$90,000 paid to Senator Mike Duffy by a minion of Canada’s Prime Minister resulted in a diligent RCMP investigation and commanded national media attention for months.
In British Columbia, a larger taxpayer funded amount — $150,000 plus thousands more for the Premier’s jet assisted photo op — was paid without following standard guidelines for public expenditures. According to BC Finance Ministry’s Office of the Comptroller General:
…objectives for government procurement of goods, services and construction are based on the principles of fair and open public sector procurement: competition, demand aggregation, value for money, transparency and accountability…
In this case, there has been zero transparency and accountability and shamefully little attention paid by the marketing platforms that have replaced British Columbia once proud news media.¹ Citizens had to turn to social media commentators like Merv Adey, Laila Yuile and RossK, The Gazetteer to be informed.
Premier Clark is accused of acting in this matter to provide advantage to her brother’s private business. Yet, the interest shown by BC’s leading political reporters has been zero. In fact less than zero because some have participated only to defend Christy Clark and criticize people who see this payment and its process as illegitimate.
One pro-media person not ignoring this story is Ian Jessop of CFAX1070. This is from his June 6 program:
In noting people discussing this matter, I cannot overlook Reema Faris’ thoughtful contributions, available in her: Anatomy of an article: My take on Vaughn Palmer’s latest
¹ Shannon Rupp’s description in her fine Tyee article: Postmedia Baron Godfrey’s Gobsmacking Audacity
Categories: Journalism
IN-SIGHTS 
well this is B.C. and is would appear they have their own code of conduct, rules and regulation, criminal/civil law, etc. Part of the problem is there aren’t a lot of actual laws on the books so its easy for whomever is in office to do what they like. Its like with the skimming of the soirees. Its O.K., there are not rules against it.
There isn’t a crown prosecutor who is going to take this type of thing on and the RCMP, well the B.C. Lieberals did give them that 20 yr. contract. don’t expect too much from them when it comes to the B.C. Lieberals. Attorney General, well that is anointed by the Premier so don’t expect too much there either.
This province is used to this type of stuff. Remember we did get through Bill Van Zalm. Unless we find Christy’s name in the Panama papers not much is going to change.
The MSM isn’t going to do anything, well perhaps one of the eastern papers may raise it as an interesting subject, but anything to be done, not happening. We all saw how the B.C. Rail thing ended and its business as usual.
It will be up to the voters to deal with this next year. Until then its open season on the taxpayers. Even in Alabama the Speaker of the house can go to trial for things not much different then happens here, but in Alabama there are actual rules on the books and every once in a century some one decides to enforce them. In B.C. not so much. Oh, right Robert Summers went to jail under the WAC government, last century.
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I have always respected and admired e.a.f. for his comments as they are always thoughtful, simple and without frills or bullshit. This comment has left me breathless, the truth in it. Whether it is any institution we normally think should be approachable, and they should be, for us to appeal to what we find is that they are so directly linked to the Clark government and controlled by them that we are left without recourse in this province. The RCMP too busy trying to entrap badly needed terrorists for show. MSM so dependant on government for handouts that all hope is lost of them actually doing the work of journalists. The government itself without SLAPP legislation or
legislation dealing with corporate donations to government, we have the wild west here.
I think we have to be exceptionally vocal this time in our demands for justice.
This time however they seemed to, or rather Christy seems to, have overstepped to help her brother and they seem to be unable to spin this into a logical weave. She wasn’t smart enough to square it away and in doing so she made a big mistake.
I have been blogging since well before BC Rail and one of the obvious tactics, and short falling of us all, is that there is another topic coming tomorrow, something to shift our attention away and so it goes day after day. This however deserves our best efforts, and I ask this of Ian Jessop, Rafe Mair, Laila Yuile etc. to keep this in the forefront until answers come forth. We owe this to ourselves and the victims of this government.
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Well Christy and ‘the family’ have out done themselves on this latest gambit.
All could have been solved by now if only she had a Nigel Wright working for her to take the fall. Ha!
On Duffygate, the national media actually kept digging and exposing Harper/Duffy/PMO/Senate corruption and despite the deflection and obstruction by many, notably the RCMP and near incompetent prosecution the scandal stayed in the national news cycle. The public exposure, awareness and outrage did have significant impact on the booting out of the Harper outlaws. Too bad the compromised BC MSM outliers work for the BC Liberal’s and not the BC people. I wonder how hard it has been for Palmer to forget Woodward and Bernstein and… ‘follow the money’ aka Watergate? It is telling just how silent the usual suspects have stayed on this latest scandal.
All Christy can hope for is that her captured media continue to look the other way as they bravely whistle past this scandal and the public only hear the sound of crickets and all move on to the next scandal.
Great comments by e.a.f and Don F., your work Norm, Merv’s, the intrepid social media commentators – notably Ian Jessop. It would be sweet justice if this latest brazen corruption and cover up (minor in relative scale to most the Liberals have serially perpetrated) was the one that kindles, catches fire and crisps Christy and her Pirates.
Maybe Mr Horgan is holding back on some more ‘connect-the-dots’ on this scandal for closer to the election… in the mean time this story needs to be exposed.
Thanks Norm!
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Not sure where Christy Clark was busy enriching cronies today, but didn’t notice her at the New Westminster high school funding announcement.
Strange that she can schedule a $150,000 school funding announcement all the way up in Haida Gwaii, but can’t fit in a $106,500,000 announcement in her back yard.
Wonder what was different?
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The difference was, the 150k was a personal delivery of real money.
The 106.5 million is an empty campaign promise that will never be honored.
She would prefer not to be seen at the latter where she could be called to account later when the money does not appear. Besides, blowing smoke does not a wind farm make.
I wonder who wrote the 150k cheque and on what authority. Is that just petty cash? How many other incidental cheques are written like that? How often? And lastly, how many decks would 150k build?
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I think it is important that we who are regular followers of the many top bloggers, cross reference for those who are not regulars.
Case in point and in step with this topic is Laila’s little teaser here:
https://lailayuile.com/2016/06/07/things-that-make-you-go-hmmmmm-2/
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I think it is important, that we who are regular followers of the top bloggers, cross reference for those who are not.
Case in point and fitting the current topic is Laila’s piece here:
https://lailayuile.com/2016/06/07/things-that-make-you-go-hmmmmm-2/
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It’s doubtful there ever was any cheque. She showed up and announced a study a couple of days before the band council election, and John Horgan characterized it as arriving with a cheque. The RFP for the study has never been posted on Bid BC as the briefing note on the proposed study said it would be. The announcement was the goal; she couldn’t care less whether or when the study actually happens.
http://www.bcveritas.com/index.php/2016/06/01/we-are-not-lawyers/
http://www.bcveritas.com/index.php/2016/06/06/again-on-the-old-massett-150k-grant-new-information/
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