Blair Wilson
Blair Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country | |
| Assumed office 2006 | |
| Preceded by | John Reynolds |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 18, 1963 North Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Political party | Independent January 29, 2008-present |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal Party of Canada 2006-October 28, 2007 Liberal without caucus October 29, 2007-January 28, 2008 |
Blair Wilson (born May 18, 1963 in North Vancouver, British Columbia) is the Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) in the 39th Canadian parliament for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country electoral district. He was elected on January 23, 2006 in the 2006 federal election. Elected as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Wilson now sits as an independent.
Blair Wilson is a chartered accountant, who lives in West Vancouver and owns a CA firm in North Vancouver. Wilson holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Victoria.
In the 2006 election, Wilson narrowly defeated John Weston, the Conservative Party candidate. Weston lost by 1.5%, or 976 votes. On October 28, 2007, The Province newspaper alleged that Wilson's victory was aided by unlawful, off-the-books cash spending.
Wilson became involved in politics as the organizer for "The 2010 Rally on Robson", an event held in support of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver during the City of Vancouver's plebiscite. He stood for Parliament in the 2004 federal election, narrowly losing to John Reynolds by 1687 votes in what the Conservative Party had considered a safe seat. At one point the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had declared Wilson the winner. However, when some of the more rural results came in, Reynolds won. Wilson campaigned extensively from the time of this defeat to the election in 2006.
October 2007 Bill Lougheed Claims
In a four page article on October 28, 2007, The Province, a Vancouver-based newspaper, published, mostly unrelated to his duties of public office, allegations from Wilson's father in law Bill Lougheed alleged that
- Wilson did not report campaign expenses to Elections Canada and paid for supplies off the books, in cash, a breach of the Act.
- Wilson and his wife, Kelly, borrowed roughly $1.9 million from his in-laws to purchase six properties, and much remains unpaid despite the fact they have sold some homes.
- Wilson and his wife were subject to Social Services Tax Act liens on three properties and owe $2.1 million in bank mortgages.
- Wilson misled the media about the true extent of his business success, exaggerating the number of restaurants he founded and claiming to have sold an accountancy business his in-laws claim closed, among other discrepancies.
- Wilson lost hundreds of thousands of family investors' money in the stock market and yet billed them for management fees.
- Wilson's two restaurants, Mahoneys and Wilson's Steakhouse, closed. He was taken twice to the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal for refusing to pay employees, was sued twice for failing to pay contractors, was twice compelled by the courts to pay GST owing, and was also taken to court by a supplier over $33,839 that was owed (this amount was later paid).
- Wilson bought extravagant gifts for a girlfriend in Poland while working for a restaurant chain called Pan Smak Pizza Inc.
It was also reported in the same article that Elections Canada had opened an investigation into the alleged violations of the Act, based on evidence delivered to Elections Canada on October 24, 2007[1], purportedly by an anonymous group of former campaign workers.
According to Wilson, "These are just unfounded allegations."[2] The same day the article appeared Wilson resigned from his position as National Revenue critic of the Liberal shadow caucus. Wilson also called for a formal Elections Canada investigation into the matter, and has taken out legal counsel to pursue all the other legal implications.
On October 28, 2007 Wilson resigned from the Liberal Party caucus for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast amid allegations of improper election campaign spending, retaining his seat in the House of Commons as an independent for the time being.[3]
References
- ^ Steve Janke (November 3, 2007). "The Case against Blair Wilson -- The Charges (in 10 parts)". Angry in the Great White North. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|publisher= - ^ Elaine O'Connor (October 28, 2007). "West Vancouver-Sunshine coast MP has unpaid debts, allegations of improper campaign spending". The Province. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Vancouver MP quits Liberal caucus over election spending allegations". CBC News. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)