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Bob Mackin

A leaked document shows at least one member of the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association’s staff is connected to a dark money political action committee backed by sportswear and real estate mogul Chip Wilson.

Jeff Conatser of Pacific Prosperity Network and NPA (Twitter)

Jeff Conatser is listed as data and social media manager on the NPA contact list. He also appears on the Pacific Prosperity Network (PPN) website as its director of technology and digital. The June 2021-registered society offers training, software, websites and apps to right-leaning municipal election candidates. 

Elections BC regulates individual donations to elector organizations and candidates, as well as entities that register as third-party advertisers. Political action committees are not regulated, so Elections BC does not require PPN to disclose its donor list.

Neither Conatser nor NPA president David Mawhinney responded before deadline. PPN executive director Micah Haince said Conatser works part-time with PPN and his involvement with the NPA is “completely outside of any role that he holds with PPN.”

Two sources said Conatser also collaborated with former NPA staff member Angelo Isidorou on an anonymous website and Facebook account. Views of Vancouver purports to be a platform for a “grassroots organization dedicated to promoting Vancouver and protecting and enhancing its reputation as a world-class city.” 

Isidorou did not respond for comment. Haince said PPN is not involved with Views of Vancouver and has chosen to stay out of the Vancouver election campaign, due to free enterprise vote-splitting against incumbent Mayor Kennedy Stewart.

Views of Vancouver Facebook page (Facebook)

The Facebook ad library shows that Views of Vancouver spent $20,952 on 36 ads since January 2021, many of which are critical of Mayor Kennedy Stewart. The Facebook ads feature NPA purple designs, promote party policies and encourage users to add their name, postal code, email address and phone number to a petition “aimed to address pressing issues in Vancouver, such as soaring crime, vandalism, pollution, affordability and so much more!” Such online petitions are common tactics to build voter identification databases, but there is no personal information consent disclaimer on the Views of Vancouver website. 

Isidorou said in an interview after John Coupar quit Aug. 3 as the party’s mayoral candidate that the party feuded over whether to accept financial support from real estate tycoon Peter Wall. 

In that interview, Isidorou identified himself as a volunteer. But a June 28 cease and desist letter from NPA lawyer Bruce Hallsor says otherwise. 

“You have recently revealed to NPA officials that you have been being paid by a third party without the NPA’s knowledge, for the work you have done on some of our digital media campaign activities,” Hallsor wrote to Isidorou. “You have done this contrary to NPA policy and contrary to the B.C. Local Elections Campaign Financing Act.”

Stick a fork in John Coupar, he’s done (NPA)

Hallsor demanded Isidorou immediately return all electronic media information, passwords and data, including the Facebook master ownership permission and any information about supporters or donors.

Before he quit, Coupar, a Park Board commissioner since 2011, had demanded the NPA board approve a campaign budget and accept fundraising support from Wall, who provided office space downtown in the Wall Centre complex and workers for the campaign. 

Wall is a longtime BC Liberal supporter who backed Vision Vancouver under Gregor Robertson’s leadership. In 2018, he funnelled $85,000 into a billboard and social media campaign for YES Vancouver mayoral candidate and former NPA councillor Hector Bremner. The controversy sparked amendments to campaign finance laws. 

Haince worked on the Wall-funded Bremner campaign. In 2022, Wall is not involved in the Wilson-backed PPN. “They would never work on the same team,” Haince said. 

PPN lists the address of law firm Bennett Jones as the registered office. PPN also calls itself Pacific Prosperity Foundation, but it does not appear on the Canada Revenue Agency charities list and does not issue tax receipts.

Wall did not respond for comment. 

After the Aug. 4 Coupar bombshell, the NPA moved its campaign office to Kerrisdale. The party is seeking a replacement candidate. Nomination for the Oct. 15 civic election ballot runs Aug. 30-Sept. 9.

Coupar was the first candidate to declare a run for the mayoralty in April 2021 and is the first to depart the race. His closed-door appointment by the NPA board sparked resignations of 2018-elected NPA councillors Sarah Kirby-Yung, Lisa Dominato and Colleen Hardwick. Kirby-Yung and Dominato joined the Ken Sim-led ABC Vancouver party. Hardwick is running for mayor under the Team for a Livable Vancouver banner. 

