Recent Posts
Business, News
Business, News
Connect with:
Monday / June 30.
  • No products in the cart.
SECTION
logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 60)
Business, News

Bob Mackin

Who is the former RCMP officer — who has worked for the Chinese government — that is charged with foreign interference on behalf of China? 

Bill Majcher, 60, appeared by video in a Longueuil, Quebec, courthouse on Friday, according to an announcement from the RCMP, which said he “allegedly used his knowledge and his extensive network of contacts in Canada to obtain intelligence or services to benefit the People’s Republic of China.”

Bill Majcher (IPI)

Specifically, the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) investigated Majcher under the Security of Information Act since fall 2021 and found evidence that he helped the Chinese government “identify and intimidate an individual outside the scope of Canadian law.”

Nova Scotia-born Majcher was originally schooled in commerce and his first job after university came as a 22-year-old Euro bond trader in London. In a July 2017-sworn affidavit, Hong Kong-resident Majcher said he joined the RCMP on July 19, 1985 and retired Aug. 15, 2007. He claimed the RCMP, FBI and other police forces commended him with several letters “meritorious service” after a career in which he worked undercover to infiltrate and surveil major organized crime and money laundering operations in Canada, U.S. and overseas.

That included acting as frontman for a Colombian cartel and busting Martin Chambers, a corrupt Vancouver lawyer, for money laundering in 2002. He took a promotion to head the Integrated Market Enforcement Team, but lost that job in 2005 after he launched a failed campaign to become the Conservative nominee in Richmond. 

“Since retirement I have assisted several government agencies on matters related to UN sanctions pertaining to development of nuclear weapons, the World Bank’s stolen asset recovery initiative and government kleptocracy and money laundering,” Majcher’s affidavit said. 

Majcher also went into finance and venture capital. In fact, the month after he left the Mounties,  he was the managing director (international) for Hong Kong investment bank The Baron Group and appointed director of Evolving Gold Corp., a Vancouver-based, TSX-V-listed stock. 

In 2012 filings, Evolving Gold told shareholders that Majcher was CEO of Sunwah International Asset Management, focused on natural resources and emerging markets. Also the executive chair of China Investment Fund, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and a director of an unnamed “China-focused private equity fund.”

In 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile, Majcher co-founded EMIDR Ltd. (which stands for Evaluate Monitor Investigate Deter Recover), a corporate risk advisory firm focused on asset recovery and cybersecurity. His bio said EMDIR worked closely with governments to tackle financial crime, money laundering and tax evasion. 

RCMP Comm. Michael Duheme (RCMP)

In the 2017 affidavit, he recounted working undercover at the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange for three years on a joint RCMP-FBI investigation. He claimed that he gained evidence of collusion among corrupt judges, lawyers and court registry staff in various parts of Canada, but did not name names.

“When those members of the criminal underworld want a case heard by a specific judge they are able to use one of these lawyers to facilitate a friendly judge to be assigned to their case,” said Majcher’s affidavit.

“In several instances, my co-workers and I reported our concerns about corruption in the administration of justice to senior members of the RCMP and [Department of Justice], who refused to investigate or bring charges against any of the lawyers, judges or court registry staff involved in the corruption.”

Majcher expanded on those allegations about commodity trading crimes during a May 2022 podcast from HKU FinTech, called “Regulatory Ramblings.” 

“The reality is, if they had have charged one, they’d have to charge everybody. And I did illegal acts with about 85% of the members of that exchange. So, if we had have, again, charged them all overnight, it would have ended Canada’s ability to have independent pricing mechanism for all our commodities, physical commodities,” Majcher said. 

Perhaps most-revealing, however, are the minutes from a Feb. 27, 2019 meeting in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom All-Party Parliamentary Group on cybersecurity. The topic: “How do we bridge the growing cyber trust deficit between China and the West?”

Majcher was the featured guest speaker and told the meeting, chaired by Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate, that he had become mostly focussed on money laundering matters with one major client: the Government of China.

“Bill is working on the return of US$1.2 trillion of fraudulently acquired money,” said the minutes.

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin Who is the former RCMP officer

Business, News, Uncategorized

Bob Mackin 

District of Sooke, rocked by years of management turmoil, could begin a new chapter July 24, when council is expected to announce a new chief administrative officer (CAO).

Sooke district hall (Sooke.ca)

Mayor Maja Tait said council is tentatively scheduled on July 24 to rise and report — or disclose the outcome of closed-door meetings — about the CAO selection process. 

