Surgeons are trained to cut and mend. They need lots of time in the operating room to hone their skills and “practise” their trade. 

That’s why 700 BC surgeons choose to supplement their work at private surgery centres – so they can do more operations – a total of about 60,000 last year which represents only 10% of surgery cases done in public hospitals. 

In the publicly funded Canadian hospital system, there’s a finite supply of financial and human resources for surgeons, nurses, hospital beds and operating rooms. Budgets are capped and many, if not most, surgeons, are allocated only a day per week in the hospitals where they have privileges. Surgeons say that’s not nearly enough time to improve or even maintain one’s surgery skills.

Dr. Richard Warren, Vancouver plastic surgeon and private surgery centre pioneer

In this story, I referenced the huge $30 million contract that Vancouver Island Health has just given a new private surgery centre in Victoria. As you will hear during the BC election campaign, the NDP and health care unions are opposed in principle to contracting out, on the grounds that private facilities take nurses and other health professionals away from the public system. In my last interview with retiring health minister Terry Lake, he said the Liberals see these contracts as useful tools for processing more elective surgeries for the purpose of reducing waiting lists. 

Patients in BC can receive care in private clinics two ways – they can pay privately for their surgery or they can try to get it as part of a contract between certain clinics and health authorities. Since the Cambie Surgery Centre trial has been adjourned, it remains unclear whether the courts will decide patients have constitutional rights to use their own money to buy expedited surgery in private clinics. That ruling won’t come until 2018 at the earliest since the Dr. Brian Day trial is on a legal bill fundraising hiatus.

Meanwhile, my stories about the bankruptcy of a North Vancouver surgery clinic prompted high-profile plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Warren to send me a letter about how private, freestanding surgical facilities in BC were spawned by the need for private plastic surgery centres. I’m sharing it below because it provides some good historical context: 

“Private surgical facilities in BC existed long before Delbrook came along –  dating back to the 1970’s.  I personally founded and continue to run what is now the oldest private surgery centres in Vancouver.  It is the Vancouver Plastic Surgery Centre (http://www.vancouverplasticsurgerycenter.com) which opened in 1989.  Delbrook, the Nanaimo facility and Cambie all opened about 10 years after mine.     

Of course, it is the multi-specialty private surgery centres that have become controversial. All of them have existed on the periphery of legality, ever since the Province passed Bill 54 in 1995 (called An Act to Protect Medicare). The legal part of their work includes RCMP, WCB, non-BC residents, federal prisoners and surgery that is officially contracted out by the BC Ministry of Health.  The  so-called illegal part happens when a private BC citizen (not in one of these exempted categories) pays privately. As you know, that is the core of the Cambie vs. Province of BC court case currently dragging along through the BC Supreme Court.

As it turns out, non-insured, private cosmetic surgery has never been of much concern to the BC Ministry of Health.  In the early days of Medicare when money was plentiful and waiting lists didn’t exist, plastic surgeons were allowed to do private paying cosmetic surgery in public hospitals. Then, as hospitals became more crowded and wait lists developed, cosmetic surgery was effectively banned from public hospitals in BC. That’s what happened to me when, as a young plastic surgeon at the UBC hospital in the 1980’s, I was told I could no longer bring cosmetic surgery into the hospital setting.

If I wanted to keep doing private cosmetic surgery – there were only two reasonable options –  move to the US, which I almost did, or build my own facility, because there were no multi-specialty clinics yet in existence.  Today, young plastic surgeons simply take their private paying cosmetic patients to one of the multi-specialty facilities (like Cambie) in order to avoid the daunting expense of building and running one of these facilities themselves.  

I offer this historical perspective in order to point out that the saga of private surgery clinics in BC was really pioneered by the plastic surgery community.”

pfayerman@postmedia.com

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In Burnaby, where the Trans Mountain pipeline-expansion project has become a key issue for voters, the B.C. Liberals and NDP are fielding fresh candidates in one swing riding and preparing for a rematch in another.

Burnaby-Lougheed was split by just 752 votes last election when New Democrat Jane Shin, who is retiring after one term, beat Liberal Ken Kramer. This time around, the NDP have put forward school trustee Katrina Chen while former Global TV anchor Steve Darling hopes to snag the seat for the Liberals.

Darling said he’s aware of the role his profile plays in his campaign, but knows he has plenty of work to do after he’s recognized when he goes door knocking.

“People want someone who’s going to be an advocate for them and I’ve done that my whole career,” said Darling, who worked in the riding for 18 years at Global’s studio.

Darling hears often about the contentious pipeline project that would cut through the riding. The project is supported by the Liberals on the basis of five provincially imposed conditions being met, while the NDP wants to kill it.

“I always tell people, this is a decision that was made long before I decided I was going to come and run,” he said. “It’s a decision we have to live with and we’re trying to do the best we can to make sure that B.C.’s interests are protected.”

Katrina Chen, a Burnaby school board trustee, is carrying the NDP’s banner in the Burnaby-Lougheed riding in this election.

On education, Darling said supporting teachers, students and parents is key, and he wants to focus on bringing all stakeholders together to plan for decades ahead.

Voters tell Darling that affordable housing is a priority and he wants to focus on the supply side. If elected, he pledges to put together a task force involving governments, developers and housing-advocacy groups to come up with a solution tailored to the riding. He also wants to look into more student housing on the Simon Fraser University campus.

Chen said she’s been knocking on doors since September in hopes of defending the NDP’s seat. A key issue for constituents has been affordability, one of three pillars of the party’s platform.

Green party candidate Joe Keithley, who is running in Burnaby-Lougheed, has a high profile as a member of the legendary local punk band DOA.

“It’s really sad,” Chen said. “I’m hearing people are moving out of this community because they cannot afford the high cost of living.”

Many are also citing the pipeline expansion as a major health and safety concern, and reason for leaving, Chen said.

She said a food bank started at SFU in 2014 is symbolic of the issue of affordability, as well as the chronic underfunding of schools at all levels.

Chen said that after spending a decade on the frontline at schools, she’s learned that “the one key thing government should do is listen,” which has become the essence of her campaign. 

The Greens are putting forward another high-profile candidate with Joe Keithley from legendary punk band DOA, who is well-known in the riding and who previously ran for the party in 1996 and 2001.

Neeraj Murarka is running for the Libertarians and Sylvia Gung as an independent.

Just west in Burnaby North, Liberal Richard T. Lee beat new Democrat Janet Routledge last election by 668 votes. Lee is now campaigning for a fifth term while Routledge will again try to grab the seat for the NDP.

Janet Routledge is back, on behalf of the NDP, for another shot at getting elected in Burnaby North. She lost the riding in the 2013 provincial election by 668 votes.

Routledge, who has lived in the riding for about 20 years, said a strong theme of conversations she has with constituents is that “life has become more affordable and more exhausting” under a Liberal government.

