UnderOathVille
The RailGate Trial is, allegedly, scheduled to begin, for real, on Monday May 17th.
So, in the spirit of Gordon Campbell Government Friday afternoon document dumps, we thought we would offer-up the following on the eve of the coming trial.....
(click to enlarge)Which is a list of Mr. David McLean's contributions to the Political Party of Gordon Campbell since 2005 that, according to Elections B.C., currently total $189,157.50.
Mr. McLean, in case you missed it, is the Chairman of the Board of CN Rail.
And, just in case you've forgotten, given that the Ledge Raids occurred more than six years ago, CN Rail won the bid to privatize BC Rail, in the wake of a hastily assembled 'fairness advisor's report' after other potential bidders made a fuss about favouritism, from the Government of Mr. Gordon Campbell in late 2003.
And just in case you didn't know it, especially given how little the 'fully-accredited' proMedia told us about what went down BEFORE the defendants in the RailGate proceedings were charged, it was CN Rail that was the subject of those calls of favouritism.
Now.....
Given that we are just one of the cultists who make stuff up regarding all matters RailGate, we will leave it to other enterprising and, of course, fully-accredited 'journalists' to dig up Mr. McLean's earlier contributions to the party of Mr. Campbell if they so choose.*
OK?
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*But if they don't, you can pretty much make book on the fact that we will.....
*Oh, and for the record, as of this writing, the last known proMedia report from an 'accredited journalist on all matters RailGate was April 29th, 2010...Nothing of import to see here folks...Move along....Enjoy your weekend and don't bother yourself with all those crazy little trivial things like who owns and profits from the collective assets of British Columbians (and, on the flip side, who doesn't).... Because when there is news to report they (ie. those most fully accredited) will, of course, report it....
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11 comments:
These guys/gals are in denial they don't even know how utterly despicable they look to anyone with any inkling of what is going on. Pure rot it makes me sick. I remember the days when I couldn't wait to go through a big city or national newspaper. Like millions of others around the world I seek news and truth elsewhere in the alternative media. Can't wait till they are done like the Dodo, I will laugh at the yellow press,because they know better but choose to roll over and take it dry. Are there any "real" journalists out there willing to stand up and say what we all know. Even Dan Rather came clean after the fact. These feckers are spineless and should be writing ad copy because they sure can't or won't report the news...I am choked!
Gee. If only there were some limit/brake on corporate donations.
See, the generous spirit that wells within me says that CN could well have been the best bidder and heck, BC might have been much better off being rid of BC Rail, as our friend the Premier says we are. But when you start pitching about a few hundred grand of a publicly traded company's money in an effort to help get a political party elected, well, that colors a fella's perception, no?
RossK,
I just heard it right from Deputy Editor Dawson's blackberry:
The Province didn't have a report on yesterday's pre-trial hearing for Basi-Virk because nothing happened. Because whatever did happen was of no interest. But he assures me that The Province does plan "full coverage" of this uninteresting non-event.
He's channelling Lucinda Chodan from ... years & years ago!
Thanks for weighing in on this ridiculous battle which must, must, absolutely must be joined or we'd never be able to live with ourselves.
But it's so dummmmmmb!! ,,, isn't it?
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Hmmm! $190G...is that payment for services already rendered - or simply an retainer against future possibilities?
Sleepless--
It's tough.
I think that most scribes would go deep into the corners if they could, or were allowed to do so.....I think it will be interesting to see if Ian Mulgrew starts spending a lot of time in the Railgate courtroom starting next week...Mr M. has demonstrated in the past that he is willing to take a check to get the job done....In addition, he will also give credit to folks outside the 'club' when that credit is due.
However, the thing that is most bothersome about this 'accreditation committee' is that Mr. Mathews was sent to them AFTER he was rebuffed by the court....And now the accreditation committee, which, in my opinion, is made up of folks with considerable self-interest in the matter, has told Mr. Mathews that he has to go back to the court.
That's some 'catch', eh?
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Tony--
Very, very good point
(and don't forget, the $190K listed here is only from 2005 and LATER, rather than EARLIER).
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But Mary--
It's noon on Sunday.
And, what do we hear from every single Lotuslandian CanWest Organ so far?
As you point out at your place....
Crickets.
(oh, and just so you know, that VSun piece by Mr. Mulgrew in which he gives credit to a lowly blogger named Mary for trumpeting an important piece of 'news' when no one else would....well...it has been....surprise!....disappeared...)
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Anon-Above--
Actually tough to say for sure, but....
Here is what Bill Tieleman had to say about CN Rail donations to the BC Liberal Party BEFORE March of 2004.
...Prior to the government choosing CN, both OmniTRAX and Canadian Pacific complained that the BC Rail process was unfair to them. Several media reports said the government was determined to award the deal to CN. CN has donated about $150,000 to the B.C. Liberals since 1994.....
So where does that get us to now?
Using my rudimentary Math skills, I get about $340,000, sans the period Mar-Dec 2004.
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Excellent point Ross...that's a hell of a lot of something for...."nothing" ain't it?
Don't corporate directors believe in Value for Money?
I always thought that was, as they'd put it in the boardroom, the 'bottom line'.
You?
Anon-Above--
Agreed.
In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that it is the bottomest of lines.
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Approx 160 truck trailers per day were on bc rail trains between Vancouver and Prince George, 80 per train usually meeting south of lillooet before the billion dollar railway sale. That traffic and so much more now on a billion dollar upgraded highway which operates in the BC Rail corridor. BC Rail was making 60 million dollars per year including paying hundreds of middle income jobs etc. Didn't Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark know that trains are ecologically more than 30 times cleaner moving truck traffic? They knew.
But the opportunity for Campbell to get rid of so many union jobs was irresistible not to mention another obvious huge source of corporate donations . Did someone say Abuse of Political Office? And the BC Rail trial shut down by Clark just before the previous election using millions of public dollars. Why? That trial would of had to reveal the operations and therefore the viability of BC Rail which had been opreating profitably under a private model for several years.
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