Today, the Liberal who played a central role in casino oversight dodged questions about documents from Globe and Mail’s Justine Hunter. 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 to violence if he talks.
Keep the genie stuck in the bottle
If the feds disclose evidence at a future trial that indicates provincial neglect and dereliction in pursuing crimes associated with gambling, what happens to public trust and support for both the BC Liberals and the BC NDP? The only question might be: Why did each of the two main BC parties hang themselves with their own noose?
Square the circle
Rich Coleman flatly says to Mr. Holman that every file in government generates multiple pieces of correspondence. Now, think back to all those times that researchers and journalists used Freedom of Information to request documents and were told there was nothing.
Ruled by criminals?
Before July 18, 2017, if British Columbia was not ruled by criminals, it was ruled by people who turned blind eyes to criminality. Attorney General David Eby issued a statement that ought to be national news in Canada…
Behind the ostensible government
Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.
Circular flow of income
Economists write papers on the circular flow of income but they don’t include the flow between politicians, businesses and the public treasury. In BC, it is commonplace. If you are an observer grown cynical – like the writer – you may wonder what secret benefits are to be found in the circular flow of income between Government, the governing party of British Columbia from 2001 to 2017 and the companies they purport to regulate.
$4.9 billion extra generated by IPPs, updated
BC Hydro has been managed to deliver billions of dollars in benefits to independent power producers. Had IPPs been left to sell their product to the same free market that BC Hydro trades into, they would have gained 4.9 billion fewer revenue dollars since 2003.
If facts awkward, invent new ones
Spin doctors understand that statements should be given with certainty in places where they won’t be tested for accuracy. The corporate press is one of those places. In words of Jonathan Swift: “Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect.” However, I’m always willing to test the words of a person who intends to mislead.
One class of criminal benefits another
A perfect storm in Toronto and Vancouver housing markets, “a mixture of rising home prices, foreign money laundering, and an unregulated sub-prime lending system most Canadians don’t even know exists.”
When fortunate people cannot afford a low rung on the property ladder, the situation must change. Christy Clark and Rich Coleman may regularly shake hands with the province’s most wealthy residents but, the ground upon which they stand has grown dangerously unstable.
Half-prepared for battles of wits
Another publication, Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI), provides detail of the marketplace for LNG. It is now an international exchange much different than the one that first excited the ex-policeman and small town lawyer who thought, with equally ill-equipped assistants, they could negotiate for British Columbia at boardroom tables of giant multinational energy corporations.
"What? Me worry?"
To begin BC’s LNG saga we have Martyn Brown’s declaration that the LNG deal is a disaster. That’s not enough to alert BC that there’s a problem? How about multiple fraud, theft and money laundering investigations in France, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and either Abu Dhabi or Dubai?…
Socialist hordes at the gates, this time for real
Liberal pals in corporate media can be counted on to repeat socialist disaster myths from the nineties but they go strangely silent when BC Liberals promote foreign owned socialist enterprises. They are hostile to public enterprise when the owner is British Columbia but BC Liberals show unbounded enthusiasm for investing borrowed money in ventures owned by undemocratic and corrupt foreign governments. That might make sense if there was to be a certain flow of significant economic benefits and a commitment to clean renewable energy. Perhaps it is because Premier Clark and Minister Coleman prefer deeds done in the shadows, particularly if the shadows are overseas.
Money laundering and casinos, who knew?
CTV Vancouver: Money laundering rampant in casinos, April 10, 2014 Confidential documents are shedding light on a host of suspicious behaviour at B.C. casinos, where patrons routinely carry bags loaded with small […]
Feeding frenzy has begun
Before the 2013 election, Premier Clark’s Liberals were involved in a feeding frenzy, working to grab maximum treasure from public wealth in case voters ended the opportunities.
IN-SIGHTS 
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