Burnaby Citizens Association had more in its dedicated election account than it spent in the 2014 election. The party, led by five-term mayor Derek Corrigan, swept the nine-seat city council and seven-seat school board in 2014. Since then, city council’s Anne Kang and school board’s Katrina Chen successfully ran for the NDP in the 2017 provincial election. 

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan and Paul Faoro of Burnaby Citizens Association donor CUPE (Facebook)

Minutes from a conference call by the party’s table officers on Nov. 7, 2017 show there was  $500,000 in the election account and $77,000 in a general account. By comparison, the party spent $473,728.97 of the $508,687 it raised for the 2014 campaign, according to Elections BC returns

The conference call happened the week after the NDP government tabled municipal campaign finance reform. Funds raised through Oct. 31, 2017 can be spent in 2018 campaigns, but parties can no longer take donations from unions and corporations. Individual donations are capped at $1,200 per year to a single party or candidate. 

The BCA treasurer, Rob Nagai, was the NDP’s provincial corporate fundraiser until the end of 2017 when he joined lobbying firm Bluestone Consulting. Nagai delivered the financial report on the conference call. He referred theBreaker to party president Gord Larkin, whose name does not appear on the minutes. He did not return a phone call. By email, he wrote: “As you are aware, new regulations were recently put in place. We will be complying with those rules.”

The only BCA politicians involved in the conference call were Colleen Jordan from city council and Gary Wong from school board.

All nine Burnaby Citizens Association council candidates were elected in 2014. (Facebook)

In 2014, corporations — primarily in real estate — donated $275,550 to BCA. Thind Properties Ltd. ($26,125), Appia Developments ($15,000), and Amacon Management Services ($7,500) were the biggest. A long list of others donated $5,000 each, including 4301 Hastings Development, Adex Enterprises, Anthem Properties, Blue Sky Properties, Boffo Construction, Bosa Properties, Intracorp, Kebet Holdings, RPMG Holdings Ltd., Rennie Marketing, and Wall Financial. 

The party also reported $202,220 from trade unions, mainly $127,875 from various arms of CUPE (which represents civic workers), $10,000 from the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, and $8,375 from the Hospital Employees’ Union. 

BCA has led the local opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, but is under fire for permitting “demovictions” and luxury towers that have mushroom around Metrotown. 

The party’s annual general meeting is scheduled for March 14 and nomination meeting is April 25. 

The election is Oct. 20.

Vision Vancouver, by comparison, held its annual general meeting in January and reported a $28,670 deficit after raising $1 million from October 2016 to September 2017. It spent almost $700,000 on office expenses. 

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Bob Mackin Burnaby’s NDP-leaning civic party had

Bob Mackin

Two things are remarkable about ex-British Columbia Premier Christy Clark’s Feb. 28 speech to the Ontario Real Estate Association. 

First, it was Pink Shirt Day. The Nova Scotia-founded anti-bullying campaign that she championed while she was a CKNW talkshow host and later as the BC Liberal premier. She wore a blue jacket and blue shirt to the conference. 

Clark, sans pink, at a Toronto real estate conference on 2018’s Pink Shirt Day with OREA spokesman Jamie Hofing. (Twitter)

Second, reporters were shut out of the Toronto event. Both her speech and the question and answer session with OREA CEO Tim Hudak, the former Ontario PC leader, were closed to media accredited to cover the conference. 

Better Dwelling and Business Insider contributor Stephen Punwasi Tweeted that it was the “Only [conference] event media will not be able to attend. The era of real estate transparency in [Ontario] is inspiring.”

OREA spokesman Jamie Hofing told theBreaker by phone that “we wanted a candid conversation with Ms. Clark, and to do that, sometimes when media are present, people measure their words.”

Hofing provided theBreaker a copy of Clark’s speaking notes, but said there was no transcript or recording available. He said non-media attendees were not restricted from recording or photographing the speech. Clark’s presentation was titled “How Not to Become Your Own Worst Enemy.”

Hofing said the decision to prohibit reporters from Clark’s keynote session was made jointly by OREA and Clark’s agent, Jeff Jacobson Agency. Hofing refused to disclose the amount Clark was paid to appear at the convention, which was branded REALiTY: The Future is Unreal. The conference is attracting 800 attendees. A three-day pass cost $599.

Clark lost power in July 2017 on a no confidence vote when the Green Party supported the NDP, after Clark’s BC Liberals lost their majority in the May 2017 election. Clark was heavily criticized by opponents and the media for doing too little, too late to tax and regulate the real estate industry amid a housing affordability crisis. Her party was under fire for accepting millions of dollars of donations from real estate and construction companies that were profiting from a deluge of Chinese investment. 

The 1,290-word speech that Hofing provided included many themes that British Columbians had heard before. 

Clark’s script blamed the housing crisis on a shortage of supply, growing population and demand, consumers with double the borrowing power they had in 2000, and millennials “who are greater in number than even the baby boomers – and who are now entering the housing market for the first time – and they aren’t happy.”

