VICTORIA – Andrew Wilkinson’s BC Liberals have doubled down on their refusal to provide cabinet documents to assist the BC NDP government’s ongoing fight against dirty money. This morning in the Legislature, BC Liberal MLAs spoke against a motion that read:

“Be it resolved that this House urge that the former Members of the Executive Council of the previous government agree to waive Cabinet privilege on all documents related to money laundering as requested by the Attorney General on August 10, 2018.”

The request to waive cabinet confidence came after Rich Coleman claimed the BC Liberal government did “everything we could” to combat the rise of money laundering in B.C. The Attorney General then wrote to Mike de Jong and subsequently to Andrew Wilkinson asking that the BC Liberals allow the current government access to these documents to aid in establishing policies and structures to end this criminal activity.

“It’s disappointing to see the BC Liberals continue to obstruct government’s efforts to tackle dirty money,” says BC NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon, who moved the motion. “They insist they made efforts to tackle money laundering, but they are refusing to show their work. If they actually did the work, what do they have to hide?”

Since forming government the BC NDP has introduced changes that have produced a significant drop in suspicious cash transactions at casinos. Two reports on money laundering in British Columbia were delivered to government on March 31, and a thorough review is underway prior to them being released.

This morning’s debate in the legislature can be seen here.