She has also heard from families who plan to move out of Burnaby because they can no longer afford to live there. She tells them about the NDP’s pledges to implement $10-a-day childcare, build 114,000 new housing units and raise the minimum wage to $15. 

Liberal Burnaby North MLA Richard T. Lee is campaigning for a fifth term in office.

And the pipeline has people worried about a potential spill, and how it would impact their health, property values and the local economy, she said.

“There are key plans in the NDP platform that address their concerns and would provide immediate relief,” Routledge said.  

Lee said the most important factor for winning his riding a fifth time is making voters aware of the Liberals’ platform and record in economic development and job creation.

Lee said that with the pipeline project, his priority is making sure the B.C. government’s five conditions are met.

On housing, he touted $4.9 billion the Liberals invested in affordable housing since 2001, as well as their implementation of the foreign-buyers tax and programs for first-time home buyers. 

Burnaby North Green party candidate Peter Hallschmid is the CEO of a high-tech start-up and a teacher at Simon Fraser University.

Lee said that when door knocking, many voters say they’re concerned about education and health care. He reminds them about the $622-million upgrade and expansion of Burnaby Hospital,  $100-million B.C. Tech Fund and seismic upgrades in elementary and secondary schools. 

“We need a strong economy,” Lee said. “We want to continue so that the province has the revenue and resources to complete these kinds of investments.”

The Greens are putting forward Peter Hallschmid, who is the CEO of a high-tech start-up and a teacher at SFU.

neagland@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/nickeagland

Related

• Rob Shaw: How the NDP could thump the Liberals in Metro, and still lose the election
• B.C. Election 2017 fact check
• B.C. Election 2017 coverage

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Antigua and Barbuda’s idyllic white beaches attract celebrities like Elton John, but it is financial shenanigans under their azure skies that have caught the eye of the B.C. Supreme Court.

A default judgment and garnishee order for $30 million have been issued by the court against the government of the postcard islands amid the confluence of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. 

HMB Holdings Ltd., a group of New York investors, won the rulings as part of a decade-long quest to recoup losses from the expropriation of the defunct Half Moon Bay Resort which it purchased in 1971. (The case was heard in B.C. because the resort is now owned by a B.C. company through a subsidiary). 

It is a stunning seascape of sapphire coves and fecund reefs, but in 1995 a one-two punch of hurricanes devastated the resort. 

Five years later the Antiguan government took the first step towards condemning the property and in 2007 decided to expropriate it, ostensibly for a “public purpose”.

The move was made at the reputed behest of Texas fraudster Allen Stanford, who held dual citizenship and was described as “the leading benefactor, promoter, employer and public persona” of Antigua, a yachting hub that is home to about 80,000.

In Nov. 2006, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Nation — a former British colony where Admiral Horatio Nelson lived for three years. 

Calling himself “Sir Allen,” the conman apparently had plans to redevelop the Half Moon Bay property on the government’s behalf.

However, three years later U.S. law-enforcement busted Stanford over an elaborate international Ponzi-scheme. He was stripped of his title and convicted of running a multi-faceted, sophisticated $7-billion scam.

Stanford is now breaking rocks in the hot sun, serving a 110-year sentence in a federal prison in Florida.

Left holding the expropriated property, the Antigua government claimed it was broke and refused to pay the former owners. 

Trying to determine what was adequate under the country’s Land Acquisition Act proved protracted and the dispute eventually landed on the desk of the Queen’s advisers.

In 2014, the British Privy Council made a final ruling that the total debt stood at just under US$40 million, with interest and costs, and ordered the Antiguan government to pay HMB “punctually.” The Privy Council’s decision was affirmed by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice and the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.

The government didn’t pay, and instead sold Half Moon Bay in Dec. 2015 to an Antiguan-incorporated subsidiary of B.C.-based Replay Resorts Inc. for US$23 million. HMB received about $15 million, said its lawyer Lincoln Caylor of Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto.

Since then Antigua has made no further payments, he added.

On Oct. 25, 2016, HMB filed its civil claim in B.C. based on the Privy Council ruling.

“There are still payments due from Replay to the Antigua government and we’re hoping to intercept those,” lawyer Brigeeta Richdale, of Bennett Jones in Vancouver, explained.

“We understand there is still several million to be paid over the next few months. The judges in B.C. were quite amused, I don’t think they had seen a judgment from the queen before.”

When the Antigua government failed to respond to the B.C. claim, Master Dennis Tokarek granted judgment April 7 and issued the garnishee order for $30.2 million naming Freetown Destination Resort Ltd. Freetown is the Antiguan-registered subsidiary of Replay.

“We were expecting people to show up but nobody ever has,” Richdale added.

Attempts to reach Replay/Freetown were unsuccessful.

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twitter.com/ianmulgrew

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The pattern of overdoses in B.C. is reframing the fentanyl crisis: It’s not just about addicts any more, according to the director of the B.C. Centre on Substance Abuse.

A growing number of casual drug users and weekend partiers are overdosing on recreational drugs, such as cocaine, that has been contaminated with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

“That changes the whole conversation from heroin and who we think these victims are to one of the contamination of the entire drug supply,” said Dr. Evan Wood. “We need some out-of-the box thinking on this. Addiction treatment is not relevant to people who are experimenting with drugs.”

Wood called for a massive expansion of drug-testing facilities as a way to “dramatically improve public safety.”

Seventeen-year-old Esquimalt high school student Heather McLean died of a suspected overdose on Easter Sunday. McLean was known to use drugs and alcohol with her friends, according to her stepmother Tamsin Stratford. 

Heather told Stratford: “Don’t worry. I know who I’m getting my drugs from. I pay $20 extra to make sure there’s no fentanyl.”

Heather McLean, 17, was a Grade 12 student in Esquimalt. She died on Easter Sunday of a suspected fentanyl overdose.

Late last year in Delta, a group of nine people in their 20s bought what they thought was cocaine, split the drugs and headed their separate ways. Not long after came a spate of 911 calls and eight of them ended up in the emergency room with respiratory distress. 

Delta Police said the reason the group was hit so hard is they were not used to taking such powerful drugs. 

“With these drugs now, you might as well pick up a loaded handgun and play Russian roulette,” said Acting Sgt. Sarah Swallow.

Wood recalled the story of a young man pulled over on his way to his girlfriend’s house and snorted what he thought was a line of cocaine.

“It was contaminated with fentanyl and he was alone in the car and died,” said Wood. “It’s a really diverse population that’s being affected, including non-addicted people.”

A huge uptick in the number of addicts entering maintenance programs with opioid substitutes, such as methadone or suboxone, has failed to slow the pace of overdose deaths. 

The rate of deaths due to overdose with illicit drugs was up 50 per cent in the first three months of 2017 compared with the same period last year in Vancouver, but also in Richmond, South Vancouver Island, the Okanagan and the Northern Interior.

In all, 602 overdose deaths in 2016 occurred in communities outside Vancouver and Surrey, about 60 per cent.

