Public Eye Online

What lessons were learned from Public Eye?

2011-11-10T17:43:40Z

That's the question the Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting asked me following my decision to suspend Public Eye's daily reporting. In an article published by the centre and J-Source.ca I provide some of the answers, revealing the secrets of its success and why it was difficult to capitalize on it. You can check it out here.

Public Eye continues to make headlines

2011-11-09T14:51:15Z

It's been just over a week since I announced I was suspending Public Eye's daily investigative coverage of provincial politics. Since then, I've been overwhelmed and appreciative of everyone who has expressed their support for the work I've done over the past eight years. I'm also appreciative of coverage of that announcement - which included interviews on CBC Radio, CFAX 1070 and Shaw TV, as well as a news story and an op-ed in The Tyee. That resulted in Public Eye being Canada's top trending twitter topic - which gives me hope for the future of investigative journalism in this country, a future that I will be part of. So remember to continue to check in with Public Eye for updates on my radio show, as well as future projects.

To my loyal readers...

2011-11-01T21:23:15Z

Since 2003, I've been honoured to be your eyes and ears in British Columbia's capital city, providing daily investigative coverage of provincial politics. That coverage now amounts to an archive of more than 6,000 stories - many of which have had a substantial impact on public policy and governance. But all good things must come to an end. So today I'm announcing the suspension of the site's daily reporting.

Public Eye has been supported for the past two years by a small group of readers who have made monthly $10 contributions to keep me filing freedom of information requests, poring over government reports and holding politicians of all stripes to account. That support has been supplemented by the site's advertisers, whom I'm appreciative of. I'm also grateful to Business in Vancouver, CFAX 1070, The Globe and Mail, News 1130, Shaw TV, the Squamish Chief, The Tyee and the Whistler Question for welcoming my reporting and commentary. But all of this is not enough to sustain an investigative news service that last year was read by more than 200,000 unique visitors.

I have not made this difficult decision lightly. I founded Public Eye because I deeply believe journalism - the reporting of "something that somebody somewhere wants to suppress" - is an essential part of civic society. It informs and engages the public and, in doing so, safeguards democracy. So it troubles me that fewer and fewer resources seem to be devoted to this investigative function.

Indeed, I know there are stories I've covered that would have gone uncovered without Public Eye. I know some of the stories I'm presently researching will likely now go unwritten. And I know there are those who may celebrate Public Eye's absence, having one less media filter to interfere with their narrative.

Unfortunately, Public Eye is unsustainable so long as it's principally me, a computer, a camera and a telephone line. So what's next? Well, Public Eye and its syndicated column may return in another form should a sustainable business model be found. In the meantime, I'll continue hosting Public Eye Radio on CFAX 1070, providing a weekly political commentary on News 1130, as well as teaching aspiring journalists at the University of Victoria. I'll also be filming a documentary and exploring, as is oft said, other opportunities.

So thank you for being part of Public Eye's success - whether it was as a reader, a donor, a source, a colleague or a mentor. These eight years couldn't have happened without you. These stories couldn't have happened if you hadn't cared.

Sincerely

Sean Michael Holman
Publisher and Editor, Public Eye

Public Eye's record

2011-11-01T20:10:58Z

In the eight years I've reported on British Columbia politics, Public Eye has published more than 6,000 stories - not including the articles that were written when the site was a weekly, email-distributed .pdf publication. Almost all of those stories have been works of enterprise journalism - digging up news both big and small about public officials and institutions in this province. It would be a voluminous task to summarize them. And, in compiling some of the highlights, I'm sure I'll miss stories that mattered to many of you. But, among the major ones, there were articles that revealed:

2011*

* the office running the government's pro-harmonized sales tax campaign secretly doled out contracts to two Liberal-connected companies and a former aide to the minister who introduced the tax;

* weak post-employment guidelines have meant five officials with natural resources portfolios - Karina Brino, Alex Ferguson, Gordon Goodman, Michael Lambert and Natalie Poole-Mofftat - were able to quit government and immediately take senior positions with private interests within that sector;

* Law Society of British Columbia allegations that Nathan Bauder, the Liberal-connected chair of the province's taxi licenser, falsified documents while attempting to obtain a mortgage for a property he was purchasing in Prince George. Mr. Bauder declined to comment on those unproven allegations but resigned his position;

2010*

* the provincial New Democrats' decision to pay Moe Sihota what appears to be an unprecedented $75,600 stipend to be president of their party using a "generous, earmarked gift from the labour movement." The lion's share of that money came from two unions;

* Insurance Corp. of British Columbia chair T. Richard Turner's longstanding business relationship with Paragon Gaming Inc., which had inked a deal with British Columbia Pavilion Corp. to develop a major casino in Vancouver;

