Recent Posts
Connect with:
Friday / March 29.
  • No products in the cart.
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 54)

Bob Mackin

The Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) hearings into the use of the Emergencies Act to end the trucker convoy blockades climaxed Nov. 25 with testimony from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

The commissioner of the RCMP already testified the force didn’t ask for the law to be invoked. The director of CSIS said there was no national security threat, but said the law was needed. Meanwhile, evidence showed that the ministers of justice and public safety discussed calling in the army and deploying tanks to remove protesters.

Jean Chretien, Nov. 25, 1997 (Nardwuar); Justin Trudeau, Nov. 25, 2022 (POEC)

The Ottawa inquiry was required under the Act to decide whether the government was justified in declaring the national emergency from Feb. 14-23 and whether the measures were appropriate and effective in dealing with the protests against COVID-19 vaccination and pandemic restrictions in Ottawa, Windsor, Ont., Coutts, Alta., Emerson, Man. and the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey. 

Mark Twain famously said history doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes. This is not the first time a Liberal Party Prime Minister and his inner circle were accused of political pressure on police to crack down on peaceful protesters while the world watched. 

The POEC hearing is happening, coincidentally, on the 25th anniversary of Vancouver hosting the ninth Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ summit in 1997. 

It was Vancouver’s biggest event between Expo 86 and the 2010 Winter Olympics. 

More than 8,600 delegates from 18 Pacific Rim nations participated. The Vancouver Convention Centre was the site for most events and B.C. Place Stadium hosted a gala banquet. 

The leaders’ summit was Nov. 25, 1997 at the University of B.C.’s Museum of Anthropology, where Prime Minister Jean Chretien plied the visiting leaders with shiny, leather Roots jackets for a photo op.

APEC leaders at the 1997 summit at UBC (APEC)

They met to talk trade, e-commerce, sustainable development, climate change, women in economic development and education and training. They endorsed a $60 billion International Monetary Fund package to battle the so-called “Asian economic flu” and signed the Vancouver Framework for Enhanced Public-Private Cooperation on Infrastructure. 

Peru, Russia and Vietnam were admitted as members for the 1998 summit.

What Vancouverites remember most, however, is how the RCMP handled anti-globalization protests, which included pre-emptive arrests, the removal of a Tibetan flag from the Graduate Student Society Building and even the arrest of law student Craig Jones — who had innocently placed paper signs on a security fence outside Green College residence that read “democracy, human rights and free speech.”

More than 2,500 protesters planned to walk to the barricades near MOA and surrender to police in front of media. They were motivated by opposition to Indonesia’s President Suharto and China’s Jiang Zemin. The former for human rights abuses in East Timor. The latter, for the legacy of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and Beijing’s ongoing control of Tibet. 

Some scaled a security fence near the Rose Garden Plaza, sparking violent clashes with police who ran rampant, deployed canisters of pepper spray in every direction and arrested 48. 

An on-again, off-again public inquiry was eventually held under retired judge Ted Hughes, who found that police were under pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office and they violated the protesters’ civil liberties.

Chretien famously joked to reporters on the day of the riot, while wearing his leather Roots jacket, about the pepper spray Mounties used to quell protesters: “Pepper, I put it on my plate!” 

Hughes did not have power to order Chretien’s testimony and the PM declined an invitation to appear. 

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP inquiry evaluated 52 complaints of police wrongdoing and, in many cases, found the conduct “inconsistent with the Charter and not appropriate for the circumstances.” No RCMP officer was charged, however.

Hughes’ 2001 report recommended proper training of police assigned to public events, protesters be given a “generous opportunity” to see and be seen, and that police “brook no intrusion or interference” from government officials.

Late UBC professor of law history Wesley Pue wrote in the Osgoode Hall Law Journal in spring 2001 that the most-stunning finding was the PMO meddling in the RCMP security operation. The Mounties, he wrote, succumbed to government influence and intrusion.

UBC’s 30th anniversary ceremony of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 2019. (Mackin)

“This is the first such authoritative finding of wrongful interference with the police on the part of any Canadian prime minister or his or her office,” Pue wrote. 