The top four drugs detected in overdose victims were cocaine (48.8 per cent), fentanyl (43.1 per cent), heroin (37.1 per cent) and meth/amphetamine (29.6 per cent), according to the report from the B.C. Coroners Service. Fentanyl alone and in combination with other drugs was detected in 61 per cent of overdose deaths.

The number of overdose deaths among people aged 19-29 has risen from around 40 a year between 2007 and 2010, to more than 200 last year.

“Risk-taking behaviour and sensation-seeking are more prevalent in men and in particular young men,” said Wood. “More than 80 per cent of the deaths (this year) are men, so it’s really important to better target our responses and our messaging.”

Wood views the contamination of party drugs with inexpensive opioids and animal tranquillizers as the inevitable outcome of prohibition.

“Increasingly concentrated and dangerous drugs are not a surprise. It started with opium and slowly became more and more potent,” said. “We saw the same thing during the alcohol prohibition of the 1920s when cheap methyl alcohol was introduced into the supply and people started going blind from it.”

rshore@postmedia.com

With a file from Sarah Petrescu, Victoria Times Colonist

Ottawa has talked with the provinces about helping Canada’s forestry sector, but won’t move immediately once the U.S. imposes duties on softwood lumber imports, a government source says.

A financial package can’t be determined until the federal government studies the penalties expected Tuesday, said an official who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

It took the federal government more than a year to announce the first of two aid packages after duties were imposed in 2001.

The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday is slated to announce preliminary countervailing duties on Canadian imports. A decision on anti-dumping duties is expected to follow on June 23.

The U.S. lumber industry filed a petition asking for import duties against Canadian lumber, alleging that it is being harmed by Canada’s subsidies to its lumber producers. It is also requesting anti-dumping duties, alleging it is being harmed by imported Canadian softwood that is sold in the U.S. at lower than American domestic prices or at lower than the cost of production.

Industry analysts expect the combined duties could range between 30 and 40 per cent, with three top Western producers being charged more than Resolute Forest Products and New Brunswick’s J.D. Irving. An average rate will be applied to other companies.

Quebec said Monday it will immediately help its forest industry even as it waits for a decision from the federal government.

The Vancouver Board of Trade on Monday invited a panel of international trade experts, including former Canadian foreign trade minister John Baird and Chris Sands, the director of the Centre for Canadian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office and his administration’s affect on U.S.-Canada relations and B.C. industries.

The panel was to discuss the future of the softwood lumber agreement, NAFTA and free trade, the current geo-political order, as well as global climate action and the energy sector.

with file from Canadian Press

More to come

B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver unveiled his party’s full platform Monday, saying it provides voters with a clear alternative in the May 9 provincial election.

The platform says the Green party would run a $146-million deficit during its first full year in office, but that it would balance the budget over the four-year mandate. 

Revenues from an increased carbon tax would rise from $50 million in 2017-18 to $865 million in 2020-21.

The Greens would steadily hike the carbon tax to $70 a tonne by 2021 from the current $30. The federal government already plans to increase the tax to $50 a tonne by 2022.

The party expects revenues to eventually decrease as the plan takes effect and carbon emissions are reduced. As part of the strategy, there would be mandatory emissions testing for heavy duty and commercial vehicles and standards for commercial building greenhouse gas emissions.

Capital spending would total $711 million annually in each of the party’s first two full years of office, reduced to $660 million in 2020-21, the vast majority of that on affordable housing.

Weaver told a Vancouver news conference the Greens stand for ordinary people in comparison to the Liberal ties to big business and the NDP to big unions. The Greens accept campaign donations from neither sector.

He said the concentration of wealth in the province is shameful, while so many people remain at risk.

“I just watched a person die on the streets of Vancouver this morning, through a fentanyl overdose,” he said. “I literally watched a person die.” He did not provide further specifics.

“Vancouver is trying to build itself as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It’s got one of the worst examples of social problems in the world. We have to invest in people.”

Weaver said the Greens would take advantage of B.C.’s natural beauty, good education system and clean renewable wood, water and energy to forge a new economy based on attracting innovative, green companies.

The University of Victoria climate scientist representing Oak Bay-Gordon Head is the only elected Green MLA in the B.C. legislature.

Other key elements of the Green platform include:

• Cooling real-estate speculation, including by raising the current 15-per-cent foreign buyers tax to 30 per cent B.C.-wide, a sliding property transfer tax, and a progressive property tax system.

• Increasing income assistance and disability incomes by 50 per cent, in stages, through 2020.

• Free daycare for working parents with children under age three, and up to 25 hours free early childhood education for three- and four-year-old children.

The platform includes a new pledge of $50 million for the increased use of restorative justice and other alternatives to the criminal justice system.

The party would also spend $15 million to better track business fraud to include electronic and telephone scams and to better prevent financial crimes.

lpynn@postmedia.com

VANCOUVER — Health Canada’s proposal to loosen regulations on importing prescription-grade heroin to treat opioid addiction is being hailed as a crucial step to reducing fentanyl-fuelled deaths across the country.

Drug policy campaigner Caitlin Shane, who is with the advocacy group Pivot Legal Society, said 931 overdose deaths last year in B.C. alone point to the urgent need to treat people struggling with opioid use disorder.

“The need is so profound in B.C. and other provinces. It’s so necessary to look at the failures of drug prohibition and to see what other options are available to deal with this crisis,” Shane said.

“It seems that were this crisis related to any other population it would be dealt with differently, it would be more of a priority for every level of government,” she said, adding stigma against drug users has prevented increased access to medication for a legitimate health issue.

B.C. is the hardest-hit province when it comes to opioid deaths, with 347 fatalities recorded by the coroners’ service between January and March of this year.

Canada approved prescription heroin treatment in September 2016 for substance users who did not respond to other therapies such as methadone and suboxone.

The new rules would allow health authorities to import a year’s supply of prescription-grade heroin or other drugs in bulk for a public health emergency such as a flu pandemic if the medication is not sold domestically.

“Our government is determined to work with our partners to help reduce the harm to citizens and communities that is associated with problematic substance use,” federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said in a statement.

The urgent nature of the overdose issue means the consultation period for Canadians to share their views on the proposal has been shortened to 15 days, from about 75 days, Health Canada spokesman Eric Morrissette said Monday.

Dr. Scott MacDonald, lead physician at Vancouver’s Crosstown Clinic, said about 100 people are currently being treated with prescription heroin, or diacetylmorphine, at the only such facility in North America.

Patients are given a syringe of medical-grade heroin, which they inject themselves, up to three times a day under a nurse’s supervision.

MacDonald said the clinic’s pharmacy is being expanded to treat up to 200 people though hundreds more need access to the medical heroin, which is imported from Switzerland on an as-needed basis for individuals, MacDonald said.

“We’re not able to store any amount. So we’re not able to respond in an urgent fashion,” he said.

“This is a very important tool to attract people into care,” MacDonald said of the new regulations, adding societal costs such as for repeat hospitalizations, crime and incarceration would be reduced.

