BC MP resigns from Liberal Party Amid Controversy By Garth McLennan O, October 28, 2007, Blair Wilson, 44, resigned from his position in the Liberal party caucus due to allegations of illegal elections conduct and failure to report campaign spending. For the time being, he is to keep his seat in the House of Commons, and is now sitting as an independent. Wilson was elected in the January 2006 election to represent the Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country electoral district. The matter of how he came to power is what is currently under debate. Wilson is alleged to have lied to voters in his electoral campaign, and to have greatly exaggerated his business success. Wilson has since denied all allegations as being unfounded. While Wilson is a chartered accountant, he has led many unsuccessful and costly business ventures. He acted as CEO and President of a software company known as Multimedia Accelerator Corporation, though he was eventually terminated and sued by the company over unauthorized money advances and the duplication of expense accounts. His actions have reportedly cost the firm’s investors thousands of dollars, including former Vancouver Canuck’s star Tony Tanti, who says he lost $50,000. In addition, Wilson has been heavily involved in the restaurant business for many years. Throughout his tenure in the food industry, Wilson has moved from one legal dilemma to the next. He founded Mahoney’s sports grill in 1996, and was sued by several former employees for refusing to pay wages. In each case, he was required to pay out all of the withheld moneys. Mahoney’s was sued again by a carpentry company after failing to pay wages. The restaurant closed in 2006. With his brother and father serving as investment partners, Wilson then created the extravagant restaurant Wilson's, in 2004 for start up costs of over $2.4 million. Wilson’s did poorly and was closed in early 2007. In the © aftermath, Wilson was again sued, this time by a food service company for | not paying food bills of $33,000. Wilson and his wife were subject to Social Services Tax Act liens on three properties, and owe $2.1 million in bank mortgages. Wilson also went in on a pizza chain based in Poland. He is alleged to have lied to the media, claiming that he opened “more than 40 restaurants” in that country, when it is believed he only opened 16. While in Poland, former colleagues have said that Wilson had a regular Polish girlfriend, whom he regularly purchased extravagant gifts for, despite the fact that he was married at the time. According to these same colleagues, he didn’t pay for these gifts himself however, _ and instead _ charged _ them to his _ Polish pizza business. Wilson is _ alleged _ to have _ cheated the ' company out _ of millions, | and was _ eventually _ sued by _ them. Wilson _ has denied having | a Polish _ girlfriend, | but photographs of the two together have surfaced. According to Wilson’s father-in-law, Wilson has gone to his wife’s parents numerous times for money to pay for six properties. The total amount of borrowed money, most of which remains unpaid, is believed to be around $1.9 million. He is accused of still not paying back his in-laws despite the fact that he has sold several of his properties. In another occurrence, Wilson’s father-in-law paid for Wilson’s sons to enroll in private school. After Wilson pulled them out of private school, he had the refund money made out to him, and apparently didn’t give any of it back to his father-in-law. Wilson is also reported to have asked his mother-in-law for more money while she was lying on her deathbed. Wilson also established a stockbroker company. He was questionable investor, yet is accused to have kept going back to the market despite countless monetary losses. He reportedly lost his investors hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet billed them for his investment services. Last week, however, the embattled Wilson came under fire for allegedly cheating his way into public office. Elections Canada stipulates that the campaign budget for an MP cannot exceed $93,260. Wilson is believed to have gotten around that barrier by not reporting multiple expenses. This has been corroborated by his former campaign manager, whom Wilson fired after she wanted to keep the budget reasonable. Wilson, for his part, has denied the allegations of electoral wrong-doing. In a statement released following his resignation from the Liberal Party, Wilson stated that he was “confident that the allegations against me will be found to be baseless,” declaring that he would “fully cooperate with Elections Canada and will do whatever I can to support a swift and thorough investigation .” Douglas Bloggers Begin to Tell Their Stories By JJ McCulloug J the past month the Douglas College Office of New Students has slowly begun to update its “Candid Transitions” website, which features the commentary of a half-dozen student bloggers specially recruited to share their experiences of student life. Co-hosted with the Tri-city News and Burnaby-New Westminster News Leader, the website aims to help raise awareness of the college by highlighting the diverse nature of the students who inhabit it. Though the first posted blog entry appeared on September 18, entries have generally been scarce, with no bloggers having made more than three entries in total. Nevertheless, clear personalities have emerged for each of the six bloggers, with each offering unique insights into their first year at a new school. For many of the bloggers, the theme of transition from high school to college—and all the accompanying academic and social hardships — features prominently. “In comparison to High School, there is a severe difference between the two,” writes “Natalie” in her September 22 post (blogger last names are not given). “From my personal opinion, I don’t believe high school prepared us for post secondary, or life at all for that matter.” Blogger Chris agrees, noting “what really took me for a shock was the amount of work there is. I know that with five courses it was going to be a handful, but my gosh, if there is ever a time that I’m not reading for a class, it’s typically when I’m asleep, heck I even eat while I’m reading.” New, demanding schedules have likewise made life hard for Valerie; “I am so bad; I even came up with excuses not to go to a free time management seminar held at school,” she jokes. Though most of the commentary has generally had an exasperated tone, there have been some glimmers of praise for campus life as well. “I am doing well in English and am conquering my fear of thesis statements,” writes Priscilla, a First Nations student from Vancouver Island, while Chris, a student at the David Lam, offered praise for the on- campus Tim Hortons: “Nothing makes the morning better then a hot chocolate and donut. Mmmmmm!!!” Though many bloggers have made much of their “new experiences” perhaps none have a steeper learning curve than Mike, a Chinese foreign student studying in Canada for the first time. Expressions of culture shock are prominent in his posts as he struggles to adjust to the customs of a new nation. “My Philosophy instructor gave out a take-home test, and I was so confused,” he writes. “How come I can take a test at home?” The bloggers will continue to document their adventures until the end of the fall semester. Those interested in reading their full posts should search for “Candid Transitions” on the Douglas College website.