Monday, September 24, 2007

 

Jamie Elmhirst re-visited

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Sometimes a comment is too informative to be left half-hidden on the sidelines. This comment concerns Jamie Elmhirst who is expected to be one of the key witnesses for the prosecution when the trial of Basi Virk Basi comes to court:



Anon wrote, at 9:32am this morning:

I'll work on that information for you. I do know he [Jamie Elmhirst] was first appointed, by Order in Council, on June 5, 2001.
The relevant OIC is No 558 (effective June 5, 2001). Elmhirst was appointed at that time as a Ministerial Assistant in the Ministry of Water, Land and Air protection. He was, therefore, with the Campbell government from its earliest days after the 2001 election.


There will be a revoking OIC that rescinded that appointment - which, for the moment - I haven't been able to track down.

# posted by Anonymous : September 25, 2007 7:27 AM

These information about Jamie Elmhirst is very interesting when you consider the following:

1. David Basi has been accused of accepting $50,000 in payments from developers Jim Duncan and Anthony Young between Jan 1 2002 and Sep 1 2003 for his role in getting a parcel of land released from the Agricultural Land Reserve

2. The developers first applied to have this parcel of forestry land released from the Agricultural Land Reserve in Oct 2001. Their application was rejected in Feb 2002. They applied again in March 2002 and were rejected May 2002. They applied again in Jun 2002 and were finally accepted in summer 2003

3. Basi was working in the Ministry of Finance during this time period and would have no direct influence over decisions made by the Agricultural Land Commission.

4. Jamie Elmhirst was working in the Ministry of Land Protection at this time and may have been in a position to influence decisions by the Agricultural Land Commission

5. Basi would have had a line of communication to Elmhirst through Erik Bornmann

6. Elmhirst left the Ministry of Land Protection around the same time as Basi allegedly received his last payment from the developers, i.e. late summer 2003

7. Elmhirst was subsequently, put on the payroll of Pilothouse.
# posted by Anonymous : September 25, 2007 11:55 AM


You might, however, be interested in this:
https://eservice.ag.gov.bc.ca/lra/report.jsp

This is a summary of his activities as a 'registered' lobbyist.

I'll try to get back here and post the information with regard to the other OIC when I have it.

# posted by Anonymous: September 24, 2007 -- who came back a few hours later with the following contribution:

Jamie Elmhirst is sometimes the forgotten man in this scandal but let's review some facts.

Business partners with Kieran and Bornmann who have been subpoenaed to testify at the trial.

Has continued to do lobbying work despite being a witness for the prosecution. Was dumped by a client after news reports surfaced that he did not disclose the fact he is a witness in the Basi Virk trial. See Tieleman's work on this.

A formal complaint has been launched with lobbyist registrar by the NDP and the government has hired KPMG to conduct a thorough investigation into emails where Kieran, Bornmann, and Elmhirst were bragging about a cozy relationship with the former Deputy Minister of Finance, Paul Taylor. We are still waiting for that report.

# posted by Anonymous : September 24, 2007 4:28 PM

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Psssst, Anon: KPMG is also a curious Google topic, not to be overlooked. Many thanks for your sharp eyes and contributions here. - BC Mary.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Jamie Elmhirst re-visited":

Sorry to have taken so long - I've looked high up and low down and there does not appear to be an OIC specifically rescinding Elmhirst's appointment under OIC 558.This is not unheard of, sometimes OIC appointees just quit and a replacement is quietly appointed. However, the timing is interesting. Elmhirst WAS still on the government payroll in fiscal 2003/04. In the Public Accounts - Consolidated Revenue Fund Detailed Schedules of Payments For the Fiscal Year EndedMarch 31, 2004 his name appears at page 12 as follows: Elmhirst, Jamie 33,695.On Page 11 of the same record we find the following: Basi, Aneal $50,727; Basi, David $62,824. I'd have to look back at the record for 2002 - 2003 to determine what Elmhirst's salary was for the previous year. Extrapolating one should be able to determine, more or less, how long Elmhirst worked as a ministerial assistant during the 03/04 period.


