Friday, October 22, 2010

 

BC Political Corruption matters continue in BC Supreme Court (Vancouver) today

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First, in courtroom #54 today, October 22, 2010 at 10:00 AM, Case #134750:

Her Majesty The Queen vs. Shambrook Hills Development Corporation also known as Sun River Estates Ltd (Sooke, BC)

Charge: person dealing with government offering bribe.

See how it turned out HERE.


Next: see an explanation of this in Times Colonist HERE:

Company that developed Sun River expected to plead guilty to bribing government official.

By Rob Shaw,
Timescolonist.com - October 21, 2010


 Sunriver Estates near Sooke, B.C.
Visit the site for Photographs (2) by: Darren Stone

A Vancouver Island development company that built the Sunriver Estates residential community in Sooke is expected to plead guilty Friday to charges of bribing a government official in an attempt to remove land from the Agricultural Land Reserve, the Times Colonist has learned.

Documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday show Shambrook Hills Development Corp., also known as Sunriver Estates, has been indicted on one count of paying a $50,000 bribe to former government official Dave Basi, in connection with an application to the Agricultural Land Commission.

Basi pleaded guilty to the offence Monday, as part of other guilty pleas he entered related to the sale of B.C. Rail.

The offence Shambrook Hills is accused of, which falls under the Criminal Code category of fraud on government, occurred between January 2002 and September 2003, according to the indictment.

Friday's hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver is scheduled as a guilty plea and sentencing in front of Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie, the court confirmed.

The allegations of wrongdoing in the construction of Sunriver Estates first emerged in documents related to the Dec. 28, 2003 raid of the B.C. legislature in connection with the B.C. Rail corruption investigation.

Sunriver Estates is a 700-home development built on 155 hectares along the Sooke River with parkland, trails and a school.

The land was originally purchased from forest company Timberwest.

News reports from that time indicate three attempts were required to get the Agricultural Land Commission to agree to remove the land from the Agricultural Land Reserve so that it could be rezoned for housing.

Developers Tony Young and Jim Duncan of Shambrook Hills were originally charged in 2006; they were accused of paying government officials benefits to help exercise influence over the Agricultural Land Commission's decision to allow the land to be removed from the reserve.

A new indictment was released Thursday, mentioning the entire company of Shambrook Hills Development Corp.

Young and Duncan were not mentioned in the new indictment. It is unclear at this time whether or not charges are proceeding against Young and Duncan. The situation is expected to be addressed in court Friday.

Lawyers for the company could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Duncan and Young are longtime developers in Victoria. They have been partners in Swiftsure Developments Ltd., whose projects include the Magnolia Hotel in Victoria, the Ocean Park Towers in the Songhees and the Yale House Development near Oak Bay Municipal Hall.

rfshaw@timescolonist.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Developer+Sunriver+Sooke+expected+plead+guilty+bribing+government/3708137/story.html#ixzz135zKYu1H

And HERE


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Comments:
Well this is no surprize, to continue they would need to have Dave Basi testify, the arrogance of this government!!!!

I was snooping around at other bloggers comments and noted someone found the Times Colonist story, came back here, to find You already have it UP, Your amazing Mary, and I was so proud of You for using discretion on posting Medias BS, BUT, as some people are saying, things are going missing off some pages, I have found sometimes the story says nothing new, but it is the comments that give Me the most information.This from ,Norms site? I think, lol.We need to keep documenting Mary, everything We can. I am not giving up or in.

Annon.
The Victoria Times Colonist's Rob Shaw was working late tonight.

A Vancouver Island development company that built a residential community in Sooke, B.C., is expected to plead guilty Friday to charges of bribing a government official in an attempt to remove land from the Agricultural Land Reserve, the Victoria Times Colonist has learned.

Documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday show Shambrook Hills Development Corporation — also known as Sunriver Estates — has been indicted on one count of paying a $50,000 bribe to former government official Dave Basi, in connection with an application to the ALR.

There's a line in Shaw's report that is probably worth at least an article of its own:

The land was originally purchased from forest company Timberwest.

I wonder if this land was part of the huge give-away-to-friends-of-the-BC Liberals that Rich Coleman made?"
 
The writing is on the wall. The reason why the company has now been indicted is that the charges against the two individuals are going to be dropped.

The company will pay a fine but neither Young nor his partner will have a criminal record.

When you consider that the developers have probably made close to $30M on this deal ($50K per lot times 700 lots), the fine the company pays will be a small cost of doing business.

Strike two.
 
E.M.,

Hold on, there! In no way am I giving up! But the simple fact is, we've turned a corner and the MSM is now in flood-mode and the waters are still pretty much the same putrid-smelling shade of brown.

What I've clearly said -- and will say again -- is that I won't co-operate. Anyone who wants to access the BC Rail Political Corruption Trial via the MSM can very easily do so now ... UNLIKE 4 YEARS AGO!