“This is all I have to share with you at this time,” Tait said by email. 

A report earlier this year for the capital region’s westernmost municipality, by consultant Jonathan Huggett, took top-to-bottom stock of the history of internal upheaval. CAO Norm McInnis was diagnosed with cancer and replaced on an interim basis by Don Schaffer in May of last year on a contract that lasted until March. Huggett recommended hiring a new CAO as soon as possible. He advised that the candidate must be readily available, experienced in motivating senior staff to work cooperatively with key stakeholders and must possess extensive experience in B.C. municipal government.

The Sooke CAO posting, which expired May 25, said Sooke “aims to retain its small-town, semi-rural character while undertaking significant strategic growth.” Applicants were to contact consultant Paul Murray directly.

Jeremy Denegar (LinkedIn)

A source said that council endorsed Murray’s recommendation to hire Lillooet CAO Jeremy Denegar. Tait and Denegar did not confirm or deny. Denegar said he could not discuss the matter because the Community Charter protects information discussed by councils in closed sessions. 

“This information that you’ve heard should be considered a rumour at this point,” Denegar said. “But if you see something on Monday, please do call me back or email me back.”

Denegar was Esquimalt’s information technology manager from 2007 to 2013 and director of corporate services for Summerland from 2013 to 2019. Denegar’s Lillooet hiring was announced in November 2019 at the same time that his husband, Kevin Taylor, was named Lillooet’s director of corporate and development services. Council adopted a policy on supervising spouses that shifted certain responsibilities from the CAO to the mayor in an effort to avoid a conflict of interest. 

Denegar said Taylor reports to him for operational matters, but under the special policy, the mayor handles performance, discipline and salary matters.

Murray is the former finance chief and interim CAO at Central Saanich who spent more than 13 years at District of Saanich. He was CAO during his last two-and-a-half years at Saanich until late 2014, when he was dispatched with a $476,000 golden parachute after Richard Atwell won the mayoralty. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner investigated a spyware system that was installed on district computers near the end of Murray’s tenure. It found that the district collected personal information of staff and citizens without their knowledge. 

Sooke is also in the middle of hiring for a general support clerk, chief building official, lead engineering technologist and emergency program manager.

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin  District of Sooke, rocked by years

Business, News

Bob Mackin

The B.C. Ministry of Health waited three days to notify the public about B.C.’s first monkeypox case last year. 

Email released under freedom of information, after more than a year-long delay, included a message at 5:23 p.m. on June 3, 2022 from deputy provincial health officer Dr. Reka Gustafson to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Vancouver Coastal Health chief medical officer Dr. Patty Daly. 

“Please find attached a draft information bulletin that we thought we would send out on Monday,” Gustafson wrote.

(NHS/BCCDC)

The headline said “first monkeypox case detected in B.C.”

The previous day, June 2, 2022, a medical microbiologist at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) forwarded an email from a doctor titled “monkeypox suspected case.” 

Dr. Victor Leung said the patient’s symptoms included fever, chills, tinnitus, dizziness, night sweats and a sore throat. The 54-year-old Vancouverite, who had visited Montreal, had been notified at 2 a.m. by one of his sexual contacts that he had tested positive. 

The email said the patient was isolating at home after Leung, two registered nurses and one phlebotomist had seen him. Leung reported that they took various nasal, oral, urine and blood samples from the man while following strict contact/droplet/airborne personal protective equipment protocol.

BCCDC epidemiologist Dr. Danuta Skowronski was concerned that the patient’s personal information may have been compromised because of email shared with the Ministry of Health. “I suggest everyone now delete the messages containing this information, unless required,” Skowronski wrote. 

“The .gov email addresses are indeed behind the firewall now so that is no longer an issue,” Henry responded. “But of course a reminder to treat confidential information carefully is always good.”

Christine Hogan, the BCCDC medical microbiologist, provided an update before 6 p.m., with a caution that BCCDC testing was “unvalidated and preliminary given have not previously had positive cases.” 

Then, just over a half-hour later, she called the initial results “compelling.” 

“Seven of the eight tested samples are positive for monkeypox. Interestingly, we also received notice that the patient has in the meantime developed vesicular lesions (or fluid-filled blisters),” Hogan wrote.

Reka Gustafson (BC Gov)

On the morning of June 3, 2022, Ministry of Health communications director Clay Suddaby asked Henry if she had been advised of the confirmed case and told her that the Provincial Health Services Authority was working on an information note. Henry confirmed she had been in touch with Minister Adrian Dix about the situation.

