BC Government and SNC Lavalin ye Gods!

[flamingfingers]

SNC Lavalin is one of the few Canadian companies who could attain the high goal of being banned for 10 years by the World Bank for corruption. This is a company that is up to its earlobes in corruption in Montreal right now but yet the ChristyLiberals are doing booming business with this corrupt group and using our tax dollars to do so.

See what Mayor Corrigan of Burnaby has to say about this horrid mess:

B.C. becoming a banana republic: Burnaby mayor
Corrigan coal-and-corruption rant targets Vancouver port poobahs, SNC-Lavalin
By bobmackin - Published: 01/24/2014 - Section: Burnaby, coal, corruption, Derek Corrigan, Port Metro Vancouver, SNC-Lavalin, Surrey Fraser Docks, Uncategorized

Derek Corrigan, the NDP-allied mayor since 2002 of Vancouver suburb Burnaby, doesn’t mince his words.

At its Jan. 13, 2014 meeting, Burnaby city council unanimously voted to oppose the expansion of coal shipment facilities at Fraser Surrey Docks and North Vancouver’s Neptune Terminals, until a more comprehensive, transparent and independent health assessment and public hearing process happens. The meeting came two days after a train derailed in Burnaby, spilling coal into a creek.

Port Metro Vancouver is pushing for development of a direct transfer coal facility at Fraser Surrey Docks. In an attempt to quell opposition, SNC-Lavalin was hired to conduct this Nov. 18, 2013 environmental assessment study.

The chief medical health officers at Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health said the draft “fell well short of adequately addressing the human health impacts” in this letter to Port Metro Vancouver.

See the video of Corrigan’s rant about Port Metro Vancouver, coal and SNC-Lavalin is above. Read the transcript here:
Burnaby Mayor Corrigan

“More and more I’m beginning to feel like British Columbia is becoming a banana republic. Over and over again we see decisions being made by bodies that are not independent.

“Port Metro Vancouver is conducting this environmental assessment, the majority of directors on Port Metro Vancouver are appointed by the very companies that stand to economically benefit from these decisions. And so here you’ve got a board of directors appointed by the companies that is in charge of the environmental assessment to determine whether they’re going to make more money. So they go out and hire SNC-Lavalin to do the report for them.

“Now SNC-Lavalin has done more to bring Canadian engineering into disrepute than any company has ever had the misfortune to do in the history of Canada. This is one of the few Canadian companies who could attain the high goal of being banned for 10 years by the World Bank for corruption. This is a company that is up to its earlobes in corruption in Montreal right now in the investigation, and yet here in B.C. they’re the independent organization brought in to do environmental assessments for the very board appointed by the companies who benefit from the environmental assessment. This is crazy. This is completely losing control of any public interest in these kind of projects whatsoever.

“So here we are with the Fraser Surrey Docks being utilized to bring in American coal that’s been refused in American ports to be shipped overseas. Meanwhile, meanwhile, they refuse to short-sea ship any of the containers of goods that are arriving in our port each day so that they could be easily moved to distribution centres in Surrey and Langley. So instead of moving goods down the Fraser River so that we can move them more efficiently, not taking that traffic through our cities, instead we’re bringing dirty coal in, shipping it to barge to Texada Island and then shipping it to China as if we’re not all sharing the same airshed, and that that dirty coal isn’t going to blow right back into our atmosphere. It’s insanity.

“And then they wonder why politicians have such difficulty in trusting the machinations of our senior orders of government, the ones that are given all the constitutional authority to be able to impose their will on local municipalities. it’s incredibly frustrating.

“Those of you out there who read a little bit about SNC-Lavalin and their reputation would not be saying to us what a great idea it is that they’re given the task of doing an environmental assessment to protect the interests of citizens in our country. [b]They certainly haven’t been protecting the interests of people all over the world or the world bank wouldn’t have banned them from utilizing any world bank funds.
[i]
“So it’s difficult and it’s hard for people to keep up with the way these multinational corporations are acting, their reputations, their performance. And we can only depend on the press, we can only depend on the press to call it as it is. and to make clear that if this company has been banned by the World Bank, why the heck are they doing environmental assessments in our backyard?”

(Read my Business in Vancouver story from April 18, 2013: “SNC-Lavalin’s B.C. operations on World Bank corruption 10-year blacklist”)

UPDATE: Port Metro Vancouver government affairs director (and federal Conservative strategist) Marko Dekovic Tweeted me, claiming it was Fraser Surrey Docks, not Port Metro Vancouver, that hired SNC-Lavalin. “The project proponent did,” he said.
If it was that way, what does that say about Fraser Surrey Docks for hiring SNC-Lavalin and for Port Metro Vancouver to tacitly agree? They knew or ought to have known the company’s well-documented, negative track record would become an issue. It is a damaged brand. (SNC-Lavalin claims to be turning over a new leaf, but is it genuine or just spin?)

Port Metro Vancouver has had business relationships with with SNC-Lavalin and even hired away one of its executives.
According to supplier lists obtained via Access to Information, Port Metro Vancouver paid three divisions of SNC-Lavalin $604,314.97 for the 2012 fiscal year.

Port Metro Vancouver’s vice-president of infrastructure delivery, hired in 2011, is Sheri Plewes. Plewes joined PMV from SNC Lavalin’s Vancouver-based Transportation Division, where she was senior vice-president of transport.

SNC-Lavalin’s highest-profile Vancouver-area gig for now is the Evergreen Line SkyTrain expansion.

http://bobmackin.ca/?p=1521

[maple leaf]

You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back.Business as usual in corrupt British Columbia.As the MSM snoozes away.

