Wednesday March 24th, 2010 - Burnaby City Council comes clean, financially speaking

B.C. law requires council to declare their assets annually. But some members of Burnaby Council don’t seem to fully grasp what this means.

Assets include shares, liabilities, income sources, corporate assets and real property (but not their places of residence). In relation to corporate assets, council must disclose not only the shares they hold but also those held by their spouse and or close relatives if those shares represent 30 per cent or more of the company’s total assets.

Here is a run down on how some of the Burnaby City Council members reported their assets this year.

Sav Dhaliwal misunderstood the requirements and listed his wife’s assets. He has since realized his mistake and will file an amendment. He is, however, part owner of three rental properties; has shares in Vancity, Telus Inc. and IBM; and mortgages with CIBC, CIBC Mortgage and Westminster Savings.

Pietro Calendino’s enjoys twenty-five per cent ownership of a rental property (a property in which he also resides), has RRSPs, shares and a loan at Vancity.

Richard Chang has shares in three companies. One of the companies, King’s Taste Foods Inc., belongs to a relative and is located in Burnaby. On his financial statement, Chang declares no other property, assets or liabilities.

Dan Johnston commented that he wanted to be as transparent as possible, which is why he listed his five British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation (BCRIC) shares, even though these shares are actually worthless. He also declared sources of income and shares in Vancity and Coast Capital Savings and investments in Ethical Funds. His wife runs an online business, of which is part owner.