BREAKING NEWS: CTV and The Globe and Mail Had Documents in Advance of Hearing
I know you are all expecting a bombshell and it, along with its menacing siblings, is well on the way. And, yes, I said I would post sporadically until Monday, but after listening to Jim Beatty’s drivel on NW this morning (coupled with Michael CAMPBELL’s horrific bias) and then having to endure Mark Hume in with the always terrific Jon McComb in the afternoon, I feel compelled to provide this whole trollop’s boudoir with some significant disinfectant.
You are all, of course, well aware of the hearing that took place earlier this week when the Crown in the ‘Basi-Virk’ matter appeared in court to argue against the defence keeping disclosure materials. There was also a media application that was scheduled to be heard for the same day.
But did you know that the same Crown prosecutors might have provided evidence to CTV and the Globe and Mail that not only DID NOT exonerate Christy Clark or Gary Collins of any wrongdoing, but further, furnished the Globe’s Mark Hume and CTV’s Jim Beatty with information IN ADVANCE of the hearing, that was possibly the best evidence the prosecutors had against Basi and/or Virk?
Were you being misled? Did the prosecution lead these two journalists? What did Beatty or Hume know and when did they know it? What about CTV and the Globe and Mail?
Is there ANY journalistic integrity, at all attached to ANYONE who would say one thing while knowing quite the other?
Read on.
On December 8th I was tipped by a friend that Mark Hume was “writing or preparing a story on Christy Clark” and that the Globe’s lawyers had made an application to seek “some material” entered as evidence in the case.
So I emailed Hume.
I suggested that he specifically ask his lawyers to request any and all information with respect to the Bruce Clark bank account search warrants, to start (I will show you next week, why I did this). Hume, whom I’ve never met or communicated with, originally shot back a dismissive smart-ass reply from upon high, about if I was sure or just guessing. Instead of saying ‘thanks’ and moving on–knowing full well I was on top of the Basi memos with more documents to come, he then suggested that his lawyers might have a tough time “amending” their application. Not having had enough time to have consulted his lawyers, this was his immediate response. So I let it go, thinking that media lawyers for CTV Globemedia were seeking ALL the evidence available, not just selective cheery-picked documents from the Crown, and that Hume and the Globe and Mail were interested in getting to the bottom of what the evidence at trial really tells you.
I was wrong.
In mid-December the lawyers for the Globe and CTV appeared in court and were told to go away WITH the Crown and sort out what it was they would “mutually agree to” that both CTV Globemedia properties could release and when.
Of VERY interesting note here is that lawyers for Basi and Virk DID NOT and have never objected to any of this information going public. Both Michael Bolton and Kevin McCullough are on record as having never objected to efforts by the media in obtaining such materials–EVER. In fact, only Basi and Virk’s lawyers have demanded that ALL the evidence be available to YOU, the public–a move which the Crown has objected to several times.
As a result of the application effort by their lawyers, Beatty and Hume MUST have known what they had received: An extremely narrow sliver of mostly pre-wiretap requests and wire tap transcripts, provided by the RCMP, that paint as nasty a picture of the then accused as possible.
But listening to Beatty’s shameful drivel this morning with Mike Campbell, you’d think that this information they received actually “exonerated Christy Clark and Gary Collins” and in the afternoon on McComb’s show Hume littered the airwaves, with “I’d love to see it all come out.”
Really gentlemen? Then why have you BOTH participated in what can only be described as a hit job, maybe once removed. Neither Beatty or Hume have a law degree and if they did, both should be set ablaze.
Here’s the rub:
1) The information Beatty and Hume received DOES NOT exonerate Clark, Collins or anyone else, but in fact makes clear that the RCMP had targeted Basi and Virk. This is standard procedure when the police prepare ITOs (Information to Obtain) documents, which can be seemingly endless and more often than not LOADED with very strong language that paints as black a picture as necessary for a Judge to grant a search warrant. They do not provide PROOF of innocence any more than they do of guilt. Incredibly, that’s what kind of loose information Hume and Beatty are going on when they and their network claim that politicians were “cleared” (and they both specified Clark…)
Stunning.
THERE WAS NO DOCUMENT that “cleared” anyone, just RCMP positioning that the only two culprits were Basi and Virk and a pile of wiretap transcripts with salacious conversations about sex and cocaine (as if that doesn’t happen every day in downtown Vancouver, spare me…)
2) How on earth can CTV and the Globe actually scream headlines that any politician was “cleared?” None of the pertinent evidence was tested in court–not one line. Particularly related to Collins and Clark, not one stitch of rebuttal evidence provided by the defence was proffered in court (or reviewed by Hume and Beatty!), only referred to in pre-trial hearings (see below). So their “story” is at best, incomplete. In fact, what Hume and Beatty’s network based these inaccurate headlines on, was ITO documents that MUST include everything the RCMP has surmised so that the warrants cannot be tossed at trial. So the verbiage used to “clear” Clark and Collins or other Ministers doesn’t exist. No one was exonerated because none of that specific evidence received a hearing at trial. Not to belabor the point, both Beatty and Hume MUST know this and if they don’t, how on God’s green orb did their editors or producers allow for such incomplete information (my charity is on display, once again) to go to press and air, when it was abundantly clear that they were permitted a very small fraction of what was collected and never challenged.
Essentially, they examined the patient’s plump, healthy pinky and determined that the brain tumor couldn’t possibly be cancerous…astounding.
Though worse yet, Beatty and Hume foolishly confronted counsel for the defence as soon as they appeared in chambers yesterday morning, claiming, incredibly, that they had read all the documents they were released and “Clark is innocent, so is Collins…” UNBELIVABLE!!! So they did indeed have ALL the documents they needed, even BEFORE the hearing started. When one of defence counsel asked them why they didn’t get any other evidence, they replied that they weren’t interested. Further proof is that Hume had the story up on the Globe’s website before court adjourned!!! And they didn’t lift a finger to dispel any notion that these documents “cleared” anyone, since that appears to be what they wanted to show you all along.
Hume in fact told McComb this afternoon that “the evidence as a whole is overwhelming.” But in the same breath admitted that he was only provided a small sliver of mostly what the RCMP collected. Excuse my French, but what kind of bullshit is that? It’s either one of the other. In the interim, the public is left with the errant impression that Clark and Collins have been the subjects of smear jobs, the poor dears (I will specifically show you how this is PURE fiction, next week).
All Hume and Beatty served to accomplish is provide Clark with an opportunity to use new speaking points that avoid answering for her actions while Deputy Premier. And all while running for Premier!
And the mainstream press wonder why subscriptions are dropping and stations like CTV continue to flounder and bleed revenues?
Shameful, doesn’t even begin to cover this sordid mess.
Why did no one else in the media not ask how 8,000 pages could be “thoroughly reviewed” IN A MATTER OF HOURS, as Beatty bellowed???
Let me tell you, I’ve worked with CTV and now with Global.
Global could cut this story in about two days, and would have provided every angle possible of coverage (that’s why they are THE BEST, without question). CTV would still be wrapping Christmas presents before anything was settled, and that’s if they’d gotten the material on Remembrance Day–notwithstanding having a few absolutely outstanding people like St. John Alexander, Jina You and Lisa Rossington.
More to the point: What have both Beatty and Hume been doing since their epic, monumental story telling? Telling us how they poured over the documents but never let on how long they’d had them…of course, when you received them so far in advance!! But they sold that angle of the story too! With straight faces!
Acting at its worst? Deceitful? You be the judge.
