And we thought there might be an end to it?

[flamingfingers]

Leaks becoming torrents - and probably more to come! Time to call for a Special Prosecutor - or the RCMP.

Premier’s Office had public servants target crucial election ridings for the BC Liberals — all on government time and your dime

By CASSIDY OLIVIER, The Province March 15, 2013 5:24 PM

Premier Christy Clark’s former principal secretary, Dimitri Pantazopolous, and former deputy chief of staff Kim Haakstad were among those involved in a comprehensive strategy that used government staff and resources to try to win swing ridings for the BC Liberals, The Province has learned.

Premier Christy Clark’s inner circle developed and executed a comprehensive strategy that used government resources for partisan purposes in an effort to advance the interests of the B.C. Liberal Party in swing ridings, the Province has learned.

Evidence of a second plan originating from the Premier’s Office that violates government standards of conduct and blurs lines between partisan and government work comes a day after the Premier claimed no prior knowledge of the controversial Multicultural Outreach Strategy.

Sources say the so-called Swing Team Strategy was executed through the PO beginning in 2011 by Clark’s former principal secretary Dimitri Pantazopoulos, a well-connected Tory, with involvement from Kim Haakstad, Clark’s former deputy chief of staff.

“Dimitri was the driving force behind the swing teams, from its inception through to the operational phase,” a confidential source told The Province. “Swing team leaders reported directly to him, and he coordinated activities between the teams and the party.”

Confidential correspondence provided to The Province places Pantazopoulos, who left the Premier’s Office in March 2012 and is now on contract with the B.C. Liberal Party, in a conversation with the leader of one of the swing teams.
Efforts to contact Pantazopoulos by publication deadline were unsuccessful.

Confidential sources tell The Province that there were between 15-20 of the teams, whose main purpose was to “gather information that would help the B.C. Liberals win the swing riding we were assigned to,” according to another confidential source.

Ridings are defined as “swing” if the winning vote margin is slim.

Led by an executive assistant, the teams also consisted of a legislative assistant, a caucus communications officer and a caucus research officer. In at least two instances, the teams were led by ministerial assistants, The Province has learned.
Work on the swing teams, described by sources as partisan, was conducted during regular office hours at the B.C. legislature, a clear violation of the standards of conduct as outlined in the B.C. Public Service Act.

In at least one instance, a meeting was held in a cabinet minister’s office, according to a private correspondence given to The Province.

“It was clear that what we were doing was not supposed to be done on staff time,” a source told The Province. “All communications were done through personal email addresses so as to not be obtained through Freedom of Information.”
Email chains provided to the Province between members of a swing riding confirm that communication was done via private email.

“There was an overall mantra,” another source told The Province. “[Gordon] Campbell never had public servants involved in anything political, we want staff to grow into being more political.”

Discovery of a second taxpayer-funded strategy aimed at winning the 2013 provincial election comes at the end of long week for Clark who was badly shaken by the findings of a damning investigation into the ethnic outreach plan, which also originated in her office.

It also adds another thread to the emerging political culture that has developed in the Premier’s Office under Clark’s watch. As previously reported by The Province, major lines were crossed in the crafting of an attack website aimed at NDP leader Adrian Dix.

Further political interference was alleged in the creation of a Liberal consultation committee formed to look into the future of Burnaby Hospital that was motivated in part by a desire to win an NDP-held riding.

Led by her deputy minister, John Dyble, the report into the ethnic plan, released Thursday, found evidence of serious misconduct by government employees and misuse of government funds.

It also saw those involved try to hide their activities through use of private emails.

Haakstad and another government employee resigned as part of the fallout, which also cost former multicultural minister John Yap his cabinet post and resulted in the B.C. Liberal Party writing a $70,000 repayment cheque to the government.
Clark has said she didn’t know about the ethnic plan until it was leaked to the media by the B.C. NDP.

Duties of swing riding members included: compiling lists of stakeholders and elected officials in the riding, identifying government/achievements/”quick wins” in the riding, and liaising with riding associations and Liberal Party organizers.

“My sense of what we were doing was that it was wrong,” a source told The Province. “There were so many expectations that staff would support the party on and off the clock, and there was a lot of party work done on staff time.
“It was never really an option – it was an inherent part of the work culture. I did feel guilty. I did feel like I had to do it to keep my job.”

Asked about the swing riding strategy a spokesperson at the PO said they had no knowledge of it and could not offer a response.

However, spokesman Ben Chin did say “Political staffers on both sides work long hours and the different responsibilities can tend to blur.”

“I think the Dyble report makes it clear that we need some better definitions of those roles so that political staffers in all political parties understand where the lines are more clearly.”

[email protected]

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/Premier+Offi ... z2New5WKpy

[NAB]

“I think the Dyble report makes it clear that we need some better definitions of those roles so that political staffers in all political parties understand where the lines are more clearly.”

And I think that goes double for the unelected (and probably unelectable) Premier and those MLA's who still support her.

Nab

[Logitack]

i just read this news article and was about to post it....

just more liberal scandals added on top of the weeks worth of scandals... amazingly the liberals STILL have people supporting them...unbelievable

[flamingfingers]

They have really outdone themselves!! 6 scandals in 1 week! And all of them involves using taxpayer dollars. Disgusting!

[Alvis]

If Clark wasn't breaking the law we'd not be discussing ithere. The leader and leading party and their blatant disregard for following the rules is NOT the doing of the NDP, it is the doing of the guilty party, the BC LIberals.

Just because you don't like it doesn't mkae it any less newsworthy or open to discussion.


This is so familiar....Social Credit?

[Jo]

Off-topic remarks have been removed. This thread is NOT about who posts the most political threads, etc., it is NOT about the heartbreak of not being able to get factual information on this board, and it is NOT the right place to post that you're going to leave this forum because everybody is all wrong and awful. Read the subject header and the OP's post. Post accordingly.

[John500]

Clark has to resign. But she never will. So she takes the party down.

[bob vernon]

The ethnic targeting was handled by member of the Premier's Office.
And now the Swing Team was headed by people in the Premier's Office.

And Christy can somehow flash us a smile and think that we'll believe her when she says she didn't know. Where was she? Were her assistants doing this behind her back?

This party is so evil that it will likely follow Social Credit into history.

[Jo]

Tossing words like 'evil' around is something best reserved for threads in the Political Arena, not here. The regional threads should be kept free of the rants, rhetoric, rah-rahs and empty statements. Discuss the issues here, rant and rave in the Political Arena.