Friday, January 29, 2010

 

BC Premier's Public/Private P3 Lifestyle

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By BC Mary

There are simple tests for understanding the role of the media in British Columbia. Here's one test. Try to find the January 2003 article Petti Fong wrote  after interviewing Gordon Campbell's cell-mate at the Wailuku Police Station, Hawaii.

Try. Go ahead. You won't find it. But it's worth trying, if you're prepared to ask yourself why that story has disappeared.

Vancouver Sun and The Province had Fong's full, up-close and personal account of the Maui Affair from journalist, Petti Fong. Sun publisher, Patricia Graham later told BC Business magazine that the story had been killed because Gordo's cell-mate was described to The Sun as a "complete prevaricator" or, as a Sun editor said, "as opposed to a premier who says his government won't sell BC Rail, hasn't expanded gambling ... "

The massive neglect the Campbell drunk driving story received was the diametric opposite to the massive magnifying-glass under which all things NDP or former BC Premier Glen Clark had been placed.  That particular Vancouver Sun editor, Charles Smith, resigned in 2003. [There must be copies of Petti Fong's story around.]

Part 1 of this series talked about the press conference of Jan. 12, 2003, which took previous suspicions of media bias to a new level of firm conviction that CanWest Global was a branch of the Campbell government and that neither could be trusted.  [There must be copies of that film around, including "the question" followed by the stunned silence.]

It demeans us that our own BC media couldn't publish the story of our premier's arrest, and couldn't even tell us that there were hours in which the B.C. premier's chair was vacant and vulnerable. It demeans us that a foreign news media could write up a report worthy of an A+ in any journalism class, accurately titled Canadian official fined for driving drunk on Maui. Honolulu Star Bulletin, March 25, 2003.

The truly embarrassing part of being so demeaned is that the Hawaiin media was telling British Columbians things we needed to know; important things we'd never hear otherwise. E.g.,

He [Gordon Campbell] has told the news media that he had three martinis and some wine while dining with friends Fred Latremouille and Kathy Baldazzi during his annual vacation on Maui and was returning to a place where he was staying.

Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds said that about 12:55 a.m. a police officer stopped next to Campbell at a traffic light, and when the light changed, Campbell sped his vehicle forward.

The police officer said Campbell crossed the double solid line to his left, then pulled to his right crossing into the bicycle lane, Simonds said.

Campbell's driving was erratic, sometimes hitting his brakes, and he almost crossed into a lane that had a motor vehicle going in the opposite direction, he said.

Simonds said when the police officer stopped Campbell, he had a strong odor of liquor, an oily face and slurred speech.

But they didn't know our Gordo. He was lying, of course. He was very, very drunk.  Here's what a commentor said on this blog:

" ... a little high school level chemistry is all that is needed to improve our understanding of the Premier's Blood Alcohol Content:

Did you know that Gordon Campbell's blood alcohol rate would actually have been higher had he been in BC instead of Hawaii?

Quote: 

I looked up the methods used for measuring blood alcohol right after the news broke. I did the following simple math and sent my findings to all of the papers and the news stations. None of them published the new info I provided. I think I may have also commented upon it in the Tyee, but I am not sure.

In BC, blood alcohol content is measured by volume; in Hawaii, it is measured by weight.

8 grams of alcohol per 100 ml = 0.08% in Hawaii.

Ethyl alcohol has a speciffic gravity of 0.785 which means 1 ml of alcohol weighs 0.785 grams.

0.161/0.785 = 0.205

That means Campbell would have blown 0.205 at the roadside, and the 0.149 station measurement would have equaled 0.190 had it been measured by volume - the BC method!

For our way of thinking, Campbell was 2.5 times the legal limit, not twice the legal limit. At the time of the arrest, (with Campbell's body weight figured at 185 lbs.) that's probably at least 2 more martinis in his system - quite possibly 3.

End of quote.

So much for the B.C. media.


It would be a mistake to conclude that certain issues become improper, and shouldn't be mentioned simply because they might embarrass people in high places.

The Queen's family knows that this isn't true. And here in B.C., Kevin Potvin shot that theory full of holes when he published Is Gordon Campbell a 'Made Man'? on May 12, 2005. It's still readily available even in a province where a tell-all profile on Gordo is a rare event.

Fact is: there is absolutely no reason why the truth can't be told, with due respect for the subjects and the players. 

The awful fact is that if our civil democracy is to survive, the truth must be told. Absolutely must be told.  And it's entirely possible that we wouldn't need to endure the loss of a major railway or  painful events like the BC Rail Trial (Basi, Virk, Basi) if BC government developments had been fully and regularly  explored in B.C. news media.

CanWest has no excuses left. The Asper Empire of CanWest Global can find 1,001 ways to tell the lurid details of Pickton murders and to linger over street-level violence. It can illuminate the details of Gordo's Golden Era.  But it can't say "Whoa ... just a moment ... have you thought this legislation / this decision / this sweeping announcement through, Mr Premier?"

Of course it could do that. But CanWest Global chooses to turn away and completely ignore stories such as the trial and sentencing of Jasmohan Bains, the very person police were tracking when they made their unprecedented raid on the BC Legislature. "When there's news, we will publish it," sniffed the Editor-in-Chief of Victoria Times Colonist ... and they didn't.  Why not?

So CanWest's tactics of turning their back on the public's right to now has, in my view, brought bankruptcy on them by failing to serve the public interest.

People are not apathetic. But they cannot respond to, or act upon, information they've never heard about. And when eventually, the citizens of B.C. hear about the extent of the betrayal, they are invigorated. We have seen this ourselves. The public mood is shifting to: "Gordo has gone way, way too far ..." 

But Gordo still hasn't learned that he can't have it both ways. He can't pump up a syrupy happy-home story about their English housekeeper without also inviting media scrutiny as to whether his marriage was actually as blissful as that story suggested. And apparently it was not.  [Someone must still have copies of those stories.]


Gordo's Gang can't orchestrate a propaganda barrage against Gordon Wilson, former  leader of the BC Liberal Party and Judi Tyabji M.L.A., without inviting scrutiny of his own public/private P3 kind of life.

Signs of Gordo were all over the assault against former premier Glen Clark.

