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Bob Mackin

The Vancouver Airport Authority’s chief executive saw her pay packet grow 42% in 2022, despite ending the year in damage control after a series of pre-Christmas snowstorms brought YVR to a standstill.

YVR CEO Tamara Vrooman (House of Commons)

The annual compensation report, published before May 8’s annual meeting, showed Tamara Vrooman’s total pay grew from $1.34 million in 2021 to $1.9 million in 2022. 

Vrooman was paid a $597,400 base in 2022 and eligible for almost $830,000 in performance incentives to be paid out in 2023. She charged $33,950 for club memberships, a health spending account, car allowance, car maintenance and parking. YVR also made $442,250 in contributions to Vrooman’s retirement and pension plans.  

The airport authority did not disclose the salaries of other individual executives, but the report said they were paid an average $262,686 in base salary, up from $255,288 in 2021. Including incentives, perquisites and retirement plan contributions, the total executive pay package averaged $490,102, up from $414,064. There were 10 senior executives profiled in the annual sustainability report. 

YVR paid $418,467 in severance to an undisclosed number of departed executives in 2022. The 2021 total severance was $257,768.

Vancouver International Airport control tower (YVR)

According to audited financial statements through Dec. 31, 2022, YVR reported $492.3 million revenue and $482.8 million expenses, for a $9.48 million surplus on operations. A turnaround from 2021, when it lost $141.5 million during widespread pandemic travel restrictions. 

It collected $156.9 million in airport improvement user fees in 2022, up from $56.1 million. 

The not-for-profit corporation operates on land leased from the federal government. In 2022, it recorded $50.8 million in ground lease costs.

The airport boasts 26,000 workers and 52 air carriers that serve 111 destinations. It saw 19 million passengers come and go, up from 7.1 million in 2021, and 302,572 tons of cargo moved, up 9%. Between January and August of 2022, passenger numbers grew a whopping 168%.

“We saw a huge bounce back in our passenger numbers,” Vrooman said. “We started the year with COVID restrictions in place. We ended the year without those COVID restrictions in place.”

On April 17, YVR released an after-action review of the pre-Christmas tarmac delays, terminal congestion, lost luggage and communication breakdowns. 

It said 1,300 of 4,100 scheduled flights were cancelled between Dec. 18 and 24, affecting more than 180,000 passengers. Two dozen planes were stuck on the tarmac for more than four hours, including one that was stranded for 11 hours.

Vancouver International Airport on Christmas Day 2022 (Mackin)

YVR had scheduled 10 minutes for public questions, but the segment ended in 19 minutes. Regardless, a member of the public complained. 

“Questions from the public and online used to be more than 10 minutes. In fact, last year they were an hour, and a year before that they were probably an hour and a half,” the man said. “I’d like to express a concern about a restriction on the opportunity for people who take the time to come to this meeting to ask the questions that they feel that they need answers for.”

Vrooman diplomatically agreed with the man. 

“Definitely happy to make more time available for questions if we have more questions coming out,” she said before the meeting ended at 2 p.m., almost an hour after it began. 

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Bob Mackin The Vancouver Airport Authority’s chief executive

Bob Mackin

A man convicted of trapping and torturing an Indigenous man in a Richmond condo in 2020 apologized to the court and his family, but not his victim, during a sentencing hearing May 5 in B.C. Supreme Court.

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes of the B.C. Supreme Court.

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes found Taymour Aghtai guilty on Jan. 27 of sexual assault with a weapon, assault with a weapon, extortion, unlawful confinement and use of an imitation firearm in relation to the unlawful confinement. On Feb. 21, Aghtai pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. 

“I haven’t done a lot of good in my life,” Aghtai admitted. 

“Going forward, no matter how long I get, not matter what happens, I will put a lot more thought into the decisions I make, people I associate with, things I do, jobs I have.”

Aghtai and his co-accused held a man against his will for 30-hours beginning Sept. 4, 2020. Aghtai bound and zip-tied his victim, a vulnerable Indigenous man who resides on the Downtown Eastside in a single-room occupancy hotel.

Crown prosecutor Patrick Fullerton said Aghtai was not just an active participant, but the planning mind.

“He was the reason that [the victim] was bound and stripped of clothing,” Fullerton told the court. “He was the reason or part of the reasons that [the victim] was made to attempt to have sexual contact with a dog. He was the person who video recorded the sexual assault with a weapon and the underlying conduct that was to be for the extortion.”

Fullerton asked Homes to sentence Aghtai to 11-to-13-and-a-half years in jail. Kevin Westell, the 28-year-old’s defence lawyer, asked for a sentence of six-to-eight years. 