After Coupar left, NPA city council candidate Mauro Francis defected to Progress Vancouver, the party formerly known as YES Vancouver. Its mayoral candidate is BC Liberal and federal Liberal backroom strategist and lobbyist Mark Marissen, the former husband of ex-Premier Christy Clark.

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Bob Mackin A leaked document shows at least

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Bob Mackin

Sixteen people died from heat-related illness in British Columbia during the summer of 2022’s longest heat wave so far, according to preliminary figures released by the B.C. Coroners Service. 

The total covers the period of July 26 to Aug. 3. The worst day for fatalities was July 29, with five deaths recorded.

B.C. Coroners Service

By comparison, the B.C. Coroners Service confirmed 619 people died in the worst natural disaster in Canadian history, B.C.’s June 25-July 1, 2021 heat dome.

“The data are considered preliminary and subject to change as coroners’ investigations conclude,” said the Aug. 9 report. “These data were compiled by Coroner notification date, which may differ from the date of injury.”

Half the 16 deaths occurred in the Fraser Health region and six in Interior Health. Only one each have been recorded so far in Vancouver Coastal and Island Health. 

Six of the deaths were in the 70-to-78-year-old age bracket. There were two each in the 40-49 and 50-59 age groups, three in 60-69 and three 80 and above. 

Vancouver Police and Surrey RCMP said they saw no noticeable uptick in general sudden death calls between July 26-Aug. 1. There were 28 calls in Vancouver, higher than the seven-day average of 23, and 14 in Surrey. Neither police department was able to say how many were heat-related and referred questions to the coroner.

Environment Canada issued heat warnings for most of the province on July 25 lasting through Aug. 1. Many areas saw temperatures 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal and daily records fell throughout the Interior, Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island. 

The heat wave was less-severe than the record-breaking heat dome of late June 2021, when Lytton set a new Canadian record of 49.6 Celsius. 

This time, there was a greater emphasis on preventive messaging from provincial and municipal authorities. 

A June report from the Coroners Service found the NDP government and municipalities did not do enough to warn the public of the 2021 heat dome event. It cited a lag between Environment Canada’s official heat alerts and the response of public agencies. 

Premier John Horgan, April 19 (BC Gov)

More than 800 deaths were investigated, and 619 were deemed to be heat-related — 98% of which happened indoors. Most victims lacked access to cooler buildings or air conditioned spaces and many were older adults with chronic physical or mental health conditions. 

The report did not include a timeline, but the first Environment Canada alert came June 23, 2021 with an ominous warning of record-breaking heat and the elevated potential for heat-related illnesses. Neither the Ministry of Health nor the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General called a news conference or issued a warning in 2021. They left it to regional districts and municipalities. 

Records released under freedom of information show public health officials waited until the afternoon of June 25, 2021 to declare an extreme heat alert, but the official public bulletin was delayed in the bureaucracy for almost three hours.  

Premier John Horgan came under heavy criticism for telling reporters on June 29, 2021 that the public bore a level of personal responsibility for the disaster and “fatalities are a part of life.”

Although the coroner’s report called the 2021 heat wave “unprecedented,” newspapers in 1925 reported on a similar heat dome during the same days after the summer solstice up and down the west coast. It contributed to wildfires, including one that burned most of the summer in the Capilano watershed. 

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Bob Mackin Sixteen people died from heat-related illness

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Bob Mackin

Coquitlam RCMP finally released what it calls high resolution photos of the alleged accomplices in gangster Rabih Alkhalil’s escape from North Fraser Pretrial Centre. 

Mounties said Alkhalil, 35, was dressed in a black jumpsuit and high visibility vest when he left in a white Ford Econoline van at 6:48 p.m. July 21 with two men posing as contractors.

The next day, RCMP released photographs of the alleged accomplices and claimed they had identified them. RCMP was forced to admit July 23 that the photographs were not of the suspects, but stock photos published around the internet that resemble the suspects. 