But  Gordo's response has been to establish zones of protective silence. One such zone surrounds his Executive Assistant, Lara Dauphinee. Whereas he might seem more likeably "open and transparent" if he said, "Yes, unfortunately it is true: Nancy and I have divorced; and my fiancee/wife is now ____ [fill in the blank]."  Evidence? Try to find a photo of Lara Dauphinee who is said to be "never far from his side." Try finding just one photo of her, despite all the grumblings "off the record".

But Gordo doesn't work that way. We may have seen clear evidence of his strategy during the May 2009 provincial election campaign. Several reliable sources have told me that it was my previous 4-part story about Lara Dauphinee which sparked the sudden change of pace before the May 2009 election. 

Remember how there was no participation by Mrs Nancy Campbell or the official Campbell family in the May 2009 provincial election? Then ... suddenly, there they were: Gordo wreathed in full frontal smiles.  Nancy -- in the background -- often ill at ease. Two hulking sons suddenly "working hard on the campaign" for dear old Dad. Bringing up the rear: the young wives and a baby. Gordo's happy family. So sudden.

Quote from "Concerned Citizen":

Gordon Campbell, having been so publicly and manipulatively self-righteous and accusatory of Premier Glen Clark, Opposition Leader Gordon Wilson and M.L.A. Judi Tyabji, simply in order to steal their power, invited a public searchlight onto himself for the rest of his career.

"Once the invasive searchlight was of no benefit to him personally, Gordo made damn sure it was turned off. It is Gordon Campbell's lack of integrity that has allowed him to behave so selfishly and recklessly in both his personal/public life. It explains "how he is destroying democracy and the forests and the fishery and healthcare." Total selfishness and lack of integrity in a leader is always very consequential to citizens. Thus we need to shine the same light on the possibly sociopathic Gordon Campbell that he has schemed to shine on others. What goes around is supposed to come around, and I certainly hope it does in this situation. I don't care per se what anyone does with their dick. It's what they do with their mind, heart, and soul that matters. Gordon Campbell, if he is in a sexual relationship with Lara, has chosen to have taxpayers, at huge expense, keep her at his side at all times. That is shameless and severely lacking in integrity on many levels, and if it is true, his dick is shining the light all by itself."

End of quote.

So there is another reliable test for evaluating the mainstream media in BC. Try to find a story, a photo, or even a mention of the woman who is not only on the B.C. government payroll as the current premier's Deputy Chief of Staff as well as  his Executive Assistant, but also has long been rumoured to be the premier's mistress, as well.

Try. Go ahead and try. You won't find much. Then ask yourself if there might be other things sealed away from public scrutiny ... for example, the fine print on the tainted deal giving BCRail to CN.


This was Part 2 of a 4-part series.

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Footnote, received as comment from The Great Satan:

Imagine the shame, Sports Illustrated . . . hardly the Economist or The New York Times, sends a reporter to Vancouver to cover the 2010 Games and on his first swing gets it right.

Meanwhile out local colour people comprising an endless league of Gordon Campbell and Dennis Skulski (both who stand to make millions off the Games) media sycophants write their usual two year old repetitive pulp about BC, The Best Place On Earth.

Yesterday at the Woodward's media center demonstration in East Vancouver I saw German media ask in-depth questions of the BC Government/Public Relations types, and asked and listened (and not for 30 seconds) to the demonstrators.

Meanwhile CanWest/Global and the Bill Bad & Pamela Botox 2010 crowd were reporting on how to collect Olympic pins.

The new phrase among the thinking to describe Vancouver 2010 has no references to Supernatural Beauty or the Best Place on Earth, it's . . . VANOC Occupied Vancouver.

And if you have to ask why, just look up and see the helicopter gunships and on the ground Gordon's Campbell's army of Robocops patrolling the streets of Vancouver.
 
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Comments:
Mary, couldn't have said things any better. Open and transparent my "a--"! and, I gave up on Canwest/Global long time ago. Bought and paid for by the lieberals and their corporations.
Who knows, maybe the new CHEK in Victoria will give them a run for their money. Here's hoping.
Curt
 
Thank you Mary.

I`m speechless!
 
Well done Mary, well done.

Yes,our collective cetainly does know how hard it is to locate a photo of the illusive Lara,and as far as I know, the two we located are among the rarity that show the premier and Lara together.The good thing is the one I have is bought and paid for, with permissions in writing from the photographer.

I've got a piece up from Sean Holman's site today, talking about the media/government relationship. To be honest, I'm not sure what is more alarming- that the media are part and party to these manipulations, or that they( the editors)don't seem to think their actions are problematic in any way, shape or form.

Again, great job my dear.
 
I wonder if the journalist who wrote the story in Hawaii could ask the arresting officer if he was alone when he was stopped, and if he was, in fact driving towards the Hotel?
 
Excellent piece Mary. Well thought out. Beautifully done. With the readership here, now maybe you have reached enough people to pass this on..and so on...and so on. It's quite apparent that the only way to get this out will be in the blogs.
 
Good question, Kim.

Grant G. is the one to answer that.

Grant?
 
Kim ...Gary Kubota who wrote the article,when I asked him if Gordon campbell was alone,he answered.."according to the arresting officer"

"That he was alone".

I have asked Gary Kubota to email anything he can find.

The question is this..Who`s arms was Gordon Campbell heading too..in his drunken state..

An oily face also means a full days worth of boozing and ??????

I looking in Maui,Hawaii...I have my feelers out for more data.

Stuy tuned friends!

Cheers
 
I remember when Canwest decided to stop looking into the drunk-driving charge against Campbell. They said essentially that it's time for him to get back to work and we won't go on about this anymore, there is nothing more to say.
This was not the way they treated Gordon Wilson or Glen Clark. It's almost as though they wanted to destroy Wilson and Clark but since Campbell was on their side, giving them lots of advertising revenue, they left him alone.
 
2:25,

Interesting. I don't remember that ... but it'd be nice if you came back WITH A USER NAME, PLEASE and gave us the key to when CanWest essentially decided that Gordo should get back to work ...

Don't tell me it was Parson Palmer decreeing this, for the good of Gordo's soul ... ??
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My best friend used to work at the Royal BC Museum in 1996, her husband works down there for what used to be BCBC. She said it was common knowledge in and around the Leg. of the relationship and the love-child. I will see her soon and be sure to ask her if there's any way to substantiate that common knowledge. I will send her a link BC Mary. Thanks for the great journalism by you and your regulars!
 
