NV lawyer heads Help B.C. case Seeks accountability of gov't By fan Noble . News Reporter IMAGINE a major forest company’s board of directors, said North Vancouver lawyer Peter Jensen. Imagine if this board was faced with dismal financial figures from com- pany employees revealing the forest giant was losing money. Such figures would bode poorly for the re-election chances of the slick- suited directors, said Jensen. So to boost their prospects, they substitute more favorable numbers and circulate them in proxy materials. Voters, believing the proxy, vote the directors back in. “1 don’t think afterwards anybody would say it is all right for that board of directors to say ha ha, I fooled you. Tough luck,” and force shareholders to wait for the next election, said Jensen, 45. But Jensen’s increasingly high-profile Kelowna client Help B.C. argues that’s essentially what the NDP is trying to do. Help B.C. alleges that NDP candidates violated the Election Act because fraudulent means were employed to get voters to cast ballots for the candi- ates, The case centres on allegations that the NDP and its candidates “know- ingly or reckiessly” misled the public on the government's track record before and during last year’s provincial election, said Jensen. Jensen said his client alleges that the NDP government knew that fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget were critical issues for voters. Jensen said it appears that the government’s internal ministrics were reporting to government members the budget was in a massive deficit for the “For whatever reason, which I presume will come out in trial, iv appears -that information was ignored and infornvation much more favorable to their election goals was substituted,” saia Jensen. Jensen, of Devlin Jensen, was apprinted in August 1996 as counsel to Help B.C. The group, now numbering in the thousands, was brought together by Kelowna businessman David Stockell to overturn the NDP’s election victory last year. . : Prior to the May election, the government released updated figures that called for a minor budget surplus for 1995-96. Final figures show the provin- cial deficit for the fiscal year stretching from April 1995 to March 1996 was $369 million. The first figure was released before the election, the second figure after. _ When Jensen, who’s the decision-maker among three lawyers on the case, was asked to be Help B.C.’s tawyer, he replied: “Sure, I would love to. Pm a passionate believer in democracy and accountability.” Jensen, who calls himself a conservative socialist, said he voted Liberal in the Provincial election and Reforsn in the last federal election. : though political affiliations have become a hot conversation topic in debate eurside the court room — Premier Glen Clark labcted Stockell’s law- index, - a Bright Lights... 10 we Business. By Robert Galster w Entortainment............ News Reporter Sunday, March 16, 1997 — North Shore News — 3 NORTH Vancouver lawyer Peter Jensen is cotinse! for Help B.C., a group trying to prove the government violated the B.C. Election Act. suit “a frivolous political action"-—— Jensen said it doesn’t matter who’s in power; the fundamental issue of accountability is critical to a continuing democracy. “This is a matter of basic constitutional issues. Iz doesn’t matter what party we are talking about.” The issue, said Jensen, is the “essential and critical” right to an informed vote and holding the provincial government accountable for its past man- agement of government and its collective resources. That can’t be done if an incumbent government is allowed to use its pow- ers to prevent the electorate from getting accurate information on the gov- ermment’s performance. “Worse, if the government can use its power to falsify the information on its track record then our democratic vote becomes meaningless because vot- ers have no basis on whici: to judge,” he said. Clark said his government has done nothing wrong. A government attempt to have the case thrown out was unsuccessful. ; Jensen said the three petitioners — all NDP voters who said they voted for the NDP based on the party’s balanced budget projections — are apply- ing to have the case ex nded to a class action suit to include more petition- ers. Any member of the government with “reasonable knowledge of what occurred,” he said, would be called to testify if the case goes to trial. Jensen said he’s been receiving calls from the United States and overseas who view this as a landmark case. Mystery over Burrard Inlet crossing remains Rumor of billionaire backer for tunnel hits dead end little light on the quickly dimming situation. “I don’t even know if there’s any substance to it,” said West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Jeremy Dalton. ws Health Trends................. ge Horoscopes....................... me Mailbox. 8 North Shore Alert a 42 wi Talking Persanals.........48 a Travel. North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an inde pendent suburban newspaper and qualified under ‘Schedule $11, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, ix published each Wednesday. Friday and Sunday by ‘North Shore Free Press td. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Canada Port Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. AS a week rife with speculation surrounding the future of the Lions Gate Bridge wound down, no more of the aging span’s future is known. Early Jast week, various media outlets around Vancouver jumped on a story about a rumor involving a mysterious Asian investor footing the bill for a tunnel. The story was given its legs by a Vancouver Park Board commissioner who claimed to have been in contact with the yet-unnamed investor. Allan DeGenova, the parks commissioner, said he had found an Asian investor willing to put up part or all of the cost of boring a tunnel under Burrard Inlet linking the North Shore with Vancouver. However, he refused to name the man, or woman. By mid-week, the man’s identity was pegged as that of Lee Shau Kee, but his Vancouver company office denied having anything to do with the recently floated idea. “We have no involvement in the (Lions Gate Bridge) project,” said Rebecca Chilton, an assistant at the Henderson Development office. The company is Lee’s Vancouver subsidiary of the Hong Kong company bearing the same name. North Shore. reaction to the circulating rumors shed Although Lois Boone, minister of transportation and highways, has maintained that boring a tunnel is too expensive an option for a third crossing of Burrard Inlet, * Vancouver’s DeGenova didn’t give up. “Our (the parks board) mandate is to bore a tunnel,” said DeGenova. “The province said we can't afford it so I said here it is (the enigma’s proposal) so let’s proceed now.” DeGenova has been unavailable for comment since Henderson Development denicd involvement in the project. Meanwhile Transportation Ministry spokesman Betty Nicholson was adamant in stressing that all the third crossing options, including a tunnel, continue to be under consideration. “The tunnel is still on the option list,” said Nicholson. As for the idea of an outside investor entering into a Partnershi with the government, Nicholson said remier Glen Clark is not ruling out the option. “He (Clark) said he is willing to look at it, but he’s willing to look at it after a decision is made,” said Nicholson. She added that the likeliest time frame for a decision on the project or at least to narrow the option list is late March. : Local Statt await layoffs From page t direct authority of O:tawa-based Canada Ports Corp. On the North Shore, ports police perform basic policing on the waterfront for crimes such as bur- glary and assaults, said Whittington. On the water, they enforce the Criminal Code and Canada Shipping Act, perform boat safety inspections and search and rescue work, he said. Whittington said past cuts have whittled the number of ports cops Canada-wide from approximately 350 to the current 107. The Vancouver detachment has decreased from more than 40 to 28. Under a new model.for port security, basic security functions — which Brooke said make up 60% to 70% of port police work — will become the responsibility of ports. Municipal potice forces will maintain standard police services at the ports. Federal law enforcement for crimes such as smuggling and illegal immigration will remain the responsibility of the RCMP and Canada Customs. “From the outset, my objective has been a better quality of policing services. All the evidence ... demon- strates that this new mode! will - deliver excellent service to the ports and their tenants,” said Anderson. The controversial plan to abolish port police was first announced in 1995. a, Canada Ports Corp. will provide $1 million to Lower Mainland . municipalities to cover transition costs. But whether that money will continue to be funnelled to the local municipalities has nor been determined, Anderson said. : Calling Anderson’s: comments on future funding evasive, provin- cial Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh. ~ charged the feds with downloading costs to the province and munici- palities that pay. for municipal polic- ing services. He called for ongoing federal funding to compensate B.C. for the the decision to disband ports’ police. : “B.C. taxpayers ... are being expected to pick up the tab alone for policing Canada’s busiest port,” - said Dosanjh, who also called the new policing model unsatisfactory. Vancouver Port Corp. spokesman Linda Morris said the port corporation, a federal Crown . corporation, picks up the $3-mil- lion a year tab for the 28 port police officers. Morris said she does not know if the new model will be cheaper for the port corporation. _ She added the new policing model will provide more effective policing and security for the port. “No one would speak against the (ports police) policing. I just think that times are changing and - we were looking to see what would” be more effective,” she said. ; Though the timing of the job- losses may vary, Anderson wants to have the new arrangements in place in the fall. “I don’t mean to sound glib, but it means PH be looking for a job,” said Whittington, a 22-year mem- ber of the port police force. Anderson added that the Vancouver Port Corp. will con- tribute $350,000 annually for five - years towards the establishment of an intelligence-gathering task force to gather, analyse and disseminate information about criminal activity at Lower Mainland ports.