Robin Mathews
Lays it Out!

An Expert Summary of the BC Rail Scandal Fiasco -
What's Left Out. (October 27, 2010)

My friend Bill Tieleman has delivered the piece on
the Basi, Virk, and Basi trial that we’ve been waiting for.
Acknowledged as one of the best-informed observers watching and
prying into the meaning of the BC Rail Scandal, Bill Tieleman’s
wisdom needs to be studied by everyone who cares about British
Columbia. His October 26 article, “Hung Out To Dry” is one of the
best summary articles written to date.

But its flaws are dazzling.

Mr. Tieleman (like all the mainstream press and
media people) studiously avoids a few absolutely central matters –
and the question must ring through anybody’s mind: Why? Why?

Hitting the nail squarely on the head, he writes
that former “BC Liberal ministerial aides Basi and Virk do not
deserve to spend a single day under house arrest, let alone the two
years less a day they were sentenced to last week under a guilty plea
bargain agreement….” They were, he says, “Hung Out to Dry”.

And then he steps away from his statement and turns
to the huge, calamitous, devious doings of Gordon Campbell and
associates.

Nowhere does Mr. Tieleman say there is sound legal
basis to exempt the two men from any charges whatsoever. Under
perfect conditions there may have been reason to charge all three men
– which he does not acknowledge. And, now we’ll never know - a
situation, itself, which creates a gigantic slander of the men.

And – humourously (as well as unfortunately) –
Mr. Tieleman uses Shakespeare’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (two
minor figures in the play HAMLET) as (innocent) parallels to
(innocent) Basi and Virk. Except Mr. Tieleman seems to forget
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are, in effect, hired by the villain of
the play, Claudius, knowingly to accompany Hamlet to England with a
secret letter in their possession instructing Hamlet’s future hosts
to murder him! Nice guys.

The sound basis for disallowing any charges
(which Mr. Tieleman and all the other mainstream press and media
people refuse to mention) is plain. In December 2003, before the
search warrant raids on the legislature offices of Dave Basi and Bob
Virk only (not on any of the offices of the people who gave the two
men orders), a Special Prosecutor was named.

In such a case in which two men (instruments of
government) were to have their offices raided and then, a year later,
were to be charged, the legislation covering the appointment of
Special Prosecutors is unequivocal: the Special Prosecutor must be
visibly independent and unbiased. He or she must have no connection
whatever with the accused. He or she must not have even the potential
to be perceived as being biased.

He or she must have no connection whatever with
elected government officials, civil servants, police or like
persons. And in this case – compellingly – in which the cabinet is
believed to have been deeply involved in the corrupt transfer of BC
Rail to the CNR, the Special Prosecutor should have been chosen from
the 11,000 lawyers in B.C. so that he or she was obviously and
unequivocally clear of any attachment to interested government figures.

But the appointed person, William Berardino QC, had
been for seven years partner and colleague (and, one assumes, friend)
of Geoff Plant, Attorney General in the ministry which appointed him,
directly linked through membership in cabinet to Gordon Campbell and
all senior operatives in the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR.
William Berardino had been, as well, eleven years partner and
colleague (and, one assumes, friend) of the Deputy Minister in that
same ministry, Allan Seckel.

That was enough to rule out Mr. Berardino,
categorically. But then in the Spring of 2007, Gordon Campbell
entered the pre-trial process, dissolved the working protocol to vet
cabinet documents sought by the Defence counsel, and replaced it with
Allan Seckel, then Deputy Attorney General. Mr. Seckel, Gordon
Campbell said, would consult with the Special Prosecutor, William
Berardino. Mr. Seckel and Mr. Berardino had been partners and
colleagues in private practice for eleven years. Mr. Seckel had
worked on the election campaign of Geoff Plant who became Attorney
General, and not long after that Allan Seckel was appointed Deputy
Attorney General.

The action of Gordon Campbell – entering the
judicial process – stank to high heaven, and underscored the mess
“the Crown” was in.

The Special Prosecutor (1) in the Basi, Virk, and
Basi case was wrongfully appointed in violation of the legislation
governing appointment. (2) Therefore, he could not act. (3) If he
were to act, as he did in the case, the trial had to be illegitimate
– and it was. (4) Since it was illegitimate, the charges which he
organized and placed against the three accused were without legal
force. (5) All of the accused, all three, were, therefore, subjected
to a pre-trial and trial process that was improper and without
validity. (6) And so Basi and Virk “do not deserve to spend a single
day under house arrest, let alone the two years less a day they were
sentenced to last week under a guilty plea bargain agreement ….”

