Christy Liberals screw up again, and again!

[flamingfingers]

Arrogant, incompetent, self-serving, secretive and unaccoutable - all aided and assisted by the MSM who have failed time and again to do their JOBS which is to keep us informed:

Meet the Pro-Media Contortionists


Tom Fletcher and Keith Baldrey, and others, have been around as leading members of the Press Gallery in BC since before the fall of Glen Clark. I point that out because I recall how relentless the pursuit of Glen Clark was by media over the casino/deck scandal.

Each of them released columns about the “Triple-delete” scandal this week, which were full of logical failures and a more general failure to identify the problem for Christy Clark’s government. Have a look… We’ll take Baldrey first:

http://www.burnabynow.com/opinion

“This dismissal of the need to be accountable and provide openness is cavalier at best and sneeringly undemocratic at worst. The investigation by B.C. privacy and information commissioner was justifiably scathing and harsh in its findings and judgment. This mentality – that “winning” is all-important and little else matters – can leave vacant the moral and ethical high ground voters still expect to see occupied by those they vote for. Stephen Harper and his Conservative party learned that lesson in a very painful manner in the recent federal election, a contest that turned out to be more about values than anything else. It’s time to shed the arrogance and start following the law. Otherwise that sense of being bulletproof may one day prove to be delusional. ”

What Mr. Baldrey argues, couched in some rather fine rhetoric, is that if the deletion of emails continues, which is against the law when they are responsive to an FOI request (as was the case in the Tim Duncan matter), the BCLiberals might lose! Heaven forbid!.. He does, correctly , refer to the BCLibs “wanton disregard for the law” , but that is not the problem in itself. It is the threat to the BCLibs electoral dominance that is put forth as the reason for them to reform themselves.

The reaction to this column on Twitter was generally positive, and taken as a sign that the pro BCLib bias among certain pundits may be cracking. Far from it.

On to Tom Fletcher.. While this link is from the Oak Bay News in Victoria, remember Fletcher’s columns are syndicated across the province, particularly in small communities. Here is his column:

http://www.oakbaynews.com/opinion/339610052.html

“Everyone agrees that the deputy health minister of the day, Graham Whitmarsh, was legally responsible for the decisions and records. Yet somehow the only record released to the NDP for the two-year period of the firings and subsequent investigation was a heavily blanked-out update from his successor, Stephen Brown, to the premier’s deputy, John Dyble…….”

“The larger issue is how freedom of information legislation should work. Should the opposition be able to second-guess decisions of bureaucrats by going through their emails?

The traditional answer is no. Elected officials are responsible, even if they had no actual role, as should always be the case in hiring and firing ministry staff and awarding government work contracts. The buck stops with Lake and Clark, not their deputies.”

So I’m waiting for Mr. Fletcher to hold Lake and Clark accountable for the health firings, for the settlements (the nature and dollar amounts are secret), for the misleading of the public with regard to an RCMP investigation that we know never happened, and for the misleading of the RCMP with regards to evidence which never came. Is it too much to suppose that much of the record was illegally deleted? I don’t think it is.

Mr. Fletcher is right that the buck stops with Clark and Lake on the health firings file, but at the same time, in the same column he argues “everyone agrees” it was Graham Whitmarsh’s fault.. throwing under the bus the one of the many civil servants involved who has left government and has sounded the alarm over being scapegoated by the bunch of cowards who run this government. Whitmarsh pointed to extensive work with John Dyble and others at the time, a man quoted in Hansard this week instructing staff in a thank you note to “delete all drafts and treat emails as transitory”.

I’m in no way exonerating Whitmarsh, (he has much to answer for, and not just on this file) but it’s nonsense to pretend that “we know” it’s his fault, and his alone.

What the “Triple-delete” scandal has exposed is an effort among the political arm of Clark’s civil service to avoid accountability for themselves and for Clark herself pre-emptively. To argue that FOI laws should not expose the inner workings of government when the buck stops with the politicians (always at some future date) is nonsense. We have FOI laws precisely so that we might know how the government works in our interest because we pay for it. In part, we have FOI laws to ensure that the government is considering evidence in its decision making, and what that evidence has been.

And what’s been exposed is a rational, pre-emptive, far reaching, intentional, breach of FOI law. And for that, the buck stops with Christy Clark. The buck stops today, not in May 2017.

For a breath of fresh air, read Justine Hunter here, as she talks about how much has been known for a long time within the Ministry of Transport about the Highway of Tears, and about what Todd Stone didn’t want us to know about community consultations along that corridor.. It’s a good honest piece.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... le27170780

The point of all of this is that it’s following the spirit and the letter of the law that matters. Let’s not treat this as some sort of game where “our team” made a bad play but they can still win if they score some points in the final quarter of Clark’s term. We pay the civil service, even the political arm, to provide sound advice to Clark and her cabinet. We don’t pay it to delete the record so that we can’t find out what evidence was considered. And certainly not to cover up mistakes for the Premier.

