I really hate to say it … but the truth is … if you want the best breaking news on the BC Rail scandal, read the Toronto Globe and Mail. They clearly, in my view, are beating BC’s newspapers (don’t get me started again on TV coverage!) with better written articles on this BC story.
I noticed this a few weeks ago … Mark Hume and Gary Mason of The Globe just seem to me to be well ahead of The Sun or Province in covering the Basi Virk trial, issues outside the trial and the BC Rail-CN deal generally.
The latest … a fantastic piece by Mason, Destruction of E-Mails Puts Heat on BC Premier, citing an affidavit filed for the court that says e-mail correspondence of Premier Gordon Campbell and his Cabinet Ministers sought by the defence were destroyed IN EARLY MAY!!
Wow!!
Now maybe the local media will understand the significance of the questions I have raised REPEATEDLY ..and no one in MSM BC has yet taken up … what is the NORMAL procedures for destroying e-mails is, who decides, on what scheduled basis, who is consulted ,etc etc. ???
And Hume wrote a full, detailed story Wednesday, Fear Grows CN Could Close ex-CN Rail Lines, revealing CN could close ex-BC Rail lines … generating great concern in smaller communities that they could lose their ONLY link to the outside world.
To be fair, from what I can see, Neal Hall of The Vancouver Sun got to print with that story FIRST on July 14 … but overall, I just find the Toronto Globe’s coverage on BC Rail better and more revealing.
(Now I know Globe fans will resent my calling it a “Toronto” paper: it is, after all, a national newspaper. I don’t yet buy that. the Globe, to me is still a Toronto paper, with a BC section … but it is basically a central Canada paper, complete with Toronto ads and obits.)
However in my view, this Toronto paper, bolstered by fine reporting from its B.C. journalists, is beating our local BC media on the BC Rail story … and I don’t like that.
Harv Oberfeld
9 responses so far ↓
1 Jes G // Jul 16, 2009 at 4:50 pm
1. I see that Gary Mason has grown and improved in his new role.
When he started at the G&M, it was obvious that he was a sports guy and his articles were awful. It was obvious that Mason didn’t know much about what he wrote about. Still, he was a great sports guy and had the tools to be good at whatever he was covering.
I have noticed a marked improvement and the linked article is a good example.
2. Agreed that the G&M is a Toronto paper with a token BC section. As much as the G&M tries to convince us otherwise, the G&M is not a “BC” paper. I tried to get into the G&M, but found it boring and not relevant to my interests.
3. Unfortunately, highlighting this issue in the G&M doesn’t do much for us here in BC. If the big media here aren’t covering it, most will never see it and never care.
4. After all Gordo and his cronies have done to BC, it seems nothing short of murdering kittens and/or children will get Gordo the boot. I wonder if he’s purposefully trying to do as much bad stuff as he can in order to see if he’ll get caught or not.
2 Gary E // Jul 16, 2009 at 8:36 pm
There are many on the blogosphere that have noticed for at least three years that the locak MSM has not been covering much on the BC Rail Trial.
We have written about it here with great disrespect from the local media . All they could come up with was “conspiracy theorists”.
Since the May 12 election there have been copious amounts of political shenanigans here. But where are the political pundits.
Baldry is afraid to comment on things before the courts.
Palmer has been on vacation but since his return has written virtually nothing either in the paper or on his blog. Stating thatthere “wasn’t much happening here” (his standard quote) Boy is he wrong.
Michael Smyth is the only one coming out with any real columns with real comments. He does it to the Liberals as well as the NDP.
So Harvey I guess it took a real live potential criminal interference to get some attention. I await the responses of the BC Media and especially Baldry starting at 5 Pm today. I know where I can access TV.
3 SharingIsGood // Jul 16, 2009 at 10:15 pm
“…this Toronto paper, bolstered by fine reporting from its B.C. journalists, is beating our local BC media on the BC Rail story …”
Well said! I couldn’t agree with you more, Harvey. Further to your assertion, this has not been a short-term phenomenom. Like BC Mary, I have been closely watching this story for years. Mark Hume & Gary Mason have been beating CanWest for as long as they have been reporting on this story.
Another very knowledgeable person about the BC Rail trial is the Canadian, poet, professor, political activist and essayist, Robin Mathews.
In terms of underhanded machinations the BC Rail deal more than tops the original Pacific Railway Scandal – the scandal that caused our first Prime Minister to get the boot. This could make one heck of a modern day tragic comedy that Shakespear would have loved to dip his quill into.
Bill Gates is the world’s richest man and the largest shareholder of CN. Bill Gates will continue to be receiving the the largest share of the benefits from all of these BC Rail shenanigans. I have nothing against Bill Gates, but why should BC citizens give up their money maker to the richest man in the world? I cannot understand why Gates should profit from our railway and not us.
(Response: You too can profit like Gates .. if you buy CN shares and they go up, not down. h.o.)
4 genuine // Jul 16, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Harvey, Robin Mathews (professor)is a must read; scared of libel!If you believe that then why didn’t they sue Proff. Mathew’s?He’s questioned everyone and accused every one even the rcmp and the judge he did so truthfully and that’s not libel!Just because it’s being hidden behind the stone wall of injustice doesn’t mean we cant ask question’s and if the truth would set them free why not reveal it?Because my friend’s if the truth were known there would be a lot of people in the crowbar hotel!
5 PortMoodyKid // Jul 16, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Here’s another article which you will NEVER see in a Canwest publication:
Israel troops speak out on War On Gaza
The Israeli army has been accused of war crimes by a number of rights groups
Some troops fighting in Israel’s war on Gaza were urged by their commanders to shoot first rather than worry about killing civilians, a document from an Israeli activist group shows.
