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Bob Mackin

Despite the need for more skilled immigrants, especially in healthcare, the B.C. NDP government hiked the application fee on Aug. 1 by more than 28%. 

In a ministerial order on July 18, Municipal Affairs Minister Anne Kang, who is responsible for provincial immigration programs, approved the $325 increase for skilled immigrants to apply for permanent residency under the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

NDP MLAs Henry Yao (left), George Chow and Anne Kang (CCSA/Lahoo)

Instead of $1,150, they will have to pay $1,475. There is currently a three-month waiting period for application processing. 

Under an agreement with the federal government, B.C. nominates a certain number of immigrants every year to become permanent residents of Canada. The federal government ultimately decides who gets the visa. 

B.C. issued 7,000 nominations in 2022, a number expected to increase by 1,000 annually until reaching 10,000 in 2025. Applicants are scored based on directly related work experience, highest level of education, language proficiency in English or French, hourly wage of the B.C. job offer, and area within B.C.

Immigration lawyer Richard Kurland wonders if the fee increase is really necessary. 

“Why be penny wise and pound foolish?” Kurland said. “Do you really need the extra $325 per application at the present time, when there’s a greater need, in terms of balancing the economics of it, of bringing in skilled labor?”

Kurland does not expect the higher cost to be a significant barrier. However, he suggests keeping the price point the same and only charging the additional fee after qualification would have been fair.

In a statement, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs said the increased fee is intended “to maintain service standards and enhance features of the PNP, such as targeted outreach to regions and areas of labour shortage, and proactive analysis of program performance.”

It said the program operates on a cost-recovery model, with additional revenue to hire more staff. 

“The program currently employs 103 staff that are occasionally supported by contractors. All staff, including the program systems, facilities support, are 100% paid through cost recovery, which means the program is entirely funded by fees.”

Parliament Buildings, VIctoria, on Aug. 13, 2020 (Mackin)

B.C.’s application fee remains less than Ontario, which requires a $2,000 application if the job is offered in Toronto or $1,500 outside the Greater Toronto Area. The fee to apply in the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program is $500. The Ministry said it has seen 74% more healthcare nominees and 374% more early childhood sector nominees.  

In a 2020 report, acting Auditor General Russ Jones said the Ministry had met its nomination targets and most immigrants who became permanent residents through the PNP chose to remain in B.C. and were employed. But there was room for improvement. 

That report said B.C. forecast 861,000 job openings from 2019 to 2029 and the number of people (including nominees and accompanying spouses and dependents) who came to B.C. from 2015 to 2018 through the PNP was 32,000. 

“The emphasis on filling the province’s nomination quota could encourage unintended behaviours, such as focusing on quantity over quality of nominees, or approving applications with less scrutiny than warranted,” Jones reported. “We also found that the ministry had not done enough to assess and mitigate the risks of misrepresentation, fraud and corruption. The ministry had set up safeguards to protect the program’s integrity. However, it had not conducted a structured risk assessment to ensure that it had the right safeguards in place. It also had not monitored to ensure that safeguards were implemented as intended.”

The Ministry’s overall budget for 2023-2024 is almost $269.3 million. The Immigration Services and Strategic Planning department’s net budget is $25.7 million after $149.7 million in external recoveries. 

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Bob Mackin Despite the need for more skilled

Bob Mackin

Former Vancouver Park Board chair John Coupar said the early closing hours of the board’s biggest ticketed attractions are a bummer of the summer.

On July 28, after dinner at Seasons in the Park, he noticed the crowds of people on the plaza atop Queen Elizabeth Park. But the Bloedel Conservatory, which he campaigned to restore, had closed two hours earlier. Its April to September hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bloedel Conservatory (City of Vancouver)

“We’ve just seen our taxes go up 10%, the new mayor [Ken Sim] is talking a lot about bringing the fun back, getting the swagger back,” said Coupar, a board commissioner from 2011 to 2022. “We’ve got two facilities that are already there and we’re not maximizing revenue.”

Coupar said the ABC supermajority, elected to all but one seat last October, is not using the power to maximize revenue. 

“I think they’re trying, but none of them have any experience or any history with the park board,” Coupar said.

Meanwhile, VanDusen Garden operated through July on a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule, except 6 p.m. Fridays to Sundays. August sees 7 p.m. closings on Thursdays. 

Less than a month ago, staff delivered the “Think Big” revenue strategy report, which contained a key line about “existing [Park Board] assets and facilities may be under-utilized in some areas, such as advertising, sponsorship, partnerships, and market rate rentals.”