Fullerton said that Aghtai had exhausted all his pre-sentence credit for time served. While Westell agreed his client’s crimes were serious and requiring denunciation and deterrence, he said the case law does not support the Crown-proposed sentence. Additionally, Westell said Aghtai’s 33 months in custody — a “period of unbroken incarceration,” he called it — should be taken into account by the judge. 

“For a 28-year-old, I would suggest an 11 or a 13-year sentence is a crushing sentence, which will deprive the offender at that age of a great deal of the younger years of their life,” Westell said. 

Even a six-year sentence would significant federal time, longer than Aghtai has served previously, he said.

“Whether it may be crushing to add a lengthy sentence on top of that, quite frankly, is not an appropriate reason to opt for a lower range on the jail sentence,” Fullerton countered. “To put it colloquially, Mr. Aghtai’s made his bed, he has to sleep in it. He made a strategic decision to use dead time or pre-sentence custody on these other files.”

Last September, Aghtai used credit for time served when sentenced in Richmond Provincial Court to nine months for using a needle to threaten corrections officers when he fled custody in Richmond Hospital. 

Kevin Westell (Pender Litigation)

In February, a North Vancouver Provincial Court judge sentenced him to two years time served for the March 2020 spree of 63 prank calls to four managers, six nurses and two administrators at the Lynn Valley Care Centre. The incident caused chaos during the COVID-19 outbreak at the North Vancouver seniors care home, just before one of the elderly residents became the first-known COVID-19 victim in Canada.

Fullerton said that between Jan. 19, 2021 and April 13, 2021, police intercepted 160 phone calls between the in-custody Aghtai and another co-accused. They were conspiring to dissuade the victim from the Downtown Eastside to change his story or not testify at all. They even discussed bribing him with $200 and a phone. 

Fullerton cited a call on Jan. 23, 2021 when Aghtai told his co-conspirator that if he gets convicted of “the broomstick thing, in other words, the sexual assault,” he will get a 20-year sentence and be considered a sex offender.

“He states that [the victim] needs to do the right thing, and go to the Crown, as going to the police doesn’t really work,” Fullerton said.

The “best thing,” Aghtai suggested at the time, would have been for the victim to not show up at the trial.

Fullerton told the court that Aghtai has 19 convictions as an adult: Five for property offences, four for crimes of dishonesty, four for crimes of violence, two for firearms offences and four breaches of court orders, including being unlawfully at large. 

A 2023 psychiatric assessment submitted to the court said Aghtai blamed his recent crimes on too much spare time during the pandemic, which Fullerton called a “far-reaching effort to deflect blame.” 

“The vast, vast majority of Canadians and people across the world have weathered [the pandemic] without turning to criminality, and such violent criminality as Mr. Aghtai did,” he said.

The report concluded there is “little to no real prospect of rehabilitative success” for Aghtai. He grew up in Richmond, North Vancouver and Surrey and enjoys a close relationship with his father who indulged him over the hears, but has no legitimate work history outside of jobs for his father.

“Without the support, financial support of family, Mr. Aghtai cannot stand on his own two feet,” Fullerton said.

Aghtai does not have a major mental illness or any symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions. But he downplays his criminal and anti-social behaviour, the report said.

“He refers to criminal prank calls, where people’s lives were very much thrown into chaos because of his conduct, as very funny at the time, and purely for fun,” Fullerton said.

The beginning of the sentencing hearing was delayed for an oral submission by a lawyer on behalf of Aghtai’s co-accused in the obstruction of justice case. Holmes agreed to an interim order banning publication of the person’s name, over the lawyer’s concern that it would harm the person’s right to a fair trial.

The sentencing hearing will continue May 16. 

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Bob Mackin A man convicted of trapping and

Bob Mackin 

B.C.’s Legislative Assembly wants a B.C. Supreme Court judge to throw out a Labour Relations Board (LRB) ruling that opens the door to a police union at the Parliament Buildings.

Ed Illi (LinkedIn)

During the last week of April in Victoria, Justice Bruce Ellwood heard arguments over lawyer Marcia McNeil’s petition to the court seeking a declaration that parliamentary privilege precludes LRB jurisdiction at the seat of government. 

In 2019, special provincial constables working for the Legislative Assembly Protective Services (LAPS) division of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms formed the Legislative Assembly Protective Services Association (LAPSA) and applied for Labour Code certification. 

