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Railgate Just Got Stranger

Fast ferries, secret e-mails, mystery hard drives: Basi-Virk case's wild week.

By Bill Tieleman, 30 Jan 2008, TheTyee.ca

Robert Basi and David Virk

Robert Virk and David Basi.

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Secret e-mails about B.C. Liberal political operatives' actions in the sale of B.C.'s ill-fated fast ferries. E-mails the government wants to keep secret about the $1 billion B.C. Rail privatization. E-mails perhaps sent to the office of Premier Gordon Campbell.

And a mystery computer hard drive seized in the 2003 B.C. legislature raid and found in the wrong place in 2008 -- the B.C. Supreme Court Registry -- by the presiding judge herself!

Welcome to another suspiciously surreal chapter in the case of former provincial government aides David Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi who face corruption charges, now entering its fifth year without going to trial.

But this week's B.C. Supreme Court pre-trial hearings opened up the intriguing possibility that evidence from up to 140 e-mails not previously disclosed to the defence will give the public another window into the operations of the Gordon Campbell government.

And for the first time, the subject of Virk's "running orders" as a political aide regarding the sale of B.C.'s controversial three fast ferries built under the previous New Democratic Party government's term was raised in court.

Virk's lawyer Kevin McCullough let slip that reference Tuesday when telling Justice Elizabeth Bennett that he wanted to ensure she saw both the e-mails and attachments to them because: "when something deals with the fast ferries and Mr. Virk's running orders...."

Just following orders: defence

Outside the courtroom, David Basi's lawyer Michael Bolton elaborated on what might be in the e-mails, which the defence has not seen but presumably the accused have some knowledge of, having received them while in government.

"The role of documents like that relates to the roles and functions of ministerial assistants regarding political initiatives," Bolton said. "It's relevant to the broader defence."

That defence, of course, asserts that Basi and Virk were merely pawns in a larger game played by higher ups.

Basi and Virk face charges of breach of trust and fraud for alleging giving confidential government documents on the B.C. Rail deal to Erik Bornmann, a lobbyist acting for OmniTRAX, in exchange for money and other benefits. Bornmann and Pilothouse Public Affairs lobbyist partner Brian Kieran have both turned crown witnesses and face no charges.

In a May 2007 court session, Bolton laid out the defence argument for Bennett.

"The case of the defence is that at no time did the accused do anything that was not explicitly or implicitly authorized by their political masters," Bolton said then.

Bolton argues that Basi and Virk merely facilitated a government-wide strategy to ensure B.C. Rail bidder OmniTRAX stayed in the dubious privatization process after fellow bidder CP Rail dropped out. Had OmniTRAX quit it would have left only the eventual winner CN Rail as a bidder, causing political turmoil for the B.C. Liberal government.

"What they did was critical to the survivability and electability of the [provincial] government," Bolton said in May, arguing that Basi and Virk are fall guys for politically more important or more connected players.

Government allegedly sitting on many e-mails

Details about those players and their role in the B.C. Rail sale may also come tumbling out -- if the defence is successful in having up to 140 secret e-mails connected to the deal disclosed to them.

Provincial government lawyer George Copley divulged their existence Monday and said the government is claiming either solicitor-client or cabinet privilege over them, meaning they should not be disclosed unless Bennett finds them relevant to the defence.

Copley's statement drew a frustrated response from lawyers for the accused.

"The net of it is the defence says we have a big problem," McCullough told Bennett. "These documents should be here right now, you should be reviewing them right now."

"This process has fallen down so badly that we have 100 to 140 e-mails that no one has reviewed," he said.

That led to another surreal scene, as Copley said that Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm, who had initially authorized the search warrants for the legislature, might have previously reviewed the e-mails and inadvertently misplaced them somewhere.

"So I should ask his secretary to search his office?" Bennett asked to much laughter in the courtroom.

But McCullough didn't find it a totally amusing suggestion.

"I appreciate the humour, but I don't think these e-mails ever went to Mr. Justice Dohm," he told Bennett. "That's outrageous. They dropped the ball and they want to suggest that maybe Mr. Justice Dohm didn't put some of them back in the envelope?"

