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Bob Mackin

Vancouver city hall took its time to ban the WeChat app from civic devices.

WeChat/Tencent

Associate director of communications Angela MacKenzie said Nov. 8 that a review of the Technology Acceptable Use policy was over and “we will follow the lead of the Government of Canada regarding WeChat and Kaspersky apps for city-issued mobile devices. This will take effect as of next week.”

Pressed further, MacKenzie said the deadline was Nov. 15 — more than two weeks after Treasury Board president Anita Anand’s Oct. 30 order to delete the Chinese social media, messaging and payment app and Russian anti-virus programs from federal devices over privacy and security concerns. 

“Our analysis has shown that we have approximately 40 installs of WeChat and zero installs of Kaspersky app,” MacKenzie said. She refused to explain why it is taking so long to deal with so few devices.  

This is not the first time that Vancouver city hall has taken its time to follow the lead of the federal government on a cybersecurity issue. 

After Anand’s predecessor, Mona Fortier, announced a ban on the TikTok video app on Feb. 27, Vancouver City hall took more than two weeks to do the same. Of the 2,700 devices in its fleet, city hall counted 132 iPhones that contained TikTok. 

The city’s chief technology officer Tadhg Healy initially expressed reluctance, even after the NDP’s. Citizens’ Services minister Lisa Beare quickly followed the federal lead. The city’s decision to remove TikTok and block further downloads was finally announced March 14. 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Citizens’ Services said that Kaspersky is not on any B.C. government-managed device and that WeChat has not been permitted on such devices for nearly four years. 

Vancouver city hall (CoV)

A reporter asked for a copy of the directive to delete WeChat. But a prepared statement, sent by public affairs officer Farah Tarannum, said employees were told verbally how to delete the app after a the chief information security officer hosted a March 16, 2020 conference call for security leads.

“The decision to ban the application was made out of an abundance of caution as an operational security decision. It was not the result of an actual or suspected privacy breach,”according to the ministry statement, which said there was a “low number” of devices containing WeChat. 

One of Canada’s top professors on datamining and cybersecurity said the federal ban was overdue. Benjamin Fung of McGill University’s School of Information Studies said WeChat is prone to Chinese Communist Party censorship and propaganda. The risk to users is threefold: privacy, security and trust. The app requests access to all files on a device, the camera and microphone, and nearby devices. 

“No matter if it is within China or outside of China, it is clear that the Chinese government and the Tencent company are monitoring all the communications,” Fung said. 

The Communications Security Establishment’s 2023-2024 National Cyber Threat Assessment warned that WeChat “has been used to spread misinformation, disinformation and malinformation and propaganda specific to the Chinese diaspora.” WeChat has figured in recent Global Affairs Canada warnings about foreign interference and targeting of politicians. It was also used during the 2021 federal election to spread disinformation to help defeat Steveston-Richmond East Conservative Kenny Chiu.

The B.C. government’s WeChat account was originally registered for personal use by Bruce Ralston when he was Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology in 2018, the same year that Premier John Horgan led a trade mission to China. Horgan announced a tourism promotion agreement with WeChat when he met with executives from its parent company Tencent. 

Ralston, the NDP government’s liaison to the B.C. diplomatic corps, transferred the account to the government in 2020 and it is managed by contractor Fan Rong Marketing Ltd.

Despite banning WeChat on government devices, the ministry considers WeChat to be “an important tool to share information about government programs, services, and information with people in their preferred language.” 

In mid-August, the B.C. government announced it had opened an account on the Weibo platform, to post messages in Chinese about public safety, emergency preparedness, cost of living, housing, education, health care and justice services. Third-party contractor Catalyst Agents was hired for the job. 

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Bob Mackin Vancouver city hall took its time

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Bob Mackin 

Municipal government watchdog Randy Helten thinks the NDP government’s so-called “naughty list” should not refer to the cities under pressure to build more housing, but for the NDP because it is keeping the methodology secret.

Ravi Kahlon (left) and David Eby in December 2022 (Flickr/BCGov)

On May 31, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon announced Abbotsford, Delta, Kamloops, District of North Vancouver, Oak Bay, Port Moody, District of Saanich, Vancouver, Victoria and West Vancouver would be required to increase housing supply. The five-year completion targets announced Sept. 26 range from 664 units for Oak Bay to 28,900 units for Vancouver. 