MacDonald said prescription-grade heroin could one day be produced in a lab in Canada, but a company would have to apply for a drug identification number, a lengthy undertaking through multiple government hurdles.

“That’s the preferred approach, domestic production,” he said. “But that’s a very involved process and might take lots of years. So I’m just glad there’s an alternative process so we can respond to this opioid crisis.”

Drugs not sold in Canada can currently be imported for clinical trials or under the Special Access Program, allowing treating physicians to make applications for individual users.

Dr. Scott MacDonald, team lead at Providence Crosstown Clinic at 84 West Hasting Street in Vancouver, on July 5, 2016.

Bard on the Beach has found its hound for the beach.

Gertie, a six-year-old basset hound, beat out 11 other finalists for the part of Crab in this summer’s Bard on the Beach production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

“Gertie impressed the entire judging panel,” the play’s director, Scott Bellis, said. “She has that magic combination of good looks, smarts and an unflappable personality.

“I’m looking forward to putting her through her paces and introducing her to Bard audiences this summer. I predict she’ll be a breakout star.”

The last pooch to play the part at Bard was a dog named Jinx, in 2001.

A sheltie-Labrador mix from East Vancouver, Jinx milked the audience for laughs, Vancouver Sun theatre critic Peter Birnie said back then in his review of the play.

“Merely by the way she sniffed the air and gave (the character Launce) the kind of sidelong glance that experienced comics spend years perfecting, Jinx brought down the house on opening night,” he said.

Indeed, the Crab character, according to The Oxford Shakespeares, is “the most scene-stealing, non-speaking role in the canon”.

“Well, that adds pressure,” Debbie Vanden Dungen, Gertie’s owner, said with a laugh. “I’m so excited. Ever since she was little she was so cute, everybody said she should be in a movie or commercials.”

Basset hounds are sniffers and hunters, and Gertie (like Jinx before her an East Van dog), has been known to make a sudden lunge at the smell of a just-opened bag of chips.

Even at the audition, Vanden Dungen said, Gertie stole a muffin off a table.

“I’m totally nervous, I don’t want her to screw up,” she said. “I’m hoping Gertie performs well and doesn’t misbehave, she can be a bit misbehavey.”

gordmcintyre@postmedia.com

twitter.com/gordmcintyre

A school bus driver who witnessed the hit-and-run that injured a 14-year-old competitive cyclist says the driver of a pickup truck veered into the bike lane and appeared to intentionally hit the teen.

As Saanich police continue to look for the driver, cyclists have told investigators about a road-rage incident last month involving a similar-looking truck that could be connected to Friday’s incident.

Paul Robinson was finishing his bus route and driving down Willis Point Road near Wallace Drive about 4 p.m. Friday when he saw Megan Barnes and a fellow cyclist riding single file on the paved shoulder. He said a grey, newer-model Dodge Dakota truck came up behind Megan and “suddenly veered off into the right-hand bike lane.”

On a straight stretch of road, there was no reason for the truck to leave its lane, he said. “That truck deliberately went into the bike lane. [The cyclists] were doing exactly what cyclists should be doing on the road. They were out of harm’s way. There’s no reason that person should have crossed that line.”

The impact sent Megan flying about five metres into the ditch. Robinson stopped his bus to help, as did two other drivers, and 911 was called.

Robinson looked back and saw the truck stop momentarily before driving west on Willis Point Road. He didn’t have time to get the licence plate number.

Robinson described the driver as a middle-age, heavy-set blond woman.

Megan suffered minor scrapes and bruises, but Robinson said the injuries could have been much worse. “She could have been killed,” he said.

Lister Farrar, Megan’s Tripleshot Youth Team cycling coach, said that while talking about the incident on Sunday, two cyclists shared a story about a road-rage incident a month ago in the West Shore involving a truck with a similar description.

“There was an aggressive driver behind them, and it swerved in front of them and then slammed on the brakes,” he said.

One of the cyclists slammed into the back bumper, then fell off the bike. The other cyclist chased  the truck and was able to take a photo of the licence plate. The incident was reported to West Shore RCMP and the information has since been provided to Saanich police, Farrar said.

Farrar said it’s deeply concerning for the cycling community that “this person is able to do this apparently twice or more and somehow they haven’t been stopped.”

Robinson hopes the driver will turn herself in. “Do the right thing. Come forward, take responsibility for what you did.”

Saanich police ask anyone with information about the hit-and-run or the driver and vehicle involved to contact them at 250-475-4321, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

kderosa@timescolonist.com

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CRANBROOK, B.C. – As a plural wife and midwife, Jane Blackmore had a unique perspective on the polygamous community of Bountiful.

She testified Tuesday at the trial of two former bishops from the fundamentalist Mormon community who are charged with polygamy.

One of them, Winston Blackmore, 60, is her former husband. They were married in both a religious and a civil ceremony in 1975. They separated in 2003.

The other accused is her half-brother, 53-year-old James Oler.

Jane Blackmore was a witness at three of Blackmore’s plural marriages including the day that Winston was married to a young woman on the same day that his and Jane’s oldest daughter was also married. Their daughter’s husband and Winston’s bride were brother and sister.

At the other wedding ceremony, Winston’s bride had come up to Canada from the United States knowing that she was to be married to him and her sister had come with her.

Jane Blackmore told the court that once the plural marriage had been performed, the then-prophet Rulon Jeffs asked if the girl’s sister was there. When she said that she was, Jeffs told the people in the room, “ ‘The Lord has just inspired me that she also should be married to Winston.’ And she was married in the next few minutes.”

Winston Blackmore, who is accused of practising polygamy, arrives at the courthouse in Cranbrook on Tuesday.

Birth records for all three of those plural wives have already been put into evidence along with church marriage records.

Earlier Tuesday, Jane Blackmore described her own church marriage. It took place in her grandparents’ home in Rosemary, Alta.

First, she met with prophet Leroy Johnson and told him she was ready for marriage. She put the choice of husband in his hands because she believed that he acted on God’s instructions.

At 10:30 that night, her father told her that she was to marry Winston Blackmore at 8 a.m. the next morning. After the ceremony, they went to the regular church service and a month later, they married in a civil ceremony in Bonner’s Ferry.

Related

• Two of Winston Blackmore's child brides gave birth at 16 : B.C. court hears
• Real life polygamy: Where sisters are sister-wives and sometimes even wife-and-wife

Winston’s multiple marriages were not a surprise to Jane. She had expected her husband would have multiple wives since it is a core principle of Mormon fundamentalists’ belief. Without plural or celestial wives, men cannot hold the highest offices of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

She explained that the FLDS also believe that without multiple wives, men are not eligible to “become a God in their own right in the hereafter.”

Only once did her husband ask her about marrying another woman. She had had a child out of wedlock.

Jane didn’t say what she told her husband. Beyond that, she said Winston never consulted her before more wives and children arrived in the family. Sometimes, she said, he did tell her about the upcoming weddings.