LAPSA and the all-party Legislative Assembly Management Committee (LAMC) both agreed to put the application on hold while they negotiated a collective agreement. But talks broke off and LAPSA resumed the certification bid in May 2020. Five of the eight appointees to LAMC are NDP members. 

Edward Illi, who was elected president of the union, was put on administrative leave in August 2020 and fired in December 2020, just four days before the LRB agreed that parliamentary privilege applied. 

At the start of February 2021, union members voted to dissolve the association. Illi filed an application with the LRB a month later, challenging the decision to fire him. His unfair labour practice complaint under the Labour Code alleged anti-union animus and lack of proper cause. He also filed an application for standing in the application for reconsideration of the original LRB decision. 

“The Legislative Assembly took the position that Mr. Illi should not be granted standing to pursue the union’s application, that the matter was now moot and that the original decision was correct in law,” said McNeil’s January 2022 filing on behalf of the Legislative Assembly. 

But, in November 2021, an LRB tribunal granted Illi standing and set aside the original decision by declaring parliamentary privilege did not preclude the application. 

According to Illi’s response to the petition, the special constables are appointed under the Police Act and subject to the jurisdiction of the Independent Investigations Office. Any disciplinary investigations are reported to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner annually. 

Marcia McNeil (pcmlawyers.ca)

What’s more, parliamentary privilege did not stop counterparts elsewhere from forming unions at Quebec’s National Assembly, the Alberta Legislature and the Senate of Canada.

“The House of Commons Security Services Employees Association has a certification issued by the Public Service Labour Relations Board to represent employees of the House of Commons Protective Services Group in Ottawa,” said Illi’s March 2022 response. 

The LRB ruled in late 2021 that applying the code to special provincial constables would not impede the Legislative Assembly’s ability to carry on its constitutional functions.

The code’s provisions, it said, ensure that the constables’ role “in protecting the security, safety, and orderliness of the precinct, necessary for the constitutional functioning of the Legislative Assembly, would be maintained even in the event of a lawful strike.”

The decision referred to the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2018 ruling in the Chagnon case, that Quebec’s speaker, officially known as the “president,” could not use parliamentary privilege to avoid the grievances of three fired security guards.

“Although the president is entitled to exercise his management rights and dismiss security guards for a just and sufficient cause, parliamentary privilege does not insulate the president’s decision from review under the labour regime to which the guards are subject,” the majority of judges decided.

The Attorney General of B.C. (AGBC) also filed a response, on March 1, arguing that the Legislative Assembly should not be prevented from claiming immunity based on parliamentary privilege. 

“The AGBC disagrees with the petitioner that the LRB erred by considering the special provincial constables’ Charter freedom of association as part of its consideration of the scope of the petitioner’s parliamentary privilege,” it said. “The AGBC disagrees with the respondent, Mr. Illi’s argument that the Legislative Assembly cannot claim parliamentary privilege against the operation of the Code because it is its own legislation.”

In January 2020, Alan Mullen, chief of staff to then-Speaker Darryl Plecas, submitted a report to LAMC that recommended saving $1 million a year by transforming LAPS into a security department. 

The report said LAPS had 38 uniformed special constables, who are armed with pistols, 26 sessional officers and seven unarmed civilian screeners. The force with jurisdiction over just 5.9 hectares near Victoria’s Inner Harbour cost $5 million of the $5.7 million sergeant-at-arms budget in 2018-2019, more than what Central Saanich spent on its police department. 

In his final report as speaker in December 2020, Plecas said a unionized LAPS “could provide important protections, but might also make subsequent departmental restructuring more complicated.” 

He had earlier arranged for criminology professor Nahanni Pollard and former Vancouver Police deputy chief Doug LePard to review Mullen’s recommendations. LAMC has not published their report. 

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Bob Mackin  B.C.’s Legislative Assembly wants a B.C.

Bob Mackin 

The Canadian Soccer Association went from a $5.3 million surplus the year the women’s team won Olympic gold to a $6.3 million loss the year the men’s team returned to the World Cup after a 36-year absence.

CSA logo

Audited financial statements through Dec. 31, 2022, tabled at the annual general meeting on May 6 and published on May 8, show revenue increased 42.5% to $47.6 million, but expenses grew almost 92% to $54 million. 

Grants from FIFA and CONCACAF ballooned almost 340%, from $4.2 million in 2021 to $18.46 million in 2022, reflecting the Qatar 2022 appearance payment. However, commercial and other fees fell 11% to $16.1 million. 

Revenue from player registration fees increased from $5.03 million in 2021 to $6.6 million in 2022 and grants from taxpayers rose from $4.7 million to $5.06 million. 

