Christy Clark's $3,300 Excellent Hockey Adventure

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark accepted at least $3,800 worth of gifts in the month of June last year.

The bulk of Clark's haul was six tickets from the Vancouver Canucks to watch the team at home in the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins. While Clark was public in June about having accepted the tickets, their value is named for the first time in her recently released public disclosure statement.

Clark and her pre-teen son Hamish each received tickets to the second, fifth and seventh game in the playoff series. Those tickets were worth $550 each, for a grand total of $3,300.

There was some public outcry at the time about Clark accepting the tickets, and the Globe and Mail noted that in contrast to Clark, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson paid their own way to playoff games.

However, Paul Fraser, conflict-of-interest commissioner, found it appropriate for Clark to take the free tickets. "You attended these games as the official representative of the Government of British Columbia, which you lead," he wrote in a June 14 letter Clark's office released. "Leading political figures have been attending major sporting events in this country for decades."

Fraser wrote that such events "generate competitive pride and loyalty in city, province and country" and provide "a welcome break from the rigours of daily life."

A day after Fraser wrote his letter, the Canucks lost the cup to the Bruins and Vancouver erupted in a riot that included widespread looting, injured at least 140 people, including nine police officers, and resulted in an estimated $5 million in property damage.

Campbell claimed no gifts after 2008

MLAs are legally required to disclose any gift they receive worth more than $250 to the conflict-of-interest commissioner, who then makes those disclosure statements public.

The statement for Clark, who was sworn in as premier on March 14, 2011, covers up to July 26, 2011. It lists three other gifts she accepted in that time, all of them in June.

They were a $500 pair of "custom made moccasins" from the Northwest Territories and Fort Simpson First Nation, a $325 "First Nations Pendleton Blanket" from the First Nations Summit and a "custom made aboriginal drum" of unknown value from then Northwest Territories premier Floyd Roland.

For comparison, former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell's last three disclosure statements, which cover from 2008 to 2010 and include the period when the province hosted the Olympics, include no gifts over $250.

Also of note on Clark's form, Cannacord Financial is now handling the premier's investments, but without her knowledge of what's in the portfolio. The arrangement is similar to one made for Campbell when he was premier. The Tyee reported Clark said in an April 21, 2011 disclosure form she filed as part of the byelection process that she held no corporate shares.

Yap flew to NYC beauty pageant

Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap got gifts worth almost as much as what the premier received. The bulk of it came when a Chinese government official invited Yap to New York, where he was a guest at a beauty pageant.

Here's how Yap's disclosure form records the trip: "Air travel, hotel, meals and transfers to attend inaugural Miss Asia Pageant North America 2011 in New York, USA, valued at $2,500, received on August 5, 2011, and donated by Organizing Committee, Miss Asia Pageant North America. Member was invited by Consul Haipeng Dang, Consulate General of China Office in Vancouver to support multi-cultural relations (BC, Canada, China) through this pageant."

The pageant's website includes a 90-second speech from Yap, where he notes the number of Canadian contestants in the competition and thanks the organizers and hosts for their hospitality.

The Chinese consulate general in Vancouver also gave Yap two tickets worth $256 to the "Centennial Commemoration of the Xinhai Chinese Revolution" on Sept. 6, 2011. It's unclear from the statement whether the price is for each ticket or both.

Yap's Facebook photos theater from the evening show other MLAs Ida Chong, Richard Lee, Dave Hayer and Rob Howard in attendance, though none of their forms mention the event.

Yap also received an $800 "VIP ticket to Fundraising Gala Dinner and Concert Show" on March 12, 2011 from the social services charity S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Foundation. The organization's website notes "approximately 80% of S.U.C.C.E.S.S.'s annual operating funds come from the government."

More Canucks tix, petrified wood

Harry Bloy, the Clark supporter who was Social Development minister for nearly six months before being demoted, was given tickets to two Canucks games. On March 16, 2011, Global Container Terminals gave Bloy two game tickets, a gift worth $450.

Then in June, Pacific Western Brewing gave Bloy two tickets, valued at $800, to the company's box at Rogers Arena for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals on June 6, where the Bruins won 8 to 1.

Deputy Speaker Linda Reid got two tickets worth a total of $428 to the March 16, 2011 Vancouver Canucks game from Global Container World and Port Metro Vancouver.

The lobbying firm Hill & Knowlton gave Stephanie Cadieux, then Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government minister, a $350 ticket to the June 8 Premier's Dinner fundraising event.

West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Joan McIntyre's ticket to that same event was donated by the Ilse Morris Jade Group.

Coca Cola gave Parksville-Qualicum MLA Ron Cantelon two concert tickets worth $508 in total. Cantelon's disclosure form says he received the tickets in August 2010.

Steve Thomson, Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations minister, received a $100 print from the Chinese province of Guangdong. The Chinese ministry of agriculture gave him a $100 model spinning wheel and a $100 print of the Peking Opera. He also got a $250 carving from the Kitamaat First Nation in March 2011.

The First Nations Summit gave Mary Polak, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation minister, a "rhythm of the land" Pendleton blanket, with a value of $325.

Pat Bell, Jobs, Tourism and Innovation minister, got a piece of petrified wood from the China Forestry Museum. The gift, received in April 2010, had an unknown value.

Also worth noting:

Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Kevin Krueger and his spouse bought an investment property in Kamloops, mortgaged through Royal Bank of Canada. Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman and his spouse sold their home. Vancouver-Langara MLA Moira Stilwell and her spouse sold a residential property in Vancouver, and used mortgages to buy two new homes, one in Vancouver and one in Whistler.

Height of the Rockies Adventure Company Ltd., a guide outfitting company that "provides commercial guiding services, including big game hunting, pack trips, nature viewing and photography, and angling under Park Use Permit," still owes Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett money. In 2008 Bennett told Public Eye website he was owed between $60,000 and $70,000 by the company in which he no longer owned shares.

Stephanie Cadieux, who as Social Development minister makes about $150,000 a year, receives a disability gas tax rebate. The credit of up to $500 a year for the provincial taxes on gasoline is available to people who have a disability that prevents them from using public transportation. Cadieux uses a wheelchair, which is one of the criteria for the rebate. Eligibility is not based on a person's income.