The original government news release claimed that economists and experts developed an “empirical index” for setting the density targets and they chose the 10 municipalities by “using an objective and data-based process.” A total 47 municipalities were considered. 

So CityHallWatch founder Helten started asking questions about the how and the who. When he didn’t get straight answers from the ministry’s communications office, he paid $10 to file an application under the freedom of information law and another $180 when bureaucrats estimated it would take an extra six hours to process. 

Helten held his nose and paid. The government missed the late August deadline. Finally, on Nov. 1, the same day the latest housing supply amendments were announced, Helten said he received two pages and a refund, because the government realized it didn’t need to charge so much. 

Helten was frustrated to receive a chart under the headline “Selection Index Weights and Scores – Cohort 1” that had been censored. The 10 municipalities had been chosen based on availability, affordability, urgent housing need and location. But their scores were all withheld under a section of the law that protects information about the substance of deliberations of cabinet, including advice, recommendations, policy considerations or draft legislation. 

The section, however, should not apply when a decision has been made public and the decision has been implemented.

“The fact that they delayed so long, I often ask myself, is it incompetence or intentional that they’re unable to give this information? In my mind, the conclusion is completely intentional, violating the FOI legislation,” Helten said. “The fact that they didn’t provide information I asked for just undermines the entire justification for both pieces of legislation.”

Helten did, however, learn who got a sneak peek of the top 10 list.

The other document shows that the week before the announcement, on May 25, staff from Kahlon’s office and officials in the ministry held a “stakeholder technical briefing” on the municipal selection index with representatives of the Homebuilders Association of Vancouver, Small Housing B.C., Canadian Homebuilders Association, Urban Development Institute and a vice-president with condo specialist Rennie Group.

Peter Waldkirch (LinkedIn)

They were joined by politically connected, pro-density activists aligned with the NDP and/or Abundant Housing Vancouver (AHV), including: 

  • Tom Davidoff, the University of B.C. real estate economist. His wife, Dulcy Anderson, ran unsuccessfully for city council with Kennedy Stewart and was Premier David Eby’s constituency assistant until becoming an aide to NDP education minister Rachna Singh; 
  • Danny Oleksiuk, a co-founder of AHV. The lawyer formerly with the B.C. General Employees’ Union endorsed Environment Minister George Heyman’s 2020 re-election campaign; 
  • Peter Waldkirch, an AHV activist who worked on the OneCity civic campaign last fall and lobbied the city and province to do away with public hearings for zoning applications; 
  • AHV member Jens Von Bergmann of the Mountain Math data consultancy; and 
  • Alex Hemingway, policy analyst with the left-wing Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives think tank.

The ministry’s communications office said that the ministry developed the index and Davidoff provided input. 

“What I was looking for was to be assured that policy is based on very solid, broad consultation with respected experts in their field,” Helten said. “I’m looking for people who are experts and all of these people are political and supply-side, industry-associated activists, basically.”

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Bob Mackin  Municipal government watchdog Randy Helten thinks

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Bob Mackin 

A man originally from Abbotsford, who made national news in 2018 for beating up an autistic man, was murdered Nov. 8 in Toronto. 

Toronto Police Service (TPS) announced Nov. 9 that Parmvir Singh Chahil, 27, was shot in a parking garage and pronounced dead on the scene. A suspect fled in a newer model sport utility vehicle.

Parmvir Singh Chahil

Chahil’s most-recent residence was Windsor, Ont., according to TPS. 

Three years ago, Chahil and another man from B.C., Jaspaul Uppal, were sent to jail for nine months, ordered to be on probation for a year and banned from owning weapons for 10 years. They pleaded guilty in February 2020 to aggravated assault of an autistic man at a Mississauga, Ont. shopping centre in 2018. 

Ronjot Singh Dhami of Surrey also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. He was sentenced to time served and two years probation.

The trio was caught on surveillance video in Mississauga, Ont., in March 2018 kicking and punching a 29-year-old man who was seated at the bottom of stairs while he put on rollerblades. The victim suffered a broken nose and facial cuts in the vicious, six-second attack. 

In September 2015, Chahil was a resident of a house on Abbotsford’s Promontory Drive when innocent neighbour Ping Shun Ao, 75, was killed in a drive-by shooting. Police believed Chahil was the intended target.

