Setting the record straight on Blair Wilson

When West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP Blair Wilson joined the Green Party after the Liberal Party repeatedly refused to accept him back due to ethical concerns and questions about his business history, Wilson and May set about downplaying the circumstances that led to his being asked to leave the Liberal caucus, and then now being allowed back.

They both stuck to the line that he had been “largely” cleared of “major” wrongdoing by Elections Canada (actually, he admitted to three violations of the Elections Act, which doesn’t generally divide rules between must-follow and follow if you feel like it), glossing over the fact that it was his legal and business history, and the fact that he didn’t disclose a lot of pertinent information (including 23 lawsuits) during the nomination process, that led to his parting from the Liberals.

Here’s what he said in a statement:

The party's provincial "Green Light Committee", which vets all candidates, had earlier rejected Mr. Wilson candidacy based on personal information that was inaccurate and untested. He was not given an opportunity to defend himself before the committee and there was no appeal process.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. In a letter to the North Shore News yesterday two members of that Green Light Committee, Dean Crawford and Martin MacLachlans, set the record straight on the process around the vetting of Wilson and his disqualification as a Liberal candidate:

Our searches revealed that Wilson, or companies of which he was an officer or director, had been involved in as many as 23 legal proceedings that he had not disclosed on his nomination forms or at any time afterward. Based on our review, we concluded that Wilson was required to disclose most, if not all, of these proceedings on the nomination forms he filed with the Liberal Party but had failed to do so.

…

By failing to disclose those proceedings, however, Wilson denied the green light committee the opportunity to thoroughly assess his suitability as a candidate. Instead, we learned of a number of these proceedings when the general public learned of them -- by reading the newspaper.

And Wilson’s claim that “He was not given an opportunity to defend himself before the committee” appears to be false as well:

We provided Wilson a draft of our report and initially requested a response within two days, but offered an extension of time to respond if he needed it. Wilson did take the extra time and had nearly three weeks to comment on the draft report. He ultimately did make submissions to us through his lawyer, Jay Straith, and those submissions were taken into account before we completed the report.

The whole column is really worth reading as it brings some needed facts to the Wilson saga and puts the whole affair into context.

Wilson’s lack of forthrightness on the circumstances of his departure from the Liberal Party actually seems appropriate, though, as it’s indicative of the behaviour that led to his being asked to leave to leave the party in the first place.

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Blair Wilson: Not the standard-bearer the Greens would have hoped for

I've long held a soft-spot in my political heart for the Green Party, and so I'm pleased they at long last have their first MP, even if he wasn't elected under the Green banner. I also think that Elizabeth May should be in the leaders' debates, and this should help make that happen. It's really unfortunate, though, that their standard-bearer, the person who will go down in history as the first Green MP in Canada, had to be Blair Wilson.

It really should have been Elizabeth May. And she may well still end up being the first elected Green MP, as I think she's going to give Peter McKay a real run for his money in Central Nova.

This should really be a big day for the Green Party, and for all supporters of democracy in general. In some ways, it still is. But it's tainted by the person they've cast to fill this historic role.

The fact is, there's a reason why Blair Wilson was asked to leave the Liberal caucus, and there's a reason why his repeated pleas, both public and private, to re-join the Liberal caucus were firmly and soundly rejected. Blair Wilson is not MP material.

After a long investigation by Elections Canada the 24 allegations of campaign finance irregularities against him were reduced to three, which he acknowledged as violations as entered into a compliance agreement with Elections Canada.

He was asked to leave caucus, though, because he hid a laundry list of legal disputes from the party when he sought and accepted the Liberal nomination, and repeatedly refused to cooperate when word of the allegations began to come out.

The list of allegations unearthed in an investigative series by the Vancouver Province last fall, including failed business dealings, friends and investors and suppliers left holding the bag, lawsuits and more, reads like a soap opera:

Among the allegations against Wilson, The Province has learned:

- Wilson did not report campaign expenses to Elections Canada and paid for supplies off the books, in cash, a breach of the act.

- Wilson and his wife, Kelly, borrowed roughly $1.9 million from his in-laws to purchase six properties, and much remains unpaid despite the fact they have sold some homes.

- Wilson and his wife were subject to Social Services Tax Act liens on three properties and owe $2.1 million in bank mortgages.

- Wilson misled the media about the true extent of his business success, exaggerating the number of restaurants he founded and claiming to have sold an accountancy business his in-laws claim closed, among other discrepancies.

- Wilson lost hundreds of thousands of family investors' money in the stock market and yet billed them for management fees.

- Wilson's two restaurants, Mahoneys and Wilson's Steakhouse, closed. He was taken twice to the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal for refusing to pay employees, was sued twice for failing to pay contractors, was twice compelled by the courts to pay GST owing, and was also taken to court by a supplier over $33,839 that was owed (this amount was later paid).

- Wilson bought extravagant gifts for a girlfriend in Poland while working for a restaurant chain called Pan Smak Pizza Inc.