“Not yet officially confirmed as that requires testing at [the national microbiology laboratory],” Henry said. “But yes I know the details and am happy to talk to it if needed. I expect we won’t get confirmation until next week. I have updated the Minister as well.”

“If it’s not yet fully confirmed then I don’t think we need to make a statement or do media unless approached,” Suddaby wrote.

The approach happened June 6 at 7:14 a.m., when a CBC reporter emailed government communications asking about the first case. That unleashed a flurry of activity involving multiple officials from BCCDC, the Ministry and Government Communications and Public Engagement before they issued the news release that Gustafson had drafted three days earlier.

Confirmation was still pending from the national microbiology lab, but the key messages list said the risk to the public was very low and the disease was spread “through contact with sores and items with the virus on them. It can also spread through respiratory droplets during prolonged close contact.”

According to the BCCDC website, there have been 199 confirmed cases of monkeypox in B.C., 159 of them in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. The 2022 outbreak was declared over Jan. 9, 2023 and most cases stemmed from close, intimate contact during sex. A vaccine, called Imvamune, is available to close contacts and those at highest risk.

It is not the first time that the Ministry of Health has delayed telling the public about a spreading disease. On Christmas Day in 2021, the BCCDC lab confirmed the U.K. variant of COVID-19 had been detected in B.C., but the announcement was not made until the day after Boxing Day.  

In the 2007 final report of Ontario’s SARS Commission, Judge Archie Campbell recommended public health officials adopt the precautionary principle, to prevent potentially fatal delays.

Adrian Dix (right) and Dr. Bonnie Henry (BC Gov)

“The importance of the precautionary principle that reasonable efforts to reduce risk need not await scientific proof was demonstrated over and over during SARS,” said the report.

B.C.’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act contains a public interest override clause, that requires a public body to disclose to the public information, without delay, about the risk of significant harm to the health or safety of the public.

A reporter paid the $10 application fee on June 7, 2022, seeking documents about the spread of monkeypox to B.C. The file was finally disclosed last week, after a complaint to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. The FOI law contains no penalty for a public body that disobeys disclosure deadlines. 

In the most-recent thee-year report card on timeliness of FOI disclosures, Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy reported in September 2020 that the Ministry of Health was one of the worst performers. Its on-time score fell from 74 to 55 since 2017 and average processing times increased from 51 business days to 65. The Ministry of Health boasts the government’s biggest budget at $28.67 billion this year. 

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin The B.C. Ministry of Health waited

Business, News

Bob Mackin

The committee overseeing operations at B.C.’s Legislative Assembly expects to spend $300,000 to reconfigure the chamber and add desks for six new members in time for the next election.

B.C. Legislature on May 30, 2018 (Hansard)

A report to the Legislative Assembly Management Committee (LAMC) meeting on Thursday rejected bench-style seating. It said moving existing rows forward would create enough space to install new custom-made desks, worth $120,000 of the budget. 

The chamber currently has space for 87 MLAs — including the speaker — three table officers, the sergeant-at-arms, four chamber staff and perimeter seating.

In April, the electoral boundaries commission cited population trends when it recommended creation of six new electoral districts, to expand the number of lawmakers to 93. 

New ridings will be in Burnaby, Langley, Surrey, Vancouver, Okanagan and Capital Region. 

The Legislature approved the proposal, effective after the dissolution of the current parliament.

Seating reconfiguration is scheduled to begin after the spring 2024 session, in anticipation of the scheduled October 2024 provincial election.

Clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd told the all-party committee that work is underway to assess the structural load capacity of the 130-year-old chamber floor. 

“This floor load assessment, which is led by the precinct services department, along with a structural engineering team, required the removal of all furniture in the chamber, scanning by the contractor and then the replacement of all desks, wiring and furniture,” Ryan-Lloyd said.

Meanwhile, MLAs are finally acting on some of the recommendations of a three-year-old report by Alan Mullen, who was chief of staff to Darryl Plecas, the speaker from 2017 to 2020.

Ryan-Lloyd said that the first group of 10 unarmed safety officers was brought in for orientation and training as part of a restructuring of safety and security. She called it a transition “to a new hybrid model of layered security.” 

Legislative Assembly Protective Services badges (Leg.BC.ca)

“These unarmed officers complement and support the armed officers, taking on a variety of important security and support roles,” Ryan-Lloyd said. 

Mullen’s report, “Review of the Sergeant-at-Arms Department and Proposals for Reform,” recommended that Legislative Assembly Protective Services become a security department with unarmed officers. 

