The revelations just keep getting better & better about the
whole Millenium gong show. This from CBC:
Vancouver mayoral candidates return Millennium's
donations
Both Vancouver mayoral candidates have rejected campaign
contributions from Millennium Development Corp., the builder
of the controversial Olympic Athletes Village for the 2010
Games.
Non-Partisan Association's Peter Ladner said
Millennium delivered a $2,000 cheque to him last
week.
Vision Vancouver's Gregor Robertson said he received
Millennium's $1,000 donation cheque Wednesday.
Understatement of the Year
"The timing of it is troubling given that decisions have
been made and driven in secret by the NPA and campaign
donations are arriving after the fact," Robertson said.
"I think we need to ask hard questions about where the
dollars come from and why?"
Ladner's copy of the report turned up on fellow NPA
councillor B.C. Lee's desk two days later, and Vancouver
police are now investigating the incident at the request of
Mayor Sam Sullivan.
Valerie Wan, a senior consultant for Millennium,
told CBC News Wednesday that the developer has
donated just under $10,000 to the Nov. 15 civic
election to both the NPA and Vision Vancouver.
************************************************
So, bit of a question here: exactly how much has
Millenium donated to the NPA and Vision Vancouver
over the past few years? How about individuals
associated with Millenium and Armeco?
Where did the other $7000 donated by Millenium go?
While the police are investigating, they might want to
expand things a little and get copies of the daytimers
and meeting schedules of mayor and city council going back
to, oh I don't know, the time when Olympic venue contract
bids were getting sorted out. No lobbyist registry at
Vancouver city hall. Yet.
Also, police might want to have a look at disclosure statements
by city councillors, re: any gifts from Millenium, or Armeco.
From the City of Vancouver webpage:
Campaign financing
Candidates and elector organizations will be required to
provide the chief election officer with up-to-date contact
information and must file financial disclosure statements
if they incur election expenses or receive campaign
contributions. Campaign organizers only need to file this
information if they incur election expenses or receive
campaign contributions in excess of $500.
**************************************************
It's quite interesting the kind of things we can learn when
looking at the Campaign Financing Disclosure statements
from the last election.
Peter Ladner received $2500 from Concord Pacific on
October 28th 2005. They were one of the contenders in
the Olympic Village bid too.
Rennie Marketing Systems handed over $1000 on
October 3rd 2005.
Apparently a lot of individuals contributed too and their
names were blanked out. One very generous soul gave
Mr. Ladner $3000 on October 5th 2005. Wonder
who? It looks like their last name begins with an S.
Vancouver Election Spending Out of Control
Prone to fraud, few limits, and a whopping $30 spent per
vote.
A Tyee special report. By Monte Paulsen
Published: October 31, 2007
Excerpt$:
The right-leaning Non Partisan Association and its 26
candidates reported raising more than $2 million for the
November 2005 election. The NPA itself reported only
$603,887 in party donations, 81 per cent of which came
from corporations.
The balance was raised by the NPA candidates themselves.
Mayor Sam Sullivan led the pack, with reported donations
of more than $490,000. Like the NPA, Sullivan's money
flowed overwhelmingly from corporate donors.
The centre-left Vision Vancouver party reported raising a
total of $1.357 million during the 2005 election period.
Unlike the NPA, Vision's candidates did not also mount
individual fundraising efforts.
Vision reported taking 73 per cent of its money from corporate
donors, 15 per cent from individuals, 12 per cent from labour
unions and the balance from various non-profit organizations.
The left-leaning Coalition of Progressive Electors reported
raising $532,852 during the 2005 election period. COPE took
69 per cent of its 2005 funds from labour unions, and less than
5 per cent from business.
NPA (Civic Non-Partisan Association)
Campaign Financing Disclosure Statement
Notable Donations to NPA coffers:
- Paul Barbeau – Barbeau, Evans & Goldstein: $2066
(or $2086) on August 24th 2005.
- Mark Marissen – Marissen Holdings Inc.: $417.30 on
October 13th 2005
- Patrick Kinsella – Progressive Strategies Ltd.: $417.30
on August 24th & October 5th 2005
- Concord Pacific donated $14,000 on October 26th 2005.
Canadian National Railway Company - $25,000 on
November 9th 2005. Just what does a Montreal based
company have to do with the NPA and why would they
donate such a generous amount to their campaign?
Total amount of donations declared: $1,157,641.74
Much of the information is vetted, especially individual donors.
Vision Vancouver
Campaign Financing Disclosure Statement
Supplementary Financing Disclosure Statement
(November 14, 2007)
Concert Properties - $1580 on March 18th & May 30th
2005
Concord Pacific – Total $48,250
Eagle Medallion Fortress Investment Corp.–
Total: $169,994.80
Why is the Calgary based firm so interested in a new upstart
Political party? Well, whatever the linkage, it’s interesting,
because apparently Steve Lefevre, described as the
“beneficial owner of EMFIC was arrested in the United States
on charges that appear to be related to online gambling.
Vision OK with campaign gift
Recently convicted donor had given $170,000
Christina Montgomery, The Province
Published: Monday, July 16, 2007
Great Canadian Casino – Total: $30,750.
Millenium’s donations are all broken down into separate
donations, $500 for what appears to be each holding company:
Total: $3000
Rennie Marketing Systems: Total: $75,639.
Xiang Enterprises Ltd. - $30,680 from a mystery company,
whose director is listed as a Dario Giannandrea from Montreal.
CUPE BC: $72,700
Total donations to Vision: $1,389,089.66
COPE (Coalition of Progressive Electors)
Campaign Financing Disclosure Statement
Supplementary Disclosure
Total donations: $525,740.81
No real surprises here, trade unions donated the most:
CUPE BC, different CUPE locals, HEU, Vancouver
Elementary Teachers
Labour/Union total: $360,511.13
Concord Pacific Group donated a total of $9250.
***********************************************
Sweeet, more to add to the investigations and Olympic
Contract Inquiry. If Millenium has this kind of money
to be throwing VANOC’s way, why are they bellying
back up to the Vancouver trough for more taxpayer
funds?
Millennium joins team as Official Supplier of the
Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter
Games
Developer of Olympic and Paralympic Village
Vancouver now on board
Vancouver, March 20, 2008 – The Vancouver Organizing
Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter
Games (VANOC) today welcomed the Millennium
Development Corporation to its team as an Official
Supplier through a financial contribution to VANOC
of $3 million.
Awarded the contract by the City of Vancouver in
April 2006, Millennium is the developer of the Millennium
Water project that will serve as the Olympic and Paralympic
Village Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Games.
Through this partnership, Millennium obtains Official Supplier
rights, which enhance the organization’s ability to market
this unique development in conjunction with the 2010 Winter
Games.
From the Vancouver 2010 Supplier page:
Millennium Development Corporation is an Official Supplier and
is the developer of the Millennium Water project that will serve as
the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver during the 2010
Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Entire council agrees to lie-detector test on city hall
report leak
Chad Skelton and Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008
Furlong speaks to the Vancouver Board of Trade:
Furlong calls on business community to step up to
welcome the world in 2010
Nov 13, 2008
Strong leadership from the community, changes to business
operations, a warm welcome to visitors and support for
Canada’s athletes were among the Business Top Ten List
shared by Furlong to ensure successful and unforgettable
Winter Games in 2010.
ZNet - Vancouver Olympics Sustainability
Thursday, November 13, 2008
CanWest: Oh the Times They Are A-Changin'
Seems CanWest has fallen on tough times, or at least their
soon-to-be former employees have. Around 560 of them are
getting the axe: 210 in broadcasting and 350 in publishing,
which is 5 per cent ofCanWest's 10,478 employees in Canada.
CanWest axes 560 jobs
Globe & Mail. November 12, 2008.
TORONTO — Burdened by debt, CanWest Global
Communications Corp. is cutting 560 jobs from its operations,
hoping to buy itself breathing room to withstand an economic
downturn.
Canada's largest media company, which owns the Global
Television network and daily newspapers in major cities across
the country, is hoping to cut $61-million from its annual
operating costs.
In recent months, the firm has moved closer to breaching one of
its bank covenants amid a slumping economy that is sapping
advertising dollars from the industry.
Canwest cuts 560 jobs Canada-wide
CBC.
Here's links to Investor Relations that will detail a bit more
about the pertinent details:
3rd Quarter Results News Release 165K
3rd Quarter 2008 Interim Report to Shareholders:
Canwest Global Communications Corp. 1,710K
Wonder what the Communications, Energy and
Paperworkers Union (CEP) is going to have to say about
all of this?
I have a suggestion for cost cutting measures for
CanWest:
STOP SUING PEOPLE & the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT!
Do you really not see the painful irony in filing civil lawsuits against
free speech activists while launching the multi-million dollar
David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights
That $7.5 million donated might have been used in other ways.
It's all rather confusing and one might wonder if the donated funds
are going to file, or fight, constitutional challenges?