Although a great deal of court time has been devoted to the teaching of the FLDS, religious belief is only relevant because of the definition of polygamy in the Criminal Code. It is not being put forward as a defence.

The Criminal Code says that everyone who practises, enters into, or in any manner agrees or consents to practice or enter into a conjugal union with more than one person at a time is guilty of polygamy “whether or not it is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage”.

Alternatively, anyone who “celebrates, assists or is a party to a rite, ceremony, contract or consent that purports to sanction” one of those relationships is also guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment of up to five years.

Evidence has also been presented that at least two of Blackmore’s wives were only 15. That too is irrelevant to the charges.

The trial continues.

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Tariffs slapped on softwood lumber by the United States are not expected to create immediate negative fallout on B.C. sawmills because demand is robust and prices high for now, say industry leaders.

In fact, prices have risen about 30 per cent in the last three months in anticipation of expected American tariffs, Interfor president and CEO Duncan Davies said Tuesday during a news conference hosted by the B.C. Lumber Trade Council.

However, Davies and council president Susan Yurkovich cautioned any pain to the industry depends on the length of the dispute and what happens to prices in the longer term.

“If we have a long, extended battle with the U.S. on this, ultimately it could have impacts here. … At this point in time, we have pretty robust lumber markets. But we will have to see. This kind of action creates volatility and that can lead to uncertainty for Canadian producers,” said Yurkovich.

The lumber trade council represents major producers in B.C., including Interfor, West Fraser, Canfor, Western Forest, Tolko, Conifex, Carrier Lumber and Dunkley Lumber.

The U.S. Commerce Department levied preliminary duties of about 20 per cent on producers in B.C. on Monday.

An anti-dumping duty could also be coming in June, followed by final duties before the end of the year.

A worker walks past stacks of lumber at the Partap Forest Products mill in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Tuesday April 25, 2017.

The move to levy tariffs was expected as the decades-long dispute has resulted in a major clash every 10 years, with tariffs issued, legal battles, including under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and eventually negotiated settlements.

Notwithstanding the robust lumber prices in the U.S., workers at Partap Forest Products in Maple Ridge are worried by the latest iteration of the long-running trade dispute.

Supervisor C.J. Saini said he expects frontline workers to be let go because the extra duties increase the cost of the wood beyond the ability of people to purchase it in the United States.

“Definitely, there will be job losses,” he said. “I don’t want to scare any people. But it is always the frontline people first.”

The Partap mill employs 100 people.

Portrait of Partap employee Harbans Singh. BC Premier Christy Clark visited Partap Forest Products in Maple Ridge, B.C., April 25, 2017.

B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark made a campaign stop at the Maple Ridge mill on Tuesday.

She told workers any softwood lumber deal must be good for B.C. and its workers. “We will fight and we will win,” she said.

Vicki Sharma, 28, has been there since 2008.

He said he likes what he hears from Clark, and has supported her in the past, and he is hopeful she can negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump directly.

“The first priority is to save our jobs,” he said.

However, it is highly unlikely that Clark would be negotiating directly with Trump as the softwood file is led by Ottawa, and negotiated by federal and provincial officials.

Clark has been criticized by NDP leader John Horgan for not treating the issue with the urgency it deserves.

“Because of delay and inaction, thousands of B.C. workers now risk losing their jobs and their livelihoods,” he says.

Both Clark and Horgan say that B.C.’s forest sector is fair and market based.

The U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports has long argued that B.C.’s Crown land-based timber system constitutes a subsidy.

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Premier Christy Clark at Partap Forest Products in Maple Ridge, B.C., April 25, 2017.

Premier Christy Clark at Partap Forest Products in Maple Ridge, B.C., April 25, 2017.

WHERE THE LEADERS ARE ON DAY 15 OF THE CAMPAIGN

LIBERALS:

Liberal Leader Christy Clark was thrown back into government work Monday after the Trump administration announced it will impose a tariff of about 20 per cent on Canadian softwood lumber imports.

“My message to B.C. forest workers, their families and producers is this: We are here for you,” Clark said in a statement Monday evening. 

Liberal Leader Christy Clark.

Clark called claims made by the U.S. lumber industry unfounded, unwarranted and unfair.

“The forest industry built this province and it has a strong future ahead,” she said. “We will fight and we will win, as we have before.”

At news conference at Partap Forest Products in Maple Ridge this morning, Liberal Leader Christy Clark met with workers whose job could be lost by the softwood lumber dispute.

Postmedia columnist Rob Shaw filed this from Maple Ridge:

Liberal Leader Christy Clark said B.C. will fight the unfair and unfounded penalties by the United States. She said the province will pre-purchase BC lumber for local housing projects to help keep domestic demand up.

“We will fight and we will win,” she said.

She also cautioned against heated rhetoric during the election campaign, saying it could compromise the provincial and federal legal positions in their challenges against the U.S.

She said she hopes the Trump administration will come to the table because he will realize that it means job losses and unaffordable lumber products in the U.S. that will hurt consumers on both sides of the border.

“It’s more important than ever our province be strong, calm and reasoned in the face of this American provocation,” she said.

She added she’s “not afraid of those guys” in the U.S.

Clark said the government will make permanent the softwood lumber envoy office in Washington that is currently staffed by David Emerson. She also pledged to increase by $5 million the forest innovation fund, and called on the federal government to offer an aide package for British Columbia workers.

Clark praised Ottawa’s efforts so far, and said collectively between B.C. And Ottawa everyone has “left no stone unturned” in trying to get a deal

She sharply criticized the former administration of President Barack Obama.

“The fact is, the Obama administration did not want a new deal,” she said. “They talked a good talk and they wrote a nice press release and it all looked really good on paper. But they never ever were interested in getting a deal and it’s my hope the Trump administration, despite some of the rhetoric we’ve seen, because they have been squarely focused on American jobs and growing the economy, will recognize that choking off the supply of Canadian softwood is only going to kill jobs, it’s going to make houses way more expensive and that’s going to be a real drag on American economic growth.”

Clark said she hopes that as the price for consumers looking for wood at Home Depot in the U.S. rises because of the dispute, and as the American housing boom is negatively affected by the lack of supply of Canadian products, she hopes Trump turns into a dance partner who wants to negotiate with Canada.

She also re-iterated a call for a united provincial position, despite the ongoing provincial election, noting that any political responses might appear to be subsidies of Canadian product and undermine the country’s appeals to the U.S. sanctions.

“I think we do need to be measured and we don’t want to get into any knee jerk responses,” she said. “And certainly workers don’t need politicians playing politics with their jobs.”

That did not stop her from broadsiding United Steelworkers International president Leo Gerard, who stood beside Trump for protectionist policies on steel and whom Clark accused of selling out Canadian interests and be allied with the B.C. NDP.

Clark’s event was live-streamed at facebook.com/ChristyClarkForBC.

Read more on the softwood lumber dispute HERE.