Why won’t Bill Tieleman and the other writers for
the mainstream press and media point that out? It provides
indisputable proof of Mr. Tieleman’s main point.

The whole process from the beginning has - it is
estimated – cost nearly 20 million dollars … almost all of it without
legitimacy because the Special Prosecutor was wrongfully appointed.

My friend Bill Tieleman doesn’t fill in the
canvas. He – and the whole corps of Mainstream Press and Media
people - ignore the fact that the assistant Deputy Attorney General,
the Attorney General, the Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice
of the B.C. Supreme Court, the government appointed Reviewer of the
Special Prosecutor appointment system, Stephen Owen, and the
investigator for the Canadian Judicial Council - Chief Justice of the
Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench - ALL lied, ducked out, equivocated,
made empty excuses, or refused altogether to acknowledge the fact of
William Berardino’s wrongful appointment.

All of the people from the Mainstream Press and
Media refuse even to refer to the fact that the presiding judge,
Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie, was fully informed that the
Special Prosecutor was wrongfully in the courtroom … and she would do
nothing whatever to inform the jury of the fact or to remedy the
situation.

Had the Mainstream Press and Media done their
work fairly on that matter, the whole course of the trial in the last
six months might have been completely different … and much, much
better as far as achieving some measure of justice is concerned. The
Mainstream Press and Media – many observers, I am sure believe -
constitute a major part of the sell-out of justice in the BC Rail
Scandal and the matters involving the three accused men. Their
coverage of the Basi,Virk, and Basi case has been obscene.

There are those who say the role of the
Mainstream Press and Media at the present time is to work for Private
Corporate Capital and to sell out the people of the country. That
seems to be what happened here.

Bill Tieleman is correct in his headline that
says: “Media quick to close the book”. He suggests they closed it
after the trial. They closed it long before the end of the trial, as
I have just shown. Moreover, instead of challenging the police
investigation from the start of the pre-trial hearings four years ago
… the press equivocated, as Mr. Tieleman does in his expert summary.
Even now, he will only write about “the astonishing disregard for
good judgement repeatedly demonstrated by the RCMP”.

The more than three years of pre-trial hearings,
I insist, gave every indication that there should have been a deep
and total RCMP investigation of the major actors in the corrupt
transfer of BC Rail to the CNR – up to and including Gordon Campbell.
I asked RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass for that investigation …
and he refused.

There still should be that investigation– and the
Mainstream Press and Media refuse to say so. They fail … and fail …
and fail.

The pre-trial hearings, I believe, revealed the
RCMP stalling, delaying, shadow-boxing, giving every indication the
Force was attempting to obstruct the process. I believe that would be
the conclusion of any reasonable and prudent British Columbian
attending.

The aborted “trial” of the three men, which
followed, revealed key actors who hardly dared answer a single direct
question. Martyn Brown and Brian Kenning looked so bad … I believe …
desperation fell upon the Campbell group. I believe that group
decided they had to do almost anything to close up the trial. We know
what happened….

It must be said … and not a single member of the
Mainstream Press and Media will say it. The actions of the RCMP in
the whole matter of the BC Rail Scandal give the appearance – I
believe that would be the conclusion of any reasonable British
Columbian who observed the legal process – of being devoted to
covering-up for the major actors in the corrupt transfer of BC Rail
to the CNR, to confusing the real sequence of events and the scope of
wrong-doing, to acting on behalf of highly suspect persons, and to co-
operating in the concentration upon certain allegations against the
three men accused.

Bill Tieleman underscores the dubiousness of the trial by
emphasizing the strange set of events when then-Finance Minister Gary
Collins met Dwight Johnson and Pat Broe from bidder OmniTRAX at the
famous Villa del Lupo restaurant in Vancouver in December of 2003.
Mr. Tieleman points to the offer of a “consolation prize” to OmniTRAX
for staying in the bidding process for BC Rail. The reference is
contained in the “statement of facts” which the accused agreed to
that forms the basis of their reduced conviction. The reference to
the “consolation prize” is there in the statement, it seems,
specifically so that the accused can sign a statement exempting Gary
Collins from any part in offering it.

