The Legislature Raids

As I have mentioned in previous comments mostly on the "Voice of BC" thread from a couple days ago, this whole TV Show is like something happening on the "Big Rock Candy Mtn." for me and, unfortunately, many
of the victims of this BC Government who are the most affected by the questionable transfer of Our Railway into private hands.

Therefore "3lapdogs" deserves a very hearty and huge THANK YOU, for having the hardware, software and forethought to make this available to us great unwashed back in the great forgotten "Hurtland."

When one takes into account the (currently) last comment over at Mary's "Voice of BC" thread that begins,

"There’s something going on with Vaughn and his little show. The “raid on the legislature show” was NOT rebroadcast on Friday at 4:00 pm or today at 2:00 pm and had been replaced with a show from a week ago. This is very unusual and I
have only seen this happen one other time....."

it merely serves to make even more valuable the service performed by the three little doggies.

As the Quebec police should have learned at Montebello, the RCMP at the shameful tasering incident Vancouver International and now the management at Shaw (apparently another accomplice of the Campbell style of free boot pirate style government), a concurrent effect of the communications/surveillance technology is an increasing difficulty in promoting lies or hiding the truth by simply ignoring it.

Many people must be starting to feel like the slack jawed yokels on the porch in "Deliverance" and slapping thjavascript:void(0)
Publish Your Commentemselves up alongside their haids and yelling out to the kitchen "Hey there Betsy, them guys been lying to us all along. Come have a look see at this here on the TeeVee!"
 

I often accuse Mary of being TOO nice, too impartial and too concerned with being balanced in her coverage of this important issue. I guess when I say j'accuse, I actually mean that I am complimenting her for TRYING to act this way AND the degree to which she succeeds, which in my estimation, is a HIGH degree!

However I feel left at the starting gate by:"we should send thanks directly to "Voice of BC" and ask them for more of the same." I hope she doesn't mean more of the same as in - protecting us from having to watch re-runs of this particular show - because.......it was too upsetting, perhaps?"

So I'll try to comply with her request and thank them and Vaughn for originally airing this segment and then award them a metaphorical slap of the face for having second thoughts and changing their normal re-broadcast policy to protect us from "inconvenient (to somebody) truths!"

By the way in my comment above if one highlights -"javascript:void(0)
Publish Your Comment" and reads what isn't highlighted you will have put the javascript monster I accidentally unleashed in submitting my comment, and thus read the comment as intended.
 

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Thanks (I think) Koot for your serene points of view.

Also, the helpful gremlins were hard at work messing up your final paragraph (above). Sorry.

About Shaw and the missing re-broadcasts ... after receiving Anon's message, I immediately emailed Vaughn Palmer to ask if he could explain. No response, which is unusual for him.

But before long, YouTube had very nicely filled in the gap.


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Hi Mary-I would like to say that I suppose the axiom better late than never might apply to these members of the press-but in my opinion they are no heroes. They didn't get on this until they had no choice.

Glen P. Robbins
 

Express Collision Shop Said,

THE VOICE OF BC WAS RERUN IN THE LOWER MAINLAND

I just happened to turn on the tube yesterday and The Voice of BC was rerunning the Ledge show. I made a few phone calls and several of us watched the show around the lower mainland. Again I missed the first 15 minutes, so maybe this youtube show will help me.

Rumour has it that the liberals are going to introduce a new ministry this week. They want to introduce a Ministry of Defence. I hear it will be one of the largest in the government. They have been advertising in the big newpapers for defence lawyers specializing in Fraud, influence peddling, email law, disclosure issues, conflict of interest issues, solicitor client law and arrogance issues etc. etc. etc. I wonder who will be the minister ?
 

Hi Mary,

I also e-mailed Vaughn the last time this happened, when Mrs. James was the guest and there was no response.

This could only make a person believe that Vaughn is huddled in, too frightened/embarrassed/arrogant to answer his mail.
 

Anon 9;27, certainly not rich coleman!
 

watching the show raises more questions about the "3 lapdogs". why was there no mention of Kieran? Why was there no mention of Elmhirst? Why was there no mention of Bruce Clark? Mark Marrisen?

The list goes on and the media seem to be protecting people.
 

anon at 11;01

Coleman would be "too rich!"
 

Express Collision Shop Said,

Controversial removal of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve. Have we not heard of similar decisions connected to this trial on the south island a few years ago? Any confirmation on the rumours of a large investigation regarding the ALR and land removal issues? Only rumours from the fraser valley.
 

I found the three commentators speculative discussion about whose voices, in addition to those of politicians, that might 'possibly' be on wiretaps of Mr. Basi's phone most interesting and insightful.

Especially the part where they mentioned the voices of 'members of the press gallery' as a possibility....

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Well, Anon 11:34, these are good reasons to contact "Voice of BC" and put in your requests for more broadcasts.

