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The B.C. First Party has released B.C. premier Gordon Campbell’s invitation to the 2010 Bilderberg conference held in June in Sitges, Spain.

The January 11 letter from Etienne Davignon, chair of the Bilderberg steering committee, to "Prime Minister Gordon Campbell" states that the invitation is “strictly personal and cannot be transferred”.

It also notes that “participants are expected to attend for the entire time of the conference”.

The newly formed provincial political party obtained the premier’s invitation and his expense records for the trip through a freedom-of-information request.

Due to the secrecy surrounding them, the annual Bilderberg conferences, which have been held since 1954, are a favourite topic of conspiracy theorists.

According to the official Bilderberg Meetings website, about 130 people attended this year’s conference, which focused on “Financial Reform, Security, Cyber Technology, Energy, Pakistan, Afghanistan, World Food Problem, Global Cooling, Social Networking, Medical Science, EU-US relations”.

In a press release today (October 5), B.C. First spokesperson Chris Delaney said the expense records show the premier’s office used public funds totalling more than $16,000 to fly Campbell to this year’s Bilderberg conference.

“Did the premier pay for his own hotel and meals for the private conference? Or were they paid by someone else? In which case did he file a ”˜disclosure statement’ of benefit as required under Section 7(3) of the Members’ Conflict of Interest Act?” Delaney asked in the release.

CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge was also among the attendees at the 2010 Bilderberg conference.

TD Bank Financial Group CEO Edmund Clark and Indigo Books & Music CEO Heather Reisman are the two Canadian members on the Bilderberg steering committee.

Other steering committee members include former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle.

You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.