Elmhirst's salary in 2002/03 was

ELMHIRST, J $63,361(salary); $ 3,863 (travel)


So, he was probably on the government payroll for about 1/2 of 03/04....Which would mean April through September of 2003 - in all liklihood ... and his appointment must have ended about the time the whole BC Rail thing was getting hot and heavy. [To be continued.] Now, in conclusion:


So, in summary: Jamie Elmhirst was, and is, a very interesting part of this whole story and one, as anon 4:28 pm has noted above, who has been kind of 'forgotten' in this whole story. A member of the Campbell 'team' from the start of the regime; appointed at the same time and in the self-same OIC with Basi and Virk; moving from government over to Pilothouse where he worked with another key player in the BCRail 'bribery' and pay-off scandal. And now an ethically 'questionable' lobbyist and witness for the prosecution?

I can only wonder why the working press hasn't been pulling some of these same strings and asking questions about all this...

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Thanks and a large bouquet to Anonymous for this good work. Indeed, where are the Big Name Journalists from Big Media on this matter? - BC Mary.

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And this:

Jamie Elmhirst's activities after the legislature raids are equally intriguing. On Nov 14 2004 he was elected president of the BC wing of the federal liberal party. To do this he defeated Patrick Malony, the son of a supreme court judge and longtime friend of Paul Martin's family.

Patrick had a longstanding reputation for being a straight arrow man of integrity and was the type of person one would expect the Martin Liberal team in BC to want as party president.

Instead they backed Jamie Elmhirst who was 20 years younger, was recently out of college and whose limited work experience involved a lobbying firm that was under investigation.

Joining Elmhirst on the Liberal Party Executive was Bruce Clark, the man to whom the BC Rail documents were allegedly delivered.

Also on that executive was James Hattan, a law partner of George MacIntosh, Erik Bornmann's lawyer who negotiated the non-existent immunity deal for Bornmann. Bornmann, himself a member of the previous executive declined to run for re election.

A month after Elmhirst became Liberal party president in B.C., charges were laid against Basi, Virk and Basi. No charges were laid against Bornmann, Clark, Kierans or Elmhirst in regards to their involvement.

Elmhirst would remain party president and would not be subpoenaed until Paul Martin was replaced by Stephane Dion.

Though a supporter of Dion in the leadership race, Elmhirst would resign his position as party president one month after Dion became party leader. None of the other members of Elmhirst's Liberal Party executive would stand for re-election at the party's April 22 2007 B.C. convention.

#posted by Anonymous : September 26, 2007 10:55 AM

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Whewww!

Comments:
Jamie Elmhirst is sometimes the forgotten man in this scandal but let's review some facts.

Business partners with Kieran and Bornmann who have been subpoenaed to testify at the trial.

Has continued to do lobbying work despite being a witness for the prosecution. Was dumped by a client after news reports surfaced that he did not disclose the fact he is a witness in the Basi Virk trial. See Tieleman's work on this.

A formal complaint has been launched with lobbyist registrar by the NDP and the government has hired KPMG to conduct a thorough investigation into emails where Kieran, Bornmann, and Elmhirst were bragging about a cozy relationship with the former Deputy Minister of Finance, Paul Taylor. We are still waiting for that report.
 
Sorry to have taken so long - I've looked high up and low down and there does not appear to be an OIC specifically rescinding Elmhirst's appointment under OIC 558.

This is not unheard of, sometimes OIC appointees just quit and a replacement is quitely appointed.

However, the timing is interesting. Elmhirst WAS still on the government payroll in fiscal 2003/04. In the Public Accounts - Consolidated Revenue Fund
Detailed Schedules of Payments
For the Fiscal Year Ended
March 31, 2004 his name appears at page 12 as follows: Elmhirst, Jamie 33,695.

On Page 11 of the same record we find the following:
Basi, Aneal $50,727; Basi, David $62,824.

I'd have to look back at the record for 2002 - 2003 to determine what Elmhirst's salary was for the previous year. Extrapolating one should be able to determine, more or less, how long Elmhirst worked as a ministerial assistant during the 03/04 period.
 
So, in summary: Jamie Elmhirst was, and is, a very interesting part of this whole story and one, as anon 4:28 pm has noted above, who has been kind of 'forgotten' in this whole story.

A member of the Campbell 'team' from the start of the regime; appointed at the same time and in the self-same OIC with Basi and Virk; moving from government over to Pilothouse where he worked with another key player in the BCRail 'bribery' and pay-off scandal. And now an ethically 'questionable' lobbyist and witness for the prosecution?

