BC Land Fraud: Investigation targets BC's Attorney Generals Brother | NowPublic News Coverage

BC Land Fraud: Investigation targets BC's Attorney Generals Brother

by Barry ORegan | September 9, 2007 at 07:55 am

870 views | 2 Recommendations | 2 comments

Opinion

Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor

Goodness me, Swift Justice for all, but perhaps just not too swift for family members.

British Columbias Attorney General Wally Oppal swift and immediate re-releasing of dangerous offenders, rapists to murderers into society, perhaps puzzles many why it takes 6 months for his department to investigate at a seems to be a "Snails pace" of suspected Land Fraud deal with a local realtor. Oh wait, I Forgot, they are investigating his Brother Harry. Well that certainly puts things into perspective now doesn't it? As they say "Same Crap, Different Diaper".

My Final Thought

I am sure all have seen Realtors prominently pasting their Mug on everything from City buses to park benches, for the life of me I cannot find Realtor Harry Oppals mug anywhere including the media or Royal LePage Website. Again, perhaps considering his suspected complicity, perhaps Royal Lepage thought it bad for business to prominently display a face previously one would assume to be great advertising to ride the coat tails of a Realtor whose brother is the Provinces Attorney General.

Investigation targets Oppal's brother

NDP MLA wonders why it's taking so long to decide on charges

Glenda Luymes, The Province

Published: Sunday, September 09, 2007

The public deserves to know why an investigation involving the brother of Attorney-General Wally Oppal has taken more than six months to come to light, NDP justice critic Leonard Krog said yesterday.

In February, the Financial Institutions Commission (FICOM) submitted a report to Crown counsel containing allegations that a number of people, including the attorney-general's brother, Harry Oppal, were involved in a questionable land deal in Abbotsford.

"How long does it take to come to a decision on whether or not charges should be laid?" asked Krog. "I understand that we don't get to pick our family, but this should have been made public."

The Nanaimo MLA said he wasn't aware of the situation until the government issued a press release Friday in response to an inquiry from The Province.

"It seems to me that six to eight months is a very long time for the prosecutor to be sitting on information from police. The government, and the attorney-general in particular, are under a real obligation, given the length of time it has taken, to explain this. The public deserves an explanation," said Krog.

As stipulated in the Crown Counsel Act, the Criminal Justice Branch decided to appoint an independent prosecutor to the case to "ensure there was no risk of real or perceived improper influence in the exercise of prosecutorial responsibilities," according to a media release.

On Feb. 28, Assistant Deputy Attorney-General Robert Gillen appointed Victoria lawyer Harold Rusk as special prosecutor. On Thursday, Vancouver lawyer George Macintosh took over when Rusk was unable to continue his appointment due to personal reasons.

Macintosh will offer legal advice to FICOM and assess whether or not charges are warranted in the case. If charges go ahead, he will conduct the prosecution and any appeals.

gluymes@png.canwest.com

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SthPacific

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:16 on September 10th, 2007

Great work here Barry, Things seem to be moving very fast on this dodgy Real Estate company now. It would seem you have an exclusive here I hope someone picks it up. I wonder what Mr Harper will think of this ? Maybe someone will ask him tomorrow when he addresses the Australian Parliament

Barry Artiste, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Barry ORegan

at 13:01 on September 10th, 2007

Thanks Sth, this is more of a provincial issue, Harper at the Federal Levels though I am sure eager to investigate and comment, normally can not as protocols usually dictate our Premier of our province persue the investigation at a provincial level. I am certain reporters from most major news services will hang on to this story until something is done.
Again thanks for the comments.