VANCOUVER - A former B.C. lobbyist and political power broker who admitted bribing a Liberal ministerial aide in the BC Rail scandal has been cleared to practise law in Ontario.

The Law Society of Upper Canada held three days of hearings into the case of Erik Bornmann to determine whether he is of good character, ultimately deciding he's been transformed from an arrogant, amoral and immoral person to one who has been humbled by his remorse.

Bornmann helped the RCMP in the prosecution of Dave Basi, Bobby Virk and Aneal Basi after a raid on their Victoria legislature offices in December 2003.

Bornmann's home office was also raided, and he quickly acquired a lawyer and negotiated an agreement with the B.C. Crown so he would be spared from possible criminal prosecution.

He moved to Toronto in 2006, where two law firms refused to hire him as an articling student after he told them he may appear as a Crown witness in a criminal case in Vancouver and was let go from a third firm when his past came to light.

Last October, Dave Basi and Virk pleaded guilty to two counts each of breach of trust and accepting rewards or benefits and were sentenced to two years of house arrest for leaking government information to Bornmann.

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