The photographs released Aug. 9 show one suspect wearing a white hard hat, high visibility vest over a black shirt, black pants, black gloves and black boots. The second suspect wore a black baseball cap, black shirt, black pants, black boots, black gloves and glasses. Both wore facemasks.

One of the photos shows the second suspect inside a building, near a door, and wearing what appears to be a decal on his chest. The photos do not show Alkhalil and the location is not mentioned. 

RCMP also provided an eight-second clip from a surveillance cameras of the white van going left to right on the screen, outside of a tire store. 

RCMP say they have reviewed all CCTV footage that has been obtained and established the route the getaway vehicle took from North Fraser Pretrial Centre to where it was abandoned. The route is not included in the news release. 

Escaped gangster Rabih Alkhalil (RCMP)

The investigation also includes B.C.’s anti-gang squad, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC, Vancouver Police, Canada Border Services Agency and international law enforcement agencies. 

Two experts familiar with North Fraser Pretrial Centre earlier said they were surprised by the dearth of images released. 

“I have never in my 32 years in policing, and my time since policing, seen such an inept investigation on a suspected murderer that has escaped from one of our secure institutions,” said former Kash Heed, the Solicitor General and Public Safety Minister in 2009 and 2010. 

“It’s not clear whether these two accomplices even entered the institution,” said Alan Mullen, the former chief of staff to Speaker Darryl Plecas and a former corrections manager at Kent Institution. “It’s not clear whether they were on the compound or just outside the fence, whether they were in the building, we don’t know, how deep they actually got in.”

Alkhalil was one of four men convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a 2012 murder in Toronto’s Little Italy during a Euro soccer watch party at a cafe. He was arrested in Greece in 2013.

Alkhalil’s first degree murder trial continues without him in B.C. Supreme Court. He is charged with the Jan. 17, 2012 killing of gangster Sandip Duhre at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel in Vancouver. Hells Angel Larry Ronald Amero is also standing trial for conspiring to murder Duhre.

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Bob Mackin Coquitlam RCMP finally released what it

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Bob Mackin 

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he raised more than $1.13 million since launching his first campaign four years ago.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart (Twitter)

In a list of people who donated $100 or more released Aug. 8, Stewart’s political party Forward Together says it has received donations from 2,473 people since May 2018.

The disclosure covers the period from May 10, 2018 to June 30, 2022 and discloses 6,480 separate donations averaging $175.01.

For the first half of 2022, Forward Together has received donations from 335 people, on pace to beat the 2021 total of 482 well before the Oct. 15 election day. 

In the last two years alone, Stewart received almost $14,000 in donations from members of the Aquilini family, owners of the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, and real estate partners with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, three of the four first nations supporting the Canadian Olympic Committee’s bid to bring the 2030 Winter Olympics to Vancouver. 

The list shows 2021 donations from brothers Francesco ($1,238.07) and Roberto Aquilini ($1,239). Francesco and Roberto Aquilini each gave $1,250 in 2022, along with father Luigi, Roberto’s wife Deanna ($1,250) and Aquilini children Dax, Karsyn, Keely, Pierce and Quinn. 

After coming to power in 2017, the NDP government banned corporate and union donations in provincial and municipal campaigns. Since then, names of prominent donors’ relatives have appeared more frequently on campaign finance lists.

Jim Chu, the former Vancouver Police chief now working as a vice-president of Aquilini Investment Group, is on the list for $1,239 in 2021 and $1,250 in 2022. 

In April, Francesco Aquilini threw his support behind Stewart’s re-election campaign, when he hosted an April 25 fundraiser at the Captain’s Room in Rogers Arena. The event was officially called the Mayor’s Engagement Lunch. Stewart advertised tickets for the event at $600, $900 and $1,250. The latter was considered a  “leadership donor” purchase that includes attendance for all campaign events and is the maximum allowable by individuals under Elections BC rules for the year.

