Time for another B.C. Monday Morning Quarterback blog post—five things we’re pondering this week.

1. According to multiple media reports (including this Sun column by the properly-outraged Daphne Bramham), Central Saanich city councillor Terry Siklenka has been granted a six-month paid leave of absence by his council—with no explanation from Siklenka or council. He’s spending that time working full-time for an air conditioning company in the Cayman Islands. His million dollar home in Saanich is up for sale and marked for “immediate possession.” Shame on council for approving this waste, and shame on Siklenka for not doing the right thing and resigning.

2. Curious about how the provincial government rationalizes giving the Evergreen Line project to controversy-embroiled SNC-Lavalin? Well, someone asked for the Transportation Minister’s briefing notes on that topic through the Freedom of Information Act. Read them here. My favorite passage:

How can you assure taxpayers that SNC-Lavalin Inc. is a reputable business partner in light of the corruption charges and other issues the company has faced over the past year?

• SNC-Lavalin is a Canadian company with a long-standing, successful history of partnering in major infrastructure projects in B.C. 

• B.C. projects with SNC-Lavalin involvement include the Sea-to-Sky Highway Project, Canada Line and the William R. Bennett Bridge. SNC-Lavalin is operating “business as usual” in B.C.

• Our responsibility is to do extensive due diligence, and we are confident we have selected a primary contractor that can deliver the project on-time and on-budget.

If pressed:

• I can’t comment on what is happening elsewhere with SNC.  What I can say is that SNC has an excellent track record of work done in B.C.

Don’t you feel better now?

3. Global warming stopped 16 years ago, says the Brits’ Met Office. That means temperatures have stayed stable for the same length of time as the previous period when temperatures rose—1980 to 1996. A world awaits Al Gore’s press release of apology with bated breath.

4. Quebec’s corruption scandal didn’t just swindle their taxpayers—it cost every Canadian. From the Kelowna Daily Courier:

A search through public contracts tabled at the province's corruption inquiry has revealed numerous cases where federal money went to projects whose price tag was, according to witness testimony, inflated by scams.

The 91 contracts reviewed had been tabled at the inquiry in recent weeks as a pair of witnesses - a disgraced construction boss and Montreal city official - walked the commissioners through their role in the bid-rigging process.

A subsequent scan through those contracts has shown that at least 15 received federal funding, with the federal contribution in each case ranging from under $200,000 to more than $700,000.

And that could be merely the tip of the iceberg. The Canadian Press only examined documents tabled during the testimony of two early inquiry witnesses, only in the City of Montreal, only for sewer work, and linked to only one federal program.

5. I’m putting the finishing touches on the sixth episode of our Tax Talk podcast (due out tomorrow morning). The response to these has been outstanding—hundreds of people have listened to the first five episodes. You can download (or listen online to) the first five through iTunes here.