Former B.C. premier admits suspicious behaviour at B.C. casinos wasn’t a priority until 2015
Posted April 20, 2021 8:07 pm.
Last Updated April 20, 2021 8:08 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — Former Premier Christy Clark has confirmed she knew about suspicious behaviour at casinos in 2011, but serious action to stop money laundering wasn’t taken until 2015.
Clark testified Tuesday at B.C.’s inquiry into money laundering.
The B.C. government appointed Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen in May 2019 to lead the public inquiry into money laundering after three reports outlined how hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal cash affected B.C.’s real estate, luxury vehicle, and gaming sectors.
Under questioning at the Cullen Commission, Clark admitted she wasn’t aware of any successful prosecutions involving organized crime under her watch.
“The courts aren’t an area the provincial government directs. The court system is properly, entirely separate. What happened on that side of the ledger isn’t something I would argue that the province should have been interfering in and we didn’t,” Clark said.
“The court system, of course, takes the cases that are brought to it?” Senior Commission Counsel Patrick McGowan asked.
“Yes,” Clark replied.
McGowan had to ask several times if Clark knew dirty money linked to organized crime was ending up as revenue in government coffers.
“The remaining problem that needed to be addressed, was the lack of cooperation between the agencies, ensuring that enforcement will oversight were much better integrated. If your question is, ‘Did I do something about it?’ The answer is yes,” she said.
She insists the focus of her cabinet was putting an end to money laundering and she believes progress has been made since a joint law enforcement task force was created six years ago.
The NDP-ordered inquiry is examining how money laundering flourished and Clark says confirmation of the effectiveness of her government’s approach “is that the current government is continuing with those actions.”
Other high-profile B.C. Liberals who still need to testify including former B.C. Liberal cabinet ministers Rich Coleman, Michael de Jong, and Kash Heed, along with Shirley Bond, the party’s interim leader who served as Clark’s public safety minister and attorney general.
The province granted the commission an extension in March to produce its final report, which is now due on Dec. 15.