3) The Crown must answer this: Were they leading Beatty and Hume? Why did they agree to release only the FOUR binders with the most potentially damaging circumstantial evidence against Basi and Virk? Why not the rest? Or other documents? Janet Winteringham sat for an interview with CTV and repeated the same line “there was no evidence against any politician.”
But this is utterly dishonest. Maybe there wasn’t any evidence that would lead to a charge, but no evidence at all? Horse feathers!
In June of 2009, Virk’s lawyer, Kevin McCullough spent several days reading into open court a series of emails between Christy Clark sycophant and blogosphere baffoon Brian Kieran (his post today was absolutely as shameful as it is biased…can’t imagine why…) who was then a partner with admitted briber of public officials Erik Bornmann. These emails showed a clear path to Clark’s door as being a likely Cabinet leak. The information Pilothouse was receiving was “too good” in quality. Besides, Collins was asked by the RCMP if he was the leak and said ‘No’. He was then asked if Basi was the leak and said ‘No’ again. Same with Judith Reid. The information was too issue specific, too detailed. But to the emails…the sequence went like this: In 2003, Kieran sends Bornmann an email requesting he get inside Cabinet information on the direction of the BC Rail sale. Bornmann replies that he will inquire, NOTES HE IS MEETING WITH CLARK, and then sends back an email soon thereafter with the information Kieran requsted. My friends, this was said in open court, with two columns written about it. One by 24 Hours’, Bill Tieleman and the other by the Vancouver Sun’s Neal Hall. The whole city was abuzz and Clark cowered rather than answer–in fact she sent her lawyer to court instead….
There might not have been SUFFICIENT evidence for Clark to be charged with anything, granted, but is leaking Cabinet information a breach of trust matter that she should answer? Why would the RCMP not at least interview her about it? They didn’t, but did you read about that in Hume’s piece? Or Beatty’s? Of course not. Did either of Hume or Beatty ask for the emails McCullough read off that were AUTHENTIC government emails received through disclosure from the Crown? Not a chance.
Bear with me, here is Hall’s excellent piece (he’s one of the VERY few reasons I read the dimming Sun, the key passage I’ve emphasized near the bottom of the column):
By NEAL HALL
Vancouver Sun – June 25, 2009
VANCOUVER – The office of Premier Gordon Campbell controlled the controversial sale of BC Rail with an “iron hand,” a lawyer alleged Thursday at the political corruption trial involving former government aides.
Kevin McCullough, the lawyer for Bob Virk, one of two senior former political aides accused fraud, breach of trust and accepting benefits in exchange for confidential information about the bidding for BC Rail, read out a series of e-mails leading up to the sale of the railway.
The lawyer pointed out that the premier’s office sent an e-mail to Kevin Mahoney, a vice-president of BC Rail, suggesting who should be invited to the northern transportation conference in November 2002
“This is the set-up breaking the election promise,” McCullough said, referring to the fact that the premier had won the election on a campaign promise not to sell BC Rail.
“The premier’s office was engaged in substantial control of the BC Rail deal and the BC Rail agenda,” the lawyer told Justice Elizabeth Bennett.
The lawyer was trying to show that the defence has some e-mails from BC Rail showing the involvement of the premier’s office but is seeking further disclosure of e-mails from the premier, his chief of staff at the time, Martyn Brown, and other cabinet ministers.
The defence first has to convince the judge of the likely relevance of the e-mails before the judge will make a disclosure order.
But earlier this week, government lawyer George Copley revealed the e-mails being sought may have already disappeared.
Copley presented two affidavits to the court, including one from Rosemarie Hayes, manager of the government’s e-mail system, who said e-mails cannot be retrieved after 13 months.
The defence applied in June 2007 to get Campbell’s e-mails, as well as those of cabinet ministers related to the privatization sale of BC Rail, which was sold to CN Rail for $1 billion in 2003.
The missing e-mails pertain to 15 or 20 people who are on the Crown witness list.
On Thursday, Copley provided some further clarification, saying if the e-mails weren’t printed off and put in files, they do not become part of the operational records of government.
Transitory material, which he described as “routine records of no value,” are discarded or purged from the computer system, he said.
Copley said questionnaires have been sent to nine people who have searched the files and, once their answers are returned, “we will file nine separate affidavits” to try to answer some of the questions posed by the defence lawyers.
“There may be no explanation,” the lawyer said. “No filing system is perfect.”
Defence lawyers were shocked to learn that e-mails that could be crucial to the defence case may have been allowed to disappear.
Michael Bolton, the lawyer for Dave Basi, told the judge Thursday that administrative and operational records of government ministers, deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers are supposed to be retained for 10 years.
He said the unprecedented police search of the legislature on Dec. 28, 2003, should have alerted the government and its staff to retain the records from that period.
At the time of the police raid, Dave Basi was a senior aide to then finance minister Gary Collins and Virk was a senior aide to then transportation minister Judith Reid.
Aneal Basi, who worked in government communications, is accused of money laundering.
The case has been adjourned until next Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, McCullough said the RCMP investigation found that government lobbyists were getting inside cabinet information about the pending BC Rail sale in 2003 but police never fully investigated the source of the leak.
“The Crown’s theory in this case was that [Bob] Virk and [Dave] Basi were disclosing confidential documents for benefits,” the lawyer told the judge.
“There were other sources of information,” he said, reading out a series of emails involving Erik Bornmann, Brian Kieran and Jamie Elmhirst, who were partners in Pilothouse, a lobbying firm that in 2003 was representing OmniTrax, a Denver-based company that was bidding on BC Rail.
The e-mails quoted what was being discussed in cabinet meetings.
When Kieran was interviewed by the RCMP, he said Virk was the source of the insider cabinet information because transportation minister would “debrief” Virk after cabinet meetings, McCullough said.
And when police interviewed Bornmann, he said Basi was probably the source, the lawyer pointed out.
McCullough told Justice Elizabeth Bennett that police bluntly asked Bornmann if he had a source in cabinet and he replied no. But Bornmann mentioned that he had conversations with then deputy premier Christy Clark because Bornmann was a friend of Clark’s husband, Mark Marissen, he added.
At the time, Bornmann and Marissen were deeply involved in the federal Liberal party – Marissen was B.C. campaign chair for Paul Martin’s successful bid for the federal leadership and served as B.C. campaign co-chair for the 2004 and 2006 federal elections.
Clark quit provincial politics in 2004 and now hosts a radio show on CKNW.
McCullough said when RCMP interviewed the transportation minister, Reid, and the finance minister, Collins, in 2004, both adamantly denied they discussed confidential cabinet information with Basi and Virk.
“The RCMP goes to Collins, who denies telling information to Basi and Virk,” the lawyer said.
“They never go back to Bornmann,” McCullough said, adding the Mounties tailored their investigation to target Basi and Virk.
Now, here is Tieleman’s piece from earlier that month (the only journalist in B.C. to cover this matter with as much integrity, notwithstanding his political stripe, he could have been significantly slanted–and wasn’t. Emphasis added in key parts):
The below ran on my birthday on June 5th., 2009:
By BILL TIELEMAN, 24 COLUMNIST
The defence in the B.C. Legislature raid case alleged Thursday that former B.C. Liberal Deputy Premier Christy Clark may have leaked B.C. Rail information to a lobbyist acting for one of the bidders in the $1 billion sale.
Michael Bolton, acting for David Basi – one of two former provincial ministerial aides facing corruption charges – alleged in B.C. Supreme Court that Clark may have been a cabinet source for Erik Bornmann, a lobbyist for OmniTRAX who is now the key Crown witness in the case.