VanDusen ($4.46 million) and Bloedel ($1.07 million) contributed to the $64 million revenue last year. Golf courses were the biggest money makers at $11.59 million. 

A statement from Ema Tanaka, the garden director for both Bloedel and VanDusen, said hours are determined annually by staff in the fourth quarter “guided by data-driven decisions that consider demand and historical visitation patterns.” She said staff will continue to “analyze demand and data to optimize our operating hours.” 

Ex-NPA mayoral candidate John Coupar (NPA)

“The current hours are similar to many other local attractions, striking a balance between providing public access and ensuring operational efficiency,” Tanaka said. “For comparison, the Vancouver Aquarium operates from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the UBC Botanical Garden from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Science World from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.”  

Coupar points to the history of Bloedel, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019 and opened daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. in December of that year for Festival Tropicale. He said it would need a cashier and security guard to remain open longer. The Aquarium is a totally different facility with fish and marine mammals that require constant care and tanks and pools needing after hours maintenance and repair. 

“You could always cherry pick to justify a decision and I think that’s what’s being done here,” Coupar said.

Coupar said a better comparison would be to civic facilities such as the Creekside (6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and Hillcrest community centres (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library (9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.).

Elsewhere, Chicago’s Botanic Garden runs 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Butchart Gardens outside Victoria remain open until 10 p.m Wednesdays to Sundays from June to mid-September. 

Coupar was the NPA mayoral candidate until a dispute over fundraising with the party board a year ago. The NPA board replaced him with Beijing resident Fred Harding, but the ex-cop finished fifth and the entire slate of the city’s oldest party was shut out. 

Coupar said he would “never say never” to another run for Park Board in 2026, but is enjoying retirement.

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Bob Mackin Former Vancouver Park Board chair John

Bob Mackin 

When Daniel Fontaine ran for New Westminster city council for the first time in 2018, he finished seventh in the race for six seats. Shortly afterward, he realized he was tired of seeing toxic messages directed at him on Twitter, so he quit and decided he would win for the New West Progressives party in 2022, “without Twitter, not because of Twitter.”

New Westminster City Councillor Daniel Fontaine (Zoom)

Fontaine chose old-fashioned knocking on doors — 4,500 to 5,000, by his count — and talking face-to-face with real people, with real names. He finished sixth last October, winning a seat with almost 1,900 more votes than his 2018 tally. 

“I never regret that decision,” Fontaine said.

That didn’t solve the entire problem for Fontaine, who was the CEO of the Metis Nation B.C. from March 2020 to May 2022. He was still a target online. 

“The only way I find out about them is if people screenshot them and send them to me,” said Fontaine. “So I am aware that there were several incredibly vile and disgusting tweets that were sent out and imagery on the @NWRegressives [account], putting me into orange T-shirts and mocking the fact that that I’m Indigenous was just beyond the pale.”

The most-notorious account was under the name Allan Whitterstone. Whistleblower Sarah Arboleda went public on June 14, with evidence that Community First New West (CFNW) school board trustee Dee Beattie was tweeting from @AlfromNW “to harass parents, teachers, and even the head of the BCTF for years.” Arboleda said she and her husband, James Plett, noticed odd comments from “Allan” any time they were critical of the school board. 

Dee Beattie (second from left) in the 2022 Community First NW campaign photo (CFNW)

Beattie admitted to it, was kicked out of the the NDP-aligned party’s caucus and announced she would go on leave due to illness. She has resisted calls from the rest of the board and the District Parents’ Advisory Committee to resign. She refused an interview request. 

Rather than launch an immediate internal investigation, party chair Cheryl Greenhalgh sent Plett a brisk message on June 16. 

“You and Sarah are members of Community First and I would have expected that you make a complaint directly to the executive of CF or to the chair of the School Board rather than through Twitter,” Greenhalgh wrote. “That you chose to do that publicly makes it difficult for me to now have a conversation with you about the issue until it is resolved.”

Greenhalgh did not respond to an interview request. 

Arboleda, Plett and Fontaine spoke at the June 20 school board meeting, but the school board rejected calls for a third-party investigation.

“There are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered and the only way that that will ever get answered is if there is an independent investigation as to what happened,” Fontaine said. “I’d like to know, did anyone know if Ms. Beattie had this account? Is there any elected official that was aware or had heard rumours? Or was potentially privy to information related to whether or not this account actually existed and was run by one of their colleagues? I don’t know. I certainly hope not.”

