Despite the fuss concerning the Panama Papers, most of us already suspected or knew that the very rich were using exotic business structures to avoid paying taxes. So the fact that the rich avoid paying taxes by using off-shore banks and law offices came as no surprise.
If there is one particular word to describe the Christy Clark government it is combative.
Similarly, when we first looked at the Victoria Papers, we were not surprised to see a discussion and email exchange involving lawyers, supervisors and an adjudicator that went beyond the lawyer’s role as legal adviser by purporting to influence the adjudicator’s decision-making or adjudicating role. We were of the view and knew for ourselves that this was what takes place behind closed doors in the RoadSafetyBC office in Victoria. But it wasn’t until we received the Victoria Papers that we had the indisputable evidence.
Disclosure of the Victoria Papers?
The Panama Papers were unlawfully obtained by a data leak from a law firm. Apparently most of what was leaked would have been protected by solicitor-client privilege and therefore the release is unlawful. Of course, if the lawyers were breaking the law or facilitating their clients’ efforts to break the law, privilege does not attach to those records. It’s quite likely that the release of the information was a significant breach of privacy and lawsuits will certainly follow.
We were attuned to privilege concerns when we laid hands on the Victoria Papers. The documents had been vetted for privilege before they were sent to us and they dealt with one of our cases that had been resolved. We wondered why they would give us papers that demonstrated they were breaking the rules left, right and center? Our conclusion was that whoever vetted the documents for privilege didn’t understand just what it was that they were trying to keep secret.
It’s all about context
If you haven’t read the court’s decision, take a few minutes and check it out:
British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Lee, 2016 BCSC 707
The court ruled that a number of pages from the Victoria Papers were protected by solicitor-client privilege. We’ve destroyed our copies. We can’t tell you what’s in them. We can tell you that, all things considered we’re satisfied with the court’s reasoning and for the reasons explained in the decision, it was better to protect these documents than see an infringement into the rules governing solicitor-client privilege.
For context and so that everyone understands the process, we were of the view that they should be disclosed. However, the court’s decision explains the context and process well enough that you can see what’s happening.
In short, after you make your submissions to the adjudicator at RoadSafetyBC, the gears start turning and lawyers, supervisors and indeed the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles himself are filled in on how they will handle the case.
In other words the video that RoadSafetyBC put up showing an adjudicator as being the one standing between you and the police is a big lie. Those videos are designed to fool you. It’s really disturbing.
Blowing the lid off
We told you that we’d blow the lid off of this. First Paul was on the Kash Heed show to discuss the court decision. The reason we started there is because over the years Kash indicated that he was worried about the independence of the tribunal. Having been in government he knew the risk of this type of tribunal and he basically predicted that because it was in a government office there would be government influence. He was right.
After that a few smart journalists realized the significance and started investigating. CKNW has been following the IRP story closely from the beginning. Shane Woodford came in on his day off to call us for interviews. Woodford’s investigation hit the airwaves on Monday morning. Within hours it was huge news.
By that afternoon, questions were being put to the Attorney General in the BC Legislature.
J. Horgan: Paul Doroshenko, a Vancouver lawyer, received a freedom-of-information package from the B.C. Liberal government that painted quite a different picture from that which was just described by the Attorney General. In fact, according to those documents, emails suggest that the superintendent of motor vehicles as well as ministry staff and the Attorney General’s ministry directly tried to influence the outcome of an adjudication.
You can read the transcript from May 2, 2016 question period here:
https://www.leg.bc.ca/documents-data/debate-transcripts/40th-parliament/5th-session/20160502pm-House-Blues
You can also watch the chamber video by following this link, scrolling down to Monday, May 2, 2016, Afternoon – House and clicking on the link for Question Period Video:
https://www.leg.bc.ca/documents-data/debate-transcripts/40th-parliament/5th-session
What does the Attorney general know about the Victoria Papers?
The Attorney General knows exactly what’s in the Victoria Papers. This all took place in her office under her watch. And of course she’s read the court decision. So you can draw your own conclusions about her reply during question period.
It’s quite revealing when a person is asked a direct question for which they know the answer and yet they don’t answer the question. When police officers do this on the witness stand, we ask them why they feel the need to be cute in giving their evidence.
What gets disclosed and what stays under wraps?
The Attorney General was asked to disclose the Victoria Papers in order to clear the air. She was asked to allow the people of BC to see them so they could make up their minds about the veracity of the Attorney General’s statements. The Attorney General was disputing a finding of the BC Supreme Court. Why not let the public see what’s going on?
If there is one particular word to describe the Christy Clark government it is combative. They use the apparatus of government to protect their power. The interests of people of BC come second and only when it corresponds with their political agenda. So the release of the Victoria Papers is being guided by politics.
If they wait until the 30-day appeal period has expired, the BC legislative sitting will be over and the Liberals can avoid being asked about it in question period. If they appeal the decision, they might be able to keep a lid on it until after the next election.
As far as we’re concerned, there is no error by the court and therefore nothing that would succeed on appeal. Still, they are all about politics and they may use your tax money to advance an appeal to try and delay release of the Victoria Papers until after the election or until they’ve cleaned up lose ends.
Stay tuned for more news on the #VictoriaPapers.