In 2014, Aquilini companies donated $60,000 to Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver, three times as much as they gave the opposition NPA. Aquilini companies donated $12,500 to the Burnaby Citizens’ Association in 2013 and 2017. In 2020, Francesco Aquilini gave $1,200 personally to the NDP-aligned council majority party. 

Aquilini Investment Group and MST Development Corp., the Musqueam-Squamish-Tsleil-Waututh real estate company, plan to redevelop the former B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch site on East Broadway. AIG, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh co-own the Willingdon Lands in Burnaby. 

In 2016, MST hired AIG president David Negrin with the support of Luigi Aquilini. Negrin advised MST on its purchase of the province’s Jericho Lands, after MST combined with Canada Lands Co. to acquire the federal parcel and two other federal properties. 

Negrin donated $1,239 to Stewart in 2021.

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Bob Mackin  Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he

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Bob Mackin

The Chinese government is scolding Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart again. 

This time, after a Chinese language newspaper quoted Stewart for supporting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan.

U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei (ROC/Twitter)

Last fall, then-Consul-General Tong Xiaoling publicly berated Stewart for considering a friendship city relationship with Taiwan’s second-biggest city, Kaohsiung. 

Tong finished an almost five-year term at the end of July. But, last week, an unnamed spokesman at the People’s Republic of China consulate in Vancouver called Stewart’s remarks to Sing Tao Daily on Aug. 3 “ridiculous and unacceptable” 

In the story, translated to English, Stewart said “[Pelosi] is a politician who has long supported democratic, free human rights. Her decision is right.” He also told a reporter that he wants to visit Taiwan.

A statement on the consulate’s Chinese website told Stewart to “be cautious in his words and deeds on Taiwan-related issues, and to focus on solving the livelihood and security of [Vancouver] citizens, especially in eliminating crimes of hatred and discrimination against Asians.”

“Don’t waste your time to win fire for Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China, take advantage of the Taiwan issue to gain personal political interests, and don’t play with fire on the Taiwan issue and send wrong signals to the separatist forces of ‘Taiwan independence’, otherwise those who play with fire will burn themselves.”

The latter phrase echoed Chairman Xi Jinping’s words in a July 28 call with U.S. President Joe Biden, who has pledged to defend Taiwan. Pelosi’s visit triggered live fire war games by China’s navy and air force off Taiwan’s coast and in Taiwanese airspace. China also sanctioned Taiwanese businesses and stopped climate change talks with the U.S. Foreign ministers of G-7 countries, including Canada, criticized China for its “unnecessary escalation.”

Stewart said in 2021 that he would not meet with Chinese government officials after Beijing sanctioned several Members of Parliament, including friend and Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong. China’s move was in retaliation for Canadian government sanctions several senior officials after the House of Commons declared China is committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims.

Kennedy Stewart and the Taiwan government’s B.C. envoy, Angel Liu, discuss twinning Kaohsiung and Vancouver. (TECO/Twitter)

In the Sing Tao story, Stewart said he is critical of the Chinese government, but has no prejudice toward Chinese people and treats all citizens equally. He also said he would be willing to talk to the mayor of Guangzhou, Vancouver’s Chinese sister city. “I just choose not to meet with Chinese government officials,” he said.

Stewart’s office has not responded for comment.

At the end of May, Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents warned Stewart that the Chinese government could meddle in the Oct. 15 civic election. 

The Chinese Communist Party maintains an official program called the United Front Work Department which aims to influence foreign countries via state-sponsored disinformation, hacking, spying, co-opting of politicians and intimidation of the Chinese diaspora.

CSIS director David Vigneault has pinpointed the governments of Russia and China as primary threats to Canada’s national security.

“Efforts by foreign states to target politicians, political parties, and electoral processes in order to covertly influence Canadian public policy, public opinion and ultimately undermine our democracy and democratic processes represent some of the most paramount concerns,” Vigneault said in a 2021 speech.

The United Nations has recognized only Mainland China since 1971 and Mainland China considers Taiwan a rebel province. Xi has threatened to use force to take control of Taiwan, an independent, democratic country with a free press and 23 million people living on a land mass similar in size to Vancouver Island. 