“Legislative Assembly Protective Services officers are generally overqualified for the vast majority of the work they do,” Mullen wrote. “That department has grown according to a ‘police force’ model, which is not necessary when compared to operational requirements.” 

Mullen found that the force protecting just 5.9 hectares was costing taxpayers $5 million a year and had become more expensive than the police forces in Victoria suburbs Oak Bay and Central Saanich. 

After Mullen’s report, LAMC sought advice from Doug LePard, the former Vancouver Police deputy chief. 

Ryan-Lloyd also said Sergeant-at-Arms Ray Robitaille’s department was collaborating with the information technology department to improve security systems within the Legislative precinct and at constituency offices. She did not specify details of the modernization. 

“As a result of this collaboration, we aim to provide 20 constituency offices with security modernization supports this year,” she said.

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin The committee overseeing operations at B.C.’s

Business, News

Bob Mackin 

The B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) should defer the application for a district energy system (DES) at the Senakw towers project until the proponent properly consults with First Nations and the general public and it files an agreement for fuel supply. 

The July 18-filed final arguments of the Residential Consumer Intervener Association (RCIA) said that Creative Energy Senakw LP (CESLP) held only one public information session about the proposed heating and cooling plant last Oct. 3.

Section of Lanier Park excavated for Senakw towers (Mackin)

“A single session may not adequately provide the necessary opportunities for affected individuals, community groups, and stakeholders to express their concerns, raise questions, and provide meaningful input,” the RCIA submission said. “Effective public consultation requires an ongoing and iterative process that allows for continuous dialogue and information exchange throughout the decision-making process.”

CESLP’s parent company was acquired a decade ago by Westbank Development, the partner with a Squamish Nation company in the building of 11 residential towers on reserve land around the Burrard Bridge. 

CESLP admitted that it did not consult with either the Tsleil-Waututh Nation or Musqueam Indian Band about the DES. RCIA submitted that a consultation requirement would not infringe upon the sovereignty of the Squamish Nation, which owns the land for the four-phase project. Squamish Nation had opposed the DES application going to public review in the first place, but chose not to contest the BCUC’s ruling. 

“The duty to consult can no more be disregarded than the contractors building the associated towers can ignore building codes, whether on First Nation lands or elsewhere,” said the intervenor’s final arguments. “In RCIA’s submission, CESLP fails to provide adequate evidence it has met its obligation to consult with all potentially impacted First Nations and individuals within those communities.”

RCIA said it not only represented all residential customers, but was a conduit for individuals and groups, such as the volunteer-run Kits Point Residents Association (KPRA), whose concerns reinforced the RCIA’s opinions. KPRA advised that its members are concerned about potential noise and smell from the DES, which would be fuelled by wastewater. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau breaks ground under the Burrard Bridge for Westbank’s development on the Squamish Nation’s Senakw reserve (pm.gc.ca)

“In RCIA’s submission, the failure to provide adequate and appropriate public consultation is prejudicial to local residents and groups as they are not able to fully understand and assess the potential for impacts, and implications of the project, on their properties and communities. Moreover, absent such consultations, the applicant and BCUC are not able to understand and address the informed concerns of directly impacted individuals and groups.” 

KPRA is waiting for a B.C. Supreme Court judge to rule on its legal challenge to city hall’s 120-year deal to service the cluster of residential towers. The residents say the agreement with the Squamish Nation is one-sided and should be quashed because it was negotiated and passed in secret. The city maintains it acted properly under both the Indian Self-government Enabling Act and the Vancouver Charter.

BCUC sent the application to public review due to the proposal to build under civic infrastructure and connect to the Metro Vancouver’s utility. But RCIA also said that the project should not be approved before governance issues are resolved, including the single customer structure. The Squamish Nation-owned Nch’kay Development Corp. is considering buying up to 50% ownership in CESLP. Acquiring more than 20% of voting shares would require BCUC approval. 

“Similarly, the current application’s underlying feasibility, viability, and environmental merits are dependant upon securing an agreement with Metro Vancouver,” RCIA’s submission stated. “Consequently, RCIA submits that its recommendation to make filing of an executed and adequate fuel supply arrangement a condition precedent to any…approval is reasonable and consistent with established precedents.” 

Last month, BCUC set Sept. 1 as the deadline for CESLP to file its sewage access agreement with Metro Vancouver or provide a status update. 

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin  The B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) should

Business, News

Bob Mackin 

’Twas the week before Christmas, when a snowstorm vexed, a District of North Vancouver communications manager appealed for an emergency mass-text.