This is a step in the right direction, CanWest needs to do
more of this:
Canwest retreats - drops suit against Mordecai
Briemberg
The campaign will continue until Canwest also abandons
legal action against Gordon Murray and Carel Moiseiwitsch,
who produced the parody in June 2007 that satirized Canwest’s
well-known anti-Palestinian and pro-Israel bias. Canwest’s
founder, Izzy Asper, described the media conglomerate in
2003 as “the strongest supporter of Israel in Canada.”
CanWest sues over Vancouver Sun parody
The Information Policy Blog
CanWest huffs and puffs while free speech burns
Straight.com
CanWest Global Attacks Drug Ad Laws
Posted in February 1st, 2008 by Rob Wipond
Big Pharma isn’t the one fighting to legalize pushing
amphetamines during Degrassi reruns; it’s CanWest Global
(owners of the Victoria Times-Colonist, Global TV, CH TV,
Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, Dose, Metro etc).
CanWest has launched a lawsuit under the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, trying to tear down
Canada’s limits on pharmaceutical advertising.
Currently, prescription drugs can be advertised to the
general public in two ways: the ad names a drug without
describing what it treats, or the ad discusses an illness
without mentioning a drug name.
Update October 2008: The case of CanWest
Mediaworks vs Canada is scheduled to resume
hearings in January, 2009.
Go here to view a video for more information.
Media Blackout: CanWest Global Attacks Drug
Ad Laws
soon-to-be former employees have. Around 560 of them are
getting the axe: 210 in broadcasting and 350 in publishing,
which is 5 per cent ofCanWest's 10,478 employees in Canada.
CanWest axes 560 jobs
Globe & Mail. November 12, 2008.
TORONTO — Burdened by debt, CanWest Global
Communications Corp. is cutting 560 jobs from its operations,
hoping to buy itself breathing room to withstand an economic
downturn.
Canada's largest media company, which owns the Global
Television network and daily newspapers in major cities across
the country, is hoping to cut $61-million from its annual
operating costs.
In recent months, the firm has moved closer to breaching one of
its bank covenants amid a slumping economy that is sapping
advertising dollars from the industry.
Canwest cuts 560 jobs Canada-wide
CBC.
Here's links to Investor Relations that will detail a bit more
about the pertinent details:
3rd Quarter Results News Release 165K
3rd Quarter 2008 Interim Report to Shareholders:
Canwest Global Communications Corp. 1,710K
Wonder what the Communications, Energy and
Paperworkers Union (CEP) is going to have to say about
all of this?
I have a suggestion for cost cutting measures for
CanWest:
STOP SUING PEOPLE & the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT!
Do you really not see the painful irony in filing civil lawsuits against
free speech activists while launching the multi-million dollar
David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights
That $7.5 million donated might have been used in other ways.
It's all rather confusing and one might wonder if the donated funds
are going to file, or fight, constitutional challenges?
This is a step in the right direction, CanWest needs to do
more of this:
Canwest retreats - drops suit against Mordecai
Briemberg
The campaign will continue until Canwest also abandons
legal action against Gordon Murray and Carel Moiseiwitsch,
who produced the parody in June 2007 that satirized Canwest’s
well-known anti-Palestinian and pro-Israel bias. Canwest’s
founder, Izzy Asper, described the media conglomerate in
2003 as “the strongest supporter of Israel in Canada.”
CanWest sues over Vancouver Sun parody
The Information Policy Blog
CanWest huffs and puffs while free speech burns
Straight.com
CanWest Global Attacks Drug Ad Laws
Posted in February 1st, 2008 by Rob Wipond
Big Pharma isn’t the one fighting to legalize pushing
amphetamines during Degrassi reruns; it’s CanWest Global
(owners of the Victoria Times-Colonist, Global TV, CH TV,
Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, Dose, Metro etc).
CanWest has launched a lawsuit under the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, trying to tear down
Canada’s limits on pharmaceutical advertising.
Currently, prescription drugs can be advertised to the
general public in two ways: the ad names a drug without
describing what it treats, or the ad discusses an illness
without mentioning a drug name.
Update October 2008: The case of CanWest
Mediaworks vs Canada is scheduled to resume
hearings in January, 2009.
Go here to view a video for more information.
Media Blackout: CanWest Global Attacks Drug
Ad Laws
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Plot Thickens: Vancouver City Hall prepares for Investigation Season
Well, well, well, the stew is thickening. Lots of new investigations
on the way, I'm sure there will be some interesting things turning
up, but not in time for Saturday's civic election. Voters better
choose wisely at the polls to make sure justice is done in
Vancouver as we head into the Olympics.
Maybe while the police are investigating they might look into
allegations of some other things, such as coercion,
secret commissions and breach of trust related to this
statement from Gary Mason, who broke the story for the Globe
& Mail, which brings up some excellent questions:
"Details of the city's involvement in bailing out the
project's cash-strapped developer have until now been
kept secret. Councillors are under a publication ban
and have been told they face serious repercussions if
they discuss publicly the decisions taken at the in
camera meeting."
So, the Vancouver Police Department should be examining
who instituted a publication ban? When? What repercussions
have been threatened against the parties and Who would
mete them out? Would those repercussions use City funds
to enact them?
And, since Phillip Owen and Larry Campbell are johnny's
on the spot in explaining how all sorts of deals and contracts
are made in camera at Van City Hall. I'm sure they will
make good witnesses to interview.
Also, it should be confirmed, or denied as to whether Tim
Stephenson introduced a motion to bring all of this out in
the open so taxpayers and citizens could learn more about
it before the city provided more money to a private
corporation, which may, or may not, be alleged to have ties
to the NPA. That seems like an important question for the
VPD to be looking into too.
In Lo down on the city's $100 million loan Allen Garr,
of the Vancouver Courier says that Stephenson did. He writes:
"And, just so you know, before that in camera meeting Vision
Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson moved a motion at council
to have all matters to do with the Millennium deal made public.
The NPA majority first delayed him then ruled him out of order.
More to the point, this whole arrangement with Millennium
was an NPA deal from the beginning. Ladner and his crew will
have to wear that. ..."
It's also a great thing that Vancouver City Hall has "whistleblower"
policies too. I have a feeling those are going to come in handy
soon.
Whistleblowers Get Some Protection at Vancouver City
Hall
Administrative Report: Whistleblowing Policy.
Standing Committee on Planning & Environment.
Vancouver City Council, May 15th, 2008.
From the Pivot NewsWire
City lacked legal authority for $100m secret meeting
For immediate release – November 12, 2008
Vancouver – Pivot Legal Society has filed a complaint with the
Provincial Ombudsman alleging that the City of Vancouver did
not have legal authority to withhold information from the public
about a $100m Olympic village loan guarantee.
“This complaint targets all three major municipal parties
represented on council right now,” said Laura Track, housing
campaigner with Pivot. “To our knowledge, not one councillor
stepped up and voted against holding the meeting in secret or
insisted on public debate.”
City of Vancouver bylaws allow in camera meetings when
discussion of the “acquisition, disposition, or expropriation”
of land or improvements would harm the interests of the City.
The complaint points out that the $100m loan guarantee raised
none of those issues. The complaint also raises concerns about
statements made by City staff.
Police to investigate disappearance of confidential
Olympic Village documents
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:09 PM ET
CBC News
Five Things That Make Me Wonder What The $100
Million Bailout Is Really For, Exactly (v3.0)...
Gazetteer.
The Banana Republic of Vancouver?
What the hell goes on at City Hall with 100 million
taxpayer dollars?
Read the Comments, seems that Mr. A.G.Tsakumis has
taken exception to your intrepid editor's story and is in the
process of bursting a blood vessel, or having a stroke, or
something.
Vancouver may loan Millennium up to $100-million
Firefighters union endorses Robertson for mayor
Every Vision candidate backed except for one
on the way, I'm sure there will be some interesting things turning
up, but not in time for Saturday's civic election. Voters better
choose wisely at the polls to make sure justice is done in
Vancouver as we head into the Olympics.
Maybe while the police are investigating they might look into
allegations of some other things, such as coercion,
secret commissions and breach of trust related to this
statement from Gary Mason, who broke the story for the Globe
& Mail, which brings up some excellent questions:
"Details of the city's involvement in bailing out the
project's cash-strapped developer have until now been
kept secret. Councillors are under a publication ban
and have been told they face serious repercussions if
they discuss publicly the decisions taken at the in
camera meeting."
So, the Vancouver Police Department should be examining
who instituted a publication ban? When? What repercussions
have been threatened against the parties and Who would
mete them out? Would those repercussions use City funds
to enact them?
And, since Phillip Owen and Larry Campbell are johnny's
on the spot in explaining how all sorts of deals and contracts
are made in camera at Van City Hall. I'm sure they will
make good witnesses to interview.
Also, it should be confirmed, or denied as to whether Tim
Stephenson introduced a motion to bring all of this out in
the open so taxpayers and citizens could learn more about
it before the city provided more money to a private
corporation, which may, or may not, be alleged to have ties
to the NPA. That seems like an important question for the
VPD to be looking into too.
In Lo down on the city's $100 million loan Allen Garr,
of the Vancouver Courier says that Stephenson did. He writes:
"And, just so you know, before that in camera meeting Vision
Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson moved a motion at council
to have all matters to do with the Millennium deal made public.