The “Allan Whitterstone” mugshot Dee Beattie used for her fraudulent account (Twitter).

Fontaine said he is encouraged that city council is in the middle of modernizing its code of conduct. It may result in the hiring of an external ethics commissioner to probe complaints from citizens, staff and politicians. He also said city manager Lisa Spitale moved swiftly in early January after a citizen complained that civic social media accounts were following @NWRegressives, the account that claimed to be a parody, but often pilloried Fontaine. 

@NWRegressives shut down the day after Beattie’s June 16 announcement and subsequently disappeared. Some of the evidence was archived and re-posted as “@NWRegressFan.”

“The timing of it shutting down so quickly after the Dee Beattie affair seems a bit more than simply coincidental,” Fontaine said. 

@NWRegressives’ parting messages called Beattie, Fontaine and others bullies, and claimed Fontaine had feigned offence. The four-part thread ended: “If you enjoyed the memes, I call on you to call out the many sock puppet, trolls, and assholes here adding nothing to #NewWest discourse, not even humour. You know who they are. Don’t cede this space to them. Bye.”

@NWRegressives first appeared Feb. 18, 2022, some eight months before the election. “We are not affiliated with any party,” said one of the first tweets, beside a winking emoji.

The #NewWestRegressives hashtag was, coincidentally, used the previous day in a tweet by New Westminster architect Robert Billard, when he called NWP “out of touch with what’s already going on.” Almost a year later, on Feb. 14, 2023, Billard issued a denial. “I am NOT @NWRegressives, and I don’t know who is.”

Billard frequently contacts elected and appointed officials on behalf of his clients seeking development permits. He donated $105 to CFNW on election day. On April 8, he quit tweeting, with a message expressing anger at “self-serving politicians, hateful people, unbridled racism, armchair experts, and chronic complainers. Twitter gets me so angry, wanting to ‘fix it’. I can’t. At times I say the wrong thing. My health can’t take it anymore. I’m getting off. Bye.”

Billard did not respond to phone messages left at his architecture practice from a reporter seeking his reaction to the Beattie scandal. Of the four email queries in the last week of June, he responded just once after a reporter noticed his dormant account was gone.

“Your email reminded me that I hadn’t fully shut it down instead of just stop using it,” Billard wrote. “Thanks for the reminder.”

Dee Beattie is not the first B.C. politician found using a pseudonym in a dirty tricks scandal. The most-famous happened 25 years ago in Parksville when the local newspaper caught BC Liberal MLA Paul Reitsma writing letters to the editor, in praise of himself and critical of opponents, under the pseudonym “Warren Betanko.” Reitsma quit, rather than face a recall vote, after a petition attracted more than enough signatures to oust him. 

Some 20 years later, a 2018 investigation by The Ringer resulted in the resignation of Philadelphia 76ers president Bryan Colangelo, whose wife, Barbara Bottini, admitted she was behind anonymous accounts slamming NBA players (including some 76ers) and executives. 

Earlier this month, the Washington Post questioned the legitimacy of a viral, polarizing account under the name Erica Marsh, who claimed to be a proud Democrat and denied being a parody, fake or bot.

Coun. Colleen Hardwick (left) and Mayor Kennedy Stewart at the April 12 city council meeting (City of Vancouver)

Reporters looked into the September 2022-created account, which was followed by 130,000 users and popular among Republicans. They couldn’t find anyone with that name in the Washington, D.C. phone directory or voting list. The Biden presidential campaign and Obama Foundation had no record of Marsh, despite her claims of involvement with both. The Washington Post story speculated that Marsh could have been the rage-baiting creation of an Eastern European “troll farm” service, aimed at influencing the midterm elections. 

A Toronto-based thinktank’s June report on abusive content directed at candidates and parties in last fall’s elections in Vancouver and Surrey included a dire warning.

“These working conditions, facilitated by digital technologies, threaten to reduce participation and representation in our democracies,” said the report from the Samara Centre for Democracy. 

Its “Sam-bot” found 13% of Tweets analyzed during the 35-day Surrey election period were either insults, toxic, threats, sexually explicit and/or identity attacks. Fourth-place mayoral candidate Jinny Sims, the NDP Surrey-Panorama MLA, had the most-abusive tweets received at 199, followed by eventual winner Brenda Locke at 169. Incumbent Doug McCallum had no account. 

Vancouver had a similar 13% rate. Incumbent mayoral candidate Kennedy Stewart received one-in-five of the total abusive tweets (2,031), followed by TEAM for a Livable Vancouver’s Colleen Hardwick (599) and eventual winner Ken Sim (562).  