The biggest cost was $19.5 million for men’s teams, up from $11.03 million year-over-year. Women’s teams cost $14.03 million, up from $5.1 million. 

Staging, marketing and communications expenses grew from $3.8 million to $8.04 million and administration and meetings rose from $2.7 million to $3.8 million. 

CSA revenue and expenses pale in comparison to the United States Soccer Federation, but the two couldn’t be further apart in terms of transparency.

For instance, in its fiscal 2022 report, the USSF broke down the total $8.17 million revenue it received from registration fees for youth, referee, professional and amateur ranks. 

It also showed costs of the senior teams ($26.95 million for the men and $20.4 million for the women), but included the revenue from matches ($41.98 million for national teams and $2.8 million for international matches) and even the value of the Nike sponsorship agreement — $15.1 million in base payments, $1.75 million in equipment and $789,000 in merchandise royalties. USSF even disclosed expenses for the board of directors and committees ($357,380) and costs of the organization’s annual general meeting ($556,478).

The USSF also publishes its Internal Revenue Service filing, which shows executive compensation. Men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter was the highest-paid at $1.67 million, while CEO William Wilson earned $679,770. 

In testimony before a House of Commons committee in February, former national team player and assistant coach Andrea Neil criticized the CSA’s opacity and urged the committee to undertake a “comprehensive forensic audit into Canada Soccer’s finances, to publicly disclose how funding is being used, and why, to ensure the mission of the organization is being carried out ethically and effectively.”

The CSA’s annual financial report said it received $3.2 million from the Canadian Soccer Business LP (CSB) broadcast and sponsorship deal, up from $3.15 million a year earlier. CSA is entitled to receive up to $4 million annually and other payments in relation to international broadcast rights starting in 2023.

Canada qualified for its first men’s World Cup since 1986 (CSA)

The controversial 2019 agreement runs through 2027, with a CSB option to extend another 10 years. According to notes in the PwC-audited report, CSB is allowed to “retain any and all revenue from any agreement negotiated and/or signed in connection with the representation, including all revenue generated pursuant to sponsorship agreements and broadcasting agreements.”

On Saturday, interim president Charmaine Crooks was elected for one year to finish the four-year term of the February-resigned Nick Bontis. The former International Olympic Committee member, who lives in West Vancouver, defeated Sport BC executive director Rob Newman, the former CSA vice-president who was runner-up in 2012 to Victor Montagliani. 

West Vancouverite Montagliani, who endorsed Crooks, became the president of CONCACAF and vice-president of FIFA in 2016.

Last week, Minster of Sport Pascal St-Onge threatened to order an audit of CSA, after several current and former players have testified this year before House of Commons committees about abuse and corruption in the organization. 

“We have questions about the finances of Soccer Canada,” St-Onge told reporters. 

“Canada Soccer’s approach has reflected a culture of secrecy and obstruction,” women’s captain Christine Sinclair said in a March committee appearance. 

Vancouver and Toronto are among the 16 host cities for the 2026 men’s World Cup, expected to cost taxpayers at least $520 million. 

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Bob Mackin  The Canadian Soccer Association went from

For the week of May 7, 2023:

The Kremlin under drone attack. A Canadian MP on a Chinese diplomat’s blacklist — who in the Prime Minister’s Office knew what and when? Canada lost its national troubadour. The coronavirus emergency declared over. Charles crowned King. 

Hear the sounds of the first week of May 2023 on this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast. 

Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.

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For the week of May 7, 2023:

Bob Mackin

Health Minister Adrian Dix’s newest aide is the New Westminster School Board chair under investigation for breaking the municipal election law last fall.

Community First New West’s Gurveen Dhaliwal (Twitter)

On May 1, cabinet appointed Gurveen Dhaliwal to the position of ministerial advisor, a job that pays between $66,900.01 and $94,600.06 annually. 

On Oct. 5 at the Queensborough Community Centre voting station, the member of the NDP-allied Community First New Westminster party acted as a scrutineer on behalf of city council candidate Ruby Campbell. 

Section 120(4) of the Local Government Act states: “a candidate must not be present at a voting place … while voting proceedings are being conducted,” except in order to vote. The law sets a maximum $5,000 fine and up to one year in jail upon conviction.

The oath of office for a school trustee, under the School Act, states: “I have not, by myself or any other person, knowingly contravened the School Act respecting vote buying, intimidation or other election offences in relation to my election as a trustee.”

New Westminster Police Department confirmed it forwarded a report to Crown counsel to decide whether to charge Dhaliwal. 