The NPA majority first delayed him then ruled him out of order.
More to the point, this whole arrangement with Millennium
was an NPA deal from the beginning. Ladner and his crew will
have to wear that. ..."
It's also a great thing that Vancouver City Hall has "whistleblower"
policies too. I have a feeling those are going to come in handy
soon.
Whistleblowers Get Some Protection at Vancouver City
Hall
Administrative Report: Whistleblowing Policy.
Standing Committee on Planning & Environment.
Vancouver City Council, May 15th, 2008.
From the Pivot NewsWire
City lacked legal authority for $100m secret meeting
For immediate release – November 12, 2008
Vancouver – Pivot Legal Society has filed a complaint with the
Provincial Ombudsman alleging that the City of Vancouver did
not have legal authority to withhold information from the public
about a $100m Olympic village loan guarantee.
“This complaint targets all three major municipal parties
represented on council right now,” said Laura Track, housing
campaigner with Pivot. “To our knowledge, not one councillor
stepped up and voted against holding the meeting in secret or
insisted on public debate.”
City of Vancouver bylaws allow in camera meetings when
discussion of the “acquisition, disposition, or expropriation”
of land or improvements would harm the interests of the City.
The complaint points out that the $100m loan guarantee raised
none of those issues. The complaint also raises concerns about
statements made by City staff.
Police to investigate disappearance of confidential
Olympic Village documents
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:09 PM ET
CBC News
Five Things That Make Me Wonder What The $100
Million Bailout Is Really For, Exactly (v3.0)...
Gazetteer.
The Banana Republic of Vancouver?
What the hell goes on at City Hall with 100 million
taxpayer dollars?
Read the Comments, seems that Mr. A.G.Tsakumis has
taken exception to your intrepid editor's story and is in the
process of bursting a blood vessel, or having a stroke, or
something.
Vancouver may loan Millennium up to $100-million
Firefighters union endorses Robertson for mayor
Every Vision candidate backed except for one
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
They Can't be Serious: Jamie Graham for Victoria Police Chief?
It broke yesterday that Jamie Graham, former police chief
of the Vancouver Police Department is being considered for
the top cop job in Victoria. I've got two things to say to that
one: They can't be serious? And Hell No!
Victoria's Police Department has been a tangled, sordid mess
for some time now. Rank and file members have been very
unhappy and morale has been low for quite a while. Why you
might ask? Well, like many organizations, politics and bureaucracy
are at the heart of the problems.
Paul Battershill was brought in from Vancouver as police chief in 1999.
I suspect that's where his problems began. Internal politics went into
play, with whomever was eying his chair quite likely nursing a grudge
and waiting for an opportunity to get rid of him.
Reports were that as top cop, he brought a progressive and more
human side to that job. He was known to make his presence on the
street felt, talking with the homeless and taking a more liberal
approach, which may have raised the ire of the powers that be in the
local business community, who favoured a more punitive approach
to criminalizing poverty.
Keith Baldrey called it a "palace coup" and it seems pretty accurate
to describe the unfolding of Battershill's demise as Victoria's top cop.
Shadowy reports of "senior officers" and chummy local businessman &
real estate developer, Gerald Hartwig, bringing forward "allegations of
wrongdoing" that set the stage for one of the most sordid little power plays
openly seen in BC's policing. The fact that Hartwig was the Liberal Party
Election Readiness chairman brings another interesting twist to this dirty
little bit of business. Seems as though Mr. Hartwig has a great deal of
influence in Victoria, what with his high profile real estate deals, his
position on the Liberal Riding Association and on the Victoria Chamber
of Commerce, another breeding ground of BC Liberals friends and insiders.
At the end of the day, after a complete investigation, it was alleged
Battershill was not guilty of any criminal offence, and he engaged in
no financial improprieties. However his reputation was in the gutter with
the allegation he had a personal relationship with Marli Rusen,
the Heenan Blaikie LLP labour lawyer, who the Victoria PD hired to offer
advice and draft contracts to provide severance pay for former staff.
Ms. Rusen has filed a lawsuit against her former employers, who initiated
a Law Society complaint against her. One might wonder what Ms. Rusen
got a window into in her time with the Liberal law firm of choice.
Police complaints commissioner Dirk Ryneveld, in his review of the matter,
concluded that "private persons of considerable influence," allies of
said unnamed shadowy "senior officers," were also behind the allegations
and downfall of Battershill.
Battershill was tarnished as having lost the confidence of the police
board. Whether any of this was warranted, or not, it wasn't an option for
him to return to a police force beset by rumours and dissension in the ranks.
It would have been virtually impossible for him to return and lead the force
at that point and he was forced to resign. A succcessful and bloody coup for
those who wanted him gone.
PCC's Reasons for Decision Whether to Hold a Public Hearing
re The Battershill Investigation (Sept. 2008).
Here are some of the reasons Graham makes a poor choice for
this job:
Under his leadership, there was a great deal of poor leadership
regarding hiring of new police officers.
I happened to know two individuals who applied to the VPD, while
it was under Graham's watch. Being somewhat biased, but also
not stupid, I can say categorically, Vancouver would have been
lucky to get two fine individuals such as these. Both educated, bright,
very experienced in fields that relate to policing, people who if you
had to have a cop show up at your house, you would want these kind
of folks. And guess what, while local headlines were screaming for new
cops, both of these people were turned down for reasons that were not
abundantly clear. One was hired into another force and quickly moved
up the ranks, in recognition of his value and work. The other moved
into other areas of work. That was Vancouver's loss.
Graham's "leadership" again, saw him shamefully deny the
kinds of abuses some of his officers were undertaking on the
job as it concerned 50 affidavits introduced by Pivot Legal
Society.
Additionally, Graham's continuing lack of leadership and
accountability for his members cooperation of internal
complaints of misconduct against citizens was duly noted
by the Police Complaints Commissioner.
He went so far as to suggest that a retired judge, or justice should
be brought in to conduct an Audit of the handling of public complaints
against officers. That speaks to a core issue of a lack of leadership
and integrity in ensuring that the police force was aware of it's
obligations to the human rights and dignity of the public its members'
are sworn to uphold.
After a thorough RCMP investigation into the complaints in 2004,
the RCMP advised in its' completed report that in their learned
and informed opinion, some of the complaints were substantiated.
What was Graham's response? He continued to assert that none of
the complaints were substantied. He continued to ignore Pivot's
and the citizen's complaints. He denied that the RCMP's report had
any merit and he continued to shield his officers from accountability.
Graham's lack of personal judgment in such serious matters speaks
deeply to problems of morality and ethical integrity as a leader and
as one who is sworn to uphold the public good and that cannot be
overlooked.
The fact that Graham booked it out of Vancouver, as Chief Constable,
prior to the completion of an investigation into his conduct, also speaks
to his commitment to accountability. With retired status, there is no
recourse to his actions while on the job. Jim Chu, the new Police Chief,
immediately distinguished himself as a very different kind of leader,
by issuing a statement of apology about the circumstances surrounding
the complaints brought forward by Pivot and committing the force to
providing "quality police service," encouraging citizens to come forward
with "issues" so that the force could continue to improve it's service.
Graham's statements refuting the findings of the investigation, that he
was found guilty of disreputable conduct for his actions as chief related
to the Pivot and public complaints is also a red flag. Had he made a
statement admitting that he respected the decision and has given the
entire process some thought and wished he had handled it differently,
maybe his reputation could have been mended somewhat. Unfortunately,
he presented himself as lacking in judgment, integrity and a failure to
learn and grow from past mistakes and offer a better role model to police
in the province.
There are many police officers with a high degree of integrity and ethics
in the province of BC. There are many who do the right thing every day
on the job. Many of them saw what their brothers and sisters on the lines
were up to and probably wanted to ensure that a stop was put to behaviour
which brought a black mark to everyone on the force. One might wonder
how those types sometimes faired with Jamie Graham as their leader,
setting the bureaucratic and ethical tone of the policing organizations he
was in charge of.
It's also worth taking a read of the Police Commissioner's Decision
into Pivot's complaint about Graham too (June 2007).
PCC's Decision Ordering Investigation into 3rd Party Complaint Against
Vancouver Chief Constable Graham
The final nail in the coffin though is the recent report issued by
Delta, B.C. Police Chief Jim Cessford, who found Graham guilty
of "disreputable conduct" under the Police Act. Cessford stated:
"It is my view that there is clear and convincing evidence
that Chief Graham committed, through his inaction, the
Code of Conduct offence of discreditable conduct."
This is no small issue, a thorough investigation, by another police official,
found former Chief Constable Jamie Graham guilty of breaching the
Code of Professional Conduct in failing to cooperate and ensure cooperation
by officers under his authority in the investigation into complaints of
disreputable conduct, including physical assaults against marginalized
and vulnerable citizens, many of whom have poor physical and mental
health, by some officers of the Vancouver Police Department.