A Twitter account, @Parmchahil, was active in July 2014 with two Tweets that taunted an Abbotsford Police Department constable, under the image of blood-spattered guns.

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Bob Mackin  A man originally from Abbotsford, who

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Bob Mackin 

Citing the B.C. NDP government’s meddling in Surrey civic politics, former mayor Bob Bose has quit the party in protest after almost 50 years of membership. 

Bose, who was mayor from 1988 to 1996, joined the party in 1974, when Dave Barrett was the premier. He had been privately debating whether to turn in his membership since Solicitor General Mike Farnworth overruled city council in July and ordered the Surrey Police Service to take over from the RCMP.

Bob Bose (Surrey Connect)

“I’m really sorry that I’ve been driven to this decision, because most of my friends are members of the New Democratic Party. I’ve been deeply engaged at the federal, provincial and municipal level as a new Democrat, but the treatment of Surrey has just been unacceptable,” said Bose, who also served as a city councillor from 1979 to 1985 and 2000 to 2008. 

“It’s very painful for me to do what I’ve done, but it’s the only way I can make a statement. Talking to members of the legislature or Farnworth, for that matter, has no effect, so I’m left with no option.” 

Despite being out of politics for a decade-and-a-half, Bose remained an outspoken critic of Doug McCallum, who defeated him in 1996 and staged a mayoral comeback in 2018. 

Bose points to McCallum’s 2018 “back-of-the-envelope campaign promise” to replace the RCMP with a new municipal force and the $8 million monthly cost while the SPS operates under RCMP command. 

Bose said his former party, under Premier David Eby, not only ignored the wishes of October 2022 Surrey voters, but has sought to intimidate McCallum’s successor, Brenda Locke. He pointed to Farnworth’s $500,000, two-year transition facilitator contract for ex-BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald “to come in as a heavyweight and pressure Brenda into conceding.” 

“Brenda is a tough cookie, she’s not going to be bullied,” Bose said. “She knows what’s at stake. She has, I think, a very good grasp on the issue and it’s not just about a campaign promise.”

On Oct. 26, the NDP majority passed Police Act amendments to force Surrey to exit the contract with the RCMP in favour of the SPS taking charge. That came only three days after Surrey city hall filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court, to ask a judge to quash the transition and order the government to respect civic jurisdiction. 

While Farnworth pledged $150 million over five years to make the switch, the court filling estimated Surrey taxpayers would be saddled with a $314 million unfunded shortfall over 10 years. 

Bose is also unhappy that the NDP is imposing new laws on municipal councils aimed at giving the province more power to fast-track housing development. That includes the end of public hearings for zoning applications if a proposal falls under the official community plan. 

“There’s a lot of tension building between municipalities and the province on those two files,” Bose said.

“Most provincial legislation governing local governments has always done in collaboration with the municipalities and I don’t I don’t recall any specific legislation that was not introduced without the informed consent.”

Bose said he spoke with the party president, Aaron Sumexheltza, when he quit. He did not get his wish to speak to the party’s executive director, Heather Stoutenberg, or have members of caucus notified of his decision.

“That was never followed through on. I’ve had no calls back from any member of the legislature,” he said. 

Sumexheltza has not immediately responded for comment. 

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Bob Mackin  Citing the B.C. NDP government’s meddling

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Bob Mackin

One of Vancouver’s biggest, most-dynamic developers is denying that it is experiencing financial trouble.

Westbank’s Ian Gillespie with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015 (Westbank)

In an undated, unsigned, one-page statement that is circulating among real estate agents, Westbank suggested it would take legal action to protect its reputation against “malicious rumours circulating online surrounding the integrity of our company and success of our developments.”

“With all the real challenges the world is facing today, it is disappointing to see so much energy being wasted on fabricated speculation about our business,” said the statement, obtained by Glacier Media. “We thank our clients, realtors and partners for their continued partnership.”

Rumours had been circulating for several days prior to the Globe and Mail’s Nov. 6 report that EllisDon construction had left Westbank’s Mirvish Village site in Toronto and is suing for $8.7 million in unpaid bills. Three other companies, Global Precast, Flat Iron Building Group Inc. and BV Glazing Systems Ltd., have also filed multimillion-dollar claims, none of which has been proven in court.