At first, on Oct 18 when the trial was dumped, it was sheer revulsion that kept me from picking up the twisted views of the MSM ... ("Rejoice ... BC has been cleansed!") ...

but it took only 3 days before we could clearly see that CITIZEN JOURNALISTS had control of the facts, and were providing honest assessments both inside Courtroom 54 and outside.

We simply didn't need what Big Media was foisting on us as "news". In fact, dare I say, sometimes we were better off without them.

I gotta say it's rather fun, though, to think that BC Mary single-handedly is suppressing the news ... <

Thanks a million, E.M., for the vital role you have played in keeping us well informed of what's REALLY going on.

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E.M. - a friend of mind living on the Island says the land is part of the giveaway...I was curious about it too, so I just had to ask.

However; I think I'd still do some digging to be sure before blasting them out of the water for that too, just to be sure. If it does turn out to be correct - we can let both barrels go - people might find it rather interesting to see how well this government and their friends have served themselves even further.

Interesting times, no?
 
Shame on CBC. I heard CBC Radio Victoria’s political panel this morning: Elizabeth Cull (former Finance Minister), Bob Plecas (retired deputy minister), and Clark Roberts (always billed by CBC as “former counsel to the Liberals in opposition”.

In fact, Clark Roberts is much more than that.

Clark Roberts is Gary Collin’s lawyer in the BC Rail Corruption trial. As I understand it, he has served in this capacity for the last seven years, and his legal fees are being, and have been all along, paid for by the taxpayer. Man those benefits just keep kicking in, don't they? No matter how long after you've "served" your province.

Neither CBC nor Clark Roberts disclosed this fact to the listening public, even though the show was devoted exclusively to the (Surprise!) guilty verdict that ended the "show trial" of the century.

Clark Roberts dominated today’s panel discussion. Here’s a selection of his comments, not verbatim, but very close.

- As a taxpayer, I’m angry that Basi and Virk’s legal bills were paid!

- The process was done fairly by INDEPENDENT people (a constant refrain, the word ‘independent’)

- But the decision made by the “rookie” deputy ministers* who were politically naive, so that it looks bad, and Premier Campbell would not have agreed to that deal, but they didn’t bring the matter to him*. (Poor Gordo, so out of the loop.)

- Did I mention, “Independent”? (x 4 )

- There is no smoking gun, not a single bit of proof of anything else was turned up in the thousands of documents delivered. This govt does all it’s business by email; all documents were submitted.


* The two "rookie" DMs are DM Finance and Deputy AG (David Loukedelis,formerly Freedom of Information and Privacy Commissioner) who can hardly be called a "rookie" anything).

Bob Plecas was an occasional bobbing head doll, parroting Clark Roberts: it was the right decision, rookie deputy ministers, it’ll all blow over, yada, yada, yada.

Elizabeth Cull was barely present, made a few half-hearted statements, but didn’t have her head around the biggest issues (and she, a former finance minister!).

At one point, Clark Roberts started yelling at Elizabeth Cull when she said she thought that the political wing – the cabinet ministers – had to have known about the deal beforehand.

Clark Roberts went ballistic: “Are you calling them liars!? They both denied it! Are you calling them liars?!? And when Cull tried to reply, he barged in again with “Are you calling them liars!???”

Typical bullying liar, um, lawyer, he is, that Clark Roberts.

Last point: an article I saw last night, can’t recall where, stated that David Loukedelis, deputy AG refused to comment to the media.

Hmmmmm. Might he be regretting having jumped ship a few months ago? He had a very good rep as FOI & Privacy commissioner. That’s pretty much evaporated by now I suspect.

Way to go CBC Radio Victoria for giving Clark Roberts a precious public media platform from which to spew his misleading, obfuscating and down-right untruthful (yup, look it up in a thesaurus Mr. Clark, quite close to lying, isn't it?) SPIN.

I just hope CBC isn't paying Clark Roberts to be on this panel, on top of the rest of the taxpayer dollars he's been sucking in.

Message to Clark Roberts: We as taxpayers are very angry at the undisclosed sums we've paid you to keep Gary Collins, flight instructor and former "Finance" Minister* off the stand for the last seven years.

* Gary Collins' performance in the job kind of gives a new twist to the meaning of the title "finance" minister, doesn't it?
 
A historical trivia quote:

"the premier said one of his goals was still "to restore the trust of the public in government." Unfortunately it would be hard to think of much that would shake the public's trust in government any more than the ongoing investigation with its ever-growing numbers of unanswered questions." written by-

Barbara McLintock is a contributing editor to The Tyee."

http://thetyee.ca/News/2004/01/08/Premier_Scrambles_to_Restore_Trust/

And now we have the change of plea by those charged which for all intents and purposes looks more and more like a cover-up.

