shepard-clark_thumb
shepard-clark_thumb This article is more than 5 years old
News

This Wealthy Tycoon is Behind a New Shadowy Group Running Ads Attacking Electoral Reform in BC

Name of sitting BC Liberal MLA also appears listed on astroturf group’s board of directors

BC’s referendum on electoral reform isn’t even officially underway, but interests linked to big corporations and the BC Liberals are already working in the shadows to defend the status quo.

This past week saw the launch of a new anti-electoral reform organization calling itself “Fairreferendum.com.”

They’re an astroturf group fronted by wealthy lumber baron Jim Shepard, a former CEO of forestry giant Canfor, a longtime BC Liberal donor as well as a close ally and trusted adviser to former premier Christy Clark.

Its purpose? Undermining the legitimacy of the upcoming referendum on electoral reform and sowing confusion about whether electoral reform is a good idea.

Global BC (May 13, 2013)

What’s more, the group’s website indicates the organization is actually run by another oddly named entity called the “KNOWB4UVOTE.COM SOCIETY,” which was registered back in February.

According to a records search, the group is registered at the Vancouver address of Fasken, one of BC’s biggest corporate law firms that describes itself as a “home to many members of our mining, energy, technology and real estate teams.”

Listed on the “non-partisan” group’s board is a director by the name of Sam Sullivan, which coincidentally happens to be the name of a sitting BC Liberal MLA.

BC Registries and Online Services

Shepard previously headed another astroturf group called Concerned Citizens for BC which ran a $1 million ad campaign funded by big money in support of Christy Clark’s BC Liberals in 2013, leading The Tyee’s Bill Tieleman to describe the wealthy lumber baron as a “hardline conservative” and a “threat to democracy.”

Back in 2001, Shepard also took out full-page newspaper ads in support of BC Liberal leader Gordon Campbell, a tactic he recently resurrected wrapping the front page of The Province newspaper with an ad promoting his anti-electoral reform group:

Earlier this month, BC’s government finalized details for a two-stage referendum that will give voters a chance to ditch BC’s outdated First-Past-the-Post voting system (FPTP) in favour of a model based on proportional representation: the leading alternative to FPTP used by most industrialized countries around the world.

 

Our journalism is powered by readers like you.

We’re an award-winning non-profit news organization that covers topics like social and economic inequality, big business and labour, and right-wing extremism.

Help us build so we can bring to light stories that don’t get the attention they deserve from Canada’s big corporate media outlets.

 

Donate
PressProgress
PressProgress is an award-winning non-profit news organization focused on uncovering and unpacking the news through original investigative and explanatory journalism.

Most Shared

South Asian Studies Institute NEWS

Take Back Alberta Leaders are Training ‘Scrutineers’ to Infiltrate Campaigns and Act as ‘Security’ on Voting Day

Related Stories

NEWS

“Where is Our Museum?” asks Punjabi and broader South Asian Canadian community in BC

View the post
NEWS

Toronto Police Arrested A Striking Worker At York University. Labour Experts Are Concerned Police Infringed on Charter Rights.

View the post
NEWS

Take Back Alberta Founder Vows to Fight Election Watchdog’s Investigation Into Donors

View the post
Our free email newsletter delivers award-winning journalism directly to your inbox.
Get Canadian Investigative News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers.
Our free email newsletter delivers award-winning journalism to your inbox.
Get Canadian Investigative News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers.