It’s been a day of denial and finger-pointing for several of the parties involved in Karl Rove's scheduled speaking engagement in Vancouver.

Rove is George W. Bush's former deputy chief of staff and the man widely credited for engineering the president's reelection in 2004.

On February 13, Straight.com reported that Rove was scheduled to speak at the Vancouver Art Gallery tonight (February 18) at 6:00 p.m.

A Vancouver-based right-wing think tank, the Fraser Institute, organized the event.

Since then, plans may have changed.

Dana Sullivant, director of marketing and communications for the Vancouver Art Gallery, told the Straight in a telephone interview that the event would not take place at the gallery.

"The event is not taking place at the gallery this evening," Sullivant said. "The Fraser Institute opted to move to another location."

She continued, "We did not change the event. The Fraser Institute opted to have the event at another facility."

But in an interview conducted several hours earlier, the Straight asked Fraser Institute spokesperson Dean Pelkey if he could confirm or deny rumours that the Rove event had been cancelled or moved.

His reply: "As far we we’re concerned, we have a contract with the Vancouver Art Gallery, Karl Rove is coming to speak, [and] we have people who have paid money to hear him speak."

Throughout the day, the Straight received several e-mails from Vancouver activists who claimed that the event had been moved to the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver.

Confronted with these allegations in a later interview, Pelkey replied: "I can’t comment on that. I don’t know what’s happening at the Four Seasons."

Pressed further, he added, "No. As I said before, we have a contract with the Vancouver Art Gallery."

As of February 18, 5:00 p.m., both the Fraser Institute’s Web site and the Karl Rove event brochure stated that the speaking engagement was scheduled to take place at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Todd Jeannotte, director of catering for the Four Seasons, refused to go on the record concerning any aspect relating to Karl Rove's visit to Vancouver.

However, Derrick O’Keefe, cochair for the StopWar Coalition, claimed in a telephone interview with the Straight that he had earlier spoken with Jeannotte and had been told to contact the Fraser Institute.

O’Keefe noted, "[Jeannotte] offered to contact the event organizer, which was curious if there wasn’t an event going on."

According to a StopWar media release, there will be a demonstration against the Karl Rove speaking engagement at the Four Seasons on February 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Anybody who attends the protest is urged to send their photos and/or video to contact@straight.com.

Related Links:

A profile of Karl Rove by the BBC