Pue described the security operation as a comedy of errors and likened the RCMP to keystone cops. On the day of the summit, busloads of officers were taken away from where they were needed, crucial information about co-operation from law-abiding protesters was not communicated and disinformation was acted on. 

“The RCMP command left its officers open to improper pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office and from the Chinese consulate,” Pue wrote.

Jones became president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, a law professor at Thompson Rivers University and, most-recently, general counsel to Premier David Eby. 

In a 2017 interview, he remarked on the long four years to get the APEC inquiry’s conclusion. 

“In a way, kind of gratifying to participate in that process,” Jones said. “I was quite struck by how offended Canadians seemed to be by what happened and how willing they were to set up a process to figure out exactly what happened and see what they could do to correct it.”

Those involved in the trucker convoy protests won’t have to wait so long. But will they share that sentiment about Commissioner Paul Rouleau’s inquiry after it’s done? 

The POEC final report is due by Feb. 20 in the House of Commons and Senate.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin The Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC)

Bob Mackin 

After almost two days of deliberations, a jury returned Nov. 23 to B.C. Supreme Court and reduced the first degree murder sentence of Chu Ming Feng by three years.

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

Feng killed River Rock casino loan shark Rong Lilly Li in May 2006 and was arrested in September 2006 after confessing to the crime. A B.C. Supreme Court jury convicted Feng of first degree murder in 2009, for an automatic 25 years without parole. His appeal failed in 2012, but he became eligible in 2021, after 15 years in custody, to ask for early parole under the so-called “faint hope” clause.

When Justice George Macintosh and a jury heard Feng’s application last week, his lawyer, Eric Purtzki, asked for a five-year reduction to 20 years because Feng claimed he was a changed man who became a model minimum security prisoner at Mission Institution. 

When the jury returned, the foreperson answered “yes” when Macintosh asked if jurors unanimously agreed that Feng’s sentence ought to be reduced, after considering his character, conduct while serving the sentence, the nature of the murder for which was convicted and the victim impact statement.  

Macintosh also asked whether eight or more jurors had decided on the number of years for Feng’s reduced sentence. The answer was 22 years, rather than 25. 

That means Feng should be eligible for parole in 2028, instead of 2031. 

Feng, 45, and accomplice Guo Wei Liang strangled 41-year-old Li and buried her body the next day at Jericho Beach in Vancouver. Feng did not testify at his 2009 trial, where his lawyer claimed he had taken an intoxicating water that temporarily clouded his judgment. 

In his charge to the jury on Monday, Macintosh told jurors to consider Feng’s character when he testified before them, his conduct since sentencing in 2009 and the position of the victim, as expressed by Li’s daughter in an emotional letter to the court. 

Feng’s victim Rong Lilly Li (Richmond RCMP)

That letter from Ahi Yan Chen was recited in court on Nov. 17 by Crown prosecutor Jeremy Hermanson. Chen, also known as Wendy, urged jurors to reject Feng’s bid for early parole, because of the devastating loss of her mother when she was a teenager.

“Mr. Feng’s actions have caused me so much pain,” Chen wrote. “He took the most important person from me. This man was sentenced by a judge for the murder of my mom and I do not believe that he should be able to apply for parole until he has served his sentence that was imposed on him by the courts.”

Macintosh had reminded jurors on Monday that Feng pulled the belt with all his strength while Li begged for her life, and that the sentence was appropriate under the Criminal Code. He also told them their task was to decide whether Feng’s circumstances had changed since the crime and, if so, to determine the correct balance between leniency and deterrence. 

Last week in court, Feng expressed remorse, broke down in tears, admitted 100% responsibility for the crime and that his earlier claim that Guo gave him an intoxicating water “was just a lie.”

“I want to say sorry to the victim. Secondly, I want to say sorry to her daughter, because I killed her mom,” Feng said in court on Nov. 15. “She’s without her mom, growing up. She might hate me, I cannot stop her from hating me, but if I can, I would ask for [her to] forgive me.”

Feng told the court that he had become addicted to gambling while working with Guo at a fish store after moving to Canada from Guangdong, China. He said Guo told him that Li could be carrying $150,000 to $300,000 in casino chips and he hoped that Guo would split that with him. When she was abducted, Li was carrying only $2,000 in chips and $500 in cash. 

