Does Vander Zalm ownership of Fantasy Gardens WE ARE destined to look back at this chapter in the evolution of democratic thinking as an era in which the most ludicrous buf- foonery focused on ‘‘con- flict of interest.”’ So obsessed have we been on questioning everyone’s personal integrity, we seem to be searching for leaders who have never thought or acted before on any- thing. We must avoid favoritism being shown toward a politician’s neighborhood, clubs, professional practice or religion. The best way to do this is to elect people who don't have a home, club, business or church. Years ago, disclosure legislation was based on the understanding that politicians — gregarious and involved by nature — had many activities that predated public positions. This was not the problem. Secrecy was the potential prob- lem. Therefore, it was felt that if full disclosure were to be mandatory, people could intelligently elect or unelect. And, following election, could monitor performance in view of those potential . . nflicts. Every lawyer in public life — and there are many — has serious conflicts. There is the obvious loyalty to the profession and to the law firm. Rarely mentioned is the client list, but every client is a conflict and political clout is good reason to pay large fees toa lawyer. Why is it that large law firms so diligently pursue power broking Positions within political parties? It is usually a cause for celebra- tion when a partner gets elected to public office. One would think that the time commitmeni of the partner would present a problem. But they sip champagne. Why? Why are so many school teach- ers running for elected office? Why do trade unions get so ac- tively involved — financially and otherwise —- with the New Demo- cratic Party? Are these not conflicts of inter- ests? wna Some months ago at dinner with the premier and a few friends, one of us related a story about a business that had iust received a normal incentive grant from government. Lillian Vander Zalm, discussing ‘‘her’’ business, asked rhetorically: ‘What would happen if 1 applied for that kind of grant? Old ‘conflict’ here.’’ She decried the double stand- ard. Attempting to manage Fan- tasy Gardens, she was denied the ey VW GTI 14” Boome 992°. 15” Volvo, Mazda, Toyota $42995 195/60HR15 EXCLUSIVELY AT THE NORTH|: Gary OPEN LINES kind of government support available to others. Thinking back to this conversa- tion, there was no doubt who was running Fantasy Gardens. The premier carried a disinterested look as his wife made her com- ments. Yet this chat was among friends. We have known from the beginning that Fantasy Gardens was as much a partnership for them as everything else in their lives. All the disclaimers about **Lillian's business’’ were perhaps true in operational style, but essentially meaningless to friends, family and even British Columbia Family Law. It seems odd to me as it ob- viously does to others that the premier was unaware that the preponderance of equity shares were still in his name. But does it matter? in all this “conflict of interest’’ nonsense, there are only two crucial con- siderations: potential conflicts must be disclosed and power must never be used for personal gain at the expense of fair public service. thet This leads me to a recent story involving myself. Stories greeting my appointment to the Board of Directors of the British Columbia Ferry Corporation listed as the principal credential ‘‘Friend of the Premier.’” Not since Richard Nixon ap- pointed a shyster named Bebe Rebozzo to various powerful posi- tions has the ethnic group ‘‘friend of?’ had such renown in the local press. To the chroniclers of our times, my several books on ships — in- cluding the history of the British Columbia ferry system — were of less import. Nor was there any in- terest in my briefings from W.A.C. Bennett, ferry builders Monty Aldous (manager), Phil Spaulding (architect) and every cabinet minister who has ever 14” Camaro, Firebird Mustang $4995 235/60HR14 SHORE’S Hi PERFORMANCE |. CENTRE Bannerman Né matter? been responsible for the ferries. The stories also seemed ta lack perspective. The corporation has a large executive team: a chairman, president and nine other directors. eee Reporter Justine Hunter of the Vancouver Sun asked me an in- teresting question. She recalled that I had been appointed in 1987 to the Board of the British Col- umbia Enterprises Corporation, the agency charged with the disposal of the Expo lands and the management of various govern- ment assets. But, she remembered, I resigned within 48 hours citing a conflict of interest. Her question was: ‘What was the difference?” The answer was easy. My business is now predominantly corporate whereas then it was dominantly media. But it is a bet- ter story than that. As a key player in the Expo evolution for eight years, I wel- comed the appointment. An in- formed audience, in my view, could not be hurt by this ap- pointment. My acceptance to Grace McCarthy and through her to the premier was with the bless- ing of the chief executive officer of our company. Within 24 hours, however, a serious debate erupted at CKNW radio. It seemed to me that more of my colleagues were against the appointment than those in favor. To avoid a debilitating debate within the company, | withdrew from this board. It was one of the most serious mistakes of my career. That board went on to make a series of monumental and expen- sive errors, and to ruin the rela- tionship between two fine public figures: Grace McCarthy and Bill Vander Zaim. Would my presence have altered that history? 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