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Bob Mackin The Chinese government is scolding Vancouver

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Bob Mackin

More than two months after overspending to win the BC Liberal leadership, Kevin Falcon ran a balanced by-election campaign in Vancouver-Quilchena.

North Vancouver-resident Falcon handily won the April 30 by-election by a 3,610-vote margin.

He was sworn in May 16 to fill the seat vacated by ex-leader Andrew Wilkinson.

Kevin Falcon

Elections BC returns released Aug. 4 show that Falcon received $84,374.37 in transfers from party headquarters and spent the same amount in his MLA comeback.

Falcon spent $40,302.09 on advertising, including lawn signs, promotional materials, door-to-door and phone canvassing, social media and polling. Salaries and benefits were the next-biggest line item at $9,647.06. 

He sought reimbursement for $33,539.87, half the eligible expenses counted under the campaign finance subsidy program. 

The biggest supplier at $13,860 was ElectRight Inc., a company that advertises polling, robocalling and telephone townhall services. 

Falcon’s biggest fundraiser netted $27,348.59 on April 8 at the Shun Feng Seafood Restaurant in Richmond, attended by 23 people. 

NDP runner-up Jeanette Ashe, the wife of Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, received $53,704.43 in transfers from her party’s headquarters and reported $53,662.92 in expenses.

Ashe spent $12,509.87 on professional services and only $10,997.02 on advertising. The biggest single supplier was Airbnb for $6,279.96. She sought reimbursement for $21,896.16 in expenses.

Ashe’s major fundraiser was April 8 at the Croatian Cultural Centre in East Vancouver, where the party netted $12,692.69 at an event involving seven caucus members, including Adrian Dix and David Eby. The party’s biggest fundraiser during the by-election period was Premier John Horgan’s April 21 hometown fundraiser in Langford, which netted $24,000.38. 

In June, Falcon reported his leadership campaign cost $1.078 million, almost $500,000 more than the party-imposed cap for each contestant. Falcon spent more than $519,000 during the leadership campaign on professional services, but neither Falcon nor the party provided details.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s wife, Jeanette Ashe, appears on the right in Stewart’s first anniversary video (City of Vancouver)

The party said it was satisfied Falcon followed appropriate rules and guidelines, so it did not fine or disqualify him. He was, however, fined $500 by Elections BC for late filing. 

The race was held under a cloud of controversy as Falcon’s six opponents complained about thousands of fraudulent memberships sold by Falcon’s team. A B.C. Supreme Court judge rejected a party member’s petition that aimed to delay the release of results by 15 days in order to investigate the allegations.

The next provincial election is scheduled for October 2024, but Falcon will not face Horgan, who announced in late June that he would retire from the premiership this fall. David Eby is the only declared candidate and could be acclaimed Horgan’s successor if nobody else enters by Oct. 4.

Meanwhile, the BC Liberals are on track to beat their 2021 fundraising total and the NDP is lagging behind last year’s pace.

The second quarter figures released Aug. 5 by Elections BC show the opposition party under Falcon raised $667,866.45 from April 1 to June 30 for a half-year total of $993,555.31.

In 2021, the year after their worst election defeat in three decades, they raised $1.42 million. 

The ruling NDP reported $988,717.09 in donations in the second quarter, for a total of $1.73 million. In 2021, Horgan’s party took in almost $3.6 million. 

The B.C. Greens, meanwhile, have raised $471,926.57 after two quarters. They reported almost $1.1 million in 2021. 

In May and June, the BC Liberals transferred $30,414.79 to Elenore Sturko’s campaign for the upcoming Surrey South by-election to replace BC Liberal Stephanie Cadieux, who quit to become the first federal chief accessibility officer.

Premier John Horgan, April 19 (BC Gov)

The party transferred $106,780 to Falcon’s by-election campaign on April 29, the day before the vote, and $63,658.98 between April 7 and June 30. 

On July 15, the three parties also received their latest bi-annual instalments of taxpayer-funded allowances under a program to replace the 2017-banned corporate and union donations. Until this year, the payments were annual. 

