Patrick Kinsella attempted to arrange a meeting with British Columbia Lottery Corp.'s president and chief executive officer to "chat about issues of mutual interest and concern" four months after the last provincial election.

In an e-mail sent to then president and chief executive officer Vic Poleschuk on September 7, 2005, Mr. Kinsella wrote, "We have talked from time to time about getting together for coffee or lunch. With the legislature ready to resume next week and with it the political scrutiny that follows, I was hoping we could get together…"

The e-mail doesn't detail what those issues of "mutual interest and concern" might have been. And a separate e-mail sent by Mr. Kinsella to Mr. Poleschuk's successor Dana Hayden is even more opaque.

Writing on January 25, 2008, Mr. Kinsella stated an unidentified individual "had heard the rumours from sources at BCLC. I urged him to call you, not to show disappointment, but rather to urge you to stay and meet with you to review their status. He did not mention any meetings or concerns or issues. He is a fan of yours and I thought he should call and show support."

The corporation edited out the name of the individual because its disclosure would be "an unreasonable invasion of a third party's personal privacy." The e-mail doesn't detail what rumour the unidentified individual heard.

Taken together, these e-mails are the only examples to-date of electronic correspondence between Mr. Kinsella and public office holders.

According to freedom of information requests, there's no record of Kinsella having sent e-mails to the ministers of Agriculture and Lands, Attorney General, Finance, Forests and Range, Public Safety and Solicitor General, Small Business and Revenue, Transportation and Tourism, Sport and the Arts since the last election.

Nor is there a record of him sending e-mails to the ministers' aides or senior public office holders at BC Hydro, the liquor distribution branch, and the BC Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games secretariat during the same period.

Mr. Kinsella, a public affairs consultant and the Liberals' 2001 and 2005 campaign co-chair, has long been connected with the province's gaming industry.

In a 2004 interview, he described Great Canadian Gaming Corp. chairman and chief executive officer Ross McLeod as a "good friend of mine."

In fact, according to Stockwatch, Mr. Kinsella sat with him on board of directors of CSCC Casino Software Corp. from February 12, 1996 until Mr. McLeod departed on March 21, 1997. Mr. Kinsella became a former director a month later.

And Registered Gaming Management Companies of B.C. president Tom Nellis recently said Mr. Kinsella attended meetings between the government and bingo hall and community gaming centre owner/operators as a free favour to the industry.

Sean Holman is legislative reporter for 24 Hours and publisher of Public Eye Online.