================================

And, lobbyist... the bc office is moving to a new headquarters this month:

https://eservice.pssg.gov.bc.ca/LRA/

The strange part about all this, when I was looking through Hansard the other day and one of two BC NDP MLA's was asking Finance Minister Gary Collins which lobbyist he met, he couldn't recall because Dave Basi may have met the person and not the Minister himself.

Its not clear in this newly amended May 2010 registry just what they're using for documented proof of the meetings.

Pity
 
Originally it was Tony Young and Jim Duncan that were charged, but today it's Shamrock Hills who will pay the fine. According to the Sun...

"Shambrook now has pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver and Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie is expected to impose a substantial fine exceeding the $50,000 illegal payment to a government official.


The Crown asked for a $200,000 fine."
It's the old bait and switch. Mr. Young and Duncan were also partners in Swiftsure Developments, owning many high end properties in and around Victoria. So, Sham-Rock was the firewall company, set up to shield the real money. I'm going digging, this is my backyard.
 
Mary...Why would they plead guilty, was the bribe a cheque?

After all, it is only the word of 2 convicted "criminals" that said there was a bribe...

And read the story in the Victoria Times Colonist....

According to the story the bribe took place between January 2002 and and September 2003....

That is an 18 month period of time, so are you telling me they narrowed down the timeline to somewhere in a 18 month period...

If the company pleads guilty it is probably "arranged"...18 months?

That ain`t evidence!

Cheers
 
Well Mary...The development company(who have done many many big island projects)...

Plead guilty and were fined $200K...

But here is the kicker...They have been given 5 years to pay the fine!

The fine will never be paid..They gave the corporation/uncorporation plenty of time to sell, change hands, go under or change names...

Cheers
 
Grant G, of course they will pay. The development is still on going and there is Directors' liability.

But if you are wondering WHY they get 5 yrs to pay, so am I, unless of course the Province is in the Banking Business, cant they go to a real bank and borrow the money if liquidity is a problem?

LIke you I dont like what our courts are doing/not doing and I dont like THIS govt (nor any govt headed by Carol James - she is out of her league - this all happened on her watch!).
 
I would normally ignore a comment from an absolute idiot(Lucer)

Your right, if the NDP weren`t unpopular in the late 90s Campbell wouldn`t be in power...

So it`s not Carole James fault it`s Glen Clark`s fault...

How dare the NDP not get any answers to their questions in the legislature, how dare the NDP allow the media to defend Campbell..

You are wise Lucer....

But I think you mispelled your name...

Isn`t is spelled...

L.U.C.I.F.E.R.
 
Carol James is at fault. How gratious of you to come to her defence in this, her finest hour!

As long as James is at the helm, the NDP will remain like feral cats - scattered, disorganized, with no cohesive, meaningful message that ressonates with voters.

Until the NDP rid themselvs of James, Campbell and the Liberals will be safe.
 
Anon 3:55,

Whatcha talkin' about?

Carole James does nothing. I haven't mentioned her.

Maybe you're on the wrong blog??
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the absense of James is the problem, Mary.

You havent mentioned her, no one has. Her voice has been, in repect of holding the govt accountable, irrevelent.

Sad.
 
Anon 3:55 and 5:55,

Sheer stupidity is a problem too.

You said this: "Carol James is at fault. How gratious of you to come to her defence in this, her finest hour!"

I'm not sure what "gratious" means either,

but you owe me and/or TLR readers an honest apology because you -- you --- made the big dumb mistake here, and tried unsportingly to shift the blame onto others.

A great example of partisan politics: "Me good, You bad" ... brainless squabbling that gets us nowhere ... and meantime, there's a province in peril.
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Not suggesing "me good you bad."

I am pointing out, what many dont want to admit much less hear, that his mess occured while James was in the House, and James has been useless in making political hay out of this or any of the missteps, gaffs and atomic bombs handed her by the Fiberals.
 
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8:41, this just gets dumber. You've spent more time pointing fingers at other people and complaining about them (if that ain't the "Me good, You bad" school of political science, I don't know what is!)

more time creating disruption, than if you actually got busy and did something constructive to advance the public interest in finding out what happened to BC Rail and -- who knows? -- how we might even re-possess what once was stolen from us.

How about a few hand-outs of solid information for the mass meeting in front of the Legislature?

How about a few sidewalk pickets?

How about a few phone-in comments talking about our need to know?

How about Letters-to-the-Editor? (Mine was published in Maclean's Magazine last month, I hear.)

How about dozens of other things you can do, which will help matters.
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... all great suggestions Mary. Too bad the official opposition hasnt clued into any of it.
 
OK, 12:32, the experiment is over. Done. Finished.

You are obviously going to do nothing constructive.

So from now on, you're deleted. Why? For wasting readers' time, and my time as well.

Too bad you can't clue in that WE, the PEOPLE, are the Opposition right now.
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