New police chief may be Vancouver's old chief
Global TV reporting that Jamie Graham has either been picked
or is on shortlist
An interesting bit to speculate about concerns the political use and
influence of police boards. I do not know why the fact that mayors
sit as chair of police boards is not considered a conflict of interest.
It very clearly is. It lends very little credibility to the importance
of the role of Chair of a Police Board. One might also wonder about
the influence the ruling parties of the day have concerning political
appointees. One can see some of the problems associated with
Liberal appointees to the Victoria Police Board. There are five
members appointed by the BC Liberals to this board, which outnumbers
the elected officials of the local municipalities. And it's completely
unknown whether any of them have any kind of relevant experience,
or background in policing to such an important board. When examining
their work on the board, there is an appearance that appointees also
seem to simply blindly follow Alan Lowe's lead, Victoria's mayor, in
whatever he says. That's just clearly not the kind of leadership that is
warranted under these kind of circumstances.
As an interesting aside, the blogosphere has long wondered about the
true motivations of those who took Battershill down. The fact that
Gerald Hartwig, clearly a BC Liberal insider, is alleged to have helped
bring Battershill down via well timed, nebulous Freedom of Information
complaints, leading to unfounded allegations by "senior officers" is a fact
that shouldn't go unnoticed by many. Battershill was the top cop in a city of
politicians (many who have much, much to hide) in the midst of the
biggest corruption trial in BC's history - the sale of BC Rail and the
Raid on the Legislature.
There are many who speculate about whether Battershill got too close
to the truth about things and he needed to go down in flames, being
discredited as someone who may be in the running to be called as
a crucial witness if this scandal ever makes it to trial.
At the end of the day, one of the things all of this makes clear is that
there needs to be some massive changes in how leadership is viewed
in the arena of policing. A recent CBC investigation into the high number
of complaints of proven misconduct by police officers around BC
proves that there are some major problems in many forces and this
needs to be addressed. The labour market is being strained in every
sector. In some respects, for specialized types of work, such as policing,
the gene pool is extremely shallow. Police forces need to do their
homework well about who they are hiring.
In 2008, almost 2009, it's not enough for police leaders to simply push
away complaints about potential abuses of the public good, or the rights
of citizens to expect fair, competent and humane policing.
True leaders in the 21st century know that the mark of a good organization
is to build a foundation of ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability
at all levels. To act in the public good in all things and to attract and retain
people who uphold the most valuable of qualities and to either minimize
the harm from those who don't meet the standards, or get rid of them as
the risks and liabilities they are. That, is real leadership.
Fundamentally, the Victoria Police Board better conduct themselves
very wisely in their decision of who will become the next Chief of Police
in Victoria. The province is watching and the force faces some serious
challenges and deserves to have solid, ethical and consistent leadership
to forge the path ahead.
of the Vancouver Police Department is being considered for
the top cop job in Victoria. I've got two things to say to that
one: They can't be serious? And Hell No!
Victoria's Police Department has been a tangled, sordid mess
for some time now. Rank and file members have been very
unhappy and morale has been low for quite a while. Why you
might ask? Well, like many organizations, politics and bureaucracy
are at the heart of the problems.
Paul Battershill was brought in from Vancouver as police chief in 1999.
I suspect that's where his problems began. Internal politics went into
play, with whomever was eying his chair quite likely nursing a grudge
and waiting for an opportunity to get rid of him.
Reports were that as top cop, he brought a progressive and more
human side to that job. He was known to make his presence on the
street felt, talking with the homeless and taking a more liberal
approach, which may have raised the ire of the powers that be in the
local business community, who favoured a more punitive approach
to criminalizing poverty.
Keith Baldrey called it a "palace coup" and it seems pretty accurate
to describe the unfolding of Battershill's demise as Victoria's top cop.
Shadowy reports of "senior officers" and chummy local businessman &
real estate developer, Gerald Hartwig, bringing forward "allegations of
wrongdoing" that set the stage for one of the most sordid little power plays
openly seen in BC's policing. The fact that Hartwig was the Liberal Party
Election Readiness chairman brings another interesting twist to this dirty
little bit of business. Seems as though Mr. Hartwig has a great deal of
influence in Victoria, what with his high profile real estate deals, his
position on the Liberal Riding Association and on the Victoria Chamber
of Commerce, another breeding ground of BC Liberals friends and insiders.
At the end of the day, after a complete investigation, it was alleged
Battershill was not guilty of any criminal offence, and he engaged in
no financial improprieties. However his reputation was in the gutter with
the allegation he had a personal relationship with Marli Rusen,
the Heenan Blaikie LLP labour lawyer, who the Victoria PD hired to offer
advice and draft contracts to provide severance pay for former staff.
Ms. Rusen has filed a lawsuit against her former employers, who initiated
a Law Society complaint against her. One might wonder what Ms. Rusen
got a window into in her time with the Liberal law firm of choice.
Police complaints commissioner Dirk Ryneveld, in his review of the matter,
concluded that "private persons of considerable influence," allies of
said unnamed shadowy "senior officers," were also behind the allegations
and downfall of Battershill.
Battershill was tarnished as having lost the confidence of the police
board. Whether any of this was warranted, or not, it wasn't an option for
him to return to a police force beset by rumours and dissension in the ranks.
It would have been virtually impossible for him to return and lead the force
at that point and he was forced to resign. A succcessful and bloody coup for
those who wanted him gone.
PCC's Reasons for Decision Whether to Hold a Public Hearing
re The Battershill Investigation (Sept. 2008).
Here are some of the reasons Graham makes a poor choice for
this job:
Under his leadership, there was a great deal of poor leadership
regarding hiring of new police officers.
I happened to know two individuals who applied to the VPD, while
it was under Graham's watch. Being somewhat biased, but also
not stupid, I can say categorically, Vancouver would have been
lucky to get two fine individuals such as these. Both educated, bright,
very experienced in fields that relate to policing, people who if you
had to have a cop show up at your house, you would want these kind
of folks. And guess what, while local headlines were screaming for new
cops, both of these people were turned down for reasons that were not
abundantly clear. One was hired into another force and quickly moved
up the ranks, in recognition of his value and work. The other moved
into other areas of work. That was Vancouver's loss.
Graham's "leadership" again, saw him shamefully deny the
kinds of abuses some of his officers were undertaking on the
job as it concerned 50 affidavits introduced by Pivot Legal
Society.
Additionally, Graham's continuing lack of leadership and
accountability for his members cooperation of internal
complaints of misconduct against citizens was duly noted
by the Police Complaints Commissioner.
He went so far as to suggest that a retired judge, or justice should
be brought in to conduct an Audit of the handling of public complaints
against officers. That speaks to a core issue of a lack of leadership
and integrity in ensuring that the police force was aware of it's
obligations to the human rights and dignity of the public its members'
are sworn to uphold.
After a thorough RCMP investigation into the complaints in 2004,
the RCMP advised in its' completed report that in their learned
and informed opinion, some of the complaints were substantiated.
What was Graham's response? He continued to assert that none of
the complaints were substantied. He continued to ignore Pivot's
and the citizen's complaints. He denied that the RCMP's report had
any merit and he continued to shield his officers from accountability.
Graham's lack of personal judgment in such serious matters speaks
deeply to problems of morality and ethical integrity as a leader and
as one who is sworn to uphold the public good and that cannot be
overlooked.
The fact that Graham booked it out of Vancouver, as Chief Constable,
prior to the completion of an investigation into his conduct, also speaks
to his commitment to accountability. With retired status, there is no
recourse to his actions while on the job. Jim Chu, the new Police Chief,
immediately distinguished himself as a very different kind of leader,
by issuing a statement of apology about the circumstances surrounding
the complaints brought forward by Pivot and committing the force to
providing "quality police service," encouraging citizens to come forward
with "issues" so that the force could continue to improve it's service.
Graham's statements refuting the findings of the investigation, that he
was found guilty of disreputable conduct for his actions as chief related
to the Pivot and public complaints is also a red flag. Had he made a
statement admitting that he respected the decision and has given the
entire process some thought and wished he had handled it differently,
maybe his reputation could have been mended somewhat. Unfortunately,
he presented himself as lacking in judgment, integrity and a failure to
learn and grow from past mistakes and offer a better role model to police
in the province.
There are many police officers with a high degree of integrity and ethics
in the province of BC. There are many who do the right thing every day
on the job. Many of them saw what their brothers and sisters on the lines
were up to and probably wanted to ensure that a stop was put to behaviour
which brought a black mark to everyone on the force. One might wonder
how those types sometimes faired with Jamie Graham as their leader,
setting the bureaucratic and ethical tone of the policing organizations he
was in charge of.
It's also worth taking a read of the Police Commissioner's Decision
into Pivot's complaint about Graham too (June 2007).
PCC's Decision Ordering Investigation into 3rd Party Complaint Against
Vancouver Chief Constable Graham
The final nail in the coffin though is the recent report issued by
Delta, B.C. Police Chief Jim Cessford, who found Graham guilty
of "disreputable conduct" under the Police Act. Cessford stated:
"It is my view that there is clear and convincing evidence
that Chief Graham committed, through his inaction, the
Code of Conduct offence of discreditable conduct."