Further, it’s one of the legitimate roles of the Press Gallery to pursue accountability on our behalf from Premier Clark, whether the first name is Glen or Christy.

[maple leaf]

Rwede » Yesterday, 11:27 am

And now Caterpillar is laying off 1,100 Canadians. Notley should be ashamed of herself.

Using Rwede's logic this is all Christy Clarks fault

.In another blow to fisheries on B.C.'s north coast, Canfisco says it will cease canning operations in Prince Rupert.

More than 500 jobs could be lost at what was once the world's largest cannery, with the falling demand for canned salmon blamed for the company's decision.

"We're moving more to fresh and frozen products," Rob Morley, vice president of production and corporate development for Canfisco told CBC News.

"And the other thing is, our labour costs and the cost of operation in that cannery, are much higher than all our competitors in Alaska. So it is tough to compete."

Canfisco is one of the largest employers in Prince Rupert, which raises concerns for the city.

Mayor Lee Brain said he wanted to meet with the company in an effort to keep as many salmon industry jobs in the city as possible.

With files from George Bakerhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/brit ... -1.3316981

[maple leaf]

Hope they get to the bottom of this and the Government is held to account of any wrong doing.

Prosecutor to deleted emails investigation
ON NOVEMBER 19, 2015 11:00 AM BY LAILAIN BC LIBERALS, BC NDP, BC POLITICS, CORRUPTION, CRIME, LAILA YUILE
From Jennifer Moreau, of the Burnaby Now:

This just in! The province is appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham’s recent report to government. Great news, considering the awful state of our access to information laws in B.C.

When reporters file freedom of information (FOI) requests, they’re often delayed getting back to us, most of the content is greyed out, and sometimes we’re just told there are no records. There are a couple years worth of backlogged complaints. Let’s hope this investigation improves things.

November 19, 2015 15-23

Appointment of Special Prosecutor

Victoria – The Criminal Justice Branch (CJB), Ministry of Justice, announced today that Greg DelBigio, QC has been appointed as a Special Prosecutor to provide legal advice to the R.C.M.P. in relation to an investigation arising out of Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham’s recent report to government.

As disclosed in the report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner referred information to the R.C.M.P. for investigative consideration. This information related to a request for access to records that was made of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, and the alleged conduct of an individual who was employed as a Ministerial Assistant at the time of the request.

On November 10, 2015, the Assistant Deputy Attorney General for the Criminal Justice Branch, M. Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten, QC (the ADAG), received a formal request from the R.C.M.P. that she consider the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to provide police with legal advice during the course of their investigation.

The ADAG concluded, based on the request and the information available to her about the alleged circumstances of the case, that the appointment of a Special Prosecutor is in the public interest. Under the Crown Counsel Act, the ADAG will consider appointing a Special Prosecutor where some aspect of an investigation, or prosecution file, carries a significant potential for real or perceived improper influence in prosecutorial decision making. A Special Prosecutor works independent from government, the Ministry of Justice and the CJB.

On November 13, 2015 the ADAG appointed Mr. DelBigio as Special Prosecutor in the matter. He has been given a mandate by the ADAG to:

 Offer such legal advice to the investigative agency as may be necessary in the circumstances;

 Conduct an independent assessment of any Report to Crown Counsel (RTCC) that may be submitted and make the charging decision he deems appropriate in the exercise

– See more at: http://www.burnabynow.com/opinion/blogs ... v3VhW.dpuf
I love how the government appointed this prosecutor on November 13th… and didn’t issue a press release until today – after the fall legislative session has ended. No questions, again.

It will be interesting to see how and where this investigation goes. Keep in mind in the case of the alleged deletion of the Ministry of Transportation emails by George Gretes, that occurred in November 2014.

We now know that the BC government removed section 5 of The Offence Act from Bill 18 ( Information Management Act), in May of this year, 2015. Prior to this removal, it was a general offence to improperly destroy government documents or records.

We also know now, that those penalties were removed just two days prior to Tim Duncans revelations, about the deletion of those Highway of Tears emails.

duty to document

It begs the question: Because Section 5 of the offence act still applied in BC with respect to document destruction, at the time the emails were deleted, would it apply to any offences committed before it was removed?

To date, the premier has never been asked about the removal of the offence act ( and associated penalties) from this bill. There has been no questions put to Minister Amrik Virk either. You may want to ask why.

Is this government Complicit, or Incompetent? You decide.

Full background on this entire story, including the questions still standing on the appointment of Loukidelis, here: http://lailayuile.com/2015/11/12/compli ... -them-all/


http://lailayuile.com/2015/11/19/provin ... stigation/