Shaw isn't exactly CanWest and that's a good reason to keep trying for more and better coverage of Basi-Virk.

Remembering that Keith Baldrey seems to be the government's go-to buy with first news like the sinking of the Queen of the North and the resignation of the Solicitor-General, I wonder how you feel about the way Baldrey spoke about Basi & Virk?

Victoria is a very small town, no question about that. And I'm not for a moment suggesting that Basi and/or Virk should be quarantined until after the trial.

But did you feel almost as if you were listening to Basi and Virk, when Baldrey almost channeled their creds, their point of view?

I was fascinated ... but also uneasy. "These were big players," he said (I paraphrase). "Anybody who wanted to see a cabinet minister had to contact Basi first ..." etc. So?

So I'd much rather see a press conference, where ALL journalists are given the news or views. Not just a private mouth-piece.

So yes, there's a whole lot more we could hear on "Voice of BC". But it was great that Leonard Krog (Opposition justice critic) was given time to speak his own views. It was great that Bill Tieleman's steady voice was heard (let's try to overlook the boyz' sniggering about Bill doing due diligence about Bornmann).

And did you catch Palmer's convulsion of laughter when he mentioned that the Basi-Virk trial could be running concurrently with the next provincial election campaign?

So sure, there were whiffs of Old Boyz, Bad Boyz in the show ... but when you think about it -- it was much, much less than expected.

I'm gonna be thankful for what we got. Just for a while. It's such a pleasant relief.

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I'm strugglin' to watch the show with my funky mountain dial-up. My first impression is that it is amazing to see our man Keith Baldry waxing like the expert of all time about the genesis of the case (John Ward's original statement etc.), when you could have convinced me he didn't even know about the case at all, until last week or so. But I guess it is getting to be serious CYA time for Baldry and his ilk.

But overall, it is quite wonderful to see this important issue getting some coverage on TV, no matter how few people actually can watch this channel - Hooray for YouTube.......

BTW, I would like to nominate Ding Dong deJong for Provincial Minister of Defence. Of course then I'd have to move to the coast, or somewhere with the Ledge channel so I could witness it live when Mr. DeJong's head explodes right there in the House.

I don't know if Ding Dong is a lawyer, and that would seem to be a desirable qualification for the Provincial Minister of Defence (against law suits, criminal charges, defamation, etc) - but it ain't like the real actual Law is an important component of much, with these guys. Maybe StoneWalley would be best after all, because he can not answer questions about anything you care to bring up as good as anybody.
 

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It does take a minute or two to get one's head around the notion of Keith Baldrey as the expert on Basi-Virk. But give the guy credit for how nicely he trashed Staff Sgt. John Ward for thinking such "false" thoughts about those 26 telephone calls to Dave Basi at work in the Ministry of Finance from the person thought to be the new Mr Big in drug trafficking on the West Coast. How silly of the RCMP. Tsch tsch tsch.

Clearly, (sigh) nobody's perfect. I, for example, made an egregious typo when I referred to Keith Baldrey as "the government's go-to buy" when it should have been "go-to guy" ... bad, bad, bad.

But hey ...

This "Minister of Defence" thing. It sounds like something being stood up in front of the Royal Canadian Air Farce's chicken cannon. Is it for real? Defence against themselves? The voting public? What??

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Express Collision Shop Said,

Fanny Kiefer grilling Mr Campbell now on SHAW 4-?.Way to go Fanny.
 

the post of March 31, 2008 2:53 PM asked if DeJOng was a lawyer?

De Jong was a practicing lawyer until elected. Was he much good as one? How would I know? He gets upset quite often in the house but the back row pounds the desk and it seems to keep him going.
I met him first when he was in opposition and a member of the standing committee on aboriginal affairs way back then. I did have a couple of quiet discussions with him. In my humble view he was a bit pompous but no more than many other politicians. Same applies on both sides of the house.
DL
 

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I just received a nice message from Keith Baldrey:


Hi there.

Don’t know if anyone got back to you, but it appears the Shaw network in the Nanaimo area (isn’t that where you are?) flipped the wrong switch or something. It was replayed everywhere else it seems.

K


So, another mystery solved. OK?


Express Collision: Thanks! I'd sure like to see that grilling by Fanny Kiefer! Watch YouTube, ya think?

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Express Collision Shop Said,

Fanny Kiefer barely said hello to Mr. Campbell and was rapid firing Les questions to him. I was shocked. She asked who, what and when they all knew about this Les Mess. Campbell answered the same old as Stonewally did in question period blah, blah, blah. Fanny settled down after a few minutes and they started talking carbon tax's and my eyes hazed over and it was business as usual. Fanny K- wow you are good-great grilling girl!!! short and sweet.