This is no small issue, a thorough investigation, by another police official,
found former Chief Constable Jamie Graham guilty of breaching the
Code of Professional Conduct in failing to cooperate and ensure cooperation
by officers under his authority in the investigation into complaints of
disreputable conduct, including physical assaults against marginalized
and vulnerable citizens, many of whom have poor physical and mental
health, by some officers of the Vancouver Police Department.
New police chief may be Vancouver's old chief
Global TV reporting that Jamie Graham has either been picked
or is on shortlist
An interesting bit to speculate about concerns the political use and
influence of police boards. I do not know why the fact that mayors
sit as chair of police boards is not considered a conflict of interest.
It very clearly is. It lends very little credibility to the importance
of the role of Chair of a Police Board. One might also wonder about
the influence the ruling parties of the day have concerning political
appointees. One can see some of the problems associated with
Liberal appointees to the Victoria Police Board. There are five
members appointed by the BC Liberals to this board, which outnumbers
the elected officials of the local municipalities. And it's completely
unknown whether any of them have any kind of relevant experience,
or background in policing to such an important board. When examining
their work on the board, there is an appearance that appointees also
seem to simply blindly follow Alan Lowe's lead, Victoria's mayor, in
whatever he says. That's just clearly not the kind of leadership that is
warranted under these kind of circumstances.
As an interesting aside, the blogosphere has long wondered about the
true motivations of those who took Battershill down. The fact that
Gerald Hartwig, clearly a BC Liberal insider, is alleged to have helped
bring Battershill down via well timed, nebulous Freedom of Information
complaints, leading to unfounded allegations by "senior officers" is a fact
that shouldn't go unnoticed by many. Battershill was the top cop in a city of
politicians (many who have much, much to hide) in the midst of the
biggest corruption trial in BC's history - the sale of BC Rail and the
Raid on the Legislature.
There are many who speculate about whether Battershill got too close
to the truth about things and he needed to go down in flames, being
discredited as someone who may be in the running to be called as
a crucial witness if this scandal ever makes it to trial.
At the end of the day, one of the things all of this makes clear is that
there needs to be some massive changes in how leadership is viewed
in the arena of policing. A recent CBC investigation into the high number
of complaints of proven misconduct by police officers around BC
proves that there are some major problems in many forces and this
needs to be addressed. The labour market is being strained in every
sector. In some respects, for specialized types of work, such as policing,
the gene pool is extremely shallow. Police forces need to do their
homework well about who they are hiring.
In 2008, almost 2009, it's not enough for police leaders to simply push
away complaints about potential abuses of the public good, or the rights
of citizens to expect fair, competent and humane policing.
True leaders in the 21st century know that the mark of a good organization
is to build a foundation of ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability
at all levels. To act in the public good in all things and to attract and retain
people who uphold the most valuable of qualities and to either minimize
the harm from those who don't meet the standards, or get rid of them as
the risks and liabilities they are. That, is real leadership.
Fundamentally, the Victoria Police Board better conduct themselves
very wisely in their decision of who will become the next Chief of Police
in Victoria. The province is watching and the force faces some serious
challenges and deserves to have solid, ethical and consistent leadership
to forge the path ahead.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Events: Housing - People's Stop Work & Evictions
Dear friends,
While the City of Vancouver is putting $100 million dollars
into the hands of private developers for the Olympic village,
the City has at the same time given permission to shut down
some of the precious social housing and affordable rental
housing units in the City.
Many of the units in the Little Mountain Housing Complex (LMHC)
have been boarded up, to intimidate the remaining tenants into
moving out. While thousands in Vancouver are homeless, more
than 200 homes now sit empty at Little Mountain.
224 homes will be destroyed years before the reconstruction begins.
A new development is about to begin on the site of 4545 Prince Albert
and 4550 Fraser Street; tenants of 126 low-end market rental units are
about to lose their homes.
The city of Vancouver's Rate-of-Change bylaw, which requires
one-to-one replacement of any rental housing converted or demolished,
does not require owners to rent to their former tenants, and cannot prevent
the new rent from being beyond the means of the former tenants.
Furthermore, the by-law excludes rental apartments in commercially-zoned
areas such as the 4500 block of Fraser Street, where 78 of the 126 units
to be redeveloped are slated for demolition.
What does this all mean? It means our friends and neighbours living in
these 350 units of housing are either being forced out of their familiar homes,
or in danger of becoming homeless.
On Wednesday Nov. 12, from 10-11am, please join us at Main Street
and 36th Avenue, to issue a people's "stop work order". We need to
protest the scandalous situation at LMHC and support the remaining
tenants.
On Thursday Nov. 13, from 10-11am, please join us at Fraser Street
and 29th Avenue, to support the Fraser Street tenants in the protest titled
"Getting Ready to Be Homeless".
David Chudnovsky - MLA, Vancouver Kensington
While the City of Vancouver is putting $100 million dollars
into the hands of private developers for the Olympic village,
the City has at the same time given permission to shut down
some of the precious social housing and affordable rental
housing units in the City.
Many of the units in the Little Mountain Housing Complex (LMHC)
have been boarded up, to intimidate the remaining tenants into
moving out. While thousands in Vancouver are homeless, more
than 200 homes now sit empty at Little Mountain.
224 homes will be destroyed years before the reconstruction begins.
A new development is about to begin on the site of 4545 Prince Albert
and 4550 Fraser Street; tenants of 126 low-end market rental units are
about to lose their homes.
The city of Vancouver's Rate-of-Change bylaw, which requires
one-to-one replacement of any rental housing converted or demolished,
does not require owners to rent to their former tenants, and cannot prevent
the new rent from being beyond the means of the former tenants.
Furthermore, the by-law excludes rental apartments in commercially-zoned
areas such as the 4500 block of Fraser Street, where 78 of the 126 units
to be redeveloped are slated for demolition.
What does this all mean? It means our friends and neighbours living in
these 350 units of housing are either being forced out of their familiar homes,
or in danger of becoming homeless.
On Wednesday Nov. 12, from 10-11am, please join us at Main Street
and 36th Avenue, to issue a people's "stop work order". We need to
protest the scandalous situation at LMHC and support the remaining
tenants.
On Thursday Nov. 13, from 10-11am, please join us at Fraser Street
and 29th Avenue, to support the Fraser Street tenants in the protest titled
"Getting Ready to Be Homeless".
David Chudnovsky - MLA, Vancouver Kensington
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Something Stinks in Vancouver: Follow the Money Trail for Olympic Venues
Well, well, well, it's not too often we get such a tasty little bit of
scandal dropping on us just days before we go to the ballot box
in a civic election, but that's exactly what has happened in
Vancouver. It's a complicated mess, but one well worth following.
What's It All About
The Olympic Athlete's Village is a P3, Public (Vancouver city)
-Private (Millenium) "Partnership." Research around the world has
established that these neo-Conservative plans virtually always end up
costing taxpayers much more, as the ideology behind them is to transfer
the risk of the project onto the backs of taxpayers vs. the corporations
who receive the bids. Taxpayers have little control, or even awareness,
of how the funds are being spent. When the money trails are followed,
they are often the work of lobbyists and political connections.
First off, credit should go to brilliant Betty Krawczyk. On February 3rd 2008, she wrote a story on her blog, For the Love of the Olympics, in which she detailed key information regarding the building of the Olympic Village. She also highlighted the tangled web of connections and linkages that are seeing Vancouver taxpayers having their money shoveled into the hungry mouths of shadowy transnational corporations.
To nut shell it, here is what we know right now:
- The Millennium Development Corporation received the contract
to build the Olympic Athlete's Village.
- Millenium is a subsidiary of the Armeco Group of Companies. When you hit on Amerco, it goes directly to the same link as Millenium. They are a transnational that reaches into several countries, with offices situated in France.
From The NPA may be in deep over the Olympic Village.
"Millenium is the development arm of the Armeco Group.
The NPA council picked Armeco's Millenium for the massive
(Olympic Village) deal, and Paul Barbeau was the President
of the NPA and the President of Armeco Construction Limited
in the years prior to the award."
- Millenium would kick in $193 million, $30 million as a down payment.
- The city of Vancouver has already advanced close to $30-million to
Millennium's lender, Fortress Investment Group.
- Millennium would also receive over $82 million for building the units.
- Vancouver would do the site fixing at another $153 million.
- There would be 1100 condos, 250 would "belong" to the City after
the games. The price of the condos would be between $500,000 and
$6 million and would be pre-sold. With the real estate market tanking,
it's not going to happen. Period.
- The City of Vancouver already signed on to a $190-million loan guarantee
to Fortress Investment Group, which provided a $683-million loan to Millennium.
- Two directors of Armeco Construction Ltd., Shahram and Sharokh
Malekyazdi, relatives of the founder of the company, partnered with Armeco
Group of Companies.
- The Malekyazdi's allegedly don't hold board meetings, have issued no shares to their company and have reportedly not filed the required annual financial papers (as of early November 2008) with the provincial Ministry of Finance.
