Vancouver's Secret $100M Loan to Olympic Developer

The fact that no one is saying anything about this makes it a very weird situation.

I heard Vision Councillor Raymond Louie and NPA's Peter Ladner talking about this issue on CKNW's Christie Clark show today.  Ladner wasn't scheduled to appear but he heard what was being said on the radio and he was madder than hell and phoned in.  The two men were both excited and talked over each other at times. 

Louie had been saying that although HE VOTED FOR the deal, he now felt that he had not been given all of the information he needed to make an informed decision.  He has since learned that Estelle Low, the City accountant, had concerns about this deal.  She was apparently not at the meeting.  There is a rumor, which Clark couldn't get confirmation on, that Low has resigned over this matter.  

Louie said that he had made requests for relevant documents on the case but he has not been given what he's requested. [Vision is the pot calling the kettle black. I'm currently writing about a case in which Vision's Eleanor Gregory -- who is very close to Vision mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson -- failed to turn over a key document that a Vancouver woman requested about her own case at the
VSB, a copy of which the VSB has already acknowledged she has a right. Vision's Andrea Reimer is implicated in secrecy and an alleged cover-up -- supported by documentation -- in this case as well, which dates back to Reimer's time on School Board.  Reimer/'s conduct contributed to the fact that there is now an Int'l Boycott of VSB diplomas.  But that's a different scandal.]

Ladner then phoned in to CKNW. He was not at his most composed; he seemed upset.  He said that Louie had been at the same meeting as him, the one in which the decision had been made, and that nothing had happened on the issue since.  His point was that Louie knew as much as he did.  But Louie retorted that being Chair of Finance, Ladner was privy to more information than he was. 

Ladner mentioned at one point that Estelle Low is currently in Hong Kong, where he said she goes at this time every year to visit her mother.  He claimed that words were being put into Low's mouth "which is scandalous in my opinion".   

It is no coincidence, Ladner noted, that at a time when Gregor Robertson's unpaid skytrain fine is front page news, Vision goes public with this issue.

Ladner was asked again by Louie if he would agree to a public meeting to bring this out into the open.  Ladner did not agree, saying that to work on this type of negotiation requires a confidential setting and that the public knows that's the way it is always done.

Shortly after the CKNW interview, there was a press conference.  It was pointed out on CKNW news that none of the Vision members who voted for that potential $100 million loan to developers showed up at the press conference to answer questions.