Edit to add the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OWoWOS69Zs

[Logitack]

it is only corruption when the government is the socialist hordes, it is good business when government malfeasance is done by liberal scumbags.... ;)

[hobbyguy]

Actually, the MSM has not been "snoozing away" on this one: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Port+Metro+Vancouver+sponsorship+coal+conference+emails+reveal/9110023/story.html

You will note in the article that it is NOT the BC government that has the control here, it is Senor Harper and his crew Cons. They have usurped the power over the ports completely, as they have just recently done in Kitimat - by cabinet order.

The sad part of this mess is that it isn't even about BC or Alberta coal, it's about Wyoming thermal coal (the dirtiest kind of coal) that is looking for a market because the EPA declared CO2 a pollutant etc., and US utilities are switching over to natural gas. Seattle and Portland are already balking at coal ports for this crud. http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/11/18/165000-coal-comments-and-a-message-for-obama/http://www.seattlepi.com/local/connelly/article/Opponents-mob-Seattle-coal-port-hearing-4117162.php

So these purveyors of very dirty coal are looking for a patsy who doesn't give a dang about the environment or people's health - and they found this excuse for a government in Ottawa...

Banana republic indeed, Harper said we wouldn't recognize Canada when he was finished.

[logicalview]

Derek Corrigan, the NDP-allied mayor since 2002 of Vancouver suburb Burnaby, doesn’t mince his words.

And because this loser is "NDP-allied", only NDP losers are going to listen to anything this bozo has to say, which of course, will either be outright lies, fear-mongering crap, or leftist nonsense designed to try and make the idiots in the NDP not quite look as bad as they actually are. Big time YAWN.

[steven lloyd]

I wondered how long it would be before someone dismissed the allegations due to the source, instead of expressing any concern regarding evidence of ongoing political corruption and malfeasance by our sitting government in power. The blatantly partisanship perspective is really quite simple to recognize and just takes more credibility away from a poster who already has very little credibility to spare. It won’t just be NDP supporters who listen to this. Many of us who would vote for anyone but the NDP are still not tied to partisan blinders and can recognize we have a problem (again) with the Liberals. This is the type of problem that is just as concerning when executed by the NDP. The Liberals don’t get a free pass at it just because they are not the NDP. Those sheep who cannot see past their own partisan loyalty to their party have found persuasive ways (persuasive for them) to convince themselves their party can do no wrong and look just as foolish (perhaps even more follish by this point) as anyone making excuses for political malfeasance - no matter what political party.

It will be interesting to see if posters like LV, GB and little dude ever find themselves able to engage in more complete, inclusive and critical thought and learn that criticizing the government you already support is a healthy thing – for both them and that government. Maybe they just need a few more years to help them to develop the courage and skill to be more honest in challenging themselves. Its always nice when you’re able to watch someone grow and mature with more intelligent debate.

[maple leaf]

Actually, the MSM has not been "snoozing away" on this one: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Port+Metro+Vancouver+sponsorship+coal+conference+emails+reveal/9110023/story.html

.

Thanks HG for posting another article on this.This should be on every news outlet there is,on every news hour and in every paper.The whole thing stinks of corruption on every level ,and how on earth can anyone look to SNC Lavalin for anything straight up is beyond me.

[Gone_Fishin]

Ho-hum. How did this endless yapping with tinfoil hat conspiracy theories work out for you NDP guys last May, Derek? The NDP and their devout followers will never learn.

[flamingfingers]

SNC Lavalin Canadian Companies World Bank blacklist
Submitted by snowhitegriffin on October 02nd, 2013 – Flag this news as inappropriate
Category: Business

Canada leads World Bank blacklist of fraudulent companies thanks to SNC-Lavalin

Canada leads the world in companies and individuals that have been banned by the World Bank from contributing to international aid and infrastructure projects.

Of the 608 companies and individuals listed on the World Bank’s just-released blacklist for fraudulent or corrupt conduct, 119 are Canadian companies. But engineering firm SNC-Lavalin and its subsidiaries, many of which are registered outside Canada, comprise 16 per cent of the total.

The World Bank bans companies from participating in aid and development contracts if they “have been sanctioned under the Bank’s fraud and corruption policy.”

http://www.bubblews.com/news/1249750-sn ... -blacklist

[maple leaf]

^^
http://www.bubblews.com/news/1249750-sn ... -blacklist[/quote]

Flamming ,don't you know that the BC NDP paid them to say that ,SNC Lavalin is not really on a black list and has never been
involved in anything corrupt.All made up by the BC NDP and the BC NDP is forcing news outlets all over the world to say these lies.Talk about tin hat conspiracies people.Insert the head in sand picture here.

“The evil hate the light – the light of goodness that shows them up, the light of scrutiny that exposes them, the light of truth that penetrates their deception. Rather than blissfully lacking a sense of morality, like the sociopath, they are, continually engaged in sweeping the evidence of their evil under the rug of their own consciousness."
The quote is by M. Scott Peck.

[flamingfingers]

^If you are correct, the NDP holds way more power and influence than I thought!! See what they 'forced' the Financial Post to publish:

“As it stands today, the World Bank debarment list includes a high number of Canadian companies, the majority of which are affiliates to SNC Lavalin Inc.,” said the bank’s manager of investigations, James David Fielder.
...
The World Bank has been stepping up its fraud investigations in recent years, with four times more debarments than in 2012, and compared to the past seven years combined, said Mr. Coleman (Tim Coleman, a global investigations partner at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in New York).

Canadian firms may be at higher risk of being sanctioned by the World Bank, he added, because Canadian authorities have not been as aggressively enforcing its anti-corruption laws as its U.S. counterparts.

“The result of that is that Canadian companies may have been lulled into a false sense of security, because their own national authorities were not closely scrutinizing their global operations, that nobody else would either,” he said.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/ ... nc-lavalin