[mobglob-discuss] 2010 Bid Corp linked to mega-projects & privatization

[Bella]

FROM: NO GAMES 2010 Coalition 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   4 June 2003 

Re: RAV and the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Olympic Games: 
Another Vehicle to Advance Mega-Projects at the BC Taxpayers’ Expense? 

NO GAMES 2010 Coalition has obtained a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’
between the Province of British Columbia and Bombardier Inc., signed on
June 24, 1998 by then-Premier Glen Clark, then-Minister Responsible for BC
Transit, Joy MacPhail, and President/COO of Bombardier, Jean-Yves Leblanc,
which states:  

“The parties intend to jointly support and promote the development of
Bombardier’s Centre for Advanced Transit Systems as contemplated in this
Memorandum as follows:

(b) by examining methods, in cooperation with the Vancouver International
Airport Authority*, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Committee and local
authorities, to accelerate the construction of a SkyTrain-type System that
will link the City of Richmond, the Vancouver International Airport and
downtown core of the City of Vancouver.” 

This document clearly discloses that the RAV project in relation to the
Olympic Bid was considered settled almost 5 years ago, that the NDP was
fully involved in this process, and that Bombardier was already the named
company. Further, this document provides clear evidence that the
facilitation by politicians and business groups to advance the
mega-project transcends political governance of the day. NO GAMES wonders
if Ms MacPhail’s recent announcement to retire from politics is related to
her role in the RAV line Memorandum of Understanding.  

The recent ‘debate’ on the RAV line led to an apparently near unanimous
decision by City Council and strong ‘support’ by the GVRD to proceed with
the project. The Memorandum of Understanding cited above suggests that
these decisions were merely rubber stamps to previous in-place agreements
made without public consultation. 

NO GAMES asks why France Chretien Desmarais is a Vancouver/Whistler Bid
Corp. member. Could this position be related to the fact that her husband,
Andre Desmarais (President of Power Corp.) is a Director of Bombardier? Is
she there to support the Chair of Bombardier and fellow Bid Corp. member,
Laurent Beaudoin, with her role related to the fact that her father, Prime
Minister Jean Chretien, will kick in federal taxpayers’ money to assist
with the multi-billion dollar project? Prime Minister Chretien has
previously loaned $1 billion without taxpayer or government input to the
privately-owned U.S. company Amtrak to facilitate a large order for
Bombardier, establishing a clear precedent of advocacy for a corporation
which is a major contributor to the federal Liberal Party. 

NO GAMES has also obtained the following information:

- $3 million has already been spent on geo-technical surveys along Cambie
Street, prior to project approval. 

-Inside sources in TransLink indicate that land has already been purchased
near Granville Island to facilitate a new Cambie-line terminal, quoted as
a $19 million project, to replace the Oak & 41st station. The purchase of
this land occurred before the Vancouver City Council vote.

-The same TransLink sources describe trolley lines already planned along
Marine Drive to connect to the RAV. 

-Coincidentally, Thomas Fung’s Fairchild Group announced expanded
development plans for the Cambie-adjacent Aberdeen Shopping Mall project
to now include an eight storey hotel, days prior to the Province’s
announcement to begin public consultation for the RAV project.  

Background: 

NO GAMES 2010 Coalition came into existence as a group of concerned
citizens who realized that the underlying motive for attracting the 2010
Winter Olympic Games to BC was to provide taxpayer funding for private
sector mega-projects.  

NO GAMES alleges that special interest projects involving the collusion of
the private sector with politicians of various official political stripes
have been in the works for years. The links between special interest lobby
groups and government transcends official political affiliations at the
municipal, provincial, and federal levels. Local business interests and
major offshore financing are the driving force in numerous policy
decisions.  

The 2010 Bid Corp. Board of Directors is a specifically selected group of
business representatives with long-standing affiliations to various
mega-projects associated with the Bid and to current and previous BC
governments. Examples: 

Privatization of BC Rail: 

-Bid Corp. member Larry Bell has been the facilitator of many BC assets
since the 1970’s. 

-Bid Corp. member David McLean is the Chair of CN Rail, the foremost
contender to purchase BC Rail’s operations. 

-Peter Armstrong is the current CEO of Great Canadian Rail tours and Rocky
Mountain Rail tours. 

-Rick Antonson is former VP of Great Canadian Rail tours. 

-Bid Corp. Chair, Jack Poole, is Chair of Concert Properties which
purchased more than a dozen BC property assets a few years ago at nominal
cost. 

Privatization of BC Hydro: 

-Bid Corp’s Larry Bell is the current President of BC Hydro and has played
a major role overseeing the privatization of BC Hydro and the affiliation
with Accenture (formerly, Arthur Anderson). 

Vancouver Convention Centre: 

-Peter Armstrong and Rick Antonson presided over the committee promoting
the Convention Centre expansion.

-Jack Poole has decades of involvement with the Convention Centre. Poole’s
Vancouver Land Corp. (VLC), received tens of millions of dollars in
Vancouver land from then-Mayor Gordon Campbell. Shortly after, Poole met
with Vancouver City Council to propose a new convention centre and casino.
At the time, casinos-for-profit were not permitted in BC. 

-Concert, Concord Pacific (represented on the 2010 Bid Corp. by
former-Chair Stanley Kwok and current Chair David McLean) and Marathon
Realty (later to become a subsidiary of Concord Pacific) was chosen as
eligible developers for the centre. Concord Pacific and Marathon later
dropped out, leaving Concert Properties as the only potential developer.
Mike Harcourt, not to be outdone by Gordon Campbell’s generous land gift
to VLC, handed over $15 million of taxpayers’ money to Poole’s Concert
Properties. With a change in government, the NDP struck a Convention
Centre committee to oversee the project. Without a contract, Concert
received $52 million in funds toward the project (at a burn-rate of $3-4
million per month), only to see the project cancelled. During the final
days of the NDP reign, the CC committee was disbanded, and the project
shelved. The Liberals soon formed a new committee to renew the project.  

Vancouver City Council meanwhile has been quietly spending hundreds of
thousands of dollars re-zoning the CC lands during the last few years,
prior to approval of the project. The back-room cooperation from Vancouver
Council also transcends the ‘progressive’ Cope majority on Vancouver City
Council for both the Convention Centre and the RAV line. 

During the weeks leading to the IOC’s decision on the 2010 Winter Games in
July, NO GAMES 2010 Coalition will release to the press information
documenting special interest conflicts associated with the 2010 Bid
Corporation, in particular in conjunction with the proposed
taxpayer-funded infrastructure mega-projects.  

NO GAMES 2010 Coalition
For further information, contact Chris Shaw 
604-875-4111 (68373); csshawlab at hotmail.com
*Another BC privatization. NO GAMES will provide information of this in a
future press release


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM).
http://calendar.yahoo.com