HANSARD — Legislative Debates - April 11, 1990 — Glen Clark on the Knight St. pub issue: “Ve saw all these friends and campaign managers and Principal secretaries to the Premier involved in this commercial enterprise, and it dribbled out every day on television for about two years. And BCTY, doing their job as investigative reporters, kept digging and digging. We had to dig and dig on our side of the House, and it dribbled out every day, They'd rush to the television to watch the latest revelation. My God, they're finding out. The truth is coming our. What are we going to do? they said. Ir was terrible. Remember that?” That was then and this is now, The masterful politician Glen Clark and the NDP party machine is in overdrive trying to fight the over- whelming scandal now dubbed Casinogate. While most reading this will merely shake their heads at the hypocrisy and silliness of the attempts to blame the media and the police for the problems of the party and the premier, it is a bit scary to think there are people out there who truly believe it. The radio talk shows have been inundated with the party hacks leaping to the defence of the embattled premier. The “true believers” must have tendonitis in their dial- ing fingers for all the calls trying to monopolize the air waves to diffuse the criticism by spouting the party line reading from the same script roduced by the back room oys. It certainly hasn't been without its moments of humour though, One caller to the Bill Good show, fol- lowing a “truc believer,” suggested these peopie should wear traffic concs on their heads so the rest of us could identify them at malls and other public places. While the meatal image conjured up by that particu- lar suggestion is especially engaging, there has been considerable effort made on behalf of a navel gazing media to follow the govern- ment spin. I fail to sce, for example, what difference it makes how John Daly of BCTV arrived at the conclu- sion he did and was present for the execution of the search warrant. Steve Wyatt, a BCTV executive, wrote a thought- ful analysis in the Saturday included in this newspaper Page 22 - Regency ticor mirror by Schnadig. Our reg. $1,399 sate $049.25 will not be avaitable untd March 29, 1999; Page 11 - ‘Westport’ sheets and Cases will nol be available unti? April 15, 1999; Page 11 - ‘Periwinkle’ duvet covers will not be available unti! April 30. 1999. We sincerely apologize to our valued customers and regret an inconvenience or confusion this crime and punishment edition of the Vancouver Sten, pointiag out the specit: ic responsibility of the media to act as watchdogs on the various arms of power of the state to educate and inform the public wha: our repre- “To blame the media is surely the last act of a desperate government and a failed political party.” sentatives are doing with the power we confer upon thet. Whatever the political man- darins would try and have us believe, this is crucial to maintain a free society. The spin becomes even more ndiculous when you consider the quote from Hansard at the top of this column, During the scandal- plagued days of the Vander Zalm government, Clark and his colleagues in opposition were described as “pit bulls” in the way they dogged the government of the day. BCTY, for its part, was equally determined in get- ting at the truth of that issue which involved a friend of Bill Vander Zalm, Peter Toiga, and his connection to an application for a ncigh- bourhood pub licence. A pub licence is a mere bagatelle compared to a casi- no operation with 300 slot machines and 20 gaming tables which can be described as a “licence to print money.” Certainly, in the Knight St. pub debacle never once n casino truth surfaci did we bear the phrase “organized crime” in any of the debates, investigations and media reports. Yet, it is the aspect of organized crime which appears to be salted throughout the whole casino affair. Dimitries Pilarines, car- penter, glazier and buddy of the Premier has no experi- ence in cunning a casino, Steve Ng, businessman, pub owner and business associate of bikers and friends of bik- ers, doesn’t know squat about casinos per se. Yer they formed partnership and put together a successtul casino ficenee bid, later described by gansing minis- ter, Mike Farnworth, as “the most qualified proposal.” The business cards seized by police at the Lumbermans Club had che name of Pashos Raranas on them. Katanas has now been charged with running an ille- gal gaming house and, according to police sources, has been a person of interest to them both here and in Alberta prior to his current problems, Tony Ricci, sg's business partner, has on his record, 4 1996 conviction for bookmaking. Ricci, Ng, several mem- bers and known associates of the Hells Angels and at least two individuals associtted to eastern Mafia families show as signiticant shareholders in Starnet Communications — maiihbox a company dealing in Joternet porn, on-line gam- bling and other interesting ventures, For the record, Katanas is also a heavy private donor to the NDP. Interestingly enough, Katanas and Pilarinos were just finishing alunch meeting when the RCMP arrested the Premier's friend. Clearly it is the people behind the scenes who are the main players in this casi- no venture. Clearly it is the reason the police investiga- tion has wiken place over several months and will rake weeks more to complete, Wasn't it Jack Munro, staunch defender of the NDP and Clark in this mes who said during the Solidarity campaign of the carly "80s, ata rally of 30,000 people at Empire sta- dium, “!f it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it must be a duck.” It would seem the intor- mation which has come out on this matter has only scratched the surtace. [twill be only ifthe nredia fibtitis their responsibility to the public that the whole story sees the light of day. To blame the media is surely the last act of a desperate gov- crament and a failed political party. Clark's days are num- bered. 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