Bennett decided the safest course was to indeed check with Dohm. She later reported back that, no, Dohm did not have the missing e-mails or recall reviewing them.

Hard drive turns up in wrong place

But on Tuesday Justice Bennett's perseverance in attempting to find out where the e-mails had been hidden for four years led to yet another discovery announced in court -- that she herself had located a mysterious computer hard drive possibly containing the original e-mails sitting undetected in the B.C. Supreme Court's registry.

"Can anyone shed light on the hard drive at the registry?" Bennett asked a courtroom full of surprised lawyers. "It shouldn't be at the registry -- that's about the last place it should be -- although it's safe there."

What is the B.C. legislature raid case?

Also known as "Basi-Virk," it stems from an unprecedented search of the B.C. legislature on Dec. 28, 2003, that police at the time ominously linked to drug dealing, organized crime and corruption said to extend to the highest levels of government.

Subsequently it became clear the search was in fact connected to the $1 billion privatization of B.C. Rail by B.C. Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell.

Two former ministerial aides -- David Basi and Bob Virk -- now face charges of breach of trust and fraud for allegedly passing confidential government documents on to lobbyists representing OmniTRAX, one of the corporations that bid for B.C. Rail. Aneal Basi, a former government communications aide and cousin to David Basi, faces money laundering charges.

The case has exposed the extensive political connections between the B.C. and federal Liberal parties, provincial lobbyists, the leadership campaign of former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin and even the RCMP.

The B.C. legislature raid case is currently in the pre-trial defence application stage at B.C. Supreme Court. The trial itself is expected to last six months or more and call dozens of witnesses, including powerful former B.C. Liberal cabinet ministers, political staff, lobbyists and many others.

-- Bill Tieleman

Bennett, a former prosecutor herself, wasn't kidding about the inappropriate location of the hard drive. Defence lawyer Bolton was aghast as well.

"We'll certainly be asking questions about how and why this came to be here," Bolton said outside court, adding that it appeared the hard drive had been there "for years."

"There absolutely is the possibility of a chain of custody issue," he said. "Very serious concerns were raised about the integrity of evidence."

In court, special prosecutor Janet Winteringham told Bennett she's not sure why the hard drive was at the registry or whether information it contained had been disclosed.

But Bolton said outside court that he believes the hard drive "certainly would appear to include the missing e-mails."

In court, McCullough raised another issue: he wants to know the names of everyone who actually received the e-mails, including those who may have had it forwarded to them.

"It's very helpful to see the forwards," McCullough said. "When a person you wouldn't think in the premier's office is getting it."

NDP on the attack

All of these developments combined to draw fire from the NDP opposition Tuesday. "The ongoing problems around disclosure raise suspicions these documents are compromising to the government," NDP MLA Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam -- Burke Mountain) said in a news release. "The only way to clear this up is to bring them into the public light as the premier personally promised."

A call to Campbell's communications director Dale Steeves was not returned by deadline, but in the past Campbell has declined to comment about issues related to the case, saying only that it is before the courts.

And defence lawyer Bolton ended the day by telling reporters he fully expects the trial to proceed as scheduled on March 17 this year despite disclosure problems.

"The judge is certainly doing everything she can to move the case along," he said when asked if the trial can start on time.

For wary reporters who have seen the trial date postponed half a dozen times and faced other regular and substantial delays, it was a rare bit of optimistic news, perhaps even as surreal a possibility as anything else in this strange case.

Related Tyee stories:

[Tyee]

Bill Tieleman is a regular Tyee contributor who writes a column on B.C. politics every Tuesday in 24 Hours newspaper. Tieleman can be heard Mondays at 10 a.m. on the Bill Good Show on CKNW AM 980 or at www.cknw.com. E-mail him at weststar@telus.net or visit his blog at http://billtieleman.blogspot.com.