Hermanson told the jury that Feng’s evidence was “not always consistent,” because he had refused to accept responsibility for Li’s death for so many years and claimed that he acted impulsively, when he had been planning the robbery for three weeks and accepted he would likely kill Li. 

Despite Li’s murder and other loan sharking crimes connected to River Rock, then BC Liberal Solicitor General Rich Coleman disbanded the RCMP’s Integrated Illegal Gaming Enforcement Team in 2009, six months before Feng’s conviction. 

Evidence at the Cullen Commission public inquiry into money laundering in B.C. included a 2006 memo that identified loan sharking as a problem in Richmond. The Richmond RCMP was confident that its “close working relationship” with River Rock, B.C. Lottery Corp. and IIGET would prevent such crime by “sending the message that such criminal activity will not be tolerated in Richmond.”

River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond (Mackin)

The undated memo said there had been five kidnappings to date in Richmond, three of which involved possible extortions involving gambling. 

“We have a current investigation regarding missing Vancouver woman Rong Lilly Li that also includes direct links to loan sharking,” the memo said. “In 2005 there were 11 kidnappings, two cases of which were involved extortions involving gaming. Since 2005, there have been two suicides related to gambling debts and/or money owed to loan sharks.”

The Cullen Commission final report released in June indicated that, from 2012 to 2015, B.C. casinos received $376 million of suspicious cash. One high-profile cash facilitator, Paul King Jin, even set-up shop in an 11th floor room at River Rock’s hotel to serve high rollers. 

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen sat as the one-man commissioner since 2019. Evidence indicated Jin wasn’t charging interest to high-level borrowers and their debts were often repaid in China.

Cullen wasn’t convinced BC Liberal politicians were corrupt. He concluded that they simply failed to do their jobs to keep dirty money out of B.C. casinos. 

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin  After almost two days of deliberations,

Bob Mackin 

The B.C. government is trying to claw back $10.5 million in COVID-19 relief payments, according to a report issued Nov. 22 by the province’s Auditor General.

Michael Pickup, B.C.’s new auditor general (Nova Scotia)

The Ministry of Finance paid $643 million to 643,000 people under the B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers program beginning in May 2020. Auditor General Michael Pickup said that as of the end of June, the Ministry reviewed more than 11,000 files and found that 95%, or 10,454 applicants, could not demonstrate they filed a 2019 tax return and should not have received the $1,000, one-time tax-free payment. 

Eligible families and single parents could receive up to $1,000 and individuals $500 tax-free under the B.C. Recovery Benefit for Families and Individuals. The Ministry paid out $1.3 billion, but only $54,000 has been identified for recovery. That program was rolled-out just before Christmas 2020 to fulfil a campaign promise made during Premier John Horgan’s snap election.

Pickup said that eligibility was verified before payments to families and individuals, which resulted in fewer payments to ineligible applicants than the program for workers. 

“This is really up to the government to determine the controls that they want in place, both upfront, when they design a program, obviously they’re aiming to get money out fairly quickly, if you’re in a difficult situation,” Pickup said.

(City of Abbotsford)

The Ministry of Finance is reviewing a third program, the Small and Medium Sized Business Recovery Grant. 

Pickup’s report also estimated the cost of response and recovery to 2021’s wildfire and flood disasters was $5 billion — more than all the natural disasters in the previous 19 years combined.

B.C. had 24 significant floods, landslides and wildfires over the last 20 years, nine of which happened since 2016. 

The November 2021 torrential rains, floods and landslides cost an estimated $3.5 billion, over half of all the estimated costs for weather-related disasters in the past 20 years. 

Pickup’s report included a qualified rating for the government’s summary financial statements due to three significant errors or omissions. Pickup is the fourth consecutive auditor general to issue a qualified report, because the government is not following generally accepted accounting standards. 

“Private sector organizations could face severe repercussions if they received a qualified auditor’s report,” Pickup said. “And the public sector should be held to a similarly high standard where qualifications to auditor reports do indeed matter.”