“Pilothouse internal briefing notes appear to reveal sources in cabinet,” Bolton told Justice Elizabeth Bennett, referring to Bornmann’s lobbying firm. “Bornmann clearly had certain cabinet sources.”
“For example, Christy Clark may have been the source within cabinet – certainly Mr. Bornmann was in contact with Ms. Clark,” Bolton said.
Clark declined comment on the unproven allegations.
Earlier, Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm turned down Special Prosecutor Bill Berardino’s request to replace Bennett immediately as trial judge because of her appointment to the B.C. Court of Appeal.
But Dohm appeared to indicate Bennett will be removed soon.
“I know who the trial judge is going to be but I’m not announcing that today,” Dohm said. “You have no concern about who I’ve chosen – they are completely conversant with all Criminal Code matters.”
So…tell me how good are Beatty and Hume looking now? They want it “all out”??? No problem. Happy to oblige fellas…oh, but I forgot, Jim thinks “bloggers have a much different standard…” while Mike Campbell laughed at that and complained how Christy Clark “has had a totally unfair ride…” in being made to answer for her role in the BC Rail scandal. Just disgusting radio, totally beneath contempt considering who his brother is and who Campbell’s entire backroom network of public trough whores is supporting–Clark.
But, I must state, Beatty’s right: This blogger, at least, won’t sell his journalistic integrity to be a shill, willful or not, for the narrative the RCMP and Crown need out there to deflect the real story of what happened in the sale of BC Rail and kill any chance of a public inquiry–which now needs to be had more than ever before.
I will not go on any further on this issue until Monday except to say that ANYONE who heard Christy Clark’s churlish, foolhardy celebrations about being “cleared” the last day or so (most recently with NW’s Sean Leslie) must stop and give pause….
Clark claims her record in government is “spotless.”
But by mid-next week Clark will look like an anemic leopard, gasping for air, defanged and declawed…..
We’ve had ten years of an unprincipled Premier, who will not hesitate to lie at will to cover his tracks. We can’t afford another.
Because leopards don’t change their spots.
Nor apparently do lazy journalists.
Globe and Mail Feb 16, 2011
-Two ministers to Kevin Falcon’s team, One Candidate to George Abbott
–Christy Clarks’s reaction.
Ms. Clark, campaigning in the Interior on Wednesday, dismissed the endorsements as irrelevant.
“This race is not about what politicians do. It’s not about whether people want to orchestrate a backroom deal to try and win. There are 95,000 members of our party in this province and they are all going to make their own decisions,” she said. “I don’t think many will take kindly to the suggestion there may be a backroom deal by the folks on the inside.”
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One might wonder why Christy Clark would do a negative attack; Not only a negative attack on George but on the highly respected nuclear scientist, Moira Stilwell.
This is beacuse Moira was friends with Christy when her campaign started. Christy wanted Moira to drop out and be a “big story” as election day approached; As Moira has done now, with George.
Moira is a very respected person with access to the truth. Moira has chosen wisely.
Christy telling B.C. that Moira Stilwell did a backroom deal was the direct result of Christy’s inability to contain her anger when things didn’t go her way.
Christy lashed out in anger. She is saying it is a “back room deal” but it “doesnt mean anything” because it is the voter’s choice. That is a convoluded, mixed message. Christy is reeling.
Nine days to go.
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Think about how utterly stupid Clark really is:
1) She pisses on Abbott for appropriately calling her out political in a political race. RESULT: Abbott comes out and endorses Falcon on the second ballot.
2) She slanders one of the most respected, decent women in this province, Stilwell, for going to Abbott and calling it a “backroom deal”: RESULT: Not ONE of Stilwell’s supporters that were on the fence considering Clark will go to her now.
And all in a week.
Eight days to go.
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I agree totally.
Christy’s move was down right stupid. How could she be stupid in this case when she is generally very cunning?
Rage. She is unprepared for things not going her way. The sycophants that she is surrounded with, tell her how great she is all the time. They know her temper thus cannot tell her she is screwing up for fear of reprisal.
This brings me to a point. There has been talk of Christy being “Tough”. Mike Smyth even wrote about it.
I personally believe she is not that tough. Christy is a bully. Bullies portray themelves as tough. They aren’t really that way at all and deep down they know it, so mask it with loud talk and angry rhetoric.
If someone that were mentally tough and got bad news like Moira supporting George, they would calmly and respectfully explain their position in a strategically thought out way.
They certainly would not do a negative attack on respected people, after spending two weeks saying negative attacks are morally wrong.
Under pressure, Chrsity blew it.
Christy Clark is not tough.
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Christy has a very nasty temper and is extremely vindictive. Not good qualities…
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…and now Christy Clark is going to get us a stat holiday.
The Whitewash, followed by the Stat-Holiday Buyout…
And with whatever you’ve got yet to come, mercy me!
Hope yer having a great weekend, Alex — cheers!
Keep up the great work!
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I’ve been working.
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“Hope you can fit this in says:” @ February 17, 2011 at 8:59 PM
“This is beacuse Moira was friends with Christy when her campaign started. Christy wanted Moira to drop out and be a “big story” as election day approached; As Moira has done now, with George.
Moira is a very respected person with access to the truth. Moira has chosen wisely. Christy telling B.C. that Moira Stilwell did a backroom deal was the direct result of Christy’s inability to contain her anger when things didn’t go her way.”
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Further to what you have said above, wondering if you have read what Sean Holman of Public Eye Online has to say in his entry of Feb. 16 – “Clark didn’t seek Stilwell’s endorsement” – Sean’s entry includes a rather interesting video of interview!!
Sean also advises that in an interview with Public Eye, Dr. Stilwell confirmed neither Ms. Clark nor her campaign team sought her endorsement.
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Well let me step in. I saw Sean’s post and it reads like anything from that blog on Clark: Spin.
Does anyone believe Stilwell would publicly confirm an attempted deal with Clark or any of the details? That’s beyond absurd.
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AGT:
Agree with you. I referred to Sean’s video, as I thought that it would be rather instructive!
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I gave up expecting sincerity from him not long ago. Sad but true.
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Astounding!!
Bless your heart Alex G Tsakumis…
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Alex,
I think you have been duped by Basi and his memos. How do you expect me to believe the memos to file after reading some of the transcripts from the wiretaps. I think the memos to file were a fraud and I believe the wiretaps. Sorry. I come here for the truth. Hope you’re not upset with my comments.
It’s probably best (EDITED: conjecture) It’s probably the best use of your time. If you truly want the BC Liberals to die – (EDITED: conjecture). If you really want an inquiry than Diane Watts is the best option. None of the current BC Liberal leadership candidates will call an inquiry.
I understand you and her are close. Can’t you convince her to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party. I would definitely become a member.
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Sam:
1) The Basi memos are authentic and there are more on the way from me. They were signed by an extremely well-respected lawyer who still practices in Victoria. I spoke to him and he’s seen what I’ve published. He confirms what I published are authentic and that’s his signature on every one of them.
2) The reason the Crown gave only those four binders to CTV and the Globe is precisely to you will feel as you do having now read the transcripts of the wiretaps. In that sense, you’re the one whom is duped.
3) I don’t want anyone to die.
4) Dianne Watts (check your spelling pls) is not running for anything other than Mayor of Surrey.
5) Dianne Watts is someone whom I’ve covered from the beginning and I admire her (apparently along with the rest of the province) but we are not “close” except in age.
6) I would not endorse the BC Conservatives in their current state: Enveloped by has beens and far right wingers.
