On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

It is all becoming clear now.

Here is how things work in British Columbia in the 21st Century.

RULE ONE PRIMO ABOVE ALL:

If you or your company/law firm/society/family contribute to the B.C. Liberal party in any way shape or form, then you get special appointments - like say - Special Prosecutor - that are among other things very lucrative.

1) How is this for irony?

Winston Blackmore, the ever-smiling "leader" of the polygamous Bountiful community (You might be smiling too if you could, with impunity, shtup every 15-year old girl who wandered within yodelling distance of your cave and then you could simply declare her to be another of your "wives.") wants to fire his own lawyer.

Why?

Because Blackmore has learned that his government appointed attorney, George K. MacIntosh has donated to the BC Liberal party and that his firm has donated more than $50,000 in recent years to the BC Liberal Party.

Mr. Blackmore, a paragon of civic virtue himself, asks, "How worse could this look?"

Adds Blackmore, “It already smells bad.”

When one of the creepiest guys on town ism pointing the finger at you, how bad is that?

2) Terrance Robertson, the Special Prosecutor, who first cleared Kash Heed of any wrong-doing and then stepped down from his position because of contributions to the BC Liberal party from his firm, is receiving almost $300,000 in fees for his work on the Winston Blackmore file - work, by the way, that resulted in his recommended charges being tossed by the BC Supreme Court.

This is a little akin to those Wall Street executives who bankrupted their own companies and their clients and took massive billion dollar bailouts from the public purse, but nevertheless paid themselves many millions in performance bonuses.

3) One year after taking the case as Special prosecutor in the Basi-Virk unending melodrama, Bill Bernadino donated $500 to Wally Opaque's Liberal election campaign.

But hey! No Problem, Buddy.

Just ask Bernadino his Special Self.

"There's no conflict of interest," he said. "I made a donation and I don't see anything wrong with that at all. I've carried on in my role as a special prosecutor."

I don't see anything wrong with this.

There is no conflict of interest.

Oh yes. We forgot.

During the one 15-minute Ethics lecture they gave at Law School oh those many years ago, Bill had a handball game scheduled.

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For more on these matters, check out BC Mary's blog and BillTieleman's blog.

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So there is the pattern writ large.

Donate and get on the train - The Gravy Train.

No matter what your political stripe - died in the wool Big Business, Free Market Enterpriser or Card-carrying Take to the Barricades Union Man or Woman - do you really want dedicated corruption in your elected government?

For certainly that is what the current administration of public trust is under Gordon Campbell.

An honest government - if somewhere on earth there is such a thing - would go, for example, out of province when,looking for Special Prosecutors.

An honest government would vet such appointments with a tooth pick and dental floss.

No payments, no contributions, no ties - OK.

But that is not the BC Way.

Not until the next election.