(@Brad604/Twitter)

But Carolyn Grafton’s request to issue a warning last Dec. 18, about the dangerous conditions on Highway 1, was met with confusion from provincial officials, according to correspondence obtained under freedom of information. 

Westbound lanes were closed between Mountain Highway and Lynn Valley Road exits when Grafton emailed the director of North Shore Emergency Management (NSEM) at 9:23 a.m. on Dec. 18. She asked if DriveBC, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s traveller information service, could issue an “Alertable” as soon as possible. 

Alertable is the free emergency notification app used by NSEM, Metro Vancouver and City of Vancouver. The province, however, relies on the nationwide Alert Ready system, which sends emergency text messages through mobile phone networks and warnings that interrupt TV and radio programs about specific natural disasters. 

NSEM director Emily Dicken forwarded Grafton’s message to Emergency Management BC (EMBC) regional manager Craig Bland. A half-hour later, provincial duty manager Gabe Carpendale wondered: “Is DriveBC going to be pushing one out on the app? And is this the best email for getting information on this type of request?”

At 10:54 a.m., James Shaw, an agent with the Transportation Management Centre, replied to Carpendale. 

“Unfortunately, our team does not have any control over the Alertable app and will not be pushing any updates regarding this incident,” Shaw wrote. “Public updates we provide are done through Twitter, DriveBC.ca, and overhead messaging boards. Luckily, however, the situation at Mountain Highway has improved considerably and two of the three lanes have been cleared. Only the right lane remains blocked.”

Shaw suggested the Howe Sound operations manager may know who to contact about Alertable updates. Chris Lee, the South Coast region director, emailed regional executive director Ashok Bhatti and Elena Farmer, the Lower Mainland district manager, at 12:08 p.m.

“Do you know if this alert is in the work or?” Lee wrote.”Seems good idea but not sure cost vs. probability of using it?” 

“I am not sure what is being referenced here,” wrote Bhatti when he replied Dec. 19 at 11:07 a.m. “Perhaps we can chat tomorrow.”

Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Bridge on Dec. 18, 2022 (DriveBC/Twitter)

In spring 2022, almost a year after the “heat dome” that led to 619 deaths, NDP Solicitor General Mike Farnworth announced the province would use the Alert Ready system more often, beyond tsunami warnings and Amber Alerts, to warn about imminent threats from floods and wildfires, and when extreme heat is forecast. Snowstorms were not mentioned in Farnworth’s news release. 

An EMBC briefing note from July 29, 2021 for Deputy Minister Tara Richards concluded that there were too many emergencies in too many places and not enough people trained to warn the public. The result was a lack of progress in implementing the broadcast intrusive public alerting solution that B.C. has tested since 2018. Alert Ready was finally used in a real situation on Nov. 25, 2021, when Vanderhoof RCMP warned about a shooting rampage in the town centre.  

Why is a story on last December’s highway snow and ice conditions running in July?

The NDP government exploited weaknesses in B.C.’s freedom of information law to delay disclosure for all of winter and spring and some of summer.

A reporter paid the $10 non-refundable application fee on Dec. 21, 2022, the first day of winter, in search of correspondence between the South Coast’s top highway managers. The Ministry set Feb. 6, 2023 as the initial deadline for a response.

On Jan. 26, the Ministry cited a large volume of records to search, so it invoked an extension to March 21, the first full day of spring. On March 15, however, it invoked another delay clause to May 4 in order to consult an unspecified third-party or another public body. It actually went to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), which gave it even more time, through May 26. 

The records were not disclosed until July 5. The law contains no fine for late disclosure of documents.

The file came with a covering letter from Rosemary Deacon of Information Access Operations, the government’s central FOI department, which suggested highways officials had their minds on something other than the unfolding snowstorm that wreaked havoc with holiday season traffic. 

“This request includes correspondence and reports about projects in development that have not been made public yet and thus are withheld,” Deacon wrote. “They are not related to any winter events.”

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s Ashok Bhatti (LinkedIn)

The file originally contained 353 pages, but only 127 were provided. Many of those were censored. The government used eight clauses in the law to withhold information, including protected policy and legal advice, cabinet confidentiality, conservation of heritage sites, personal information and fear of harm to government finances and third-party business interests. 

In a 2020 report card on government access to information timeliness, the OIPC found the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s score fell from 92 to 85 between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2020. It was consistently number four in lowest-average processing times, but slowed from 26 business days to 38 over the three-year period. 