Also I wonder what Hotel he stayed at?
 
Kim at 3:24,

I was once advised to search for a photo which had been taken of Lara with Gordo entering the Grand Pacific Hotel ...

I searched, but never found the photo.
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Googling...22 pages in and I can't find any information on her, photos, bio, university, nothing, except what you people have uncovered. Amazing. Okay, I'll keep digging.
 
Kim, we did find the university, her sorority, as well as a host of other small details gleaned from various sources, some not published here. Google surprisingly, is not always the most revealing online search engine for people like her. I checked a variety of professional association sites as well, in addition to different social networking sites. Between all of us, we combed the entire net and our contacts for information. What we have seems to be more than anyone else thus far. And still, it amounts to a very mysterious woman for such a public position.


Now, as a public servant, are we not entitled to see her qualifications and work experience?
 
From Monday Magazine, reported by Brian Salmi

CAMPBELL'S CELL-MATE: THE STORY THE SUN WOULDN'T PUBLISH

Last week, a mysterious brown envelope arrived at the office of the Terminal City Weekly, an alternative newsweekly in Vancouver. It contained an article, written by Vancouver Sun veteran reporter Petti Fong, with an anonymous note attached.
"This is their newspaper article that the Vancouver Sun senior management, at the behest of publisher Dennis Skulsky, refused to publish because they thought it made Premier Gordon Campbell look bad," read the note.

The article, which Fong confirmed was hers, quoted excerpts from an interview she conducted with a man who was in the drunk and when the Maui cops opened the door early in the morning of January 10, and told the drunken and disheveled Premier to make himself at home.

Fong opens her piece thus: "Premier Gordon Campbell swayed as he tried to find a place to rest and fell asleep quickly on a soiled mattress the night he was arrested, according to a petty criminal who shared his Maui jail cell." According to Fong's source, a 33-year-old male indentified as Frank Alconcel, Campbell was hosed.

Fong writes, "Campbell swayed as he entered the room and he walked unsteadily, Alconcel recalled."

Then Fong quotes Alconcel directly: "He was wearing a nice shirt, nice pants. I couldn't tell if he smelled of booze because the whole jail smells like piss."

And pretty soon the Premier was trying to sleep it off.

After Campbell walked into the cell?he hesitated, as if he wasn't sure what to do next," writes Fong.

Alconcel picks up the action from there: "I told the guys who were lying on the mattresses to give him one. They got off the mattress. I told the premier he should pick up one of the mattresses and a blanket."

Campbell apparently wanted to get as far away from his cellmates as possible, and dragged his mattress to the other side of te cell. Being a jailhouse rookie, the premier would not have known that it's a bad idea to fall asleep in the vicinity of the toilet.

"I didn't say anything 'cause I thought, just let him be, he'll sleep it off," Alconcel told Fong. After a brief moment, however, Alconcel gave the premier's plight a second thought: "Older people, it's good to show them respect."
So, writes the Sun's scribe, "Alconcel?waited a few more minutes before calling Campbell to move his mattress back over to the other side. When the premier didn't respond, Alconcel said he had to tell him he was lying in an area where urine was splattered all over the grey walls and concrete floor."
Campbell then moved his mattress across the cell and curled up into the fetal position in an attempt to keep warm.

"Most of the guys put their shirts over their heads to keep warm and have a pillow but he didn't do that," Alconcel told Fong. "He just laid on his mattress and didn't say anything."
 
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Thank you, Mr Salmi ... um, er ... SATAN.

Nice to have you dropping in to help us through the day.

May I remind you that this blog doesn't usually accept ANONYMOUS comments, so when you visit again, please choose a User Name. May I suggest SATAN (to identify you as the lesser avatar to The Great Satan).

For those wondering wtf Brian Salmi Satan is ... Well, if you don't like the first explanation:

Free the Press Gallery Prisoners
http://vancouverscrum.blogspot.com/2002_11_01_archive.html


Here's another one (which I prefer, actually):

Rhino party escapes extinction to run in September by-election

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/08/07/rhino-election.html#ixzz0e7JcoetK.
 
May I suggest that Gordo's mugshot be plastered all over town so that our Olympic visitors get to know the real Gordo.
 
Ack! help,911 someone! I can't catch my breath after laughing so damn hard at the thought of a stone cold drunk premier laying on dirty mattress on the floor - in a pile of piss.

And this,is perhaps what they refer to as ROCK-BOTTOM.

Oh wait. I take that back. The Bas- Virk trial hasn't started yet... nor have any other revelations been revealed.

By the way, Bill T. is reporting today that the NO BC HST facebook page and all links has mysteriously disappeared... could be technical,but perhaps not.

Kind of seems like a war going on, only the soldiers are all at home, the weapons are words.
 
Mary, I hope you don't mind -I've posted a blog directing my readers over here to read both this post, and the comments that follow. Please let me know if I should change anything...
 
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There's a sign on the gate here at The Legislature Raids which says:

VISITORS WELCOME.

Sure thing, Laila. Thanks.
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Managed to find this but not much else...from a blog by Pamela Leila Rai....scroll down to section titled "2010 Olympic Torch Relay Event Day Two". There is a photo of Gordo with the blogger/athlete and then right below that photo is a photo of her with Lara.


She writes this caption below photo :



An old friend of Leila's from swimming times, Stephanie Howes, had a good friend named Lara Dauphinee, who Leila also knew from years back. She's apparently now the Executive Assistant to the Premier himself! What a surprise!
Naturally, we got a photo with my terrible iPhone camera. A long while in Photoshop later (as with all these iPhone photos), here we have them together:"

Even though the photo of Lara is dimmed - she does look like a younger version of Nancy.

Here's the link:

http://www.silentmotionyoga.com/ddblog/files/category-olympics.html
 
I thought this was interesting, too. It's from a site that lists Canadian lawyers....and it lists Lara. Is Lara a lawyer? I read somewhere that she has a degree in International Studies but I have never found anything that said she had her law degree....does anyone know where her law degree is from?

http://yourcanadalawyers.net/Dauphinee-Lara-36688423.html
 
Thank you, Lynx ... I'm impressed that you found this mention.

I've looked and looked at that photo,

then read and re-read the caption,

and I'm still wondering if that's Lara Dauphinee (or could it be Stephanie Howes?).