What Mr. Tieleman doesn’t say is Defence argued in pre-trial
hearings that Gary Collins was under “investigation”, and that
investigation (after the December 12 meeting at Villa del Lupo) was
dropped, and that there is no available record of an order to end
investigation. As I remember, the presiding judge accepted those
allegations by Defence as reasonable and said there must be record of
the termination of the investigation of Gary Collins … somewhere. If
so, it has never seen the light of day.

An investigation of top government figures in the corrupt
transfer of BC Rail to the CNR appears to have been begun … and
closed down sharply. Every representative of the Mainstream Press
and Media should be on their hind legs demanding that investigation
be re-opened and pursued to the last tiny shred of evidence.

Okay, Mr. Tieleman, over to you and the others in the
Mainstream Press and Media.

I Coulda
Told Ya So!

Back around the end of March, this year, I wrote the following after yet another pre-trial meeting under the firm hand of Annie-Mack and the Publication Ban which was in effect 24/7 at this time no jury having been seated as yet, if I recall correctly. I also may have published this or part of it at the time in some form, like perhaps at BC Mary's. I'm not claiming any clairvoyant powers, though when I came across this while organizing files on my laptop, it crossed my mind that maybe I have some. Or more likely it has just been so obvious for years now that the entire BC Rail Corruption Trial was merely a sham and would never lead to an assignment of Guilt for the truly guilty parties.

Written by kootcoot March 30, 2010

I would suggest that that if this ban is interpreted the way the forces of Gordo would like to hope, this may be what happened yesterday. Here is the Headline and article that can only be published by say the Portland Oregonian, whose reporter would then be banned from the court.

Portland Oregonian,
April 1, 2010

BC Rail Trial Thrown Out

Crown Prosecutor Wild Bill Berardino and defence lawyers for Basi, Virk and Basi and Justice Anna Mackenzie have agreed to dismiss charges against the defendents, pay all their costs to date, including damages for lost income and damage to their sterling reputation as public servants. Unfortunately none of this information can be shared with the victims of the theft of BC Rail, the citizens of British Columbia due to a draconian publication ban issued by replacement justice Anne Mackenzie that disallows publication of anything according to the following conditions "there shall be no publication in any document or broadcast or transmission of any evidence, submissions, rulings or Reasons for Judgment given in these proceedings in the absence of the jury until the jury renders its verdict"

Since jury selection hasn't even begun after six years of obfuscation and possible evidence tampering, it will be illegal to tell the citizens of BC about this decision. However thanks to the Public Affairs Bureau (the taxpayer supported PR firm for the corrupt Gordon Campbell Crime Family) and the complicit corporate monopoly Lamestream Media in British Columbia, the average citizen thinks this case was resolved years ago already.

I don't know if I can be charged for Contempt of Court. But I will readily admit that I DO hold this court in the highest (or lowest) CONTEMPT!

Hail Mary Week - Monday


Later this morning Gordo the CEO is going to announce a cabinet shuffle or re-organization or re-structuring. Wednesday of course he will use our tax-payer bought time at the sycophantic PR Firm of the Airwaves - Global, to tell us something and word has it that he will available for many, many, interviews on Thursday - obviously Bill Boring, Cluck Cluck Clark and Puff Daddy Clueless Cluff will be busy shoveling the poop.

If I were a Liberal MLA, excuse me while I barf, I would be looking for the door and and maybe a lawyer, rather than a seat at the cabinet table of the Campbell Crime Family.

Pondering Pond Scum

Having a Scrum with some Scum - Dave Basi

David Basi is scum, and I have NO sympathy for him or his family, which apparently (though the MSM would have hidden this from you forever if not for BC Mary) includes his presently jailed cousin, who is taking a society imposed break from his normal role supplying Vancouver Island with Cocaine. Of course this is exactly the type of individual one would expect a criminal organization like the Campbell Crime Family to appoint to be the top aide to the Finance Minister. Of course now that we taxpayers have, against our will (mine anyway), been coerced into coughing up six million dollars of hush money for the defense of Basi and Virk, to take seven years to plead guilty, we may never find out why Mr. Basi was receiving calls from his cuz the dope dealer regularly at his desk in OUR legislature. Or maybe that RCMP official who stated that organized crime had infiltrated all levels of our government shortly after the raid on the legislature wasn't exaggerating at all - it is just that we peons will never get to find out what he was talking about.

