The Sunday
Funnies

Kevin Krueger,
possibly the dullest knife in the LIEberal drawer

Kevin Krueger inadvertently reveals,
            source of LIEberal inspiration!

Those of you who may have thought that Calvin "the business of the nation is business" Coolidge and Doktor Goebbels, with his mastery of media manipulation, were the idols of the BC liaRs, can be forgiven. But this afternoon reading the wisdom (sic) of Kevin Krueger, it became clear to me that the true idols of the Campbelloids are......are you ready.....THE NDP! I always realized that they still blame the NDP for everything wrong in BC, almost a decade after the last NDP government. Also whenever they are caught doing something somewhat questionable, or downright despicable, the common excuse is well....the NDP used to do it, too.

But now, thanks to Kevin, we learn that the LIEberals use the NDP as the basis/excuse for things they don't do as well. Maybe Campbell and his gang of crooks should just as well call themselves dippers, we've always known they weren't Liberals - with Canadian parties after all what's in a name? Not much apparently judging by the PsuedoCons in Ottawa and our own criminal organization based in Victoria.

According to the low grade bird cage liner published in Victoria, the Times-Colonist

THAT'S SO 2000 --

Culture Minister Kevin Krueger says his government won't support a recent NDP private member's bill to help preserve First Nations heritage sites because ... well, the NDP should have done that when it was in power.

"The NDP's tabling a private member's bill is meaningless compared to what they could have done in 10 years as government," Krueger said. Therefore, he reasoned, the Liberals can let the bill die. It has been introduced by Maurine Karagianis four times in as many years.

The BC liaRs obviously hide
their big brains in Kamloops

Then, according to the T-A's partner in fiction and fluff from across the Georgia Strait, the Province, Terry Lake, in an attempt to demonstrate he has even less brain cells than the other representative from Kamloops, weighs in on possible LIEberal strategy to deal with the fact that more people have already signed the anti-HST petition than ever voted for them, with weeks yet to go. As "..head of the Liberal-dominated committee at the legislature that will decide the fate of the harmonized sales tax petition, should it succeed" the former mayor of the town that obviously has opportunities for the mentally challenged had the following to say.

"The committee could look at that initiative and say that it's invalid," said Kamloops MLA Terry Lake.

"I'm not a lawyer, but I don't know about the constitutionality of the wording of the petition, for example. The committee has the authority to call witnesses to clarify that sort of thing."

Tundra Trailer Trash Talk
or what Putin sees from his house!


The Palin Domicile on Lake Lucille

Today at FireDogLake, one of my favorite blogs from the US, I came across an amusing post My Wasilla Lunch with Joe McGinnis by 25 year Wasilla resident Edward Teller.

Last winter, author Joe McGinnis, who is writing a critical book about Sarah Palin, was looking for a place in Wasilla to rent this summer, as he continues his research. He was offered the house next door to the Palins’ Lake Lucille cult compound-in-progress. He wasn’t looking for the place. It came looking for him. What would you do?

As Joe recounted this and other details of what has gotten him to be next-door-neighbor to the most bizarre political joke in American history (move over, Aaron Burr), I was laughing so hard in Wasilla’s Mekong Restaurant, that my bean-thread noodles were getting all over the place.

...../snip

Joe’s here to do a job: write a book about the political milieu from which Palin emerged. It might end up being the best book yet about Alaska. His Going to Extremes is the most durable of the spate of books that attempted to describe the gold rush atmosphere in the far north, as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was being built.

Sarah's castle is the big one on the right. Even though these are 200 foot wide lots, and the grey house rented by Joe McGinnis was there before Sarah's was built, for some bizzare reason, the Palins chose to build almost on top of the neighbor's house. There are so many FUNNY and Palinesque things about the house and Sarah and Todd's reaction to their new neighbor that I would highly recommend anyone needing a few laughs to go on over to the Lake and read Teller's piece. Then, if your ribs don't hurt too much already, go over to – Photo of the Day: Palin’s Fencetrosity at the mudflats.net where the picture above comes from, which has some more illuminating and humourous commentary.

A few teasers.

The big fence was built in a hurry once Joe moved in.

The Palins actually rented the grey house at one time

Recently before Joe moved in, but while the Palins were living in their new house, the grey house was a meth lab.

The Palin Palace was built near the end of Sarah's reign as mayor of Wasilla and concurrent with the building of the outrageously expensive Sports Complex that is the legacy of her term - maybe Wasilla is after the Phoenix Coyotes.

....Todd claimed he and some buddies built this house – at the same time that the Wasilla Sports Complex was being built just down the road by a bunch of contractors who had been significant campaign donors to Sarah. The list of subcontractors on the Wasilla sports complex included Spenard Builders Supply, the state’s leading supplier of wood, flooring, roofin and other “pre-engineered components”. Easy to connect the dots here.

Construction on the lakehouse was conveniently finished just a few months before Sarah’s term as Wasilla Mayor expired.

Conclusion, Todd’s buddy who designed the house was architect Blase Burkhart, son of Roy Burkhart, frequently described as a mentor of Palin and head of the local Republican Party, as well as a a Palin campaign contributor. Blase was limited in choice of windows by the pre-engineered components being ordered for the sports complex.

Maybe tomorrow we can get back to more serious topics. Maybe tomorrow the BC Rail Corruption Trial will lurch back into action - or maybe Bobby Virk will have a hangnail, delaying the trial another week or two!

Remedial Direct
Democracy 1A

Herr Colin Hansen,
Minister in Charge of HST Propaganda and Sneers

Now that the Anti-HST forces have already collected at least 10% of the voter's signatures in all 85 ridings in BC, Gordo's PR Flacks like Vaughn Palmer and Keith Baldrey have had to revise their pronouncements that the petition didn't stand a chance in hell of passing. Unfortunately they are right in a way, as the Petition most likely can't or won't lead to a retraction of the Hey Sucka Tax, even if over 50% is achieved in every riding. However, it still won't be a waste of time, just the first step in bringing to heel the criminal organization posing as the government of the allegedly democratic province of British Columbia.

Like the phoney STV vote and any similar legislation designed to give the illusion of public participation in democracy, the legislation was designed to be difficult to impossible to meet the requirements and then isn't even binding on the creeps in Victoria anyway. It was absurd for the STV to require 60% in every riding, when you consider that we have a DickTater in Victoria whose party manages to get barely more than twenty percent of the eligible voters, and less than half of those who can still be bothered to play along with the phoney game.

With only half of the allowed time elapsed and having reached the minimum requirement in every riding, it is a foregone conclusion that the petition itself will succeed, unless thousands of the signatures are forgeries by Campelloids, as if there were that many people in the province who can even tolerate the stench of these guys anymore. But the horror and absurdity is in the details.

1. If the petition meets its required number of signatures the government can (or some say can only) hold a refrendum in just less than a year and a half from today at the soonest. Then if a referendum is held, to pass it must garner over 50% of the ELIGIBLE voters in EVERY RIDING. Now since that many voters don't even turn out in most ridings during a general election, that would seem pretty well impossible.

2. The government can choose instead to craft a bill to (supposedly) address the concerns of the petitioners. But then after crafting the bill, there is NO REQUIREMENT to actually bring it to the floor for debate or a vote - what is this, some kind of JOKE - and one in very poor taste at that? Then even if it did come to a vote, if the fence posts with hair that do nothing but cat-call, thump their desks and vote the way Campbell, Brown and DeJong tell them to or bizness as usual, what's the point?

However all is not lost, and the exercise with the petition is not a waste of time. If the canvassers continue for the next six weeks or so, they could easily have a million or more signatures of folks that aren't happy with the crooks in charge. Then come November, in the selected ridings with weak, especially vulnerable MLAs (increasingly is there any other kind of LIEberal MLA?) initiate the recall process.
And ANY recall petition that meets the requirements in the allotted time, results in a vacant seat with a bye-election required in jig-time - no ifs ands or buts!

