Wednesday, December 12, 2012

This Day In Snookland...Railgate Is Just So Silly.

GiveTheAuditorGeneralWhatHeWants
SaveBigMoneyImmediatelyVille


Well, well, well....

Whadd'ya know.

Our mandateless  and unelected (not)Premier, Ms. Christy Clark, seems to think that getting to the bottom of the Railgate matter is nothing but straight-up sillyness.

Seriously.

Mike Smyth has the story in The Province:

...Premier Christy Clark has hired a lawyer to defend her in the B.C. Rail conflict of interest probe, insisting the "silly" affair is a waste of public money.

"Taxpayers' money is being spent on this, but not by me," Clark said Tuesday, revealing she's paying for her own lawyer.

Former solicitor-general John van Dongen filed the complaint against Clark, suggesting she improperly participated in cabinet meetings on the government's 2003 sale of the railroad despite a conflict of interest.

Clark's ex-husband, Mark Marissen, worked for the consultant firm that oversaw the $1-billion deal, and her brother, Bruce Clark, worked for a private-sector bidder for a B.C. Rail spur line.

"I did absolutely nothing wrong," Clark said during a year-end interview at her office. "The allegations that he [van Dongen] has made are just silly."

But Clark refused to say whether she participated in a cabinet meeting where the B.C. Rail deal — which resulted in the conviction of two senior government insiders on corruption charges — was ever discussed.

"When the conflict commissioner rules on this, you'll have all the answers," said Clark, who declined to name the lawyer she's hired...


'ALL' the answers Ms. Clark?

Sure thing.


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Meanwhile, The Dean snuck in through the backdoor yesterday to actually, gasp (!), bring up the matter of the false Railgate Pay-Off affidavit, if somewhat obliquely...But note the weird cliffhanger at the end of the piece: "As well as correcting the record, the affidavit provides a no-less-shocking account of why this blunder occurred in the first place.But that is a story for another day."...Blunder?...Hmmmmm...We await Mr. Palmer's analysis with ba(i)ted breath...(with) or without fish(iness)...See comments for explanation thanks to discerning readers...

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4 comments:

Grant G said...

Interesting, the article alludes to the thinking that ...The blunder really has no bearing on the judge`s decision as to whether or not it serves the public good by releasing billing records to our auditor general..

As an aside Ross, the outsourced conflict commissioner`s scope is so small the only conclusion he will find is (no conflict)...The Commish is looking at a finite conflict, whether she excluded her voice for or against in the later cabinent meetings..

I can see the well-timed headline already..

Christy Clark cleared of conflict over BC Rail...


Von Dongen might have (inadvertently)handed Mz Clark an election writ period gift..

Cheers

Norm Farrell said...

RossK, please, not with bated breath. You'd not survive because the wait will be long, long, long.

Anonymous said...

Actually I like 'baited' better than 'bated' because there is something really fishy going on with Ms Clark and Co. The spin is in/on and paid for by the taxpayers.

RossK said...

Ha--

Was writing too fast at end of the day...I'll bracket it for the double...

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I hear you Grant...

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