As it stands, the province (us) has agreed to cough up what amounts to one tenth of the amount that the province contributes annually to Legal Aid for these two "poor" men, and according to idiots like Ding Dong DeJong, merely because it would be too difficult to collect anything from Basi and Virk. I think everybody knows it would be too impossible to shut up Basi and Virk unless they were taken care of. While we are on the subject of how poverty stricken poor Dave and Bobby are, consider some information disclosed by the Globe and Mail:

At first glance, it appears Mr. Basi is a man of property with significant resources to contribute to at least a sizeable portion of the cost of his legal fees.

Mr. Basi, his wife Inderjit and mother Sukhbir had four houses in Victoria in 2003 that were valued at $1.2-million, according to media reports after the raid on the legislature.

A year later, in March, 2004, the media reported that Mr. Basi bought five acres near Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island. Five months after that, Mr. Basi and his wife bought a $279,000 house in Esquimalt, the media reported.

Jeepers, it must be tough getting fired from your job and charged with various felonies - oh yeah honey, let's buy some acerage at Shawnigan Lake and another house, after all we only own four already, and the grow show in the one did get busted, after all.

The entire sale of BC Rail has stunk from the get go and the recently folded BC Rail Corruption Trial was a farce from start to finish - mainly a way to avoid answering questions about the BC Rail Sale for seven years while the BC liaRs could get re-elected twice. Now that the trial has served its purpose and Gordon Campbell is toast anyway, the game plan seems to be, send Dave and Bobby home, look after them of course and with the help of the drones in the sorry excuse for a press in BC convince everyone to move along, there never was anything here.

The best analysis from an Ian who was actually in the courtroom (as opposed to the pompous and "accredited" Ian Mulgrew)during some of the then covered by Publication Ban wrangling can be found in Why the BC Rail deal sucks. And why you should care by Ian Reid at his blog the Real Story. In this piece Mr. Reid explains how a closed door, publication ban (at the time) protected wranglefest showed that Wild Bill Berardino (who everyday appears more and more to have been representing Gordon Campbell and the BC liaR cabinet, rather than the people of British Columbia) lost his contention that evidence of "investigative bias" could not be introduced. Mr. Reid makes a compelling case that this set-back for Wild Bill "set the stage for the deal consummated Monday morning, the deal that paid off the defendants and stopped the trial."

A week later, with the jury back, Michael Bolton got up and asked Martyn Brown about Kelly Reichart and Kevin de Bruyckere. The defence won the closed door argument about admissibility. The Special Prosecutor lost.

That meant the way was clear for the defence to question Gary Collins, even Gordon Campbell amongst others, about these issues. The way was clear to ask about Reichart and deBruyckere and about the RCMP steering the investigation away from Gary Collins. More importantly, the way was clear to introduce evidence supporting the claim.

We know that there are wiretaps of Collins. We know he was a subject of the investigation in 2003. Then he wasn’t. We know that he was to be questioned over Christmas of 2003 then he wasn’t. We don’t know why.

Are there wiretaps of Reichart and Collins? Is there an RCMP report regarding the deBruyckere and Reichart relationship? What about the evidence the RCMP gathered at the Villa Del Lupo meeting with Omnitrax? What was it that the defence wanted to ask Gary Collins? What evidence did they have to support their questions?

There’s no doubt they had some. Justice Elizabeth Bennett ruled that much of what the defence had received from the government was relevant to the case. Some went directly to the question of innocence.

With the end of Brian Kennings pitiful testimony, Gary Collins was next on the stand. The prosecution knew when they lost the admissability argument in June that this was going to be a difficult moment. And in a two-week period leading up to the October 18 trial resumption they lowered their plea bargain offer from four years in federal prison to two years of house arrest with lots of allowances, while the government kicked in $6million and a non-disclosure agreement to sweeten the deal.

Now according to a radio station and a show hosted by a guy who sleeps with a PABsteress, whose call letters or link I will not even publish because I've taken a vow to quit publishing instructions for how to find sewage, garbage and lies, there IS NO non-disclosure agreement. According to this regular shill and enabler for the Campbelloids:

Attorney-General Mike de Jong says the two men who pleaded guilty to breach of trust charges in the BC Rail corruption case are free to talk to the media.

