Big splash RUN-OFF water, filling a ditch to the brim during a rain storm earlier this week in West Vancouver, slams into a driveway located in the 2100 biock of Folkestone Way. Hyd fallout extends report validates Sheehan's position. ‘Former B.C. Hyilro boss finds his pesition on International Power Corp. investment validated in report By lan Noble ews Reporter IN a story chock-fuil of North Shore connections, the role of former B.C. Hydro president and chief executive officer John Shechan has been overshadowed by that of former _ hydro chairman Joha Laxton. Sheehan was fired by Premier Glen Clark after the hydro affair broke in February last year. But Clark's reason for firing Sheehan has been called into uestion. q The West Vancouver resident fell to Clark’s axe because Sheehan and members of Shechan’s family had invested in International Power Corp IPC). : TEC had partmered with British Columbia Hydro International Ltd. (BCIHL), a subsidiary of B.C. Hydro, in a Cayman Islands-incorporated joint venture to develop a power plant in Pakistan. At the time Sheehan shot back that he was not in a conflict of interest, saying the Hydro and Power Authority Act only prevented B.C. Hydro directors from investing in the project. Although Shechan suffered some criticism in the report released Wednesday by government-appointed hydro chairman Brian Smith, the According to Smith’s report, Clark, then the minister in charge of B.C. Hydro, forbid B.C. Hydro directors such as Laxton from investing in the roject. But Clark did not clearly express a view on investments in IPC by .C, Hydro employees ox company officers, said the report. Clark added thet at the time he thought directors of B.C. Hydro and BCHIL were prevented by the hydro act from purchasing IPC shares, con- tinued the report. If Clark had been correct, Sheehan, who was a director of BCHIL, could not have purchased shares. But Smith’s report said Clark was wrong — the act did not prevent direc- tors of hydro subsidiaries from investing in IPC. On the other hand, Shechan passed up chances to get clear direction from Clazk on whether company employees or officers were allowed to invest in the project, said the report. Smith’s report said: “The review team has concluded that Mr. Sheehan's tenure at B.C. Hydro was shaky and that his working relationship with the B.C. Hydro board from May to September 1995 was not a good one.” The report added Shechan’s chief ally on the board was West Vancouver’s Laxton, who purchased shares in IPC after a Private offering pushed by Laxton feli short of its goal. “Mr. Sheehan would not fikely have pressed Mr. Clark for clarification on the investment issue because to do so would likely have angered Mr. Laxton and would have undermined Mr. Shechan’s already tenuous position within B.C. Hydro,” said the review team. Shechan pursued legal action when he was fired over the hydro affair in February 1996. He did not return News phone calls Wednesday and Thursday. When he announced that he had contacted a lawyer last year, Sheehan said his dismissal from B.C. Hydro has put tremendous strain on his mily. Hydro maintains its stake in project From page 1 (IPC). IPC was a joint venture between Laxton’s B.C. Hydro and a Pakistani group headed by Ali Mahmood. Hydro was to bring in much-needed expertise and Mahmood’s group was to provide the necessary Pakistani contacts to get the project off the ground. Their first venture was the construction of the Raiwind power project. Smith’s report outlines two areas of question- able conduct by Laxton. These are his purchase of IPC shares and a $1 million loan he made to his Pakistani counterpart Ali Mahmood. “Regardless of whether any actual conflict or potential conflict of interest was created by Mr. Laxton’s loan to Mr. Mahmood or by his [PC share purchase, the Review Team’s opinion is that there was certainly an appearance of conflict creat- ed by those transactions,” the report summarized. However, Laxton continues to maintain a con- flict between his dual roles as both B.C. Hydro chair and IPC investor never arose. “The matter of conflicts is only an hypothetical issue,” stated Laxton’s lawyers in a written response to the report. “Any potential for conflicts of interest had absolutely no adverse impact on this project or Hydro.” According to the Smith report Laxton was instructed that he was not to personally invest in the project by both then Premier Mike Harcourt and Glen Clark, then minister responsible for Hydro. But, Laxton stated he didn’t have a choice in the matter when the sum raised by private investors came up short and “government indcci- sion and delay placed this excellent project at risk of collapse.” Laxton’s reply also damned the process Smith’s investigation followed to arrive at the report’s find- ings calling it “the product of an impossibly flawed process. “Mr. Laxton was not permitted to hear the evi- dence of or examine a single witness. He testified without knowing this evidence and without having the opportunity to present any supporting cvi- dence on his own behalf or on behalf of others.” Meanwhile the Raiwind project is scheduled to be completed later this year with B.C. Hydro maintaining its stake in the project and whatever profits are to be gained from it. In the meantime, RCMP investigators and spe- cial prosecutor Paul Fraser continue their investi- gation into the matter. No time frame for those results exists. As for Laxton, only he knows what his next move will be as his dissatisfaction with the report is clear, “The repeated mischaracterizations of the project has been entirely misleading to the public and seriously damaging to Mr. Laxton and the many others who invested in good faith,” con- cluded Laxton’s reply. 2 at Shell By Jolanda Waskito Contributing Writer NORTH Vancouver City council wants nothing to do with Shell gas stations. It voted Monday to direct city staff not to buy gas or have any deal- ings with Sheil Canada or its parent company Shell International. “We are not going to purchase products from Shell,” Coun. Darrell Mussatto said. Although the plight of the Ogoni people in Nigeria — who were displaced so Shell could har- vest oil on their land — is well pub- licized, the reason for council’s deci- sion won’t be found on any docu- meats. That’s because council does not want to face the possibility of a legal suit by Shell. During discussion in council chambers, it was clear where munic- ipal leaders stood on the issue. Coun. Barbara Perrault was the first to speak out. “Because of the environmental and uncthical treatment of the Ogoni people, because Shell raped the Ogoni people’s land so that they couldn’t grow food and drink water on their own land, I made up my mind not to deal with Shell,” Perrault said. “We have to take a stand on cor- porations, against the way Shell has raped the Ogoni people.” She also said that the Nigerian povernment had executed an Ogoni uman rights leader because he had spoken out against Shell’s actions. Coun. Darrell Mussatto told council that he believes Canada has already severed ties with Nigeria and would support Perrauit’s motion to direct not to buy from Shell. Coun. John Braithwaite was also supportive of the motion. “As a black person I support this motion,” Braithwaite said. “We should go on record to say we sup- port the resolution before us (just as) we supported the (anti- apartheid) movement in South Africa.” The motion was passed unani- mously. | mi inquiring Reporter... | mm insights w Lautens. | a Mitchell : @ Neighborhoods. t ga North Shore Alert.................. | =) North Shore This Week... 1 gg Talking Personals. Worth Shore Naws, founded in 1969 as an inde- ff H pendent suburban newspaper and qualified under f Schedule 111, Parageaph 11! of the Encise Tax 9 H Act, is published cech Wednesday, Friday acd ff H Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and dis- A tributed to every door on the North Shore. Cansda fj Post Canadian Publications Mai! Sales Product jj h Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing cates available oon request,