The bar is higher, 40% of the voter's roll in the riding, and the time allowed is half as much, but with a million or a million and a half signed up HST opponents to start with, with some effort (and benefiting from the practice gained with the HST petition)it should be achievable, no matter how hard the court stenographers (Palmer, Baldrey et. al.) may try to convince us otherwise.

As to which MLAs to unseat, I'll let others decide riding by riding, but the more the merrier. However I do have some personal recommendations.

1. Gordo - just because, and he didn't win all that impressively last time, he is not a popular prevaricator even in his own toney neighborhood.

2. Kash, of course, if he hasn't done the right thing and stepped down from his seat already or had his seat vacated by Elections BC for electoral hanky-panky!

3. Carole James and Leonard Krog - Since the NDP is our only viable option at this time, we need at least a new rejuvenated NDP with a new leader and a justice critic who does more than eat popcorn and watch the crooks corrupt the justice system. Also removing these two might make the rest like Horgan, Farnsworth, Dix and Herbert re-consider their current style of going along to get along with corruption.

Who knows, maybe Corky would come out of retirement to lead a rejuvenated NDP that was truly dedicated to the common good! WE NEED BETTER!

For some other cogent recent commentary on the dreaded HST and the lies and the liars that tell them see:

Our buddy Grant at the Straigt Goods:

Baldrey and Palmer, Fools!

Michael Campbell, messages from the enemy!

The incomparable, always articulate Norm Farrell:

Stop, hey, What's that sound. Everybody look what's going down

Why (some of us) hate politicians

BC liaR Party
LIES 'R' US

Gordon C and and Colin H lead a recent meeing of Liars Anonymous

Blair Lekstrom says that there was wide consultation before introduction of the new energy legislation, that removes oversight from the BCUC for having the temerity to take into account the public interest - I call BULLSHIT. Gordon Campbell sez HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of jobs will be created by the Hey Sucka Tax - where - in China, Bermuda or for bartenders on Maui? When it comes to the Hey Sucka Tax, first they denied it was even a possibility, then days after re-election it is the best thing in the universe for the Bestest Place on Earth (for sleaze bags to prosper, they must mean)! AG Mikey DeJong puts on his "I'm so sincere face" and sez he wants to make the justice system more accessible to the people and in response to a caller who suggests televising the BC Rail Trial tries to make the excuse that it would take TOO LONG to get that organized - while Courtroom 20 is already set up for television - that having been done for the farce of an Air India trial. How long could it take to flip a switch and turn on a light or two? Of course the examples above barely scratch the surface of BC LIEberal duplicity.

If these guys would just go into writing fiction rather than politics they would probably be amassing Nobel Prizes - especially if the prizes were based on how fantastic and contrary to actual probablity were the plot lines. If you are a Liberal, on the front bench or the back bench you must master the art of lying or stay silent and just act like a baby in the House and vote the way you are told. Norman Farrell discusses the bizarre relationship between the BC LIEberal Party and the truth this morning at his fine blog in The Dog Ate My Homework.

Harvard Philosopher Sissela Bok says casual lying has become entrenched and is now an accepted part of many professions, including law, medicine and journalism. Bok also argues that lying by the government has begun to corrupt politics.

..../snip

when politicians lie so blatantly about an issue under close scrutiny, imagine what they feel licensed to say in situations where public attention is not focused. Indeed, lying has become second nature to them. They now believe they have free rein to manipulate and distort the facts. It shows in almost every ministry, even those charged with protecting children and the environment.

Ironically as Norm points out, you can say virtually anything at all in the Legislature and be protected by privilege. You can LIE at will, indeed the only thing you can't say in the house is to suggest that another member is lying - even if they are. This little bit from Hansard that Norm dug up shows the inanity of this.

C. James:

"I'll tell the Premier and the B.C. Liberals what is clear. The B.C. Liberals told the public during the election — in fact, they even put it in writing — that they weren't going to bring in the HST. The B.C. Liberals betrayed the public in British Columbia. That's what's true.


Three days after the votes were counted, the B.C. Liberals were in negotiations with Ottawa. They betrayed the public. The public overwhelmingly has rejected the HST, and most importantly, the public has rejected the way it was brought in.


Again, my question is to the Premier. Will he stand up today, do the right thing and get rid of the HST?

G. Campbell:

This government believes the right thing is encouraging investment. This government believes the right thing is encouraging job creation. This government believes the right thing is strengthening the economy. That side has constantly been against that.


This government believes in creating a competitive tax regime that will encourage forestry, mining, energy, small business and economic growth in every single region of this province, and we will continue working on that option throughout.

An Hon. Member:

How about telling the truth?

Mr. Speaker:

Member, please withdraw that statement.

So, if you are lucky enough to be elected an MLA, you can lie your face off and slander anyone at will - IN THE CHAMBER, but anyone who points that out, is out of order and can actually be removed from the chamber by the Sgt. at Arms (as I believe Dave Barrett was, once upon a time).

I was going to post about the HST Referendum Petition and some of my thoughts about how it is going and what those who are making it happen should do next. However I have some other stuff to do this afternoon - but hope to get around to these thoughts later this evening or in the morning.

The Re-incarnation of
Mr. Bojangles,
Martyn Brown!

Bill "Mr. Bojangles" Robinson

On May 25, 1878, Bill Robinson, who would become "Mr Bojangles" was born. That is why today May 25, 2010 is National Tap Dancing Day. So how much more appropriate could it be that the BC Rail trial also returns to tap dance Studio 54 where Chief of Staff to the Capo Campbell can continue his tap dancing around the truth for a few more days. Mr. Brown is so good at tap dancing that he can do it sitting down in the witness stand, under oath!

The Cult Must be Growing
         or The Ilk Enlarges!

The local lamestream press has often used as an excuse for their lack of coverage of the BC Rail trial pre-hearings their contention that nobody but a cult of conspiracy theorists care about the criminal activities and lies of the Campbell government. It is true that thanks to their refusal to perform their duty, most people haven't been aware of the issue, or think it is something that was resolved long ago. Of course now that the trial is underway, under the iron and guided hand of Justice Anne MacKenzie, they have jumped on the band wagon with as much spin as they can muster.

The traffic statistics for blogs like the Legislature Raids and here at the House of Infamy tend to indicate that there are more and more people who aren't only interested in this trial, but interested in getting beyond the same old spin of the same old PABlum Brigade and their allies of the formerly Assperson Press and Media Empire.

The Data





Day 1 - Trial scheduled to begin, but the jury is sent out and more pre-trial haggling ensues (that cannot be discussed thanks to J-Mac's draconian publication ban)

Day 2 - Wild Bill "Conflict of Interest is my Middle Name" Berardino's opening statement - interrupted by Kevin McCullough, leading to fireworks between him and J-Mac.

Day 3 and Day 4 - Chief of Staff, Martyn Brown on the witness stand under direct and cross-examination. Mainly he seems to be trying to convince the court that he was completely unaware of anything going on in the Campbell government - an odd thing for a Chief of Staff to brag about, I would think.

Friday - Traffic drops off at both blogs, as court is in recess and most people's thoughts turn to the long weekend coming up. Traffic will almost assuredly pick up again this morning for National Tap Dancing Day!

Update:10:48 AM 25/05/2010

Upon checking this morning, after posting the above, I found that yesterday, Queen Victoria Day, may have been an all time record for visits to the House in one 24 hour period. This is surprising, considering it was a holiday, and good weather at least here, in paradise. I can only guess it was the result of BC Mary citing Robin's letter and providing a direct link to the posting. Thanks for making me catch up with my database busy work, Mary!