Pickup red-flagged the $6.48 billion in deferred revenue overstatement, which falsely implied the government had a $6.48 billion liability. The contractual obligations disclosure did not include all amounts, such as contracts below $50 million, resulting in a $3.45 billion understatement. There was also a $91 million understatement of both revenue and expenses in gambling revenues earned and transferred under the B.C. First Nations Gaming Revenue Sharing and Financial Agreement.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin  The B.C. government is trying to

Bob Mackin

The Keep the RCMP in Surrey protester that Doug McCallum accused of running over his foot said she was disappointed by the ex-mayor’s Nov. 21 acquittal and is taking time to process it. 

“I have come to understand that the level of certainty to prove public mischief ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ is very high, even with compelling evidence,” Debi Johnstone said in a written statement late Nov. 21.

Debi Johnstone of Keep the RCMP in Surrey on Oct. 31 (Mackin)

Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris ruled earlier in the day that McCallum was not guilty of public mischief, because Special Prosecutor Richard Fowler did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that McCallum filed a false police report to get revenge against opponent Johnstone.

Harris said that he was satisfied, based on the totality of evidence, that Johnstone ran over McCallum’s foot in the Southpoint Save-On-Foods parking lot on Sept. 4, 2021, even though surveillance video was inconclusive. McCallum walked away from the confrontation without a limp and went shopping, but was treated hours later at Peace Arch Hospital for a contusion on the top of his foot and minor swelling. Expert defence witnesses testified that it was possible for a human foot to survive being run over by a car without suffering a fracture. 

“I remain adamant that I did not run over Mr. McCallum’s foot with my car,” Johnstone said. “It was not my request or my wish to be involved in a legal proceeding like this. My involvement began when Mr. McCallum chose to accuse me; the Special Prosecutor appointed to look into the matter determined that Mr. McCallum, and not I, should be charged; and I participated as a witness only, without the benefit of counsel. Although the defence chose to make this about me, I was not on trial and was not given an opportunity to defend myself.”

Johnstone testified Oct. 31 and surveillance video shown in court debunked McCallum’s claims that she used her car to pin him before speeding away. Harris agreed with McCallum’s defence lawyers that McCallum exaggerated the incident because he had been frightened, but those mis-statements were not evidence that he was trying to mislead police. 

McCallum, who lost in the Oct. 15 civic election to Brenda Locke, did not testify during the trial, which ended Nov. 9.

Johnstone told the court that she voted for McCallum in 2018, but began to disagree with the way McCallum’s majority Safe Surrey Coalition rammed through bylaws, development permits and budgets. She attended several protests at city hall and in the community, and was at the Southpoint mall on Sept. 4, 2021 to collect signatures for a petition aimed at stopping McCallum’s replacement of the RCMP with the Surrey Police Service. 

Doug McCallum in the Surrey courthouse parkade (Mackin)

Johnstone co-operated with the police investigation and voluntarily gave a statement on the day of the incident. She admitted in court that she swore profusely at McCallum after taking advantage of the opportunity to confront him in the parking lot about his mayoralty.

“I am happy this proceeding is finally over,” Johnstone said. “This last year has been hard on my family and friends, who have loved and supported me every step of the way and for whom I am eternally grateful. I am pleased that Surrey can move forward with a new Mayor who has run on a platform of keeping the RCMP in Surrey, and who has committed to putting ethics, inclusivity and diversity first.”

McCallum has refused to say how much Surrey taxpayers were spending on his legal quartet, led by Richard Peck. 

Locke defeated McCallum by fewer than 1,000 votes. She had promised to send the legal bill to McCallum and to end the Surrey Police Service.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin The Keep the RCMP in Surrey

Bob Mackin 

In his charge to the jury on Nov. 21, a B.C. Supreme Court judge told jurors they have a range of options, from recommending immediate early parole for the 2006 killer of a River Rock casino loan shark all the way to deciding that he stay behind bars until his sentence is up in 2031.

Whatever the verdict, Justice George Macintosh said the Parole Board of Canada will ultimately decide when Chu Ming Feng, 45, walks free.

Justice George Macintosh

Feng and accomplice Guo Wei Liang strangled 41-year-old Rong Lilly Li and buried her body the next day at Jericho Beach in Vancouver in 2006. A B.C. Supreme Court jury convicted Feng of first degree murder in 2009 and his appeal failed in 2012. He became eligible in 2021 to ask for a sentence reduction under the so-called “faint hope clause.”