Sums for the NDP ($786,086), BC Liberals ($556,629.50) and Greens ($248,632.12) are based on $1.75 per vote from the last election and doled out every January and July. 

Instead of phasing out the allowances, the NDP made them permanent, but subject to the consumer price index beginning in 2024. 

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Bob Mackin More than two months after overspending

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Bob Mackin

The Non-Partisan Association is looking for a new leader, just over a month until the deadline for candidates to register for the Oct. 15 civic election.

Park Board Commissioner John Coupar resigned as the mayoral candidate Aug. 4, leaving three declared challengers to Mayor Kennedy Stewart. The party announced the next morning that it met the previous evening and accepted Coupar’s resignation.

Ex-NPA mayoral candidate John Coupar (NPA)

“We thank John for his remarkable service and tireless dedication to Vancouver as an elected Park Board Commissioner since 2011 and we wish him well,” said the NPA statement.

Multiple sources say that Coupar’s internal polling was below expectations and there was a dispute between the party board and Coupar about financial support, spending and policy advice from real estate developer Peter Wall. The board wanted to cut ties with Wall, but Coupar didn’t. 

The NPA has a storefront office at the Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver. Wall’s hotel, the Sheraton Wall Centre, was the venue for a party after the office ribbon-cutting on June 25. The party is relocating to space in Kerrisdale. 

Wall has not immediately responded for comment. Coupar did not respond to a message to his personal mobile phone. He Tweeted that he had resigned Thursday and looked forward to spending time with his family and friends. 

“I am grateful to the NPA for the opportunity to run and for the wonderful team of NPA candidates who surrounded me,” Coupar Tweeted. “I love this city and have enjoyed serving the residents of Vancouver over the last 11 years. I have always strived to walk with the utmost integrity and with an unwavering commitment to those I serve.”

Wall is a longtime BC Liberal supporter who backed Vision Vancouver under Gregor Robertson’s leadership. Four years ago, Wall funnelled $85,000 into a billboard campaign for YES Vancouver mayoral candidate and former NPA councillor Hector Bremner. The controversy sparked amendments to third-party advertising rules and extended regulation prior to civic elections.

Angelo Isidorou, a former NPA board member, said he was volunteering as digital director for the NPA until a month ago and was disappointed to see Coupar quit. “He’s a good man and genuinely wants to see Kennedy Stewart defeated,” he said.

“I know there’s some disagreements regarding the Walls as being major fundraisers for the campaign, but at the end of the day, you need money,” he said. “You can’t run a campaign without money.” 

NPA vacated its Wall Centre street level campaign office the same day it announced mayoral candidate John Coupar had resigned.

Coupar was the first candidate to declare a run for the mayoralty and the first to depart the race. 

On Easter Monday in 2021, the NPA board announced it chose Coupar behind closed doors. 

That prompted 2018-elected NPA councillors Sarah Kirby-Yung, Lisa Dominato and Colleen Hardwick to quit the party and sit as independents, leaving Melissa De Genova as the only NPA member of city council. Rebecca Bligh was also elected on the 2018 ticket, but she already left in late 2019 after a dispute with conservative-leaning board members. 

Earlier this year, Kirby-Yung, Dominato and Bligh joined ABC Vancouver under Ken Sim, who defeated Coupar for the NPA mayoral nomination in 2018 and fell 957 votes shy of Stewart. 

Hardwick formed TEAM for a Livable Vancouver and is now the only elected official aiming to unseat Stewart.

The other candidate is Progress Vancouver’s Mark Marissen, the driving force behind Bremner’s campaign in 2018 and a longtime BC Liberal and federal Liberal backroom strategist and lobbyist who was formerly married to ex-Premier Christy Clark. 

NPA campaign manager Mark Werner declined comment. Werner was campaign manager for BC Liberal leadership runner-up Ellis Ross.

Ken Charko, one of the NPA city council candidates, said he has “nothing but respect for the time that John has put into the city and saving the Bloedel Conservatory.” 

