Exclusive: inside the B.C. government name game

Some observers of the government's snub of Telus over the B.C. Place Stadium naming sponsorship wonder why the government didn't just let Budweiser buy the name and be done with it.

Telus installed $10 million to $15 million worth of wi-fi and mobile phone systems and video screens as part of the deal it reached with B.C. Pavilion Corporation in March 2011. That $35 million to $40 million you've heard about is not all cash on the table. It relied heavily on the provision of goods and services. Now PavCo has to buy its way out with your money and mine. The only way it can soften the blow now is to designate Telus as an exclusive or official supplier.

But the bigger reason is that no provincial government building in B.C. can be named after Budweiser. Or Molson Canadian. Or Guinness. Or even the Sorrento, B.C.-made Crannog Back Hand of God Stout or Gael's Blood Potato Ale.

The province's Naming Rights Policy says government will not approve an opportunity for naming recognition:

"that involves an individual, business or organization whose main business is derived from the sale of alcohol, other than a provincial or national industry association that focuses on harm reduction regarding the responsible use of alcohol."

Yes, the province has a naming rights policy and applications are overseen by a little-known committee of bureaucrats (chaired by Executive Lead of Strategic Vendor Management Richard Poutney) under the Intellectual Property Program within the Ministry of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government. You can read it here. However, the policy contains a loophole that opens the decision to political interference.

Section 4.5 of the policy says cabinet will decide on naming opportunities if:

(a) the size or visibility of the asset is of particular significance;
(b) the value of the contribution is greater than five million dollars;
(c) the asset is or will likely be the object of media attention, or is otherwise in the public eye;

All three apply in the context of the B.C. Place naming rights opportunity. The minutes for the committee's only meeting in 2011 (below) show that the Telus proposal to rename B.C. Place Stadium as "Telus Park" was not submitted to the committee. This was handled (or, perhaps, mishandled) solely by cabinet and, therefore, we may not know the details until 2026 or 2027 when the particular cabinet documents would become public.

What do you think? Should the naming of any and all provincial buildings in B.C. be vetted first by a committee that reports publicly (and doesn't wait for reporters to file a Freedom of Information request)? Should cabinet have a role, particularly when the bidder is a major donor to the ruling party or a major government contractor? (Telus donated more than $350,000 since 2005 to the B.C. Liberals and was given a $1 billion, 10-year government service contract in 2011.) And what happens if the chairman of the public body with the name up for sale has close ties with the corporation that wants to buy the name of the public building? (David Podmore's Concert Properties board includes two senior Telus executives and two senior officials from the Telecommunications Workers Union.)

It is, after all, taxpayers' money and taxpayers' own the buildings...

Province of British Columbia Naming Committee

Does "Brown out" mean lights out for Premier?

The shocking resignation of Peter Brown from the board of the B.C. Pavilion Corporation could be the beginning of the end for Premier Christy Clark's nearly year-old reign as Premier of British Columbia.

Brown was in New York March 9, while Clark was in Ottawa. Brown's name and profile disappeared from the B.C. Pavilion Corporation website at the end of the same week when Clark and Minister responsible Pat Bell publicly confirmed that the B.C. Place Stadium naming rights deal with Telus was cancelled. Telus had installed $10 million to $15 million of wi-fi stations, mobile phone antennas and video screens in the stadium as part of the deal that PavCo recommended to cabinet.

Through his Vancouver investment house, Canaccord, Brown has donated $312,230 to the B.C. Liberals since 2005 and backed George Abbott for the leadership of the party in the 2011 race. Brown was one of the biggest boosters of Gordon Campbell, who left the premiership after almost a decade and is now Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Clark was sworn-in on March 14, 2011.

Brown has resigned before from a similar organization because of political interference.

Brown was vice-chairman of the Expo 86 Corporation and chairman of the B.C. Place Corporation, a PavCo predecessor which merged with the B.C. Development Corporation to form the B.C. Enterprise Corporation.