“The question is whether changes by Mr. Feng since 2009 make the current sentence too harsh,” Macintosh told the jury. 

In determining whether Feng deserves clemency, Macintosh told the jury to consider three things: Feng’s character when he testified last week, his conduct since sentencing in 2009 and the position of the victim, as expressed by the daughter in an emotional letter to the court. 

The letter from Li’s daughter, Ahi Yan Chen, was recited in court on Nov. 17. It urged the jury to reject Feng’s bid for early parole, because of the devastating loss of her mother when she was a teenager.

“He pulled the belt with all his strength while Ms. Li begged for her life,” Macintosh said. “The sentence was appropriate, the Criminal Code required it, the question is whether circumstances now call for leniency. Your task as jurors is to determine what you think is the correct balance, between leniency and deterrence.”

Macintosh said Feng is now remorseful, admitting 100% responsibility for the crime, and that his earlier claim of taking poisoned water shortly before killing Li “was just a lie.”

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

Macintosh said that evidence shows Feng has been a “model prisoner,” due to respect for authority, good behaviour, gaining the trust of prison guards and being a conscientious cleaning worker at Mission Institution.

“The law requires that you look at the nature and circumstances of the events. This is first degree murder, planned and deliberate. He killed a woman, he did so for money. The law requires you to consider the views of the victim. The victim impact statement by Ms. Chen, it speaks for itself,” Macintosh said. “The law also requires you to look at the character of the offender, we should assess the change in the character of the offender from 2006 to today.”

Macintosh reminded the jury that Feng’s lawyer, Eric Purtzki, said his client is a changed man. 

“At the time of the trial, at the time of the killing, he was a deeply flawed human being,” Macintosh said. “He lied to his spouse, that caused his marriage to fail. He incurred a gambling debt, he decided to participate in murder to get money. Rehabilitation takes time. It is a struggle, and it has been for him.”

Macintosh also reminded the jury of Crown prosecutor Jeremy Hermanson’s cross-examination of Feng about his motive, participation and remorse. 

“That evidence was not always consistent,” Macintosh said. 

A psychological profile found Feng is not a psychopath, but continues to engage in minimizing his past. Court heard that Feng claimed that he did not do the planning for the robbery and killing of Li, but that he spent three weeks thinking over the crime. 

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin  In his charge to the jury

Bob Mackin

Ex-Surrey Mayor McCallum stood with his legal team in Surrey Provincial Court, wiped tears from his eyes and gave a thumbs up sign to a supporter Nov. 21 after a judge acquitted him of public mischief.

Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris (Langara/YouTube)

McCallum accused a Keep the RCMP in Surrey protester of running over his left foot on Sept. 4, 2021 in the Southpoint Save-On-Foods parking lot. RCMP instead investigated McCallum for making a false report and a special prosecutor charged him last December. 

“In considering all of the evidence, I find that Mr. McCallum’s left foot was run over and that [Debi] Johnstone did not stop when this occurred,” said Judge Reginald Harris in his oral verdict. “Accordingly, Mr. McCallum’s statement to the police regarding his foot being run over was truthful and not made with the intention of falsely accusing Ms. Johnstone of an offence.” 

Harris heard the case from Oct. 31 to Nov. 9. McCallum, who lost in the Oct. 15 civic election to Brenda Locke, did not testify. 

Harris said he was satisfied that Johnstone and McCallum were in the parking lot coincidentally: Johnstone to seek signatures for a petition to end McCallum’s replacement of the RCMP with the Surrey Police Service, and McCallum to shop for groceries. 

Johnstone, he said, “stalked and tracked” someone she thought was McCallum and then, without warning, commenced a “verbal assault” when she confirmed it was the mayor.

Video evidence played in court was inconclusive about contact between Johnstone’s right rear tire and McCallum’s lower leg. McCallum did appear to move his body when the vehicle moved, though he did not appear to limp away from the scene. He was later treated at Peace Arch Hospital for swelling and a contusion on top of his foot. Expert witnesses told the court that absence of a fracture did not mean McCallum had not been run over. 

