Prime Minister Trudeau Seeks Answers in BC Casino Scandal, Stays Mum on Public Inquiry

Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau wants to know how international criminal rings were able to use British Columbia (BC) casinos as their personal money laundering service, but he stopped short of declaring a full public inquiry into the scandal.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has no answers when it comes to the BC casino scandal. (CTV News)

The PM was responding to a Global News report last week which indicated that filtered through BC casinos, a much higher figure than initial estimates of $100m.

Sources from the report charged that there was “willful blindness” on the part of provincial regulators, who allegedly allowed bogus bank loans to flow through their own accounts.

“We have tasked the (Minister of Organized Crime) Bill Blair, to make sure that we are looking very carefully at the situation in BC in the casinos,” said Trudeau via Global News.

The PM ignored reporters questions about the potential need for a public inquiry, saying only that his government is working with the province to find out what happened.

Who Knew What?

A public inquiry may shed some light on the ongoing saga, but it would be long and costly. Still, there appears to be a strong thirst for answers from a an unhappy public.

A poll by the BC Government and Service Employees Union, one of the province’s biggest unions, showed that:

77% of BC residents want a pubic inquiry84% referred to it as an important election issue