I can only wonder why the working press hasn't been pulling some of these same strings and asking questions about all this...
 
These information about Jamie Elmhirst is very intereasting when you consider the following:

1. David Basi has been accused of accepting $50,000 in payments from developers Jim Duncan and Anthony Young between Jan 1 2002 and Sep 1 2003 for his role in getting a parcel of land released from the Agricultural Land Reserve

2. The developers first applied to have this parcel of forestry land released from the Agricultural Land Reserve in Oct 2001. Their application was rejected in Feb 2002. They applied again in March 2002 and were rejected May 2002. They applied again in Jun 2002 and were finally accepted in summer 2003

3. Basi was working in the Ministry of Finance during this time period and would have no direct influence over decisions made by the Agricultural Land Commission.

4. Jamie Elmhirst was working in the Ministry of Land Protection at this time and may have been in a position to influence decisions by
the Agricultural Land Commission

5. Basi would have had a line of communication to Elmhirst through
Erik Bornmann

6. Elmhirst left the Ministry of Land Protection around the same time as Basi allegedly received his last payment from the developers, i.e. late summer 2003

7. Elmhirst was subsequently, put
on the payroll of Pilothouse.
 
Mary. I noticed I misspelled the word "interesting" in my previous post. Also I noticed you quoted my post twice, when I think once would suffice. Would it it be possible to correct these errors. Otherwise I commend you for the excellent job you've been doing in making this information public.
 
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Thanks, anonymous 5:41.

I corrected what I could ... but mostly I appreciate your visits here and your contributions.

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I hope it's clear to everyone, Mary, that there are two ‘anonymous’ individuals writing on this Elmhirst thing.

I wouldn't want readers to get the impression that this was some kind of facile effort to create interest by 'appearing' to be two people.

This does not mean, of course, that some public speculation would be unjustified when looking at the role of other 'ministerial assistants' and, for that matter, ministers of the crown during the months prior to the 'raid' on the legislature.

Many questions cry out for answers - answers which, despite Premier Campbell's repeated assurance that he wants to assist this investigation in any way, have not been forthcoming....

Have a good day Mary.
 
Jamie Elmhirst's activities after the legislature raids are equally intriguing. On Nov 14 2004 he was elected president of the BC wing of the federal liberal party. To do this he defeated Patrick Malony, the son of a supreme court judge and longtime friend of Paul Martin's family. Patrick had a longstanding reputation for being a straight arrow man of integrety and was the type of person one would expect the Martin Liberal team in BC to want as party president. Instead they backed Jamie Elmhirst who was 20 years younger, was recently out of college and whose limited work experience involved a lobbying firm that was under investigation. Joining Elmhirst on the Liberal Party Executive was Bruce Clark, the man to whom the BC Rail documents were allegedly delivered. Also on that executive was James Hattan, a law partner of George MacIntosh, Erik Bornmann's lawyer who negotiated the non-existant immunity deal for Bornmann. Bornmann, himself a member of the previous executive declined to run for re election. A month after Elmhirst became Liberal party president in BC, charges were laid against Basi, Virk and Basi. No charges were laid against Bornmann, Clark, Kierans or Elmhirst in regards to their involvement. Elmhirst would remain party president and would not be subpoenaed until Paul Martin was replaced bt Stephane Dion. Though a supporter of Dion in the leadership race, Elmhirst would resign his position as party president one month after Dion became party leader. None of the other members of Elmhirst's Liberal Party executive would stand for re-election at the party's Aprill 22 2007 Bc convention.
 
I was thinking perhaps I'd post the names of all the personnel listed in that Order in Council - the one that put Dave Basi, Aneal Basi and Jamie Elmhirst into their positions as ministerial assistants in the first iteration of the Campbell government in June of 2001.

Just looking at the names might be interesting and stir the memory of other readers..

I'll try to get the necessary information and post it tonight Mary.
 
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Much appreciated, anonymouse 2:37 ... this has been a welcome review of events and the cast of characters.

Most welcome indeed, after our 4-year wait for official information.

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The Comments Moderator is fairly certain that the following remarks represent only a playful speculation, a mere brain-teaser, and in no way is intended to suggest an alleged accusation against anyone. OK?
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Jamie Elmhirst re-visited":

It is starting to look like we are dealing with a complex four way payoff circle here wherein:

Jamie Elmhirst received a position at Pilothouse from Erik Bornmann.

