David Eby, attorney general of British Columbia, Canada, wants officials from the previous provincial government to waive their cabinet privileges so that he can view documents relating to money laundering.
Eby has requested that Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, leader of the party that has been out of power for more than a year, to obtain the agreement of the previous government to allow viewing of documents relating to the growing money laundering scandal.
Eby sent a letter to the Liberal leader that implied that it was necessary to see what had been tried before to combat money laundering in order to better combat it today. Eby wrote: “The information found in these documents would contribute to our efforts in finding ways to comprehensively end such criminal practices in BC casinos and throughout BC’s economy though avoiding failed measures already attempted by previous administrations.”
He pledged to keep the information confidential.
The German report, which Eby commissioned from former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Peter German, has made tsunami-scale waves in the government ever since it was released several weeks ago. Its purpose was to trace the spread of money laundering at BC casinos. German didn’t stop there, however. He also warned that money laundering could easily spread to other industries, such as real estate, racetracks and the luxury car market.
German made almost 40 recommendations for making money laundering harder. The current government has pledged to adopt nearly all of them. Getting access to the privileged documents would expedite that, wrote Eby.
He wrote, “It is our government’s desire to continue to aggressively pursue measures to counter money laundering, but to do so in a manner that does not duplicate unsuccessful efforts from previous governments.”
Eby has told interviewers that he doesn’t know for sure that the documents will reveal anything useful since he doesn’t know what they contain related to gambling.
The AG added, “If they don’t consent I suspect the reality is there is nothing there and they are quite embarrassed by it. I do have a hard time imagining they won’t consent.” The current government could play hardball and pass a measure requiring that the documents be made available, but Eby doesn’t think that will be necessary.
At issue is the constitutional principal of cabinet confidence, that says that cabinet ministers should be able to in public debate issues about privileged issues without having those discussions opened to scrutiny. Eby said he respects that principal, while emphasizing that the information would be very useful.
Since Wilkinson was traveling and couldn’t comment, Opposition House Leader Mary Polak poured scorn on Eby’s request. She declared, “His request to release confidential cabinet documents, which was released to media before the opposition had an opportunity to review, will be given the consideration it deserves. A formal response will be made in due course and provided in writing.”
Polak added, “Instead of playing games with confidential cabinet documents, the Attorney General should focus on implementing the recommendations from the German Report and pursuing charges against those who have broken the law.”
German’s report has caused considerable criticism of the former government’s inaction regarding money laundering at BC casinos. The Liberals have been accused of being “addicted” to the casinos profits from government owned casinos, and that that was why they did little to fight money laundering. Former Solicitor General Rich Coleman, who was in charge of such investigations, has rejected that accusation.
Fred Pinnock, who led BC’s Integrated Illegal Gambling Enforcement Team (IIGET) for several years 2015, has been particularly scathing of the previous government for ignoring his recommendations. He told Global News: “Fault lies at the feet of the BC Liberals while they were in government and senior management of the RCMP in this province,” adding, “They all knew what was going on in those casinos and racetracks. Primarily casinos, in particular, the big ones. It was wild west in those large casinos where organized criminal activity was running amok.”
Despite his criticisms, the German report notes that once the Joint Integrated Gaming Investigation Team was created in 2015 that money laundering that the incidence of suspicious transactions reported at casinos declined by 60 percent.
However, it also criticizes the Liberal government for disbanding the IIGET in 2009, which it says meant that BC Lottery Corp. and Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch was the only agency dealing with loan sharking, money laundering and other organized crime at the casinos that BCLC operates.
Coleman has denied that the former government kept RCMP from going after money laundering harder. “The reality is what he is saying is inflammatory and it isn’t correct,” he said. “The reality is that no one interfered with his ability to do his job from a political perspective.”
