Covering up wrongdoings with TAXPAYER MONEY!!

[flamingfingers]

Health firings which ruined reputations and resulted in the death of one researcher has cost us MILLIONS!!!

...Fast-forward to Dec. 29 (2015), when the government announced it had awarded a sizable cash settlement to (fired Health Ministry workers Bill) Warburton and his wife Rebecca Warburton, who also worked for the TI (Therapeutics Initiative). The amount was not disclosed, but it is likely in the millions, and the government has also given cash settlements to all the other living TI researchers. But because Bill Warburton’s case will not go to trail, none of his allegations of government corruption will be tested in court...

Read more here:

http://pacificgazette.blogspot.ca/

[maple leaf]

Add those millions to the 6 million to buy off the BC rail trial ,guess they got away with it that time so just continuing in their corrupt ways.

[alfred2]

removed.

[flamingfingers]

previous posters quote removed

[maple leaf]

A little bit of some background reminder on the story.

By: Kate Webb Metro, Published on Sun Jan 17 2016
The B.C. government chose the sleepy window between Christmas and New Year’s to announce a major development in one of the biggest scandals in B.C. history — but unless you are a die-hard news junkie, chances are you’ve never even heard of it.
The Therapeutics Initiative scandal – a.k.a. the 2012 Health Ministry Firings – has all the makings of a Hollywood political thriller, but seems to have barely registered in the public consciousness.
Here’s the Coles notes:
In September 2012, the B.C. Health Ministry quietly fires eight employees. They are all members of the Therapeutics Initiative (TI), an independent watchdog that assesses the safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs. (One drug policy analyst affiliated with the University of Victoria, Alan Cassels, says that thanks to the TI, B.C. spends the least per capita on pharmaceuticals in the country, and it has saved thousands of lives by discovering fatal side effects of some expensive new drugs).
At the time, the government and those fired give vastly different accounts of the reason for the firings. The Ministry claims employees inappropriately accessed sensitive medical records, and that they have referred the matter to RCMP. However, a Vancouver Sun investigation found the province never sent the Mounties any evidence, and so there never was any RCMP investigation.
All of the researchers call for a public inquiry and sue the government for wrongful termination, and a co-op student whose second attempt at his PhD was thwarted by his firing tragically takes his own life just a few months later. His family cites the stress of the ordeal as the major cause.
Another of the fired researchers, Bill Warburton, alleges in his lawsuit that the BC Liberals are in the pocket of drug companies, receiving significant contributions from some of the same companies whose medications are part of the province's drug plans. (A 2013 analysis found drug companies’ political contributions to the BC Liberals outstripped those to the BC NDP 11 to 1. And according to Warburton, his research found that about 60,000 people now taking anti-psychotic drugs will die prematurely — not exactly that kind of information drug makers want out there.)
Fast-forward to Dec. 29, when the government announced it had awarded a sizable cash settlement to Warburton and his wife Rebecca Warburton, who also worked for the TI. The amount was not disclosed, but it is likely in the millions, and the government has also given cash settlements to all the other living TI researchers. But because Bill Warburton’s case will not go to trail, none of his allegations of government corruption will be tested in court.

An independent lawyer hired to probe the firings could not figure out who made the decision to fire the researchers, or why, citing a complete lack of records. The B.C. Ombudsperson is now investigating, at a projected cost to taxpayers of $1.2 million. And that’s just the beginning of the bill for this debacle. Settlements, lawyers, and numerous investigations, both internal and independent, could easily run into the tens of millions, though that’s just a guess, because the government won’t release the figures for the bigger line items.
Despite editorials running on the front pages of numerous local newspapers calling for a public inquiry, this scandal remains mostly unnoticed, banished to the hinterland of public opinion.
Maybe it needs a catchier name in order to register with voters before the next provincial election in 2017. Pharmagate. The Pharmacare Affair. Maybe Michael Moore needs to come make a slanted, over-the-top film about it.
I don’t know how to make people pay attention, even though there are so many jaw-dropping revelations and allegations, because it’s such a complicated story.
But here’s what I do know. The government is using millions of taxpayers’ dollars to try to obfuscate the facts and make this problem go away. Let’s be clear – the truth coming out is not a problem for any British Columbian. It is only a problem for this particular government. They are using your money to cover their you-know-whats.
Now that’s a firing offense.
Kate Webb is an unapologetic muckraker and political junkie who lives and writes in Vancouver.
Editors' Picks

[Osoyoos_Familyof4]

WOW. Thanks for this information. I'm gobsmacked, good job for reporting it and bringing it to my attention (and to others). I missed this.