And yes, if you're wondering, Blair is married. Perhaps his time in Poland will help him in his new role as the Green Party's immigration critic. A second article has even more on the business history of Blair Wilson, and the damage and losses he left in his wake.

All this history, which should have been disclosed to the party as a matter of course, was hidden by Wilson when he applied to be a candidate, and would likely had disqualified him from running had it been known. That's why he wasn't allowed to run for the Liberals again. He has consistently failed to demonstrate the ethics, honesty and integrity that should be expected of a Member of Parliament. If a person isn't going to be open and honest with the party, how can he be trusted to run under its banner?

Interestingly, it seems like it's those that know Blair Wilson best, those that have been close to him, that feel most strongly that he is unfit for public office.

Like former NHLer Tony Tanti, who lost the $50,000 he invested in a Wilson business:

Tanti, for one, says he can let his $50,000 loss go, but not his worries about Wilson's suitability for office.

"My concern about the whole thing, him getting into politics, [is] if he is doing that to so-called friends and everything else, what is he going to do when he's got [public] money in his hands?

"My $50,000 was a lot of money, but it's not going to change my lifestyle. But now he has public funds. That's my biggest concern."

And Wilson's own father-in-law, Bill Lougheed, who had to resort to legal action over unpaid loans to Wilson:

The Lougheeds claim Wilson misrepresented himself to voters in his riding, pretending to be a wealthy politician while he was secretly saddled with enormous debts. Wilson's defaulting, Lougheed feels, makes the MP "not fit for public office."

Lougheed feels the MP's "insatiable need for money" and the fact that he's "living beyond his means" has put his family in jeopardy.

And friends who themselves volunteered for Wilson's campaigns have told me some unsettling stories about the experience, and his suitability for office.

In announcing Wilson's move to the Greens, May claims to have investigated all this and to be satisfied with his explanations. I just hope that, in her desire to have this historic announcement, and to secure her place in the debates, she hasn't made decision she will one day come to regret.

Wilson likes being an MP. He likes the prestige, the perks, the attention. He has been pushing for months to get back into caucus, and as late as mid-August he was pushing the caucus to consider the matter when it meets next week in Winnipeg. To his credit, Stephane Dion bluntly told him it wasn't going to happen. Only then, with an election imminent, did Wilson make his move to the Greens.

Is getting their first MP and getting into the leaders' debate worth getting into bed with someone like Blair Wilson? I suppose time will tell. I just feel bad for my Green friends that this is how this historic day had to happen. Given the long-held commitment of the Green movement to democracy, honest and integrity, this can't be quite how they would have pictured this day.

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The Greens have an MP!

This is big, surprising news. According to the Globe and Mail, MP Blair Wilson, formerly of the Liberal Party, is about to become the Green Party's first member of parliament:

OTTAWA — The Green party is poised to announce it has its first federal member of Parliament - even before an anticipated fall election call.

Green party Leader Elizabeth May will introduce former Liberal MP Blair Wilson as a Green MP at a news conference this morning in Ottawa.

The Vancouver MP was turfed from the Liberal caucus after revelations of spending irregularities in his 2006 campaign.

He's been sitting as an Independent.

Let me say I agree with the reasons Wilson was expelled from the Liberal caucus, and I agree with the decision not to re-admit him.

That said, I think it's great that the Green Party finally has its first MP. It's just unfortunate that it's unlikely he'll ever have the chance to sit in the House of Commons under the Green banner, with an election call almost certain before the House returns.

Assuming he runs for re-election under the Green banner, this will make things a little more interesting in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, a riding the Conservatives were eying as a sure pick-up (it was John Reynold's old riding).

More importantly, this should make it impossible for Green Party leader Elizabeth May to be denied a spot in the televised leaders debates in the next campaign. I sincerely hope that Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe will now do the right thing and join Stephane Dion in calling for May to be allowed to participate in the debates.

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A Bcer in Bangalore, and short news comments

Apologies for the light blogging of late but its been a busy stretch at work. In the past two weeks I've been in Ottawa, San Francisco, and now this morning I've just arrived in Bangalore, India. I'm over here for work, a major high-tech company is opening a new office in this Indian Silicon Valley.

It's been a busy few days. After a tour of Alcatraz I took the red eye back to Toronto from San Francisco, managing to grab a few hours sleep on the plane. Dashed home to unpack and repack, get some sleep and then back to the airport for my British Airways flight to Bangalore, via London.

It was my first time flying BA and I have to say, while I'm disappointed not to be getting any Aeroplan points for the long trip, it was pretty good. Older planes unfortunately, a 767 to London and a 747 to Bangalore, but both were equipped with seatback personal tv, which really helped pass the eight and nine hour flights. The food was passable, but the wine in economy was complementary, that was a surprise. And the little welcome kit with slippers, eye shades and a little tooth brush and tooth paste was cute.

