Lawyer Accuses City GM of "dictatorial" conduct "contrary to the rule of law"

Vancouver lawyer Gregory Bruce has accused Jacquie Forbes-Roberts, City of  Vancouver General Manager of Community Services, of acting in a “dictatorial” manner “contrary to the rule of law”.  Bruce made the accusations in a March 11, 2008 letter about Forbes-Roberts’ barring of Carnegie Board member William “Bill” Simpson from the Carnegie Center.  The reason given by Forbes-Roberts for the barring was that Simpson operates a website which "features links" to the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog.  Carnegie staff have been criticized on the blog for such practices as locking doors to computer and education services funded for the poor. 

Bruce wrote, “The letter from Ms. Forbes-Roberts found Mr. Simpson guilty of association with a blog entitled downtowneastsideenquirer.blogspot.com via links with blogspot.com. . . . Guilt by association is no basis for barring someone from a public facility and is an offensive concept with a long history of disrepute. Guilt by association is also contrary to the rule of law.”

Bruce went on to note, “The letter from Ms. Forbes-Roberts seems dictatorial and was issued without any warning….” This point made by Bruce was not unlike that made by Carnegie Board member Sophia Friegang, who submitted her resignation shortly after stating at a Board meeting last summer that Forbes-Roberts seemed to be giving orders from “on high”.

To read the entire original article and view a photo of Bill Simpson, go to downtowneastsideenquirer.blogspot.com