TheSinsOfThe
OmittedVille
In his latest column, Mr. Mason of the Globe does some amateur psychoanalyzing of our former premier before he gets down to brass tacks about who the next leader of the BC Liberals might be.
After mentioning the usual suspects, Mr. Mason then wrote the following about someone he thinks would be a 'strong contender' for the leadership:
...Another person apparently getting pressure to consider it is Gary Collins, the former finance minister under Gordon Campbell. (Mr. Collins is related to a Globe and Mail staff member, who was not involved in this piece.)
Mr. Collins, who was in government from 1991 to 2004, has worked in the private sector since retiring from politics and would be a strong contender should he decide to take the plunge...
Gosh.
I think Mr. Mason my have left out a couple of details there.
Specifically, why, exactly, did the good Mr. Collins step down from the Golden Era government of Gordon Campbell in 2004?
And...
Where, exactly, did he fly away to before landing in the private sector?
Why might those two specific bits of missing information matter to British Columbians who are interested in a more complete description of the track record of a very fine former politician who could, potentially, become a future leader of a major political party in this province?
Well...
...You know (from the autumn of 2010, just after the six million dollar Railgate Trial ending deal went down):
We have already established the following.....
....Former RailGate era Finance Minister Gary Collins once worked for David Ho's now defunct Harmony Airways.
....Current Deputy Finance Minister Graham Whitmarsh, who helped Deputy AG David Loukidelis put together the super-secret $6 million dollar plea-copping bonus-baby deal that ensured that former Minister Collins would never have to testify, under oath, in front of transcripts of RCMP surveillance wiretaps, at the RailGate trial, also worked for Harmony back in the day.
But here's something we didn't know, courtesy of Sean Holman's (still!)fantastic archives over at Public Eye.....
.....Current Deputy Finance Minister Whitmarsh was 'relieved' of his duties at Harmony on Nov. 30th 2006.
....Former RailGate era Finance Minister Collins resigned from Harmony just one day later on Dec. 01 2006...
Imagine that!
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For those interested, the above connections and associations form the core of an important, in my opinion at least, unanswered question about Railgate (scroll down to the question in red if you want to skip the preamble).
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We Know Where the Republican/Harris Voters Are
16 minutes ago
16 comments:
SH:
Mason was really, really grasping when he closed with this deep journalistic "insight":
"I'm sure Hamish is happy to have his mother back again full time."
Having been a teenager in the dark ages (and one who longed for emancipation), it made me laugh...
The REAL reason Christy Clark resigned was because NOW she may date, in public.
On December 28, 2003 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the British Columbia Provincial Legislative Buildings. The offices searched belonged to Dave Basi, ministerial assistant to then-finance minister Gary Collins, and Bobby Virk, assistant to then-transportation minister Judith Reid. Basi and Virk were subsequently charged in a January 28, 2005 indictment with accepting bribes, influence peddling, breach of trust and fraud related to their dealings with lobbyists for Omnitrax.
Prior to this unprecedented raid on the people’s Legislature, Collins himself was under police surveillance. In particular when he had dinner with senior OmniTrax officials at the Villa del Lupo restaurant on December 12, 2003. He was never charged, but was interviewed by the RCMP and had this to say about whether he leaked any cabinet confidences to Basi: "…But, I mean, this is, it reads to me like someone who's more sitting there observing, right? Yeah, you've got now who's more vocal and who isn't.
"Um, y'know, I would not have had that detailed a discussion with Dave at all uh, on sort of that, nor would I've characterized one of my minister's presentations as weak even to a political staff person probably. The um, uh...."
So according to him, he didn’t leak any cabinet confidences. But someone did. Perhaps if he throws his hat into the leadership ring he’ll get a chance to elaborate. That should go a long way to “refresh” the BC Liberal party for the next election. Although among the sentiments I’ve heard the BC Liberals express about the BC Rail debacle there’s one missing. Pride.
Should be fun to watch.
SH @ NVG
Perhaps she is in a relationship with faithful fixer who has a foot in the Federal Liberal camp?…Perhaps the Fixer is laying the groundwork for the next incarnation of the BC Liberals?
SH:
Clark said that the next Leader is not obligated to follow her Throne Speech...Could it be that the "Clone Speech" was a set piece designed to rebrand fall-woman, Cruella Clark as Commie Clark — to make her cleavage from the Party clean and complete…?
Then, enter the Good Cop...
Garry "The Ferret" (semi-domesticated polecat) Collins? No way! Did everybody forget how the BC Rail corruption trial was itself corrupted in order to spare The Ferret from testifying---like, as if he might have something to hide? I mean, something further to hide...
Wait! We're not talkin "everybody" here, are we, just the BC Liberals. I guess from their point-of-view Garry's a perfectly acceptable tainted candidate.
I just realized this is the first opportunity for a non-BC Liberal to see if there are any more gleanings about the BC Rail corruption trial---and the corruption of the corruption trial. It might take some getting used to, but I'm sure I'll manage.