London-Heathrow is a strange airport, and at least the terminal I was in (4) seemed rather old and dumpy. A lot of it looked more like a shopping mall then an airport. It was weird how they don't post departure gates until an hour before each flight. And their boarding procedures were weird: it's not by row number, just first come, first serve. Not the most efficient way to board a 747 I wouldn't think, leading to a lot of congestion in the boarding area.

Landing in Bangalore I was surprised at the number of houses backing right against the airport fence line, that's certainly not something you'd see in a security-conscious North American airport. The immigration line was long but moved quickly, no questions were asked, just a cursory look, scan and a stamp.

Baggage claim was interesting. First, they x-rayed our carry-on baggage again before we entered the baggage claim hall. We also passed through a metal detector; everyone set it off but no one seemed to care. Then we all crowded into the small hall to wait for our bags. There were no signs, but it seems only one flight comes in at a time anyway, which is good because we were packed in tight. What was interesting was that they used two belts, randomly putting bags onto either one, so you had to try to watch both for your bag.

Finally, baggage in hand, I went out to find my driver and head to my motel. I'm staying out in the outskirts near the airport, so unfortunately I don't think I'll get much of a chance to see the city. The outskirts are certainly interesting though. It's a mix of old and new, prosperous and poor (more of the later), Indian and Western (passed by a Pizza Hut touting free delivery).

Driving is an adventure. Lots of scooters, bicycles, and little mini-cars. It's also left-side drive like England, I guess a throw-back to the colonial era. They drive fast, and seem to honk their horns randomly and often. Actually, I think they honk every time they pass someone, which is often. Sitting in my motel room just off the ring road the traffic and honking is quite loud.

No walk abouts to report yet. Arriving here at 6am, after checking-in, figuring out my newly acquired universal power adapter and doing a quick e-mail check I got some much needed sleep. Off to dinner soon though, really looking forward to my first Indian meal.

Meanwhile, back home

I have been scanning the headlines back in Canada though, and there have been a few news items I'd comment on more at length if I had time.

On the Blair Wilson thing, my first reaction can be summed-up as “Oh for f**k's sake!” I don't know what happened here, hopefully it's not as bad as it looks. At least he quickly resigned from caucus, that's a sign of leadership the umpteen Conservative MPs facing serious questions haven't had the fortitude to do. I agree with Red that the timing does seem coincidental, the timing certainly couldn't be worse. It does serve to blunt the Liberal attacks on the Con in and out scam, although the quick caucus resignation does highlight Con inaction and stonewalling as well. I somehow doubt we'll be able to make that distinction stick however.

So, let me get this straight, some random Liberal riding association president from Ontario quit because Dion listened to his caucus, and the majority of the Canadian population that didn't want an election, and this is news? Alrighty then. Makes perfect sense. Not.

Meanwhile, back in Conservative land, we see the Cons are threatening to sue the Liberals for saying mean things about them vis a vis their in and out scam. Now, I know Harper said he could take a punch and all, but all these attacks, every day, it's not fair! This is unfair! Do you think it's easy to abandon our supposed principles once we came into government?

Also not fair, it seems, is being expected to live-up to your promises. Such as promises to release super-important reports on the Middle East by floor-crossing used-car salesmen. Or promises to bring the PCO under access laws. Instead, Harper is hiding behind the rules he decried and promised to change to hide Wajid Khan's report from pubic scrutiny. I totally love the use of quotes by the Globe's Campbell Clark in the following graph. As I've said before, the print equivalent of air quotes:

The Conservative campaign platform promised that the party's first task would be to pass an "accountability act" that would "implement" Mr. Reid's recommendations for reform.

Ha. I'd have put air quotes around “promised” too, but that's still pretty good.

This all seems a world away though. Curry, naan bread and tandoori chicken here I come.

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Flaherty has a tantrum

Looks like the stress of his sheer incompetence is starting to catch-up with Decivin’ Steven’s Mike Harris-trained finance minister, Jim Flaherty. He just has a temper tantrum on the floor of the House of Commons.

As Garth Turner reports, Liberal MP Blair Wilson was presenting a petition for his constituents about the broken Harper promise not to tax income trusts, a broken promise that cost some 2 million Canadians over $25 billion.

Garth reports:

Mr. Flaherty, at this moment, starts to mutter and heckle under his breath. He looks hostile and angry.

“The petitioners therefore call upon the Conservative minority government to admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions,” my colleague continued, “secondly, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise, and finally to repeal the 31.5% tax on income trusts.”

By this time Flaherty is in full voice, calling across the aisle at the MP reading. He repeats over and again, “That’s so stupid.”

Ladies and gentleman, your Minister of Finance. Yes Jim, the concerns of millions of Canadians whose life savings you wiped-out are “stupid.” Canadians whom you were elected to represent, whom you swore an oath to serve. Stupid. Classy Jim.

At least he didn’t cry “this is unfair!”

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