The leaked document dated December 2011 appears to show the political motivation behind the creation of the Burnaby Hospital Committee.
Under the title ‘A New Burnaby Hospital’, the co-authors are Pamela Gardner, the future chair of the committee, and the former president of a Liberal riding association.
Brian Bonney and Mark Robertson are both BC Liberal operatives. Bonney currently works in communications in the Ministry of Multiculturalism.
The first line in the document regarding Burnaby Hospital states ‘…the issue we can win Burnaby-Deer Lake on…’.
“The committee was set up to achieve the political objectives of the BC Liberals,” said Mike Farnworth, NDP MLA. “It was set up to buy time, in the words of the document, so that the government could determine whether or not this was a winning issue for them that would allow them to potentially win a seat at the next election.
Newly appointed Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said the first event she went to was the opening of the new emergency department in Nanaimo, which is not a BC Liberal riding.
The authors state “only Burnaby Hospital can deliver a new seat, Burnaby Deer Lake, taking out Corrigan and helping us keep two tight swings (referring to swing ridings). Burnaby-Deer Lake is represented by NDP MLA Kathy Corrigan, who also happens to be married to Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan.
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Beating her in the next election appears to be the core message in the document.
“It’s just not how good public policy should be made,” said Farnworth. “It should be made in the best interests of the City of Burnaby. It should be made in the best interests of health care, not on the basis of trying to determine whether this is a winning issue for us, and if it is we may spend some money, and by implication, it means we won’t be spending any money. That’s just not how health care should be done in the province of British Columbia.”
The political operatives go further – we must act first they collectively argue – urging PCC for Premier Christy Clark – MMD – Minister Mike DeJong, and Liberal MLA’s Richard Lee, and Harry Bloy to tour Burnaby Hospital as soon as possible.
And sure enough they did, organizing a community meeting.
The political trio further state “…this would keep the issue ours without committing dollars and buy us time.”
“…If Cathy and Derek Corrigan act first we will lose this issue and never get it back.”
So they recommend one of the authors chair the Community Consultation Committee. Pamela Gardner has donated $3,600 to the Liberals in the past.
They also recommend future Liberals candidates to be part of the committee.
These are just the latest documents to drop, leading to accusations the entire exercise is nothing more than a partisan exercise.
Recently, leaked emails showed the final committee report was written by Sonja Sanguinetti, the former president of the BC Liberal party.
The emails were also cc’d to Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid’s personal email, which is outside Freedom of Information legislation.
“But it is the Fraser Health Authority that will come forward,” said MacDiarmid. “Experts will be developing the plan, and they are the ones who will be making recommendations to government. Politicians are not involved in that part of the process. And they shouldn’t be.”
The committee’s final report hasn’t yet been handed to the Health Minister, but the controversy surrounding the leaked memo, written by Pamela Gardner, Brian Bonney, and Mark Robertson, is sure to give their political masters a new headache.
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