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Alex,
As I understand it, all that the lawyer.s signature means is that Basi presented the memo’s to the lawyer, swore them to be true and the lawyer verified that Basi swore them to be true.
But this in no way means that they have any relation to what actually took place. They can be complete fiction, and given what we have found out about Basi, I would guess they have little relation to what actually took place. I assume they are completely self-serving to Basi, and have little relation to what happened. I think this is the point Sam was making
So I think they are of little value in any of us understanding what might have happened.
Can you please confirm this with the lawyer that signed them? Ask him if he has any way of knowing if the events described in the memos actually took place, other than Dave Basi swearing that they did?
I think until you ask the lawyer this question we should all assume that the memo’s are of no value to knowing any more of what might have happened between Basi, Collins, Bornmann, et al
I look forward to the response from the lawyer that witnessed the memo’s
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1) Sam wasn’t making a point that made sense.
2) Memos-to-file are precisely self-serving.
3) You mean to tell me that the hookers and blow story is now going to cancel out everything else? LOL!
4) I have verified several points of interest related to Basi’s memos that are not only true but bang on.
5) In the absence of a public inquiry you cannot determine, as I can’t whether the memos are entirely correct.
6) The memos are hugely important in that they show a clear connection between key players and what they were doing. You’ll see more of that this week.
7) As for your request I can only assume that you have neither dealt with a lawyer nor understand what’s going on with this BC Rail scandal at all. You are asking me to have George Jones break solicitor client privilege. Do you understand how utterly idiotic I would sound asking him to do that? You want me to get a lawyer to betray his client because you’ve decided that BC Rail ain’t that big a deal and Clark should be made empress.
Brilliant.
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No need to break client/lawyer privilege. Just ask him what his signature means. I am pretty sure it is just like a statutory declaration.
I can call him and ask him.
As far as the BC Rail “scandal” goes, I don’t really see why everyone is getting so excited about it. But I have to determine 1st of all if CN got the assets at far below market value. If there was a higher bid, why wasn’t it chosen. If we got a fair price for it, then no harm done.
As far as meddling in the bid process by elected politicians, so far nothing I have read in either the Basi memo’s or other information in the blogosphere has concerned me. Tendering anything between a small number of bidders is tough in the best of circumstances. When you have a hard to price asset, and all of the political issues associated with a Crown-owned railroad, I can imagine it was a concern for the government from the get-go
I think it comes down to a gut feeling for me. Basi seems to be a mid-level guy that was used to cheating to get what he wanted. I doubt that Gary Collins realized what a flake he had as his assistant. Basi would have been toast if his deal with Bornmann had ever come to light before the cops found out.
Do you know if the selection committee’s recommendation report is available. Using FOI, if necessary, although I would assume someone would have published it already. Maybe you can point me to a link.
As far as the next premier goes, I don’t mind if it is Christy Clark or Kevin Falcon. I want a strong personality. George doesn’t do it for me.
The most interesting comment I have heard is from Norman Spector. He feels that if Christy were to become premier Harper and the Tories would flood the province with money to get another “right” wing party to split the vote and deny a person with such close ties to the Federal Liberals from getting elected as Premier. Interesting comment
Hey I have gone on too long here. As I have said before Alex, I enjoy your blog, and appreciate your hard work. Don’t agree with much that is written, but I it is good to have different opinions out there.
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Bravo
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Grazie
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They don’t make enough popcorn for this s#!t !
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Just wait…
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I heard Hume today with McComb. It sounded like he was backing away from the exoneration story by admitting that there was still much unknown, lots of court docs still under judicial lock and key.
Hume also stated, disingenuously, that a full inqiuiry was warranted. That this rehashof known news event from years ago was trumpeted as something new in Globe headlines, makes me shake my head in sorrow for the current state of journalism. I cancelled my subscription to that paper today. Jeff Lee should write about the ethics of this one!
Bless you, John McComb and Mike Smyth for keeping up the clamour, even as the political establishment triesto spin it their way.
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Thx and bless you too, darling.
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@ Disgusted
“I canceled my subscription to that paper (the G&M) today.”
Well done, Disgusted. They must be measuring subs in dozens by now.
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And who owns the media? Let’s not fool ourselves. You want facts you know where too look. It’s not MSM.
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” … who owns the media?
Bullseye.
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“Denny Crane, bullseye, over and out!” Lord how I miss that show…
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Sorry to disappoint, Alex, but I’ve never seen the show and had to look up your reference. I’ve never watched much tv (we didn’t have one when I was a kid, I suppose I just never got the habit) and that one joins a long list of successful, long-running shows I’ve literally never seen five minutes of.
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Alex,
a) I’m not surprised a leak happened to the journos. Many a person has had a loud, screaming conscience over BCRail. It WAS a Billion dollar asset sold against an election promise, after all.
b) For quite some time you’ve promised you’d sink Christy Clark. I don’t see the HMCS Christy Clark taking more than a glancing blow or a few pistol holes in it. When the press or say George “Desperate” Abbott starts lobbing attacks based on this, then I’ll believe Christy’s in trouble… again.
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Josef:
Is Sean Holman’s blog down for maintenance or something? Can’t you go back there and write something as ridiculous and inaccurate as what you’ve written here? Actually, scratch that. Holman’s a good guy, he doesn’t deserve you either…
And I never promised I’d sink anyone. I will simply show, once again, why Christy Clark is completely unfit to serve. Apparently, people like you who support her don’t care about decency returning to the Premier’s office.
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Is Josef two timing Mary Polak?
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Again!!! LOL!
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But by mid-next week Clark will look like an anemic leopard, gasping for air, defanged and declawed…..
We’ve had ten years of an unprincipled Premier, who will not hesitate to lie at will to cover his tracks. We can’t afford another.
Because leopards don’t change their spots.
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No they don’t…..and should be both held accountable and made an example of.
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Also :
Clark should know there is a big difference between found ” Not Guilty ” versus found ” Innocent”
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But not a single member of the media other than McComb, Smyth and Thomas had the integrity to ask or press.
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Quote from Alex’s post:
“None of the pertinent evidence was tested in court–not one line.”
Given the TRUTH of the above quote, how on earth does the Globe and Mail have the final say on who is exonerated or not.
The article in the Globe and Mail buried the fact that they DID NOT research some 50,000 documents, but rather spun it that they were reporting the gist of the Crowns findings. They spun it in this paragraph below:
Globe and Mail
“The files obtained through the courts do not comprise the complete police record – some 50,000 documents – but they do contain the core of the Crown’s successful prosecution.”
Let me point out that the Crown was not successful in so far as prosecuting the case in a complete trial, rather, the defendants plead guilty after having the offer of having their potential sentence drastically reduced from 4 year prison time to house arrest with all their legal debts being paid by the crown. The above statement written in the Globe and Mail is therefore nothing more than a cleaver distortion of the facts.
So I guess in the world of the Globe and Mail a “successful prosecution“ is nothing more than putting the squeeze on defendants and giving them a walk in exchange for their silence.
The bottom line is that the Globe and Mail nor any other media outlet is the final arbiter on what is true or not! They do not speak for me or for other countless British Columbians.
A full out trial should have taken place. Since that is no longer possible, the people of Britsh Columbia must demand an inquiry.
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I love you.
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Bravo!
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Grazie…
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Here is a little snip from the wire taps….
Yeah, but are you going to be able to get me those docs,” says Clark.
