BC Government news item, May 15, 2019:
The Province will hold a public inquiry into money laundering that has distorted British Columbia’s economy, fuelled the overdose crisis and driven up housing prices…
“This inquiry will bring answers about who knew what when and who is profiting from money laundering in our province,” said David Eby, Attorney General.
“The Honourable Justice Cullen will have the mandate, authority and resources to seek answers, perhaps most importantly among people and organizations who refuse to share what they know unless legally compelled to do so.”
Nine months ago, Attorney General David Eby asked BC Liberals to waive privilege over cabinet files related to money laundering. Eby said the old documents would not be released to the public but would assist ongoing criminal investigations.
A month later, Liberal leader Wilkinson refused Eby’s request, justifying that decision because BC NDP has opposed release of advice to cabinet about compensation paid Provincial Court judges.
March 28, the Supreme Court of Canada granted the province leave to appeal a lower court order to release Horgan cabinet’s pay dispute documents. That order had been stayed by the BC Appeal Court.
Today, a Liberal who had a central role in casino oversight dodged questions from Globe and Mail’s Justine Hunter about documents, saying that was in the Attorney General’s purview.
He also suggested he will refuse to reveal all that he knows to Inquiry Commissioner Austin Cullen. For Rich Coleman, it is not a matter of self-preservation. He aims to protect unnamed people who are vulnerable if he talks.
If there were any investigations that were going on or continued as a result over the years, I would never talk about them or disclose any of that because I could put people’s lives at risk if they were undercover, whatever.
BC NDP offered a response to the recent Liberal evasion:
VICTORIA – Following today’s announcement of a public inquiry into money laundering, BC Liberal Attorney General Critic Michael Lee and former Deputy Premier Rich Coleman were both asked if the BC Liberals will share relevant cabinet documents with the inquiry.
Both MLAs refused and inaccurately suggested the matter was out of their control. In fact, former Finance Minister Mike de Jong has the power to disclose the documents, but has also refused to do so. Attorney General David Eby first made the request to waive cabinet confidence in August.
Lee refused to answer direct questions, saying they were “premature.” Lee even questioned “whether [Justice Cullen] has the jurisdiction” to compel the disclosure of those documents….
Categories: Corruption
in-sights.ca 
It’s horrible that a few dirty politicians in leadership roles such as in the former BC provincial government can enable and allow so much damage to happen to so many people because they willfully turned their cheek to the money laundering and crookedness. Well they shouldn’t get away with this. Send them to hell with shame and disgrace.
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It would not surprise me to learn the reason no BC Liberal cabinet documents related to efforts to investigate or curb money laundering have been turned over is that none exist.
Inaction (no matter the reason) leaves a sparse document trail.
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Isn’t there a record of one Liberal Minister saying, “Of course I triple delete my emails….doesn’t everyone?”
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Reblogged this on Thoughts on BC Politics and More.
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Perhaps, the mayor of Surrey wants to form his own police force, like Delta, where they overlook misdeeds and illegal actions of local elites and politicians.
Perhaps the real problem is that Surrey radically under-funds policing, to protect the very same.
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Evil Eye, many of us know/guess/suspect who the real facilitators are when it comes to the casino corruption, based on the little which has come to light: the casinos owners, the casino management, the politicians and the RCMP. Yes, the RCMP because as all those events were transpiring at the River Rock Casino where were the Richmond R]CMP. That really needs to be looked at. we have heard on the t.v. news what was going on at the River Rock. gee if the staff knew why didn’t the local RCMP. If nothing else they might have had a drive through the parking lot from time to time to just make sure no cars were being stolen and they might have seen some one being beaten up> in all the years the River Roach was there, the RCMP never saw anything???????? If they were that blind, deaf, dumb, stupid, corrupt, whatever, lets hope the politicians of Richmond aren’t that stupid and get rid of them and hire their own police force.
Perhaps the Mayor of Surrey really does know what he is doing when he is trying to form the City’s own police force, removing the city from the grip of an incompetent and perhaps corrupt police force. Truly the drug dealing which goes on in Surrey is beyond the pale, yet do we hear or see drug dealers being arrested hand over fist? Not so much. there are reports though that construction workers jay walking are being ticketed.
WE need to ask do police and politicians just want to take away the proceeds of crime so they can put it in their own budgets or do they want to stop the crimes? an inquiry may help.
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The real problem, will the inquiry expose the real facilitators with casino corruption?
