Did Larry Campbell Split from his Wife?

Did former Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell split from his wife, Dr. Enid Edwards? I wondered when I read an interview that I stumbled on today as I googled articles on the Olympic Village going into receivership. In the interview dated Oct. 2010, the reporter mentioned that Campbell had moved into a one bedroom condo he purchased at Olympic Village, from a bachelor suite in Kitsilano.

A bachelor suite? He lived in a house on the west side with his wife when he was mayor. I remember her telling the media that she liked to tend to her flowers in the yard there. She must still be around as she's listed as a pathologist on staff at UBC.

Maybe he got rid of the house.

But he also got rid of any mention of his wife. She's not mentioned on his web bio for his current job as a Senator, and she's not mentioned on the Wikipedia page about his life and accomplishments. No mention of him even being a married man, which is unusual for a political figure as they usually like to project a stable image.

I recall when Campbell originally bought his condo, the media reported that he had bought two, side by side. His and hers?

I'm curious about whether there is yet another person Larry Campbell couldn't get along with.

Mayor Sullivan Asked for Criminal Investigation into Ethel Whitty

Vancouver’s Mayor Sam Sullivan announced that he had picked up the phone this pre-election week to ask police to investigate the leak of a document from a secret meeting about a planned City bailout of the Olympic Village developer. So a Vancouver woman figures Sullivan can pick up the phone a second time before his term ends, and call police to request an investigation into allegations of fraud against the Director of the City-run Carnegie Center, Ethel Whitty, and Carnegie Security boss, Skip Everall.

Mayor Sullivan has been asked in writing to ensure that police investigate the alleged fabrication of 15 witnesses to justify banning a woman from the Carnegie Seniors Center where she regularly uses the VPL computers. Neither Whitty or Everall have been able to name these witnesses. “They don’t exist”, says the woman, who was barred because she raised her voice to tell a coffee seller who was yelling and flailing his arms at her, that she had taken his abuse for ten years and wasn’t taking it anymore. Literally hundreds of people have complained over the past decade about this coffee seller; one man even punched him in the nose.

Whitty and Everall both promised the woman, in separate taped meetings, that they would talk to a witness – the only one who has a name and a face in this case – who could corroborate the woman's claim that there were not 15 “witnesses” at the Seniors Center that day. The witess recalls there being “three or four people in there” that day and he did not see Everall talk to any of them. But neither Whitty or Everall have spoken to this witness as promised, even though he is at Carnegie every day. Roughly five months have gone by.

Rather than speaking to this witness about what he saw that day, Everall is alleged to have attempted to influence this witness, with behaviour such as approaching him in the Carnegie Centre, putting his arm around his shoulder and saying, "OOhhhhh, [name deleted], my friend!"

This woman is one of countless non-violent people who have claimed over the years that evidence and unnamed witnesses have been concocted at Carnegie to justify banning them after a display of assertiveness or confidence. One of the most high profile cases is that of William Simpson who was delivered a letter by Whitty banning him from Carnegie Center two weeks after he was elected to the Board. The letter claimed he was being banned for having a website which "features links" to the Downtown Eastside Enquirer. But when asked about the banning by CBC Radio, Whitty concocted a claim that Simpson posed a WorkSafe" risk. To this day, she has never informed Simpson of any WorkSafe risk, and has produced no evidence to support it. "They've been getting away with fraud for too long over there," said Simpson, when asked this morning about the request that Mayor Sullivan ensure a criminal investigation.

Taped evidence has surfaced as well that Everall is using his powers as Carnegie Security boss for personal retaliation.

The woman claims she exhausted every channel available to her at Carnegie to have the fraudulent material expunged from City paper and computer records before seeking a criminal investigation. There will be people in the neighborhood, she says, who will be angry with her for requesting a criminal investigation into Whitty's activities, "because it makes Carnegie look bad". She adds, "It wouldn't be the first time Whitty has wreaked havoc on friendships in the community."

Mayor Sullivan has also been asked to ensure that Whitty ceases to act as a fundraiser until a fraud investigation is completed.

Peter Ladner Hears Raymond Louie Discussing $100M Loan on CKNW and Angrily Phones In

My guess is that Peter Ladner will lose the Mayor's race over the scandal involving a secret promise of a $100 million loan from the City to keep developers of the Olympic Village afloat. Add the $100 million to guarantees already given to the developers by the City and you're looking at roughly $300 million, in turbulent economic times. The Globe & Mail reports that early voting is more brisk than expected due to people being upset over this issue.

When people were just getting wind last week of the $100M loan that City councillors were apparently going to hide from us until after the election, I heard Vision Councillor Raymond Louie and NPA's Peter Ladner on CKNW's Christie Clark show. Ladner wasn't scheduled to appear but he heard what Louis was saying 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 had since learned that Estelle Lo, the City accountant, had concerns about the deal. She was apparently not at the meeting. There is a rumor, which Clark couldn't get confirmation on, that Lo had 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 covering 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 Vancouver School Board, 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 argued that Louie had been at the same meeting as him, the one in which the decision had been made, and that there had been nothing new on the issue since. His point was that Louie knew as much as he did. But Louie retorted that being Chair of the Finance Committee, Ladner was privy to more information than he was.

Ladner mentioned at one point that Estelle Lo 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 Lo'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 this radio exchange interview, CKNW News reported that Gregor Robertson had held a a press conference on the issue. None of the Vision Councillors who had voted for the potential $100 million loan to developers showed up at the press conference to answer questions.

Both Vision and the NPA deserve blame for the $100M scandal as all councillors voted for it. This weekend there was speculation in the Globe & Mail that the new man Gregor Robertson would be hardest hit if voters responded by staying home on election day. But the voter turnout for the early polls indicates they're not staying home. I think Ladner's finished.