* details on the caucus revolt that resulted in Carole James's resignation as leader of the provincial New Democrats. That in-depth coverage included everything from breaking the news about the editorial which triggered that revolt to disclosing a high-level call to discipline dissident MLAs;

2009*

• the unannounced decision to close a provincially-funded, RCMP anti-illegal gaming team. That resulted in a series of stories questioning whether the government was committed to investigating illegal gaming and preventing criminal activity in the province's casinos. That series featured exclusive interviews with the team's former commander Fred Pinnock and Ed Rampone, the ex-bureaucrat who was responsible for investigating wrongdoing at gaming facilities, as well as internal government and police reports obtained via freedom of information requests;

* dozens of local governments hadn't prepared wildfire protection plans - five years after a review recommended every community with a "high probability and consequence of fire" be required to have one. Following that revelation, the province's forest minister committed to accelerated their completion;

2008*

* former Liberal campaign co-chair Patrick Kinsella's firm helped powerful foreign and corporate interests win major government contracts and benefits. That reporting contributed to the firm's work becoming an issue during the 2009 election, a change to the province's lobbying rules and a finding by Canada's commissioner of lobbying that Mr. Kinsella's then business partner Mark Jiles breached the federal Lobbyists' Code of Conduct. Mr. Jiles has denied he engaged in registrable lobbying activity;

* concerns related to the provincial government's controversial decision to allow the construction of five- and six- storey wood-frame buildings. Those concerns came from engineering, fire and earthquake experts - as well as American building officials;

2007*

* a disclosure from Sandra Robinson, a member of the independent commission to review MLA compensation, that she didn't agree with "quite a few" of the three-person panel's controversial pay-and-pension plan recommendations;

* Joe Trasolini, who was then the mayor of Port Mayor and a TransLink board member, owned $2.5 million of commercial property near the transportation authority's proposed Evergreen Line. At the time, Mr. Trasolini denied any conflict of interest. He later voluntarily agreed not to participate in any board discussions or decisions on the line, which is meant to connect the Tri-Cities with SkyTrain and the West Coast Express;

2006*

* Louise Burgart was appointed to the province's supposedly non-partisan electoral boundaries commission despite being a Liberal supporter. Ms. Burgart resigned from the commission following coverage of her connections to the governing party;

* details on Lesley du Toit's controversial tenure as the ministry of children and family development's top bureaucrat. That in-depth coverage included reporting on the troubled relationship between Ms. du Toit and the independent children and youth representative, as well as exposing the $560,120 her ministry spent renovating its headquarters and the arrangements it made to pay $275 per hour to a child rights advisor;

2003 to 2005*

* details of the internal debate over proposed changes the provincial New Democrats' relationship with the labour movement. That included disclosing a party report that recommended reducing union voting power at New Democrat conventions to exposing the United Steelworkers of America's campaign against such a change;

* Prem Vinning, a veteran Indo-Canadian political organizer, admission that he used a different name than his own when phoning in a question to a Channel M call-in-show featuring the premier. Following that admission, Mr. Vinning resigned his position as the government's new director of Asia-Pacific trade and economic development; and

* Doug Walls, a Liberal insider, had been put in charge of a multi-million dollar government agency - even though senior staff were aware serious allegations of fraud had been made against the former Prince George car dealer. The investigation also revealed government wrote off a $484,939 bill owed by a consulting group run by Mr. Walls, Premier Gordon Campbell's cousin-in-law. It resulted in the resignation of Children and Family Development Minister Gordon Hogg and the firing of his deputy Chris Haynes. Mr. Walls also resigned.

* = Dates are approximate and, in some cases, represent the beginnings or endings of investigations that spanned multiple years.

Harbour authority eying prime waterfront property

2011-10-25T00:18:38Z

The chair of the provincial government commission that owns Victoria's old Canadian Pacific Railway Steamship Terminal has said he understands the capital city's harbour authority is submitting a proposal related to that unoccupied building. The Provincial Capital Commission is in the midst of trying to find a tenant for the iconic 87-year-old terminal, which occupies a prime piece of waterfront real estate. But its chair Bill Wellburn said he doesn't known anything further about the harbour authority's proposal because he's excused himself from "all deliberations" about it. Mr. Wellburn said he did so because he also serves as the treasurer for the non-profit authority, which has operated Victoria's four port facilities since 2002.

For his own part, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority's chair Dermot Loughnane would neither confirm or deny news of the proposal. But, in asking how Public Eye found out about it, Mr. Loughnane colourfully joked, "I'm just trying to figure out who said something and has to be killed."