Not all politicians are innocent.

In June 2022, Stewart got in trouble for falsely accusing Hardwick on Twitter of violating the non-binding agreement with First Nations and Whistler to explore a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Integrity commissioner Lisa Southern reprimanded Stewart.

New West Regressives Twitter debut (Twitter)

Southern also reprimanded the co-chair of Vancouver’s renters’ advisory committee last October for calling Hardwick the “witch of the westside” on Facebook. Former BC Liberal operative Kit Sauder apologized to Hardwick before Easter. She hoped it would be a lesson for others.

“I’m glad it’s been dealt with, it would have been nice if it had been dealt with at the time,” Hardwick said. “It would have been nice if it hadn’t happened at all.”

Southern recently issued a bulletin, “Government vs. Personal Use of Twitter,” that opened the door to politicians blocking citizens on Twitter. Her guidance offered a reminder that councillors appear at open meetings and can be contacted through traditional means, such as email and regular mail. 

Fontaine acknowledges that Twitter has, from time to time, been a tool for good, used by pro-democracy movements during the “Arab spring” of 2011, Hong Kong anti-Communist protests in 2019 and last year’s feminist uprising against Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist regime.

The reliability of the platform has eroded due to ownership, technical, regulatory and market changes. Owner Elon Musk’s rival Mark Zuckerberg has launched a similar service called Threads.

Fontaine said the uncertainty worries him, since Twitter can also be useful for a government to mass-communicate urgent messages about public safety and security. For instance, on July 2, when Musk announced a temporary cap on tweets, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation’s DriveBC highway alerts account was restricted in warning the public about crashes, delays and wildfire-related closures. 

Fontaine said governments should not rely solely on multinational corporations to get the word out, when they have local newspapers and their own channels, specifically civic websites. 

“I’m a huge fan of diversity of communication,” he said. 

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Bob Mackin  When Daniel Fontaine ran for New

For the week of July 30, 2023:

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke broke her silence at the July 26 Surrey Police Board meeting, a week after the NDP government ordered Surrey to replace the RCMP with the Surrey Police Service over the next two-to-three years. 

That happened the day after a Quebec judge agreed to July 25 to release retired RCMP detective Bill Majcher on conditional bail. Majcher, a former Vancouverite, is charged under the Security of Information Act for allegedly intimidating an individual wanted by China. The judge banned him from contacting his mentor, former FBI special agent Ross Gaffney. 

On this edition of thePodcast, hear Locke at a tension-filled police board meeting and hear Majcher during a 2020 webcast interview with Gaffney and a former CIA agent. 

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

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thePodcast: Of a domestic debacle and foreign interference
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For the week of July 30, 2023: Surrey

Bob Mackin

The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant incurred $598 million in costs as of April, more than half the total budgeted for the troubled North Vancouver project. 

The monthly status report for April, released by Metro Vancouver under freedom of information, shows $682.3 million had been committed to date. The total budget is almost $1.058 billion, double the $525 million announced in 2017 by original design/build/finance contractor Acciona.

Aerial view of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant site (Metro Vancouver)

The project’s fourth property and equipment damage incident and fifth near-miss happened in April, according to the status report. 

“PCL identified items (electrical cable) that had been taken/removed from their designated areas, suspected to be theft,” said the report. “A subcontractor was observed not in 100% tied-off while transitioning a scaffold above six feet.”

Residents of a mobile home between the site and staff parking lot on West First “have shown aggression to staff coming out of the parking lot and walking towards site. This has been reported to the RCMP and Metro Vancouver Safety Security and Emergency Management.”

The project, backed by $405 million in joint provincial-federal funding, was supposed to be complete in 2020. In March 2021, Metro Vancouver admitted the budget had doubled and the plant wouldn’t be in service until 2024. Acciona was fired in early 2022 and the Spanish company responded with a $250 million lawsuit. Metro Vancouver countersued in June 2022, claiming more than $500 million in damages, costs and expenses. The dispute has yet to be tried in court.

In March, Metro Vancouver’s liquid waste committee heard that it will cost $85 million more for new construction manager PCL to fix Acciona’s errors, but the current budget could absorb the additional cost. The April status report said Metro Vancouver and Acciona are negotiating a product transfer agreement. 

In July, Metro Vancouver staff chose Stantec Consulting Ltd. for a $25 million contract as owner’s engineer and increased engineer of record AECOM’s contract to $153 million to finish phase two work. 