This lady seems bigger and taller than Lara, also darker hair.

But if it is Lara D., do you suppose that Pamela Leila Raie isn't aware of the rarity? She might have an exclusive Million Dollar photo in her iPhone!!

Many thanks for finding and sending it, Lynx.
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LARA, THE LAWYER??

Your 2nd comment just came in, Lynx ... lots of Internet problems the past couple of days and "The Man" from Rogers is so busy we must wait until Wednesday for his housecall.

Back to your 2nd discovery, which is very surprising. There must be an explanation for her listing ... that kind of error doesn't happen often in a millenium.

At the moment, I can't even imagine how it fits.

As always, though, your skills are much appreciated.
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Mary, according to this link below, listing Lara's education level she only has her BA in International Politics - no law degree is mentioned:

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/lara-dauphinee/7/93/b41

Also... it is strange but in that list of Canadian lawyers her "law firm" is listed as the "Premier's Office".

What's that about?
 
Well, at this point, given all that's been said, we can assume she's not a libel lawyer....and doesn't know any who would take her case, if she wanted to come after all of us....Oscar Wilde learned the hard way that you don't sue for libel if the allegations are true....
 
Skookum, you are correct about truth being a defense against libel. But unfortunately, the fact remains that those with deep pockets, or those we wish to expose can and do often bury defendants in paper and expenses to the point where often just the threat of libel (libel chill) is enough to shut up dissent.

The fact that Kevin Potvin's piece was never targeted (or threatened to my knowledge) with a libel suit and is still widely available to those who know how to find it is almost like a verification of its validity to this observer. When one considers the weakness of some attempted libel charges that were successfully defended by those with the means, it is difficult for me to think Mr. Potvin wouldn't have been so attacked if he was vunerable. (i.e. the long running but eventually recently abandoned attack on Rafe Mair. Of course Rafe is not only a lawyer, but a person with resources.

A small publication is almost defenseless against the most spurious of libel charges as they bear the burden of proving the claimed "truth," if it is to serve as a defense, rather than the more commonly assumed guilty unless proven otherwise. A small publisher too often can only resort to retraction and apology and hope for the best.

When one considers what has happened to so many seemingly really powerful figures (Edwards, Clinton, Spitzer, to name three) over similar situations to Don Juan Campbell, one can only wonder if indeed he is really a "made man," more made than even the sitting Preznit of the Empire or a former US Senator who came within reach of being Vice Preznit (w/o election fraud) of the Empire.

Perhaps because of BC's resources and Gordo's pliability and sociopathy, he is even more valuble to those who really run Fortress North America than Clinton or Edwards ever were and those more protected.

It is pretty standard that those to the left of the extreme Reich Wing seem much more vunerable to being taken down for "personal" failings. Clinton, Edwards and Spitzer all had to pay a much bigger price for their transgressions than say, Mark Sanford, Larry Craig, the diaper Senator from Louisiana or even John McAnus.

To the commenter that suggested posting Gordo's mugshot everywhere - I like it, but it may be as illegal as posting a Pepsi ad within sight of anywhere within 100 miles of an Olympic venue - maybe they could even come into your house to remove it, if it was visible from the street.

I'm hoping lotsa folks get P.O.ed when they find they can't use their MasterCard or Amex at many places during the Cake Eating Games.
 
maybe this is the frank alconcel gordo's cell mate
he'd be about the right age

http://www.hawaii247.org/2009/10/23/outstanding-bench-warrants-as-of-friday-october-23/



Outstanding bench warrants as of Friday, October 23
Posted on October 23, 2009. Tags: bench warrants, police
As of Friday October 23, 2009, the following individuals are wanted by the Hawaii Police Department because of outstanding warrants:
Helena T. Akeo, 23, Captain Cook
Kalani K. Akina, 45, Unknown
Shane Akina, 27, Ewa Beach
Neddie Akionadejesus, 49, Kailua-Kona
Sapas K. Akis, 37, Honaunau
Daniel G. Ako, 47, Hilo
Iuka R. Akui, 28, Keaau
Debra M. Akuna, 57, Keaau
Maleueleisa F. Alaivaau, 27, Kailua-Kona
Ana L. Alapaihonima, 19, Kailua-Kona
Cesar L. Alcantar, 28, Kealakekua

Frank A. Alconcel III, 40, Kihei, HI

Emily D. Alcorn, 25, Pahoa
Kea M. Alcorn, 30, Keaau
Daniel L. Alcos, 24, Kailua-Kona
Mark Alderson, 49, Kailua-Kona
Grant K. Aleka, 49, Unknown
Sagele Alesana, 37, Honolulu
Frank Alimoot Sr., 61, Pahoa
Dred Allen, 29, Hilo
Jesse A. Allen, 31, Hilo
James Alley, 43, Volcano
Cynthia L. Almazan, 44, Keaau
Camelia M. Almezan, 46, Mountain View
Dahlia E. Almoguera, 32, Kamuela
Persons who know a warrant is out for their arrest are advised to report to the nearest police station to avoid having an officer go to their home or workplace to arrest them.
This is the official list from the Hawaii County Police Department.
 
Boots,

You are the winner of BEST COMMENT today!

I have no idea what this all means, but it sure beats that other discovery of Frank Alconcel and his ex-wife being the victims of a murder-suicide in 1991-11-15.

Thanks.
.
 
Maybe the murder suicide involved Frank Alconcel the II or I! Sounds like the perfect folks for Gordo to be spending time with - he should spend all his time with convicted criminals as one of the crowd!
 
It's a sign of the pathetic level of transparency in this province that our mamby-pamby press now consider a bold and radical question to the premier of this province to be:

Are you still married....and to whom...and how many children do you have?


I mean isn't that an expected...and mandatory standard of basic information to be supplied to the public by any person running for public office?

How can asking the premier of this province how many children he has be a dangerous question?


This was easy-peasy stuff for the US primetime news show 20/20 this week....why the silence here now?...especially when there was such a brouhaha over a tiny deck some years back?


kootcoot makes a good point about the protective forces of Fortress North America...and who they protect in this regard.

Where would we be without bloggers like BC Mary, Laila, kootcoot and Grant G? They deserve much thanks....