Brown resigned in April 1988 after he was accused by Premier Bill Vander Zalm's secretary David Poole of wining and dining Li Ka-Shing, the eventual winning bidder for the Expo lands. Brown admitted hosting Li's son Victor for dinner at his Point Grey home, but denied any wrongdoing. He offered a stinging rebuke of Poole, the most powerful unelected official in the Vander Zalm government.

"The dinner in my house was part of a purely proper program to encourage any bidder that we could to participate in the B.C. Enterprise bid process," Brown was quoted in the Vancouver Sun. "Any attempt to cast aspersions on that function by anyone is a bitter and petty act by someone who's proved before he's not sure what the rules are."

Brown was on the board of directors for the original North American Soccer League Vancouver Whitecaps. He is also a collector of Group of Seven masterpieces.

It could be theorized that Brown's resignation in 1988 was part of the slow process that led to the eventual fall of Vander Zalm, who was finally forced out in 1991 by the Fantasy Gardens conflict of interest scandal.

Could the fumbling of the renaming of B.C. Place be the undoing for Clark?

UPDATE: On March 12 I received the following email from Peter Brown, who declined my March 10 request for an interview ("At 70 years of age I am trying to get my privacy back which is more difficult than it should be," Brown wrote, via his iPad.)

"It would be nice to be in a profession like yours where rampant poetic license was practiced. Here are some facts that you neglected in your blog:

"I did not back George Abbott for leadership of the Liberal Party as I believed he never had a chance.

"I entertained every bidder for BC Enterprise in my home and Grace McCarthy, the Minister responsible, was always present.

"That newspaper reference was caused by David Poole's attempt to improperly influence the privatization of the assets of BC Enterprise. This was a failed attempt by him. I had always agreed to serve as Chairman of BC Enterprise until the principle assets were privatized which was concluded with the sale of the Expo Lands. The government of the day had nothing to do with my decision.

"My current resignation is as I publicly stated. I agreed to go on the board of PAVCO to oversee the complex construction of two major Vancouver icons. That job is complete and I believe that board representation should now come from people in Tourism and Marketing - neither of which are my expertise. The decision was compounded by the fact that I have taken on too many boards and committees and need to cut back on boards like this where my contribution going forward is less relevant.

"As to my politics, I think it should be obvious to everyone that I am a supporter of governments who believe in free trade and free markets and believe the best results for all citizens will be generated by free enterprise alternatives. In this case, even you should be able to ascertain my political choice as the only one possible which makes the inferences in your article ridiculous. All the more so when one considers choices in the upcoming election and the critical impact the wrong decision could have on our economic well being."

Peter Brown

(Bob's notes: Brown's Canaccord Capital donated $11,500 to Abbott's campaign on March 28, 2011. No donations to any other contestant are listed on the Elections B.C. database. Canaccord donated $25,000 to Vision Vancouver in 2009. The Non-Partisan Association is the civic free enterprise party in Vancouver. I asked for, and Brown declined to supply me, the date on which he tendered his PavCo resignation and the contents of the resignation letter.)

The name remains the same

After announcing a three-year, $3 billion investment in B.C. (enabled by its 10-year, $1 billion provincial government supply deal), Telus CEO Darren Entwistle told me that the company invested between $10 million and $15 million of goods and services to make B.C. Place Stadium the world's first "all-digital" stadium.

Yet, it remains B.C. Place. The naming rights deal that was supposed to happen last fall didn't. Maybe it will never happen, judging from what Entwistle (who is pictured on the right with NDP leader Adrian Dix) told reporters on March 2.

"That question as it relates to sponsorship is best posed to (B.C. Pavilion Corporation). That's their responsibility and ultimately their decision. In terms of Telus's perspective, we're tremendously excited about the part we played to bring that stadium to fruition from a technology perspective. The technology that's been infused into that stadium will create an unparalleled fan and technology experience.