"Normally, I'm not too reluctant about coming forward. I usually tell everything I know and speculate. But, in this case, I think the best thing would be for me not to say anything unfortunately," he continued.

As for what the authority might want with the building, Mr. Loughnane said, "The harbour authority is all about the harbour and developing the harbour and we own a number of assets around the harbour and we're always looking to grow. We need an opportunity to diversify our income from beyond our mainly cruise-based model and we're continually looking at things that can augment that."

The capital commission began looking for a new tenant for the steamship terminal after it was vacated by the Royal London Wax Museum.

Three initial bids were turned down because the commission could not evaluate them "due to insufficient information."

The deadline to participate in the commission's second bidding process has been set for October 28.

Continuing technical difficulties

2011-10-16T15:49:50Z

Public Eye, as you may have noticed, is still experiencing technical difficulties. As a result, its search function is broken and our ability to update the site is severely impaired. Public Eye's service provider is working to resolve those issues as soon as possible.

Clark becomes natural gas industry storyteller

2011-10-13T19:58:19Z

What do Premier Christy Clark and her supporter, lobbyist Jay Hill, have in common? Both, it turns out both want to tell the natural gas industry's "story." At last month's oil and gas conference, the premier told attendees she had a job to do "making sure people understand the contribution your industry makes to British Columbia."

"It's a story that need to be told because it's a story that matters to a lot of people," she continued, adding the industry's 5,000 employees have "family sustaining jobs that make it possible for people to put food on the table for their children."

But that self-appointed job is similar to the one Spectra Energy Corp., the province's largest greenhouse gas producing firm, has given to Hill, one of the premier's most vocal right-wing supporters.

In an earlier interview with Public Eye, the company's vice-president of strategic development and external relations for its western Canadian operations Gary Weilinger said the former federal Conservative government house leader's work for Spectra mostly involves "getting the natural gas story out in B.C. from a whole bunch of different perspectives."

Premier wants to be yes woman for development

2011-10-13T19:01:59Z

It may have been music to the oil and gas industry's ears. But recent comments made by Premier Christy Clark in Fort Nelson have struck a discordant note for the environmental community. Speaking at an industry conference in the northern city, Ms. Clark told attendees, "I'm tired of hearing people say, 'No, I don't want that development. No, I don't want those trees cut down. No, I don't want that mine. No, I don't want that well drilled.'"

"We need to move to yes. We need to move to yes as a province. As citizens. And we need governments to move to yes as well in getting out of the way of economic activity if you want to succeed in British Columbia," Ms. Clark continued, according to comments first reported by trade publication Pipeline News North and confirmed by the premier's office.

But Will Horter, the executive director of the Dogwood Initiative - one of the province's most prominent environmental groups - countered that British Columbians are, "saying yes. They're saying, 'Yes we want sustainable industries in our communities. Yes we want to have a say-so in what happens and decide whether projects are compatible with our vision for our community or not.' They don't like those things being imposed by Christy Clark or anybody else."

University of Victoria political science professor emeritus Norman Ruff was less certain about whether Ms. Clark will pay a political cost for making such comments given the world seems more concerned about jobs being lost than trees being cut down right now.

But he said its noteworthy her language is similar to that of former Encana Corp. president and chief executive officer Gwyn Morgan, who was one of the premier's economic advisors during her leadership campaign.

"It shows she's not just keeping company with people in the oil and other industries but she's absorbing their mindset as well," stated the professor.

This isn't the first time Ms. Clark has made controversial comments that appear to put the economy ahead of the environment. During her run to succeed Gordon Campbell as leader of the Liberals, she made no apologies for supporting the Prosperity Mine proposal near Williams Lake - which is opposed by both environmental and First Nations groups.

Technical difficulties

2011-10-12T16:34:49Z

Public Eye has been experiencing security-related technical difficulties over the past three days. As a result, new stories haven't been posted and emails sent to us may have been lost. Our apologies for the inconvenience. At present, however, we believe those difficulties have been resolved.

Clark in a box while Dix gets outside

2011-10-11T13:51:52Z

Premier Christy Clark is in a fiscal box. The provincial government doesn't have much money right now and, so far, Ms. Clark has no plans to change that by raising taxes. Which means, unless the economy turns around, she won't be making many vote-getting spending announcements between now and the next election. By comparison, New Democrat leader Adrian Dix has said if he wins government he'll be raising corporate taxes back to where they were in 2008.

It's reckoned that could put hundreds of millions of dollars back in the government's treasury in fiscal 2013/14. Mr. Dix has been using the promise of that money to make spending commitments, something he'll continue doing in the lead up to 2013.

