Vancouver Courier
for May 31, 1998

During my checkered career I once went to law school - actually graduated too. I don't remember much of what I was taught but I well recall the Latin term "Respondeat Superior" which means "let the master answer." It is the underlying principle of the law of Agency and makes the general proposition that the master is responsible for the actions of his servant. Now there are exceptions, of course, but none of them apply to the situation which we have, nauseatingly, called Hydrogate.

The superiors or masters here were then Premier Mike Harcourt, and Glen Clark, who became Premier, ironically, because Harcourt couldn't handle a scandal called (upchuck if you must) Nanaimogate. The servant was Hydro Chairman John Laxton and his Board.

Mr Harcourt has, some say, been unfairly tagged with Nanaimogate because it wasn't his doing. Well, he should have stuck around because the next one, Hydrogate, he was up to his eyeballs in.

The government's into a lot of Crown Corporations, boards and agencies -some important, some not so important and some inconsequential. But B.C. Hydro stands head and shoulders above the rest. It's as important a corporation as any, private or public, in British Columbia.

The Hydro Chairman, who directs policy, is invariably a political appointment whose loyalty to the government and its philosophy is unquestioned. There's nothing wrong with this. B.C. Hydro is an offspring of government - amongst other things it's their cash cow. It also has much to do with economic development in the Province and is mandated to get electricity to industry and homes. It's a huge responsibility.

Glen Clark, at all material times, was the Cabinet Minister responsible for B.C. Hydro. He was the man in charge of giving government direction to Hydro and reporting on what was happening to the government.

Mr Clark appointed a personal aide, Adrian Dix, to sit as his surrogate on the Hydro Board and report directly to him. This was the first dereliction of duty for the responsibility was Mr Clark's not that of Mr Dix. The minister can scarcely shuck responsibility on to a political hack.

But the critical issue is the absence of direction given the Chairman, John Laxton, when the ill fated (probably) Raiwind project in Pakistan was passed by the Hydro Board. It's interesting that Mr Clark has not, to his credit (and he can use all of that he can find) blamed Mr Dix. Nor has he claimed ignorance on the basis that he was a busy minister, blah, blah, blah. In the latter case, however, Mr Clark had no choice but to admit to full knowledge for, after all, he boasted to the Legislature about this wonderful deal in Pakistan where everyone would make a lot of money. (What he didn't say in the House that for "everyone" read Hydro insiders and dear, dear friends of the NDP.)

What then is the minister responsible's duty?

At the very minimum he must know about major Hydro policy decisions and give to Hydro the position of the shareholders, you and me. He must, at the end opf the day, be the decision making process for major initiatives like a major deal with Pakistani partners doing business with the Pakistan government - especially when a bunch of people directly involved in Hydro, their families plus friends of the Party are going to profit handsomely.

His responsibility is what the business world knows as "due diligence." He must be satisfied as to whom we're dealing with, their capacity to perform their part of the bargain, and their integrity.

Interesting, isn't it. Here is a government which bleats endlessly about morality in government not caring a fig for it when they themsleves or a huge corporation for which they are responsibility is involved.

With Raiwind, due diligence was a no brainer. One would have thought that everyone knew that compared to Pakistan, the most corrupt countries in the world look like choirboys.

But suppose not. A couple of phone calls would have disclosed that Pakistan is run by whomever has enough bribe and extortion money in the kitty to out buy elections which in every other respect are fraudulent as well; that then President Bhutto was the second most corrupt politician in the world, the first being her husband who insisted upon 25% of the action before the government would approve any deal. Even an NDP minister would be expected to conclude from the most superficial research that Pakistan was not a place with which decent folks entered into serious contracts.

Under Premier Mike Harcourt and Minister Glen Clark the Province of British Columbia made a deal with, to be highly charitable, shady characters well known both in and out of Pakistan as just that.

Yet there's no political forfeit. No one has resigned. No one has even apologized.

In addition to all their other manifold sins and wickedness, have the NDP repealed the doctrine of Respondeat Superior?

It would certainly seem so.