CasinoGate Revisited...Was The Fix In From The Very Beginning?

Hats!

WeDon'tNeedNoStinkin'HatsVille

For those who don't remember, way back when it was first announced, it was our opinion, based on the timelines and facts then at hand, that the fix for the $600 million retractable-roof-assisted Casino Industrial Complex was in from the very beginning.

Well......

Thanks to the fruits of an FOI request, Ian Reid has the goods on at least part of what went down:

"The BC Pavilion Corporation planned the redevelopment of the BC Place Stadium to accommodate the new Paragon owned Casino complex ten months prior to selecting Paragon’s casino proposal in a supposedly open competition according to documents obtained through a City of Vancouver Freedom of Information request....."

Essentially, what Ian found is that the plans for building a Casino Industrial Complex next to BC Place stadium were hatched long before PavCo, a creature of Gordon Campbell's government, released its request for proposals to develop the site.

Thus, despite PavCo chairs protestations to the contrary as recently as three months ago, it would appear that Paragon's (now doomed, but not yet dead) proposal was given a big head start before the game even began.

Now, there is a lot of important stuff in Ian's post which demonstrates how the public trust has been abused in this case.

And, guess what.....There is even a sudden reappearance of....Mr. Campbell's man of many hats!

"....The process was initiated in January 2008 at the request of the BC Pavilion Corporation and was overseen by a select committee of senior civic and provincial officials including City Manager Judy Rogers and Premier Gordon Campbell’s long-time advisor Ken Dobell as well as an advisor from Partnerships BC...."

Imagine that!

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