“This matter is still under charge assessment,” Daniel McLaughlin, the communications counsel for the B.C. Prosecution Service, said May 4. “We do not have a firm timeline for completion and will not be commenting further at this time.”

Neither Dhaliwal, Dix nor Premier David Eby have responded for comment. McLaughlin would not say whether a special prosecutor has been considered. 

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

“Historically, special prosecutors have been appointed in cases involving cabinet ministers, senior public or ministry officials, senior police officers, or persons in close proximity to these individuals,” said the Prosecution Service web page about special prosecutors.

Dhaliwal was spotted at the voting station by Jason Chan, campaign manager for the New West Progressives. Chan confirmed with the presiding election officer and chief election officer Jacque Killawee that Dhaliwal was acting as a scrutineer. Killawee’s email said that a complaint could be made to police for investigation and then referral to Crown counsel for possible prosecution. So Chan complained to NWPD on Oct. 9. 

He said candidates were provided “extensive, comprehensive” handbooks on election rules and laws and it was not Dhaliwal’s first election. She won a seat on school board in 2018 and was re-elected Oct. 15. She is paid more than $28,000-a-year as chair.

Dhaliwal did not comment during the election campaign. Her party’s chair, Cheryl Greenhalgh, said Dhaliwal was at the voting station for less than an hour and regretted “the mistake.”

“It was a lapse of memory on Gurveen’s part that she could not be a scrutineer on behalf of another candidate,” said Greenhalgh’s statement.

Dhaliwal is a former constituency assistant to Burnaby-Lougheed NDP MLA Katrina Chen and she worked on Richmond-Queensborough NDP MLA Aman Singh’s 2020 campaign. 

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Bob Mackin Health Minister Adrian Dix’s newest aide

Bob Mackin

The fundraising gap continues to narrow between the governing NDP and the opposition BC United.

According to Elections BC returns released May 3, Premier David Eby’s party raised $756,860.05 from supporters in the first quarter of 2023. The former BC Liberals were $126,000 behind, reporting $630,434.12 from their donors.

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

Year-over-year, the NDP saw $19,000 more. BC United, however, grew by $300,000.

More than half the NDP donation revenue in Jan. 1 to March 31 period ($393,073.05) came from the 6,000 contributors who gave $250 or less. The remaining $363,717 came from the 684 party backers who donated more than $250 each.

BC United still relies on donors who go to the max: 651 gave more than $250 each, totalling $485,473.74. Only 1,970 donated $250 or less, for a total $144,420.38.

The NDP reported a $45,354.72 transfer from Eby’s leadership campaign. BC United transferred $103,622.74 to Falcon’s winning leadership campaign and $31,284.50 to Renee Merrifield, who finished sixth out of seven candidates. Falcon spent almost $1.13 million on his leadership bid, far above the $600,000 spending limit. Afterward, the party said some expenses were not subject to the quota. 

David Eby’s swearing-in on Nov. 18, 2022 (BC Gov)

Meanwhile, the Greens reported $201,630.42 in first quarter donations and the BC Conservatives, now led by ex-BC Liberal John Rustad, just $25,861.40.

Elections BC set $1,401.40 as the limit for individual donations to candidates and parties. Corporate and union donations were banned after the NDP came to power in 2017, with a per-vote subsidy as a partial replacement for lost revenue. NDP received $1.57 million in the subsidy last year, BC United $1.1 million and the Greens $497,000.

For last year, the NDP reported $5.9 million total income, while the former BC Liberals took in $4.03 million. The Greens grossed $1.63 million.

The next election is scheduled for October 2024.

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Bob Mackin The fundraising gap continues to narrow

Bob Mackin

A former clerk of the B.C. Legislature promised in 2012 to rewrite his will and donate after-tax proceeds from his $500,000 consulting contract to the Legislative Library.

Ex-B.C. Legislature clerk George MacMinn

But the Legislature received only $100,000 from the estate of the late George MacMinn, who died last August at age 92. He worked a record 54 years as a table officer and wrote the Parliamentary Practice in B.C. guidebook.

When the BC Liberal government chose Craig James to succeed MacMinn in 2011, MacMinn received a $252,560-per-year, two-year contract to act as “clerk consultant.” 

In the wake of Auditor General John Doyle’s scathing summer 2012 report on Legislature finances, then-NDP house leader John Horgan deemed MacMinn’s high-priced arrangement “unnecessary.”

“When people retire they get a gold watch and they move away,” Horgan told reporters at the time. “They don’t get a two-year contract.”