Mike de Jong is flatly denying a report that Dave Basi and Bobby Virk were made to sign a non-disclosure agreement.


He says "..absolutely not--there is no such provision".

Mind you the "big time" media in BeeCee is notoriously lax in details like fact checking or the whole issue of truth - unlike those consipacy theorist bloggers. You'd think with actual paid staff and all that the MSM could do a better job, but then I guess you would have to assume they wanted to do a better job. They aren't a "news" organization, they are a public relations firm, similiar to the Public Affairs Bureau, except that they are paid for by advertising instead of tax dollars.

In BeeCee even the News is REDACTED

I've decided on a new policy of not linking to the normal biased drivel/crap put out by Gordon Campbell's butt lickers at the Sun, Times-Colonist, Province and elsewhere unless they are actually saying something that makes sense and isn't trying to either ignore the truth or spin it out of recognition. But for this one I will give the link because this takes censoring the news to excitiing new levels. First here is the summary/link at Google News this morning:

Pony up, partyThe Province - Dave Diether - ?5 hours ago?
Because misters Basi and Virk were hired into government as Liberal political appointees, why not require the ...

So I went there and this is what I found. (The large red letters are added by me since it may be difficult to read the same words in the top left hand corner of the page that were the whole article in the Province.

Pot meet
Kettle!

Props to Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Irony:
Campbell Calls Basi and Virk Criminals!

Today Gordon Muir Campbell the White Haired Prevaricating Adulterer crawled out from whatever rock he hides under to plot his assault on the people of British Columbia to explain to the sheeple what yesterday's verdict in the Basi-Virk BC Rail Corruption Trial really means. I've had the distinct nauseating experience of hearing his creepy venal voice on the CBC too many times already.

I think the questions always are around what those two individuals did and whether or not they acted criminally. We know today that they did act criminally," he said.

Campbell called Basi and Virk criminals who are to blame for the costly trial.

"They've spent the last seven years claiming to be innocent when they knew they were guilty, costing taxpayers literally millions of dollars, when they they knew they were guilty," said Campbell.

Rob Shaw at the Times-Colonial WaterCarrier based in Mob Central (Victoria) pointed out that Mr. Campbell echoed his Attorney General Ding Dong DeJong that a public inquiry would not be necessary and was fine with stiffing the taxpayers for the $20 million plus cost of the whole farce, including the defense costs incurred by the GUILTY Dave Basi and Bob Virk. This is the same Gordon Campbell (ostensibly) that back in the 1990's he insisted that if found guilty Glen Clark would be expected to pay for his own defense.

The premier defended the decision, despite criticism that, when he was opposition leader in the 1990s, he demanded former NDP premier Glen Clark repay legal fees related to corruption charges.

Mr. Creep then went on to add insult to injury with:

Campbell also scoffed at Basi’s public comments following the court decision Monday in which he complained about the toll the court case had taken on his family.

“When I heard them concerned about the impacts of this on their families, there’s only two individuals that had impact on their families, that was Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk,” said Campbell.

“They knew they were guilty. They dragged their families through this for seven years. The taxpayers have paid millions of dollars towards this for seven years. They are two criminals who are now paying their price.”

The slime posing as press in British Columbia are all busy trying to convince the public that now that Basi and Virk have been bought off, all is well and Gordo and Gang can continue their pillaging of the province. Surprisingly one of the only sane commentaries on the whole thing in the last two days in the Lamestream Press was Brian Hutchinson in of all places the National Post.

Judge MacKenzie continued with her sentencing remarks. “I accept that [Basi and Virk] are remorseful,” she said.

For their crimes? For interfering illegally with an already-controversial sale of sensitive provincial assets? For triggering a interminable, hugely expensive criminal and judicial process? For their defence strategy, reliant on rumours, innuendo, and one or two malleable members of the press whom they used to promote an agenda of obfuscation outside the courts?

Remorseful? Neither of the men expressed the sentiment. Given an opportunity to speak to the court yesterday, both passed. Later, when all was said and done and the courtroom had almost emptied, they laughed.

But, then I guess a little dissing from Habitual Liar Gordon Campbell and being forced to stay home with your family is easy enough to be happy about, WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA BE LOOKED AFTER! After all, you've shielded the government for seven years and two elections, six million dollars ain't even enough for doing that, and I'm sure there are many other benefits, the kind that make it possible to live in a nice house and raise a family WITHOUT A JOB!