Also, as Skookum1 has noted before, we need a hard-edged satirical review that takes on these kinds of issues - and pushes them front and center awakening the sleeping masses to the deteriorating state of democracy in this country. Where are the arts on this? Why is there no "This Hour has Seven Days" for our times? Has it all been co-opted? And where are the courageous artists that have historically pushed the envelope in an effort to reveal what does not want to be revealed?
 
Michael Smyth has a fascinating column in today's paper about how politicians are secretly being offered Olympic largesse. One wonders how CanWest let it be published. I sincerely hope opposition MLAs "just say no" to the offering at the trough !
 
Sounds like Michael Smyth has stepped up to Harvey Oberfeld's challenge for media people to come forward about the secret goodies they're offered to toe the line.....
 
Mary,
I saw that artical in Monday Mag. when it first came out.
I work in a govt facility so I immediately made many copies and posted them wherever I could locker rooms, hall way posting, the job board... at least a dozen places all of them were removed with in the hr..I kept making copies for the next couple of days but all were removed very quickly, I didnt post any more after that as a mass installation of cameras followed... coincident I'm sure, but at the time I was worried I'd be fired but I sure had fun passing it around
 
Hopefully Smyth has the guts to follow up on it more, maybe PublicEyeOnline will follow up, he seems to have sources. The ridiculously expensive and "lack of oversight" level of security is starting up in earnest. The black eyes will be cost, treats for the elite and unregulated security.
 
Beth,

Thank you for your patience ... we're having Internet problems and Rogers is so busy (busy having Internet problems) their IT guy can't make a housecall until Wednesday ...

which means I haven't been able to follow up on your tip, and access Monday Magazine myself.

I'm very thankful you didn't give up on me, because I actually thought the original tip-off story was a fake ... hilariously funny fake, all right ... I mean, I've heard of premiers who didn't have enough sense to come in out of the rain, but ...

well, Frank Alconcel was very kind indeed to have rolled Gordo away from the toilet that way ...

Obviously Frank isn't from British Columbia and knows nothing about the Golden Era we've had fallin' on our heads.

Any chance you could access that story and send it to us as another Comment, Beth?
.
 
Boots, Beth, & Everybody:

I need your help on this! I must admit, I thought it was a joke when Brian Salmi first sent in that excerpt from what he said was Petti Fong's article ...

and certainly, there seems no possibility of me finding the original article, the way our Internet service is behaving ... it will flicker on for 5 min., then off for an hour, etc.

Brian Salmi ... do you have the original Petti Fong article? Could you please send me a copy?

Or Beth?

I would like to (a) confirm the piece, and (b) to use excerpts for Part 3 of this series.

Monday Magazine ... or Terminal City Weekly.
.
 
Mary, your post begs the question - if Frank Alconcel was from British Columbia, would he have cared if the Premier was having a nap in all that splattered piss?

I mentioned the story to a non-political British Columbian out here, whose eyes widened as he chortled with hysterical laughter...and kept chuckling for more than a few minutes.....

Nowhere in the Hawaiian news copy does it say, though, that DUIs in British Columbia are a criminal offence, and that if he had done this at home, he would have had a criminal record and been forced, by law, to resign his post.....they also used the phrase "a Canadian official" in their headline because, of course, nobody in the US knows what a Premier is. Entirely a different sense than the US parallel, along the lines of "the Governor of Alaska arrested for drunk driving in Maui", which is the actual relative context....
 
I've had major Bell internet problems over the last couple of days too.
 
Mary
will do my best to dig for that in my box of papers..
 
Hey, Anonymous 8:10 ...

I don't know who you are (Anonymous) but if you can find a copy of Petti Fong's article and where/when it was published,

I'd be most grateful. Thank you!

And how about choosing a User Name for yourself, just so I know if we've had this conversation before?
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Hi all, this might just be a huge coincidence, Frank(Franklin) which I believe I found the Obituary of his Mother of 2008,and then did a search for Franklin.

Franklin Monderon Alconcel
View obituary page
Create Memorial Website
Jan. 11, 2010 Franklin Monderon "Frankie Forklift" Alconcel, 55, of Waipahu, died in Hawaii Medical Center-West. He was born in Honolulu. He is...
(then to another page for further info

Franklin Monderon Alconcel

Jan. 11, 2010
Franklin Monderon "Frankie Forklift" Alconcel, 55, of Waipahu, died in Hawaii Medical Center-West. He was born in Honolulu. He is survived by wife Marian; sons James and Landen; brothers Alex, Buddy and Danny; sister Norma Hunter; and eight grandchildren. Services: 10 a.m. Saturday at Kaumakapili Church. Call after 9 a.m. Casual attire. No flowers.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/starbulletin/obituary.aspx?n=franklin-monderon-alconcel&pid=138900066

His Mother's Obit

Trinidad Monderen Alconcel
July 2, 2008
Trinidad Monderen "Trini" Alconcel, 83, of Ewa Beach, a homemaker, died in Ewa Beach. She was born in Honolulu. She is survived by sons Franklin, Alexander and Danfred; daughter Norma Hunter; and seven grandchildren. Services: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hawaiian Memorial Park. Call after 5:30 p.m. Additional services: 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Valley of the Temples. Call after 8:30 a.m. Graveside services: noon at the cemetery.

(note Norma Hunter in both Obits)
And this may not even be him, but close age)

EM
 
Funny..My "access" to the internet was cut-off..no one knows why..It took changing modems and 1/2 a day with techno geeks to restore..

Things that make you go Hmmm!

Apparently my ip address was being "grabbed up"

All happened when I was away for 48 hours....Hmmmnm
 
Grant,

Interesting, for sure. My system isn't running smoothly yet,

we were told to expect the Rogers IT guy to make a housecall on Wed., Feb. 3,

but when we called them yesterday they said they'd tried to phone us but nobody answered. No. They didn't try to phone us. Somebody was here all day.

And before some ijit starts shrieking "Conspiracy Theory!" I say 1) I am entitled to consider the facts in my life, and 2) Re-read Peter Ewart's column: "Conspiracy theories, government spooks and Cas Sunstein" published here on Jan. 28, 2010.

Meantime, I truly resent having to wait, wait ... re-try, re-try ... causing delays and confusion.

And it does help to know that others are having similar problems.
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If this was a TeeVee show, and "Frankie Forklift" was indeed the person interviewed after sharing a cell with our CEO premier, he may have been "silenced" to save Lord Gord future embarrassement.

