Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Unprecedented Withholding Of Latest Report From Auditor General...


...Who Really 'Breached' Parliament?


Apparently, the Speaker of the Legislature, Mr. Bill Barisoff, is holding up the release of John Doyle's audit of the BC Liberal Government's 'Carbon Neutral Initiative' because he is concerned that there has been a 'breach of parliament':

The VSun's Gordon Hoekstra has the fullest account of the 'explanation', such as it is, for this unprecedented decision to not release a report that belongs to the people of British Columbia:

VICTORIA - A report from British Columbia’s auditor general on the province’s controversial carbon trading regime is being withheld.

Legislative speaker Bill Barisoff is withholding the release of a report, saying he needs to first investigate a possible breach of parliament.

“Concerns have been raised in relation to the premature disclosure of the Auditor General’s carbon report,” said a brief statement issued Tuesday, as he announced he will not release an audit into the government’s program of carbon offsets.

“Since a breach of Parliament may have occurred the report will not be distributed until the Speaker has concluded his discussions with the Auditor-general,” he continued.

The report sent to the speaker of the legislature Monday night was scheduled to be released this morning...



Now.

Please go back and read that last sentence, bolded, from Mr. Hoekstra's lede once again.

And then read the following, from a little deeper into Mr. Hoekstra's piece, that has me wondering just who breached what and when:

...Offsetters CEO James Tansey, who is part of a group that offered up letters to media questioning the legitimacy of the audit, said they had also been told Monday night the speaker had some concerns about the report and there was potential it wasn’t going to be released.

Offsetters and other groups, including the Washington, D.C.- based Verified Carbon Standard, had readied the letters in preparation of the release of the report today because they wanted to ensure that the public understood their position, said Tansey...



So.

Who, exactly, told Mr. Tansey, the CEO of a group involved in various carbon neutralization inititiatives, that the Speaker, Mr. Barisoff, had 'some concerns' about the report, and why did they tell him of these concerns prior to the release of the report?

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And just in case you were wondering how much skin Mr. Tansey and friends have in this game...?

Well...

That is something that Bob Simpson, who was all set for a presser upon the audit's release, is trying to find out.

Right here, right now.....On the Twittmachine:



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Meanwhile, also via the Twittmachine,  Les Leyne is reporting that the Auditor General is, apparently, calling the Speaker's bluff...
Solid overview, with more from Bob Simpson, by Charlie Smith of the GStraight....here.
Ian Reid gets to the heart of the matter on the way the media was manipulated on this one...here.




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10 comments:

Hugh said...

Buyers of carbon offsets from Pacific Carbon Trust are about 99% BC Public Sector, ie schools, hospitals, universities etc.

Hugh said...

In other words, if the BC public sector were not being forced to purchase $14 million or so offsets from PCT per year, the PCT would not exist.

It is so the BC Govt can proclaim itself 'carbon neutral'.

Yet at the same time the BC Govt is promoting LNG, coal mines, oil and gas development in BC.

Anonymous said...

thank you Ross for writing about this story and posting the links.

This is a huge story and the best example yet of what we're fighting against as the BC Liberals and corporate insiders try to get more and more public money at the expense of our hospitals, kids and social services and spin the MSM like a top.

The public needs to see the Auditor General's report about the Pacific Carbon Trust.



otr

Anonymous said...

One more day, 3 more articles that remind me why I'm glad you continue to write so actively - thank you!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to be so unoriginal, but I would like to repeat the above Post.
"One more day, 3 more articles that remind me why I'm glad you continue to write so actively - thank you"!

Cheers
Gary L.

Beth said...