- The only current director of Armeco Construction Ltd. is Paul Barbeau,
who was a recent head of the Vancouver civic NPA party.
From Barbeau's LinkedIn page:
President - Vancouver Civic Non-Partisan Association 2004 to 2006
Another curiosity, did Mr. Barbeau's law firm receive any corporate and commercial legal contracts from the city of Vancouver and the province,
involving Fortress, Millenium and Intrawest? What linkages does the Barbeau
firm have to Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals?
See also, Lawyer denies he's in conflict over Olympic contract
February 14, 2007
Conflict of interest alleged in 2010 bid
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said he was "not aware that
Paul Barbeau is a director of a company that may be related
to Millennium Properties."
"Council's unanimous decision to select Millennium was based
entirely on the merits of the proposal," he said in a statement.
Millennium was incorporated on June 14 last year, two months
after city staff recommended its bid be chosen to build 1,000
condos for the Olympic Village. The bidding process was
undertaken by an independent committee and lasted eight months.
Barbeau was listed on B.C.'s corporate registry as a director of
Armeco in a Nov. 19, 2005, report."
So, what the NPA would have us believe is:
1. They didn't know their own president had a corporate contract
and was a director of Armeco, which was bidding on this multi-
million dollar contract.
2. That an unincorporated company, with no established record
of financial and project management of this scope, was the most
credible and appropriate bid selection for Vancouver taxpayers
funds.
3. That there was no conflict of interest for Barbeau and his
positioning in this whole mess.
4. That Vancouver taxpayers and citizens do not have a right to
know how the NPA awarded these contracts.
- The two lenders involved in this project are Fortress Credit Corporation,
& the taxpayers of Vancouver.
When looking into Fortress CC a bit more, it's interesting there is no
information available identifying the Board of Directors, or any executives.
Seems pretty shadowy to this curious george. Is there something to hide?
This is what one overview reports, sounds like Disaster Capitalists to me:
Company Overview
Fortress Credit Corporation engages in originating, structuring, and providing
financing solutions to corporate, real estate, and asset-based borrowers.
The company focuses on lending opportunities arising from the cyclicality
of the credit markets, industry specific trauma, out-of-favor classes, and
industries and asset dispositions. It offers bridge loans to borrowers, flexible
acquisition facilities for acquirers of opportunistic assets, and mezzanine or
last-out secured loans to companies.
Gary Mason of the Globe & Mail broke the story about the October 14th
secret and private meeting in which Vancouver city councilors voted
unanimously to provide an additional $100 million loan to the doomed
Millenium group building the Olympic Village.
An interesting note, the project is reported to be over by $60 million,
but the generous Vancouver city council is going into debt to offer Millenium
up to $100 million AND is going to spend up to $450,000 on a management
to bring in a third party to oversee management of the project. A project
the NPA dominated board pushed through giving an unincorporated and
untested company command of millions of taxpayer dollars with no track
record, but solid NPA connections.
His story goes on to say:
"Details of the city's involvement in bailing out the project's
cash-strapped developer have until now been kept secret.
Councillors are under a publication ban and have been told
they face serious repercussions if they discuss publicly the
decisions taken at the in camera meeting."
The questions being, who the hell put a publication ban on this information,
that is clearly in the public interest? Who told councillors there would be
"serious repercussions" for informing the public and taxpayers and just
what "repercussions" are we talking about? That sounds like some pretty
heavy alleged Criminal Code violations, namely intimidation, coercion and
secret commissions to this non-lawyer.
From a CBC story: Vancouver council stands by decision to bail
out Olympic Village
At a news conference before the zoning meeting on Friday evening,
Ladner said he would not release any details of the $100-million loan
when negotiations have not finished and would do whatever necessary
to ensure the completion of the Olympic Village.
"If necessary, I am prepared to lose this election to save this project
and protect the city's taxpayers." [Peter Ladner's statement]
************************
I am sincerely glad Ladner is willing to die by his own sword.
Because that is exactly what is going to happen. This is the
nail in the NPA's coffin. Ladner's continuing assertion that
taxpayers do not have a right to know about any of this is a
clear signal he is no different than Sullivan, that he will err on
the side of protecting the NPA from accountability and that
he does not have the moral integrity, nor judgement to run
Vancouver.
It is so repugnant and vile of Ladner to blame Vision, COPE and
taxpayers for wanting to know the full details of these crooked dealings
and suggesting that this transparency is jeopardizing negotiations with
these inept and possibly fraudulent clowns it suggests not only is the
NPA over. Ladner's political career is over because of the
position he has taken on this issue. I know morality isn't a
popular thing to bring up in politics, but there has been a
profound breach of the public trust in this situation and if
Ladner doesn't see it, and isn't willing to address what his
party has possibly done and how taxpayers and citizens have
been harmed and used, then he is unfit to sit in Vancouver
city hall in any capacity ever again.
I think it's important to look at the Vision councillor's roles in this too.
These aren't stupid people, well, not usually. However, they chose,
in camera, to vote unanimously with the NPA on shovelling increasing
amounts of taxpayers funds into the coffers of a shaky, creaky seive.
Several of them have known about different pieces of this for some time.
I think they better give their conduct some serious consideration. Their
political careers are hanging on their involvement in this too.
In addition, the question of the day is were the councillors aware
that Estelle Lo, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Vancouver City
thought this project was too high-risk for taxpayers? There are
all sorts of rumours flying around about whether she tendered her
resignation, whether she was fired, or whether she's still an
employee of the City. Inquiring minds want to know, but I suppose
she's keeping quiet, since whistleblowing is rarely a wise career move.
Let's look at it all logically:
Fortress Investment Group bought Intrawest, which runs Whistler-
Blackcomb in 2005 for $2.8 million. I'm not even going to get into
some of the questions surrounding how Intrawest was initially financed,
but if you want to read some more speculation read this story and the comments
on the Hook.
Intrawest was unable to meet it's debt re-payment, likely do to it's losses
in the money it gambled away in the markets. So it bellied up to the trough
again and had to re-negotiate.
Their subsidiary, Fortress Credit Corporation, has a $750 million mortgage
on the Olympic Village in Vancouver. That project is now more than
$60 million over-budget, as managed by Millenium.
What we also know about Millenium is that the funding for other projects is
in jeopardy. The Port of Nanaimo project and another project have been put
on hold. In the game of dominos, once one tile goes down, nothing stops the
rest. There is nothing to suggest that giving Millenium more money is
going to fix this and like Ms. Lo quite likely told the NPA dominated council,
this is too high-risk for taxpayers.
With all of this information being linked together, I think there is enough
for a formal complaint to the Commercial Crimes division of the RCMP, since
this is a multi-jurisdictional issue, involving several corporations and
municipalities. Make no mistake, following the money trail is going to take
us to VanOC and the BC Liberal party. This has their stench all over it.
Many of us know, it may have been the NDP who put the plan together
to bring the Olympics to BC, but it was the BC Liberals and their insiders
who are cashing in and bankrupting our entire province for generations
to come. It's time to start unravelling the tangled ball of yarn that will
show how it was all done.
The way I see it, savvy players in the game have an opportunity to expose
one of the biggest scandals in the Vancouver's and BC's history. People have
to decide where they want to be sitting when the dung hits the fan. And they
better make that decision fast, with intelligence and conviction. Careers,
reputations and ambitions hang in the balance. That is a personal promise.
An interesting new development. The Office of the Information &
Privacy Commissioner has now removed the ability of the public to
look up the names of lobbyists. The question must be asked, whose interests
is this supposedly Independent office now serving? What we know is that
these kinds of projects aren't awarded without well connected lobbyists,
in BC, that's usually those who are connected to Gordon Campbell and co.
Vancouver doesn't even have a lobby registry and the Vancouver Charter
would have to be changed by the province to get one. I think it's worth
some Freedom of Information requests to examine Sam Sullivan's
day timers for some select years, say 2004 to 2007 to see just who he was
meeting with and connecting the dots on the outcomes of project bids.
Have a look on the public report page here.
As Betty sagely put it:
OH, FOR THE LOVE OF THE OLYMPICS! Love? Oh, no.
It’s actually money. For everybody but us Vancouverites who
have to shell out for this huge province wide construction party
masquerading as a civic celebration (oh, all right, everybody in
the province pays).
The Big Boys weren't counting on the global economy tanking so fast
and they've all lost a LOT of other people's money and they're back at the
trough for more. We've seen that everywhere.
We have to seriously connect the dots to the largest transfer of tax payer
funds and wealth to private and unnaccountable transnational corporations
in the history of our world. To read more about that see this article.
This is happening right under our noses and Ladner and his ilk are sitting
there justifying this as though we, the taxpayers, are in the wrong for
wanting to know where the hell our money is going. For that reason alone,
on November 15 2008, the NPA must be voted out.
When the new city council is in, the first order of business must be an
unanimous motion to conduct an Independent Inquiry and
Forensic Audit into the awarding of contruction and legal
contracts and the transfer of Vancouver tax payer's money into
the coffers of transnational corporations for the Olympics.
Nothing less will do to restore some integrity and accountability at Vancouver
City Hall.