“Yeah, I have’em on me right now. I’ll throw them on the heli-jet tomorrow,” says Basi.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Virk+gave+inside+information+Christy+Clark+brother+Rail+scandal+wiretaps/4305598/story.html#ixzz1EI55c1Y7
A lot seems to happen on those Heli jets… now what was it Christy Clark said about those lobbyist folks that might approach you on the Heli jet…Right..
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@ George
You hit the nail on the head with this George.
“Yeah, but are you going to be able to get me those docs,” says Clark.
This is the thin edge of the wedge. Bruce Clark (aka the Mexican) will need to atone for the reason for this statement.
Christy’s comment on air that “nobody in my family was charged” maybe true when she said it, but this could come back to bite her in the junk.
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I like this exchange:
“Did you say you’re going to give the Mexican [Bruce Clark] some stuff,” says Basi.
“Yeah, that’s what we talked about,” replies Virk.
“Uh, be careful man, I’m tellin’ you,” says Basi.
“Yeah,” says Virk.
“I mean, this guy is f…kin’, oh he’s slimy,” says Basi.
“Yeah,” says Virk.
I mean — if these two unctuous characters consider Clark to be slimy…
Familial similarities “Señorita”?
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Right back at you Alex. This last post of yours was quite compelling.
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They have no idea what’s coming… TSAKUMIS=TSUNAMI…
What passes for most mainstream journalism in this province is an embarrassment. Excuse making, Jesuit lies (OMG, I just used a Trudeauism!), and bafflegab.
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I know it’s been said many times, but we should be thankful to have you Alex. Otherwise, this outright bullshit would be dropped into the public discourse almost completely unchallenged.
I hate the notion of becoming anything resembling a conspiracy theorist, but this one can’t help but make me wonder. Based on what you outlined, it appears as though CTV and the G&M were just itching for an excuse to declare Christy cleared. And the timing couldn’t be much more advantageous for her. Less than nine days to go and the clock is steadily ticking away.
I sure hope that your message pierces through, because by the time sun rises on the morning of the 27th, it will already be too late.
I don’t really care who emerges to lead the socialist horde into electoral battle. They will never be an alternative worth contemplating.
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ANother question, not related, but should be pursued in the future, is who are the people who will be buying those fire sale Millenium Properties…..Follow the money, my friends.
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Ian Reid’s Real Story blog:
Not so fast… Globe and Mail
Posted on February 17, 2011 by Ian
So the Globe has cleared all the politicians and all the good BC Liberals in the Basi Virk escapade… It’s no longer a real scandal just a bad incident, a small escapade.
Except the Globe and their partner CTV did it on the basis of only one side of the story. Their application only asked for the prosecution’s filings in court. Missing and still sitting on the shelf is the other side of the story. Because the defense filed documents as well, documents debunking the prosecution’s case and findings.
The question for the Globe is why? Why toss aside objective reporting and report only one side of the story? Why pay your lawyer to only apply for half the story? Why print that when your reporters know contradictory facts and fact patterns exist? Just who benefits from that kind of reporting?
This is becoming common place with the Globe/CTV partnership. Last week they did the deed for John Furlong and Vanoc, helping him beat back a negative CBC story.
God forbid the National Post becoming the go to source for “objective” reporting.
http://therealstory.ca/2011-02-17/bc-rail/not-so-fast-globe-and-mail
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In days of yore when a scribe or reporter misled the public with erroneous information, they would issue a retraction. Somehow, I get the feeling that none will occur in this case. The journalistic integrity shown by both CTV and The Globe & Mail make the National Enquirer a much more credible source of honest reporting.
What really burns my butt about all the smoke and mirrors we have been fed on the BC Rail story is the lack of respect the citizens of BC have been shown by government and the MSM. Even worse, it looks as if the constabulary and judiciary may also have been pulling their punches on this file.
If I had my druthers, I would enlist Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond to preside over a judicial inquiry of the whole mess, from stem to stern. She has shown that she has no allegiances to anything but the task she has been mandated to perform, and as a former judge, is knowledgeable of the legal system. I also think that every bit of evidence collected by the RCMP, the Victoria Police and the defense of Basi, Virk and Basi be preserved, until such an inquiry is concluded.
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CTV and The Globe and Mail Had Documents in Advance of Hearing.
Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm, Is very familiar In the RCMP ways of tailoring of Investigations and the granting of warrants.
All sounds to familiar
“Kick them when there Up kick them when there Down”
Don Henley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46bBWBG9r2o
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Game, set, match!!! Alex…that was an incredible post!! I hope to meet you some day in person and thank you for doing what our so-called media seems to be unable to do. Why is that anyway? These media dunces have lost all credibility!
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Jim Beatty must have got his Lessons from Rick Ouston
Getting the Goods: Information in B.C.: How to Find It, How to Use It
Rick Ouston Author
New Star Books, Vancouver, 150 pages, 1990
Yes, Rick tell us how to use the Information that serves well for B.C. Politics.
Anyone in Canada needing information about British Columbia would likely find the book Getting the Goods: Information in B.C. essential. We at Sources feel rather good about promoting this new book by Rick Ouston. A working journalist and editor for 13 years, he’s written for several major daily newspapers in North America, as well as for the CBC and BCTV. His efforts have earned him several awards and citations.
This 150-page book contains 46 chapters from which anyone can benefit. Ouston’s easy conversational style includes his personal experiences showing how each resource can be helpful.
Now to the part we happen to feel especially good about. On page 123 is a chapter titled “SOURCES.” The title “doesn’t refer to secret government Deep Throats who will meet you in underground garages if you leave a red flag in the balcony flower pots,” writes Ouston. Rather, it refers to this very publication that “… is worth its weight in loose-lipped public bureaucrats.” Ouston doesn’t mind the chapter sounding like a “breathless promotional” because he has “… used SOURCES to get home numbers of information officers for the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service 10 minutes before deadline..
.” He wraps up the chapter by stressing that “SOURCES will save time and money, and will help you find what you are looking for, even if you’re not sure what that is”
NO Alex there is NO journalistic integrity, at all attached to ANYONE who would say one thing while knowing quite the other!
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Thanks. IT’s the laziest journalism I’ve seen in years. ‘Entertainment Tonight’ style crap. Who cares how many hookers Basi ordered. When they dealt with the info, both Beatty and Hume came to absurd conclusions that are NOT, at law, accurate.
So the question remains: Why?
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Good morning Alex,can you tell us if one of the top cops that investigated this case was the brother in law of a liberal insider? And wasn’t that insider somehow involved in this mess?
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Yes and yes.
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The outrageous amounts of money that the taxpayer must spend in order to keep our elected representatives honest, is absolutely sinful. What wonderful things could have been accomplished with the money going into lawyer’s and various civil servant’s hands on this matter alone, that has been going on for , … how many years? And Alex spends a phenomenal amount of time, (and how much money) trying to keep them honest, or at least, forthcoming? Canada is fast becoming one of the most corrupt nations in the free-world; and we have the impertinence to wag our finger at the republic to our south?
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Thank you Alex.
It is apparent now, more than ever, we need an enquiry into the sale of BC Rail.
I cannot imagine Christy Clark as premier. I find the very sight and sound of her makes me sick. I get the same feeling when I see Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen.
Please keep up the good work. I am so glad I found your site.
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You’re most welcome.
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Does anyone here know what a Conflict of Interest is?
RCMP investigates itself
Media investigates itself
Government investigates itself
Attorney General Office investigates itself
Conflict of Interest Office investigates itself
Campbell investigates Campbell
= complete and utter corruption, moral and ethical decay in every nest and den you care to look in.