The April report said that AECOM had around 150 staff in April for total 3,300-hours per week. PCL averaged 22 staff onsite for the month and 45 craftworkers and subcontractors. 

The project also includes decommissioning the existing sewage plant west of the Lions Gate Bridge, after the new plant is finished, and a new pump station and sewer pipes. The latter, known as the conveyance project, was finished last September, to connect the new plant with the existing outfall pipe near the Lions Gate Bridge.

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Bob Mackin The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant

Bob Mackin

The California man caught in Surrey after allegedly driving a stolen vehicle across the Peace Arch border crossing on July 22 was not booked for impaired driving because he had been given a pain reliever at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

Vehicle that was driven through the border on July 22 (WSP/Twitter)

A Washington State Patrol trooper’s incident report, released under the state’s public records law, said he originally pursued a silver 2010 Hyundai Tucson SUV on Interstate 5 near Bellingham because the vehicle was reported stolen and the driver suspected of being under the influence.

The vehicle’s owner had left the keys in the ignition while shopping and the theft from Seattle was reported at 5:30 p.m. Trooper Dexter Beard’s report said he was notified by dispatch at 7:55 p.m. of the northbound vehicle near Bellingham and was one of two troopers in separate vehicles led on a chase that reached up to 185 kilometres-per-hour. 

Before Beard abandoned pursuit near exit 275 to Blaine, a dispatcher said border authorities had been notified. Beard continued toward the Peace Arch at routine speed and turned on emergency lights to signal Canada Border Services agents. 

“The line cleared in the Nexus lane and the Tucson accelerated through the crossing before the border officer was able to close the lane,” Beard wrote. “I advised the officer that the vehicle was stolen and that we had been in pursuit of the vehicle, also asking if they had been notified of the incoming pursuit. They said they had not been advised. They then relayed the information to Surrey PD and RCMP as the Tucson appeared to continue northbound into Canada from the border crossing.”

Beard returned through U.S. Customs but was informed the vehicle had crashed and the driver taken into custody. Police in Surrey agreed to investigate the collision and return both the vehicle and driver. While he waited for the suspect, Clover Towing transferred the badly burned Hyundai at the border to Meridian Towing.

The driver, who had become aggressive and attempted to flee, had been subdued with a taser. He was handed over at 10:30 a.m. July 23 after being treated overnight for a possible punctured lung in Surrey Memorial Hospital. 

“Due to the circumstances of the [suspect] being in Canadian custody for an extended period of time, with medical treatment ahead of a blood sample, I decided to not pursue charges of DUI,” Beard wrote. 

Emil Abdullah Tunsel, 21, of Irvine, Calif., was charged with attempting to elude a police vehicle, being without a valid operator’s licence and taking a motor vehicle without permission. Tunsel remains in custody in Bellingham.

Earlier July 22, tens of thousands of Lower Mainlanders headed south through the Peace Arch border crossing on their way to see the Seattle Mariners host the Toronto Blue Jays or Taylor Swift in concert.

Just over a month earlier, on June 18, a 30-year-old Seattle man was booked on charges of attempting to elude a police vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle, theft and assault.

Jordan Joshua Richardson allegedly struck several vehicles waiting to cross into B.C. at the Peace Arch and ran across the border. CBSA officers nabbed Richardson and turned him over to U.S. authorities. That case also featured a Hyundai SUV stolen from Seattle, specifically a Santa Fe. Richardson remains in the Whatcom County Jail.

Under Washington State’s version of the freedom of information law, public bodies are provided five business days to disclose records or notify the applicant that more time is needed. It could take up to 30 business days for a B.C. municipal police force to respond or 30 calendar days for the RCMP, but a Canadian police department may refuse access to an incident report if it believes disclosure could harm an investigation. 

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Bob Mackin The California man caught in Surrey

Bob Mackin

The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is sending almost 300 members to the World Police and Fire Games, which opened July 28 in Winnipeg.

(Hong Kong Police Force/YouTube)

But Global Affairs Canada (GAC) says they are not allowed to act as police while visiting for the Olympic-style multisport festival, which runs through Aug. 6. 

“We reiterate that the Hong Kong authorities have no jurisdiction in applying the law within our borders,” said GAC spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod. “Canada strongly opposes any attempt to intimidate or silence anyone residing in Canada.”

A statement from the organizing committee in Winnipeg said it was “not allowed to share with the public how many people from which country and how many sports/events they are registered in as it is private information.”

