I believe that after each election, be it federal, provincial or municipal, a compulsory commission of enquiry with forensic and subpoena authority should be authorized by the Governor General or lieutenant-governors.
The people must have a basic level of protection; they must be able to have charges brought against elected officials who have committed fraud or have become corrupt.
I have in my possession a copy of a letter so explosive and loaded with political dynamite; it is dated Jan. 4, 2005.
After consulting with a number of friends and associates who hold B.C. Liberal, Conservative and NDP party membership cards, all of those people believe the B.C. Liberal government is in serious trouble; not just because of the B.C. Rail-CN Rail scandal but several other issues.
They say that rearranging the deck chairs on the B.C. Titanic will not save the party. It is my honest opinion the only way the Campbell government, including all ministers elected since 2001, can clear the air, be vindicated or charged, all of them should be willing to face a commission of enquiry with forensic and subpoena power, chaired by the Lieutenant-governor.
The commission would naturally want to question the present B.C. premier designate: e.g. Christy Clark. She was a cabinet minister for several of those years while the corruption was under way.
The people that govern the provinces should be held accountable for all of their actions: They should not be able to refer an incident or issue to the courts to keep the evidence sealed and out public view. In this particular case, the abuse by elected officials is outrageous to say the least.
There appears to be evidence of possible insider trading regarding the railway deal. From the moment the negotiations started, all CN and B.C. Rail stock purchases and sales should have ceased until after the deal was closed.
I believe every member of the Campbell cabinets since 2001 should be subpoenaed to disclose how much CN Rail and B.C. Rail stock they owned before the negotiations started, if any stock was purchased during and after the deal was closed: While the people were losing their railway, insiders in the B.C. government and senior bureaucrats may have enjoyed major rises in their pension portfolios.
A certain sub-group of British Columbians got the gold mine. But we — merely the taxpayers — got the shaft. This deal was so insanely low that there is no other logical inference to be drawn but that it was arranged corruptly. A commission of enquiry with forensic and subpoena power will determine the results.
W.A.C. Bennett must be rolling over in his grave. Remember the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (the PGE). W.A.C. built the PGE to keep the B.C. Peace River district in B.C. Today, more than half of the Peace folks would vote to join Alberta.
I believe that if a government can get away with that level of corruption, change indeed is necessary as to how municipal, provincial or federal affairs are mismanaged and abused. No more should this level of fraud and corruption be hidden from public disclosure by asking a judge to seal the evidence.
In case Campbell and Clark are not aware of the levels of public anger over this incident: Their actions and behaviour are the stuff revolutions are made of.
With this letter I am asking any person in authority to immediately reopen the case, finish the investigation: If necessary, charge and punish the guilty people who may have committed fraud and corruption.
I am honourably retired from the Canadian Army. By right of succession, I am bound by my oath to the Queen and to the nation to defend our country in times of peril or danger or if necessary as “aid to the civil power” when required. To be perfectly honest, I do not know if I could force myself to defend the B.C. government from 2001 to the present period of fraud and corruption.
The same attitude applies to the previous NDP government. Both governments have skinned the taxpayers alive. The NDP from 1991 to 2001 added $28 billion to the provincial debt. The Liberals from 2001 to the present have added $20 billion: B.C.’s debt from 1871 to 1991 had accumulated to $12 billion. B.C. is $60 billion in debt.
Ernie Slump
Penticton