"For us right now we're just focussed on the technology component of that solution. Again, any sponsorship conversation is best had with the PavCo organization. At the end of the day, as a public organization, we're deploying technology. Certainly there will be a commercial return associated with that and we'll work that out in a technology supplier agreement with PavCo which we're in the progress of doing right now."

Backbench MLA Colin Hansen was the only Liberal politician at the news conference. No executives from B.C. Pavilion Corporation, which operates B.C. Place, were seen. On March 2, Telus also placed full-page ads in Vancouver newspapers promoting its work in B.C. Place. There was even a strategically placed dogwood blossom in the upper right corner. (Dogwood is the provincial flower.)

The Vancouver Whitecaps, who are sponsored by Telus competitor Bell, are the stadium's main sports tenant and start their first full-season in B.C. Place on March 10, playing on what the Major League Soccer franchise calls "Bell Pitch."

B.C. Place workers were recently issued uniforms that include the new B.C. Place logo. They had received blank shirts and jackets before the Sept. 30, 2011 reopening, in anticipation of the name change sometime before the 99th Grey Cup. PavCo even paid more than $50,000 to remove the old B.C. Place external sign and commission a new one bearing the Telus name.

My Feb. 23 interview request to PavCo chairman David Podmore and CEO Warren Buckley was referred to Pat Bell, the Minister Responsible, who told me:

"It may or may not take on a corporate name. It is B.C. Place. The fact it has B.C. Place on the uniforms is something we were contemplating regardless. The name of the facility is B.C. Place. It may have a corporate sponsor, it may not, but it is B.C. Place… It is B.C. Place for us, that's what we've called it for a long, long time. British Columbians know it as B.C. Place."

So there you have it. Telus, which was supposed to be the naming rights sponsor, is still negotiating a contract so it can be called an official supplier. The six-month-old B.C. Place logo has finally shown up on the uniforms of staff.

The sale of naming rights was supposed to help lessen the burden on the taxpayer for the $563 million renovation.

Yet another broken promise? Or a casualty of the telecom marketing wars?

Grey Cup nuggets…

The University of B.C. Thunderbirds didn't make it to the first Vanier Cup in Vancouver, but their quarterback was named the top player in Canadian college football in 2011.

Billy Greene picked up the award at the Vancouver Convention Centre Thursday night at the same ceremony where B.C. Lions' quarterback Travis Lulay won the Canadian Football League's most outstanding player award.

Earlier in the day, the Lions had lunch at the Radisson Harbourside Hotel with the media, where centre Angus Reid got up close with the Grey Cup as part of his duties with TSN. For the record, he was very careful not to touch the prize for the winner of Sunday's game.



B.C. Place Stadium's roof is leaking again.

Yes, the centrepiece of the $563 million renovation. A tent was covering a painted logo on the Polytan Ligaturf field near section 18 on Thursday, as Vancouver was battered by heavy rain and heavy winds.

Grey Cup Committee general manager Scott Ackles told me Tuesday that the roof is most likely to be closed on game day, even if the weather is immaculate. TSN wants consistent lighting and the halftime show producer Patrick Roberge wants a controlled atmosphere. It is ultimately the CFL's call.

Luxury suites on level three are coming with 3-D glasses. Each suite contains a Samsung TV that will display 3-D content during the big game. This is a smart move, since the stadium's centre-hung, shoebox-style video board cannot be seen from much of level 3 during football games.

When will they tell us the new name? Not this weekend. The stadium's telecommunications and technology provider Telus won't slap its name on the marquee before the Grey Cup. Telus was the frontrunner for naming rights and the deal was supposed to have been announced in mid-September. The stadium will remain B.C. Place for the time being. Telus also scored a $1 billion, 10-year deal with the government, Crown corporations and health authorities in the summer.

Time running out for B.C. Place name?

A news conference is in the planning stages for Tuesday, Nov. 1 at B.C. Place Stadium for an announcement regarding the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps, who are expected to be involved in the event because they're the primary tenants of the stadium.

