B.C. NDP wants answers on Bell's email to Liberal insider, lobbyist
November 07, 2012 - 5:36 PM
VICTORIA - The Opposition New Democrats want answers from B.C. Jobs Minister Pat Bell about an email he sent to the Liberal party's vice-president who was lobbying for a Chinese investor in Prince Rupert.
New Democrat finance critic Bruce Ralston says the optics of Bell's email to Bill Belsey stink — especially since Belsey was working for the Chinese businessman who bought the former Skeena Cellulose pulp mill at Prince Rupert.
Ralston did not outright call for Bell's resignation, but says the email sharing situation is similar to that of former Liberal cabinet minister Harry Bloy who resigned from cabinet last March after saying he provided an internal email to a third party.
Bell's ministry issued a statement saying the shared information from his ministry bureaucrats was an overview of Chinese-based media reports on the businessman involved with the Prince Rupert property.
The statement says the information in Bell's email provided was already well-known in Prince Rupert.
The City of Prince Rupert is embroiled in a legal dispute with the mill's owner, Sun Wave Forest Products, after the city took over the property for unpaid taxes.
Belsey, a former Prince Rupert area Liberal MLA, was not immediately available for comment.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012