In 2019-2020, the number of requests for general, non-personal information, for which the government took a time extension, reached 41%. Five years earlier, the rate was 21%.  

“To be meaningful, any access to information system must work in a timely way — access delayed is, in many cases, access denied,” Commissioner Michael McEvoy wrote in the “Now is the time” report. “And any time an access response is outside the legislated timeline, government fails to respect the law.”

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin  ’Twas the week before Christmas, when

Business, Miscellany, News, Opinion

For the week of July 16, 2023:

Kicking-off tricentennial week at thePodcast with the 299th edition and a trip inside the vault. 

Rewinding to Nov. 12, 2017 and highlights from Sean Holman’s presentation to the B.C. Information Summit about the demand for information in the post-truth era. 

Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or 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: Demanding information in the post-truth era
Loading
/
0 Comments

For the week of July 16, 2023: Kicking-off

Business, News

Bob Mackin 

It started at 10:25 a.m. on June 15, when Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke’s executive assistant emailed her counterpart in NDP Deputy Premier Mike Farnworth’s office.

Mike Farnworth announces $2,000 fines on April 19 (BC Gov)

Harpreet Dhillon had just spoken with Farnworth’s chief of staff Michael Snoddon by phone. A majority of Surrey city councillors would vote later that day behind closed doors, based on a secret report, to keep the RCMP instead of replacing it with the fledgling Surrey Police Service (SPS). 

“Mayor Locke would like a phone call with Minister Farnsworth (sic) and is available anytime before 1 p.m.” wrote Dhillon, who consistently misspelled the solicitor general’s surname in their communication, which was released under freedom of information. “I have held 11:30-11:45 a.m. and will wait for your confirmation.

Farnworth’s staff countered with an 11:45 a.m. to noon slot. Messages went back and forth about who else would be involved. Snoddon and Deputy Minister Doug Scott would join Farnworth. Chief administrative officer Vince Lalonde with Locke. 

At 5:07 p.m., after the in camera meeting, Dhillon asked to set-up another call between the mayor and the solicitor general. But Snoddon did not respond until 7:44 a.m. the next morning. 

“Minister Farnworth has been informed that the city has offered the corporate report under non-disclosure agreement (NDA) via discussions between ministry officials and [Lalonde],” Snoddon wrote. “The minister has asked that I convey that he is able to speak to the mayor once she makes a public announcement and the Ministry has had a chance to review the corporate report.”

Michael Snoddon (LinkedIn)

Snoddon corrected himself in an 8:05 a.m. message. “My apologies. I misunderstood the minister’s request of me. The minister is able to speak with the mayor after the ministry has reviewed the corporate report and he has asked to to find out when the mayor will be making a public announcement. Terribly sorry after any confusion I may have caused.”

Dhillon replied at 8:39 a.m., that Locke wanted to let the minister know the outcome of the special council meeting. But Snoddon remained firm: Farnworth would only talk after receiving the report. Dhillon confirmed Locke would make a public statement at 11 a.m. and agreed to convey Farnworth’s stance to her. 

Snoddon’s next message, at 9:47 p.m., was the one that Locke deemed “aggressive” during her impassioned appearance before reporters on June 19.

“Minister Farnworth would like to meet with Mayor Locke per her request,” Snoddon wrote. “The Minister is looking to receive the corporate report as agreed to in order to schedule a meeting. My understanding from staff is that the city has not transferred the report to the province at this time of my email. As you know, this is a very urgent matter. Can you please let me know when I can expect to receive the report?”

On the Saturday morning, at 9:06 a.m. Carole Richardson, Locke’s administrative coordinator, said Locke advised that city staff were working with ministry staff about the transfer of the report. Locke would make herself available to speak with Farnworth “whenever he is available.”

Harpreet Dhillon (LinkedIn)

Two hours later, Snoddon said that city staff indicated they would begin to transfer the report “well into next week.”

“That is not acceptable,” Snoddon declared. He then claimed city staff said the report would be given to the province “at noon yesterday” and asked whether Locke would expedite the process in order for the meeting to happen. 

At 1:37 p.m., Locke sent a text message to Snoddon: “Mayor Locke here. I tried to call you and would appreciate a call back.”

She did not receive a reply, according to the documents disclosed. 

At 9:32 a.m. on June 19, Farnworth set a 1 p.m. deadline to receive the report or else he would make his own determination with the facts at his disposal. 

