B.C. money laundering commission to hold first public meetings

Anyone wanting to present at a public meeting must pre-register using a form found at the commission's website.

October 2, 2019

Cash seized in Vancouver police investigation Project Trunkline into drug trafficking that overlapped with money-laundering investigation E-Priate by the RCMP. TBA / PNG

B.C.’s Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering will hold its first public meetings later this fall across the province, beginning in Vancouver.

The commission staff said in a news release that the “public events will provide British Columbians from different parts of the province with the ability to come forward and express what they feel are issues of concern, and to identify areas that they would like the commission to focus on or to include in the process.”

All meetings will take place between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., starting Oct. 23 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, 900 West Georgia.

The commission will then move to Kelowna for an Oct. 29 hearing at the Best Western Plus Kelowna Hotel, 2402 Hwy 97.

Meetings will be held Nov. 4 in Victoria at the Marriott Hotel, 728 Humboldt Street, and on Nov. 7 in Richmond at the Hilton Vancouver Airport, 5911 Minoru Boulevard.

There will also be a meeting in Prince George on Nov. 14 at the Ramada Plaza, 444 George Street.

Anyone wanting to present at a public meeting must pre-register using a form found at the commission’s website.

Members of the public who are unable to attend a meeting and want to provide information to the commission are asked to e-mail Senior Commission Counsel at: contact@cullencommission.ca.

Premier John Horgan announced the commission last May. It is being headed by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen and will look at the full scope of money laundering in the province.

Hearings during which witnesses testify are not expected to begin until spring 2020, continuing next fall. The commission’s interim report is due in November 2020, with a final report in the spring of 2021.