Clark introduced a 15% foreign buyers tax in summer 2016 for Metro Vancouver, but exempted condominium presales. Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne copied B.C.’s 15% foreign buyers’ tax in April 2017. Earlier this month, B.C.’s NDP government increased the tax to 20% and expanded it to the Fraser Valley, Central Okanagan and parts of Vancouver Island.

“There is no argument that in some regions it’s a terrible idea,” read Clark’s notes. “What if there was a tax on foreign buyers in Whistler where is exclusively a tourist economy?”

The speech criticized the decision in B.C. to end double-ending of real estate deals because of conflict of interest. 

Clark (left) and OREA’s Tim Hudak (OREA)

“Well what they didn’t appreciate is that in some small communities, there is only one realtor. And that in markets where price growth is the opposite of frothy, the potential for a problem is very low.”

Oddly, Clark’s speaking notes said that “My dream – and the dream of the vast majority of Canadians – is to have a roof over our heads that belongs to us. One that we can invest in and improve.  One that we can use to take the next step up the housing ladder if that’s what we choose. One that our kids can perhaps inherit one day.”

Clark’s name is on the deed for a house near Vancouver city hall that was assessed at $2.273 million. In summer 2016, she moved to a $3.3 million house in Dunbar that has Nevin Sangha listed on the deed. Sangha is the right-hand man to Vancouver Whitecaps’ owner and BC Liberal donor Greg Kerfoot. 

Last spring, Clark, her press secretary and her lawyer all ignored theBreaker’s questions about Clark’s tenancy agreement with Sangha.

Clark quit as both BC Liberal leader and Kelowna MLA last August, after Abbotsford MLA Darryl Plecas dissented at a Penticton caucus retreat. Plecas left the BC Liberal caucus to become the speaker in September.

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Bob Mackin Two things are remarkable about ex-British

Bob Mackin

Five years ago today, on Feb. 27, 2013, while Premier Christy Clark was posing in a pink shirt with high schoolers on anti-bullying day, the man who would succeed her rose to speak in Question Period. 

“Today another leaked Liberal document details a plan to target ethnic voters across British Columbia, blurring the line between partisan activity and public service,” said John Horgan, the NDP opposition house leader. “The document demonstrates the folding together of government services and resources into the election machinery of the B.C. Liberal Party. A central objective of the plan is ‘making sure that government, caucus and the party are all working together…in a coordinated…manner.’

“Certainly, this side of the House supports multiculturalism in British Columbia. What we don’t support, however, is the blurring of lines between partisan activity and public service.”

The December 2011-conceived multicultural strategic outreach plan was sent by Clark’s deputy chief of staff, Kim Haakstad, to members of the party, government and caucus. It was the BC Liberal blueprint to use taxpayer-funded resources to pander to ethnic voters in swing ridings and win the 2013 election. Some of the strategies were deemed Quick Wins, which became the nickname for the scandal. 

Evidence from the breach of public trust case against Brian Bonney.

Added NDP critic Carole James: “This is a very serious issue. These documents show that an entire strategy was developed by the B.C. Liberals based on using taxpayer dollars for their own partisan purposes. The then communication director for multiculturalism was assigned to develop comprehensive lists that would help the B.C. Liberal Party — and I quote from the document — ‘bypass the media to get our message out. Be very well prepared when the writ is dropped.’

“This is a clear violation of the rules, and according to this leaked Liberal document, the Minister for Multiculturalism has full responsibility for implementation of this plan.” 

Clark’s BC Liberals eventually won the 2013 election after Clark’s deputy, John Dyble, issued a whitewash report. Thousands of pages of email were finally published after the election. Some of those caught the eye of Adrian Dix, the man who would have been premier had the NDP chosen to run an aggressive campaign.

Dix complained to the RCMP and a special prosecutor, David Butcher, was appointed. It took until May 2016 for BC Liberal operative Brian Bonney to be charged with breach of public trust. A trial was scheduled to begin last October, but Bonney copped a guilty plea and was sentenced to nine months of house arrest on Jan. 31. 

Had the trial occurred, it would have easily overshadowed the contest to replace Clark as leader. Court time was scheduled through Feb. 22. Ex-Multiculturalism Ministers John Yap and Harry Bloy did not cooperate with the RCMP investigation. They would have been ordered to testify. 

Gabe Garfinkel (left) and Kim Haakstad were Christy Clark aides involved in the Quick Wins scandal.

Maybe Clark herself would have been called to answer about a brief email between two of her closest aides that says so much. 

Haakstad’s Feb. 22, 2012 one-line message to Clark executive assistant Gabe Garfinkel contained the two page “Status of Multicultural Plan” attachment. 

“I told PCC [Premier Christy Clark] I would give her an update on this,” Haakstad wrote. “Can you put it in her reading folder?” 

Clark claimed ignorance of the plan when she talked to reporters in Prince George on March 1, 2013 and, again three days later, in the Legislature. But that was before Bonney was charged and before that email ended up in a court file. 

She knew. Our she ought to have known. 

Haakstad to Garfinkel Email Feb 22-2012 by BobMackin on Scribd

Hansard 022713 QP by BobMackin on Scribd

Bob Mackin Five years ago today, on Feb.