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Money for nothing
Critics slam former Richmond Liberal MP Raymond Chan's performance as Olympic bid ambassador
by Chris Miller
Special to the Richmond News
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Political adversaries of former MP Raymond Chan - and Frank magazine writers - are accusing him of taking the money and hiding while acting as "special ambassador" for the Winter Olympics bid.
Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps appointed Chan to the one-year position, which paid a $745 to $880 per diem, last June. He resigned this summer after Vancouver won the bid.
"I can't think of anything he did for the Olympic bid, other than cash a $130,000 cheque," said Richmond MP Joe Peschisolido, referring to a Frank magazine article that claimed Chan earned that amount for his ambassadorship.
The Privy Council Office, which appointed the ambassadors, couldn't provide details on how much money Chan made other than his per diem range.
Regardless, Peschisolido - who is currently battling Chan for the leadership of the local Liberal constituency - accused Chan of being a no-show at important events, including visits by Olympic bid ambassadors from Asian countries.
Delta-South Richmond MP John Cummins, an Alliance member, wasn't impressed with Chan either, calling him "unremarkable" and "rather hard to find."
"I hate to be singing from the same songsheet as Joe on this one, but I guess he's got a point," Cummins said.
Chan defended himself by saying he did most of his work behind the scenes.
"The ambassador's role is not to gain profile," Chan said. "You know, you don't see (an ambassador) going around and doing this and doing that when he's doing his job."
Chan said his role in the bid was to liaise with Canadian embassies and other posts overseas to lobby influential foreigners and collect intelligence on how Olympic commissioners intended to vote.
"At the same time, I also helped to promote support locally," he said. "For example, with the Asian community, I did a lot of speaking."
An electrical engineer by training, Chan became Canada's secretary of state for the Asia-Pacific region while serving as Liberal MP for Richmond.
Known for his connections in China, Chan has helped the local forest industry in its dealings with the Asian megapower.
However, Peschisolido and Cummins both questioned how effective Chan was as a special ambassador, noting Olympic ambassadors from Asian countries backed Korea, not Canada, at the time of the vote.
Chan argues that's not a fair way to assess his efforts.
"The problem we faced is the tremendous economic clout of the Korean industry in Asia," he said, noting the dominant presence of Hyundai in Prague at the time of the vote. "We knew it would be a formidable job getting the Asian vote."
While Cummins argued Chan was noticeably absent in Prague, Chan said he didn't attend because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a conscious decision to keep a low profile around the time of the vote.
Marko Dekovic, another Chan critic, noted Chan's absences while acting as a volunteer for the bid corporation.
"That's what I was wondering, too - what he was doing in that position," Dekovic said.
Dekovic said he remembers Chan going to one bid event, a gathering at Richmond City Hall that Chan spoke at. While Dekovic admits he isn't clear on what Chan's duties were supposed to be, he assumed he would take a more prominent role with the bid.
Sam Corea, the former media relations director for the bid corporation, recalls Chan dealing with Chinese media at some of the corporation's local events. However, he said, he understood Chan's role to be more international than local.
"It wasn't a front-and-centre role in Vancouver, or domestically in the country," Corea said. "We had our front and centre people in Vancouver and in Canada with the bid organization."
Corea said Chan didn't report to the bid corporation, but rather to the office in Ottawa overseeing his position.
Frank magazine lambasted Chan in a July 23 article entitled, "Olympics shill Chan MIA." The article states: "IOC meetings in Vancouver, rallies and events of all sorts have somehow carried on without Chan's sterling leadership or even simple presence on the scene. Nowhere was heard an encouragin' (or to be fair, discouragin') word from Chan on this 'Olympics' thing."
When the Canadian Heritage Ministry created the special ambassadors - consisting of Chan and another Liberal supporter, Jacques Roy - in early June 2002, it said their job would be to provide advice to Vancouver's bid corporation on international affairs and protocol, to raise the visibility of the bid and to "provide strategic advice" as the bid process unfolded. |
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