As for Mr Mason, nothing much has changed.
Amazing how the shady characters quickly line up to save us poor suckers, and lead the "free enterprise coalition". And I completely agree there is a club.
The other night on Globule tv the story was Trudeau and the fires, but Horgan was with him. There was absolutely no mention that the premier of BC was also there.
The big article that came up was an interview with the ex-premier Christy Clark.
Yeah the media barely noticed our Premier he was just background with True- dough with Globull and C.{rap} T.{urd}.V.I hope the new Government cut,s the ads to these media that has caused a lot for trouble over the years for the people,like B.C.Rail,Collins cowboys i hope some of these clowns run so some of this Dirt will come out just dont rely on the Liberal Media.
SH:
The NDP can't find a paper trail to show what Gordon Wilson did. Wilson strikes back but only so far — won't sue for defamation:
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=bcpoli%20gordon%20wilson&src=typd
OMG, Collins, that is made for the blogs, how lucky could we get. a re do of the rail gate fun and games. these people must be morally and ethically bankrupt or have very short memories.
the current list of "contenders" are pretty flat. James Moore former cabinet minister for Harper. well that says it all, it is a conservative party and not a liberal, would work in the next election for the NDP and Greens. Lets not forget James Moore was the Harper Cabinet minister who said, he wasn't responsible for the neighbour's kids when they were discussing child poverty. Make a lovely slogan< vote Mooore, he won't care of the kids starve, they're not his responsibility.
The only one who might have a chance with the public is Falcon. Stone will have the rural vote. the b.C. Lieberals had better dig deeper for a new leader then the sleeve seven.
SH:
Touted as a Leader material... Alise Mills disses Honourable Citizen Mackin:
Alise Mills
@graciestyle Alise Mills Retweeted N. Papagiorgio
Sad to see #fakenews The better story is Clark had to force them to understand why it was imperative she leave. That's on caucus!
Alise Mills added,
N. Papagiorgio @RomeoWhiskyMike
Replying to @graciestyle @bobmackin
Bob has an affinity for things that aren't true.
7:28 PM - 3 Aug 2017
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Humphry Dumptruk �� �� @eieioink 19m19 minutes ago
More
Replying to @graciestyle
....you certainly seem to have your finger on the pulse of everything happening to liberals in BC for a supposedly strong Torie affiliation.
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Posted on Bob Makin's blog: Clark “I talked to the caucus the day before [her July 28 resignation], I asked them all, did they want me to stay, did they want me to go?” Clark said July 31 in Vancouver. “Every single person in the room asked me to stay.”
That is not the way it went down, according to two independent sources intimately familiar with the caucus retreat at the Penticton Lakeside Resort. Clark chose to quit instead of being dumped…."
http://thebreaker.news/news/caucus-showdown/
SH: darn typo!…multi-tasking in oppressive heat…more signs of the Apocolypse…
…But. Ever the optimist, I keep investing in life…and from what I see, lots of us are…which is why I think you work to save lives, and blog RossK...
Interesting how Bob Mackin went out and found actual sources while Ron Obvious laments that 'we'll just never know' what really happened.
Not to go all Mad Magazine or anything, but is's almost like we're witnessing a Club vs Not-Club media battle.
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SH:
As a lowly employee I printed off email from my employer about my job performance, and tasks accomplished as a record for future job applications. Hard to believe Wilson didn't too…At the very least, wouldn't he want to have the minutes of a meeting, the agenda, dates, times?
Anybody ever receive an email from Gordon Wilson?
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Jane Doe @ausername
Gordon STFU Wilson is throwing around the "D" word. But he said that he gave oral reports & that he wasn't hired to write reports. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/nWo1a3y…
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don @EosDon 12h12 hours ago
don Retweeted Jane Doe
So...no one has copies of his work, not even the department responsible. And he has no copies or emails with attachments. WTF @bcpoli don added,
Hmm, keys jingling. For the cells that will be needed. The corruption surrounding BC Rail is still in the public eye, all these years later. There is no statute of limitations on Fraud, and indeed, any case where judicial errors" are perceived to have been made" can be reopened. Indeed, the BC Rail case is "ripe" for a corruption inquiry. Mr Eby and perhaps Mr Krog, could have another chance to get to the bottom once and for all of why $6 million dollars was paid to a "guilty party" to plead guilty and stop the placing of the "Crown" into disrepute, by former cabinet ministers and potentially a former premier as well. There is a story that needs to be told here. There are people who have manipulated the law for their own reasons, and ultimately have to be held accountable. Yes career' s will be destroyed, people may face jail time. The BC taxpayer needs their day in court to get restitution from a party that in governance, was obviously not working for the them, but manipulating the law and circumstance for the party's own ends.
Well said Anon-Above--
Personally, I would hope that such an inquiry would lead to the release of all relevant evidence, both audio and visual.
If you get my drift.
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