“In summary, the physical evidence, the medical evidence, the video, Mr. McCallum’s conduct after the event and his claims convincingly lead to the conclusion that it was run over,” Harris ruled. 

As for motive, Harris said he could not conclude that McCallum sought revenge against frequent protester Johnstone.

Doug McCallum on Sept. 4, 2021 (Provincial Court exhibit)

“Mr. McCallum is an experienced politician who, in his words, has thick skin. I interpret this to mean that he is accustomed to being the target of negative attention,” he said. “Thus it is unlikely, that this particular case, even with his earlier experiences, would frustrate him to such a degree that he would immediately embark on revenge through a labyrinth of false claims.”

He noted that McCallum was co-operative with both police and hospital staff, and that it would “defy logic” for him to attempt to mislead police while demanding they obtain the parking lot surveillance video showing the incident. 

“That would show him to be a categorical liar and destroy his efforts to mislead,” Harris said. 

Harris also ruled McCallum’s false claims that Johnstone pinned him to her vehicle before speeding away were not intentional. 

“I do not see Mr. McCallum’s perceptions regarding speed and acceleration as significant in all of the circumstances. In my view, his statements reflect reasonable perceptions and not evidence capable of supporting an inference that he was trying to mislead the police.”

Mystery surrounds the cost of McCallum’s legal bills, which are covered by taxpayers under an indemnification bylaw. Locke vowed to recoup the cost of McCallum’s defence.

McCallum’s legal quartet included high-profile downtown Vancouver lawyers Richard Peck and Eric Gottardi, who defended Huawei executive Meng Wenzhou in extradition proceedings at B.C. Supreme Court. 

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin Ex-Surrey Mayor McCallum stood with his

For the week of Nov. 20, 2022:

A rare, seamless transfer of power in British Columbia. 

Premiers here tend to resign in scandal or suffer defeat in an election. Not this time, as number 36 John Horgan ceded power to number 37 David Eby during a Nov. 18 ceremony at the Musqueam Indian Band’s community centre.

The guest on thePodcast this week is George Orr, whose up close and personal documentary, “My Name is David Eby,” took viewers behind the scenes of Eby’s 2013 upset win over then-Premier Christy Clark.

“I think like the guy I met was a lovely guy who actually cares, got into politics for all the right reasons,” Orr said. “Whether he gets tarnished or not, we’ll find out first time something happens and he has to make a hard decision.”

Plus a commentary on Justin Trudeau’s awkward encounter with Communist China dictator Xi Jinping and headlines from the Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn or Apple Podcasts.

Now on Google Podcasts!

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

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

theBreaker.news Podcast
theBreaker.news Podcast
thePodcast: A rare, seamless transfer of power in B.C.
Loading
/

For the week of Nov. 20, 2022: A

Bob Mackin 

Just two weeks after being sworn-in, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is jetting off to Qatar to enjoy the FIFA World Cup.

Sim is said to be paying his own way for a trip booked before he was elected on Oct. 15. He will miss his first opportunity to chair the Vancouver Police Board at its Nov. 24 meeting. Neither Toronto Mayor John Tory nor Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell are traveling to Qatar, according to their respective press secretaries.

ABC mayoral candidate Ken Sim (YouTube)

Vancouver is one of 16 host cities for the 2026 tournament. City hall is already spending up to $25,000 to send an employee of the Sport Hosting Vancouver office and two police officers to observe the tournament for six to seven days each.

“We will not be disclosing the staff member’s name at this time for privacy and security reasons,” said Natasha Qereshniku of the city hall communication department. 

Sport Hosting Vancouver counts two employees: manager Michelle Collens and assistant manager Taunya Geelhoed. 

Sgt. Steve Addison said the two Vancouver Police officers are from the Emergency Operations and Planning Section and they will be away for a week in early December, including travel days. 

“As a 2026 host city, the Vancouver Police Department is responsible for safety and security at venues and throughout the city,” Addison said. “We expect World Cup 2026 will draw visitors from around the world and present unique safety challenges. It’s important for us to meet with and draw on the experiences of other host cities as we prepare.”

The cost to taxpayers for hosting five matches in 2026 is estimated at $260 million. 