I hope Vision & COPE heed this message well - your integrity,
opportunity and capacity to run and manage Vancouver will be
made, or broken on this. Choose well.
scandal dropping on us just days before we go to the ballot box
in a civic election, but that's exactly what has happened in
Vancouver. It's a complicated mess, but one well worth following.
What's It All About
The Olympic Athlete's Village is a P3, Public (Vancouver city)
-Private (Millenium) "Partnership." Research around the world has
established that these neo-Conservative plans virtually always end up
costing taxpayers much more, as the ideology behind them is to transfer
the risk of the project onto the backs of taxpayers vs. the corporations
who receive the bids. Taxpayers have little control, or even awareness,
of how the funds are being spent. When the money trails are followed,
they are often the work of lobbyists and political connections.
First off, credit should go to brilliant Betty Krawczyk. On February 3rd 2008, she wrote a story on her blog, For the Love of the Olympics, in which she detailed key information regarding the building of the Olympic Village. She also highlighted the tangled web of connections and linkages that are seeing Vancouver taxpayers having their money shoveled into the hungry mouths of shadowy transnational corporations.
To nut shell it, here is what we know right now:
- The Millennium Development Corporation received the contract
to build the Olympic Athlete's Village.
- Millenium is a subsidiary of the Armeco Group of Companies. When you hit on Amerco, it goes directly to the same link as Millenium. They are a transnational that reaches into several countries, with offices situated in France.
From The NPA may be in deep over the Olympic Village.
"Millenium is the development arm of the Armeco Group.
The NPA council picked Armeco's Millenium for the massive
(Olympic Village) deal, and Paul Barbeau was the President
of the NPA and the President of Armeco Construction Limited
in the years prior to the award."
- Millenium would kick in $193 million, $30 million as a down payment.
- The city of Vancouver has already advanced close to $30-million to
Millennium's lender, Fortress Investment Group.
- Millennium would also receive over $82 million for building the units.
- Vancouver would do the site fixing at another $153 million.
- There would be 1100 condos, 250 would "belong" to the City after
the games. The price of the condos would be between $500,000 and
$6 million and would be pre-sold. With the real estate market tanking,
it's not going to happen. Period.
- The City of Vancouver already signed on to a $190-million loan guarantee
to Fortress Investment Group, which provided a $683-million loan to Millennium.
- Two directors of Armeco Construction Ltd., Shahram and Sharokh
Malekyazdi, relatives of the founder of the company, partnered with Armeco
Group of Companies.
- The Malekyazdi's allegedly don't hold board meetings, have issued no shares to their company and have reportedly not filed the required annual financial papers (as of early November 2008) with the provincial Ministry of Finance.
- The only current director of Armeco Construction Ltd. is Paul Barbeau,
who was a recent head of the Vancouver civic NPA party.
From Barbeau's LinkedIn page:
President - Vancouver Civic Non-Partisan Association 2004 to 2006
Another curiosity, did Mr. Barbeau's law firm receive any corporate and commercial legal contracts from the city of Vancouver and the province,
involving Fortress, Millenium and Intrawest? What linkages does the Barbeau
firm have to Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals?
See also, Lawyer denies he's in conflict over Olympic contract
February 14, 2007
Conflict of interest alleged in 2010 bid
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said he was "not aware that
Paul Barbeau is a director of a company that may be related
to Millennium Properties."
"Council's unanimous decision to select Millennium was based
entirely on the merits of the proposal," he said in a statement.
Millennium was incorporated on June 14 last year, two months
after city staff recommended its bid be chosen to build 1,000
condos for the Olympic Village. The bidding process was
undertaken by an independent committee and lasted eight months.
Barbeau was listed on B.C.'s corporate registry as a director of
Armeco in a Nov. 19, 2005, report."
So, what the NPA would have us believe is:
1. They didn't know their own president had a corporate contract
and was a director of Armeco, which was bidding on this multi-
million dollar contract.
2. That an unincorporated company, with no established record
of financial and project management of this scope, was the most
credible and appropriate bid selection for Vancouver taxpayers
funds.
3. That there was no conflict of interest for Barbeau and his
positioning in this whole mess.
4. That Vancouver taxpayers and citizens do not have a right to
know how the NPA awarded these contracts.
- The two lenders involved in this project are Fortress Credit Corporation,
& the taxpayers of Vancouver.
When looking into Fortress CC a bit more, it's interesting there is no
information available identifying the Board of Directors, or any executives.
Seems pretty shadowy to this curious george. Is there something to hide?
This is what one overview reports, sounds like Disaster Capitalists to me:
Company Overview
Fortress Credit Corporation engages in originating, structuring, and providing
financing solutions to corporate, real estate, and asset-based borrowers.
The company focuses on lending opportunities arising from the cyclicality
of the credit markets, industry specific trauma, out-of-favor classes, and
industries and asset dispositions. It offers bridge loans to borrowers, flexible
acquisition facilities for acquirers of opportunistic assets, and mezzanine or
last-out secured loans to companies.
Gary Mason of the Globe & Mail broke the story about the October 14th
secret and private meeting in which Vancouver city councilors voted
unanimously to provide an additional $100 million loan to the doomed
Millenium group building the Olympic Village.
An interesting note, the project is reported to be over by $60 million,
but the generous Vancouver city council is going into debt to offer Millenium
up to $100 million AND is going to spend up to $450,000 on a management
to bring in a third party to oversee management of the project. A project
the NPA dominated board pushed through giving an unincorporated and
untested company command of millions of taxpayer dollars with no track
record, but solid NPA connections.
His story goes on to say:
"Details of the city's involvement in bailing out the project's
cash-strapped developer have until now been kept secret.
Councillors are under a publication ban and have been told
they face serious repercussions if they discuss publicly the
decisions taken at the in camera meeting."
The questions being, who the hell put a publication ban on this information,
that is clearly in the public interest? Who told councillors there would be
"serious repercussions" for informing the public and taxpayers and just
what "repercussions" are we talking about? That sounds like some pretty
heavy alleged Criminal Code violations, namely intimidation, coercion and
secret commissions to this non-lawyer.
From a CBC story: Vancouver council stands by decision to bail
out Olympic Village
At a news conference before the zoning meeting on Friday evening,
Ladner said he would not release any details of the $100-million loan
when negotiations have not finished and would do whatever necessary
to ensure the completion of the Olympic Village.
"If necessary, I am prepared to lose this election to save this project
and protect the city's taxpayers." [Peter Ladner's statement]
************************
I am sincerely glad Ladner is willing to die by his own sword.
Because that is exactly what is going to happen. This is the
nail in the NPA's coffin. Ladner's continuing assertion that
taxpayers do not have a right to know about any of this is a
clear signal he is no different than Sullivan, that he will err on
the side of protecting the NPA from accountability and that
he does not have the moral integrity, nor judgement to run
Vancouver.
It is so repugnant and vile of Ladner to blame Vision, COPE and
taxpayers for wanting to know the full details of these crooked dealings
and suggesting that this transparency is jeopardizing negotiations with
these inept and possibly fraudulent clowns it suggests not only is the
NPA over. Ladner's political career is over because of the
position he has taken on this issue. I know morality isn't a
popular thing to bring up in politics, but there has been a
profound breach of the public trust in this situation and if
Ladner doesn't see it, and isn't willing to address what his
party has possibly done and how taxpayers and citizens have
been harmed and used, then he is unfit to sit in Vancouver
city hall in any capacity ever again.
I think it's important to look at the Vision councillor's roles in this too.
These aren't stupid people, well, not usually. However, they chose,
in camera, to vote unanimously with the NPA on shovelling increasing
amounts of taxpayers funds into the coffers of a shaky, creaky seive.
Several of them have known about different pieces of this for some time.
I think they better give their conduct some serious consideration. Their
political careers are hanging on their involvement in this too.
In addition, the question of the day is were the councillors aware
that Estelle Lo, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Vancouver City
thought this project was too high-risk for taxpayers? There are
all sorts of rumours flying around about whether she tendered her
resignation, whether she was fired, or whether she's still an
employee of the City. Inquiring minds want to know, but I suppose
she's keeping quiet, since whistleblowing is rarely a wise career move.
Let's look at it all logically:
Fortress Investment Group bought Intrawest, which runs Whistler-
Blackcomb in 2005 for $2.8 million. I'm not even going to get into
some of the questions surrounding how Intrawest was initially financed,
but if you want to read some more speculation read this story and the comments
on the Hook.
Intrawest was unable to meet it's debt re-payment, likely do to it's losses
in the money it gambled away in the markets. So it bellied up to the trough
again and had to re-negotiate.
Their subsidiary, Fortress Credit Corporation, has a $750 million mortgage
on the Olympic Village in Vancouver. That project is now more than
$60 million over-budget, as managed by Millenium.
What we also know about Millenium is that the funding for other projects is
in jeopardy. The Port of Nanaimo project and another project have been put
on hold. In the game of dominos, once one tile goes down, nothing stops the
rest. There is nothing to suggest that giving Millenium more money is
going to fix this and like Ms. Lo quite likely told the NPA dominated council,
this is too high-risk for taxpayers.