However, the duty officer in the public relations wing of the HKPF, who did not provide a name, said 287 members are going to Winnipeg for the event. They will compete in: adventure, archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, bodybuilding, boxing, cycling, dragon boat, football, golfing, judo, rowing, rugby, shooting swimming, table tennis, 10-pin bowling and volleyball. 

MacLeod said the government has condemned Hong Kong authorities for issuing warrants and offering cash rewards for the return of eight pro-democracy advocates living overseas, including some with ties to Canada. 

Anyone experiencing foreign interference or state-backed harassment and intimidation should contact their local police and the RCMP National Security Information Network, MacLeod said.

(Hong Kong Police Force/YouTube)

A Vancouver human rights activist said HKPF officers have brutally attacked innocent Hong Kongers and she fears their presence in Winnipeg will cause particular stress for any Hong Konger living there in exile.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for such a dictatorship, the city police, who have cracked down on Hong Kongers’ fight for the basic rights, to be in Canada,” said Mabel Tung, chair of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement.

Tung said when Canada hosts such an event, it should only do so by ensuring that visiting police officers represent cities or countries “that have the same universal value as Canadians.”

When the People’s Republic of China took over Hong Kong from the U.K. in 1997, it promised the former colony would operate, business as usual, under a “one country, two systems” style of government for 50 years after the handover. That effectively ended in 2020 with the imposition of a national security law that resulted in HKPF officers arresting peaceful protesters, journalists and lawyers and shutting down media companies.

The World Police and Fire Games launched in 1985 in San Jose, Calif. and are held every two years. The 2023 edition is the fifth in Canada, after Vancouver hosted in 1989 and 2009, Quebec City in 2005 and Calgary in 1997.

Province of Manitoba is paying $4.9 million of the $17 million cost to stage the Games, which will see more than 5,000 police, fire and other first responders compete in 63 events at 34 venues. The Games also got a $2 million grant from federal taxpayers in 2019, via Western Economic Diversification Canada, for a smart cities technology exhibition to showcase law enforcement software and records management systems.

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Bob Mackin The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF)

Bob Mackin

A judge banned a former RCMP officer, who was charged after a foreign interference investigation, from contacting a former FBI officer that he once described as a mentor. 

Bill Majcher, who worked 1985 to 2007 on undercover organized crime investigations, is accused of helping the People’s Republic of China illegally intimidate an individual. 

In February 2019, Majcher told a meeting of U.K. lawmakers that he was helping one major client, China’s government, to recover US$1.2 trillion of fraudulently acquired money.

Bill Majcher (upper left) and Ross Gaffney (bottom) with Robert David Steele (RobertDavidSteele.com)

A judge in Longueuil, Quebec granted the 60-year-old bail on July 25. Conditions of his release include having no contact with former RCMP international organized crime unit commander Kim Marsh and former FBI supervisory special agent Ross Gaffney. Majcher, who normally resides in Hong Kong, had been in custody in the Vancouver area since his arrest last week. 

Marsh is allegedly Majcher’s co-conspirator. Neither Marsh nor Gaffney have been charged. 

Gaffney is a lawyer in Pompano Beach, Fla., who spent 17 of his 27 years with the FBI overseeing financial crime and international money laundering investigations in Miami. 

Majcher and Gaffney worked together on the Operation Bermuda Short sting, which climaxed in 2002 and led to the conviction of Vancouver lawyer Martin Chambers for money laundering. They remembered their work together during a June 2020 interview with a former CIA agent who promoted their appearance on his website by claiming that “Wall Street’s financial crime and money laundering is protected by Congressional treason.”

“[Gaffney] was a mentor to me at some points, and because of that vast experience he had in creating the White Collar Crime Task Force in the Caribbean, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force with the U.K. Government,” Majcher told “Intelligence with Integrity” show host Robert David Steele.

“As Bill said, it was a target-rich environment and the numbers of individuals that we had not only predicated, but that we had strong cases against, rose to over 100,” Gaffney said. “And arbitrarily, the chief of the economic crimes unit in Miami, effectively said, no, we’re going to cut it off at 58, and just let all of those other criminals go free. They wouldn’t allow us to continue the operation and go after them.”

The tone of the interview shifted toward talk of political corruption and politicization of the FBI, with both guests noting the shift from combating financial crimes toward counterterrorism after the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. 

The interview was conducted at the same time as riots across the U.S. after George Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Majcher said the incident triggered “rightful anger towards some policemen, no question, but not the majority of them.”