The Liberals will, of course, counter with the accusation that raising corporate taxes is bad for the economy. But if the protests against Wall Street and Howe Street continue, British Columbians may well decide raising corporate taxes isn't bad for them.

Public Eye Radio - October 9, 2011 lineup

2011-10-09T13:57:45Z

Sunday morning, on Public Eye Radio, Canadians for Tax Fairness president Murray Dobbin discusses the politics of raising corporate taxes. Provincial Liberal caucus chair Gordon Hogg talks about his government's initiative to encourage social innovation. And our rabble-rousing panel - Eleanor Gregory, the Times Colonist's Dave Obee, the Georgia Straight's Charlie Smith and Troy Sebastian - debate the week that was in provincial and federal politics. You can listen to Public Eye Radio outside of Victoria by logging into CFAX 1070 between 8:00 and 10:00. If you have a question for one of our guests, you can email us or leave a comment below.

Ex-James staffers backing Topp

2011-10-05T22:05:11Z

Earlier, we reported Brian Topp's bid for the federal New Democrat leadership is being supported by Gerry Scott. Now we've learned of former provincial New Democrat leader Carole James's senior staffers - chief of staff Jim Rutkowski and outreach director Raj Sihota - are volunteering for Mr. Topp. Mr. Rutkowski is presently an associate with public relations firm CGI Group.

Regulators to face future post-employment restrictions?

2011-10-05T21:00:11Z

Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman is sending mixed signals about whether there should be restrictions against oil and gas commission employees leaving to work for the companies that agency regulates. The issue has come up because, in August, the head of that commission Alex Ferguson left to become a senior advisor with oil add gas company Apache Canada Ltd.

Asked about that move, Mr. Coleman said, "I think people have a right if they leave one job to seek another job. Alex served us really well in this position. He did a great job for us."

"My understanding is that the work he's going to be doing for his new employer isn't going to be in Canada. It's going to be outside of Canada. So we don't see any cross-conflicts at this point in time."

In a separate interview, Mr. Ferguson added he didn't make any decisions concerning Apache or its competitors in the months between when he decided to leave the commission and his departure.

Nevertheless, if he been a government rather than a commission employee, Mr. Ferguson would have been subject to post-employment guidelines which could have restricted or prohibited his future job options - although loopholes exist and waivers can be given.

For example, senior bureaucrats must wait 12 months before going to work for a company they've had dealings with during the year prior to their departure from government - but only if that involvement was "substantial."

Asked whether he thought the commission, in the future, should be subject to such guidelines, Mr. Coleman said, "I think as a result of this coming up, we're going to have a chat with them. But we're not going to be doing it for the next couple weeks."

Local government lobby urges port protect measures

2011-10-05T20:52:32Z

The province's municipalities are urging the government to introduce measures to protect our ports from potential competition in Alaska. The municipalities are concerned mining companies operating in northwestern British Columbia could ship their commodities via a port near Wrangell, Alaska rather than ones located in-province.

The Clark administration and the federal government are spending $250 million on a transmission line to encourage mining development in that region. In addition, according to a resolution endorsed at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities annual general meeting last week, "many mining and similar projects in Northwestern BC benefit from the taxation and investment policies of British Columbia and Canada."

As a result, the union is calling on the province to "adopt and implement" a "Canada First" policy to ensure bulk cargo and similar goods are shipped through our country's ports rather than the one in Wrangell.

The resolution warns the alternative is an environment where British Columbia communities might be denied "the economic and social benefits of increased economic activity in the northwest corridor."

But, in an interview with Public Eye, Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell was less than enthusiastic about that resolution, hinting it could prompt retaliatory measures from the United States.

"One would presume that if we were not wanting U.S. ports to ship Canadian goods that, conversely, we wouldn't want to ship American goods from our ports," said the minister, before adding that such a situation would be more of a loss than a gain for British Columbia.

"We're actually doing pretty well in terms of shipping U.S. goods out of Canadian ports as well as inbound goods coming to Canada through to the U.S. It's an important business for us and one that we want to maintain - an open border," he explained.

Nevertheless, the United States Federal Maritime Commission is already considering unrelated protection measures that that border.

According to The Globe and Mail's John Ibbitson the commission's chairman Richard Lidinsky is mulling a "major new levy" on cargo entering the United States from Canadian ports.

Cunningham gets government appointment

2011-10-05T00:13:12Z

Add another Christy Clark supporter to the list of provincial government appointees. Earlier, we reported on how orders in council naming seven of those supporters to various government boards were passed on the same day. And now the province has made former federal Liberal British Columbia president and candidate Bill Cunningham a Simon Fraser University governor. Mr. Cunningham was also once executive director of the federal government's minister's regional office in Vancouver.