Time is running out to find a new mayoral candidate. Charko still thinks it’s possible, noting that in 2018, the NPA announced its slate of candidates at the end of July. For this cycle, council candidates were named in late May.

“We’ve raised a good portion of funds outside of the involvement of the Walls, we already have a campaign office that will be fully up and running,” Charko said. “It’s my understanding that it is always our intention to leave the Walls.”

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Bob Mackin The Non-Partisan Association is looking for

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For the week of Aug. 7, 2022:

Six months ago, Xi Jinping hosted Vladimir Putin at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which were boycotted by leaders of major western nations due to China’s human rights abuses. They agreed on a “no limits” alliance.

Before the end of February, Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine. Last week, Xi’s troops encircled Taiwan for war games to intimidate the island nation after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to support President Tsai Ing-wen.

On this edition, host Bob Mackin welcomes back international supply chain expert Glenn Ross of ACC Group to discuss the geopolitical and economic ramifications.

Plus, hear from former Canadian diplomat Charles Burton and Canadian Friends of Hong Kong’s Fenella Sung about Taiwan and the departure of the Xi Jinping’s mouthpiece in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling.

Also, 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.

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For the week of Aug. 7, 2022: Six

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Bob Mackin

Premier John Horgan’s legacy when he steps down this fall will include his record as a job creator in his own office, where millions of dollars have been spent on new hires.

In the 2021 budget, the Office of the Premier was allotted $14.68 million, a whopping $3.34 million increase from a year earlier. The office got a further $14,000 top-up in the 2022 budget.

Premier John Horgan (BC Gov)

The total number of people employed a year after the snap 2020 election grew to almost 100, according to a payroll list obtained under freedom of information. Horgan’s office includes the intergovernmental relations secretariat, cabinet operations, executive and support services and the planning and priorities secretariat.

The latter was created after the 2020 election, costs $1.6 million a year and includes 10 new hires tasked to work with ministries on cabinet social, economic and environmental initiatives.

The heart of Horgan’s office is the executive branch, which includes political staff and correspondence clerks. A background note for 2021 budget estimates hearings said there were 27 political staffers as of June 2021 and eight others in the correspondence unit.

“Salary costs for executive operations of the Premier’s Office are approximately $2.7 million,” said the briefing note. “In July 2017 under the BC Liberal government, the executive branch had a total of 21 [full-time equivalents] and salary cost of $1.77 million.”

Documents show that there were 86 people on the payroll in August 2020, the month before the snap election. In October 2021, which had three pay periods, there were 97 employed and the total gross payroll for that month was $1.072 million.

The reason for the hiring spree? “To meet the needs of a majority government and respond effectively to COVID and recovery,” the briefing note said.

The highest-paid employee in October 2021’s payroll was Lori Wanamaker, the Deputy Minister to the Premier ($38,438), followed by special advisor John Allan ($34,929) and Deputy Minister of Special Initiatives Jill Kot, ($29,244). The top two officials in the intergovernmental relations secretariat and the assistant deputy minister of policy and coordination were the other bureaucrats making more than $24,000 in October 2021.

Meanwhile, Horgan’s chief of staff Geoff Meggs was the highest-paid political appointee, at $24,051, along with Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Issues Eric Kristianson ($18,507), Assistant Deputy Minister of Planning and Priorities Secretariat Donna Sanford ($18,435) and Deputy Chiefs of Staff Amber Hockin ($18,073) and Don Bain ($17,979).

Premier John Horgan in the $15,000-a-month virtual studio (BC Gov)

There were seven people titled deputy minister or assistant deputy minister, nine executive directors, 12 directors and 14 assistants.

During the 2022 budget estimates hearing on June 1, Horgan said that the planning and priorities secretariat is similar to other jurisdictions in Canada and was created “to better support cabinet operations, to ensure timely understanding of issues as they emerge and to make sure that the appropriate work can be done.”

BC Liberal opposition leader Kevin Falcon said he struggled to understand the spending increase, because an additional office was not needed when he was in cabinet between 2001 and 2012.