“Unfortunately, what we see for the last eight days, this massive, organized conspiracy of violence that is taking place across the United States, that’s touching a number of different groups,” Majcher said. “But they all have one thing that links them all together. There’s a Marxist sort of strain of ideology, as well as, let’s everybody go after President Trump.”

Majcher suggested police officers were facing similar financial challenges as the protesters, because they were seeing their pensions and savings “raped and pillaged by the 1% of Wall Street, and the same guys with a smirk on their face going to the lobbyists in D.C.”

Host Steele, a 69-year-old pro-Trump promoter of the QAnon conspiracy, died in August 2021 after contracting COVID-19. He refused to be vaccinated and claimed the pandemic was a hoax.

In 2018, Gaffney appeared on a podcast guest-hosted by Majcher, called the “Intelligence Hour.” Majcher wondered whether FBI investigations had been politicized or compromised by “political correctness run amok.” He also speculated that the National Security Agency may have spied on Americans without a warrant or used Five Eyes intelligence alliance partners in the U.K. and Canada to illegally gather evidence on Americans. 

Majcher ended the podcast by reading a script that included a quote by former President Thomas Jefferson: “When people fear their government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there’s liberty.”

Majcher, who is accused of crimes between 2014 and 2019, is scheduled for another court appearance on Aug. 29. His bail conditions include a $50,000 bond, $200,000 surety, surrender of his passport and weekly visits to the Burnaby RCMP. He is represented by Vancouver defence lawyer Ian Donaldson.

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Bob Mackin A judge banned a former RCMP

Bob Mackin

The executive director of the Marpole Business Association wants Vancouver city council to ensure public access to the Fraser River if it approves a staff-recommended road exchange to enable TransLink’s Marpole Transit Centre project. 

Marpole community coalition has spent two years lobbying TransLink and city hall to build a trail by the Fraser River foreshore. The 2014 Marpole Plan had envisioned a 10-acre park.

Rendering of proposed green space by the Fraser River, near TransLink’s bus barn (City of Vancouver)

In a letter to the July 25 city council meeting, Claudia Laroye said she supports a proposed amendment to the road exchange so that staff can explore a waterfront walking path. 

“We request that the city begin discussions with TransLink and the Musqueam on the 

form of the walkway as soon as possible, and determine how a higher elevation level 

path and modified and restored foreshore may contribute to the ecological health of the Fraser River ecosystem,” said Claude Laroye’s letter. 

The staff report said public access would be improved by extending Laurel Street and providing a “contiguous development site and improved access for TransLink’s proposed transit facility.”

The Marpole Transit Centre is designed for 300 battery electric and conventional buses, plus 25 agency support vehicles, on industrial land between West Kent Avenue South and the Fraser River, adjacent to the Canada Line Bridge and bisected by Heather Street. Development Permit Board approved the matter on May 1. The $300 million project is slated for 2027 completion.

TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn’s May 10 letter to the Marpole-Oakridge Community Association said TransLink is in discussions with Musqueam Indian Band and Fisheries and Oceans Canada about various environmental mitigation measures. As for the riverfront walkway, Quinn said the design includes foreshore access on the east and west sides of the site if city hall and the Musqueam agree. 

“Until a decision is reached between those parties, TransLink cannot pursue the development of a riverfront amenity, and so that element was separated from our application and will be considered once we receive direction from the city and Musqueam,” Quinn wrote. “However, in this application, we have worked closely with the City of Vancouver to incorporate enhancements into the site design that benefit the public, such as a landscaped multi-used path and green space on the east side of the site.”

Stanley Tromp, who has lived in the area for 17 years, two blocks from the proposed bus barn, said it is good news that both TransLink and city hall agree in principle on a trail at the river, but the staff amendment is “far too vague and uncommitted.” 

“The current wording is outdated,” Tromp said. “The exploration is done. Finished. The amendment should be to direct staff to get on with it.”

Tromp said he accepts the full park is no longer feasible, but a trail would be a popular destination for both locals and tourists, so close to the Marine Drive Canada Line station.

As for the environmental and fisheries impacts of the new bus depot, Tromp said TransLink has produced three reports, but refuses to release them. He wants city council to require TransLink to release the reports immediately.

“These reports are public records, produced at public expense. Why are these secret?” Tromp said. “If the environmental conclusions were positive, then why does it not release them? How could this TransLink secrecy not raise public and councillor misgivings?”

