Exonerated?

Really? I do not think so....

From Alex Tsakumis based on David Basi's witnessed memos

SORRY FRANK, The Tyee, for legal concerns, is not prepared to republish the blogged allegations you cut and pasted into your comment.

Disreputable

Disreputable is what the government of the Lieberals and the Justice System has become.

Where are the prosecutions for the bribers and the ones responsible for the destroyed emails that were ordered released to the defence of Basi/Virk but rather were destroyed in what appears clear violation of the DOCUMENT DISPOSAL ACT ?

The payment of Basi/Virk legal fees flies in the face of all reason, saying they have no significant assets to seize seems a bit of a stretch.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Basi+Virk+wasted+millions+maintaining+innocence+Gordon+Campbell/3694969/story.html
However I believe this case of not recovering costs from the guilty has set precedent and now no one should be subject to seizure of assets to cover a debt owed to the government.

I believe Anne Mackenzie acting Judge in this case has acted in a dishonorable and detrimental fashion in her duty to the people and justice system of British Columbia by accepting the plea bargain as presented to her. EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS - MODERATOR

Only in the Greatest Banana Dictatorship on Earth.
Rick: Witala

More on this....

...here:

[LINK REMOVED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS.]

Including a report of a very interesting conversation that allegedly took place in the courtroom between the reporters and defense counsel.

Moderator

The truth is not a legal problem and it will never come out if every one is afraid of the slap suits initiated to fend off the truth being known.

How far...

...will the moderator go? So far a quote from Alex Tsakumis's blog has been removed, a link to the blog has been removed, and I see the mere mention of his name above. Will that be deleted too, along with this post?

Could the moderator at least post and tell us how quoting or linking to allegations raises legal concerns?

Dear Mr. Coleman,

Would a duck apologize to BP?

BC Rail

The NDP utilized BC Rail as a centrepiece of it's 2005 election platform, again in 2009, likely again in 2013, 2017, 2021, 2025, 2029, 2033... and so on... and so on.... and so on... and so on...

Reminds me of a 1980's Faberge Organic Shampoo Commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcskckuosxQ&feature=related

BTW, Heather Locklear was hot back in the day. Damn, they loved their "big hair" back then. :D

the real story

Next to the $65B lost in stockbroker Power "clean" energy contracts, the $10B or so loss to the taxpayer in capital and revenue from the biggest resource boom in history with the BCRail giveaway is one of the biggest scams in Canadian history.

One day the dumbass BC voter might punish the BCLiberals for it.

Meanwhile the BCLiberals virtually every time they are on the air bring up the $400M lost on the fast ferries 10 years ago.

Cool hand

If that is the most thoughtful response you can provide to all the previous comments and the article, then you really needn't bother posting anything at all. maybe concentrate on your homework.

Apologise?

For what? The question still remains, what involvement or non-involvement did the Clark family have? EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS. MODERATOR either at her office or at a helijet pad. Why apologise prior to and unless a full public inquiry has been performed?

deeby

the law isn't fully resolved on whether a web site is liable for a libel repeated from some other source or linked to in the comments section. The Tyee is conservative on the issue. See this case, for example.

http://www.j-source.ca/english_new/detail.php?id=6079

We're not saying A.T. has libelled anyone. We just can't vet everything he says in the posts our readers might link to, and we are aware he is making strong allegations.

It's really a matter of human resources available to check and lawyer every accusation dropped into our comments section.

But the bottom line is...

Most of the insinuous accusations made here are based completely on your own self-conjured rumours and conspiratorial guilt by association as opposed to the real, hard facts that were clearly revealed with the release of these documents.

Many of you right now are practicing McCarthyism in its most insidious form. And yes, the Tyee should apologize as well for their role in encouraging these clearly false allegations.

leftofcentre

pardon me, but these two guys were POLITICAL order in council appointees of Gordon Campbell's; he signed those OICs and he was more than happy when they were doing mind fucking on his behalf every time Gordon appeared on an open line show.

Then, when Basi was recorded talking to Gary Farrell Collins and emoting about how he and his 'gang' were going to tear some new assholes I didn't notice anything but high-fives and encouragement.

I know who needs to apologize, and it's not the people who've been trying to get to the bottome of this totally corrupt government's actual 'record'.

Let me know when you've got some evidence that, save for a few calls to a drug dealer relative, any of this bs would have come to light and Dave Basi and his 'boss' Collins would have headed east to sit at Paul Martin's feet.

The fact is, we haven't heard the half of it and if people like you don't wake up and start screaming for some transparency and accountability we never will.

The Tyee has been doing that - and for that, God bless them!

Negotable

Just like in business every thing is negotiable (for a profit). As the Lieberals are now negotiating a secret multi billion dollar, 25 year deal with the RCMP we can only wonder if the RCMP's slant on the evidence. Have they chosen to release only that which is in the best interest if those offering them a sweetheart deal? After all what is bad for the Liberals is bad for business, even if you aren't a business. This will give Ottawa a police state in our province, that is answerable only to Ottawa for the next 25 years. Lots of luck getting anything out of the RCMP on the BC Rail issue.

leftofcentre

You're the only person in BC who doesn't think Campbell's personally hired "fixers" didn't do anything wrong.

If you don't think government documents being sold to the highest bidder is a crime then fine, we do. And unlike you we don't think the government should have paid their court costs nor should they have been happy with 2 years of house arrest as a penalty.

That is not a deterrent, that's nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Evidence

Let's see the release of the defence material. After all, they didn't argue what was done, their argument was that it wasn't done on their initiative.

We need a public inquiry where both Basi and Virk and those connected to them including those who offered bribes, have to give sworn testimony.

