MONEY-LAUNDERING FILE WARRANTS A FRESH LOOK
VICTORIA Earlier this month Attorney General David Eby fired off a clever letter to Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson on the moneylaundering scandal.
“Former minister Rich Coleman has recently said that the previous government did ‘everything we could’ to crack down on money laundering,” wrote Eby, citing the former deputy premier’s response to the release of the Peter German report on money laundering.
“In that light,” continued Eby, “I am requesting that the Opposition support our efforts in fighting this criminal activity in B.C. It is our government’s desire to continue to aggressively pursue measures to counter money laundering, but to do so in a manner that does not duplicate unsuccessful efforts from previous governments.” Scarce resources, you see.
“I am writing directly to seek your support of this effort by obtaining agreement from the members of the previous government to waive cabinet privilege on all documents relating to money laundering.”
Cabinet privilege being the convention, linked to the oath of confidentiality, that shelters cabinet minutes, documents and the like from public scrutiny for decades after the fact.
Not that Eby was suggesting a blanket waiver of the long-standing rule that protects governments of every political persuasion.
Rather: “I can commit on behalf of the government, that information from these documents would remain confidential.”
The material would instead be examined in confidence to indicate avenues of inquiry that have been proven fruitless and to suggest ones that might be worth a second try. If Wilkinson were amenable to the request, the New Democrats would make a direct approach to the designated representative of the previous government in these matters, former cabinet minister, now backbench MLA, Mike de Jong.
How could Wilkinson not be amenable to such an innocent request?, Eby asked in followup media interviews.
Only a cynic would suspect that the attorney general crafted the letter to call what he regarded as an out-and-out bluff on Coleman’s part.
The Liberal response, more of a non-response really, played straight into Eby’s hands.
“Instead of playing games with confidential cabinet documents, the attorney general should focus on implementing the recommendations from the German Report and pursuing charges against those who have broken the law,” returned Opposition house leader Mary Polak, responding on behalf of Wilkinson.
The Liberals would respond formally to the request in due course, not that they would be in any rush to do so.
“His request to release confidential cabinet documents, which was released to media before the Opposition had an opportunity to review, will be given the consideration it deserves,” she huffed.
That brought a blast from Green Leader Andrew Weaver.
“Honestly, I don’t know what the B.C. Liberals stand for anymore,” he told the Star Vancouver. “I would have thought that they’d have put together an informed response that would have actually insured that we get to the bottom of this.
“I don’t think it helps when you have a flippant response suggesting this is nothing but a game,” said the Green leader, who nevertheless seemed to be engaging in a bit of tag-team with his party’s partner-in-power-sharing, the NDP.
For all Eby’s insistence that he was not looking for a stick with which to beat the Liberals, there was no overlooking the selectiveness of his choice for the proposed exemption to cabinet privilege.
He was not, for instance, suggesting the New Democrats were prepared to share out the cabinet documentation on their selective preference for certain construction unions, a decision that could add $100 million to the replacement cost of the Pattullo Bridge.
Nor, to mention some issues where Weaver has been critical of the NDP, was Eby prepared to lift the cone of secrecy on the decision to proceed with Site C, offer billions in tax relief to LNG or the rationale behind the notorious speculation tax.
Still, for all the obvious gamesplaying by the parties, there could be some merit for an independent review of any confidential material in government hands on the money-laundering file.
German made the point in his report that police face a huge challenge in translating suspicions about money laundering into criminal charges.
“You’d probably need a team of accountants and quite a long time to try to diagnose the thousands of suspicious transactions that have been reported over the years,” the lawyer and moneylaundering expert told reporters. “To determine the origin of cash in each one is virtually an impossible mission.”
On that basis it might be worth the effort to have a fresh look at any material sheltering behind the wall of cabinet confidentiality on money laundering.
To guard against political interference, the current head of the public service, Don Wright, and his predecessor under the B.C. Liberals, Kim Henderson, could conduct a joint review of the relevant cabinet minutes and documents.
If anything turned up, it could be handed over to a Supreme Court justice who would assess the material for anything that should be handed over to regulators, the police or a special prosecutor.
The process should ensure that nothing of relevance languishes in the files. The oversight of a judge would preclude political game playing all around.
Honestly, I don’t know what the B.C. Liberals stand for anymore. ANDREW WEAVER, Green leader
Setting it straight: In Saturday’s column I recalled that some New Democrats had, more than decade ago, claimed links between Accenture and the Enron scandal. Accenture has since advised that those claims were mistaken. I accept the company’s explanation and apologize for repeating the error.