The silence has been deafening. Neither Telus, Cisco nor B.C. Pavilion Corporation's public relations firm Pace Group have responded to my queries to confirm or deny the event or their involvement.

Telus is the telecommunications and technology provider at B.C. Place and Cisco's StadiumVision is the "video and digital content distribution solution" (read: the software that runs the multitude of video screens, large and small). Before the Sept. 30 reopening, the major Telus hardware and wiring installation at B.C. Place was cloaked in secrecy. So much so that it was even code-named "Project Frog."

Telus also has a 10-year, $1 billion contract to supply telecommunications services to the British Columbia government, Crown corporations BC Hydro, BC Lottery Corporation and ICBC and regional health authorities.

When I asked Oct. 14 if his company bought the naming rights, Telus chief financial officer Robert McFarlane would neither confirm nor deny. He would only say there would be a "coming out party" for Telus at B.C. Place in the near future.

There may be a reason for the secrecy. PavCo awaits the results of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union local 1703 vote on a new contract. The two sides reached a tentative deal on Oct. 24. Voting is supposed to end Nov. 1. There is no pay raise, but the workers apparently got the job security and anti-bullying provisions they wanted. The catch? The contract, if ratified, would expire May 31, 2012.

Nov. 1, coincidentally, was also the original date set by PavCo for the reopening of B.C. Place. PavCo chairman David Podmore moved the date forward by a month in February, despite problems installing roof-support cables. The domino effect meant crews didn't begin installing roof fabric until June. The roof opened and closed as advertised Sept. 30, but the sealing job was not complete and leaks continued well into October.

Read more about the controversial $563 million renovation of the 1983-opened stadium here.

When will they tell us about B.C. Place's new name?

Executive vice-president and chief financial officer Robert McFarlane is the second in command at Telus, the right-hand-man to CEO Darren Entwistle.

On Oct. 13, he was on Premier Christy Clark's right side at the podium for the Grey Cup festival news conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre, a building serviced by Telus competitor Bell.

I caught up with McFarlane afterward to find out why Telus has kept quiet its involvement in B.C. Place Stadium's $563 million renovation.

Telus is the prime advertiser at the stadium and provider of technology and telecommunications. Sources have told the Sport Market since last spring that the telecom giant is the naming rights sponsor in a deal heavy on value-in-kind -- goods and services. Expect that to be finally announced in the week or two after the Whitecaps pack-up their Bell Pitch signs when they end their first Major League Soccer campaign on Oct. 22.

McFarlane did a good job of keeping mum on the topic, but hinted strongly toward the big announcement to come when I asked him.

"There will be a time for the coming out party on the technology, etcetera…" McFarlane said. "There is still last minute things or next to last minute things, are still being done and when it's all complete and we're ready, I'm sure, we'll have a coming out."

Asked about the naming rights and whether it will be Telus Park or Optik Place, McFarlane said: "Those would be great names, but unfortunately I can't comment on them."

McFarlane did reveal that Telus technicians didn't get into the stadium until four days before the Sept. 30 reopening to do their final work on the mobile phone network.

Exclusive: B.C. Place's new look

Behold, the new logo for B.C. Place Stadium, which reopens Sept. 30 from a $563 million, taxpayer-funded renovation.

The two-tone blue design incorporates stylized versions of the new roof-support masts and cables that now figure prominently on the Vancouver skyline and will nicely complement Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps similar color scheme.

By virtue of playing at least 17 times a year in B.C. Place, the Whitecaps will be the 1983-built stadium's prime tenant. This logo replaces the 2006 design of the fabric domed roof that was deflated in May 2010 and removed.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show that Karacters Design was paid $23,030 on Feb. 25 for work on a logo.

The word "place" is a key word in the logo. Some or all of this insignia is a place-holder until the stadium's new corporate-sponsored name is revealed. Frontrunner Telus is the official telecommunications goods and services provider and plans to heavily market its Optik TV service on the giant, shoebox-style, centre-hung scoreboard. B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore did not deny Telus would be the naming rights purchaser when he was asked on July 31 and Sept. 7.