Locke blasted Eby and Farnworth at her midday news conference on June 19, criticizing Farnworth for favouring the SPS and speaking through the media instead of directly with her.  Locke even accused him of misogyny. 

Coun. Brenda Locke (Surrey Connect)

“He still has not called me. I asked to speak to both him and the premier after the vote. He chose not to talk to me. I haven’t talked to him since,” Locke said. “I got a rather aggressive email from one of his political staff at 10 o’clock on Friday night, I responded to it, but that staffer did not call me back.”

Locke also told reporters that provincial officials signed the NDAs at 11:27 a.m., just like the provincial officials earlier required Locke and company to sign in order to read the province’s late April report that recommended adopting the SPS. 

Just over an hour later, Locke’s four-and-a-half page open letter went to Eby and Farnworth’s email boxes. It said Surrey had made its “second and final” choice that the RCMP was the best policing option for the city. 

“I will close by confirming the Surrey council’s opinion that we have exercised our legal authority to select the RCMP to serve as our police force,” said Locke’s letter. “As per the terms of your ministry report, the province, city and police agencies will work together to implement the decision effectively.”

The stalemate continues, as the second anniversary of the July 16, 2021 swearing-in of the SPS’s first 46 officers approaches. 

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin  It started at 10:25 a.m. on

Business, News

Bob Mackin

A B.C. Court of Appeal judge has agreed to allow seven current and former NPA members liable for ex-Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s legal costs to appeal a B.C. Supreme Court judge’s ruling.

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

First, they must pay Stewart $25,000.

Last summer, Stewart successfully used the Protection of Public Participation Act to quash their defamation lawsuit stemming from his early 2021 news release that claimed the NPA board included right-wing extremists. 

Justice Wendy Baker threw out the defamation lawsuit when she ruled Stewart acted in the public interest and without malice. In her March 20 ruling on costs, Baker wrote that the defamation claim had substantial merit, but the plaintiffs did not prove they were harmed. Stewart alleged their action was brought in bad faith or for an improper purpose.

In October’s civic election, Stewart lost the mayoralty in a landslide to 2018 runner-up Ken Sim of ABC Vancouver. None of Stewart’s Forward Together candidates won a seat on city council. Similarly, all NPA candidates under Beijing-based leader Fred Harding were shut-out at the ballot box. 

Baker ruled the plaintiffs must pay Stewart’s legal costs, in excess of $126,000, but declined to award him damages. Costs are now approximately $155,000, according to Court of Appeal Justice David Frankel’s July 5 ruling. 

“The points the applicants intend to advance warrant the time and attention of this Court,” Frankel stated. “A decision on these points will provide further guidance with respect to the exercise of a judge’s discretion under [the PPPA]. As the respondent will be entitled to some of his costs regardless of the outcome of the appeal, a stay is granted on the condition the applicants pay $25,000 in partial payment of those costs.” 

He gave the applicants until July 31 to pay the sum to Stewart, then file and serve their appeal by Aug. 4 and submit a statement of facts by Sept. 5. The stay will remain until the end of the year. 

Frankel said the applicants contended Baker erred in several respects.

“They take issue with a number of her findings, including that their actions in regard to Mr. Stewart’s counsel were strategic and inappropriate,” said Frankel. “They also contend she conflated what they did in that regard with their purpose in bringing the action.”

Frankel did not agree with the argument that they would suffer irreparable harm, on the basis that one of them, Wes Mussio, is a practising lawyer who would have to pay the judgment within seven says or face potential discipline from the Law Society of B.C.

“I consider this argument speculative. It assumes that in the event Mr. Mussio does not immediately pay the assessed costs he would be unable to provide the executive director with an adequate proposal. It also assumes that the executive director would attach no weight to the fact that leave to appeal the costs order had been granted.” 

The seven are represented by Karol Suprynowicz, a lawyer at Mussio’s Vancouver firm. 

Mussio, on his own behalf, said he was pleased with Frankel’s decision. 

“Acting in good faith to clear one’s name should not automatically result in punitive legal cost implications is the person is unsuccessful. Otherwise, access to justice will be severely compromised,” Mussio said by email. “After all, if one automatically gets a large legal cost judgement against him for not being successful, then who will ever take the risk of going forward with a lawsuit to clear their name?”

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin A B.C. Court of Appeal judge

Business, News

Bob Mackin

The B.C. NDP government charged a reporter $40 to find out that it budgeted $193,000 to send Premier David Eby, three cabinet ministers and nine bureaucrats on a trade mission to Asia.

