Most political news in Vancouver has been swirling around the $100 million loan that is reportedly been authorized as a bailout cushion to either Millennium Development Corp (the company building the Olympic Village) or Fortress (the American lender funding the project).

Despite the host of petty questions that have gained centre stage in the drama - who leaked the info, is this political grandstanding by Vision, is it a distraction from Gregor Robertson's $173 transit fine - the key question for most voters is the one concerning democratic principle.

There are two ways of looking at the situation. In broad terms they fall along two distinct philisophical lines:

1. The corporate meritocracy: NPA argues that the details concerning the $100 million loan are part of ongoing negotiations with the developers and financial backers and that strict confidence is necessary to protect the city and to obtain the best outcome for tax payers. Implicit in this statement are two points, 1) that elected municipal officials are the best stewards of public finances, and 2) as such should be trusted to manage city affairs to the best possible outcome for all.

2. The transparent democracy: Vision argues that because of the high value of the loan, and significant questions about the information upon which the authorization of the loan was based, the loan needs to be re-examined in public to ensure that the correct decisions are being made and that they were made for the right reasons. Implicit in this statment are two points, 1) that elected officials are subject to personal motivations and influence and 2) transparency is needed to maintain accountability to the public and a genuine democratic process.

This is the real issue Vancouver voters are facing.

On the backdrop of these two perspectives we have the following question marks:

• the magnitude of the loan guarantee itself and the means of covering it
• the role of the city to disburse signficant public funds
  
• the city CFO had significant concerns about the amount of risk in the project
• that same CFO has resigned under uncertain circumstances
• Millennium is in apparent financial trouble and has halted work on their project in West Vancouver, and their Nanaimo project is in trouble
  
• Fortress is in apparent financial trouble and is one of the lenders involved in a legal battle with Donald Trump over an unfinished Chicago skyscraper, they have seen their stock tumble this year, and they will be releasing their 3rd quarter report on Thursday
• The apparent conflict of interest between the NPA and Millennium in the lead up to the award of the contract

These are critical questions, and the way we choose to address and answer them ultimately defines how our elected democracies function. On the basis of these two philosophies, and in the midst of these questions, the NPA says that they should be trusted to make the right decisions. Vision says public accountability is necessary to ensure the right decisions are made. Which is correct?

The situation has arisen in the broader context of an American economic meltdown that threatens the entire world ecomony. A meltdown caused in large part by tax policy, deregulation, and public spending that all place increasing amounts of public funds into the hands of large corporations and the wealthiest citizens with little to no oversight.

In financially backing the $1 billion Olympic Village to the tune of almost 1/3rd - $290 million all in - The NPA's handling of the development represents an American model that is proving disastrously outdated.


Update November 13th, 2008: Fortress' third quarter report states greater than expected losses.

A shaky looking Peter Ladner fielded some tough questions from Global TV this afternoon over city council's authorization for a loan of up to $100 million to bailout Vancouver's Olympic Village.

During the interview, Ladner defended his refusal to divulge the details of the in-camera meeting that led to the potential loan. His spin may have carried the day had it not been for Global's damning follow up story.

Quoting documents released through Freedom of Information requests, the Global story implicates the former president of Ladner's NPA party, Paul Barbeau, with Armeco, the group who owns the Millennium Development Corp - developers of the Olympic Village and a potential recipients of the city's $100 million loan.

To quote:

"Millennium is the development arm of the Armeco Group. The NPA council picked Armeco's Millennium for the massive (Olympic Village) deal, and Paul Barbeau was the President of the NPA and the President of Armeco Construction Limited in the years prior to the award."

A fine spot for Vancouver tax payers. See the Ladner interview below, and click here for the video story on Barbeau (if it won't load, go here and select "NPA linked to project").

A big story broke this morning in the Vancouver civic campaign via the Globe and Mail. Gary Mason reported that the city had agreed to provide loans of up to $100 million to the Millennium Development Corporation in order to shore up the floundering construction of the Olympic Village.

The city's Director of Finance has apparently resigned over the issue, and NPA mayoral candidate (and the current chair of the city finance committee) Peter Ladner has been silent since being confronted with the story at this morning's mayoral debate.

In addition to local media, the CBC, The Canadian Press, The Calgary Herald and The UK Guardian have all picked up the story, dealing a potentially a devastating blow to Ladner and the NPA with just 9 day's left in the campaign. It was the top story on the Global TV, and to be frank, the sight of Ladner publicly shocked when confronted with the news that the city's Director of Finance had resigned was not good for his cause.

More from Vision here and here.

The failure of the mainstream media to engage in even the most basic fact checking exercise is one of the biggest barriers for change across a host of issues.

It's an issue well known to any advocate of action on the climate crisis. A three second Google search is more than enough to prove false the most sophisticated misinformation, so it takes a perverse level of intellectual blindness to continue to print so called balanced stories that feature facts on one side and outright lies on the other.

That brings me to the events in Vancouver this week. Gregor Robertson and Peter Ladner squared off in the biggest debate of the election schedule on Wednesday night to take on the front line issues of homelessness and affordable housing.

It fell to the campaign team to lay out the truth behind a blatant misrepresentation of facts by Mr. Ladner when he said that he had never voted against the city's Homeless Action Plan - a clarification that took no more work than checking the Council Meeting Minutes posted online at the city website.

Good research and a talent with video goes a long way. Here's the clip put together by our campaign team. Ultimately, we need an independent watch dog group that specifically focuses on doing the job most media will not do - exposing political lies. Until then, enjoy the truth from Vancouver...

I believe in a genuine free market where consumers are offered choices and business needs to compete in order to deliver the best product.  Most of us embrace this vision in one form or another, but in the hands of many right wing parties the idea often become bastardized.