We Get Letters
and even
Read Them!

A Missive for Mayday:

Robin Mathews, the dean of journalists, accreditated or not, covering the BC Rail trial also makes an effort to encourage public agencies like the RCMP or departments like the Canadian Judicial Council or the BC Supreme Court to honour their responsibilities to those they are supposed to serve. Many of these organizations, or those who speak for them, seem to be under the illusion that they are supposed to serve Gordon Campbell and his agenda of relieving the citizens of British Columbia of their legacy assets and either ignore Robin, or try to characterize him as some fringe voice howling in the wilderness.

Robin writes to Gary Bass of the RCMP to point out apparent violations of the law that he feels should be investigated. Mr. Bass gets back to Mr. Mathews with the news that it is up to Mr. Mathews to provide the RCMP with evidence or the RCMP can do nothing. Now I thought that was the job of the police, to investigate alleged wrong-doing and collect evidence if it exists. Indeed, for a civilian to get involved in such activity could violate the law in various ways itself. Would I have been allowed to take my shovel to the Pickton pig farm a few years back to see what I could dig up? I think not!

What follows is a letter from Mr. Mathews to the Canadian Judicial Council regarding the appointment of Bill Berardino as "special prosecutor" in the what has become the BC Rail trial. While I don't necessarily agree that the entire trial should be shelved at this time, I do feel that Robin raises some extremely valid points that should be considered, especially if the trial should seem to become a white wash. However, even with comporomised people in postions that could affect the outcome, the truth could prove to be impossible to conceal even in less than proper, fair and open conditions. I will bold at will parts that I feel like emphasizing. After all, it is a holiday, and I don't think Queen Victoria would be amused with the state of things in the town that bears her name.


XXX Salsbury Drive,
Vancouver, B.C.
May 17, 2010

to:
The Canadian Judicial Council,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0W8.
(info@cjc-ccm.gc.ca)


Complaint concerning the conduct of Associate Chief Justice Madam Anne MacKenzie in relation to her conduct in the BC Rail Scandal case known as the case against Dave Basi, Bobby Virk, and Aneal Basi – commencing May 17, 2010 in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Canadian Judicial Council:

The terms of complaint set out on the CJC website require that any complaint, to have substance, must be a complaint or complaints about “an individual judge’s inappropriate conduct”.

The Complaint in those terms is simple. In 2003, when the investigations of some matters concerning the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR were being pursued by the RCMP, a Special Crown Prosecutor was appointed by the ministry of the Attorney General under the prosecutorial legislation and especially the British Columbia legislation governing the appointment of Special (Crown) Prosecutors.

The essence of all the legislation, and especially that covering the appointment of the Special Prosecutor is the guarantee of independence. The legislation was specifically passed to assure that – to avoid the risk that regular Crown Prosecutors might have some contact with, might be influenced by, might show bias on behalf of government officers, civil servants, police, and such like people – an appointee would be found with no such risk, and who would not have even the potential for perception of bias through relation with any of the kinds of people named.

The appointment in the case, I allege, violates the fundamental purpose of the all the legislation and especially the legislation concerning the appointment of the Special (Crown) Prosecutor. The appointee, Mr. William Berardino, had been for seven years partner and colleague of the Attorney General in the ministry that made the appointment, The appointee, Mr. William Berardino, had been for eleven years partner and colleague of the Deputy Attorney General in the ministry that made the appointment. In 2005 Mr. Berardino is recorded as donating to the election funds of the successor to the Attorney General who appointed him Special Crown Prosecutor. In 2007, the premier of the province changed the working protocol for vetting disclosure materials sought by Defence counsel. In its place the premier appointed Allan Seckel, Deputy Attorney General (to work in consultation with the Special (Crown) Prosecutor). Allan Seckel and the Special (Crown) Prosecutor had been partners and colleagues for eleven years – not many years before.
So far in this letter, I have been providing the Canadian Judicial Council with background to the complaint.

When the facts of Mr. Berardino’s appointment (through my own research) became clear to me, I wrote to the Attorney General seeking a remedy. His assistant deputy wrote to me to say (incorrectly) that the appointment of 2003 was presently sub judice and he would not discuss the matter. I wrote again to the Attorney General Michael de Jong asking for a reply from him on the matter. Mr. de Jong refuses to answer my letter.

Any reasonable observer must know that a fair trial of the three accused men cannot take place under conditions in which the Special (Crown) Prosecutor has been improperly appointed. As the legislation makes clear, an improper appointment may have the heaviest and deepest implications – or it may provide only for the potential of a perception of bias. Even that last brings the administration of justice into disrepute as well as creating a condition in which no person may say, with certainty, that a fair trial has been conducted.

That being the case, I wrote as amicus curiae (friend of the court) to the Chief Justice of the B.C. Supreme Court, Robert Bauman; to the Associate Chief Justice, Patrick Dohm; and to the presiding judge in the Basi, Virk, and Basi case (March 3, 2010), Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie, and presented them with the evidence of wrongful appointment, and asked them to remove Mr. Berardino, (or to refuse him standing in the matter), or to undertake such action as would preserve the administration of justice in British Columbia.

An officer of the court wrote to me that none of the three addressed had anything to do with the appointment of William Berardino and would take no action whatever. And so I wrote back to the Chief Justice and to the Associate Chief Justice (now Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie) and the judge presiding at the Basi, Virk, and Basi trial (also Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie). I re-presented the information that I possessed – most of the information presented here about William Berardino in relation to his appointment as Special (Crown) Prosecutor. I asked Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie to remove Mr. Berardino as Special (Crown) Prosecutor. She has not answered me or had an officer of court answer me.

I have waited until today for an obvious reason – the expectation of an answer from Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie.

Unfortunately, I have to conclude that (a) Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has been fully informed of the improper appointment of William Berardino. (b) She was a party to the letter I received from a court officer saying the senior judges of the Supreme Court of British Columbia would do nothing to assure that the trial of Basi, Virk, and Basi did not possess the taint of (at the very least) the potential for perception of bias in the proceedings. (c) She has not answered (or had answered) my last letter because she refuses (I believe) to acknowledge that the court over which she is presiding (in pre-trial hearings and in full trial, as of today) cannot conduct the proceedings without (at the very least) the potential for the perception of bias because of the improper appointment of William Berardino to the position of Special (Crown) Prosecutor.

Any school boy or girl would know that if a judge is informed that a major actor (and the Crown Prosecutor is always a major actor in criminal trials) is in court improperly filling the role of prosecutor by an improper appointment then the court cannot function as it must, the administration of justice cannot be fair and be seen to be fair.

The response I received from the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the refusal of response to my second letter to Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie is clearly, I allege, an act of misconduct on her part. She is saying, in effect, that WHOEVER is appointed Special (Crown) Prosecutor in a criminal case in the province of British Columbia is of no interest to the judge presiding at a trial or to the senior judges of the British Columbia Supreme Court. She is conducting herself in the matter irresponsibly, I allege, and in violation of her duty to the rule of law and to justice and to the people of British Columbia. And she is doing it in this particular case, with enormous implications if a precedent is permitted to be established.

I file this complaint today – the first day of the criminal trial of Dave Basi, Bobby Virk, and Aneal Basi. I ask the Canadian Judicial Council to act with dispatch, for the trial will be in progress as you receive this letter and gross injustice may be the result of any delay the Canadian Judicial Council permits.

Of course the points Robin makes above are not the only questionable aspects of this trial. We must question first the very choice of defendants and ask why were they the only people charged. Then there is the whole issue of Justice MacKenzie and her obvious bias against the defence being parachuted into this complex trial after years of pre-trial hearings, suggesting a high degree of co-operation between the forces of the Campbell regime and the Harper PsuedoCons. The first few days have already been quite interesting and I'm certain many of us are looking forward to listening to Martyn Brown spend more time pointing out all the things he wasn't aware of as the top political operative in the Campbell excuse for government. I'm gonna invest in British Columbia popcorn futures!

