Friday, November 19, 2010

 

How can we compel B.C.'s government to release the agreed facts in the BC Rail Political Corruption trial?

.
Open Question

How can we compel B.C.'s Campbell govt to release the agreed facts in the BC Rail influence case?

We know the premier was told by Caucus to step down no doubt b/c he has poisoned Liberal election chances. That this occurred so soon after the mysterious plea bargain that removed the BC Rail case from the court roster is no coincidence. Top Cabinet members, including the premier, were scheduled to testify shortly. Thing is, the public has no idea what facts the court was provided to make the case go away. Nor is corporate media asking any questions. Why not? To whom should we appeal to find out exactly how the sale of such a valuable public asset unjustly enriched those sworn to represent the public interest?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101116132932AA5O07n

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The question came from British Columbia: "How did this go from "We found as a fact that records were destroyed" to "Nothing to see here, let's all move along"? But the fact is:


Mounties end probe into destruction of emails with no charges laid

BY DEAN BEEBY
THE RECORD - OCT. 16, 2010

OTTAWA — The Mounties have decided not to lay charges in a case in which sensitive government emails were deliberately destroyed, ending a two-year probe regarded as an overdue test of Canada’s information law.
The file, involving a nasty internal scrap at the National Gallery of Canada, was first referred to the Mounties by gallery officials in 2008.

And earlier this year, Canada’s information watchdog alerted justice officials after her own investigation “found as a fact that records responsive to an access to information request were destroyed and individuals were counselled to destroy records.”

The RCMP’s review of the case focused on Section 67.1 of the Access to Information Act, which provides penalties of up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine for destroying government records or even counselling someone to conceal them from a requester.

The section was added to the Act in 1999, after several high-profile cases in which military documents about Somalia, as well as Red Cross records, were shredded to prevent embarrassing public disclosures.

But in the 11 years since, no one has ever been convicted or even charged under the section — and the RCMP probe was being watched closely to see whether the law was effective.

“We conducted an investigation and we concluded that no criminal charges will be laid,” Sgt. Stephane Turgeon of the RCMP’s “A” Division said in a brief statement. “That concludes the matter at our end.”

Turgeon declined to provide further details on the investigation or the decision.

The National Gallery case marks the first time the office of the information commissioner has ever referred a file to the attorney general of Canada for possible prosecution under Section 67.1 ....



Read more HERE.

http://news.therecord.com/article/795031

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It doesn't look like much, but HERE is the Statement of Facts which brought the BC Rail Political Corruption Trial to an end. It is signed by Michael Bolton (Dave Basi's lawyer), Kevin McCullough (Bobby Virk's lawyer), Dave Basi, Bobby Virk, and Bill Berardino. The signatures are fascinating.  M.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



Comments:
Hmmmmm. The BC Liberal Party is looking for new members, new members to show them the way to the future. Salvation! at the polls in 2013.

What if, those, those who have been consistently saying that we want answers to the BC Rail sale....were to sign up to be BC Liberal participants in sheeps clothing.

We could determine the future of this province instead of leaving it up to the current bunch.

FightHST, you're organized, get the troops out and flood the BC Liberal Party's party. Destroy the BC Liberal Party from within.

What are they going to say to your $10 sign up fees, NO!?
 
7:33,

and why not?

some of us still remember what "liberal" means.

Why the heck not??
 
Tell all BC MLAs:

If the Govt does not ensure that all the evidence about the BC Rail case is preserved and publicly available, I will sign a recall petition to have you removed.

The evidence is about the sale of a public asset (BC Rail), so that evidence should be public property.
 
Anything to get rid of this pile of treasonous garbage!
I'd pay 5 times 10!
I do believe that BC is a proving ground for the corporate take over of OUR DEMOCRACY!
We have lost our SCBC, and I believe that this is only the start.
TREASON
Wikipedia: In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation. A person who betrays the nation of their citizenship and/or reneges on an oath of loyalty and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor. Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavour.
 
Interesting idea. They took over the Liberal Party in much the same way, back in the day. That is a very interesting idea.
 
Why bother putting on a soiled old suit?

Why not move into BC First, and build it from the ground up--?
 
"Liberal" will be a dirty word in BC, though in a completely different way than its negative tone in the US. And carrying that name, you'd alwys be ripe for ambush by federal party organizers/ambitions as well as any other pack of opportunists capable of sandbagging the party so as to take on the mantle of an "established" party.

I was going to suggest hiring Dave Basi to organize the membership drive. Seriously.....and the guy does need a job.