MacMinn had been the longest-serving table officer anywhere in the Commonwealth, including 18 years as clerk. He buckled to pressure and sent a letter to the all-party Legislative Assembly Management Committee in October 2012.

“I have instructed my solicitors to prepare a codicil to my will arranging for $500,000 — less income tax paid — to be paid or transferred to the Legislative Library of British Columbia under the terms and conditions contained in the said codicil, which will be signed on Sept. 1, 2013,” read MacMinn’s letter. “The net result is that all remuneration paid to the consultant will be paid to the Legislative Library.”

April 28, at the first LAMC meeting since January, Clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd announced that the Legislative Assembly had received the “generous gift” from MacMinn’s estate. 

“In his will, he set aside a $100,000 gift for the benefit of the Legislative Library,” Ryan-Lloyd said. “I’m now working, at this point, with the director of the Legislative Library, Peter Gourlay, my colleague, to identify a suitable project to strengthen the library’s research collection and to also provide a public benefit.” 

Contacted for clarification about the discrepancy, Ryan-Lloyd would only say that $100,000 had been received from MacMinn’s estate. 

A copy of MacMinn’s typed Sept. 9, 2019 will was registered Feb. 24 in the Golden court registry. It said MacMinn revoked all previous wills and codicils. At the bottom of the first page, there is a hand-printed and initialled clause that states: “To pay or transfer a cash legacy of $100,000 without interest to the Legislative Library of the Legislative Buildings of Victoria, B.C. for its own use absolutely.” 

MacMinn died more than a month after successor James was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court to a month of house arrest and two months curfew. James was convicted of fraud and breach of public trust after using taxpayers’ money to buy $1,900 worth of custom shirts and a suit for himself. 

Speaker Darryl Plecas and chief of staff Alan Mullen found evidence of corruption in the offices of James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz and called in the RCMP to investigate. James and Lenz, who was not charged, both resigned in disgrace in 2019, but kept their pension eligibility. 

Meanwhile, the committee also heard that the daycare centre proposed for the Parliament Buildings is estimated to cost $2 million plus $195,000 for playground equipment. Staff expect to find a not-for-profit operator and finalize construction drawings by November. 

It will take 10 to 12 months to build the space for 37 children of those that work at the seat of government.

LAMC members also approved increasing the threshold for legal assistance for lawmakers should they need to retain a civil or criminal lawyer.

They will now be eligible for $10,000 to pay their legal bills, double the previous amount. They are also entitled to a maximum $20,000, double the previous $10,000 ceiling, in case of emergency during a period in which the Legislature is dissolved. 

Bob Mackin A former clerk of the B.C.

Bob Mackin

Fraud is rampant across some of B.C.’s biggest public bodies, according to a report from the Office of the Auditor General. 

But so is secrecy about the rampant fraud, due to a loophole in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

B.C. Auditor General Michael Pickup (OAG/YouTube)

In March, Auditor General Michael Pickup released the results of his summer 2022-launched poll of 23 Crown corporations, agencies, health authorities, universities and school boards. Pickup and his team found 61% of the public organizations said they were affected by fraud in the previous 12 months, including theft of physical assets (43%), misappropriation of company funds (22%) and information theft, regulatory or compliance breach, and internal financial fraud (17% each). 

“Fraud is a lot more than stealing money or cash out of the drawer,” Pickup told reporters on March 7. “There’s many facets to what constitutes fraud. So we have to think of fraud in that broader context.”

But the report called “Fraud Risk and Financial Statements: B.C. Public Sector, Part 1” did not name names. So a reporter asked each of the 23 organizations Pickup polled, from BC Housing to Vancouver Island Health Authority, to release copies of their completed questionnaires under the freedom of information law. Fifteen refused outright because they relied on the clause in section 3 that calls a record created by or for an office of the Legislature (such as the Office of the Auditor General) “out of scope.”

Two of the organizations have yet to respond, one referred the request to the Auditor General and another delayed response until June, in order to consult a third-party. University of B.C. missed the legislated deadline, blamed a “significant backlog” and suggested it might reply by end of May. 

Only three of the 23 — B.C. Pavilion Corporation, Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Coastal Health — released copies of their questionnaires. 

SFU went one step further and included topical chapters from its policy manual and the July 28, 2022 email from Pickup to the university’s president Joy Johnson.

“We plan to publish a report of the results of our fraud risk assessment, including information obtained through the questionnaire or directly from you or your designate,” said Pickup’s letter. “Our report will include a summary of results and any significant matters. This may include entity-specific information.”