30 Comments:

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  • Van Isle

    4 years ago

    Hmmm, just wondering when

    Hmmm, just wondering when we'll be seeing more Liberal MLA's announcing that they won't be running in the next election. Rats leaving the sinking ship.

  • Gary

    4 years ago

    And speaking ....

    ...of sinking ships Van Isle. I'm fairly certain we will not be hearing any Fat Cat LINO's making reference to the Fast Cat Ferries anymore.
    I have been attempting to find out why these ships were sitting idle for years with all the main population to see, and this Rail Case just handed me the sole reason. It is purely political. No other reason. And where does the reason pop up? Right smack in the middle of discovery in what is becoming the most politically damaging trial any government in this country has ever seen.
    Great reporting Bill.

  • no1important

    4 years ago

    Do people even care about

    Do people even care about this, how he sold the Fast Ferries or BC Rail anymore?

    This was 5 years ago and I think most people forgot about the raid, the odd person still remembers but for the most part it is forgotten in typical Canadian fashion.

    EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS -- TYEE EDITOR he did get re elected and he continues to be very high in the polls...

  • JIm

    4 years ago

    I bet the NDP would like to

    I bet the NDP would like to be on the Liberals "sinking ship".

    The most politically damaging trial ANY government has seen? The Liberals are really feeling this one in the polls. Their lead has dropped by a whopping..wait a sec, it hasn't dropped, never mind.

    The fact is the only people who really care about this case wouldn't vote for the Liberals anyway.

  • Van Isle

    4 years ago

    Hey no1important

    It's the old saying; "If you're not outraged then it's obvious that you haven't been paying attention". Maybe the average BC voter will start to pay attention when this trial gets going but the trick is for the Liberals to stall all proceedings as long as possible so next years provincal election won't be affected. Gordioccio wants to be on centre stage when the olympics come to town and he'll do whatever he can to be up there.

  • Grumpy

    4 years ago

    Is the.........

    .......Campbell government trying to get the case thrown out? Me thinks there is something rotten on the isalnad of Vancouver.

  • Skywalker

    4 years ago

    Ahh but if they'd had a deck built.

    It would have been front page news every day and you would have had a judgment long ago.

  • Jeffrey J.

    4 years ago

    Corruption Inc

    The deafening silence from CanWestGlobal on the biggest political issue in decades is truly amazing. The wiretap evidence, produced directly by the RCMP, is self evident. How can it be said to not be "proven" when it forms the very basis of the Crown's case? This entire matter, involving the RCMP being TOLD not to fly to Hawaii and interview Gary Collins, is a travesty of democracy and justice.

    The following is a transcript taken from notes from Bolton's statement in court and is slightly abbreviated:
    Collins: Hello.
    Basi: Hi boss. Judith Reid was on Ben Meisner [at the time, a Prince George radio talk show host] -- she handled herself real well. There was only one call and it was ours.
    Collins: Good.
    Basi: Bill Vander Zalm will be on [radio] with Barb Sharp -- mayor of North Vancouver. [former B.C. premier Vander Zalm and Sharp both opposed BC Rail privatization]
    Collins: Uh-huh.
    Basi: I wanted to have the mayor of Squamish, who's a good friend of ours, rip Barb Sharp a new asshole. Is that okay?
    Collins: Absolutely.
    Basi: I called Jerry Lampert of the [BC] Business Council and said: 'Jerry, we need your help.' The Prince George Citizen might take an op-ed [opinion editorial article] but they don't want only positive pieces.
    Collins: Well, you could do that....I want you to keep this completely to yourself because there's only two of us who know about this."
    Basi: Okay.
    Collins: I talked to the Premier. We want to put Colin Kinsley [mayor of Prince George] and the mayor of Squamish on the committee.
    Basi: I'm going to call Ian Sutherland [mayor of Squamish] at home.
    Collins: Uh-huh.
    Basi: Then we're going to arrange calls and rip these guys up good.
    Collins: Okay but don't tell Sutherland because it's the Premier who's going to call.

  • Frank

    4 years ago

    Jeffrey J.