The party, and direction, that Gordon Wilson forged in 1991, was not the historical Liberal Party as, alas, this one is all too much like. The "Wilson Party" was scattered and coopted by the business interests who have, in the past, alternately switched from the Conservatives to the Tories - then finally shoehorned them into the Coalition so as to keep the CCF from office. The Coalition tore itself apart - partly over a spat to do with Tory leader Royal Maitland not getting his turn at Premier, which Boss Johnson got instead - and Big Money went looking elsewhere; and found Ceece Bennett in control of the House. And the Socreds, well, they were the first of the unholy alliances that have kept the godless socialists from power, and even maintain the balanced budgets, growth and prosperity of NDP years were actually ruin and chaos and anathema to the world business community. They used to complain about Greenpeace getting european boycotts going, but they were they ones going around saying "don't invest in BC, stay out of BC, we have to get the socialists out and then it'll be paradise...etc etc"

Back to the Wilson Party - to that core centre bloc of voters, it's still out there. Given a strong third choice, and the restive state of those of the electorate who actually will vote, the chance of a brand new party, or a newly-coopted party like Chinese Sneakers suggested about BC First. WAC Bennett had dropped out of the Tories, and when the time came to lead the charge, he had become Social Credit League, a very minor fringe party, as electoral records show (among many). And within a year he had built them from nothing to a majority. Not who they had been before, granted, but redefining the term. Campbell's takeover of the BC Liberals was as we all know extremely vicious and ruthless, very unlike WAC's rather deft, as well as populist-inspired, takeover of the Socred banner or Wilson's reinvention of a dormant name - or what may come now, Bill Bennett's potential takeover of the Tories...who knows, maybe even of the Liberals?? But would the Tory name "sell" in BC?

A new name, yes, but what?

One things' for sure - to get out the vote -and motivate young people to take interest in what was stolen from them - you need not just a lot of good candidates, but good speakers and a strong p.r. network. Maybe who knows using Twitter or Facebook or some other social media, like in the recent, failed Iranian democratic revolution.

Oh yeah, and you need a media network, a strong one, or enough penetration in the readership and viewership to be a "Radio Free British Columbia" kind of news service. You need to get journalists to care, and take it to the campuses....

"You" being the hypothetical strategist intent on building a new party from scratch, or ambushing an existing registered party with thousands of new members.

but in re the constitutional issues at the heart of all this, I kind of like "Democratic Reform Party"...has it been used?
 
"this concludes the matter at our end"

Sounds like there's more to this.

Why the international community is not LOL at Canada is worth more thought,Canada is a first world country not third world.
White collar crime with unsavory
characters paid to clear the way, then clean up the aftermath, has been embedded deep with our beloved country.
The fact that the RMCP won't finish the job and lay criminal charges is absolutely pathetic!
Dont't look for Harper to come to the rescue, bad enough that his cabinet doesn't want to govern with him, too! Harpers motto is to throw the 'baby out with the bath water'! Leaving the RCMP looking
feble,and a stong choke chain on the media & freedom of speech. This leaves little to no room for those of us who strive to do good works from within our country.
 
At this point about the only person who has truly demonstrated the integrity that I require in my leader is Marc Emery.

I never really much cared for the guy but the fact is that he didn't hide what he was doing, he paid his taxes, openly donated money to his causes, and took the fall himself - opting to not fight the charges so that his worker(s) would not die in an American prison.

Exactly the type of person that is needed. Someone who has demonstrated guts, transparency, integrity, devotion and commitment.

I mean it too - he has actually demonstrated these qualities and over a long period of time and there is nobody else I can think of in BC who has done that. Maybe Ron Paul in the USA, and Hunter S Thompson when he was alive.
 
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 
Yup, it is truly pathetic that we have a "so called government in BC" that perpetrates lies, crime, dishonesty, corruption and money laundering amongst it's achievements!

This is the sort of stuff revolutions were fought over as in the US and France amongst others.

I am very cincerned that this rot will continue unchecked - even with the current BCNDP party as they are strangely mute on all of the above crimes and are, it appears, quite happy to sit on their butts collecting an MLA's pay for doing absolutely nothing.

What a choice for British Columbian's - we badly need at least one, possibly two more political parties. Any government formed then would most likely be a coalition and more representative of the peoples needs.

Thanks
 
From the article it was interesting that the BC FOI Office voiced his opinion.
" spokesman for the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, which also pressed for possible prosecution of Togneri under the section, called the Mountie decision in the National Gallery case “puzzling.”

“How did this go from ‘We find as a fact that records were destroyed’ to ‘Nothing to see here, let’s all move along’?” Vincent Gogolek said in an interview from Vancouver.

“It’s more than a little disappointing, and quite puzzling actually.”

Gogolek said the decision seems inconsistent for a government that bills itself as tough on crime, including white-collar crime."

-----
Researching the FOI website for decisions made, interesting one popped out at Me. This one dated November 4 2010.Which was a request
Order F10-38
OFFICE OF THE PREMIER

Summary: The applicant requested records of telephone calls between Patrick Kinsella and the Premier’s Office from 2001 to the date of his request. The Premier’s Office issued a fee estimate of $450 for locating and retrieving the records. The applicant requested a public interest fee waiver which the Premier’s Office denied. The Premier’s Office’s decision to deny a fee waiver was appropriate, as the requested records do not relate to a matter of public interest.