A Letter from
Alexandra!

A British Columbian Heroine at Work

Since judges and lawyers don't have to work all week to make buckets of money the BC Rail Trial is on hiatus until next week after the Victoria Day Weekend. The BC Rail scam is just one prong of the Campbell gang's attack on the assets of British Columbians. The same ideological and greed driven "privatization" agenda is at play with BC Ferries, BC Hydro, BC Gas and the same lack of respect for the land and people of BC is evident in the continued BC LIEberal support for Norwegian fish farms and the extinction of Pacific wild salmon.

A regular correspondent of the House who regularly brings to my attention things I may otherwise have missed, forwarded this letter from Alexandra Morton, patron saint of the Pacific Salmon. I will reproduce it here as my pre-May Day post. I will bold at will portions I find particularly interesting or important.

Dear Mr. Foster, MLA:

In your letter below*, you are inaccurate in your assessment of the BC Liberal party's understanding of the science of salmon farming impact on wild fish. I met this week with MAL Ministerial Assistant, R. J. Senko and Assistant Deputy Minister Harvey Sasaki and they actually believe that stickleback are the cause of sea lice on juvenile wild salmon in BC. This theory has been thoroughly debunked by scientists and is the joke of the BC non-government scientific community studying sea lice.

Your government is also behind the times on the advances in closed containment and thus you are hindering this Canadian industry from developing.

I find the BC Liberal government's obedience to the Norwegian salmon farming industry slavish. You need to examine the reality of the situation. No government in its right mind would hold a coast ransom for a foreign industry with as terrible an environmental and social record as the Norwegian salmon farming industry when the same fish grows here for free. The era of easy oil is clearly over, the situation in the Gulf of Mexico is going to terribly impact millions of people. The Norwegian salmon farming industry is raising Atlantic salmon in the Pacific - feeding them on fish from Chile, in pens that bar public access. It takes large amounts of oil to do this. Our wild salmon on the other hand produce far more jobs, return to this coast for free, supporting our economy, making oxygen and they are food security. Why is your government is so nervous about the Canadian public having free access to food?

These Norwegian salmon farms are unconstitutional in Canada as they privatize ocean spaces and attempt to own fish in the sovereign waters of Canada. There is a wall of secrecy around this industry guarded by the Liberal government of BC.

I challenge you, Mr. Foster, to go with me on fish farms as they pull up their nets and pump fish out of their pens and lets see what is actually in the pens. These Norwegian companies are not licensed for wild fish.

Many Norwegian salmon farms are operating on leases that the BC government stated there would never be salmon farms. Only the Fraser sockeye that migrate past salmon farms collapsed. Other south coast sockeye did better than DFO forecast and this is entirely consistent with this industry's record around the world. If fish farm disease is infecting Fraser sockeye, they would be carrying those pathogens north and exposing Rivers Inlet and Skeena salmon as well.

You can repeat things ad infinitum, but it does not make them true.

(that's not what Doktor Goebbels said....../koot)

It is time to remove the Norwegian salmon farms from the waters of British Columbia because they are unconstitutional and also break the natural biological laws of wild salmon to the detriment of the present and future generations of Canadians. Invest in Canadians who are developing the solutions despite you and would provide better jobs and allow wild salmon to thrive. Everywhere in the North Pacific where there are no salmon farms, wild salmon are thriving! Why would we not try and have both wild and farmed salmon. It is long past time to move forward on this issue and stop denying the obvious.

The thousands of people at rally on May 8 at the Parliament Buildings are speaking to you. If you cannot hear them over the corporate interests you will bring your government down with this issue alone.
Alexandra Morton
www.salmonaresacred.org

* The letter of lies and bullheaded denial of reality referred to above

From: Foster.MLA, Eric
To: Jim Mellors
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 10:58 AM
Subject: RE: [fishermenlist] New Video

Dear Mr. Mellors,

Thank you for your e-mail dated May 18, 2010 regarding salmon farming.

Upon my contact with the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, I have obtained some information on the matter.

I would like to assure you that a sustainable, stable aquaculture industry remains a top priority for government.

There have been some encouraging developments in closed containment systems but to date it is not yet possible to apply this technology at an industry-wide scale and government does support the evaluation of new technologies like closed containment to determine their viability. Our support to date has been in processes such as the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat review which summarized the state of knowledge on closed containment and salmon farming and the viability of closed containment systems has been part of our discussions with the federal government as we transition regulation to their jurisdiction.

I want to reiterate that government is well informed on the latest science related to this industry, which to date demonstrates that wild salmon and salmon farming can coexist. I also feel it is important to emphasize the value salmon farming brings to British Columbia’s coastal communities. The aquaculture industry provides an estimated 6,000 jobs and over $224 million in wages for British Columbians, with over half these jobs being filled by women and First Nations.

Government is committed to an effective, science-based regulation of fish farming practices in British Columbia and understands the importance that salmon bring to our communities all across the province.

Thank you for taking the time to inform me of your concerns.

Sincerely,

Eric

Mr. Eric Foster, MLA
Vernon-Monashee

Where's Waldo
GORDO

Has anybody seen this man lately, and I mean people who aren't in Europe or Asia? Has anyone but me noticed that for the last little while, while blowback from the HST is reaching volcanic proportions and the potentially embarrassing Basi-Virk trial is getting underway, the Capo CEO of the province is almost always a half a world away from the scene of his crimes.

It makes me wonder if he has a pre-paid ticket to a country with no extraditon treaty with Canada in his pocket. It was disgusting enough to watch the man who tried to evict the Legionaires from the building in Victoria, pretending to be a head of state at ceremonies celebrating real heroes a couple weeks ago. And now he is in China, still available by phone to do stupid stuff like he did from Brussels when he re-instated the triply compromised Kash Heed as Solicitor-General.

And then there was the crap that went on in Anne "I'll give you anything you want Gordo" Mackenzie's court today as Wild Bill Berardino waxed on about the "conlict of interest" that David Basi and associates allegedly performed lo' so many years ago. If anyone is in a conflict of interest it is Bill Berardino!

These sleazebags are going down!

"British Columbians
still waiting..."

Don't ya'll get excited now!

G and M of the G and M, or Gary Mason of the Globe and Mail weighed in with the results of yesterday's "first day of the Basi-Virk trial." Without resorting to any and regrettably indelible tawdry bedroom scenes, he fills us in on yet another false start of this Kabuki Play from Hell.

In British Columbians still waiting for the curtains to lift Gary tells us that this "Case promises to shed light on the way Campbell's Liberals do business." Well DUH!

More than seven years after police raided the B.C. legislature.....a trial fraught with particularly unpleasant consequences for the Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell was set to begin Monday in B.C. Supreme Court.

And, of course, it didn’t.

Even though a jury finally materialized, it was just as quickly dismissed so Justice Anne MacKenzie could hear more pre-trial motions. This after four years of similar delays threatened the integrity of the proceedings. And you could detect the strain in the judge’s voice as she reluctantly agreed to adjourn the true start of the trial until Tuesday, while the Crown and the defence sorted out some outstanding issues.

But then, of course:

Now because of a publication ban that Judge MacKenzie imposed on pre-trial matters, we can’t tell you what all the bickering was about in court Monday morning.

How convenient. As BC Mary points out over at her place, the proMedia went all googly over the actual, maybe, for real start of this long awaited trial. In her post from yesterday (since updated, it would appear) BC Rail: What the news media is saying... she has a really comprehensive review of various proMedia and what they had to say. It will be entirely another thing when something happens that can actually be reported. Some wag (it must have been a wag, it is so "wag-like") said that perhaps Justice Anne MacKenzie should sequester the jury rather than the rest of the province.