Published on Wednesday, the document also gives an insight into Israel’s policy of house demolitions and its use of white phosphorus during its 22-day campaign.
“Better hit an innocent than hesitate to target an enemy,” one soldier is recorded as saying, speaking about instructions given to him in advance of the operation, which ran from December 27 to January 18.
Obviously, it is better to devote coverage to inanity like American Idol or Michael Jackson than to report reality which contradicts Asper Ideology…
(Response: NEVER??? Well, PM Kid…if you were an adult, you would owe the Aspers/CanWest a big apology. Your note doesn’t exactly deal with BC Rail..but I decided to check out your claims. The Vancouver Sun carried a story on that very topic, written by Douglas Hamilton,on July 15; The Montreal Gazette carried the same story today; the Ottawa Citizen carried that story, written by Yana Delugy, today. ALL CANWEST PAPERS. So you’re full of it ..although I doubt that will change what I suspect is your own biases. Or lead to the apology you OWE! By the way, in checking out Google News on Gaza for you, I saw an Agence France Presse story that for the first time in a month, just a few hours ago a rocket was fired on and struck Israel from Gaza. Doubt YOU’ll lose sleep over that. But if the Hamas terrorists send another, I think Israel should fire back ..it’s clearly the only thing the terrorists understand. h.o.)
6 RossK // Jul 17, 2009 at 1:16 am
One thing that wasn’t mentioned in Mr. Mason’s fine column today, but was alluded to by Mr. Hume in his other BC Rail column last week is…..
Who knew?
Or, more specifically, did anybody working for the government of British Columbia know that at least ‘some’ Emails had been protected from the get go?
Well….
According to one of the defense lawyers at least, at least one very prominent crime fighting bureacrat did.
(Rssponse: That’s like a question I’ve been asking too … who done it? And on whose instructions? h.o.)
.
7 SharingIsGood // Jul 17, 2009 at 2:25 am
“(Response: You too can profit like Gates .. if you buy CN shares and they go up, not down. h.o.)”
I take it your comment was tongue-in-cheek, Harvey. The majority of BC citizens don’t go out and buy stock. They either can’t afford to buy stock, or they don’t understand what they need to do. The majority of people I know have issues just affording housing, transportation and food. The citizens had already worked for and built up a viable railroad and they told the premier they didn’t want it sold. The citizens already owned all the stock. The parents of the 20% of BC children living in poverty are not buying railway stock. That railway was a hedge against inflation.
In 2002, while paying BC Rail workers wages (on which they were taxed) , BC Rail earned $75,000,000. Through the 3rd qtr. of 2003, BC Rail had earned another $70,000,000.
In Financial statements, CN has attributed the purchase of BC Rail as contributing heavily to the wealth of black ink that they have amassed since the “purchase”.
On top of huge increases in stock values, and stock splits, Gates and other BC Rail stock-holders have already profitted by collecting dividends:
Splits:
2004: 3 for 2
2006: 2 for 1
Dividends per share:
2003: $0.335
2004: $0.39
2005: $0.50
2006: $0.65
2007: $0.84
2008: $0.92
http://www.cn.ca/en/investors-shareholder-dividends.htm
In 2007 CN posted earnings of $3.91 per share and a 29% dividend
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/01/23/cnrail.html
2004:
Canadian National Railway Company
Management’s Discussion and Analysis
“The purchase of BC Rail in July 2004 not only grew CN’s forest products business substantially, but also expanded the
railroad’s capacity in British Columbia, where the Port of PrinceRupert has the potential to become an important gateway for traffic
moving to and from Asia and the heartland of North America.” (snip)
RE: Revenues: ” The increase of $664 million, or 11%, was mainly due to the inclusion of GLT and BC Rail revenues of $351 million,” (snip)
http://www.cn.ca/en/investors-financial-quarterly-releases-dividends-2004.htm
Yes, stocks go up and down, but CN rail stocks are worth more per share than in 2003 and they have gone through compounded stock splits 3 for 2 and 2 for 1 during the years since the railway was sold. Further, they managed this while buying back some shares and thus assuming some more debt (while money is cheap and interest rates low) so as to avoid some corporate taxes for the heavily invested shareholders (like Gates) who were controlling the buyback.
(Response: Yes, of course. However I don’t put people down who can/do buy stocks and make money from them. Anymore than I resent peopel who bought a house for $35,000 30 years ago and now can sell it for $1 million. Stocks help raise Billions of capital for investment in the companies most of us work for … capital gains raises extra tax revenue and the gains makes retirement (yippee!) possible for millions of people who would otherwise have to work until they die. h.o. )
8 SharingIsGood // Jul 17, 2009 at 2:57 am
I am not against stocks, Harvey. I am against the CEO (Campbell) selling the business (BC Rail) against the wishes of the majority of shareholders (BC citizens) – especially after he promised not to do so.
(Response; A reasonable position. But unfortunately, BC and Canada have a history of politicians who lie to them, deceive them, hold information from them and say one thing before an election and then do the opposite after. And they wonder why voter turnout is dwindling. If only the voters realized that’s exactly what those in power often want. h.o.)
9 Patrick Bell (Not the MLA) // Jul 17, 2009 at 3:33 am
Hey, I am royally pissed about the sale of BC Rail as many are and I am particularly bummed about the cover ups. I do not for one second like this government and I have never voted for them. That said, if there is money to make stock wise, I’m in
It is the same stance I have with run-of-river and wind power now being pushed ahead big-time by this government. I don’t like it at all, but now that it is well on it’s way, there are some great investment opportunities available.
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