When one considers the crimes the Campbell Crime Family are willing to engage in, it isn't a huge leap to imagine someone being silenced permanently, though I'm not suggesting seriously that this is the case here. Thanks to the PAB and Canned Waste/Glow Ball, hardly anyone is aware enough of what's going on to care.

It appears this Frank died last monthk, thus making it oompletely possible he got to spend time with Gord (and wasted it by not strangling him). But as I pointed out earlier, the Frank Alconcel with the outstanding warrant was Frand the third, thus leading to the likelihood of other Franks with the same name (except for number) having pre-deceased.

The really scary thing is the fact that the information Robin presents in his post are are so damning and hideous, yet so NOT exagerrated or fanciful - it is like a impartial recitation of the state of BC, and hardly anybody cares (or is aware enough to care).
 
Dear Koot,

Funny you should mention that the information in Robin's post are "damning and hideous ... like an impartial recitation of the state of BC ... and hardly anybody cares ..."

because last evening Robin and I talked about that by e.mail. It was a challenge I couldn't let pass, when he wrote: You decry the MSM, and rightly. I'm put in a position of having to have a lot of self-confidence in what I do, because I do it alone. Alone. The really botched appointment of Berardino is there - and ignored by all. The botched removal of Bennett is as clear to anyone else as to me - and is ignored by all. The RCMP's astonishing behaviour from the start can be marked over and over - and is ignored by all. The pile up of evidence pointing to criminal investigation of the Campbell group is there - and is ignored by all. All. What gives? You tell me.

At first, I thought he meant that none of us cared. But I found that, no, he referred especially to those with the power to make things better, such as in the courtroom.

I know what Robin means. One yearns to see SOMETHING go right. But as for making the move to put things right ...

The only way I can understand our paralysis, is by a long-ago memory when my husband and I were young, riding in the back seat of a car being driven by my father-in-law who was the absolute worst driver in the western world. After we had gone storming around curves in the left lane spraying gravel, I turned to my husband and said, very quietly: "We're going to be killed!" He, in turn, replied quietly "Yes we are." And with that, we began to laugh. That's what we did, we laughed at the sheer absurdity of being unable to break the spell of respect for the elderly gentleman who was about to create a very unpleasant accident. Luckily he didn't. When we came to a stop at our destination, my husband said gently, "Dad, I'll drive home." And with that, our revered Elder passed the car keys over. To this day, I cannot explain why we felt we couldn't shout "STOP THE CAR! WE WANT TO GET OUT ALIVE."

Lemme tell you, we did care a whole heckuva lot about staying alive. But anybody looking on would've thought we didn't care two figs because we were laughing.

Truth to tell, I feel just a little bit that way now, circa 2010. Except I don't know who's driving this crazy bus right toward the edge of that cliff ...
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At first, I thought he meant that none of us cared. But I found that, no, he referred especially to those with the power to make things better

People who could make a difference, but haven't or won't:

*the federal solicitor general and/or justice minister
*our BC senators, who could at least raise this in a justice committee hearing...and send it to their Commons counterparts (all of whom are looking the other way, including the NDP members)
*Michael Ignatieff and/or Jack Layton. Actually, I think Gilles Duceppe might have the brass balls to raise it...Ignatieff, supposedly a man of principle, should know better than to remain silent on this; I don't expect any more out of Jack Layton than Carole James hasn't bothered to do
*the editors of US political magazines and major news networks (though not Fox or MSNBC)
*the editors of major UK papers and magazines (The Economist, where are you??)

And closer to home:
*Dave Basi: Tell the whole thing, Davey, point all the fingers there are to be pointed, come clean about everything in public testimony. If the rats above you hung you out to dry, you've no reason at all to protect them further
*Mr Berardino, please resign; you should know better; but I know that's asking you to have more honour than the poilticians you're protecting already don't, so why bother asking?
*Paul Nettleton: tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That goes for Sandy Santori and all the other ex-cabinet ministers and ex-MLAs who left the Campbell regime once they realized what was going on


I've already tried getting Rick Mercer, Rex Murphy, Mary Walsh and others like that to take a more serious interest in all this; the response was, apparently, that Mercer went and had a sled race with Gordo

OH, and last but not least - Jimmy Pattison, would you please launch that new newspaper with Glen Clark at the helm.....
 
At first, I thought he meant that none of us cared. But I found that, no, he referred especially to those with the power to make things better

People who could make a difference, but haven't or won't:

*the federal solicitor general and/or justice minister
*our BC senators, who could at least raise this in a justice committee hearing...and send it to their Commons counterparts (all of whom are looking the other way, including the NDP members)
*Michael Ignatieff and/or Jack Layton. Actually, I think Gilles Duceppe might have the brass balls to raise it...Ignatieff, supposedly a man of principle, should know better than to remain silent on this; I don't expect any more out of Jack Layton than Carole James hasn't bothered to do
*the editors of US political magazines and major news networks (though not Fox or MSNBC)
*the editors of major UK papers and magazines (The Economist, where are you??)

And closer to home:
*Dave Basi: Tell the whole thing, Davey, point all the fingers there are to be pointed, come clean about everything in public testimony. If the rats above you hung you out to dry, you've no reason at all to protect them further
*Mr Berardino, please resign; you should know better; but I know that's asking you to have more honour than the poilticians you're protecting already don't, so why bother asking?
*Paul Nettleton: tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That goes for Sandy Santori and all the other ex-cabinet ministers and ex-MLAs who left the Campbell regime once they realized what was going on


I've already tried getting Rick Mercer, Rex Murphy, Mary Walsh and others like that to take a more serious interest in all this; the response was, apparently, that Mercer went and had a sled race with Gordo

OH, and last but not least - Jimmy Pattison, would you please launch that new newspaper with Glen Clark at the helm.....
 
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Skookum1,

Me, too: I've always thought Dave Basi could buy his Stay Out of Jail Free card by telling the long-suffering citizens of B.C. what he knows about the give-away of BC Rail.

But right-on, all those others too ... let's hear it!
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Nice summary, Skookum1.
At this stage, there's nothing like cutting straight to the main point(s)/questions needing to be anwsered by the main players.
 
Maybe what Basi knows about the 'giveaway',
is more criminal activity?
 
