After hearing 6 1/2 days of submissions triggered by an application for an injunction to restrain people from demonstrating at Eagleridge Bluffs, Mr. Justice William Grist has reserved judgment in the case.

He is expected to deliver his decision at 12:00 noon on Monday, May 15, 2006 at the Law Courts, 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver, BC.

For more on the background to this case, please go to www.eagleridge.ca

Opponents of the B.C. Government’s plan to build a multiple lane highway through the unique ecosystems above Horseshoe Bay have squared off in B.C. Supreme Court against the government, the P3 partnership and the construction contractor.

The court proceedings were triggered by the contractor’s legal action against Dennis Perry, Bruce McArthur, John Doe and Jane Doe. The contractor, Peter Kiewit Sons Co., is seeking an injunction against all those who have been camped out in the area of the Bluffs in a peaceful demonstration designed to express their opposition to the government’s plan. The demonstrators’ non-profit society has responded with a legal action of its own alleging that environmental considerations have not been adequately taken into account. It too seeks an injunction, to shut down the work until all applicable environmental protection rules have been followed.

Mr. Justice William Grist has heard from lawyers for both sides on May 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11th, 2006. The hearing continues at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 12th with more legal argument.

For more, please go to www.eagleridgebluffs.ca

Finally, on a Thursday before a four day holiday weekend, and three and a half months later than its self-imposed deadline, Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (“CLCO”) has issued its “Final Project Report: Competitive Selection Phase”, complete with a “Review Engagement Report of the Auditor General of British Columbia”.

CLCO has trumpeted that its report concludes “Canada Line expected to deliver value for money” and that the Auditor General’s report “fairly describes the assumptions, context, decisions, procurement process and results to date of the Canada Line rapid transit project.” What smoke and mirrors.

First, the smoke: The report has an effective date of July 29, 2005 and says nothing about what has happened over the last nine months. Further, as Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer has pointed out, CLCO reached its optimistic conclusions by comparing its yet to be built P3 project with an imaginary public project, called a “public sector comparator”. For reasons that are not clear, and cannot withstand scrutiny, the Canada Line is said to generate prospective ridership revenues that will be $148 million higher than a comparable project built by the public sector. These revenues have themselved been calculated using ridership projections that have been roundly criticised as unrealistic. As if the wispy projections of costs aren’t enough, costs remain shrouded in mist. The Concession Agreement has had all its financial data on costs expunged, and nobody has yet explained how a project said to cost $1.72 billion in February of 2005 suddenly cost $2.05 billion by July of that same year.

Next, the mirrors: How do the folks at the Auditor General’s office look at themselves in their mirrors in the morning? Here’s what the Auditor General has concluded about his review of the one of the most expensive taxpayer-funded projects in British Columbia history:

“…actual results and future events, in particular ridership and ridership revenue, could differ materially from the results discussed or implied. Accordingly, I express no opinion as to whether the expected results will be achieved.”

No opinion? Are we, the province’s taxpayers, paying this supposed watchdog to provide no opinion on something as fundamental as the project’s revenues?

In a sharply worded submission to Josiah Wood, Q.C., the former Court of Appeal justice who is conducting a review of how public complaints against municipal police officers are handled, we have called the current system “an unmitigated failure” and have recommended urgent reform.

At least 22 people have died in police detention or custody in British Columbia in the last four years, yet no police officer has been charged or even disciplined in any of those serious cases. We feel the reason for inaction is that police are permitted to investigate themselves in this province, thereby compromising any further decision-making processes.

The problem is especially acute in Vancouver, which has had 10 police involved deaths since May of 2002. In our submission, we cite our direct experience with corrupt investigations conducted by VPD investigators in the Hyatt, Berg, Bagnell and Stevenson cases in support of our position that the police should no longer be allowed to investigate themselves in cases of serious injury or death.

This view is hardly earth-shattering, yet successive governments refuse to modernize the system. As a result, the families of those who die at the hands of the police feel cheated by the justice system and the complaint process, and come away feeling frustrated, disillusioned and bitter. Our politicians must find the political will to radically change the process, before the public loses faith in the legal system as a whole.

Read our letter to Mr. Wood

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in Julie Berg’s appeal, wherein she seeks an order that the decision of a Police Act adjudicator be set aside. Following a lengthy public hearing, which neither Ms. Berg nor her lawyer participated in, the adjudicator decided that “it has not been proved to the degree necessary that the respondent [Cst. Bruce-Thomas of the VPD] committed the disciplinary default of abuse of authority on the person of Jeffrey Michael Berg causing his death.”

Julie Berg’s appeal was opposed by no fewer than five lawyers representing the Police Complaint Commissioner, Cst. Bruce-Thomas and the British Columbia Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police. The appeal was heard by Chief Justice Finch, Madam Justice Rowles and Mr. Justice Mackenzie over two days, March 20 and 21, 2006, and judgment was reserved.

….

Julie Berg’s brother Jeff Berg died on October 24, 2000 after being confronted by Cst. Bruce-Thomas of the Vancouver Police Department. The death was investigated by Vancouver Police Department investigators, including Insp. Rob Rothwell, a car racing teammate of Cst. Bruce-Thomas. On December 9, 2002, Regional Crown Counsel advised the Berg family that “a criminal prosecution is not appropriate” and, on December 19, 2002, Insp. Rothwell advised the family that “no further action is warranted”.

According to public statements made by Dana Urban, Q.C., an experienced former Crown Counsel, “the Vancouver Police Department’s investigation of itself in the best view, best view, could be described as incompetent.” Police Complaint Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld, Q.C., also an experienced former Crown Counsel, later published a report dated June 1, 2005 stating that his office experienced “interference and resistance from some members of the VPD Internal Investigation Section” on this case and that his office was “stymied” by their actions. Mr. Ryneveld concluded that “the real systemic problem appears to be with VPD management and its accountability within the police complaint process.”

In light of these comments, the public may well question why police in the province of British Columbia are still allowed to investigate themselves.

Jeff Berg: 1962-2000