In the report, Pickup did not name any specific entity. He encouraged reporters involved in the March 7 news conference to contact each of the public bodies directly for more information. 

In an interview, Assistant Auditor General Stuart Newton, who is the former Comptroller General, called the questionnaire results an unaudited “initial step” in the summary financial statements process.

Inside B.C. Place Stadium (Mackin)

“It’s a high level indicator, an aggregate of roughly where things might be at, but it is still subject to some follow up work,” Newton said. 

During the same interview, Pickup said it is not for him to tell the government what its policies should be for public reporting about fraud incidents. 

“The elected folks, how they choose to use this report and how they hold government accountable is really their mandate and not mine,” Pickup said.

The executive director of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association said he understands why the loophole exists, due to the Auditor General’s investigative functions. But Jason Woywada said both public bodies and the Auditor General should use it sparingly when it comes to such an important issue that demands sunlight.
“One would expect that the government and the Auditor General would be transparent about the steps they’re taking to monitor, prevent and dissuade public employees from defrauding the taxpayer. And if not, then that leads to other questions,” Woywada said.

“If the public interest is paramount, this is information that should be released, and if it’s not paramount, there has to be some pretty good reasons for the Auditor General not to release that and/or for other people not to release it.”

On May 2, Pickup released the second part of his fraud risk survey, this time focusing on government ministries.

In the new report, 10 of the 22 ministries said they had been affected by a form of fraud during the previous year. 

Theft of physical assets (36%) and vendor, supplier or procurement fraud (14%) were the leading categories. None reported internal financial fraud, misappropriation of company funds, corruption and bribery or money laundering.

Six ministries (27%) believed they were “highly vulnerable” to information theft. Half the ministries reported they needed to be “very vigilant” about fraud, but three said that fraud in their ministry was “very unlikely.” 

Half the ministries said they did not have a specific fraud risk management policy, but they had other policies that referred to fraud risk management. One ministry said it had no such policy. 

The Office of the Premier was not included in the survey.

Like the first part, the second part was unaudited and Pickup did not identify which ministries are struggling or succeeding. 

What they said

B.C. Pavilion Corporation answered “no” to the question about having a formal fraud risk management policy. Instead, the Crown corporation that operates B.C. Place Stadium and the Vancouver Convention Centre claimed the “concepts of fraud detection, prevention, mitigation, investigation, education and reporting are embedded within many of our policies, procedures and governance frameworks.”

Vancouver General Hospital (VCH)

PavCo reported that it had no fraud hotline. While it had established policies and procedures when potential incidents of fraud are identified, it answered “no” to the question about “if, when and how police are to be called.” PavCo also did not release its answers to the nine types of fraud. 

Simon Fraser University answered “no” to whether it had been affected in the previous 12 months by: physical assets theft, procurement fraud, information theft, regulator or compliance breach, corruption and bribery, internal financial fraud, misappropriation of company funds, money laundering and IP theft. 

It self-described as being “low vulnerability” to most types of fraud, but “moderate vulnerability” to information theft. 

Vancouver Coastal Health answered “yes” to being affected by physical assets theft and misappropriation of company funds. It self-reported “high vulnerability” to information theft, but “low vulnerability” to most types of fraud, except for “moderate vulnerability” to IP theft. 

Honourable mention: University of Victoria refused to show its questionnaire, but provided its correspondence with the Auditor General’s office and relevant policy manual documents. 

Factbox: By the numbers 

15: Refused to disclose, claiming the FOI law does not apply to the questionnaire: BC Housing, BC Hydro, BC Lottery Corp., BCIT, BC Transit, Community Living BC, Fraser Health, ICBC, Interior Health, Liquor Distribution Branch, Northern Health, Providence Health, Provincial Health Services Authority, Surrey School District and University of Victoria;

4: Charged the $10 non-refundable FOI application fee: BC Housing, Community Living BC., Liquor Distribution Branch and BC Transportation Financing Corp.;

3: Responded with questionnaire: B.C. Pavilion Corp., Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Coastal Health;

2: No response: Columbia Power Authority and Vancouver Island Health Authority; 

1: Delayed to June 5 for third-party consultation: Burnaby School District;

1: Indefinite delay due to claimed backlog: University of B.C.; 

1: Referred to OAG: BC Transportation Financing Corp.

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Bob Mackin Fraud is rampant across some of

Bob Mackin

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has reserved decision on whether to order Simon Fraser University to reinstate the football team and play the 2023 season.