"Paul Nettleton: tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That goes for Sandy Santori and all the other ex-cabinet ministers and ex-MLAs who left the Campbell regime once they realized what was going on"

I'm not one hundred percent certain, but I don't think Sandy Satori lift the Campbell Regime (or crime family) by choice. I think he left as a result of the anger of the locals over being the scene of the biggest cuts in education and healthcare in the province AND our own relatively unique inland ferry services.

Mr. Santori was a popular former mayor of Trail and did manage to have Trail designated our regional, but definitely not central, health care headquarters. However his riding takes in more than Trail, including Castlegar where they completely closed down a busy functioning hospital. Trail Regional Hospital is in the extreme southwestern corner of our huge health administrative region (Kootenay region of the Inferior Health Authority). Hell, Trail hospital is almost in another country, where private, for profit, healthcare is the norm.

Our guy in my riding, "Air" Blair Suffredine ran again in 2005, but was resoundingly sent back to his law practice by Corky Evans and his very locally popular successor was defeated by rookie Michelle Mungall in 2009. The only member of the Campbell Crime Family returned to Victoria was Bill Bennett (no relation) who is so lacking in taste and full of racism that he has been kicked out of Gordo's inner circle on occasion. This time he made hay with code words against his first nations opponent, appealing to the coal-miner skidoo crowd in the riding that may as well be (and has asked to be) part of Alberta or Texas North!
 
you go bcgirl!! Thats what everyone appears to be hoping for, but I just cant see that, given the fact that the trial is going to go ahead and all.


I suspect the province has agreed to pick up the legal costs, win lose or draw, which would explain the clear path to trial we now have before us.


Nancy C.
 
Clear path to THIS trial, you mean, Nancy C. In this and the other thread, you seem content with only Basi, Virk and Basi having been charged; it's clear to many of the rest of us here that there are higher-ups who should have been charged, but who were exempted as being "above investigation".

As such, this is little more than a kangaroo court for the designated fall-guys. This "case" will not be over until the real criminals are charged, not just their flunkies.
 
Which means Nancy C., that many of us will not be content to let those above BVB who are also responsible walk...even though they, and the courts seem to be intent on having that be the outcome.

This "trial" ceased being a trial when Justice Dohm decided he was going to remove Justice Bennett from the case, for no justifiable reason. For that matter, it ceased being a trial when Berardino was appointed SP. Nonetheless, let the good girls and boys have their fun at public expense as they are so intent on doing. It's up to us to make sure the outcome is what is SHOULD be, not what they'd like to see. Which means...we watch, we wait, above all we pay attention.

I find it troublesome that knowing as much as we already know of this case...that anyone would assume only BVB are the guilty parties. We shall see soon...how the wheels of justice work in BC. Or is our justice system going to turn out to be a huge embarrassment - rather like our "Canadian Pavilion?" We can only hope that at least one foreign media outlet takes a huge interest in this case and follows it through. The Guardian comes to mind...it would be interesting to see what Queen Elizabeth thinks of the "justice" being done in her name.
 
Leah, if you dont like Campbell, as I dont like Campbell, then dont vote for him and his ilk next election. Simple, no?

Did BCers get what they deserved?

Maybe they did.

Or maybe they didnt.

But they certainly werent hoodwinked. The cat has been out of the bag for years, and what of it when the alternative is Carol James and the ndp?

But then who would you vote for if not Campbell and his merry band of corruptedness?

Me? I couldnt bring myself to vote for the ndp, nope nope nope. So I just didnt vote.

Je m'excuse, but I echo the crown's objectives here. I only wish the trial were televised and I hope those who know things talk.

Nancy C.
 
Nancy C, this blog is non-partisan. When it comes to BC Rail, it shouldn't matter who we vote for. The thing is, we're all in this together: every one of us lost something valuable when we lost control of BC Rail.

In our system, only a few people around Beacon Hill in Victoria get to vote or not vote for Carole James. Or a few people in West Point Grey get to vote or not vote for Gordo.

So it's not a question for most of us, whether or not to vote for Carole or Gordo. It's a question of whether there's a good citizen standing for election in your riding.

So before you give up on voting, how about giving a 2nd look at the person you actually could vote for in your riding? Vote for a good, honest, intelligent person with longterm values ... no matter what party he/she belongs to.

If I still lived on Pender Island in 2009, I would've voted for Briony Penn in a heartbeat. How she lost, I will never understand, unless ... well, hmmmm hm.

Yes, yes, yes I wish the BCRail trial could be televised. The Air India Courtroom #20 is already set up for that ... so why not? Anybody got an idea how to activate that proposition?
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I respectfully disagree with you Mary.

I do beleive the party has far more to do with the outcome of any election, provincial or federal, than who you elect. Just look what happens to those who have stoop up for principal. Not just in Campbell's caucus, but any.

And since you brought it up, no, no no. I would not vote for Briony Penn, not ever, not federally nor otherwise. I, we, have had it up to here with well-meaning amatuer politicians. What I would vote for is someone who has some fire in them, is not affraid to do what is right in the long-run, not just right in the short termand not just what is PC.

Where are these politicians? They dont exist becuase they must compromise their beleifs to be heard, to advance in caucus.

Nancy C.
 
Nancy:

And you demonstrate precisely why this web-site is non-partisan ...

because while citizens squabble with one another about the meaningless electoral bait-and-switch details,

major events are at some stage of development and need due diligence.

Times are changing and citizens need to take up new responsibilities, to address the issues.

And the issue here is: how did BC Rail slide from public ownership into private pockets?

I want this web-site to be a forum where anybody who cares about BC Rail and what it means to the development and well-being of this province,

can feel comfortable talking or listening.
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I happened to read through Kevin Potvin's excellent "Is Gordon Campbell a Made Man?" article again this morning and noticed this:

His wife did leave earlier in the vacation, but that was routine: she needed to prepare for a new school year as vice principle of a Vancouver school. We do know that around September 2003, roughly nine months later, Dauphinee appeared at a political function attended by much media visibly pregnant.

Aside from finding out the timing of Nancy Campbell's taking up her newer job in Squamish.....and noting that doubtless there are no extant pictures of footage of that news conference in September.....

Is there any way of finding out what Lara's travel itinerary in the weeks following that news conference was? I'd think that maybe - if we had a functioning FOI process - the travel records of the Deputy Chief of Staff would be available. But even news copy about which cities she/they might have visited in September-October-November 2003 might give us some clue as to which country/city a birth record might exist.