Inside B.C. Place Stadium: the devil's in the details

B.C. Place Stadium is supposed to be reopened for the B.C. Lions to host the Edmonton Eskimos on Sept. 30 and the Vancouver Whitecaps to host the Portland Timbers on Oct. 2.

As I saw on a Sept. 7 tour, there is much to be done. There is still a chance the Lions and Whitecaps could be playing games at Empire Field in October, if negotiations with the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union local 1703 collapse. The scoreboard, to be hung from the centre of the retractable roof, is so massive that it is unlikely we will see another baseball game in B.C. Place.Read my story from the Vancouver Courier here.

Here is a photo gallery from the tour of the site of the $563 million, taxpayer-funded renovation. Notice the fella catching some rays atop the retractable fabric roof.

It's the most expensive renovation and re-roofing job in British Columbia history. A news conference could be held in the middle of this month to announce that Telus has bought naming rights and will use the stadium to market its Optik Internet TV product.

PavCo says cost overruns not its problem

What's up with B.C. Place Stadium's roof, you say?

Well, for one thing, the price.

TSX-listed Canam Group (CAM) revealed on April 21 that it would take an "after-tax reserve of $25 million" for 2011's first fiscal quarter for "additional costs for the completion of the cables" on B.C. Place Stadium's retractable roof.

"The corporation believes this reserve represents the likely loss until completion of the project, while adding that discussions to reduce the impact of the reserve are ongoing with various project participants," said a news release.

Further information is to come April 27 when Canam Group president Marc Dutil will conduct a teleconference with financial analysts and media. Spokesman Jasmin Gosselin said Dutil was not available for earlier comment on the B.C. Place overrun.

Canam's Structal Heavy Steel Construction unit announced Oct. 28, 2009 that it scored a contract worth more than $100 million from PCL Constructors Westcoast. Steel was to be sourced from St. Gedeon de Beauce, Quebec and Sunnyside, Wash. by the company that supplied steel to 53 North American stadiums and arenas, such as Air Canada Centre, the new Giants Stadium and Red Bull Arena.

"Both the deliveries and the erection work will begin in the early part of 2010 and continue until the end of the year," said the 2009 news release.

Based on that news release, the schedule has already gone overtime. The last of the 36 steel masts was not in place until Jan. 13 of this year. The original deadline was the end of December 2010. Installation of the roof fabric was supposed to begin in February, but that won't happen until May. B.C. Pavilion Corporation CEO Warren Buckley told me earlier in April that testing of the finished retractable roof would happen at the end of August or start of September with a public open house on Sept. 25. Reopening night is Sept. 30 when the B.C. Lions host the Edmonton Eskimos.

B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore and Buckley did not respond to email queries about Canam's $25 million overrun. Buckley was not available when I called his office Tuesday morning, but spokesman Norman Stowe said via email: "Canam’s issue has no impact on PavCo which has a fixed price contract. No one is looking to PavCo for any shortfall."

PCL inked a $318 million fixed-price contract for the roof work in November 2009. The announced cost of the taxpayer-funded renovation is $563 million (it was supposed to be $365 million).

An announcement is expected soon that the stadium will be renamed for a brand of telecommunications giant Telus. Sources say the company won the bidding for naming rights.

APRIL 27 UPDATE

Canam reported a $39.7 million first quarter loss on April 27 and blamed it on "fierce competition in some business segments as well as the provisions for B.C. Place."

Dutil said Canam's Structal division got the B.C. Place contract in spring 2009 but the final contract wasn't executed until the fall of 2009. He said Structal's scope of work included the columns, compression beams, catwalks, arches and facade elements.

On a teleconference after his company's April 27 annual general meeting, Dutil said Structal "encountered severe delays in the cable portion of the work" in the first quarter after relying on the expertise of France-based Freyssinet.