But I have question, can we just have our railroad back now please? I would also like our gas company back as well as the two might come in handy. Anyone investigating how we lost BC Gas or is that too much to ask? There had to be a number of Clarks, Clarkes, and Clerks involved in this as well? This all makes me wonder how Campbell avoided selling the highways to Jimmy Pattison. Jimmy, a born again used car saleman, probably looking deeply into the eyes of his own grandchildren, couldn’t stomach lowering himself to the level of the Politicians. Clearly, on a going forward basis, good government should be based on two principles: legislation requiring it to balance its budget and legislation of life sentences for being found guilty of political corruption. Simple
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Another Bravo!
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Grazie di nuovo…
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It’s amazing that after all the sleaze, lying and corruption that gets unearthed by now we would be used to it, but reading this still manages to shock any one with a sense of decency.
At what point do we give up on the “world class city” “beautiful B.C.” “you gotta be here” rhetoric and come to the conclusion this place is little more than a perfect example of the lowest common denominator.
Of the topic but an interesting piece by Paul Willocks on a report by the progress board.
Stunning stuff Alex. Thanyou for keeping a light on.
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With pleasure.
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beacon of truth
Media:
My take on it is that their survival is quite fragile, thus they cater to the lowest common denominator. They are beholden to large advertisers and don’t step on toes. They don’t have the funds or budgets to do major investigations, and the media and politicians drink their own bathwater after a while.
Internet provides stiff competition, and one will see far more incisive no holds barred comments.
Yesterday I received a letter from the Vancouver Sun stating they would give me 6 Months free subscription…when I already have the Province.
I am called every few weeks by other newspapers. IMHO, they are simply trying to skew their readership and hence advertising numbers.
Parties like Alex are the future, most of the news is simply warmed over repetition…Cyber space can’t be censored…the MSM has lost our faith and can’t be trusted.
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Excellent analysis Alex. What is wrong with these people and the folks who take them at their “word?”
The egregious violations of logic displayed by the Mop and Pail and CeeTeeVee are staggering. The idea that to allege (or even overhear conversation) that somebody (say Basi or Virk) did something (like discuss cocaine, sex etc.) somehow PROVES that somebody else (Gary Collins, Christy Clark, Judith Reid, Gordon Campbell, or?) DID NOT do something else entirely (or is absoived of ALL possible wrong doing) is a monumental lapse of rational thought.
The fact, which you point out more than once, that NONE of the juicy details provided in the wire taps or applications to wire tap had the opportunity to be tested in a court of law is just the icing on a very rancid cake. But I’ve been able to contain myself and not throw something through my TeeVee screen when I see Beatty pontificating as if he just solved and passed eternal judgement on every question of the last decade. I’ll be watching for Monday’s installment!
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Thx koot. I appreciate your words very much. If there is something that MUST UNIFY this entire province is that if we as citizens don’t start demanding better of the lazy mainstream media, then we’re finished.
What do you expect when the Websters are sponsored every year by CN? A totally inappropriate thing that everyone just glides over.
And what really offended me is that both Hume and Beatty, but particularly Beatty, bloviating about how politicians were “cleared” based on not only untested evidence at trial, but ITO documents that are heavily laden with over-the-top language meant to sway a Judge into granting a search warrant. Don’t tell me that neither Beatty not Hume didn’t understand what they were doing.
They are either incompetent (on this story) or part of the problem. I will grant them that the BC Rail matter is complex, but then go get someone else to cover it, who actually gets it.
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AGT: There is a “meeting of the minds” between us, when you say:
“If there is something that MUST UNIFY this entire province is that if we as citizens don’t start demanding better of the lazy mainstream media, then we’re finished.”
And to that, I would just like to add, that I feel that it is just as important that readers of the various “political blogs” are in a position to “weed out” the blog owners, whose credibility can tend to be rather questionable! Thanks.
P.S. – And further, it would also be nice to see a heck of a lot LESS “anonymous” postings.
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just a comment to fellow bloggers.
Have you ever noted an error in something the MSM media has reported and reported it to them ?
I have, and they’ve done NOTHING.
Also, have you ever contacted a member of the media re a story..and have they ever replied ?
IMHO, unless its a mistake in an ad …..or a potential Libel Suit, ie their ass is in a sling , the record stands.
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Yes I have, CKNW, and I was told that they felt I my opinion was wrong..
I was of complaining about the comments made by MSM guests, Bill Good et al, in relation to their opinion of Alex Tsakumis’s lack of credibility…. and the bullying of guests that had a different opinion about BC Rail and the corruption of the process.
hummm Tom??? Feel free to e-mail me back after reading this post done by Alex….then we can talk about bullying again!
Perhaps Wednesday would be a good day…
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sorry, that should read guest callers…
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Thank you sir, for the excellent rebuttal to the MSM’s whitewash of this affair to date.
I will be emailing the link to this article to all I know.
The people of B.C. deserve true journalistic integrity, not the drivel that CTV and the Globe have offered up.
So many conflicts of interest abound, and yet these two media sources were allowed to go with this version of the story.
Keep up the good fight, I will be watching for the next shoe to drop…….
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Thanks James. It had to be done. Such a disgrace to be listening and reading bilge concocted to boost Clark’s chances by her sycophants in the press.
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Quite frankly I would be embarassed to be a CTV/Globe Media “Journalist”. Geez, you’d think they’d get there facts right!
You know whos’ had a “Totally Unfair Ride”? US!!! How many times has Clark been grilled on camera? Just once by Global… They are being way too soft on her. Alex I hope your bombshell makes it onto Global because I would love to see a repeat of clarks’ epic reactions. Absolutely Golden!!
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I’m doing this on my own. If you see what my numbers are today you’d be astounded.
Almost 7,000 people are reading this post right now from all across the province. I posted last night and it’s been read by over 50,000 British Columbians.
Thx Jay.
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I posted this link on the Globe and Mail last night. What was very interesting, within minutes I got the thumbs down… This morning a comment was left… the poster couldn’t understand why my link received a thumbs down, as she found the link fascinating. Wonder who was moderating comments
Listening to CKNW this morning and I’m dumbfounded by the comments being made by the guests and Campbell. If you listen closely you’ll notice every time they mention Basi or Virk they chuckle before responding, it is blatant, like a nervous tick. A tactic used to made Basi/Virk seem inconsequential, but to my highly trained ear… sounds like fear on their part to me. Like body language, tone and voice inflections never lie…
As usually Palmer et el was slagging the internet conspiracy theorists as they refer to the blogosphere.. don’t back down Alex, I think you’ve made them nervous..
You’re a hero in many of our eyes…
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Waaaay too kind.
Nothing you’ve written is a surprise.
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If it was read by over 50,000 at 10:48 AM, just imagine how many have read it by now?
I have been doing my best to recruit as many as I can to follow your website, Alex. Is that okay?
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By all means…thank you!
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“Is the Blogosphere the New Media Establishment”
With Christy Clark playing down the power and the voice of those on the internet, I think she should be reminded of how bloggers brought down Dan Rather in what is now known as “rathergate.”
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/1/28/172943.shtml
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Great points!
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Excellent point Carol… could be interesting to see the current media types doing late night infomercials…can’t you imagine it!!
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Alex I’d like to commend you on your perseverance when it comes to reporting and assembling the details. Politics appears to be the biggest crime wave in history and as of now I will follow your posts with interest. I have an appreciation for your skills and your commitment to a better and more honest tomorrow.
Heres to you Alex
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Thx Kenneth. Very kind.
“The best is yet come….”
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Fantastic work Alex!