Travesty
of (in)Justice

Province of British Columbia RAILROADED
by (in)JUSTICE SYSTEM!

This morning yielded an immediately shocking denouement of the BC Rail Corruption Trial - shocking at first, but hardly unexpected after all the questionable delays, obstruction of justice and blatant bias from the bench that has been displayed in this case for the last seven years or so. Well, the delays, and obstruction of justice has been there from the start, but the blatant bias from the bench only began to be evident with the replacement of the apparently too even-handed Elizabeth Bennett with Campbell functionary Anne MacKenzie.

First, not surprisingly, on the intertubz with the news was Gary Mason, who it would seem had a heads up and had his story pre-written. Or maybe he isn't a complete idiot and was merely prepared for this eventuality in a similiar fashion to the way newspapers have prominent people's obituraries on file, just waiting for the occasion to publish. After the reformed sports writer's (Mason) piece hit the toobz from the Globe and Mail, others like the Vancouver Stun and Winnipeg Free Press and even the Colonial Water-Carrier from Victoria chipped in with shorter and ofter error ridden pieces - anxious to share the news that their allies in the Campbell Crime Family appear to have dodged a bullet that has been heading their way for years.

Some highlights (or more appropriately lowlights) of the preliminary coverage are:

From the Winnipeg Free Press:

"Dave Basi and Virk were accused of fraud and breach of trust for allegedly leaking secrets surrounding the $1 billion sale of BC Rail to OmniTrax."

This appears at first to be just more Lamestream Media absence of fact checking, as one could be forgiven if they intepreted this sentence to mean that Omnitrax now owns what used to be BC Rail. But upon second or third reading it is clear that it is a matter of shoddy, careless grammar and syntax. Of course according to the flunkies of the "real" media, only we bloggers are guilty of lack of fact checking or poor usage of language - YEAH.......RIGHT!

Meanwhile the Colonial Campbell Crime Family Water Carrier from Victoria gets close to what this is really all about with:

Davi Basi was ministerial aide to Finance Minister Gary Collins and Virk was ministerial assistant to Transport Minister Judith Reid. Aneal Basi was a low-level political aide in the transportation ministry.

The guilty pleas were unexpected, abruptly ending the drawn-out case that was due to hear testimony from Collins who left government several years ago to work for private industry. The trial, which began last May, was expected to continue until next March.

Of course the man who so far seems to have the inside track on the info, Gary Mason(according to some reports Wild Bill Berardino is still considering sentencing recommendations, while according to Gary Mason, it's a done deal) goes even more in the direction of the real forces at work with:

The astonishing development comes on the eve of what was expected to be explosive testimony by former finance minister Gary Collins. Mr. Collins was going to be the first of several high-profile political figures who were scheduled to take the stand in this case. The defence had hinted there was a chance Premier Gordon Campbell was going to be called to testify, along with a long list of politicians past and present.

Also according to Gary, Dave Basi and Bobby Virk won't face any jail time.

Defendants Dave Basi and Bob Virk agreed to change their plea to guilty on a reduced number of charges. The deal will allow the pair to avoid jail time but they will be placed under house arrest.

Well now that the pretend trial that has eaten up years and millions of dollars is over and the fix that was in from the start has become visible as even almost useless Leonard Krog has pointed out - THE CAMPBELL GOVERNMENT CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SALE/LEASE/GIVEAWAY OF BC RAIL, SINCE IT IS NO LONGER BEFORE THE COURTS.

A person with a tendency to dream they were in a democracy with a genuine justice system might even suggest that now that this distraction is out of the way the REAL CULPRITS who are guilty of betrayal of the public trust be charged. More likely will be another Kabuki performance of a "public inquiry" (results of which need not be made public) and I'm betting on the co-commisioners of inquiry being named as Judith Reid and Gary "Ferret" Collins - after all, they're not busy like all the former solicitor-generals, back benchers trying to grow hair or various oh so special prosecutors.

I can't wait to hear what Robin Mathews has to say about this affront to the people of British Columbia.

Emperor Iggy Hexes
(not so) Little Stevie!

