NDP seems to be all talk on money laundering

Back when Christy Clark and her B.C. Liberals were in power, critics quickly caught on to one of her favourite political diversion tactics.

It was pretty simple: Any time the government got into any kind of political trouble or damaging scandal, just talk about booze.

The Liberal’s point man on booze was MLA John Yap, who must have set a world record for liquor-reform announcements. And they always seemed to happen when the Liberals wanted to draw the media’s attention away from other issues.

If a Liberal fundraising scandal erupted, there was Yap to announce relaxed liquor laws in restaurants.

Improperly deleted government emails? Never mind that, Yap had great news about new craft brewery regulations.

Now some suspicious types have noticed the NDP government has its own bright, shiny object to dangle in front of the media: The menace of money laundering.

Tuesday’s throne speech sounded the drum beat again.

“Your government will identify the structural causes of money laundering to hold accountable those who are responsible,” said the speech read by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin.

The Liberals, consigned to the opposition benches, have no doubt the New Democrats will pin responsibility on them.

And any time the Libs want to talk about the NDP jacking up taxes, there’s Attorney General David Eby with yet another money-laundering announcement.

Make no mistake, money laundering is a huge issue in this province.

And the Liberals deserve to take severe lumps for their record on managing the province’s casinos, among other failings.

But are the New Democrats serious about rooting out and eliminating this scourge?

Or is this just another diversion tactic primarily designed to inflict political damage on the B.C. Liberals?

I think the question is a fair one when the John Horgan government continues to resist growing calls for a full public inquiry into money laundering in this province.

Opinion polls show overwhelming support for an inquiry. Municipal politicians are demanding one. The province’s largest public-sector union has launched a massive campaign in favour of one.

But Eby and Horgan continue to dance around the idea, preferring other tactics that seem to satisfy their wish to surgically slime the Liberals.

Here’s the problem: Any genuine, robust investigation of money laundering must also target Justin Trudeau’s federal government.

The role of federal agencies like the RCMP and Fintrac, the federal anti-money-laundering organization, must be examined and their officials called on the carpet.

It’s hard to see how the Trudeau government will want to co-operate in such an exercise, especially in a federal election year.

But the Charbonneau Commission in Quebec proved public inquiries can be effective. The public inquiry into corruption in the Quebec construction industry cost $35 million, but led to dozens of arrests and the recovery of $95 million of misspent public money.

It’s time for the Horgan government to get on with a real crackdown on money laundering with a public inquiry. Otherwise the constant announcements will start to look like just another boozestyle political diversion tactic.