NDP:

 New Democratic Party Leader John Horgan, who had a campaign stop this morning at Burnaby Hospital, put the blame for this latest U.S.-Canada lumber dispute squarely on premier Clark.

“B.C. has lost 30,000 forestry jobs under Christy Clark’s Liberals and now her failure to get a softwood deal is putting thousands more at risk,” Horgan said in a statement. “At a time like this, British Columbians deserve a premier who will fight these unfair tariffs with everything they’ve got.”

The last softwood lumber agreement expired in 2015 and after a year of standstill, the U.S. industry in November again demanded duties.

From Rob Shaw:

NDP Leader John Horgan accused Clark’s Liberals of inaction on the file, and for failing to negotiate a deal over the past two and a half years.

“I don’t understand how the premier can sit idly by,” he said, citing U.S. visits by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.

“It strikes me this inaction has been extremely costly to us.”

He chastised Clark for sending David Emerson to Washington as softwood lumber envoy, dismissing the former federal cabinet minister as a mere “bureaucrat.”

“I commit to you and the people of British Columbia that I will fight tooth and nail to protect our jobs and protect our industry,” he said.

Horgan promised to visit Washington personally within 30 days should he win the May 9 election. He admitted too that the negotiations with the U.S. are federal with Canada and don’t directly involve the premier of B.C.

“It’s a federal issue but as I say the premiers of Saskatchewan and Alberta who don’t have the same softwood concerns…. They went to make their case to U.S. officials and I think you have to dial this up,” he said. “When I talk to representatives in the forest sector, they agree with me a political statement is critically important in these politically charged environment.”

Clark and Horgan sparred over political donations by Weyerhaeuser, which is helping the American lumber coalition in its fight against Canada. The company has donated to both Liberals and NDP, but more to the Liberals.

“That’s very troubling that the B.C. Liberals would be quite happy to take money from a company that’s working against the interests of B.C. workers,” said Horgan.

Clark shot back.

“The NDP have taken donations from Weyerhaeuser  The B.C. Liberals have taken donations from Weyerhaeuser.  And you know what the difference is between us?” she said. “When it comes to a softwood deal, John Horgan caves. So no wonder he thinks donations affect your decisions. I don’t care what Weyerhaeuser thinks. I’m going to fight for B.C. jobs. I’m going to make sure the lumber barons in the United States don’t get their way. And I think that might be the most clear difference illustrated between us.”

GREENS:

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, who stuck to Vancouver Island today where had a meet and greet at a Victoria retirement residence,  also took aim at Clark’s Liberals over the softwood lumber decision by the U.S., saying Clark’s move to call a special cabinet meeting Tuesday in response was nothing but theatre.

“The provincial government should have ensured that B.C.’s interests were front and centre on softwood lumber,” he said in a statement. 

“Sadly, we see today that they have failed. We needed leadership from Christy Clark before the tariffs were imposed, not afterwards. For the premier to now hold a special cabinet meeting frankly serves as political grandstanding and little else.”

WHAT HAPPENED ON DAY 14

LIBERALS:

• Liberal Leader Christy Clark campaigned in Delta at a company that relies on B.C. wood products. Clark said the province’s forest industry has “the potential to change the world” by supplying the materials and expertise to create iconic new structures and public spaces.

• Facing questions about donations to her party from forestry company Weyerhaeuser, Clark said she isn’t compromised because she doesn’t defend American demands for tariffs on Canadian softwood. The Liberal leader said she would never defend American interests that “want to kill Canadian jobs.”

• Clark accused NDP Leader John Horgan of “cozying up” to the United Steelworkers Union, saying the group pays the salaries for the New Democrats’ senior campaign director and deputy director.

NDP:

NDP Leader John Horgan.

• The NDP accused the Liberals of accepting millions of dollars in donations from forestry companies while jobs in the industry disappeared. 

• NDP Leader John Horgan is also promising to stand up for forest workers, saying in a statement he will “fight every day to get people working.”

Postmedia columnist Rob Shaw detailed the donation shaming in his Monday column: 

NDP Leader John Horgan said he’s “morally opposed” to donations like the ones his party has accepted by Steelworkers, but he has to play within B.C.’s existing rules on political financing to have a realistic shot of defeating the Liberals on May 9.

“I have to win an election based on the rules my opponents are playing with,” he said during a Monday morning CKNW interview. “I’m not going to tie my hands behind my back.”

The NDP campaign shot back by saying Clark’s criticizing of greedy lumber barons (which she repeated in Delta) is unfair because the Liberals have accepted $241,000 in donations from Weyerhaeuser, which is leading the U.S. fight to impose duties on B.C.’s softwood lumber.

GREENS:

B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver holds a copy of his party’s platform following a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, April 24, 2017.

• Andrew Weaver unveiled his party’s full campaign platform in Vancouver, promising that a Green government would hike taxes on carbon, corporations and high-income earners to pay for more spending on childcare, public health and infrastructure.

•  The Green plan includes operating deficits in the second and third years of a four-year mandate, followed by a $216-million surplus in the final fiscal year.

• The Green leader said the election is about trust, and voters can’t depend on the NDP or Liberals because both parties rely on corporate and union donations.

Read Postmedia reporter Larry Pynn’s story here.

In a release, the Greens presented the platform highlights:

New economy: Positioning B.C. to succeed on the forefront of the emerging economy through investments in innovation and sustainable business development.

Lifelong learning: Making historic investments into education, providing free early childhood education and daycare; investing in public education and supporting post-secondary students.

Income security: Modernizing income security for the new economy, through moving towards livable incomes, raising social assistance rates and piloting basic income.

Climate action: Taking strong action to tackle climate change and reach our carbon emissions targets.

Affordable homes: Targeting speculation in our real estate market and investing in increasing the supply of affordable homes.

With Canadian Press files

Police departments across Greater Victoria are looking for a man who broke into an Oak Bay home and attacked a woman inside with a machete around 7 a.m. this morning.

The 45-year-old woman called 911 after she sustained significant injuries to her upper body.

Oak Bay police were at the home at 2590 Esplanade within minutes and B.C. ambulance paramedics arrived to treat the woman.

The man fled, setting off a massive manhunt and resulting in area elementary schools being placed in a temporary “secure and hold” mode.

The woman was rushed to hospital and is now in surgery, said Oak Bay police spokesman Sgt. Rob Smith.

Investigators have not yet been able to interview the woman and the man’s motive is unknown.

“We have no idea what he was there for,” Smith said.

Smith did say there was forced entry to the home and the woman did not know the attacker.

Even though the man is at large and the weapon has not been recovered, the community is not in danger, he said. Smith said a random attack like this one is extremely rare in Oak Bay.

Smith said when the information came to police from a dispatcher, the weapon was described as a machete.

The attacker is described as a heavyset man in his 20s, wearing a brown jacket, dark pants and a light blue and white handkerchief on his neck.

The large home was surrounded by police tape this morning, as forensics identification officers collected evidence.