    Sorry Jeff, but there's not a single mention of a deck in there, and if there's no deck there's no crime according to the Right. Then again they do have a thing against golf courses in Quebec too.

    But if its about kickbacks from German businessman, drunk driving or EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS -- TYEE MODERATOR the Right couldn't care less, as JIm demonstrates.

    If polls were to turn against them however they would all declare they never liked Campbell anyway and form a new party which would take BC business about 10 minutes to declare their support for it.

    Apparently lemmings demonstrate less "group-think" than a right-wing voter in this province.

  • BC Mary

    4 years ago

    Weird, weirder, weirdest - Olympic champions

    .
    There was weirdness in this Railgate affair from the beginning ... how could you not be interested in the Olympics of Political Weirdness?

    Weird: if Premier Campbell spoke the truth that he knew nothing about the police raid on his Ministry of Finance, on what grounds did he instantly fire one of his government's most favoured aides from the Ministry of Finance??

    Weirder: given that a year went by before Dave Basi was charged with anything, why didn't Basi sue his former employer for wrongful dismissal? I mean, can Gordo a) know nothing and b) know all that's needed to chop a guy's career?

    Weirdest: Dec. 1, 2003 - B. C. Attorney General Geoff Plant is told by his staff that a case requires the appointment of a special prosecutor and may involve a search of the B.C. legislature. The raid happened on Dec. 28. So for 4 weeks, key people in the Campbell government knew the historic police raid was coming. Ya gotta wonder.

    We worked hard, over at The Legislature Raids, on such questions and posted our views on 19 Jan 2008 in an item called Before police raided the BC Legislature, there was time to destroy evidence. Have a look: http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/

  • Budd Campbell

    4 years ago

    THANKS A MILLION JIm-BOb

    JIm-BOb wrote as follows:

    The most politically damaging trial ANY government has seen? The Liberals are really feeling this one in the polls. Their lead has dropped by a whopping..wait a sec, it hasn't dropped, never mind.

    You've put it out there in the showroom window so we all see it and hear it and smell it JIm-BOb. In your world it doesn't matter about performance in government, it doesn't matter about scandals or ethics, it only matters who wins the election and by how many percentage points. This is the unifying "philosophy" that binds together the federal and provincial wings of The Sponsorship Party

  • tricia58

    4 years ago

    Nothing Surprises

    Nothing with this government that once promised to be open and accountable to the people surprises me anymore. What I do hate is how little the mainstream media reports any of this. I would love all this information to be let loose and the voters decide who is guilty. I want this government to be open and accountable finally. They even seem to try and control the courts. This is just too much. This case has gone on long enough. The Liberals need to let the trial procede and let us decide.

  • Fiat lux

    4 years ago

    I had a long chat with our

    I had a long chat with our forestry critic MLA Bob Simpson, yesterday, who told me that he handed over the most damaging evidence of government sellouts of public properties to the media, but it is all ignored by the propaganda machine our press has become under the control of the corporate mafia.

    Now the federal Reform gang are doing their best to kill the grain Boards and hand them over to the multinationals, so they can ruin more farmers, as they're ruining the beef ranchers here in BC right now.

    The whole thing is nothing but a dirty game of "economic competition" to cause shortages, which already exist in the beef market, and jack up prices, while ranchers go broke, so the wealth creating multinationals can pick up the whole country.

    Under the glories of the "free markets", shortages are supposed to raise prices, but
    now we have beef shortages all over the world, while the producers are getting half of what they received 10 years ago.

    So, what does this have to do with the Basi and Virk case? Simply that this Reform gang are the most corrupt governments I've seen in my 52 years as a BC and Canadian
    voter.

    Ed Deak.

  • lynn

    4 years ago

    The grand theft of our public properties

    Quote:
    So, what does this have to do with the Basi and Virk case? Simply that this Reform gang are the most corrupt governments I've seen in my 52 years as a BC and Canadian
    voter.

    I think you are absolutely right, Fiat lux.