In the statement, Westbank said it has closed approximately two-thirds of sales at Alberni by Kengo Kuma in Vancouver’s West End and awaits the imminent occupancy permit for the final tranche of units. It also said it is making progress on Oakridge Park with partner QuadReal, the real estate arm of the B.C. Investment Management Corp. public sector pension fund.

“Concrete continues to be poured on all [Oakridge] residential towers, while glazing installation has begun on the lower floors,” it said. “The team is making substantial progress on the food hall, parkade and shopping centre levels.” 

The statement, which does not appear on the Westbank website or its social media accounts, mentions Mirvish Village and Butterfly in Vancouver’s West End, but not Senakw, the Westbank partnership with the Squamish Nation’s Nch’kay Development Corp. The project on Squamish Nation reserve land beside the Burrard Bridge is benefitting from a $1.4 billion Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. loan announced more than a year ago by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Neither Ian Duke, Westbank’s head of acquisitions and development, nor Ariele Peterson, the external relations manager, responded to repeated messages from a reporter.

Same for QuadReal and longtime Westbank financing partner Peterson Group.

Nicola Wealth Management had been rumoured as a lifeline for Westbank, but corporate relations manager Victoria Emslie denied involvement. 

Telus Garden (Telus)

“We’re not currently speaking to any of their people or recruiting any of their talent, nor are we involved in any of their development,” Emslie said.

The company Ian Gillespie founded in 1992 markets itself as a luxury residential and mixed-use developer, with satellite offices in Seattle, Toronto, Taipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. 

Some of its downtown Vancouver skyscrapers include Telus Garden, Rogers Tower, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Shangri-La and Vancouver House. It has forged a reputation for offbeat public art at or near its projects, such a giant, spinning chandelier under the Granville Bridge near Vancouver House and the body of a Boeing 747 between towers at 1200 Stewart in Seattle. 

The Westbank website lists seven San Jose projects in development or under construction.

While Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported year-over-year apartment sales were up 4.9 per cent in October, at a benchmark price of $770,200, interest rates and construction costs remain high. 

When the Bank of Canada kept the interest rate at 5 per cent on Oct. 25, Gov. Tiff Macklem acknowledged inflation had fallen since summer 2022, but it remained too high. 

Statistics Canada’s construction price index report for the third quarter said residential building costs had risen 6 per cent, year-over-year, across 11 major markets, including Vancouver. 

“Skilled labour shortages and the resulting increases in wage rates, availability of materials, and interest rate pressure were all reported as key factors impacting the construction sector,” said the StatsCan report.

In February, developer Coromandel was briefly under court protection due to a $700 million debt. 

—with a file from Claire Wilson

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Bob Mackin One of Vancouver’s biggest, most-dynamic developers

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Bob Mackin

A B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) tribunal has given approval to Creative Energy Senakw LP (CESLP) for a thermal energy system to heat and cool the first two phases of towers on Squamish Nation land beside the Burrard Bridge.

The Oct. 26 decision allows CESLP to build a power plant in a parkade to be constructed next to Chestnut Street, on the west of the Senakw site, for more than $30 million. CESLP will operate the low carbon electrified energy system for its only customer, developer Nch’kay West, with electric chillers and heat captured from Metro Vancouver sewage.

Chestnut entrance to the Senakw construction site (Mackin)

The BCUC tribunal was chaired by commissioner Carolann Brewer, a lawyer from the Smalqmix first nation, with commissioners Anna Fung and Blair Lockhart.

The system is expected to be in service by February 2025 and the seven residential towers are scheduled to be occupied between 2025 and 2027. CESLP originally applied Oct. 20, 2022 for the certificate of public convenience and necessity.

“The panel finds a need for low carbon heating and cooling for the Senakw development,” said the decision. “Further, of the low carbon technologies that CESLP evaluated including biomass and ocean heat recovery, the panel agrees with CESLP’s conclusion that sewer heat recovery is the most reasonable alternative to meet the developer’s requirement for a low carbon energy system.”

CESLP satisfied a key requirement of the application when it filed its agreement with Metro Vancouver on Sept. 18. 

“Under the terms of the sewage diversion agreement, there is no cost for the waste heat, subject only to heat policy changes by Metro Vancouver, in which case parties have three years to negotiate rates,” said the BCUC decision. “If no agreement is reached within that time either party can terminate the agreement.”

