Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

ADAM OLSEN: PacNet is a firm that was alleged to be involved in money-laundering ... they were actually getting tax credits from Advantage BC


In late February, I and my BC Green Caucus colleagues, called for a full independent public inquiry into money-laundering in British Columbia.

The call came after two weeks of questions in Question Period on the deeply troubling connections in our casinos, real estate market, luxury cars, horse racing, drug cartels and opioid crisis.

BC’s Attorney General, David Eby, clearly has a handle on this file. With Dr. Peter German’s first report opening a crack in the door, and two further reports to come by the end of March, the investigation is well underway.

The constant flow of allegations in the media is really disturbing. It is shocking that this situation has gotten so out of hand.

Serious allegations

BC Attorney General David Eby
When I asked Minister Eby about money-laundering in Question Period he responded:

“But even more serious than that is when you look at cases like (BC based) PacNet. PacNet is a firm that was alleged to be involved in laundering the proceeds of lottery schemes in the United States, cheques from seniors written out to various scams and sent up, actually, to Vancouver, allegedly, to be processed.”

Eby continued; ”It was listed as one of the top five transnational criminal organizations in the world by the Obama administration. They were actually getting tax credits from Advantage BC.”

These are really explosive allegations. A provincial government entity handing out tax credits to a known transnational criminal organization. That is about as bad as it gets. It’s outrageous.


So, we did not jump on this call quickly. We did our work in the Legislature and came to the conclusion that more needs to be done.

Time for a public inquiry.

I am confident that Minister Eby will continue to push investigations to root out the criminal activity wherever it is.

But we need an independent public inquiry to look at the systemic issues. Somehow our institutions allowed this rot to grow. We need to make sure it does not happen again.
Confidence in government and our institutions is shaken.

MLA Adam Olsen
So, we must act to rebuild trust.


Adam Olsen is the Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Saanich North and the Islands

Born in Victoria, BC in 1976, Adam has lived, worked and played his entire life on the Saanich Peninsula. 

He is a member of Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP), where he and his wife, Emily, are raising their two children, Silas and Ella.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GORDON F. D. WILSON: When The Trick Masquerades as The Treat

Thirty-seven years ago, Halloween 1987, I became the leader of the BC Liberal Party.   British Columbia was badly polarized. Social Credit held one side and the NDP the other. It had been twelve years, 1975, since Liberal MLAs Garde Gardom, Pat McGeer, and Alan Williams had walked away from their party to join Social Credit, one year after the lone Progressive Conservative MLA Hugh Curtis had abandoned his party to sit with Bill Bennett, the son and heir apparent to long-serving BC Premier, WAC Bennett.   An unwritten agreement by the biggest Canadian political shareholders, the federal Liberals and Conservatives, decided that if British Columbia was to remain a lucrative franchise from a revenue perspective, they couldn’t risk splitting the electoral vote and electing the real enemy, the NDP, so no resources would be used to finance either a Liberal or Conservative party provincially.   “There are two sides to every street,” I was told by a very prominent Canadian businessman who cont
Post a Comment
Read more

FORSETH: As a BC Conservative member, and campaign worker, I will again state that the fact these errors were found -- AND brought to light BY Elections BC -- shows the system IS working

Sadly, two and a half weeks after the BC provincial election campaign, those who want to undermine our political process are still at.  PLUS, we also have one who doesn’t even live in our country, never mind our province. I speak of the buffoon running for President of the United States, who has poisoned the well when it comes to faith in the electoral process. Just today alone, comments such as the following, were being made of posts that I shared online: ... all the votes they keep finding has just favoured NDP on in all critical ridings and soon they will flip another riding in favour of NDP, Come on. ... Elections BC has ridiculed British Columbians, and I no longer have confidence or trust in their process and competence regarding the results Then there are others online, with comments like these – who are claiming fraud in the October 19th election: ... Who is the oversight for Elections BC? They should be investigated for election fraud! ... Fraudulent election ... should be red
Post a Comment
Read more

“With the talent and dedication of this caucus we will hold David Eby to account for his government’s out of control spending and ongoing failures in healthcare, public safety and addictions" — John Rustad

Today, John Rustad, Leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, proudly unveiled his shadow cabinet, a dynamic team of talented individuals ready to hold David Eby’s disastrous government accountable and present a strong alternative vision for British Columbia. “ Our shadow cabinet is a diverse and experienced group, committed to restoring prosperity, public safety, and affordability for every British Columbian ,” said Rustad. “ With experts in every field, we are focused on delivering real solutions for the challenges our province faces .” Rustad emphasized the historic appointment of Aaliya Warbus as House Leader. The shadow cabinet reflects the Conservative Party’s vision to build a brighter future for British Columbia. The appointments are as follows: Leadership Positions : Aaliya Warbus – House Leader Bruce Banman – Whip Sheldon Claire – Deputy Whip Portfolios : Tony Luck – Municipal Affairs and Local Government Sharon Hartwell – Rural Communities and Rural Development I
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more