    Shine a close light on the BBV case, and you will see exactly how this province now operates and in whose interests it now operates for. Then transfer that kind of corrupt behavior to every privatization deal made in this province and you will see the most disturbing picture emerge of the most corrupt government in, as Ed writes, both BC and Canadian history.

    It's the same deceitful behavior and the same deceitful process used over and over again. The arrogance, the secrecy, the disrespect for the public's right to know is evident in every action of this government. From the sale of BC Rail, from "the public pays, the private profits, mish-mash" that is now THEIR ferry system, not ours - to the privatization of our public gem, BC Hydro, through the loss of the water rights that power it - to the privatization of our rivers ( over 500 of them now up for grabs to private interests)....and on and on.

    Quote:
    I had a long chat with our forestry critic MLA Bob Simpson, yesterday, who told me that he handed over the most damaging evidence of government sellouts of public properties to the media, but it is all ignored by the propaganda machine our press has become under the control of the corporate mafia.

    Not surprising either. These are the good little soldiers of a propaganda machine now helping to keep the good people of this province in the dark until the last deal is done and our public properties/resources/assets have been totally sold-out, along with the accompanying rights of the people of this province.

    What is really shocking is the breadth of this, the scope of what has already been lost.

    Absolutely tragic.

  • happy

    4 years ago

    Lynn

    Who owns BC Ferries now? Who is "THEIR" that you refer to?

  • Gordon_Ramble

    4 years ago

    The NDP has been relativey quiet

    The NDP has been relativey quiet on this whole mess (except for the odd vocalization to keep up appearances)... it's almost like the NDP is virtually giving the Liberals "free pass" on this whole mess... maybe there's a few NDP fingerprints involved in this mess.

  • Fiat lux

    4 years ago

    From what I hear the NDP has

    From what I hear the NDP has been trying, albeit in a very polite way, but are shut out by the controlled media working for the lords of the universe.

    These are not ideological issues, but simply criminal actions of "wealth creation" by the lords, in other words, daylight robbery with lies and violence.

    Ed Deak.

  • Gordon_Ramble

    4 years ago

    If Carole James showed up

    If Carole (I can't take a position on an issue) James showed up on the corner of Granville and Robsoin street and started banging pots & pans and started screaming with a mega-phone for answers, I think she'd get some MSM coverage... however, the super-slow process and the "free pass" the NDP have given the Liberals on Railgate suggests to me that members from more than one political party have been implicated/caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

    Essentially, the Liberals handed the NDP the next election on a silver platter... but the NDP has practically given the Liberals a "free pass"... it doesn't pass the smell test, IMO.

  • lynn

    4 years ago

    Ferry tales

    Quote:
    Who owns BC Ferries now? Who is "THEIR" that you refer to?

    happy, you tell me. Is it a bird, is it a plane? Is the public a sitting duck?Public, private. Privatized? The only thing we know for sure is that the BC taxpayer is responsible for the debts and the costs.

    Read Bill 18, The Coastal Ferry Act
    This act exempts the company from the Ombudsman Act, Freedom of Information Law and oversight by the Auditor-General...and this act also states that the Campbell government is not subject to the Labour Relations Code.

    Now, if it was really ours, for our benefit, we would have access to all this vital information stuff, doncha think?

  • ursus

    4 years ago

    MSM

    The mainstream media are very much pro B.C. Liberal and have no intention of giving us the facts so we can form our own opinions. This movie is a bit of a eye opener I posted this url on a previous thread but I think everyone should watch it so here it is again.

    http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

  • Fiat lux

    4 years ago

    Zeitgeist is a great movie,

    Zeitgeist is a great movie, we watched in on a borrowed DVD.

    Does anybody know where I could buy a copy?

    Ed Deak.

  • Gordon_Ramble

    4 years ago

    In regards to Zeitgeist

    In regards to Zeitgeist and it's theme: Central banks and war... you might want to check out this short video clip... which sheds light on why the price of Gold and Silver has more than tripled since the war on terror moved into high gear...

    http://www.freedomtofascism.com/blog/2006/12/michael-badnarik-on-federal-reserve.html

  • ursus

    4 years ago

    zeitgeist

    Ed
    Yes it is a great movie and I think it is opening a lot of peoples eyes, you can order the movie from the site or download with a bit torrent and burn your own, the quality isn't to bad if you chose the latter.