Over also at Mary's, this morning's latest post, is by Robin Matthews, un-accredited journalist without equal on this file, wondering why all this proMedia is finally at the courthouse and what their true mission might be. He fears that with their lack of preparation and/or understanding of the case and its issues, they are there more to smother the story than help the public grasp the meaning of it all. From "Professional" Reporting ... or something else? by Robin:

Maybe we should wonder about the "mainstream media" that jumps into reporting the BC Rail Scandal, Basi, Virk, and Basi trial for almost the first time. Is it a bid to smother the real story? Is it me-too-ism because other papers are there ... and so ... we have to be there, too?

Already I am feeling ill-at-ease in talking to those msm people who show they know almost nothing about the issue and aren't particularly interested in finding out.

Is their mission a propagandizing one? Are they there to brainwash the public on the real issues?

Who knows, the trial could even start today, we've been given so many start dates that they seem almost meaningless anymore.

To Bill Tieleman,

I'm sorry to hear about your mom, Bill. We all regret that you, one of the only two loyal "reporters" who have followed this case since the beginning cannot be in the courtroom each day now that it may actually proceed. But you are being where you belong and need to be for now. I can only express my hopes that all goes as well as possible for both you and your mom. It says a lot about her, and why you are you, that she "insisted" you attend at least the first (?) day of the trial, yesterday.

Good vibes, wishes, hopes (and prayers, if I were a praying man) are coming your way from this corner of the bloggosphere!

Today Is
THE DAY!

Where It's At, Today!

From one of the rare actual newspapers in British Columbia, Opionion250 from Prince George, a city espcially affected by the BC Rail treachery.

B.C. Rail Trial Starts Today

Monday, May 17, 2010 05:28 AM

Prince George, B.C.- Today, the trial some thought would never happen, will officially get underway.

It was December 28th of 2003 when police raided the B.C. Provincial legislature then later charged former B.C. Liberal government aides David Basi and Bob Virk with breach of trust and fraud. The two are alleged to have provided confidential government information to lobbyists representing a losing bidder in the $1 billion sale of B.C. Rail. A third person, Aneal Basi is charged with money laundering.

The Crown expects to call between 7 and 10 main witnesses and predicts the case will take 8 to 10 weeks in court.
The Defence has not indicated how long it expects the trial to take.

May 17, 2010 and finally after more than six years since the unprecedented Raid on the Ledge, the long awaited Basi-Virk-Basi trial or the BC Rail Trial is actually (really?) going to commence. As I was waking up this morning to the 5:30am CBC Radio news I was shocked to hear the names of the defendants in the trial that is SUPPOSED to start this morning. Even so-called Justice Critic Leonard "the Dog" Krog got in his quota of weasely lawyerly statements about "allegations, just enough to fool some folks into believing he actually cares and is "on the case."

Now the question is twofold.

1. Will the trial actually begin today? This isn't the first time this political football of a potential circus has been scheduled to begin, though perhaps it is the first time we have made it to the scheduled start date without a postponement or re-scheduling, or new judge appointment, or Supreme Court of Canada appeal against the interests of the BC public.

2. The other question is whether or not the proMedia (as RossK of Pacific Gazetteer calls them, generously) will mention anything, anything at all, about what transpires in the Ericson palace by Robson Square. Currently three stenographer drones from the former Assperson Empire of Untruthiness, with a drive to volunteer for the Public Affairs Bureau and a colleague from the home of Bill "not so" Good, CTV are doing their best to deny accreditation to any "journalists" (sic) that refuse to take the oath of loyalty to the PABlum Brigade. According to repeated messages from the likes of Lucious Lucinda Chodan (of the Vickytown Times-Colonist) and Kwirkie LaPointed One of the Vancouver Stun, rarely do happenings regarding the trial into the one billion dollar theft of BC Rail rise to the level of news.

I think ole Kwirk must have some fantasy that he is the illegitimate spawn of an un-natural union between Clint Eastwood and Ernest Hemingway. His reponses to BC Mary's sincere inquiries about their proposed coverage of this landmark trial amounted to FIVE WORDS, over multiple messages, and these five words selected only from a two word vocabulary (Yes or No). Was he attempting to intimidate or mock Mary with his manly terseness, or just indulging in childish fantasies to make up for failing at actual journalism. We can only speculate.


The View from the Accreditation Panel!

Meanwhile Judge #3 on the Panel serves up a softball dealing with the importance of the proposed witnesses to be called by Wild Bill the compromised "oh so" Special Prosecutor. Good Ole Keith (not the one with nuts in his cheek) mentions that last month in open court (WITH JURY PRESENT) the names of 44 potential witnesses was read out in It's a who's who in BC, Politicians, rail execs, backroom boys !

The Crown's witness list in the Basi-Virk trial reads like a who's who of B.C. politicians, top government officials and railway executives.

The list of 44 names, read out to prospective jurors by the prosecution in April, is headlined by two former cabinet ministers -- then-finance minister Gary Collins and former transportation minister Judith Reid.

Keith doesn't mention that only because he and his club of Accreditation Approved "journalists" (sic) are so useless at their job, the public only knows the names of less than half of the witness list for the prosecution, and this only by dogged research by many bloggers, especially Ross over at the Gazetteer in last month's RailGate's New Top 40!

Again, we publish these names here based on the understanding that they were read out, in open court, with the jury present (ie. we are assuming that they are not subject to Mdme. Justice MacKenzie's previous pre-trial publication ban).


Campbell Administration Apparatchiks
Martyn Brown
Kenneth 'The Hatman' Dobell
Brenda Eaton

Former WestCoast FedLib Rainmaker
Mark 'ChristyWho?' Marissen

Former Campbell Government Ministers
Judith Reid
Gary 'HarmonyIs(nolonger)MyName' Collins

Railway Magnates
ClaudeMongeau (CN's current Big Boss not named David)
Rob Ritchie (CP's Former Big Boss who cried wolf)
Gary Rennick (OmniTrax' former Big Boss who did not cry wolf, at least not initially)
John McLernon (BC Rail's current Chairman and the former Chair of the 'Evaluation Committee' during the BC Rail Restructuring*)
Kevin Mahoney (BC Rail's current CEO and a former 'Staff Advisor' during the BC Rail Restructuring*)

Agents of OmniTrax who some consider to be 'Free Men From Scotland'
Brian 'EnamelMan' Keiran
Eric 'SpideySense' Bornman

And then of course there is the guy from Charles River Associates, who guarantee a review that will both whitewash and greenwash the most egregious breaches of the public trust (and fire the involved "investigators" - for plausible deniability after the deed is done.), who has already testified from Halifax. I wonder if he would be available for an interview, after all, we do have an agent and "Member of the Ilk" on the ground in that seaport on the other side of Canada.

Ya'll Come, Ya'll heah?

Anyone with a concern for democracy and justice that can find the time to attend this trial everyday, or just one day, is encouraged to do so. It seems with the PABlum Brigade and associated "proMedia" complicity, public attention, attendance and perhaps even taking some notes, is the only way to assure the people of BC know what happened to that wonderful little railroad that once upon a time "could" and "did!"

If you can find downtown Vancouver, use map above to locate the courthouse. You should be able to recognize the striking architecture or hear the pleasant hiss of the waterfall that cascades down the exterior of the building. The courthouse itself is so much more beautiful than the things that go on there. Perhaps we, the people of BC should aspire to hold our justice system accountable to live up to the ideals the building attempts to convey.

What's Wrong with
ARIZONA?

The Reason Rat Poison was Invented?

