...Actually Have From The Government of Gordon Campbell To Divest The Remnants Of The Crown Corporation Of All It's Real Property?
Why do I ask?
Well, because as our good friend Gary E. has discovered, with the help of a willing and able Anon-O-Mouse named EM, a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia whose last name is not Bennett who would sure like to know:
The only harm that I [Judge Meiklem] can infer would accrue to the defendant (BC Rail) from a preservation of the plaintiff’s option to purchase (Brinks Forest Products) pending a hearing of the issue on the merits is that the defendant would be delayed or hindered in marketing the premises (a chunk of land next to the former BCRail tracks in Prince George) in the intervening period of time. The defendant states in submissions that an injunction would prevent the defendant from dealing with the premises in accordance with its mandate from the provincial government to divest itself of all its real property. There is no evidence as to the terms of any such mandate or what losses may occur if there are delays experienced. The defendant also suggests that an injunction would be in place for some time as this action is unsuitable for Rule 18A summary disposition given the conflicts in evidence the require findings of credibility to resolve.
(stuff in brackets mine and Gary E's)
So.....
What's this all about, Alfie?
Well, as near as I can figure it, after reading the judgement it looks like a small sawmill operator in Prince George (Brinks Forest Products) made a deal back in 2005 to lease a chunk of unsubdivided land still owned by BC Rail that is next to the railway tracks that are now operated/longterm leased/not owned by CN Rail.
Why did the little sawmill company do that?
Why, so that they could build a new sawmill.
Duh!
....In June 2005 Mr. Brink applied to the City of Prince George for a building permit to construct a new building to house a sawmill on the premises. The application was made in his personal name, but the permit issued on October 3, 2005 described the project as that of BFP. The permit was limited to foundation work and the fee and development cost charges totalled $40,092.10.....
Then Mr. Brink ran into some financial difficulty, which is not at all surprising given the state of the forest industry, after apparently spending almost $5 million dollars. As a result he apparently had to slow down the construction of his mill.
And the kicker?......
Well, ignoring the terrible downturn in the forest industry, BC Rail tried to cancel Mr. Brink's lease after a 'subdivision plan had been registered in the Land Title Office' in March of 2009.
Did you catch that?
The geniuses now being paid big money by you and me to run BC Rail want to push out the small sawmill operator so that they can subdivide and sell the property, presumably to a developer.
Too bad they haven't been able to provide the judge with evidence that they actually have 'a mandate from the government to do so'.
Gosh, maybe if that government, the government of Gordon Campbell, were to open up the big, secret BC Rail deal they made with CN Rail for all of us to see we, and the judge (again, not the judge named Bennett), just might be able to glean what that 'mandate' actually is.
_____
But Hey!.... It's not like the government of Mr. Gordon Campbell hasn't turned public forest industry land into private windfall developer-ready land without a mandate before, right?
And why did I link to the original Public Eye piece by Sean Holman on the executive pay packages of the geniuses?......Because it beat Michael Smyth to the punch by almost a full 13 months (yes 13 months, or ~330 days of The Province's daily fishwrap banging against the front porch of the 13 people that still get it by subscription), not that you'd ever know it if you were listening to Mr. Smyth crow about how he broke the story recently while he filled in for a former cabinet minister of Mr. Campbell's who quit in the wake of the RailGate Ledge Raids and ultimately landed on her feet on the (notso)Giant '98......
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