Public documents paid for by public dollars not available to the public for scrutiny?!, insider industry seems to know.
Bill Barisoff still making policy like that? I thought he was retired time to go over the head of the speaker and demand they release the document. all of this weeks from an election..? again I wonder NOW what are they hiding?
Sadly it's only par for the course from the Liberals our most corrupt govt. in BC history
In light of the dozen or so scandals that have hit this govt. in the last 2 weeks alone, those us who can only stand and witness this car wreck of a govt.as continues with it's seemingly corrupt agenda the m.s.m. is so quiet comparing a few years back , when it was was screaming for Glen Clark's head over a sundeck
Each time the govt. continues on it's happy ill gotten ways after something comes to light the press sinks even lower than imagined than I thought they could go
and to be fed a whole bunch of"poor Christy stories" on our limited choices of talk radio and press I don't know how much more I'm supposed to take from this pack of shysters .. what has to happen , how many more scandals need to surface before the big media in this province start to scream loud for this god awful liberal govt. to step down
The bloggers are my first choice for news, thanks for the amazing info you keep providing for us.

Grant G said...

Globe and mail was leaked Auditor General`s report on the Pacific carbon trust and reported it in today`s paper..

It`s behind a paywall..

What`s been reported so far, (BC Government not carbon neutral, carbon offsets aren`t credible)


Bye bye BC Liberals

Anonymous said...

Bob Mackin reminds us that the BC Liberals are sitting on another report from... SIX months ago!

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Lawyer Jane Shackell was the government-hired fairness monitor on the WIDC tendering, but her terms of reference were too narrow to do anything about Fehr's claims of unfairness. Here is her final report, dated March 18. Elections BC records show Shackell donated $700 to the BC Liberals in 2009.

Shackell was also the fairness monitor on the Evergreen Line Project. The main $889 million contract was awarded to SNC-Lavalin, the Montreal-based engineering giant that is accused of widespread corruption on a number of fronts.

SNC-Lavalin donated $27,647 to the Liberals from 2005 to 2010. SNC-Lavalin board chairman Gwyn Morgan was on Clark's transition team when she won the Liberal leadership in 2011 and donated $117,510 from 2009 to 2012, including $10,000 to Clark's leadership bid. Director Claude Mongeau is the CEO of CN, which privatized BC Rail amid controversy in 2003 while Clark was deputy premier. Clark is under investigation by the Conflict of Interest office after MLA John van Dongen's fall 2012 complaint.

According to meeting minutes that I received from the Evergreen Line Project board, Shackell's final fairness report was received by the board on Sept. 21, 2012. That was six months ago. It has still not been published.

The Partnerships BC and the Ministry of Transportation media offices play an Alphonse and Gaston routine whenever I ask for the Shackell report on SNC-Lavalin.

I'm not amused.

http://2010goldrush.blogspot.ca/2013/03/liberal-big-shots-skip-historic-news.html

Hugh said...

The 2009 Green Energy Advisory Task Force Members:

http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2009EMPR0021-000655.htm

RossK said...

Hugh--

Excellent points...And I think they get right to the heart of the matter...And will become the real story as this unfolds.

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Anon-at-the-top--

Yes...Remember that story we followed back in December where it was made very clear that the MCFD had absolutely no money for 'extra' Christmas presents for the absolutely most vulnerable kids in our care?

Well, I guess now we know why.

(they had no 'money' I mean)

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Thanks Anon and Gary--

The thing that was most disturbing was how you could see on the Twittmachine that a whole lot of proMedia folks sussed this out early in the game also...It just did come out this way in the actual stories and broadcasts...They do seem to be catching up a little today...But the Wizards, I think, are counting on this being old news by the time the longest long weekend of the year hits tomorrow afternoon

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Excellent point about the double standard Beth...And I notice that the bond rating service thingy that wasn't is still being seriously wurlitzered today

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Thanks for the info Grant!....Have included in the next post upthread...Wonder how many eyeballs the no longer Empire Mail is losing because of that wall?...Personally, I never waste any of my precious free views on Ron Obvious anymore...

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Anon--

Very much agree with you...Mentioned this late last week also (and will follow-up)...Seem to recall M. Polak responding to Uncle Bob on the Twittmobile on the weekend that it would be coming out 'soon' (of course, after the photo-op that was the re-announcing of the deal are long done).

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Thanks everyone!....New post now up...Highly recommend Ben Parfitt's latest in the Province...

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