Though the House of Infamy was started to deal specifically with the Stonepile in James Bay and the aftermath of the Legislature Raids, now and then it is illustrative to show how other similar bodies also do almost anything other than represent the interests of those they are supposed to serve. That's why somtimes we discuss Stevie's sandbox in Ottawa and today the council chambers in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix where the erstwhile Winnipeg Jets play to thousands of empty seats and bleed money year after year.

From outside it would appear that the state of Arizona must be some kind of concentration camp for the mentally deranged of America. I mean here is a state where they are quite likely to turf John McLame, a man who has been THE Senator from Arizona since Mastodons roamed the petrified forest and recently chose Sarah Palin, God's personal representative to trailer trash, to be his VP nominee for being too........LIBERAL! Also this is a state where over 50% of the outstanding mortgages are underwater and people are walking away from their homes in droves. And then there are the little racist wrinkles as the state tries to deal with piles of dead Mexicans in the desert and live Mexicans swamping the financially strapped state by passing laws that are likely to be declared unconstitutional or cheering on Sheriff John Arpaio's personal war against the brown tide threatening to return the state to Mexico.

In spite of the fact that according to the Arizona Republic the city of Glendale is like most jurisdictions in the US Southwest in dire straits.

July 1 is also the start of Glendale's fiscal year. Glendale plans to cut its budget by $14.7 million through cost-cutting

I can only wonder how the taxpayers of Glendale feel about the fact that last night the city council voted (unanimously) to guarantee up to $25,000,000 of losses to the NHL to keep the Coyotes in town. Now call me old-fashioned, but if the weird folks of the greater Phoenix area gave that much of a crap about hockey or the Coyotes, I would think maybe they would buy tickets and like go to the games or something.

Gary "the rat" Bettman, (who probably couldn't even lace up a pair of skates, but if he could I would love to have a conference with him in the corner by the boards) seems obsessed with moving teams out of Canada to markets where people's only experience of ice is when they have cocktails, not neat.* Maybe Tampa Bay did okay the year they won the Stanley Cup with a collection of players who all would have been Habs in the old days, but except for the L.A. Kings, hockey is a non-starter south of the 49th, except for those places where people actually play hockey like Boston, Chicago, Detroit and the Twin Cities. L.A. is the exception because they have so many resident Canadians, and generally affluent ones, that they should have a contingent of Senators equal to Prince Edward Island.

Last night, in between periods of the tragic Canucks annual May 11 surrender to the Blackhawks, Scott Oakes (another ex-Winnipegger like yours truly) got the Ratman to re-iterate his stubborn mission to keep hockey teams where they don't belong. Read about it or see the interview here.

When it comes to the Coyotes, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says Winnipeg is an option but Phoenix is the priority.

Bettman spoke with Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Oake Tuesday night as the city council of Glendale, Ariz., voted in favour of guaranteeing the NHL up to $25 million US to keep the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena for the 2010-2011 season.

Bettman criticized the "hysteria" generated over reports that negotiations between Ice Edge Holdings — a group of Canadian and American business investors — over a potential arena lease deal had broken off.

The news sparked reports that a group led by Toronto-based billionaire David Thompson was in talks to bring the Coyotes back to Winnipeg. The Coyotes, then the Jets, left Manitoba's largest city in 1996.

According media reports, the NHL has already created an alternative schedule that includes a team based in Winnipeg. However, Bettman rejected claims that an official offer has been made.

All one can conclude is that in spite of the fact that no one (except some people with suction) cares in Phoenix if the Coyotes live or die, there must be folks with pull making out like Goldman Sachs in a bear market somehow. I'll still root for Steve Nash and the Suns to be Kobe Killers and beat the Lakers though.

Other than that, about all I can say is .......tonight

Go Habs!

*There is one other possiblity for the intransigence about moving a team to Hamilton or Winnipeg.

If either city was to get an NHL team then Toronto would want one too!

Give Me a Break
Hel(l)ena!

Oh Peter, the boys are all being so mean to me, sob!

Helena Guergis, the soap opera that threatens to overtake the Guiding Light for longevity, decided to break her silence yesterday by granting an interview to Peter Mansbridge that was televised on the National last night. I've rarely seen such a self serving performance and was almost embarrassed for Helena myself, even though I have absolutely NO sympathy for her or her slimey husband.

The whole perfomance should have been accompanied by the Eagles song "Lying Eyes."

City girls just seem to find out early,
How to open doors with just a smile.

In the course the interview, which I think Mr. Mansbridge conducted with dignity, she pulled out just about every trick pretty girls use to get what they want or to hide their lies. The tears almost on command, the quivering lips and chin and little girl pleading voice - they were all in evidence. But evidence of anything was completely lacking other than her repeated assertion that she was completely mystified why these terrible things were happening to her and her sterling husband Rahim.

The rumors, arrests, dropped drug/impaired charges, phoney letters to editors from aides to editors, and other questionable behaviour has been going on for months, but King Steve only banished her from his court a month and a day before the interview. Hell, John Les has been under investigation for how many years now, Basi-Virk is looking to become multi-generational, and Kash Heed was under investigation for almost a year before he stepped down the first time. By the way, she also has in common with all of the above that she didn't do anything wrong. I can't remember a politician EVER being accused of anything and saying, jeepers creepers you know I did that, and I'm sorry - until they are actually convicted and the mugshots from Maui are everywhere. Richard Nixon of course was not a crook and Kash Heed was exonerated already, no matter how compromised his exonerator may have been.

About the only thing that the apparently empty headed beauty (aren't they all?) could think of to explain why everybody was treating her so mean was that Stevie and Rahim don't like each other (mind you who could like either one of them?). I'm sure Stevie doesn't like Rahim, after all he did the almost impossible and unforgivable - he lost his seat in ALBERTA to the dreaded NDP.

One can't blame her for wanting to know the charges against her, but as far as lack of due process goes, it isn't as if she has been sentenced to jail or even charged with anything and when it comes to being in cabinet or even caucus, that is the PM's call at his pleasure (or in her case, displeasure).

At the CBC website commenter maxclover may have hit the nail on the head with:

Sounds like Guergis wants to know which of her tracks to cover.

I would like to suggest, since Ms. Guergis is so obviously in denial, or just using the time tested strategy of deny, deny, deny, all the way to the electric chair - that Peter Mansbridge invite the arresting officer that pulled over Rahim, on that infamous evening that cost him a $500 fine for stuff that would have most people walking for months if not in jail, for an interview. I have heard that the OPP detachment that pulled him over is not pleased with the way the case was handled and the implication that they screwed up. Helena has no idea how or why cocaine was found in Rahim's jacket pocket (and everybody in the pen is innocent). It is hard to even give a microgram of credibility in this day and age to anyone who doesn't reside in a monestary (and it seems weird stuff happens even there) who claims to have never seen or done drugs - even members of Harper's Taliban.

I would advise Helena to be patient, it has only been a month and there is so much sleaze and crime in Ottawa, Victoria, Fraserview and across Canada that it may take awhile for them to get around to her case. And then there is all the tasering, in custody beatings and killings and butt covering that the RCMP has to accomplish with only 24 hours in a day. But with the allegations and actual things that HAVE obviously occured, Stephen Harper would have to be an idiot (and Stevie is a lot of bad things, but not an idiot) to let her sit in his cabinet, or caucus unless and until matters are cleared up. The idea that she has NO IDEA what anything is about is LAUGHABLE.

We'll all be watching!

At the link above or here one can watch the entire interview.

What's wrong with
The Vancouver Sun?

Kirk LaPointe, the Sun's managing editor

Photograph by: Kirk LaPointe, Vancouver Sun

Most "normal" people tend to sweat when they have to lie. The exception to this are those sociopaths such as a certain white haired prevaricating adulterer with a predilection for wearing red mittens (to disguise the blood on his hands?)