Do you think that it’s possible the RCMP are trying to stay on the good side of the goverment because of contract negotiations? Don’t they have a lot too loose here if they piss off the wrong people? I just can’t believe that there isn’t an up-roar from someone at the top of this organization. Is the corruption that deep?
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I will not suggest that the RCMP are corrupt. And I think their contract should be renewed. But the RCMP’s role in this investigation/trial needs an airing out, no question about it. I met with them and have discovered that some of the things they told me were true, but others were inaccurate.
I have a few good pals that are RCMP members and I admire them very much.
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excellent
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Alex, I just read that Erik Bornmann admits that he was to discuss with Christy Clark BC Rail, according to the Globe and Mail.
How on earth can she maintain that she had nothing to do with BC Rail when Erik Bornmann reveals that he was going to discuss with her BC Rail matters mere weeks before the final announcement!!
For the Globe and CTV to clear Christy Clark is bizarre. Where is the information that lead to the search warrants on Brian Kieran, Erik Bornmann and Jamie Elmhirst? What about information about Bruce Clark search warrants?
More questions from this scandal.
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Indeed…
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Alex, isn’t it odd that this story would break in MSM on the FRIDAY of the last week the house is sitting?
This is the first week in 3/4 of a year that we’ve had the house sit. The first chance this year that there’s been a question period…
And this comes out at it’s loudest [albeit smoothing over involvement of politicians] the day AFTER the last question period of the session?
Things like this make me go ‘hmmm’.
What thinkest thou, Oracle Alex?
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I’d need a little more background before going there….but that the Crown would cherry-pick what to disclose to CTV and the Globe is astounding.
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Agreed.
In fact, Crown arguing against disclosure to defence every step of the way, then ask for special dispensation to destroy evidence in this ‘simple case case of two bad apples gone rogue’ is extraordinary.
If it’s simple criminal case why the extreme measures?
They raced to ‘unplug life support’ with the guilty plea, including the need for the so-called guilty parties to refer all inquiries to – not THEIR lawyers – but the head of CROWN lawyers.
The ‘autopsy results’ have been blatted to media by potentially involved politicians and friends, who give a consistent message.
Now there is this unseemly rush to ‘cremate’ the evidence – including demanding that defence giving back the evidence they successfully fought Crown for – before anyone can call for a inquiry.
This might pass the sniff-test in a third-world country, but it’s horrific in a province which claims to pride itself in the separation of justice from political interference.
On how many OTHER occasions has the Crown gone to bat to demand the return of disclosure documents right after a criminal trial? Anyone?
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The Crown typically will demand disclosure documents back in the case of child porn, where the evidence is illegal to possess, unless you are in the process of defending a client etc. It’s extremely rare for the Crown to demand as they have in this case.
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Alex,
Another interesting twist is it looks like Open Mike DeJong was tipped off that BC Rail was going to be raised in question period. He did the old dodge and hide to avoid adding any more answers to the 4 lies he already has provided on WHY he allowed the $6mil legal payment to Bassi/Virk’s lawyers.
P.S. He also pissed off many by his private member’s bill on spending disclosure; apparently no Liberal caucus or cabinet members were consulted. I wonder why? By the way his disclosure of campaign donations include a lot of numbered companies that cannot be easily identified some amazingly enough are number chronologically suggesting the same person or persons. HMMMM! So much for transparent disclosure. This may speak to his design on his proposed bill.
By the way the trash being spouted on CKNW today appears to be yet another attempt to hood wink the citizens. I can’t wait for your exposure of the lopsided reporting of half truths.
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VERY INTERESTING….
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James:
You referred to de Jong’s “private member’s bill on spending disclosure” …. and you also refer to the fact that, yes, he has disclosed online HIS ELECTION CAMPAIGN DONATIONS to date.. IMHO, I think that you are confusing the two, aren’t you?
I was glad to see that Mike de Jong introduced a private member’s bill that will require MLA’s TO FULLY DISCLOSE TO THE PUBLIC THEIR EXPENSES ANNUALLY ONLINE.
It’s about time, as prior to the start of the Recall campaign against Cabinet Minister Ida Chong, many of the regulars on popular social media sites were busy attacking her regarding the amount that she claimed for meals …. all the while, NOT realizing that it was Cabinet Ministers ONLY, who were required to disclose such expenses.
Apparently, those who were critical of Ida Chong were not aware that the disclosure requirement did NOT apply to the rest of the MLA’s.
Here’s a link from the Van Sun. However, on reading same, it appears, unfortunately, that some of the words got “corrupted” … LOL … when it was posted online.
“MLAs unanimously agree to disclose more of their expenses”, Feb. 18
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/MLAs+unanimously+agree+disclose+more+their+expenses/4307533/story.html#ixzz1EMRAqRjF
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Tsakumis, no one cares what you think.Your withering attacks against Christy are of no use and she will be the next Premier. Christy will do a great job just like Campbell. He saved us and now you are trying to rewrite history. Why don’t you do us all a favor and die of a heart attack or have a stroke or something. We’ll walk passed your wheelchair and undo the brakes.
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Gosh, thank you for the kind words and well wishes.
Tell me, when you get a weekend pass, do they make you still wear the straight jacket and knitted beanie?
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Withering!!! Even the loonies can feel the power!!
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‘Christy will do a great job like Campbel’l.
Hmmm.
Christi is to Campbell as
Gamal is to Hosni.
And look what happened to them…
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Truly an apt comparison…
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Hummm I’d say that was a very weak attempt at a spin Perry…
so this poster admits that he would have no problem harming folks that can’t protect themselves… wheelchair brakes disengaged,
What type of mind comes up with this evil crap!!
Obviously someone with a great deal to lose..
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Well, tell me Parry. What have you done to hold account transparency and accountability within the MSM and the Politicos??
You’re abusive language is of no use and childish at best.
“We’ll walk past your wheelchair and undo the brakes” Seriously??
Grow up pal.
If you’re not part of the solution then you are part of the problem, Parry.
You’re nothing but a troll. And seriously outnumbered.
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There are an incredible number of unanswered questions in this saga to be sure, and all the CTV and Globe have done is add more. In doing so they’ve also managed to put the spotlight on their own ineptitude (to be kind).
This from the Hume story: “But it is clear from statements Mr. Collins made to police that he knew nothing of what Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk were doing.”
Oh? Declaring, “I didn’t do it!” is now enough to get the cops and pesky reporters off your tail? Who knew it was that easy?
And this: “An exhaustive police investigation into political corruption surrounding the sale of BC Rail found no evidence of wrongdoing by former BC Liberal cabinet minister Christy Clark or any other elected official, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail.”
Presumably an “exhaustive police investigation” would have turned up the memos to file that reveal Mr. Collins just might in fact have known what Virk and Basi were up to. An “exhaustive police investigation” would also have included police questioning Basi and Virk to see what their story was. I don’t see any mention in the Hume story on these memos or the results of the police questioning of the suspects. Why is that?
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Why is that? Well, I think both Beatty and Hume said it best when asked by Defence lawyers the other day about why they didn’t make an application for any other documents other than the four cherry-picked binders they were gifted prior to the hearing:
‘We’re not interested in that’
Superb comment, BTW…
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Hey Alex do you know why ANY of the msm will not ask VERY tough questions ,like why the govt. didn’t go after Basi’s house i understand he had it up for calateral,and why would any of the liberal candidates not agree to an inquiry?One more thing , what would some of the newsmen you really respect think aboyt Good, Baldry Palmer? I listened to them today and they STILL see no need for an inquiry,it really amazes me that they are so close minded. I was telling a friend that lives in eastern Canada all about this and he though i was making this up, he honestly didn’t believe me at first.
