"I can say that in general, the spread of organized crime just in the past two years has been like a cancer on the social and economic well being of all British Columbians."
Sgt. John Ward, "E" Division Headquarters Royal Canadian Mounted Police, December 29, 2003

The headline grabbing quote by Sgt. John Ward was not just a slip of the tongue in the heat of the raid on the legislature; it is contained in the December 29th news release issued by the RCMP's "E" Division. The RCMP's Commanding Officer of the "E" Division is chair of the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia. The OCABC's mission statement is "To facilitate the disruption and suppression of organized crime which affects British Columbians."

NDP Leader Carole James deserves credit for focusing public attention on the problem with a statement she made on Sunday, January 11th. James outlined several actions, including a call for the Premier to "repeal the budget freeze to the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia." Solicitor General Rich Coleman, who has handled media questions on the legislative raid in the absence of the Premier, was quick to attack James and claimed that the Campbell government increased funding for the police. Apparently Coleman forgot that the Organized Crime Agency has its own website where its "service plan", required under the Budget Accountability and Transparency Act, can be downloaded. It shows, as James said, that the agency's budget has been frozen for three years. The service plan for Coleman's Ministry shows over $44 million in cuts to corrections and over $18 million in cuts planned for next year to community policing and safety.

The image of police carting file boxes seized from the office of the Minister of Finance cannot help investment confidence in British Columbia; worse yet is the social cancer suggested by Sgt. Ward. NDP Leader Carole James has performed a public service by challenging "Premier Gordon Campbell and his government to take tough proactive measures to combat the spread of organized crime in BC."