Until then any comment that there's nothing to see here is both uninformed and quite possibly purposefully misleading.

Luke

Haven't the Liberals been running against the "fast ferries" for over a decade?

And how long have the Liberals and Socreds been running against the BCTF? Since Robert Sommers was considered to be an honest man?

By the way, has the Right ever admitted that incidence of corruption?

The only thing we can count on is that Liberal leadership candidates think teachers do a bad job and that the Fraser Institute rankings of schools are based on facts. And yet in spite of both of those assertions being lies you plan to vote for them?

Thanks for Clarification

David, thanks for clarifying the Tyee's position on blog links/quotes.

The Globe has done a huge disservice to anyone seeking clarity on what actually happened. Declaring politicians of any stripe as 'cleared', based on a selective reading of the evidence has done nothing but give the leadership candidates license to trumpet their non-involvement.

The reporter certainly didn't live up to his family name.

If everyone had such clean

If everyone had such clean hands, why did Collins, Clark and Reid get out of Dodge so fast? Wanting "to spend more time with family" is almost always a face-saving excuse. Especially for senior politicians for whom thick skins are a basic prerequisite.

Reality check time

There has been a lot of stuff written about the raid on the Legislature and the Basi-Virk-Basi trial, such as it was. From what I have read, none of the accused were ever interviewed by the constabulary. Does that not seem a bit odd considering that they were going to be ultimately charged with some pretty heavy duty infractions of the law? Is it not logical to assume that at some point the police would want the accused's version of events recorded for trial purposes?

It would also be enlightening to know how these accused individuals earned a living between the time they were fired from their jobs until the abrupt conclusion of their trial. Did they secure other employment to provide the needs of themselves and their families, or did some benevolent entity pay their way? Are they gainfully employed at present, or just hanging out at home watching the seasons change?

The events that have occured between the time of the raid on the Legislature and the culmination of the BVB trial have tended to provide a whole lot more questions than answers. Only a full, unfettered inquiry can set the record straight.

I apologize; to future

generations who will learn form our greed and wastefulness and foolhardy ways!

crankypants

"From what I have read, none of the accused were ever interviewed by the constabulary. Does that not seem a bit odd considering that they were going to be ultimately charged with some pretty heavy duty infractions of the law? Is it not logical to assume that at some point the police would want the accused's version of events recorded for trial purposes?"

You ask some very good questions above, crankypants.

Curious, isn't it?

To add another name to this curious list of who 'wasn't interviewed' by the RCMP, Defence lawyer Kevin McCullough openly wondered and asked during the pre-trial why Premier Gordon Campbell wasn't interviewed as part of the RCMP's investigation into the B.C. Rail sale in 2003 since it involved a raid on the BC legislature.

McCullough told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett that evidence from calls intercepted by the RCMP "should assist you in determining there is in fact a very particular course this investigation follows, which is to put this investigation on the backs of Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk and take it away from elected officials."

"Can there be any explanation about why the RCMP didn't interview the premier?" he said.

Collins claims

Collins claims he WAS intereviewed by the RCMP.

Pls check the G&M -
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/after-landing-in-maui-a-punch-in-the-stomach/article1913996/

Christy Clark is BC's answer to Sarah Palin.

True, Christy does read all the newspapers, and she does know where Russia is, but she is all sass and no brass. She is a cocktail party sensation; great with the quips but no substance. She is just what we DON'T need rigtht now. What we really need is a third party; one that isn't carrying more baggage than Air Canada.

BC politics is stale like old beer; it pleaseth neither the belly nor the nose, for it stinks and is accompanied by much farting.

Christy Clark is BC's answer to Sarah Palin.

True, Christy does read all the newspapers, and she does know where Russia is, but she is all sass and no brass. She is a cocktail party sensation; great with the quips but no substance. She is just what we DON'T need rigtht now. What we really need is a third party; one that isn't carrying more baggage than Air Canada.

BC politics is stale like old beer; it pleaseth neither the belly nor the nose, for it stinks and is accompanied by much farting.

Permission to freely use?

"BC politics is stale like old beer; it pleaseth neither the belly nor the nose, for it stinks and is accompanied by much farting"

Such an accurate description!

Curiouser and curiouser

In that G&M article, I still see no mention that either Basi or Virk were ever directly interviewed, or that the premier was.

Since Collins was interviewed, one has to ask, why wasn't the premier?

Lynn

He, that is the premier, may well have been interviewed. That's the whole problem with this mess - there is so much material swept under the 'carpet' that we have only a tiny and far from timely understanding of what 'really' happened since Gordon Campbell came to power.

If, as seems to be the case, Basi and Virk only pled guilty because the 'cost' of doing so was relatively minor, the actual reasons behind the surprising conclusion of this trial may have a lot more to do with what the administration wanted 'out' of an early (irony fully intended) end of the proceedings.

After all, as we have been told all along, this has been a government of cost/benefit analysis - first, last and foremost.

When investigative reporters can, in good conscience, say that they have reported accurately upon everything that has been "placed" before them without undertaking the most superficial analysis of what has NOT BEEN PLACED in front of them then we are truly is a bad place.

There are documents available in other places which indicate that Mr Collins' rendition of events in that Globe article is simply another story designed primarily to deceive rather than inform.

I know you know where to look.

Cheers, as always.

G West

You make many excellent points as to how lack of disclosure.....along with deception aplenty has not only intentionally muddied the truth, but prevented it from being told.

Yes, exactly, the premier may have been interviewed, and then again he may not have - this information, along with the answers to so many crucial questions have been made intentionally inaccessible to the public.

And yes again, 'story after story' appears to be "designed primarily to deceive rather than inform."

All extremely telling in itself.