Saanich police’s major crime section is handling the investigation.

Smith said the beach was busy with dog walkers this morning so anyone who noticed anything suspicious is asked to call Oak Bay or Saanich police.

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Two people were rushed to hospital, one in critical condition, following an apartment fire Monday night in Burnaby.

Around 9 p.m., the fire broke out in a unit on the seventh floor of a high-rise building at 6070 McMurray St., according to Assistant Fire Chief Gavin Summers of the Burnaby Fire Department. 

Two residents evacuated the building with second- and third-degree burns to their torsos and upper bodies, Summers said.

One resident was in critical condition and the other in serious condition when they were taken to Vancouver General Hospital.

The fire was contained to the unit but caused smoke and water damage to five others. The department dispatched 31 firefighters, five engines and two ladder trucks to tame the blaze, along with a rescue and a command vehicle.

Summers said the fire originated in the kitchen and an investigation today will clarify its cause. 

The 20-storey building, called La Mirage, was built in 1987 and has 301 units, according to real-estate listings. 

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Members of Metro Vancouver’s regional parks committee will take a field trip to Bowen Island this week to discuss two plans for revitalizing a historic site in Crippen Regional Park.

“The purpose of the project is to find a long-term sustainable plan for the site that connects it better with the park and provides better access for public use to the space and the buildings, and also tells the story of the unique history of the site,” said Jeffrey Fitzpatrick, a manager for Metro Vancouver regional parks.

The 0.9-hectare Davies Orchard site was originally owned by William Davies, who rented tents for camping in his orchard in the early 1900s.

It is now home to 10 of the 20 cottages that were built there by the Union Steamship Company in 1928. Four of them are in use — two as the Bowen Island Heritage Preservation Association’s museum and office and two as short-term rentals operated by the marina. The other six are in various states of disrepair and require significant upgrades. The site is planted with a number of heritage species.

Metro Vancouver believes the site is underused because the cottages are deteriorating, there is no clearly defined program for the site, there is limited open space, and although it is near the main street it is relatively secluded from the rest of Snug Cove.

“We want to see more people having access to that site and enjoying that park,” said Fitzpatrick.

Maureen Nicholson, a Bowen Island municipal councillor who is also a member of Metro’s parks committee, said the orchard is a prominent site near the island’s main street, and its revitalization is important to the community.

“Personally, I think it’s quite wonderful to see some movement on that area,” she said. “For the most part it’s just been marked by neglect, and to have that essentially in the centre of your village is not a very healthy thing.”

Nicholson, who has had a long involvement with the heritage preservation group, said the two options are the result of a year’s worth of thorough work by Metro Vancouver parks staff and reflect a compromise.

“It’s not full-scale heritage restoration, but it’s also not full-scale demolition of the cottages,” she said.

Metro did public engagement and site, building and heritage assessments before developing two concepts for the orchard.

The first preserves the four cottages that are already updated. The second retains four cottages and upgrades two more for use as public, bookable facilities. Both concepts include open space, site reorganization, integration of orchard plantings, a nature trail, interpretive displays, marking the decommissioned cottage sites with plinths and a programming area.

The first concept, which is more focused on open space, would cost $833,000 to execute and $25,000 to operate annually. The second, heritage-focused option would cost $1.34 million, plus $35,000 for annual operating costs.

Personally, Nicholson would prefer to see the heritage-focused option go ahead, but she said both options represent a significant investment in the community of Bowen Island.

“That’s a very substantial investment in our regional park, and a very welcome investment.”

The committee will discuss the concepts at Wednesday’s meeting and recommend that the Metro Vancouver board direct staff to complete public engagement and then report back, or receive the report and provide alternative direction.

Fitzpatrick said he is looking forward to hearing from the public.

“We’re trying to accommodate all sorts of important uses on the site and look for meaningful ways to do that,” he said. “These are concept options and we still have to do some engagement. We really want to hear what people think.”

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A murder victim, whose body was found Monday morning along the banks of the Fraser River in Richmond, has been identified as Muzaffer Darwaish, a 28-year-old Richmond resident.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team revealed Tuesday that Darwaish, who was known to police, died as a result of gunshot wounds.

Darwaish had a court record — a collection of drug and weapons offences — that dated back to 2007 .

“Mr. Darwaish was known to police, and his death is believed to be targeted.  It is still early in the investigation, but Mr. Darwaish’s murder does not appear to be associated to any other homicides, or recent acts of violence,” IHIT spokesperson Cpl. Meghan Foster said in a release.

Foster said Darwaish was last seen leaving his residence on Sunday night.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448), or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Original post: The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called in to investigate the discovery of a man’s body on the banks of the Fraser River.

The body of an unidentified male was discovered at 6:30 a.m. Monday near the 2800 block of River Road.

Richmond RCMP says it appears to have been a targeted killing.

Yellow police tape is up and parts of Terra Nova Park are closed off while police investigate.

People are being turned away from the river dike by police.

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Police block the trail and the road after a body was found in the 2800 block River Road in Richmond, B.C., April 24, 2017.

Researchers at Thompson Rivers University are installing Canada’s first solar electric road surface in Kamloops.

Michael Mehta’s Solar Compass Project will embed 64 super-durable solar panels right outside the main doors of the university’s Arts and Education Building.

“The system will produce enough power to run 40 computers in that building, eight hours a day, 365 days a year,” said Mehta.

Michael Mehta is a geography and environmental studies professor at Thompson Rivers University.

While the panels in their current form might not be practical for a busy road surface, they could easily be integrated into urban infrastructure as sidewalks to power street lighting or even to carry fibre-optic signals for telecommunications, said Mehta.

“There is some concern, and it’s justified, that people will start to use arable land for solar farms, because it’s lucrative,” he said. “We think that using existing infrastructure like roads and pathways makes a lot more sense.”

That opens the door for smarter road surfaces that could change the number of lanes by literally moving the white lines or display dynamic road-based signage that changes with driving conditions detected by integrated sensors, such as black ice.

“This solar surface is the scaffold for all those future applications,” he said. “Once we prove the concept, all those other things are relatively easy to embed in this technology.”

The 1,200-square-foot array of panels will produce 15,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. The panels — produced by Vancouver’s Solar Earth Technologies — are one metre by two metres in size and consist of 50 solar modules each.

The array will require 32 micro-inverters to convert direct current to alternating current that we typically use in our homes.

“Modern solar equipment is pretty straightforward, so there isn’t a lot of infrastructure required,” said Mehta. “The micro-inverters are about the size of an iPad, we need some wiring and other than that there isn’t much more involved.”

While the TRU installation will only have to stand up to foot traffic, the panels are strong enough to withstand the weight of a fire truck, he said.

“The low-hanging fruit for urban environments is to make better use of sidewalks, which aren’t subject to much wear and tear,” he said. “They could easily power a city’s outdoor lighting and become part of the telecommunications infrastructure.”

