Thursday, May 27, 2010

RailGate Miscellanea....How Much Is That Statute Worth?

TheRailOf
1912Ville


Way, way, way back in 1912 the Rail Companies that later became BC Rail were bound by statute to provide a passenger rail service on their lines.

All that changed abruptly, ninety years later, in the Fall of 2002 when the Government of Gordon Campbell and Martyn Brown et. al. inserted a one sentence change to the law under the deceptively innocuous header of 'Miscellaneous Statutes':

.....(N)one of the company, any subsidiary or any person under the control of the company or of any subsidiary is required to provide passenger service over all or any part of its line or lines of railway in British Columbia......


So.

Who benefitted?

And.

Did they who did, perchance, contribute any money of significance to the B.C. Liberal Party of Gordon Campbell and Martyn Brown?

Answers to follow.....

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Original 'Miscellaneous' Link Source....Another fantastic piece by Will McMartin in The Tyee which puts lie to the repeated Campbell/Brown government claim that there was no strategy to convince the public that BC Rail was a financial albatross around our necks.....
Update: Answer to question posed directly above is here....

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3 comments:

Norm Farrell said...

So, we have to arm wrestle you to get the information?

Do you have an arm strong?

RossK said...

Norman--

Ha!

Perhaps...

But no one, unless I am completely mistaken, named Borat who benefitted.

However, there may be another fine young fellow named Sacha who did.....

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Anonymous said...

From your link to Hansard on abolishing rail service there's also this item which seems to put the fox in amongst the chickens:

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

9 Section 12 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 165, is amended by adding the following subsections:

(5) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers that the deliberations of a committee relate to the deliberations of the Executive Council, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may designate the committee for the purposes of this section.

(6) It is necessary that a committee designated under subsection (5) include at least one member of the Executive Council.

(7) In subsections (1) and (2), "committee" includes a committee designated under subsection (5).