[Smurf]

Actually I can't believe the garbage the people of British Columbia are letting this government get away with nary a question. Even if there is no real alternative it is no reason not to be screaming for some accountability or at least proper checks for wrong doing.

[flamingfingers]

While you may not think this is in the category of 'wrongdoings' to me these 'patronage appointments' is still a blatant misuse of our taxpayer dollars. Seems that Christy's 'Families First' only applies to the ChristyLiberal's famigl(oops) families!!

Dermod Travis: B.C. Liberals have created patronage heaven
DERMOD TRAVIS / TIMES COLONIST
OCTOBER 13, 2015 12:18 AM

New York senator William L. Marcy could have just as easily been referring to B.C. in 2015 — and not the 1828 victory of the Jackson Democrats — when he boasted “to the victor belong the spoils.”

Even he would have marvelled at the spoils available in B.C.

Other provinces have their Crown corporations and spots on various boards to reward the party faithful, but the B.C. government has taken it to a whole new level. The government makes appointments to the boards of more than 300 public agencies and for a few key ones, every single spot on the boards. From health authorities to administrative tribunals, colleges to police boards, it’s patronage heaven.

When the biggies are announced — such as Brad Bennett’s recent ascension to chairman of the board at B.C. Hydro — it’ll make a splash. Not so with appointments to the Integrated Cadastral Information Society.

Managing to keep a straight face, Premier Christy Clark called Bennett’s new post “essentially volunteer work.” Some might differ with Clark’s concept of volunteering.

B.C. Hydro’s board met 21 times in 2013/14, with the 13 directors racking up $192,750 in meeting fees and $227,000 in retainers.

The former chairman, Stephen Bellringer, pocketed $67,625. Bennett went home with $32,125, plus $15,724 in expenses. Total board expenses rang in at $61,315, which isn’t so bad when you consider that one director lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

TransLink’s board must be one of the coveted “I’ve died and gone to heaven” appointments. The chairperson pulled in $100,000 last year and that’s a part-time gig. One director made $59,900, about what someone working at minimum wage would earn over three years.

All in, TransLink’s board cost $573,201. Presumably, that’s what you have to pay to get the not-so-seamless introduction of the Compass Card and its unanticipated single-zone fare system.

Many appointees donate generously to the B.C. Liberals. Hydro’s Bellringer manages to scrape up $7,500 for the party every year. The bigger surprise is that some of the agencies donate as well.

The Chicken Marketing Board gave $3,900 to the Liberals between 2005 and 2014, the Milk Marketing Board $2,000, and the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals $5,500 ($2,700 to the NDP).

There also seems to be a dearth of talent. A few appointees have worn more than one hat over the years, sometimes at once.

One frequent appointee, Brenda Eaton, has served on the boards of the B.C. Real Estate Foundation, B.C. Safety Authority, B.C. Hydro, Powerex, was the chairwoman of B.C. Housing and is now on the board of TransLink.

The CEO of the Northern Development Initiative Trust — which is one of the agencies the government appoints directors to — has been appointed to the board of B.C. Hydro.

One chaired two boards, sat on two more — all at the same time — collecting $442,728 in fees along the way.

Some boards offer a refuge for ex-MLAs to while away the days. John Les and Jack Weisgerber are two who have found a second wind, and a second paycheque.

What’s in it for the government, beyond sharing the fruits of power? Little or no pushback and micro-control.

Remember the deafening silence from university board of governors over the government’s plans to redirect a greater chunk of advanced-education funding to training for high-demand jobs without actually spending more money.

Don’t like what’s going on at Fraser Health? Fire the chair, as Health Minister Terry Lake did in 2014.

Threaten another transit referendum if the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation tries to go ahead with mobility pricing, as TransLink Minister Peter Fassbender did recently.

Lip service to local autonomy.

When the government appoints a majority of the board — as it does with colleges, universities and health authorities — it is put in the unique position of both allocating budgets and having the final say on how they’re spent.

Lest there be any confusion over who’s really the boss, Crown corporations are permitted to have separate boards for their subsidiaries, but directors are appointed only “after approval from cabinet.”

One piece of good news: The government might still be searching for an Honorary B.C. Wine Envoy.

- See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/co ... dVUPo.dpuf