July 14, 2009
FIVE YEARS LATER, CAMPBELL STILL REFUSING TO COME CLEAN ON TAINTED B.C. RAIL DEAL
Communities Could Lose Vital Rail Service As Key Clauses Take Effect
VANCOUVER – As new clauses take effect on today’s five-year anniversary of the closing of the tainted B.C. Rail deal, Gordon Campbell's continued refusal to come clean with British Columbians is undermining the public interest, New Democrats said today.
"The premier is more concerned with ducking accountability for the corrupt B.C. Rail sale than with what's best for British Columbia. British Columbians deserve to know whether the five-year anniversary of thesale of B.C. Rail means that we will now start seeing sections of the railway abandoned, but Gordon Campbell has refused to come clean about the true nature of the tainted deal,” said New Democrat Attorney General critic Leonard Krog.
"What little we do know about this tainted deal leads to some serious questions. Did the Campbell government sign away the rights of local communities by allowing sections of the rail line to be abandoned after five years, potentially putting thousands of jobs at risk in communities that rely on rail to transport products to market?”
A highly-severed version of the B.C. Rail deal, released in August 2004 in response to a FOI request from the New Democrats, includes clauses that allow Canadian National to stop service to portions of the rail line. The premier has also said the contract allows the government to sell off rail lands for one dollar. Despite public pressure, the Campbell government has never released a complete version of the contract.
“If Gordon Campbell really cared about transparency, he would release the full B.C. Rail contract. Instead, his government continues to stonewall and refuses to answer even the most basic questions about the impact of this scandal for British Columbians,” said Krog.
Krog noted that since large sections of the B.C. Rail deal have never been released, there may be significant clauses in the deal that British Columbians have not been made aware of. “What other clauses exist that the public isn’t even aware of yet? Will we be in for even more surprises?” said Krog.
Carole James and the New Democrats have called for a public inquiry into the sale of B.C. Rail since the Campbell government pushed through the highly controversial deal, after breaking their promise to keep B.C. Rail in public hands.
Communities Could Lose Vital Rail Service As Key Clauses Take Effect
VANCOUVER – As new clauses take effect on today’s five-year anniversary of the closing of the tainted B.C. Rail deal, Gordon Campbell's continued refusal to come clean with British Columbians is undermining the public interest, New Democrats said today.
"The premier is more concerned with ducking accountability for the corrupt B.C. Rail sale than with what's best for British Columbia. British Columbians deserve to know whether the five-year anniversary of thesale of B.C. Rail means that we will now start seeing sections of the railway abandoned, but Gordon Campbell has refused to come clean about the true nature of the tainted deal,” said New Democrat Attorney General critic Leonard Krog.
"What little we do know about this tainted deal leads to some serious questions. Did the Campbell government sign away the rights of local communities by allowing sections of the rail line to be abandoned after five years, potentially putting thousands of jobs at risk in communities that rely on rail to transport products to market?”
A highly-severed version of the B.C. Rail deal, released in August 2004 in response to a FOI request from the New Democrats, includes clauses that allow Canadian National to stop service to portions of the rail line. The premier has also said the contract allows the government to sell off rail lands for one dollar. Despite public pressure, the Campbell government has never released a complete version of the contract.
“If Gordon Campbell really cared about transparency, he would release the full B.C. Rail contract. Instead, his government continues to stonewall and refuses to answer even the most basic questions about the impact of this scandal for British Columbians,” said Krog.
Krog noted that since large sections of the B.C. Rail deal have never been released, there may be significant clauses in the deal that British Columbians have not been made aware of. “What other clauses exist that the public isn’t even aware of yet? Will we be in for even more surprises?” said Krog.
Carole James and the New Democrats have called for a public inquiry into the sale of B.C. Rail since the Campbell government pushed through the highly controversial deal, after breaking their promise to keep B.C. Rail in public hands.
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