Erik Bornman received confidential BC Rail documents from David Basi.

David Basi received $50,000 from developers Jim Duncan and Anthony Young.

Jim Duncan and Anthony Young received the release of a valuable parcel of land from the ALR.

If it can be established Jamie Elmhirst in any way influenced the release of that piece of land via his position in the Ministry of Environment, then the circle is complete.
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IIRC correctly most of the above comment, other than the suggestion at the end, is just a recitation of facts in the public domain. This in spite of the ongoing attempt to keep the "public domain" a fact free environment (wink and nod to Canned West/Glowball).
 
Mary

You might want to start a separate entry for this as it concerns mainly George MacIntosh and his law firm Farris, Vaughn, Wills and Murphy.
First let me begin by correcting to statememts anonymous 10:55 made. Firstly the name of the law partner of George MacIntosh at Farris, Vaughn, Wills and Murphy is James Hatton, not Hattan. Hatton is listed on the firm's website www.farris.com as a specialist in technological law. He served as secretary on the Liberal Party of Canada in BC executive along with Erik Bornmann and Bruce Clark from 2002 to 2004 and then with Jamie Elmhirst and Bruce Clark from 2004 to 2007. On April 1 2005 he was appointed to a governance position with the National Research Council by the Paul Martin government.
Second, Hatton was not the only person associated with Farris, Vaughn, Wills and Murphy who served with Jamie Elmhirst on the lpcbc executive. Shannon Salter succeeded Erik Bornmann as communications director, serving in that position from 2004 to 2007. When she started in this position she was a UBC law student. Then in 2005 she articled with Farris, Vaughn, Wills and Murphy. Then in March 2007 she joined Farris, Vaughn, Wills and Murphy as an associate, working in their commercial litigation group headed up by George MacIntosh. MacIntosh who is regarded as one of the leading experts in commercial litigation law, has been with Farris Vaughn, Wills and Murphy since 1974. There is no mention of either MacIntosh or his firm ever having any involvement with criminal law. This raises the question, why did George MacIntosh agree to represent Erik Bornmann as a client when:(a)MacIntosh's expertise lay in litigation law NOT criminal law and this was a criminal case.(b)there was a potential case of conflict of interest with MacIntosh's partner James Hatton serving on the same lpcbc executive as Eric Bornmann and Bruce Clark, a man Bornmann accused in his statements to police of being involved in the Basi affair.
As it turned out, Erik Bornmann did not get very good representation from George MacIntosh. What kind of a lawyer negotiates an immunity deal for his client without putting it in writing? Perhap a lawyer who specializes in commercial litigation but is lacking in experience when it comes to criminal law!

For the record, Hatton and Salter both supported Gerard Kennedy in the Liberal leadership race whilst Elmhirst and Clark supported Stephane Dion.
 
Let us not forget that Bornmann made serious allegations against Bruce Clark, the brother of Christy Clark and prominent Liberal party executive.

Defence lawyers for Basi and Virk stated in BC Surpreme Court that Bornmann was an unreliable witness who made false accusations against another likely Crown witness, Bruce Clark, brother of Christy Clark and an executive member of the Liberal Party of Canada BC.

"Bornmann provided statements regarding another potential witness. Mr. Bornmann alleged Mr. Clark bribed Mr. Basi," McCullough alleged. "A purported payment to Basi from Clark regarding Pacific Western Brewery -- Erik Bornmann stated Clark paid Basi for the information."

"Mr. Bornmann may have made one too many statements," McCullough continued. "Now the defence can rebut that statement. We understand that the allegation is not only untrue but it unfortunately compromised the good name of another. There's an indication he's making it up as he goes along."

"How did the police follow that up? Whether Mr. Bornmann was simply making false allegations in respect to Mr. Clark and Mr. Basi?" McCullough asked.

Bruce Clark has previously told the Globe and Mail that he has already been investigated and cleared by police in that matter.

This begs the question. What other major political players in BC have had allegations made against them?

Many people had better enjoy the quiet before the storm...

Source: Bill Tieleman
 
"Bruce Clark has previously told the Globe and Mail that he has already been investigated and cleared by police in that matter."

Isn't this everybody's story, and they're sticking to it? Everybody important anyway?
 
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