Gazetteer- good job on this Les Mess in the Corn Country Highlands.
 

I don't believe Shaw pays that much attention to its schedule. Now we (in PG) are getting Voice of BC on Thursday night, at least the last few and it repeats on Sat and Sunday, but not always.
This was a good show but many questions were left unanswered. Really they didn't have time to cover it all in 1 hour. They could do a continuing series on this.
As for Baldry being a go to guy for the gov't, I believe that is true. I also read last week in an article by Michael Smith, where he said that the Premier should have known better about the poor policy about putting transmission lines through a provincial park because he and the Premier hiked in the park. Seems like a pretty cosy relationship between the Premier and Smith.
 

Express Collision Shop Said,

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST MANY MONTHS AGO-ICBC AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES

Check out Global BC's website or watch the news tonight at 11 or in the am. 22 ICBC managers have really fancy cars jacked from all of us policy holders. They bought them for peanuts from ICBC's own website. More to come regarding, yes, criminal activities in Burnaby. The fellow they interviewed today makes $200,000 a year. There have been three firings and a resignation(when contacted by a reporter) over this mess. Expect more firings and a heap of trouble over the next little while. This is only one of the many illegal activities going on at our insurance company. Too bad we won't be able to hear from the minister in charge of ICBC on these criminal activities. The MINISTER in charge of ICBC just stepped down last Friday over his own alleged problems. LES IS MORE they have all been saying.

The collision and auto glass shops have been cleaning up our industries over the past few years. We should have been cleaning house at ICBC as well. Watch closely as the liberal broom hopefully sweeps the corporation clean over the next little while. ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FRAUD IS ICBC's NEW POLICY FOR ALL. Let's see if they have that same policy for ICBC employee's.
 

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Express Collision: At first, I hesitated before publishing your eye-popping comment, because today is April 1, and all that. However, Vancouver Sun says it too:


Three ICBC managers gone in wake of scandal

Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun - April 01, 2008

In the wake of a rebuilt wrecks scandal that rocked ICBC, at least two managers and one board member are no longer employed by the Crown corporation.

An independent investigation revealed last month that at least 98 wrecked vehicles were rebuilt and sold by ICBC's research and repair centre without disclosure of the vehicles' crash histories to the new owners.

Mark Withenshaw, formerly ICBC's vice-president of loss management, confirmed to Global News that he is no longer employed at ICBC. He had worked at the corporation for 27 years.

Frank Fekete, formerly a director of material damage services for ICBC, said in a telephone interview with The Sun on Monday night that he is no longer working there.

He said he left the organization 10 days ago and declined to provide further details, saying, "I can't comment."

Dave Loiselle, who reported to Fekete at the Material Damage Research & Training facility, told The Sun Monday night he had recently retired from ICBC.

"I wasn't fired, I retired," said Loiselle, 57. "I put in my retirement three or four months before all this happened."

The Burnaby research centre had over about 10 years rebuilt 174 wrecks, of which 98 were sold without full disclosure of the vehicles' history.

Buyers, who included several ICBC managers, did not know they were buying rebuilt wrecks.

ICBC takes in about $500,000 per year before costs from selling reclaimed write-offs. The provincial auto insurer has been buying back the vehicles and dismantling them for parts.

ICBC has since stopped selling rebuilt wrecks.

The Crown corporation has refused all comment on discipline related to the investigation launched in February.

NDP transportation critic Harry Lali called on the premier and Attorney-General Wally Oppal to direct ICBC to reveal the chain of accountability in the rebuilt wrecks scandal. Oppal is the minister in charge of ICBC since John Les resigned as solicitor-general last Friday.

"This situation leaves the public hanging, the people who pay millions of dollars to ICBC every year," Lali said. "This is not the transparency that Premier Gordon Campbell promised us in 2001."

rshore@png.canwest.com



So thanks, E.C. Guy ... I sure hope this sorry state of affairs doesn't become the excuse to start selling off I.C.B.C.


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"ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FRAUD IS ICBC's NEW POLICY FOR ALL."

Could this policy be extended to government in general? Could that include lying during election campaigns, fraudulent and hidden government business dealings of which the details are hidden from the public.......or does this policy not extend to the Cabal, their cronies and their contributors?

Most likely it is ALL just like the so-called Green Plan - all cosmetic talk while behind the scenes it's same old, same old...............
 

The ministry of defence? SAY WHAT!? Just in time for the trial of the century. Is this too cover-up or uncover? I can't believe the on-going drama of the campbellites! I need more info, is this related to a provincal police force?
 