The agreement includes escape clauses for either party, subject to three years notice, during the first 20 years of the agreement.

“The panel finds that the Senakw [district energy system] is properly sized to meet forecast demand, and that it includes a justifiable level of redundancy for heating. In addition, the panel finds that CESLP has appropriately identified key risks and adequately addressed them, in particular the risks associated with construction costs and fuel availability,” said the decision.

CESLP’s design engineer, Stantec, retained consultant BTY Group to estimate the cost of project construction at $26.4 million in 2022 dollars or $30.026 million when the project is fully in operation and servicing phases one and two.

Residential Consumer Intervener Association (RCIA) was the sole intervener registered. Kits Point Residents Association (KPRA) and the Squamish Nation provided two letters of comment during the proceeding. The Squamish Nation disagreed with the BCUC decision to hold a hearing. KPRA said there had been a lack of public consultation — there was but one public meeting, on Oct. 3, 2022. KPRA also expressed various concerns about odour and noise from the plant, impacts on the neighbourhood and Vanier Park, and whether Metro Vancouver would receive fair compensation. 

The tribunal called KPRA’s concerns about neighbourhood impacts “rather unspecific.” It ruled that CESLP had addressed KPRA concerns on noise and odour because CESLP said the system was a closed loop and primarily underground. 

“Public engagement on the Senakw DES was included in the description of the Senakw development, and while KPRA has raised concerns in relation to engagement, the DES is clearly not the focal point for public concern,” the tribunal said.

In late September, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carla Forth dismissed the KPRA bid to quash the City of Vancouver’s 120-year agreement to service the Senakw project. The agreement had been negotiated and agreed behind closed doors, without public consultation. But Forth decided the agreement was valid, the city acted within the law and that no civic official acted in bad faith. 

The federally approved project is slated to contain 6,000 residential units by 2030. At the groundbreaking ceremony in September 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $1.4 billion loan through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to finance half the units in the first two phases. It is officially a partnership between Westbank Corp. and the Squamish Nation’s Nch’kay Development Corp. 

A 2019 expert report for Squamish Nation members estimated the project could bring as much as $12.7 billion cashflow for the band and developer. 

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Bob Mackin A B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) tribunal

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For the week of Nov. 5, 2023:

Finally, the Government of Canada has banned the use of WeChat on government devices.

Prof. Benjamin Fung (McGill/YouTube)

Two years since the 2021 federal election, in which Conservative Kenny Chiu was subject to disinformation and lost his Steveston-Richmond East seat. Five months after proof that another Conservative, Michael Chong, was targeted by a Chinese diplomat. 

Treasury Board president Anita Anand announced the ban of the Chinese social media, messaging and payment app on the same day she banned the use of Russian-made anti-virus products. 

One of Canada’s top professors on datamining and cybersecurity said the federal ban was overdue.

Benjamin Fung of McGill University’s School of Information Studies had been warning officials for years about how the Chinese Communist Party has manipulated WeChat for its goals. 

Fung is host Bob Mackin’s guest on this week’s edition of thePodcast. 

Plus, headlines from the Pacific Rim and the Pacific Northwest. 

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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For the week of Nov. 5, 2023:

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Bob Mackin 

A woman who fled to China after allegedly killing the passenger in a Seattle-area Porsche crash legally crossed the border en route to Vancouver International Airport, according to the Bellevue Police Department (BPD). 

“I can confirm that, based on information we received from [Canada Border Services Agency], Ting Ye crossed into Canada Oct. 9 at 11 p.m. at the Surrey border crossing,” said Officer Seth Tyler, BPD’s acting public information officer.

Ting Ye: wanted in Washington State

Ye, 26, crashed a 2020 Porsche 911 at 3:45 a.m. on Sept. 30. Passenger Yabao Liu, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Tyler said Ye crossed the border legally in a vehicle driven by an acquaintance at one of the two Surrey crossings. He said she flew out on Oct. 11 and, “at this time we do not believe any Canadian individuals assisted her with her escape.” 

He indicated that police know her flight destination in China.

“We have no information to indicate she had accommodation in Canada. I do not believe that the flight information will be released as it would compromise our ongoing investigation,” Tyler said.

There is no extradition treaty between the U.S. or Canada and China. 