Of course the Province (also owned by Canned Waste - or ? since it is up for sale due to bankruptcy isn't an alternative that one can go to for the truth. A correspondent sent me this - though I don't know its source - the message is clear.

The estimates of the size of the crowd ranged from what I would say was 4000+ to, in two cases, 10,000. I believe the latter estimate is too high but the lawn was jam packed as were the stairs leading up to the door of the Legislature. It was certainly in the thousands. I compared it to the rally over the Pitt River issue two years ago where the high school gym held over 1000 and can say yesterday’s crowd was at least 4 or 5 times larger!



It was an excited, happy noisy throng who listened to a number of speeches with great enthusiasm and who all came away with a vow to see this fight through to what must certainly be a successful conclusion.



The Vancouver Province reported on this in two short paragraphs on A28 saying that there were nearly 1000 people!



I really no longer know how to describe this rag except to say that it’s little wonder that they’re bankrupt. It’s sad to see this kind of coverage which so badly distorted the truth for so many who couldn’t make this trek themselves...



Calling numbers in a crowd any time is difficult so perhaps it should be left to Vicky Husband, a veteran environmentalist and activist, who holds an Order of Canada, who said it was the biggest environmental gathering that she had ever seen and very likely the biggest in BC history.

The people of British Columbia should be getting tired of being kept in the dark and fed mushroom fertilizer.

Assaulted by
Nonsense,
Part DUH!

Campbell Cabinet Material?

The parliamentary system of government that we inherited from the mother country requires a Loyal Opposition. The opposition wasn't meant to just try to obstruct the government, but to hold the government accountable to the people the legislative body is supposed to represent. In the case of the Campbell criminal regime seventy to eighty percent of the people eligible to vote DID NOT VOTE FOR THE Capo in Chief, Gordon Campbell or his party. Over half of the voters are so either lazy or disenchanted with the process that they didn't vote at all and of those that did, over half voted for ABC, or anybody but Campbell. I've heard estimates that as few as less than 10,000 votes re-directed in the appropriate ridings would have meant that Carole James would currently be premier of the province. At any rate, the results of last May's abortion of an election was hardly a ringing endorsement of the corporate-fascist dictatorship that we find ourselves suffering under.

After a week of media "concern trolling" over the special prosecutor flim-flam in the Kash and Karry Heed situation, Apologist in Chief for the Campbell regime Vaughn Palmer has weighed in to calm everyone down with Despite one spectacular failure, the special prosecutor system doesn't need a major overhaul. According to freelance PABBER Vaughn the special prosecutor system in BC has been wonderful except for this minor and unimportant glitch, which itself is irrelevant. I beg to differ.

This is the same system (and ironically the same "oh so" Special Prosecutor that decided that even though Ken Dobell and his many hats were in contravention of the lobbying regulations didn't merit any action in the so-called "public" interest. Is "public" another psuedonym for Gordon Campbell?

Then there was the infamous Bountiful musical special prosecutors case that has former AG StoneWally Oppal defending himself in civil court - which irony of ironies involved, among others, the same Terrence "go to guy" Robertson.

Then there is the whole issue of having the former law partner of the then AG Geoff Plante named special prosecutor in a case that at the very least is going to involve half of the cabinet at the time of the alleged crimes appearing as witnesses, although many feel they should be appearing a defendants.

The little list above is only what we know in a province that tends to ignore and/or actually hide even more news than it spins, if it isn't favorable to their idol Gordo the Greedy Campbell.

So some of the drivel Vaughn has shoveled up today is as follows.

The B.C. legislation for appointing special prosecutors independently operated without serious challenge through six premiers and two decades before a single failure this week called the system into question.

I've already dealt with how wrong this is just above.

Dozens of special prosecutors have been appointed over the years. Many were on the approved list under both the NDP and the B.C. Liberals. Some had to withdraw from handling specific cases, owing to possible conflicts. But there have been no major controversies involving either the branch or its choices for special prosecutors.

How could there be controversy when we are served by a media (sic) that thinks the only important issue is what color mittens the white haired prevaricator and adulterer in chief is wearing today?

Did Robertson perceive any conflict in taking the case at the outset of his appointment on Jan. 12? He did not.

Only later, after he decided who should be charged (Heed associates) and who should not be charged (Heed himself), did he change his mind about the significance of a $1,000 donation by his law firm to the very campaign he was investigating.

"I am not in a position, due to the conflict, to continue," he wrote in a letter to Gillen Tuesday of this week.

It is difficult to count the number of LIES in the statement above. For starters, Mr. Robertson himself has admitted that he knew about the donation to Heed's campaign going in. Second, he was assigned to look into the HEED CAMPAIGN SPECIFICALLY, not do some general overview of various campaigns in various ridings. How can a man intelligent enough to pass a bar exam (assuming he took it himself) take a few months to realize such an obvious real or apparent conflict - sorry I'm not buying, though being spring and all I could use some fertilizer, if you know what I mean.

Leonard Krog is a Dog,
                No Offense to canis familiaris!

The most disappointing part of the whole affair this morning is the reaction of the Loyal (to WHO?) Opposition to all this skullduggery. Our man in charge of holding the Justice Branch and Attorney General accountable has once again failed all the people of BC, except for Gordon Campbell and his clique of bandits.

Was it a problem that the special prosecutor in the BC Rail case made a donation to the Liberals? No, said MLA Leonard Krog, who is himself a lawyer and the NDP critic for the ministry of the attorney-general.

Unfortunately this is nothing new for our crusader for Justice Krog the Dog from Nanaimo. Last July when we were approaching the fifth anniversary date (July 14, 2009) of the still secret BC Rail Deal Heist, many of us wrote to Mr. Krog to remind him of all the perks that would slip from the public trust on that date, and of course we didn't even get the courtesy of a reply telling us that he had deleted it UNREAD. Only on the day itself, when the dirty deed was done did he issue a lily livered, weak kneed form letter to SOME of the folks who had asked for him to step up, I guess to give the appearance that he was deserving of the big bucks and gold plated pension he gets from us.

Go peruse the archives for July last year at BC Mary's blog The Legislature Raids for lots more on this quisling action by our justice critic if you want to gain some perspective on his current sell-out. A couple weeks after our great loss of what were public lands, after some time to ruminate on the situation Mary published a great piece titled BC Rail: a job for a warrior.

Recently, people in British Columbia stood up, ready to face the threat of the BCR-CN deal's 5th anniversary triggering more benefits to CN to be taken from what was once our BCRail. Citizens were seeking simple justice. We thought that the Opposition Justice Critic would understand that, and invited him to be our guide and advisor.

We asked our OJC to demand that government "Show us the deal", and wondered if "an injunction, or other means" could stop the deal until the implications are clear. Rumours say that there is an option for re-possession of the BC Railway "for cause" and that cause does exist. That priceless BCR lands would slide into CN hands as a gift on the 5th anniversary. That certain BCRail lines would be abandoned leaving communities stranded. And more.

These are not minor concerns.

So what happened? Does British Columbia have this heroic warrior-figure who leaps into action, defending the people against injustice? No.

Did citizens spontaneously rise up to write and telephone him? Yes, they did. I wrote 3 times, myself.

Did the Opposition Justice Critic take notice? Maybe. I was told that this blog is read "with respect" in Opposition quarters. But who knows?

Did the OJC offer his advice? his legal opinion? helpful information? his personal guidance? No, he did not. It was as if his face was turned away from us.

Was there any response at all? From the OJC, no. From his assistants, yes.

His assistants prepared an identical form letter which was emailed to most (not all) of us, on July 13, 2009. Sly. By then, it was too late to head off the windfall benefits to CN triggered by the 5th anniversary of the deal. The Opposition's explanation, over the OJC's printed signature, was as follows:

* An injunction is too expensive. (Ignore the fact that Maude Barlow, for The Council of Canadians, is seeking an injunction this week to protect a water source. And B.C.'s Opposition Justice Critic can't even discuss the topic of lands, railway lines, communities, and the public good?)