Toronto city hall said it is sending the project manager of its 2026 World Cup secretariat, Dan Surman. Surman’s approved budget is $6,912.37 for travel, accommodation and meals during the Dec. 3-6 observer program.

The B.C. Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport is not sending anyone, but the Crown corporation that operates B.C. Place Stadium is.

Inside B.C. Place Stadium (Mackin)

“There are two senior team members participating in the FIFA observer program, both will be directly accountable for the planning and execution of FIFA World Cup 2026 at BC Place,” said B.C. Pavilion Corporation spokeswoman Meaghan Benmore. “One other staff member attended the field management observer program earlier this month. The estimated budget for all three participants will be $30,000, they will be in Qatar for five-to-eight days each.”

FIFA World Cup 2022 runs Nov. 20-Dec. 18 in Qatar. Canada qualified for the first time since competing at Mexico 1986. 

The 2010 naming of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup sparked a major transnational corruption investigation that climaxed just before the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which ended at B.C. Place.

Australia, Japan, South Korea and the U.S. were the other bidders for a tournament that normally takes place in June and July. 

The tournament is estimated to cost the Arab nation of 2.8 million a record $220 billion. Qatar also gained attention for human rights and labour abuses related to the building of stadiums.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin  Just two weeks after being sworn-in,

Bob Mackin

The daughter of the woman Chu Ming Feng murdered in 2006 told B.C. Supreme Court in a victim impact statement Nov. 17 that the sorrow she felt as a teenager has never gone away. 

Feng and accomplice Guo Wei Liang used a belt to strangle 41-year-old Rong Lilly Li, who was a loan shark at River Rock casino in Richmond, and buried her body the next day at Jericho Beach in Vancouver.

Feng’s victim Rong Lilly Li (Richmond RCMP)

Feng was convicted of first degree murder in 2009. A judge and jury are considering his application for early parole under the so-called faint hope clause. Feng has served more than 15 years of a mandatory 25-year prison sentence and claims to be a changed man. He is eligible for full parole in 2031, but his lawyer wants the sentence reduced by five years.

“My family immigrated to Canada from China in the hopes of having better lives. When my mother was murdered, all I could think was I wish we never came, because if we hadn’t, I would still have my mom,” said the letter from Ahi Yan Chen, recited in court by Crown prosecutor Jeremy Hermanson. 

Chen, also known as Wendy, wrote that depression and anxiety caused her to quit school. She still finds it hard to cope with the overwhelming grief and feels revictimized by Feng’s bid to get out of jail sooner.

“Mr. Feng’s actions have caused me so much pain,” Chen wrote. “He took the most important person from me. This man was sentenced by a judge for the murder of my mom and I do not believe that he should be able to apply for parole until he has served his sentence that was imposed on him by the courts.”

Feng initially denied his role in the May 26, 2006 killing. He has been in custody since September 2006, after he delivered a letter to the Richmond RCMP confessing to the crime. He did not testify at his trial in 2009, where he was convicted after his lawyer claimed Feng temporarily lost judgment because Liang gave him an intoxicating water. 

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

Feng testified Nov. 15 that he had become a gambling addict while working at a fish market with Liang. He owed $10,000 on a credit card and was motivated to participate in Liang’s scheme in the hope of splitting the $150,000 to $300,000 in casino chips that Liang said she usually carried. Li was carrying only $500 in cash and $2,000 in chips when she was killed. 

Feng’s lawyer, Eric Purtzki, said in his closing argument that his client had accepted responsibility and remorse for the murder and asked the jury to reduce his sentence from 25 years to 20.

“In the course of his marriage, he admitted that he lied to the spouse and, by his own admission, caused his marriage to fail,” Purtzki said. “He engaged in heavy gambling, which resulted in significant financial losses and he had debts. And, most importantly, reflecting his character, he decided to participate in the murder of a woman, Ms. Li, a woman we know nothing about, for the hope of some money.”

In his closing argument, Hermanson said Feng continues to minimize his responsibility and continues to to engage in impression management and cognitive distortions. 

“Somebody will likely find it hard to accept a direct line from a $10,000 credit card debt to participating in strangulation and disposal of a body,” Hermanson said. “His explanation of gambling may not ring true.”