The applicant in this case is a journalist
....
In his request, the applicant also said this:
It is my contention that the release of these records — which will provide clarity concerning the scope of Kinsella’s interactions with the provincial government — is in the public interest,...
[5] The applicant requested a fee waiver on these grounds:
Interactions between the government and Patrick Kinsella have been the subject of public controversy (allegations of unregistered lobbying, his involvement in the BC Rail privatization deal, etc.). Furthermore, at least one former member of the premier’s office has publicly stated he regularly destroys public records. As such, one of the only means of determining the extent of interactions between members of the premier’s office and Mr. Kinsella is via their phone records....

HA AND GET THIS

The Premier’s Office responded to the fee waiver request by saying this:
There is no pressing or urgent need to conduct this search in the public interest at this time.

more good reading @ link, in the end it was denied, funny originally David Loukidelis, the current Deputy Attorney General reviewed this in March.(read 19)

16 The applicant added that he is in a position to disseminate information to the public, because he is a syndicated columnist, a radio talk show host and the editor of Public Eye.12

[18] The Premier’s Office then argued that the term “public interest” does not include everything the public may be interested in knowing.
--

Will this happen in BC regarding missing FOI documents?

http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/156693/2010/f10_38.pdf
 
From the article it was interesting that the BC FOI Office voiced his opinion.
" spokesman for the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, which also pressed for possible prosecution of Togneri under the section, called the Mountie decision in the National Gallery case “puzzling.”

“How did this go from ‘We find as a fact that records were destroyed’ to ‘Nothing to see here, let’s all move along’?” Vincent Gogolek said in an interview from Vancouver.

“It’s more than a little disappointing, and quite puzzling actually.”

Gogolek said the decision seems inconsistent for a government that bills itself as tough on crime, including white-collar crime."

-----
Researching the FOI website for decisions made, interesting one popped out at Me. This one dated November 4 2010.Which was a request
Order F10-38
OFFICE OF THE PREMIER

Summary: The applicant requested records of telephone calls between Patrick Kinsella and the Premier’s Office from 2001 to the date of his request. The Premier’s Office issued a fee estimate of $450 for locating and retrieving the records. The applicant requested a public interest fee waiver which the Premier’s Office denied. The Premier’s Office’s decision to deny a fee waiver was appropriate, as the requested records do not relate to a matter of public interest.

The applicant in this case is a journalist
....
In his request, the applicant also said this:
It is my contention that the release of these records — which will provide clarity concerning the scope of Kinsella’s interactions with the provincial government — is in the public interest,...
[5] The applicant requested a fee waiver on these grounds:
Interactions between the government and Patrick Kinsella have been the subject of public controversy (allegations of unregistered lobbying, his involvement in the BC Rail privatization deal, etc.). Furthermore, at least one former member of the premier’s office has publicly stated he regularly destroys public records. As such, one of the only means of determining the extent of interactions between members of the premier’s office and Mr. Kinsella is via their phone records....

HA AND GET THIS

The Premier’s Office responded to the fee waiver request by saying this:
There is no pressing or urgent need to conduct this search in the public interest at this time.

more good reading @ link, in the end it was denied, funny originally David Loukidelis, the current Deputy Attorney General reviewed this in March.(read 19)

16 The applicant added that he is in a position to disseminate information to the public, because he is a syndicated columnist, a radio talk show host and the editor of Public Eye.12

[18] The Premier’s Office then argued that the term “public interest” does not include everything the public may be interested in knowing.
--

Will this happen in BC regarding missing FOI documents?

http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/156693/2010/f10_38.pdf
 
I just made a post, looks like it didnt go through, but that happened the other day, I have learned to save my comments, just in case, so will watch and see if it worked.
 
In terms of a way to force the government/RCMP from destroying evidence in what is clearly the biggest scam in BC history, why can this not be brought up in the Commons by one of our MPs? Not that the NDP have shown any leadership on this in the provincial arena, perhaps it's too much to expect them to raise it with a question from the floor to the Solicitor-General about why the RCMP have not proceeded with criminal investigations and why the RCMP seem more willing to destroy evidence than act on it?

Not that the federal Tories are going to listen, unless the questions are asked so pointedly even the national media have to cover it. Intervention from a higher power is needed - and we no longer have the Law Lords to call on as was once the case.
 
E.M.,

Your welcome post came through twice, so I guess all is well.

Skookum 1,

how often I have wondered who that "higher power" might be, in Victoria and in Ottawa.

And how often has it come back to having to get the news out and around by ourselves.

Sometimes it's not fun ... and I'm pretty sure that Robin would've much preferred to write a different kind of column today

but the facts are there, and after 7 years of trying to figure where the Campbell Gang is headed and who's helping them,

Citizen Journalists have become remarkably capable of figuring.

There's a piece coming up from Citizen Journalist 54 later today.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home