    I like the part about the chip then campbels making the announcement that they are putting the chips into 500 B.C. drivers licenses and looking for volunteers, won't be long before they try forcing this on everyone.

    The bovines in the media will all be saying how good it is for us to be monitored daily?

    Cheers.

  • lynn

    4 years ago

    thanks, ursus

    thanks, ursus...

    wow....zeitgeist is a great movie. I'll pass the link along to our friends.

    cheers, lynn.

  • ursus

    4 years ago

    zeitgeist

    I am telling everyone I know to watch this movie.

    Cheers.

  • G West

    4 years ago

    Interesting updates

    Please check both
    http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/

    and

    http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/

    for the latest updates on this increasingly fascinating case.

    And don't forget the comments - there are some good ones...including another connection I wasn't aware of between Bobby Virk and Christy Clark.

    Inroads are being made in the chinks of the Campbell administration's armour of denial.

  • homegrown

    4 years ago

    NDP: Lack of Opposition

    The comment that the NDP has been relatively quiet on this matter reminds me that the NDP puts up little to no opposition on anything the Liberals do. They are far too quiet!! Who to vote for next time???

    I have a friend who theorizes the Liberals "have something" on the NDP and/or Carol James that causes them to be so complacent, and raise no opposition. It is curious that they are so quiet, compared to past opposition parties.

  • G West

    4 years ago

    Don't think so homegrown

    The NDP can't get any attention in the MSM.

    They need to take a few lessons from Dave Barrett, who knew how to get himself thrown out of the legislature when he was trying to make a point.

    On the other hand, even if the sergeant and arms was dragging corky evans and david Chudnovsky out by the armpits on a regular basis, the media these days probably wouldn't report it anyway.

    Have a look at this blog...

    http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/

    The apathy of the press is astounding.

  • homegrown

    4 years ago

    Consider it, G. West

    West, I am well aware that the press just does not cover anything adverse to the liberals or attempt to dig for any dirt on them. I think it's worth considering that there may be some other reason the NDP is so quiet: it is certainly a break with their tradition, as you point out, Dave Barrett and others. Why would they suddenly become so quiet? In the past, you would often see the antics on the evening news, at least CBC continues to some degree to cover somewhat unbiasedly; if there was some yelling going on, it would be on the evening news, however . . .

  • G West

    4 years ago

    homegrown

    I didn't mean to imply I was excusing what has been, for the most part, a pretty lackluster performance by the official Opposition. ON the other hand, it's important to recall that the Campbell Government has a full time staff of nearly (perhaps more - I haven't checked lately) 200 individuals in a department called the 'Public Affairs Bureau.' After the 2001 election the NDP was reduced to 2 members in the house and two (2) researchers. Things are a bit better now - but not all that much by comparison.

    Campbell's guys and gals are all appointees - none are really legitimate members of the Provincial Civil Service in the sense that they qualified or competed for their jobs.

    Aneal Basi, one of the principals in the Basi, Virk case, was a Public Affairs Bureau OIC appointee from July of 2002. His chief qualification for the job appears to have been the fact that he was Christy Clark's "driver" at some point in the past - and he was on Canada's national Field Hockey team.

    I've always been a CBC (especially radio) supporter too but lately, especially in the 6am - 8:30am slot on AM 690, I find it has become little more than a pop feel-good show interspersed with homey items and nonsense from the Puff master.

    CBC did some decent early coverage on Basi Virk and they did publish a decent early time-line piece; lately, nada.

    If you check carefully at the site I pointed you to, you'll find that there has been better coverage from Bill Tieleman and a citizen journalist called Robin Mathews than from any other major (or minor) media player.

    I hope the NDP finally does bestir itself in the upcoming session. I've heard it rumoured there will be some 'interesting' things to consider....

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