(SFU Football)

Five players, Gideone Kremler, Kimo Hiu, Andrew Lirag, Ryan Barthelson and Dayton Ingenhaag, alleged breach of contract and their lawyer asked Justice Michael Stephens on May 1 to reverse the university’s April 4 decision to cancel the 1965-established program.

Peter Gall told Stephens that SFU is legally required to put the team back together and play one more season in the NCAA Division II’s Lone Star Conference or find another league. 

“The players agreed to come to SFU on the promise that they could play football and receive education, some of them receive financial aid,” Gall said. “In return, the players made a meaningful commitment to SFU to come to the university and play football there and that benefited SFU.”

Gall said money is not an issue for the university and neither is the number of players: 97 were committed to participate in the 2023 fall camp, slightly down from last year’s 104 and below the 100 ceiling desired by the athletic director. 

“We’re not saying that the program has to be continued forever,” Gall said. “What we’re saying in this case is that this decision was premature.”

Gall said if the university was sincere about options to continue the program and further the wellbeing of the players, then SFU should welcome external support from alumni and other supporters, financially or otherwise. 

Emily Kirkpatrick, a lawyer acting for SFU, told the court that it was “deeply unfair” that Gall suggested SFU is treating players “as disposable or with contempt for their situation.”

“That could not be further from the truth,” Kirkpatrick said.

She said the university tried to keep the team going until it decided in late March to end the program. Since then, it has taken significant steps to reduce the harm to the players.

Kirkpatrick said players signed financial aid or student athlete agreements, but SFU was not bound by any written contract to provide a football team for as long as they were students at Burnaby Mountain. 

“There’s no evidence that they had that conversation that they said, you’ll get into SFU, and we’ll never take it away from them. There’s no evidence of that conversation,” Kirkpatrick said. “What the plaintiffs affidavits do recount are conversations about an opportunity to play in the SFU program.”

She also said that SFU doesn’t have full control over the football program because it is beholden to others, such as the league. Players were free to leave at any time and coaches were free to leave on two weeks notice. 

Kirkpatrick said SFU has not filed its response to the players’ April 13 civil claim, but she did quote extensively from an affidavit sworn by athletic director Theresa Hanson. Kirkpatrick outlined the steps the university took since Jan. 25, when the Lone Star Conference informed SFU that it would not be welcome in 2024. The conference cited the cost of travel to SFU, SFU’s lack of competitiveness (an 18-103 win-loss record since joining NCAA in 2010) and that another university wanted to join. 

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

SFU, Central Washington and Western Oregon joined the mainly Texas conference for 2022 after the Great Northwest Athletic Conference ended football. The Red Leafs recorded just one victory last year. 

After SFU’s loss of membership was made public Feb. 1, Hanson unsuccessfully inquired in the second half of February about joining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Neither had an opening for a new member. SFU considered playing as an independent, but Kirkpatrick said Hanson deemed it “virtually impossible,” because it would have possibly meant playing all games on the road. 

“Other schools wouldn’t want to incur the cost of traveling to SFU,” Kirkpatrick said. 

Dropping to Division III would not have been feasible at SFU, where athletes in other sports compete in Division II and because Division III does not allow scholarships. 

Kirkpatrick said Hanson also contacted the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and U Sports about a potential bylaw change or an exemption to admit the SFU team, but did not get a commitment from either. 

Finally, Hanson decided in “late March” to cancel the program. When SFU informed players on April 4, they were promised another full year of scholarship eligibility or help in transferring to another university to pursue football.

Since then, Kirkpatrick said, the scholarship offer was extended beyond next year, to the completion of degree studies. Affected students who stay at SFU will also receive priority enrolment, access to academic advisors and tutoring, access to SFU sports medicine and mental health and wellbeing resources. 

“Their rights have been run roughshod over, they’ve been ignored,” Gall said. “And yes, it’s nice that the university is providing them with mental health counselling as a result of the mental health issues they might have caused by their illegal action.”

Hanson’s affidavit said SFU budgeted for $572,649 in financial aid to football; 67 student athletes received a combined $438,250 in scholarships. After the program was canceled, coaches received severance pay for without cause termination and the total payout was nearly $90,000. 

SFU had budgeted $953,541 to run the football team in 2023, up $185,812 from last year, including $423,605 for salaries and benefits, $399,076 for travel and $125,860 for operating expenses. 

BC Lions’ owner Amar Doman has pledged financial support to revive the SFU program, the Canadian Football League’s biggest source of draft picks. Legendary Lions’ kicker Lui Passaglia is among several SFU alumni who are protesting the end of the football team by demanding to be removed from the university’s sports hall of fame.

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Bob Mackin A B.C. Supreme Court judge has