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Bob Mackin The executive director of the Marpole

Bob Mackin

Payroll for staff and contractors in Premier David Eby’s office was $768,000 in April, just $42,000 less than a year earlier when John Horgan was B.C.’s NDP premier. 

According to documents released under freedom of information, Horgan’s 100 staff cost taxpayers $810,000 in April 2022.

David Eby and John Horgan (BC Gov/Flickr)

Eby counted 97 employees, who were paid $747,963.97 during the month, plus former Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps as a housing advisor for $13,333.33 and Convergence Communications Inc., for $6,400. Convergence is co-owned by Mike Magee, who was chief of staff to ex-Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. 

The list released by the Ministry of Finance does not include $275,000-a-year Indigenous reconciliation advisor Doug White or health advisor Penny Ballem at $170,000-a-year. A fourth advisor, Thompson Rivers University law professor Craig Jones, is retained through the Legal Services Branch and Eby has refused to disclose payment terms.

Eby has five deputy and associate deputy ministers, a chief of staff and two deputy chiefs of staff. Horgan had eight deputy and associate deputy ministers, a chief of staff and two deputy chiefs of staff. 

The top paid official under Eby is deputy minister and head of the public service Shannon Salter, who grossed $19,375.750 during April’s two pay periods, followed by: deputy minister Douglas Caul ($16,305.07); chief of staff Matt Smith ($15,705.06); intergovernmental relations deputy minister Silas Brownsey ($14,237.10); and Megan Marshall, the director of strategic outreach and stakeholder relations ($12,621.10). 

In April 2022, John Allan was Horgan’s special advisor for the natural resources sector and the month’s highest-paid member of the Office of the Premier at $91,934.29. Public accounts show Allan was also paid $339,781 during the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2022. 

Next in the Horgan April 2022 pay parade were: deputy minister and head of the public service Lori Wanamaker ($25,447.98); deputy minister of policy and coordination Mark Sieben ($20,668.26); deputy minister of strategic initiatives Jill Kot ($19,318.26); and chief of staff Geoff Meggs ($16,180.90). 

When Eby took over from Horgan last November, Wanamaker got a pink slip and $591,089 golden parachute, along with Meggs ($339,784), deputy chief of staff Amber Hockin ($189,291) and executive coordinator Jarrett Hagglund ($75,366). 

The Office of the Premier includes the intergovernmental relations secretariat, cabinet operations, executive and support services and the planning and priorities secretariat. The latter was created after the 2020 snap election, tasked to work with ministries on cabinet social, economic and environmental initiatives.

In August 2020, the month before Horgan called the election, Horgan had 86 people on the payroll.

Horgan’s office got a $3.34 million-a-year budget windfall in 2021 to $14.68 million. In February’s budget, it grew to $16.045 million under Eby. The biggest line item was executive and support services ($8.495 million, up from $7.5 million). 

In April, Eby’s office included four protocol managers, three protocol assistants, a protocol and events assistant and a protocol chief, plus four people in communications, six in the correspondence department, six administrative assistants, five executive directors, three executive assistants and a senior executive assistant, and three executive coordinators.

During budget estimates debates on May 11, BC United leader Kevin Falcon said that the office’s budget has grown 78% since 2012 when he left the BC Liberal government under Premier Christy Clark.

Yet we’re getting the worst results we’ve ever seen in housing. We’re getting the worst results we’ve ever seen in crime and social disorder and chaos as a result of [Eby’s] soft-on-crime policies and his catch-and-release system,” Falcon said. “We’re getting the worst possible results we’ve ever seen in terms of mental health and addictions. And we’re getting the worst results we’ve ever seen in the health care sector. Yet the budget has gone up 78 percent.”

Eby said his budget is less than Premier Gordon Campbell’s in 2009. 

Public accounts show that Campbell budgeted $14.1 million, but spent $13.524 million that year. Eby, citing the Bank of Canada inflation calculator, said Campbell’s budget then is worth $19.4 million now.

“The Premier’s office budget also compares favourably to other major provinces. Ontario’s Premier’s office budget is $57.5 million, Quebec’s is $50.3 million, Alberta’s is $34.6 million and B.C.’s is $16.045 million,” Eby said. “We’re actually closer to Nova Scotia’s budget than Alberta’s in terms of overall cost.”

For 2016-2017, Clark’s last fiscal year in office, the Office of the Premier’s budget was $9.579 million, which would be $11.67 million after inflation. 

In February, the NDP government budgeted $80.2 billion in overall spending, $77.69 billion revenue and a $4.216 billion deficit. 

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Bob Mackin Payroll for staff and contractors in