“Quite frankly, it sounds to me like a lot more people just spending a lot more time pushing a lot more paper and having a lot more meetings without a discernible improved outcome,” Falcon said on June 1.

The estimates note also said the Office of the Premier spent $259,000 on contractors in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, including $138,493 on strategic advisor Robert Dewar and $50,000 on five, short-term, no-bid agreements for an unusual, post-2020 election transition team.

Transition teams are traditionally struck only when there is a new premier.

Premier John Horgan with chief of staff Geoff Meggs on a February 2019 trip to Washington State (BC Gov)

In Horgan’s case, he hired Robert Chamberlin ($1,750), Roshan Danesh Law Corp. ($8,000), Raj Sihota ($14,945), Emily Rose White ($14,374) and Stewart Group Strategic Consulting ($10,000). Sihota was the NDP’s executive director through the 2020 election. Stewart Group president Lecia Stewart was the NDP-appointed chair of BC Ferries.

NDP finance minister Selina Robinson is expected sometime this month to release the government’s public accounts for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Horgan has continued his public lobbying for billions of dollars of additional federal healthcare funds. He flippantly suggested the purchase of a newspaper ad to convince the federal Liberal government to send more money after Order of B.C. recipient Nadine Mort bought space in the Victoria Times Colonist in a desperate measure to find a doctor to write a prescription for her husband.

On June 28, Horgan announced he would retire from the premiership when the NDP chooses a successor. Party members are scheduled to vote Dec. 3. The only declared candidate is David Eby, who could be acclaimed if nobody else enters by Oct. 4.

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Bob Mackin Premier John Horgan’s legacy when he

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Bob Mackin

A B.C. Court of Appeal tribunal dismissed a man’s bid to stop his extradition to the United States, after he failed to convince a lower court judge that police violated his constitutional rights. 

The Vancouver Police Department’s gang crime unit arrested Wayne Steven Hollaus in an Oct. 24, 2014, sting that also nabbed another man, alleged ex-Hells Angel David James Oliynyk. 

The two men picked up a suitcase containing 26 kilograms of what turned out to be fake cocaine and loaded it on the flatbed of a pickup truck. The VPD officers used a traffic stop as a ruse to seize the suitcase and arrest the duo as part of an ongoing U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigation.

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

Hollaus contended he was also subjected to unreasonable search and seizure and arbitrary detention, because he claimed the arresting officer did not have proper grounds for his arrest. B.C. Supreme Court rejected his arguments in 2020. 

Hollaus’s appeal was heard on April 29. Justice Peter Voith wrote the Aug. 3 appeal decision. Justices Mary Newbury and Peter WIllcock concurred.

“The police had reasonable grounds to arrest the appellant based on information from the operation, shared with the arresting officer, that the appellant had picked up a suitcase which he believed contained cocaine,” said the verdict. “At that point, he was arrestable for the Canadian offence of attempted possession for the purpose of trafficking.”

The appeal court said Hollaus’s rights were not breached, because he was advised that he was under arrest for possession for the purpose of trafficking, as opposed to attempted possession for the purpose of trafficking. 

The identities of the police officers are protected by a publication ban. The judgment said they planned tell Hollaus and Oliynyk that a 9-1-1 call from an unknown source reported they had transferred a suitcase from one vehicle to another. The first officer to stop the vehicle and be in contact with Hollaus improvised, using the fact that the Chevy Silverado was missing a validation tag on its rear licence plate in an effort to coax Hollaus out of the vehicle. 

Both men were handcuffed outside the vehicle and told they were detained for a suspicious vehicle check. Another officer searched the flatbed and found the suitcase containing the fake cocaine before Hollaus’s arrest.

“The use of the ruse was short-lived. Four minutes after the police first stopped Mr. Hollaus, he was advised he was being arrested for possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking,” Voith wrote. “Certainly, another aspect of the ruse was to conceal the DHS investigation, but there was no need, as I have earlier explained, to advise the appellant of the ongoing American investigation.”

On June 8, Oliynyk lost his appeal of a U.S. bid to extradite him on a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine case.

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Bob Mackin A B.C. Court of Appeal tribunal

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