CRAFTY SAM SLINGS WHOPPERS

Mayor Sam Sullivan is proving to be a lot craftier than I have ever
given him credit for. Just look at his statement to the RCMP about
him paying for two addicts to buy illicit drugs.

I'm not just referring to the content of the statement or the timing
of it. There is also the very fact it was made public and the way it
was made public.

When have you ever seen any statement made to the police that was
released to the media at the very same time it was delivered to the
cops? Why would Sullivan do that?

Maybe he doesn't trust the cops. More likely he had an opportunity
for political advantage. I'll explain why in just a moment.

But first: You should know this statement didn't come our way through
the political staff in the mayor's office.

Journalists actually received notice that both the statement and the
mayor were available from a PR outfit called Reputations. Reputations
has its fingers in a number of interesting pots around this city. The
owner is Wayne Hartrick. He was the spokesman for the Wal-Mart
development on Southeast Marine Drive when the COPE council rejected
it. (It will most likely be back before Sullivan's NPA council again
this summer.) His company is currently helping Gastown merchants
fight the proposed stadium on the Vancouver waterfront.

Hartrick has been a long time advisor to Sullivan and put his
company's resources at Sullivan's disposal in the battle against
Christy Clark for the NPA nomination. Hartrick was the NPA spokesman
during the election. One of Hartrick's senior employees, Allen
Langdon, was NPA Coun. Peter Ladner's campaign manager and continues
to advise the NPA caucus. Langdon was just elected to the NPA board.

A Reputations spokesman says Sullivan used the firm because this is a
"personal matter." When the mayor, who is also the chair of the
police board, is asked to explain to the RCMP statements to the press
that, while he was a city councillor, he gave people money
specifically so they could buy illicit drugs, that's personal.

So why was Hartrick used on a couple of Sullivan's Olympic
activities, including his flag waving demonstration and the rest of
his time in Turin? Is that personal, too?

It looks like Sullivan is running a parallel, off the books, spin
machine. Extraordinary.

After stalling for months on this statement, Sullivan's timing
couldn't have been better. It hit the front pages right in the middle
of the international harm reduction conference. (A day later it would
have been buried by coverage of the federal budget.)

He presents more of a campaign speech than what would be considered a
statement to police explaining, for example, an incident like a car
accident or a home break-in.

Instead, Sullivan can rewrite history by serving up more Whoppers
than Burger King.

He sets himself up as the guiding light of the city's harm reduction
strategy. He was the guy who thought of it first and had to convince
former mayor Philip Owen to come along because of Owen's "initial
reservations."

Even though the story of his drug buying donations were prominently
reported in the media and based on interviews with him, he casts
himself, as usual, as a victim.

In this case, it wasn't his front page confessions-it was Larry
Campbell and Vision Vancouver that caused him grief over the issue.
Campbell's complaints forced the police chief's hand to ask the RCMP
to look into the matter, Sullivan says.

Sullivan seems to make a habit of being frugal with the truth.

Former NPA councillor Lynne Kennedy is still smarting from the fact
that, during the last election campaign, Sullivan ripped her off for
credit she deserves for championing the no-smoking bylaw in Vancouver.

And so far the crafty fellow has gotten away with it all.