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Coleman would have us believe he isn’t going to talk to “protect’ undercover people, etc. In my opinion Coleman is trying to fabricate a defense, but really who is going to believe it beyond his base. coleman sounds like Trump and his gang. Well Coleman, you aren’t in government any more. It may just be that you will have to answer the questions or risk going to jail. Coleman did look a tad stressed when responding to questions. He may take the “5th” but if the Judge gives him immunity. Coleman will be the key to this. He is the one, who ran the Christy Clark government. she was just the window dressing.
This inquiry needs to look at who, when, how. the usual stuff. many in this province knew or suspected something was going on. certainly the RCMP must have had some idea or were they that clueless, that stupid, that corrupt, that afraid of losing the 20 yr contract and being stuck with 6K cops no one needed. The RCMP need to be questioned in all of this. What did they know? With all the things which transpired at the River Rock, where was the Richmond RCMP. What did they know, what did they do? Were they told to back off, where they asleep, we really want to know.
Am so looking forward to this inquiry Some argue against the inquiry suggesting nothing will come of it, it will give the current government a reason to do nothing until the inquiry is over, it will cost too much. Some of those are bloggers who don’t have any “skin in the game”, but Symth and Palmer I would suggest have plenty and they both seem to oppose the inquiry. it’s not like they ever questioned what was going on and surely someone said something to them during all this time
I always found it interesting that the Vancouver Sun didn’t print much of anything during all the years this was going on. yet bloggers were. . When the B.C. Lieberals are out of office, the Vancouver Sun started printing Sam Cooper’s stories. what I find so interesting in his stories is that they don’t refer to the B.C. LIEBERALS, but to the government. The government when good neighbour sam wrote his stories was the NDP. by the time the NDP became government it was something the MSM could no longer ignore and it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Vancouver sun thought perhaps they could tie this can to the NDP.
Some say this inquiry is playing politics. that the NDP is timing its release of the report to the next election. Welcome to the real world. What did people think the B.C..LIeberals were doing for 16 yrs as contracts went to their friends and they sat around doing nothing much while the money laundering was going on. It improved their bottom line as government. Some of us still haven’t forgotten about the 9K women el gordo fired when he tore up that HEU contract for hospital workers. He sold the rail way or gave it away to his “friend’, the list goes on. We have the run of the river projects, the stupid meters and we have the “sparkle pony princess” sitting on her ass as fent. took over this province. she couldn’t even get it together to ban pill presses, which Alberta did. She and Coleman never did order the rcmp to look into all the drug dealing.
It was a free for all in this province. Now much of this won’t ever come up in the inquiry, but all of what went on for 16 years as things were destroyed in this province was politics and so we as an electorate have the right to know who we are voting for before the next election, a political party or a crime syndicate.
Let the hearings begin.
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Well said! The Lieberals I say are nothing but parasites tearing away at the fabric of this great land.
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Rich Coleman, as quoted in the Tyee; “I’ll be totally honest with them with anything I can give them that I’m allowed to disclose publicly,” he said.
That says it all.
I hope Justice Cullen can get to offshore accounts and test for BC fingerprints.
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Will Christy Clark take centre stage once again…..for all of the wrong reasons?
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Hopefully Christy will be subpoenaed to testify.AFTER Rich Coleman’s eventual testimony….
Which will come first?
The Liberal debacle at the polls? Or the forced testimony?
Only Richer Coleman knows for sure……
Watching her squirm under days of lawyers’ questioning would be well worth the price of admission
And her vapid , evasive answers will just dig the Liberal polling hole deeper..
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Christie’s response to lawyers will be: “that’s a very good question, but what I’d really like to talk about is…”
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If he’s just saying he won’t give info about INVESTIGATIONS, to safeguard undercover people, is that a problem? Or would a judicial enquiry anyway keep such info confidential to protect the sources? In that case, yes he’s doing what you’re saying, Norm.
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Coleman has denied BC had a money laundering crisis. He thought criminality at casinos was minor, so he terminated the Independent Integrated Gambling Enforcement Team and complained to RCMP management to have Fred Pennock, the head of IIGET, muzzled.
Now, he wants us to believe that murderers lurk, waiting to eliminate people if he speaks. He’s not believable.
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Looking forward to this!
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It’s high time this came about! When this is over, those involved would have said nothing, saw nothing and heard nothing. Oh they will squirm, but I believe most politicians think they are untouchable. I give high praise to Andrew Weaver for asking for this Public Inquiry in the first place.
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