* We would have no "standing" before the court for an injunction. (We, the previous owners of BCRail, would have no "standing"??)

* No mention was made of "by other means" which we believed a lawyer would know about. It was an embarrassing list of excuses for doing nothing, sent to us the day before it was possible to do anything.

Which maybe wouldn't be as bad, if our Opposition Justice Critic hadn't held a Vancouver press conference the next day ... the next day being the 5th anniversary which the citizens themselves had called "BCRail Day".

His press conference gave a public impression that he believed what we believed: that further outrageous benefits would roll out of the secret BCR-CN agreement and into the pockets of CN, without the people knowing.

But was he agreeing that the deal should be stopped? No. So why did he set up a press conference for July 14, 2009?

The purpose of that press conference was, I believe, to make it easy for Big Media in Vancouver to quote him as being "aware" of the 5th anniversary and its ramifications, to pretend that he was leading this rally ... and to reassure the Campbell Government that he certainly wasn't about to rock the boat. He was saying, in my view, "Gordo's Gang will lose the next election and I want to be premier. So trust me. This is my promise: if I'm premier of BC, nothing will change." Message received.

Go read the whole piece and better yet, go back to her posts leading up to the day of Krog's betrayal. It's bad enough that we have Gordo and his gangsters stealing everything in sight, but when those who are supposed to be on OUR side, appear to be accomplices, we are getting to the point where discourse and votes seem useless and other tools, like pitchforks at the least seem to be required.

Assaulted by
Nonsense!

When I was younger, they hadn't invented the internet, hell, even computers were new, rare and esoteric and you had to know how to program to even use one. But we had access to actual news. We could pick up the old Vancouver Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle (ah an old fav of mine - Herb Caen and Ralph Gleason) or we could check up on what Woodward and Bernstein were revealing that day about Watergate in the Washington Post.

In the years since though the Post has become a stenographer pool for the Republican Party, the New York Times wins Pulitzer Prizes thanks to Judith Miller wearing out kneepads and spinning fiction to support the warmongers in the Bush Administration and the Vancouver Sun has become a privatized contractor to Gordon Campbell's Public Affairs Bureau and promo flyer for the real estate industry and car dealers of BC.

If we turn on the TeeVee, instead of Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, or Dan Rather, we get Katie Couric, Bill not so Good or worse yet Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck. Don't even mention radio and creatures the likes of the Cluffmaster or Rusty Limpballs the Pillhead that keeps promising to leave America if certain things happen like the passage of Obamacare - and then WON'T!

Fellow Blogger Norm Farrell sums up the Global TeeVee (no)News operation this way.

Global TV BC already broadcasts little hard news, despite almost 40 hours of broadcasts labeled news each week. Removing duplications, commercials, promos, sports, weather, human interest and other soft news leaves less than 90 minutes a week of hard news that includes the five Ws: who, what, when, where, why. And, that's during a busy week for the news department.

And I think Norm is being to kind with the 90 minutes per week estimate - the only thing you can generally trust at Global BC is the scores from Canucks games - everything else is either ignored or spun beyond recognition.

Either we have Keith Baldrey pooh poohing almost anything as not really important after all, or we are treated to Vaughn Palmer showing off his lack of mathematical skills as he explains why he can't decide if Kash Heed is the third or fourth or third AND fourth Solicitor-General appointed in the last little while in BC under the corrupt Campbell regime. It doesn't do much for BC news, but in the USA one is better informed by watching the Daily Show with John Stewart than the major networks, CNN and Faux, combined.

On their website Canwest brags about having 1,200 journalists deployed across the nation. I wonder where they hide them and what they do - maybe a quarter of them labor in the basement of the Ledge for the PAB and read my blog. Often these so called journalists seem little more than "concern trolls" as in Ian Mulgrew, who today figures that we are stuck with Terrence Robertson's findings in the Kash Heed affair because of.....just wait.....the Terrence Roberson precedent. Terrence Robinson was also the THIRD special prosecutor in the Bountiful polygamy case that finally came up with the findings that Wally Oppal was looking for. In Special-prosecutor system badly damaged by solicitor-general affair, Mr. Mulgrew demonstrates that the only logic in his cubicle or office is in the computer chip running his word processor.

Unfortunately, it may be very difficult to disturb Robertson's recommendations.

In the polygamy case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein suggested in her ruling that the government could not go to a second special prosecutor if it didn't like the findings of a first:

"The harm in the appointment of successive special prosecutors is that it undermines the administration of justice by leaving the perception, if not the reality, of political interference and of an oppressive or unfair prosecution."

She said Robertson's appointment in the polygamy case was unlawful and he had no power to recommend charges -- the initial special prosecutor's decision was final.

It's hard to see how this case is different.

Okay Mr. Mulgrew, this is how it is different, please pay attention. In the Bountiful case Wally Oppal was obviously going to keep appointing a new prosecutor until he got the finding he wanted, even if he had to reach out to the last para-legal in the country to get his way. There was nothing smelly about Peck or Daoust, the first two SPs in the case, other than the fact Wally didn't like their findings.

In this case it seems that Mr. Robertson should not have been in the postion to start with so his findings are of no probative value - or of no more worth than yours or mine, or maybe even less than yours or mine. It was Robertson himself who was in at least an apparent conflict of interest and in my opinion an ACTUAL conflict.

Though a review of how Robertson exercised his discretion might be well-meaning, I think Justice Stromberg-Stein's ruling prevents meddling with it.

I disagree, as I explained above.

The panoply of prosecutorial independence that Robertson has so badly tarnished may ironically be the shield that renders his recommendations untouchable.

Yes Ian, it would be ironic, because it DEFIES logic!

And let us not forget that Terrence Robertson was also the go to guy when it was necessary for a special prosecutor to find that charging Ken Dobell with violating lobbying rules wouldn't be in the "public interest," despite the implication that he had actually violated the legislation.

Then there is the bandied about fact that William Berardino FOR SURE isn't in a conflict of interest in the Basi-Virk case, even though he made a significant donation to the Liberal Party of BC AFTER taking on the case, not to mention being the former law partner of both the current AG Geoff Plante and man of many hats Allan Seckel. But according to Wild Bill, he got an opinion from former Justice Thomas Berger that everything was cool and he wasn't in conflict - at least regarding the donation. However, Thomas Berger stepped down from the bench almost thirty years ago and today is just a lawyer, albeit a highly esteemed and respected one.

But no matter how respected Mr. Berger may be, his opinion is just that, and I could retain my own counsel or consult an attorney friend for an opinion that could possibly be different. Until it goes to court, an opinion is just that, an opinion. Of course if Mr. Berger had been commissioned to conduct an "inquiry" into the issue, his opinion at the end of that might actually have weight, depending on the parameters of the inquiry, of course. But in what passes for media in this province that "due process" forgot, this sort of generalization passes for fact.

Breaking News

According to the Times-Colonist an hour or two ago:

Peter Wilson, a senior Vancouver lawyer, has been appointed as independent special prosecutor into alleged offences involving the campaign office of Kash Heed, the Criminal Justice Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General today.

So I imagine, just to level the playing field that Mr. Wilson, the new oh so Special Prosecutor has probably donated $100,000 dollars to the NDP, Green or Marijuana Party. I imagine the Elections BC database will be humming tonight. (Maybe there are six lawyers in BC named Peter Wilson, not an uncommon name after all, and it will be difficult to pin this one down as far as political ties without capturing him and subjecting him to harsh interrogation - or as my uncle Dick Cheney like to say "resorting to the darkside.")