Can pregnant women fly in the third trimester? I mean, it happens all the time in the movies, someone in labour on a plane.....or could it be as simple as going to a hospital in Washington or Oregon, or even Alberta? And which of those jurisdictions might not require that the surname of the child does not have to match that of either parent?

We need a Fleet Street bloodhound to read Potvin's article, and also this discussion and the post it's in response to.....
 
Thanks, Mike.

We do need a journalistic bloodhound to get to work on this.

Having only rumours to go on, I can only say that England is the country I've heard mentioned.

Not having the expense account of a government employee, I don't see myself submitting a Freedom of Information request, either ...

but would like to see the day-book for Madam Deputy Chief of Staff covering that Sept., Oct. period of Nov. 2003,

which, like some badly-written modern tragedy, covers the demise of BC Rail as well.

Birth Certificate + Death Certificate.
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I think it's inevitable that Lara Dauphinee is connected to the dealings around BC Rail - if only by complicity, i.e. collusion (which is still a crime). She strikes me more as an Evita/Empress Dowager though....

Nancy C: Leah, if you dont like Campbell, as I dont like Campbell, then dont vote for him and his ilk next election. Simple, no?

No, it's not that simple. Or rather, it's too simple. What you're saying is that the ONE vote we get every so many years is enough to bring politicians to heel, and that's clearly not workable nor viable in a true democracy. Saying "let him run amok for another three years and we'll get him at the ballot box" is either cupidity or disingenuous...

We need a device to deal with these guys; theoretically it should be the courts, but since they're "in cahoots" what's to be done? If this were the UK, the Queen herself would have weighed in, and the party also would have exerted damage control the old-fashioned way - forcing a first minister under suspicion of illicit dealings (and an illicit affair, with a job for the correspondent in that affair to boot), to resign forthwith.

One vote every four years. Big bloody deal. That's not democracy, it's a shell game.
 
Exactly Skookum1...at the very least BC needs the ability to recall the sitting government, immediately if necessary. We knew within a matter of days how many lies were told, that documents requested by the supreme court were supposedly destroyed (indeed many were)...and the list goes on. We should have been able to unseat him and his nambies within 30 days!

The excuse we have for a recall law in BC is a joke! No recall for 18 months? How much more damage can/will this maniac do in 18 interminably long months? We need a law with teeth...and people with the wisdom to bite.

As it stands now, the only time "we" matter is at election time when suddenly there's enough money to make all kinds of outlandish promises. Too bad people forget they're being bought off with their own money.
 
Too bad people forget they're being bought off with their own money.

And even then the "reliability quotient" of what the government says before the election and what it actually does after is extremely low, no? The only people who are being bought off are the corporations and friends who funded their return to office....the people who thought they were buying off to the government were being lied to anyway...

You'd think that between Speaker and the viceroy, there might have evolved some convention where Parliament, as a committee of the whole (including the viceroy/Crown), could function as a court, with the testimony the policies and spending promised on the hustings, and also of accountability as to the state of the books. How is it, anyway, that all kinds of things can be promised by a party already in control of the books only to state afterward that budgetary needs have changed, or money wasn't where they thought it was, or didn't come in like it used to, or by whatever excuse. Elections are a puppuet-show; it's when they have the teeth of the court, and some legal mechanism has to exist for force the government to live up to what it says it's going to do.

And also with the power to eject them from power when there is clear evidence of criminal wrongdoing, and to block policies that were promised beforehand (as in, "no, we won't bring in the HST"). This stuff is supposed to be taken care of, as I've said time and again, the honour system - but there is no honour in the ranks of the BC government - those that had honour, like Nettleton, left a long time ago.

The essence of parliamentary system requires that politicians behave like gentlemen, and not disgrace the House or the Crown from embarrassment (and cost) when there is doubt as to the character of their office, or their ability. This is no longer the case, clearly. It's what the signatory "the Hon." is supposed to be about; that you lived by your word, and if you were at taint of fault you would step aside for the duration of any inquiry, or resign altogether. Clinging to one's seat, or one's ministry, when under suspicion, was seen as bad form.....

Before the days of the takeover of power by parliament, i.e. from the Crown, it was the King, or Queen, who had the power to remove a prime minister or other minister of state from office, particularly if any compromise of matters of state, or state assets (the Crown's belongings, in those days...).

In the US, the House has the power to function as a court and/or investigative body, and often does; and it can overturn policy. The rubber-stamp role of the Canadian parliament means that Prime Ministers are much more easily autocrats than democrats. Our House has no purpose, federally or provincially, than that of organized claques. The votes of the members are coopted to entrench a governing, centralized committee (cabinet) and there is no real input from the constituency, and the constituents have no choice or means of redress if their member has lied to them; - how to deal with a total con like David Emerson? And the purpose of that government? - to plunder the public treasury and assets to reward those who got them the power of a king....
 
Just to add a little fuel to the fire, there is a picture of Gordo in Monday's Vancouver Sun, page A13 showing him addressing the Board of Trade. His left hand is front and centre and shows him wearing a wedding band. It is a picture from the Vancouver Sun Files with no date attached, but from the fullness of his face I think it was pre 2003. I recall him boasting about losing quite a lot of weight after he supposedly became a non drinker.

Today I saw him on TV news both at Peace Arch without his red paddles covering his hands, and he does not sport this wedding band anymore. There was another shot of him walking up the steps of the Legislature with his left hand exposed, and again no wedding band whatsoever.

One must conclude that he and Nancy are no longer together as a couple, but whether they are divorced or not would be conjecture at this point.
 
I saw the photo of, Campbell and his wife Nancy, when Gordo was, begging forgiveness from the people of BC, for his DUI. The look on Nancy's face, was a look of intense dislike, and anger. I wouldn't be surprised if, they were separated or divorced.
 
And who was he with at the Olympic Opening Ceremony? Very little footage of the Premier (sans wife?) I heard almost a decade ago that the NDP had goods on him that would have him removed from office, but it never happened. Love child? BC Rail?
 
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Sigghhhhh ...

1) Please give yourself a User Name when you're leaving a comment; "Anonymous" isn't a good name,

2) Please stop making stuff up. The lady beside Gordo at the Olympics Opening Ceremony was Nancy Campbell which you would know perfectly well if you actually looked at the coverage.
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