Poor (not so) Little Stevie, who according to (not so) Loose Cannon Larry (HarperCon Ministrator of Foreign Bad Relations) and former media whore turned polical hack Peter Kent (formerly in the employ of the Canned Wasteland Media Brothel) had his chair at the adult table in the United Nations kicked out from under him by mean, mean Iggy the King of the World. How pathetic for these wankers and losers posing as statesmen and a government to blame the Leader of the Opposition for poisoning the world against Canada.

For starters, I don't feel that it was Canada that was rejected yesterday when smaller and even more indebted Portugal ate Canada's lunch in the second vote for a seat at the Security Council. As Dave so cogently points out over at the Galloping Beaver this was entirely a rejection of Steven Harper and his Christian Taliban, anti-environmental and pro-Corporate robber baron policies and the way they effect the rest of the world. In the Day the World Rejected Steven Harper Dave points out:

He and his minions can make any effort they like to spread false blame for their own singular failure on Tuesday. The fact is, this is personal.

The world actually still likes Canada; they don't like Stephen Harper.

The global community made a decision. They decided that Stephen Harper was someone they would rather not have at the table. It was not about Canada - it was about him and his reckless foreign policy.

Not to mention that well off in the bushes the world policeman we all love to hate was shaking his head, no. In a blind ballot the US would feel secure in voting against Canada assuming its traditional once per decade role on the planet's supervisory panel. But it isn't the country they object to - it's the leader of Canada's government who is all too ready to usurp democracy to save his own skin. The US had eight years of a leader who treated democracy as a joke. Why would they allow a junior version of that a place at the global table?

Over at Creekside the always concise and to the point Alison resorts to an incomplete, but significant list of SOME of the REAL reasons for this first loss of Canada's turn to sit with the BIG FIVE for a couple years and help deal with the problems facing humanity.

1. unstinting support for everything Israel
   
2. actively undermining the Copenhagen summit climate talks
   
3. delaying debt relief to Africa to advance the interests of a Canadian mining company
   
4. flip flopping hostility to China
   
5. snubbing an International Aids Conference held in Canada
   
6. cutting funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
7. ) refusal to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and
   
8. blowing off UN talks on nuclear proliferation, global peace and climate change in favour of a photo op at a Tim Hortons
   

For more lists of reasons to stop StepPrimeMinister Stephen Harper from representing and/or ruling Canadians hie thee over to C.R.U.S.H.(Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper)

This is getting too absurd, Canadians deserve better and I'd vote for Tim Horton for PM over Mr. Harper - and he's DEAD! This blog was started to deal with the corruption in the Legislature of BC, in Victoria, but Canada has more than one House of Ill Repute that needs serious cleaniing up, including the one in Ottawa. These two affect me the most, but I wouldn't be too optimistic about the state of things in some other so-called Houses of the People, like the ones n Quebec City, Edmonton and New Brunswick, just to name a few. Then there is the Congress that tries to run the world for the profit of the few, down in Dizzy DeeCee, and god knows what that will look like after November if they fill it with TeaBags!

Maybe it is time to boil and STEEP!

Happy
Thanksgiving

It's over a month until US Thanksgiving, but George Bush the Lesser is already expressing his gratitude to the Amerikan People. Hopefully every one here in BC is thankful for how wonderful it is to live here in the "Bestest Place on Earth." If there is anything not quite "bestest or perfect" remember that it is most likely the result of Glen Clark's deck or the Fast Cats. In almost ten years the Campbell Crime Family still hasn't been able to fix everything broken by Glen, Moe and Mike!

Ignorance is Bliss,
...or the LIEberal Way!

Another Empty Head for Gordo's Gang!

It's beginning to seem like stupidity and ignorance are the primary qualities necessary to be part of the BC Liberal government or to work as a bureaucrat implementing their agenda. Lately we've been insulted with the spectacle of Gordo's chief of staff, Martyn Brown, for days on end swearing under oath that he actually remembers almost nothing that occurred in the last decade of Rape and Pillage of the province, its people and what used to be their assets. Then after a summer vacation for all the highly paid lawyers and defendants with no visible means of support, we are treated to the spectacle of the six-figure earning BC Rail Exec, Brian Kenning displaying the same lack of memory of anything he did to earn the big bucks at taxpayer expense.