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The MSM have vested interests not to have a public inquiry because above all else it will show that there was enough evidence out there, but they worst ignored it or were intimidated into silence by friends if Gordon Campbell in the highest reaches of media empires.
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Days of Rage, anyone?
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Slightly off topic, but relavant none the less.
Does anyone know how many times Campbell/BC government have been taken to court by people of British Colmbia ?
I would hazarda guess and say the numbers would be staggering – and the cost to defend themselves (government) would equally staggering.
Doesn’t matter which way you slice it – Britsh Columbia is a cesspool of corruption (where government is concerned).
Thanks
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Thought this would be of interest:
” Solicitor-General Rich Coleman made two statements in the house yesterday that have no credibility. They are simply not believable.
1. He said that “the accused confirmed that they acted alone and were solely responsible for their criminal acts.”
If like Basi and Virk, your silence had been bought for $6 Million in public funds, you’d say that too.”
read more:
http://thebernermonologues.blogspot.com/2011/02/in-credible.html
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Alas I fear the race is lost. Nothing short of a minor miracle would now change what I suspect will become a truth on the 27th. Regardless of who wins the leadership race the outcome will remain the same, they will forever close the door to any possibility of a public inquiry. If current efforts to pursue that end are not sufficient what would it take to re-invigorate that cause once this government and council enact any type of bill to forbid further inspection. The sale of BC Rail and resulting figure of $1 billion pales in comparison to the cost of having our natural resources ( water rights etc ) being handed over to foreign ownership and control.
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Not so fast, my friend…someone’s about to emerge from a phone booth…
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Alex
Please tell Parry to stop dicking around on Grandma’s computer and come upstairs.
It’s time for Grandpa’s sponge bath.
Thank you
Parry’s Mom.
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It’s funny, you know. I get these emails from the Alex haters on a daily basis now….I’m fat, ugly, blind, fucking bald (as opposed to being just bald, I suppose),hated by my family, no friends, short (at 5’11″?), racist, gay (I’d make a great lesbian), fascist, biased, slanted, retarded, dumb, a pig, a wife-beater (only at thumb wars), a loser, an elitist, an inheritor, lazy, and my all-time favorite…a conservative.
There are no words to describe the nastiness, but it’s part of the job. Though, I have to say I’m overwhelmed by the HUNDREDS of people who have turned off their radios, televisions, ripped up their subscriptions, and arrived here instead.
Somedays I really have to wonder about how stupid many in the MSM are to disregard the power of this blog. And not because of the shots they take at me.
But because they underestimate the power that is all of you.
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Forgive me Alex for a moment as I share a thought.
First of all you are not receiving the negative correspondence alone, that belongs to all of us.
Alex’s Army ( in my mind) (read your readers) should be ready at this point to engage in whatever peaceful correspondence is necessary.
Remember the “tipping point” ? I feel we are near.
The vision of you departing the phone booth in a pair of red tights however, might need some work. (I’m having trouble shaking that one off)
When you put your head on the pillow tonight, please think of us……Alex’s Army needs you, and supports you.
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Will do. Many thx.
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“I get these emails from the Alex haters on a daily basis now …”
You know, the voice mails can be fun to share. Just sayin’.
http://davidinnorthburnablog.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-did-president-barry-get-my-phone.html
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With apologies: From the puerile file…
Alex in Tights
Sounds familiar — no? Oh right. That was the band Alice in Chains who hailed out of Seattle.
Any Vancouver based musicians out there forming a new band and lookin’ for a catchy name? Alex in Tights. I like it!
Do you play Alex? Imagine an all-Canadian double billed extravaganza: Alex in Tights & Shit from Hell live at the openiing of the new ‘n’ impoverished — I mean improved — BC Place.
There’s time to pull it together. The worlds largest cable supported roof line isn’t slated to open until the end of September 2011 (or maybe October, or November…) Best have your agent get in touch with Kinsella (Warren that is), Podmore, Crosley et al.
Alex rocks!
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Good grief!
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Good grief indeed
It’d be fun Alex. Just look how much fun Warren is havin’ with SFH.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spDSCe655Ag
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Gotta hand it to ya big man, nobody else knows how to show their respect for their readers the way you do. Detractors come and go, they lack focus and their meds wear off. What first attracted me to your site was the clarity of thought by both you and your readers. That’s also what keeps me here. Now excuse me, I’m off to search phone booths for he/she whom of which you speak. We greatly appreciate you Alex, always will.
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Very kind of you pal. It doesn’t matter what I’ve done in my life, I always inspired loyalty.
Because I always understood that without the people around you, you’re nothing.
When the team wins, you give them ALL the praise. And if you lose, ALWAYS take the blame yourself.
Even my critics admit it: I have the MOST intelligent readers in the Canadian blogosphere.
For whom, I am most grateful.
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Ok at this late hour amidst some very dark days we all need a feel good moment to permit our batteries to recharge and our wits to reassemble themselves. I offer you and yours this, and pass along a howdy to the missus on my behalf. She must be a willing participant in the mischief you make
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h03iH-Bsvj8
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Funny that, everyone assumes so. Maryanna and I are about to celebrate out tenth wedding anniversary and I couldn’t have asked for a more apolitical person. Although she and I share many of the same ideas, she’s more liberal than I am on some and more conservative I am on others.
We rarely talk about my blog. She reads it but doesn’t comment on it that much. It’s like when I interfere with her mushroom and asparagus risotto: Wonderful, but it might only stick to the bottom if I turn the heat up too high…we stay away from what we know the other one is better at.
And I’ve become much better behaved. I was not a very good husband for the time I was sorting out my demons. So it works well now.
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The Memos to File of Basi are pure fiction, a construct to cover Basi’s tracks.
Of course they are authentic and signed by Jones, but they are pure and utter fiction, dreamt up by the egomaniac Basi himself.
I dont believe a word this “woe is me” liar says, nor should you.
If he had dirt on anyone he would have played it by now.
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Then please explain how much of what he has written coincides with a good portion of the evidence. Is Basi lily white? Of course not. But there is a great deal in his memos that I believe is absolutely true. He might have been worried about what was going on from the govt end but had no idea what was going on with respect to wiretaps etc. The memos give a glimpse into what was going on. Is everything in there true? Again, in the absence of a public inquiry there is no definitive way to dispel anything because we now hear about hookers and blow. I’d like to get Campbell and Clark under oath on the witness stand and then we’ll see who is telling the truth and who isn’t.
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Alex:
As discussed previously and as your assessment of the facts noted above makes very clear, there exists in the banana republic of BC an overriding culture of political corruption.
When will we know that it has been “sent to the bullpen”?
When you “clean up” at the Webster Awards!
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Fat chance that’ii ever happen. Corporate hackery abounds!
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I’m disappointed after watching Global news tonight, I thought they would keep their head above the dirty water…but no, they too fed on the salaciousness of the wire tap tapes… then stooping to repeat the Punjab world order comment… lets bring in race comments and really deflect the issue!!
This isn’t about race or prostitutes… shame on Global News..yes Basi/Virk were stupid….ego driven.. but the problem is bigger and now it appears MSM is becoming an even bigger problem.
Deflect Deceive Distract… Shame on MSM
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George,
Dan Rather might not have made it into the infomercial circuit but he did make a guest appearance on the Family Guy! With a guest spot like that, who needs CBS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L-MQH58XpU&feature=related
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