Liberals, NDP clash over immigration raid at Hastings Racecourse

Horses kick up mud as they round a corner during a stakes race at Hastings Racecourse prior to the homecoming race featuring Mario Gutierrez, of Mexico, who rode I'll Have Another to win two legs of this year's Triple Crown, in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday July 2, 2012. Gutierrez got his start at the Vancouver track and returned to compete in two races Monday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A war of words has broken out between two of B.C.'s top politicians over the circumstances that led to last month's immigration raid at Hastings Racecourse.

Weeks after the Aug. 19 raid, an investigation is underway into a gaming employee who may have provided false work documents to track workers in exchange for some kind of benefit.

Meanwhile, NDP Attorney General David Eby has made waves suggesting he raised similar concerns as an opposition MLA under the previous BC Liberal government, and that little was done in response.

"It's surprising to me that there's such different results depending on who's in government and who's looking at the issue," Eby told reporters last week.

But Liberal MLA Mike de Jong insists that's not true, and has demanded Eby issue a retraction.

While there was a report that flagged potential issues at Hastings Racecourse, de Jong said it was released shortly before the Liberals left office.

"That report was presented just prior to Mr. Eby and the NPD forming government. If nothing's been done it's because Mr. Eby hasn't done anything," he told CTV News.

He also countered that the concerns Eby raised while in opposition were actually about drug use among racecourse employees, not immigration fraud.

"Mr. Eby never mentioned that, he mentioned a concern around drug testing. That was dealt with," de Jong said.

Eby stood by his claim on Thursday, arguing there were other issues the Liberals failed to adequately address while in power. He said de Jong responded to him personally about his concerns regarding the racecourse, and told him "it was looked at and best practices are being followed."

"When he wrote to me he said … 'I'm confident that everything's great,' which is exactly what he said about money laundering," Eby told reporters.

The Liberals also noted the current investigation was only triggered after an a whistleblower came forward with the allegations last year.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Bhinder Sajan