Today, in the wake of announcement that once "oh so" Special Prosecutor Terrence Robertson must appear before the Bar's disciplinary committee, we learn that Kash Heed, one of many former Liberal solicitor-generals, is stoooooopid too (or might that be that he is also a LIAR?)!
According to a CBC report:He claimed Ignorance the range of stuff Kash Heed didn't know about his own campaign and those who worked for him is breathtaking, but hardly surprising in BC, the land that Justice Forgot.

According a search warrant executed during the investigation to the documents, Heed told police in May that:

* He wasn't sure how Barinder Sall became his campaign manager and didn't know his title.
* He had no idea how election campaigns were run and didn't know who was responsible for what.
* He didn't know who was in charge of printing his campaign pamphlets.
* He hadn't read the B.C. Election Act.

But then as Ian Reid at the Real Story points out:

But we find out today from Jonathan Fowlie in the Sun, that might not be so much the case:

“A recently released RCMP search warrant application from May 13, 2010, contains several other allegations, including that attempts were made to conceal the source of the pamphlets from police, and that Heed appeared to know about at least one of the pamphlets during the election campaign.

"The documents also quote Khanna's son, Amit Khanna, who worked on the campaign, as saying he saw Heed discussing one of the pamphlets with his aides. Amit Khanna recalled the Blue Pamphlet being on Kash Heed's desk, it had been translated by staff,"
A chip off the boss' shoulder. The guy’s a natural for Finance Minister.

I've heard all my life that ignorance of the law was no defense, in other words, if the police find 1000 pot plants in my bathroom, to tell them I thought that was legal is meaningless. Let us not forget also that Mr. Heed was not only the TOP COP in the province, but supposedly had been with the VPD and subsequently Chief of Police for those that provide law and order for Canada's richest postal code, West Vancouver. In other words, Kash and Karry Heed is one that could be expected to know more about the law than the average citizen.

For more on the angelic and oh so innocent Kash Heed - who still sits in the Legislature, or would if it ever actually SAT, see the Powell River Persuader.

I guess according to MacLeans, if you want to find normal everyday corruption - go to Quebec. But, if you want to dip your toes in worse, in complete and total slime, Welcome to British Columbia, the province stolen by Gordon Campbell and his Gang!

Who is the Minister
of Ideology?

Maxime Bernier former Minister of Idiocy

To answer my title question, every member of the HarpoCon caucus is a minister of Ideology, that's why generally even ministers aren't allowed to SPEAK unless their statements are vetted in advance by the PMO. Now if Psuedo Prime Minister and President of Canada in his Dreams, Stevie Harper were to create a Ministry of Idiocy, he could easily have a committee of Ministers with their own table in the cabinet room. But now that Helena Guergis has been banished from caucus, her husband lost his election and Rona Ambrose is busy with whatever she does (other than her hair) - the Man that makes Max Headroom seem smart, Maxime Bernier would be an excellent candidate for Minister of Idiocy.

Maxi(mum) Stupidity Bernier's most recent gaffe to come to the public's attention is his claim from 2006, when he was the minister in charge of the census, that he was receiving 1000 complaints about the privacy intrusion of the long form census PER DAY. Now of course Mr. Stooopid hasn't been able to produce any of those complaints, but then his mob moll/biker chick ex-girlfriend most likely has them. However the CBC managed to actually make a Request for Information function and their findings were very different than the mentally and ethcally challenged Mr. Bernier's claims.

According to the CBC's findings, according to what was then Mr. Bernier's own ministry the complaints about the census averaged more like 25-30 PER YEAR.

Industry Canada's "internal survey of correspondence did not show anything close to a thousand a day," he wrote to Statistics Canada's Connie Graziadei, adding in brackets "we got a standard 25-30 a year."

Even more interesting is that MOST of the complaints (the non-imaginary/not made up ones) were either from people who hadn't received their census form and wanted one or those who were not happy that the military contractor Lockheed-Martin had won the contract to administer the census. Hmmmmmm, the same guys that recently won an untendered contract to provide Canada with overpriced ATTACK fighter jets that we don't need.

I think MacLeans got it wrong when they claimed Quebec is the most corrupt province - British Columbia wins that title, hands down. However with representatives like Helena Guergis and Maxime Bernier, they have a real shot at being the DUMBEST!

In spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, current Minister of Industry Tony Clement (who seems smarter than this) insists that the long form census has to go because Canadians feel their privacy is invaded by the nature of the questions. Well Tony, GET RID OF THE INCOME TAX FORM FORTHWITH...............