Jagrup Brar (left), David Eby, Brenda Bailey and Josie Osborne at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo (Eby/Twitter)

That confirms the prediction a watchdog made in November 2021, when the NDP imposed the $10 fee freedom of information request fee. Jason Woywada, executive director of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, said the government would turn it into a paywall for political purposes. 

“The government is using this as the excuse to try and say, well, we’ve had this explosion in FOI requests, when really they’re just forcing more and more people to apply for FOI, rather than releasing the information proactively,” Woywada said. “If this is information that could be made available to the public, it should be made available to the public by default.”

Before the May 26-June 7 junket, George Smith, Eby’s director of communications, refused to provide the budget estimate. He said actual costs would be contained in the public accounts sometime later in the summer. 

The answer was the same last fall from the Ministry of Environment, and the fall before, when Minister George Heyman flew on exhaust-spewing airplanes to attend the annual United Nations climate change conference.

Trade missions and conference visits are planned months in advance. Travel budgets for cabinet members and their staff are supposed to be approved and in government files well before they depart. The government’s core policy and procedures manual requires everyone complete a pre-trip budget approval form for all out-of-country travel. 

Since the government refused to provide the budget before the trip, four separate freedom of information requests were directed to four departments in order to obtain the form for each traveler.

Minister of State for Trade Jagrup Brar started the trip in Vietnam on May 25 and flew to Japan on May 27 to meet up with Eby, Energy and Mines Minister Josie Osborne and Jobs and Economic Development Minister Brenda Bailey. They continued to South Korea from May 31 to June 3. Eby finished the trip in Singapore on June 7. They met government and industry officials on each leg, to promote B.C. technology, resources and education.

The forms show that Bailey and Brar had the highest estimates for transportation, meals and lodging, at $18,811 each. 

Eby’s deputy minister Shannon Salter had the lowest estimate of all at $10,758. 

Eby ($14,698.04), chief of staff Matt Smith ($14,834.72) and senior advisor of intergovernmental relations Jessica Smith ($11,284.13) did not include the dates that their travel was authorized. Neither did Osborne and her aide Andrew Cuddy, who both estimated $15,150. 

The forms for Eby and the two unrelated Smiths included additional cost estimates, ranging from $268 for Jessica Smith to $448 for Eby. But the government censored the description of the specific good or service due to personal reasons. 

David Eby (right) in Singapore (Eby/Twitter)

Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat deputy minister Silas Brownsey and assistant deputy minister Leslie Teramoto estimated their travel would cost $16,694.70 each. Unlike the others, they included included 10% contingencies (or $1,517.70) in the totals.

Also accompanying Bailey and Brar were deputy minister Fazil Mihlar ($13,180) and the executive director of B.C.’s trade mission office, William Hoyle ($12,987).

Hoyle made an advance trip from April 11-22, which he estimated at $11,696. Similarly, Marlene Behrens, event director with Government Communications and Public Engagement, made an advance trip from April 14-26 that she budgeted at $13,172. The figure for the trade mission was $14,000. 

Marie Della Mattia, the government’s deputy minister of communications, authorized both of Behrens’ trips.

Including the advance trips, the total budget was closer to $218,000. 

The 30th anniversary of B.C.’s freedom of information law, one of the NDP achievements under Premier Mike Harcourt, is coming Oct. 4. Murray Rankin was on the legal team that helped Attorney General Colin Gabelmann draft the openness law. Rankin later became an NDP MP who told a House of Commons committee that the $5 federal application fee is a “tollgate on the citizens’ right to access.” In 2020, Rankin was elected the NDP MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and he voted a year later to impose the FOI fee. 

In the first week of the spring session of the Legislature, Green MLA Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Islands) tabled a private member’s bill aimed at repealing the fee. It went nowhere because Eby’s caucus did not call the bill for debate.  

In a January report, Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy found the $10 fee resulted in an 80% year-over-year drop in requests from the media during the first six months. From Nov. 30, 2021 to May 30, 2022, it collected only $15,360 from applicants. 

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

0 Comments

Bob Mackin The B.C. NDP government charged a

m
About Us

theBreaker.news and theBreaker.news Podcast: your source for news, opinion and analysis about British Columbia issues, institutions and influencers.

Contact
theBreaker is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and published by Bob Mackin.
Email: bob@thebreaker.news
Send tips via secure Protonmail theBreakernews@protonmail.com
Support theBreaker.news
For as low as $2 a month, you can help support theBreaker.news on Patreon
Support theBreaker.news on Patreon
Find out how by clicking here!