A prosecutor’s vehicular homicide charge against Ye in Superior Court of Washington for King County was dated Oct. 6, but filed Oct. 9. The state requested $2 million bail and for Ye’s passport to be turned over to the court. But she left hospital later that day. 

Ye’s last known address was an apartment in the South Lake Union area of Seattle, a hub for major tech companies. She was to be arraigned Oct. 23, but did not appear in court. A warrant was issued for her arrest.

The court filing said Ye was exceeding 144 kilometres-per-hour and heading towards State Route 520 in downtown Bellevue early Sept. 30. 

“She failed to maintain control of the car and crashed violently. The car went airborne striking several objects before landing upside down,” the document said. 

“Responding police and firefighters smelled the strong odor of alcohol coming from the defendant’s breath every time she spoke. Because of her injuries, no other observations could be made. A search warrant to extract and test her blood was approved and executed three hours after the crash. Those results are pending with the toxicology laboratory.”

The 2020 Porsche 911 was worth $97,000 to $133,000 and Ye obtained a Washington State driver’s licence in 2021, but had no known history of criminal or traffic violations.

It is not the first time a Chinese national has fled from police through Vancouver International Airport.  

In 2002, Simon Fraser University student Ang Li abruptly returned to China after reporting his girlfriend, Amanda Zhao, missing. 

Zhao’s body was eventually found in a suitcase near Mission’s Stave Lake. 

Rather than send him to Canada to face charges, the Chinese government agreed not to seek the death penalty. Li was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder in 2012. Upon appeal, that was downgraded in 2014 to seven years for manslaughter. 

Li resurfaced earlier this year in a New Zealand Herald interview after the New Zealand government refused his refugee claim. Li had illegally entered the country in 2019 under an alias and began a family in Auckland. He denied he killed Zhao, claimed she was still alive, and said he fled to New Zealand to avoid Chinese Communist Party harassment. 

Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan asked then-attorney general David Lametti to contact New Zealand counterparts to brief them about Li’s Canadian murder case. She said Li was both lying and lacking remorse.

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Bob Mackin  A woman who fled to China

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Taxpayers were charged almost $207,000 to fly Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his staff and family on trips aboard a Royal Canadian Air Force jet last April. 

That included the $52,000 cost for the Bombardier CC-144D Challenger that took Trudeau, Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau and their three children to Montana for an Easter weekend vacation at the Big Sky ski and snowboard resort.

Inside a Bombardier Challenger jet.

Based on the total costs and length of corresponding flight times listed in the documents, which were released under the access to information law, the cost-per-hour for the Challenger jet is $6,340. 

Before the pandemic, records about Trudeau’s trips in July and August 2019 showed that the average hourly cost was $5,636. He flies aboard military jets for security reasons.

The request about the Montana trip specifically sought details of any cost recovery, but no records were provided. Government policy states that, when the travel is for personal reasons, staff ask a travel agent to quote the lowest commercial fare on a comparable flight and then issue an invoice for that amount. In September 2019, Trudeau was invoiced $2,450.73 after a family vacation to Tofino. However, that did not cover a half-hour of jet use. 

The documents from the Department of National Defence (DND) show there were five “missions” on which Trudeau traveled during 15 days in April. 

The trip to Montana came after a series of April 2-6 photo ops in Quebec with Premier Francois Legault and Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante after an ice storm, a speaking engagement at the the Eurasia Group consultancy’s summit in Toronto and a tour of a Honda factory in Alliston, Ont.

Fifteen hours after returning to Ottawa from Bozeman, Montana, Trudeau left aboard the Challenger for another campaign-style trip, from April 11-16 to Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina and Richmond. It included a meeting in Toronto with Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, a grocery rebate program photo op in Regina and Indigenous health funding announcement and town hall meeting with the Squamish Nation in North Vancouver. 

On April 21, Trudeau made a one-day trip to London, Ont., to announce a subsidized Volkswagen electric vehicle battery plant. From April 26 to 28, it was New York City for the Global Citizen Now summit. On April 30, a one-day Toronto trip for the Vaisakhi Parade. 

Justin Trudeau, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and Xi Jinping (PMO)

The busy month was prior to the Liberal Party’s May policy convention in Ottawa and sparked speculation that Trudeau might call another snap election by fall, two years before the next scheduled election. But that was scuttled by a  perfect storm of foreign interference by China and India, economic headwinds, the rise of the opposition Conservatives in opinion polls, and the collapse of Trudeau’s marriage. 