With all of this information being linked together, I think there is enough
for a formal complaint to the Commercial Crimes division of the RCMP, since
this is a multi-jurisdictional issue, involving several corporations and
municipalities. Make no mistake, following the money trail is going to take
us to VanOC and the BC Liberal party. This has their stench all over it.
Many of us know, it may have been the NDP who put the plan together
to bring the Olympics to BC, but it was the BC Liberals and their insiders
who are cashing in and bankrupting our entire province for generations
to come. It's time to start unravelling the tangled ball of yarn that will
show how it was all done.
The way I see it, savvy players in the game have an opportunity to expose
one of the biggest scandals in the Vancouver's and BC's history. People have
to decide where they want to be sitting when the dung hits the fan. And they
better make that decision fast, with intelligence and conviction. Careers,
reputations and ambitions hang in the balance. That is a personal promise.
An interesting new development. The Office of the Information &
Privacy Commissioner has now removed the ability of the public to
look up the names of lobbyists. The question must be asked, whose interests
is this supposedly Independent office now serving? What we know is that
these kinds of projects aren't awarded without well connected lobbyists,
in BC, that's usually those who are connected to Gordon Campbell and co.
Vancouver doesn't even have a lobby registry and the Vancouver Charter
would have to be changed by the province to get one. I think it's worth
some Freedom of Information requests to examine Sam Sullivan's
day timers for some select years, say 2004 to 2007 to see just who he was
meeting with and connecting the dots on the outcomes of project bids.
Have a look on the public report page here.
As Betty sagely put it:
OH, FOR THE LOVE OF THE OLYMPICS! Love? Oh, no.
It’s actually money. For everybody but us Vancouverites who
have to shell out for this huge province wide construction party
masquerading as a civic celebration (oh, all right, everybody in
the province pays).
The Big Boys weren't counting on the global economy tanking so fast
and they've all lost a LOT of other people's money and they're back at the
trough for more. We've seen that everywhere.
We have to seriously connect the dots to the largest transfer of tax payer
funds and wealth to private and unnaccountable transnational corporations
in the history of our world. To read more about that see this article.
This is happening right under our noses and Ladner and his ilk are sitting
there justifying this as though we, the taxpayers, are in the wrong for
wanting to know where the hell our money is going. For that reason alone,
on November 15 2008, the NPA must be voted out.
When the new city council is in, the first order of business must be an
unanimous motion to conduct an Independent Inquiry and
Forensic Audit into the awarding of contruction and legal
contracts and the transfer of Vancouver tax payer's money into
the coffers of transnational corporations for the Olympics.
Nothing less will do to restore some integrity and accountability at Vancouver
City Hall.
I hope Vision & COPE heed this message well - your integrity,
opportunity and capacity to run and manage Vancouver will be
made, or broken on this. Choose well.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Local Events & Training
Antigone Magazine Women's Economic Summit
On Friday, November 14, 2008, Antigone Magazine is hosting the 2008 Vancouver Women's Economic Security Summit from 9am-4pm at UBC in the SUB Ballroom.
Antigone is UBC's publication about women, politics, women and politics, and the politics of being a woman. They work with young women to mentor them in leadership roles and to encourage them to engage politically and civically.
More information on the summit can be found at www.antigonemagazine.wordpress.com.
********************************
BEYOND THE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
Forget "tech eggheads" speaking a language that almost no business
leader desires to understand.
You've probably heard that an online Tsunami is coming.
There's talk of Television ratings plummeting.
People are whispering that Print Advertising revenue is drying up.
And at the same time, there's this internet "Social Media" thing,
with websites like Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Linkedin, and so on
which is growing explosively.
More and more people are spending significant amounts of time online.
And they are using the web for things they used to use other mediums for.
What does it all mean? And how can you find out without being bored, or
embarrassed to ask questions which may be critically important to your
business?
The Beyond Technology Afternoon Conference brings you an
intimate opportunity for you to listen and ask questions to exciting
business experts who have a proven track record of using the internet
to drive real revenue results - all while networking with a small group
of other business leaders who have similar backgrounds to yourself.
Pan Pacific Hotel at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver
Thursday, November 20th, 20081pm-4pm
The Cost $197 per person
The Speakers
*David Crow
Alistair Croll
Mark Dowds
For more information, please visit http://socialmediadirection.com/Conference/
VEF MOMENTUM
After the success of its unprecedented launch event on September 30th,
VEF Momentum is holding its second event, "Now More than Ever"
on November 19th starting at 6PM.
VEF Momentum is program initiated by the Vancouver Enterprise Forum
to mentor, educate and connect young and aspiring entrepreneurs.
This exclusive event focuses in on how entrepreneurs can not only persevere,
but succeed in starting and growing their businesses in these difficult economic
times.
Barry Jinks, Founder, President & CEO of Colligo Networks believes that
the innovation and creativity of young, up-and-coming entrepreneurs can
reignite a troubled economy. Barry has started and led a number of technology
start-ups including LSI Logic Corporation and Spectrum Signal Processing
which he grew from start-up phase to being listed on the NASDAQ and
achieving $40MM in annual sales.
Barry founded Colligo thereafter and has since been recognized by E&Y
as Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year and currently serves on a
number of Boards. He will share his story of navigating and growing his
business through the Dot-Com bust of 2001, and how the young entrepreneurs
in attendance can refocus their ideas, business plans or established
businesses to achieve success in these economic conditions.
His informative speech and Q&A will be preceeded and followed by ice-breakers,
ample networking time, competitions and other highlights throughout the evening.
Details
The event is being held at Tunnel Multi-Lounge
622 West Pender on November 19th at 6PM.
Ticket price is $6 and includes a complementary drink, refreshments
and complementary access to Tunnel's night event starting later in the
evening.
Register now at http://vefmomentum.eventbrite.com
(payment can be done online or at the door).
If you have any requests or questions, e-mail vefmomentum@gmail.com
or call Kerry Liu at 604-418-8867.
On Friday, November 14, 2008, Antigone Magazine is hosting the 2008 Vancouver Women's Economic Security Summit from 9am-4pm at UBC in the SUB Ballroom.
Antigone is UBC's publication about women, politics, women and politics, and the politics of being a woman. They work with young women to mentor them in leadership roles and to encourage them to engage politically and civically.
More information on the summit can be found at www.antigonemagazine.wordpress.com.
********************************
BEYOND THE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
Forget "tech eggheads" speaking a language that almost no business
leader desires to understand.
You've probably heard that an online Tsunami is coming.
There's talk of Television ratings plummeting.
People are whispering that Print Advertising revenue is drying up.
And at the same time, there's this internet "Social Media" thing,
with websites like Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Linkedin, and so on
which is growing explosively.
More and more people are spending significant amounts of time online.
And they are using the web for things they used to use other mediums for.
What does it all mean? And how can you find out without being bored, or
embarrassed to ask questions which may be critically important to your
business?
The Beyond Technology Afternoon Conference brings you an
intimate opportunity for you to listen and ask questions to exciting
business experts who have a proven track record of using the internet
to drive real revenue results - all while networking with a small group
of other business leaders who have similar backgrounds to yourself.
Pan Pacific Hotel at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver
Thursday, November 20th, 20081pm-4pm
The Cost $197 per person
The Speakers
*David Crow
Alistair Croll
Mark Dowds
For more information, please visit http://socialmediadirection.com/Conference/
VEF MOMENTUM
After the success of its unprecedented launch event on September 30th,
VEF Momentum is holding its second event, "Now More than Ever"
on November 19th starting at 6PM.
VEF Momentum is program initiated by the Vancouver Enterprise Forum
to mentor, educate and connect young and aspiring entrepreneurs.
This exclusive event focuses in on how entrepreneurs can not only persevere,
but succeed in starting and growing their businesses in these difficult economic
times.
Barry Jinks, Founder, President & CEO of Colligo Networks believes that
the innovation and creativity of young, up-and-coming entrepreneurs can
reignite a troubled economy. Barry has started and led a number of technology
start-ups including LSI Logic Corporation and Spectrum Signal Processing
which he grew from start-up phase to being listed on the NASDAQ and
achieving $40MM in annual sales.
Barry founded Colligo thereafter and has since been recognized by E&Y
as Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year and currently serves on a
number of Boards. He will share his story of navigating and growing his
business through the Dot-Com bust of 2001, and how the young entrepreneurs
in attendance can refocus their ideas, business plans or established
businesses to achieve success in these economic conditions.
His informative speech and Q&A will be preceeded and followed by ice-breakers,
ample networking time, competitions and other highlights throughout the evening.
Details
The event is being held at Tunnel Multi-Lounge
622 West Pender on November 19th at 6PM.
Ticket price is $6 and includes a complementary drink, refreshments
and complementary access to Tunnel's night event starting later in the
evening.
Register now at http://vefmomentum.eventbrite.com
(payment can be done online or at the door).
If you have any requests or questions, e-mail vefmomentum@gmail.com
or call Kerry Liu at 604-418-8867.
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