Conventional solar panels made with tempered glass surfaces last 30 years or more, but it remains to be seen how the high-friction polymer materials required for a road-surface panel will stand up to various levels of traffic, impacts and environmental conditions.

The installation is slated for June.

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WOSS, B.C. — An RCMP investigation into a train derailment that killed three people on northern Vancouver Island has concluded.

Cpl. Janelle Shoihet confirms no criminal activity caused the derailment on April 19 in the small community of Woss.

WorkSafeBC will take over the investigation into the crash on the Englewood Railway, a 90-kilometre long spur line operated by Western Forest Products.

The Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday that provincial officials has also asked it to provide investigators to gather information and assess the incident.

Two people were also hurt when the train derailed, spilling logs onto a five-person crew who had been on the tracks.

United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 spokesman Jack Miller says one of the two survivors has had multiple surgeries to repair crushed legs, while the other man has been released from hospital and both men are expected to recover.

Related

• Workers, investigators search for answers in fatal Vancouver Island train derailment
• Investigation begins as third person dies in derailment on Vancouver Island
• Two dead, three injured in lumber train derailment on Vancouver Island

CRANBROOK – In a rare move, Winston Blackmore and his lawyer were excused Wednesday from his trial on a charge of polygamy.

Blackmore is a co-defendant with James Oler, who is also a former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Blackmore’s lawyer, Blair Suffredine, requested that both he and his client be excused from a voir dire aimed at establishing that Blackmore’s co-accused, James Oler, had voluntarily made statements to RCMP and had not been coerced or threatened. The voir dire is expected to last at least a day.

Suffredine said Blackmore’s businesses are “in disarray” and suffering because he’s been away so much with the trial that began last week in B.C. Supreme Court.

“He’s virtually been bankrupted,” the lawyer said.

As for his own presence, Suffredine said he’d be “like a potted plant” since he would not have the right to question the witness or make submissions in the voir dire.

Justice Sheri Donegan described it as “an unusual request. . .  I’ve not been asked this before.”

The Criminal Code requires the accused be present at trial unless there are unusual circumstances. But other than excusing defendants for misconduct in the courtroom by the accused, it doesn’t specify what those circumstances might be. That, it leaves to the discretion of the judge.

Crown prosecutor Peter Wilson didn’t opposed the request. But he did point out that there would be references to Blackmore, his wives and how the joint investigation was conducted. He also noted that the focus of the investigation was not polygamy, but on child sexual exploitation.

The two men are each facing one count of polygamy, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

There are 24 women listed on Blackmore’s 2014 indictment. There are four on Oler’s indictment, even though marriage records already entered in evidence indicate that Oler has had five wives.

The voir dire continues.

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WHERE THE LEADERS ARE ON DAY 16 OF THE CAMPAIGN

B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver, B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark will engage in some verbal sparring tonight in the campaign’s second leaders debate. 

Postmedia will be streaming the debate online at vancouversun.com and supplying live fact-checking of the leaders’ statements from reporters Sam Cooper, Lori Culbert and Gord Hoekstra.

The debate, the only one to be broadcast in prime time, will air live at 6:30 p.m. on CTV Vancouver and Global B.C.  CBC Vancouver will stream the debate live on Facebook and radio, but will broadcast it tape-delayed at 8 p.m. on TV following NHL playoff hockey.

The three leaders squared off last Thursday in a radio debate, that was also streamed online and broadcast on one Vancouver TV station, that produced some fireworks between Horgan and Clark, as the two frontrunners not only argued policy but also personal space.

“The premier kept wanting to poke and poke, she was physically pushing me what was I supposed to do?” Horgan said, referencing a point where Clark asked him to calm down and touched his arm.  “What would the response have been if I had laid my hand on the premier? That’s all I‘ve got to say about that, I’ll leave it to your speculation about how that would have gone.”

Clark, in her media availability, said she was surprised he felt the brief touch of his arm was an issue. “I’m a little bit surprised he took it that way,” she said. “If he touched my arm and offered me a glass of water, I’d probably have said thanks I appreciate it.”

Green Leader Andrew Weaver, NDP Leader John Horgan and Liberal Leader Christy Clark (left to right).

NDP:

NDP Leader John Horgan gave a muted response to Clark’s proposal, saying there are a range of moves that could be taken on softwood lumber.

Horgan says if the NDP wins the election, he would speak with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about energy, raw log exports, “a whole host of issues that I believe we have to play on this negotiation.”

Horgan campaigned in Burnaby on soaring housing costs, promising to make housing more affordable by closing loopholes in the rental tenancy act and building 114,000 new units.

Greens:

Green Leader Andrew Weaver backed Clark’s lobbying efforts to ban thermal coal, but accused the Liberals of waiting too long to take that position.

Weaver says he has suggested stopping the expansion of thermal coal exports but couldn’t get support from the other two parties in the legislature.

Weaver says he hopes Clark’s move “is more than just election politics.”

Liberals:

Liberal Leader Christy Clark reacts to new U.S. duties on softwood lumber by calling on Ottawa to ban the shipment of thermal coal through British Columbia, a move that would hurt producers south of the border.

Clark says she has considered the coal ban before, but as trade relations with the Trump administration sour she is “free” to take action without damaging negotiations on softwood lumber.

Clark says a ban is in line with her push for a liquefied natural gas industry, arguing if China were to shift from coal to LNG it would have “a massive impact” on greenhouse gas emissions.

WHAT HAPPENED ON DAY 14

Liberals: 

Liberal Leader Christy Clark.

• Leader Christy Clark suspended campaigning, opting instead to address developments in the softwood lumber dispute after the U.S. government announced duties of up to 24 per cent on Canadian wood exports.

• Speaking at a lumber mill in Maple Ridge, Clark cautioned against a knee-jerk reactions that could jeopardize negotiations and said “cooler heads need to prevail.”

• Clark said her government tried to reach a softwood deal with the previous U.S. administration, but found no willingness to negotiate. The Liberal leader said she’s hopeful U.S. President Donald Trump’s government will recognize that limiting the supply of Canadian softwood will harm American jobs.

NDP: 

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan.

• The NDP announced plans to build a new $1.2 billion hospital in Burnaby, B.C. Leader John Horgan said the facility would include a family urgent care centre to reduce pressure on the hospital’s emergency room.

• Horgan attacked Clark on softwood lumber, saying she has not given the issue “the urgency it deserves” and now thousands of B.C. workers are at risk of losing their jobs.

• Horgan promised that if elected premier, he would travel to Washington, D.C., within 30 days to sit down with U.S. representatives and talk about securing a softwood lumber deal.

Greens: 

B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver.

• Andrew Weaver called news of the lumber dispute “devastating” for British Columbia’s forest industry. He said the government has failed to ensure the province’s interests were front and centre in softwood negotiations.

•Weaver said far too many forest tenure licences had been awarded to multinational companies that have no interest in value-added jobs. He said a B.C. Green government would put restrictions on the export of raw logs.

Canadian Press files