For 15 years, Hermanson said, Feng refused to accept responsibility, continued to claim he acted impulsively and that he never meant to hurt anybody. 

“None of these claims is true. What does this tell you about him?” Hermanson said to the jury. 

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin The daughter of the woman Chu

Bob Mackin 

A man seeking early parole for the 2006 first degree murder of a River Rock casino loan shark broke down during testimony Nov. 15 in B.C. Supreme Court.

Feng’s victim Rong Lilly Li (Richmond RCMP)

Chu Ming Feng was convicted in 2009 of the May 26, 2006 killing of Rong Lilly Li and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He did not testify at his trial, where his defence lawyer advanced the theory that accomplice Guo Wei Liang gave him an intoxicating water that temporarily clouded his judgment. 

During the second day of his faint hope clause hearing, Feng had been testifying in Cantonese through an interpreter, but switched to English for the emotional outburst. 

“I want to say sorry to the victim. Secondly, I want to say sorry to her daughter, because I killed her mom,” Feng said before Justice George Macintosh and a jury.

“She’s without her mom, growing up. She might hate me, I cannot stop her from hating me, but if I can, I would ask for [her to] forgive me.”

Feng and Liang abducted Li in a rented minivan in Richmond, strangled her with a belt and buried her body the next day at Jericho Beach. Feng has been in custody since September 2006, after he delivered a letter to the Richmond RCMP confessing to the crime and apologizing for lying to detectives. 

After 15 years in jail, Feng became eligible to seek a reduced sentence. The jury could decide to recommend the Parole Board of Canada free Feng earlier than his statutory 2031 release.

Court heard that Feng studied in jail for his high school diploma and took courses in English as a second language and level one first aid. He was moved to minimum security at Mission Institution in 2021. 

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

He explained that after he lost his appeal in 2012, he decided by 2016 to take responsibility for the crime and tell the truth.

“I couldn’t continue to live my life,” Feng said. “I have a lot of guilt in life.”

Feng told court that “gambling caused the murder.” 

He said he worked for $2,000 a month at a fish market with Liang and gambled every other day at a casino with $20 or $50. The addiction eventually led to a divorce and he went to a casino daily, often bringing $1,000 with him. He racked up a $10,000 credit card debt. 

Feng testified about the motive and the method. He said Liang predicted Li would have $150,000 to $300,000 in casino chips in her possession and he understood that he would likely kill Li after the robbery.

“He said that if I go to help him, then his plan would be for me to follow his signal. When he loosens up the seatbelt, then I will start to pull the woman’s hair and strangle her neck,” Feng said.

They were shocked to discover how little she carried at the time of the crime: $500 in cash and $2,000 in casino chips.

“That woman was so smart, she didn’t bring the money,” Feng said. 

Feng told court that he grew up an only child in Guangdong Province in China and worked in a relative’s garment factory after completing school. At age 22 in 1999, he moved to Canada, where an aunt lived in Surrey, in order to seek a better life.

River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond (Mackin)

“Because there’s a lot of corruption in China. It was not a very good society,” he said. 

By 2004, he became a Canadian citizen, intrigued by Canada’s differences, such as democracy and warm-hearted people. 

“They are not like people in China, they always just think about money,” he said.

Feng said his parents still live in China, but he last communicated with them in 2012 or 2013, when they told him never to contact them again. 

“Just think that we never have this son, you are useless,” he said they told him. “I bring shame to the family.”

Crown prosecutor Jeremy Hermanson asked Feng about his interview for an October 2020 psychological assessment, in which he said that he declined Liang’s initial proposal and claimed “it just happened” after he agreed when Liang called him a second time. 

Under cross-examination, Feng admitted to Hermanson that the crime was not spontaneous, that it had been planned for three weeks.

Feng also testified that Liang was a loan shark who had worked with Li, but later clarified that Liang had been a debt collector for a loan shark and was only working at the fish market when the crime happened.

“You never inquired what your cut would be?” Hermanson asked. 

“No,” Feng replied. 

“You were prepared to kill somebody without knowing what you would get in return?” Hermanson asked.

Feng replied: “I was hoping that he would give me half.”

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

Bob Mackin  A man seeking early parole for