The Trudeaus announced Aug. 2 on social media that they had legally separated. Last month, the National Post reported on a divorce petition filed April 26 by the ex-wife of an Ottawa surgeon, Dr. Marcos Bettolli, alleging he had “re-partnered with a high-profile individual who attracts significant media attention, and presents significant security considerations.” The newspaper reported that the individual was Gregoire Trudeau. The court filing was less than three weeks after the Montana vacation. 

Meanwhile, the documents also show that Anita Anand, who was Minister of National Defence at the time, charged $121,728 for an April 20-22 round trip to Germany with three staff members, chief of defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre and four senior Canadian Armed Forces officers to the headquarters of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa in Wiesbaden and a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the Ramstein Air Base. 

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon’s only trip of the month was April 25-27 to Yellowknife, which cost $50,720 for the Challenger jet. 

The access to information application was originally filed May 2. Federal government offices are legally required to respond within 30 days or invoke an extension beyond 30 days, but DND did not. 

Leslie Mayo, acting deputy director for the DND information and privacy office, said in an Aug. 15 email that the file had been “just assigned” to her team. Senior analyst Alain Pouliot said Oct. 6 that consultation was ongoing, but refused to say with whom. On Oct. 26, Mayo blamed a backlog.

“We do not give out information about internal processes and the employees involved as our employees have been targeted in social media and in the news for delays that are not their fault,” said chief of operations Leslie Larabie.

The records were finally disclosed Nov. 2. 

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Bob Mackin Taxpayers were charged almost $207,000 to

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Bob Mackin 

After losing two June by-elections, BC United also lost fundraising momentum. 

The Kevin Falcon-led party reported $399,209.70 in contributions for the July to September quarter, according to the Nov. 2-released Elections BC political fundraising reports.

Kevin Falcon enters the Wall Centre ballroom on Feb. 5 (BC Liberals/Facebook)

While that is better than the $355,852.80 from the same quarter in 2022, it is substantially less than the $768,091.62 BC United raised in 2023’s second quarter. Through three quarters, the official opposition party has raised $1.8 million. 

The B.C. NDP, meanwhile, took-in $867,611.92 during the summer, 12% less than the $988,265.53 in 2022’s third quarter.

The year-to-date total is almost $2.65 million, an $850,000 advantage over BC United. The NDP lead over BC United had shrunk to $380,000 at the midway point of the year. 

The next scheduled election is Oct. 19, 2024. 

Of the NDP donors, nearly 800 gave greater than $250 ($433,044.82) and 6,686 gave $250 or less ($434,957.10). BC United reported 448 donations more than $250 ($257,510.31) and 2,949 for $250 or less ($141,654.40). 

BC United, known as the BC Liberals until April 12, included on their list of prohibited donations a sum of $1,267.67 returned Oct. 11 to Falcon, because he had exceeded the contribution limit. 

The 2023 ceiling on individual donations to each registered party, including candidates and constituency associations, is $1,401.40. Falcon already contributed $1,401 on Feb. 16, the same day his wife Jessica gave $1,401. 

The NDP appears to be sustaining its momentum. There are 15 party events listed on its website, including Nov. 4 campaigning in the NDP-held North Vancouver-Lonsdale and North Vancouver-Seymour  ridings and a Nov. 15 reception at the Hotel Grand Pacific with Premier David Eby. 

The BC United website lists only two upcoming events, both featuring Falcon, at the Grove Vale Golf Club in Victoria on Nov. 8 and the Royal Seafood Restaurant in Richmond on Nov. 24. The latter event features Richmond Centre candidate Wendy Yuan.  

Meanwhile, the BC Greens reported $161,711.48 in contributions during the third quarter, but returned $100 to federal co-leader Elizabeth May on Aug. 10 for exceeding her 2023 limit. 

The Conservative Party of B.C., under leader John Rustad, reported $52,562.19. The party gained official status in the Legislature after the Sept. 13 defection of Abbotsford South BC United MLA Bruce Banman to the Conservatives. 

The summertime quarter also included the half-year, taxpayer-funded allowance payments on July 15, based on vote totals in the 2020 election: NDP ($786,086); BC United ($556,629.50); Greens ($248,632.12) and Conservatives ($31,414.25).

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Bob Mackin  After losing two June by-elections, BC

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