The Written Word
for October 22, 2000

It is a legal maxim and a truism that "justice delayed is justice denied."

Take the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holdings Case. That started back in 1976, nearly a quarter of a century ago. It is still being investigated. Then there is the Apec Inquiry, three years after the event, still in progress with no end in sight. Those who might have predicted that this mess might have had an impact on the federal election now underway might well think that it’s no more than a damp squib and will not affect a single vote.

But the enquiries that should catch our attention are the two into the Glen Clark matter.

Within a month or less of the police investigation of the Clark house on March 2, 1999 it was known that Glen Clark had not paid the labour on his porches done by Dimitrious Pilarinos, the contractor who wanted a gaming license from Clark’s government. In an appearance on my show, a few weeks later, then Premier Clark simply refused to confirm that he had paid the labour leaving no one in any doubt that he had not. It is now mid October 2000, 19 months later, and Clark is charged with two offences arising out of the allegation that he did not pay the labour cost to Mr. Pilarinos. 19 months to advance nowhere.

It’s not as if just Glen Clark suffered from this delay although he certainly did. But however much one might lack sympathy for Clark, one has to feel for his wife and kids.

In defence of the police it might be a good guess to assume that what they were working on was the suggestion that Mr Clark had been offered a piece of Mr Pilarinos action. But 19 months to decide that? How many possible witnesses were there?

What is even harder to understand is the time being taken by the Honourable H.A.D. Oliver, the Conflicts of Interest Chairman. His task is surely much simpler than that of the police. He must decide whether or not Mr Clark, in having work done on his place by a person seeking a gaming licenses, was in a conflicting situation. The test here is not a criminal one and neither are the sanctions. Yet 19 months later Mr Oliver seems not to have advanced from square one.

With the Commonwealth case there were huge complications requiring the need of a forensic accountant of the highest order. But in the Clark cases the issues were narrow ones and scarcely complicated. Surely Crown Counsel’s office and the police can be expected to do better than this.