Express Collision Shop Said,

Mary, I would not want to pull a April Fools hoax on you regarding something as serious as this ICBC mess. This salvage mess has affected many of my fellow shop owners. The 22 managers who have these vehicles have been very busy lately defending themselves. So busy in fact that collision shops have had delays with many of these managers not doing thier regular jobs like reinspecting customers vehicles,audits and the such. When ICBC personal buy cars illegaly, legitimate dealers and collision shop owners, who can repair these cars to pre accident condition are left in the dark. When these cars are independently inspected, then they are allowed to be sold to the public.

Many of these vehicles are not your average commuter car. We are talking about Jaguars, BMW's, high end SUV's and the like. You will be surprised who are driving these cars. The real crime here is for the general public who bought these cars without knowing the accident history. The couple in north van who were in a serious front end accident and no airbags deployed are the real victims of this mess. That incident alone could be a multi million dollar lawsuit if they were to go that avenue, and it was proven in court.

There have been many phone calls within the industry the last few months and you will hear plenty more regarding this mess. Phone calls to many ICBC managers have not been returned the last few days. We have heard that the broom I mentioned last night has been very busy. Any more special prosecutors left in this province?(I stole that one from C. James).

More to come regarding new allegations related to this mess. By the way, many of these employees are in charge of discipline for collision and auto glass shops that break the rules regarding our very strict Express Valet contract and guidelines. You all will hear more later.
 

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10:28, I just want to say that we appreciate the time, thought, and effort you put into these reports.

They are unique ... as is C.I.B.C., in my opinion.

You might not get much feedback because if others are like me, I don't know enough even to ask an intelligent question.

But I for one am taking it all in, and it's much appreciated.

My big fear, when I read what you say, is that there will be an intended deficit built into the ICBC records.

This, in turn, is the hot button which many people can't resist: sell, sell, sell, they'll scream.

Well ... wrong, wrong, wrong is my feeling about that.

It's just amazing how all this stuff gets twisted out of shape, isn't it. And how we have to be so doggone careful how we say those things -- even if we're trying to protect the province.

I hope you are weathering the storms OK yourself.

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I was really gagging on my coffee watching KB, VP and Hall discussing the heroic performance of Wild Bill (Mr. MIA) in trying to effect disclosure. He could start by actually showing up for the RARE court appearance, I'm sure it ain't cause he's busy with a shovel in the evidence room.

You must have detected a heavy dose of blame the RCMP for everything that ain't right with the BC Rail trial on the "Voice of BC." Of course the way the RCMP conducts itself anymore it sets itself up to be everybody's scapegoat for everything. That's why it needs the kind of real reform that will never happen under a Stephen Harper/Doris Day government. The only reform under the HarpoCons would be the complete transition of the RCMP into the SS.
 

Hi Mary,

I spoke to a very helpful employee at Shaw yesterday and it was confirmed that there was a glitch on Friday and Sunday affecting the north island in respect to the rebroadcast of the raid on the legislature show, and that, there trying to find the problem. However it could not be confirmed if any other area in BC was affected with this glitch, but it was doubted. Concerning the program that was not rebroadcast when Mrs. James was a guest, this is also up in the air and could well be apart of the same problem.

At this point I would like to apologies to Vaughn for my harsh words in this matter. Although he deserves harsh words and I have written him on some occasions with harsh words and most likely will continue to do so, still I would like to be fair and say that I may have let my passion rise and jump the gun on this unfortunate glitch thing.

We all applaud you Vaughn for putting this program together and now that the first show glitches are being handled, it will be just that much easier the next time around. As I have been a big supporter of you making a show on the legislature raid and would certainly like to see more on this under reported subject.

Sorry and thanks Mary for letting me rant.
 

I think the pre-occupation with the main press on this is overstated. The number of people who are watching or reading-is sharply declining--the pressure is on the main press-and the courts etc. to do something about this-the longer is waits-the more stress will prevail on the status quo---they are going to bust. The key is to ensure that as many people as possible are made aware-one and two at a time-and that they see-when the trial occurs (or doesn't) that the main press didn't actually cover it--the alternative press did.

The leverage isn't on the bloggers.

I can tell you from my experience testifying at the inquest of the Kamloops shooting homicide-I had interviewed the shooter in Kamloops (by coincidence) one year earlier--he was upset that he discovered the AG's office was covering up a concerted effort to enable a massive illegal waste dumping effort in the province. This included a BC Liberal donor on trial-whose case was kicked out because of a trial within a trial application-the AG said it would Appeal-but never did-

The inquest was for early in the week, but Global persisted in interviewing me on Sunday (lower viewers-oh we covered the news).

While I waited outside the inquest I overheard two local journalists telling one another "why isn't the press here for this explosive Robbins testimony---I expected everyone"----

On the drive home-one BC Liberal speaker said I was looking for attention.

This province is so crooked--the corruption runs so deep-it is truly frightening---

The internet will deliver the news as we do www.robbinssceresearch.com-but watch out---they will want to regulate the internet to shut this down and they will open the door with the bandwith argument---