"We are not cable experts and therefore relied on a third-party to estimate, price, plan and execute the installation of the cable work required to support the fabric roof, the centre node and all the elements required for the retractable roof system," Dutil said.

"During this first quarter we encountered severe delays in the cable portion of the work and hence we estimated that a $25 million after-tax reserve was warranted at this time. We hope to be able to recover a portion of this amount. Our first priority remains to deliver a safe, quality and timely project to our customer PCL and the end-user, B.C. Pavilion Corporation... The circumstances of the B.C. Place job are very difficult, but they confirm that even in the face of such challenges we do not run away."

"We had indications that the erection portion of these cables would be a lot faster and cost a lot less than it's turned out to be. It is my understanding that the taxpayers of B.C. are not on the hook for this, this was a contract where we have to perform at a fixed-price and we'll negotiate between ourselves and third parties. No one intends to refill the bill to someone else.

Dutil said Structal is in talks with Freyssinet to resolve the matter, but his company's work will be done in late July or early August.

"It's going to be a marvel. It's going to be well-done, safe and you're going to enjoy it for many years in Vancouver. It will just cost a little more than expected -- to us."

Asked for comment on the Canam overrun, PavCo CEO Warren Buckley told me: "This is a Canam matter and has nothing to do with the delivery of the completed stadium within the scope of the fixed price contract. There is not impact on budget and we are very confident that we are on track for a Sept. 30 completion."

Name game

A new name is on the way for B.C. Place Stadium.

Taxpayers are on the hook for much of the $563 million budget to renovate the 1983-opened stadium. Some of the costs are supposed to be defrayed by the sale of naming rights.

B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore told me in mid-January that the corporate naming deal could be decided in late March or early April. Timing for the announcement would hinge upon both government approval and the marketing strategy of the sponsor itself. Though he refused to offer any hints, he said the companies involved in negotiations were not government enterprises. Podmore also said Paragon Gaming and its Edgewater Casino were not in the running for the name. B.C. Place general manager Howard Crosley said Budweiser was not a candidate, despite becoming the official stadium beer.

So the speculation continues.

Four highly active sectors appear to be the most logical from which to draw a naming rights sponsor: financial services, telecommunications, energy and retail.

Scotiabank already sponsors arenas in Ottawa and Calgary, is the naming sponsor of Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver and is the official bank of the Richmond Olympic Oval. If its name went up on the B.C. Place marquee, would shareholders question whether it's in the banking or stadium business? BMO already has its name on Toronto FC's stadium. Which might make RBC the most logical suitor. RBC has had a low profile since it sponsored the 2010 Winter Olympics and its torch relay.

Telus hung up on Canucks Sports and Entertainment after General Motors decided to drive out of its deal for "the Garage" early. Rogers slipped in last July, weeks after Bell slapped its name on the jerseys for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Bell is also the name on the Empire Field pitch. Expect the Whitecaps to play on Bell Pitch beginning in October. Vice-president Loring Phinney told me the company is not bidding for the building's name.

Telus CEO Darren Entwhistle said at the March 9 unveiling of the $750 million Telus Gardens office complex proposal that the stadium naming rights are of interest to his company.

On March 1 Terasen Gas became FortisBC. Natural gas is plentiful in B.C. where Fortis is the biggest distributor. The Newfoundland-based company has utility operations in five provinces, plus hotel and commercial properties. The Fortis board of directors includes Podmore. Podmore was instrumental in convincing Fortis to underwrite the Olympic cauldrons at B.C. Place Stadium and Jack Poole Plaza. Could Podmore also convince his fellow directors to turn the stadium into FortisBC Place?

In January, U.S. discount retailer Target bought leases for Zellers' 220 stores for $1.8 billion from Hudson's Bay Company. The Minnesota company plans to convert as many as 150 to Target by 2014. Naming rights to the stadium would be beneficial, if it were to begin the makeover early,