Not only the political aides, but Campbell, his government and the BC Liberal Party are all on trial Gabriel Yiu Special Feature for Global Chinese Press 26.4.2007 On December 28, 2003, the RCMP raided and searched the BC legislature. The three key figures of the case are Dave Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi. Dave and Bob are ministerial aides to former Finance Minister Gary Collins and former Transportation Minister Judith Reid respectively. They’re charged with receiving benefits from lobbyists in exchange for confidential information about the sale of B.C. Rail. Government communications officer, Aneal Basi, is accused of money-laundering for his cousin Dave. The two key figures were recognized by legislature reporters from the media as wielding great influence in the Liberal government. Virk was the senior aide of the transportation minister; he could attend the most important meetings and obtain classified documents. Dave Basi was the aide of former Finance Minister Gary Collins. Since Collins was also the house leader, all the government Bills and motions passed through Basi’s hand. In addition, Dave Basi is also the Liberals’ prominent organizer in the Indo community, meaning that he could influence the results of nominations. Thus, his influence extended to the Indo MLAs and the Liberal staffers. Since Dave Basi was also an organizer for the federal Liberals, he had a close relationship with the former prime minister’s BC representative, Mark Marissen. Because of that, former Deputy Premier Christy Clark’s home was also visited by the RCMP. Her husband Mark Marissen works in his home office. This high-profile case was finally put on trial recently and the mainstream English newspapers have been giving it a lot of coverage. The people that are put on trial are no longer just Dave Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi. In my view, Gordon Campbell, his government and his BC Liberal Party are also on trial. The defense lawyers have been citing a lot of materials in court, trying to establish three major points of view. First, although the defendants were hired to work in the government, they were often instructed by senior staff of the government and the BC Liberal Party to carry out dirty unethical political tricks. The second view is more shocking: what they’re accused of in court are acts they undertook merely to follow orders. The third view is that the RCMP is biased in this investigation and prosecution. The first point of view is used to support the second. If the judge accepted either the second or the third point of view, the three accused could win this case. In order to establish the first point of view, the defense cited many disturbing dealings. For example, the premier’s office and the senior staffer of the BC Liberal Party had instructed Dave Basi to hire operatives to call up radio open-line shows to praise the premier and to support the government’s unpopular decisions, “faking” public support, and giving “rough ride” to political opponents. Moreover, they staged phony protests and harassed genuine protesters. The reader should note that these are only allegations tabled in the BC Supreme Court by the defense. Although they were tabled with RCMP wiretaps and email records, readers should be aware that these allegations and evidences haven’t been responded to or rebutted by the other side in court. In order to support the first point of view, the defense tabled some “dirty materials.” If all these proved to be facts, then although they might not be against the law, they certainly amount to a political scandal. In the 90s, an MLA wrote phony letters to the newspaper attacking a political opponent and praising himself. He was forced to step down after it was exposed. Two years ago, a senior aide at the premier’s office called up a radio show to ask Gordon Campbell some soft questions. He was identified, and resigned after the facade was exposed. By comparison, if the premier’s office is involved, and the premier is aware of these kinds of dirty political tricks, then it is indeed a much more serious matter. The integrity and trustworthiness of the man, a politician, is in question. No wonder the premier has been questioned by the media about these matters everywhere he goes. The rationale of the defense’s second point of view is this. The defendants were accused of providing classified information to a BC Rail bidder, OmniTRAX, as instructed. The Liberal government had had a number of failed privatization plans and the premier had made a promise that his government wouldn’t sell BC Rail, so the privatization of BC Rail needed to be done convincingly. There were three bidders: CN Rail, OmniTRAX and CP Rail. CP Rail had withdrawn, complaining that the bidding was unfair and their competitor had received government classified material. What the defense alleged is that in order to have the remaining bidder stay, former Finance Minister Gary Collins promised to give OmniTRAX the $100 million Roberts Bank spur line as consolation prize in exchange for them staying in the bidding process. According to the surveillance material of the RCMP and the materials provided by the defense, Gary Collins met with two senior executives of OmniTRAX at a Vancouver restaurant two weeks after the winning bid was announced. The second point of view is more explosive than the first one. The defense’s allegation portrays the Liberal government as a bunch of reckless politicians resorting to all kinds of political manipulations to further their political goals. The defense’s third point of view is also astounding: it alleged that the RCMP had failed to obtain statements from nine potential witnesses, and the lead RCMP investigator, Kevin DeBruyckere, is the brother-in-law of the BC Liberal Party’s executive director, Kelly Reichert. Gordon Campbell had been tipped off about the investigation by Reichert, and the RCMP misled the public by saying that no elected officials were being investigated (The RCMP used “officials” in their public statement). All these alleged revelations serve the purpose of questioning the impartialness of the investigation and the prosecution. The crucial questions are the following: Are these allegations facts? Or are they a desperate attempt by the accused to slander the Liberals? Or a combination of both? British Columbians would also wonder what other dirty laundries would be washed in the upcoming court proceedings and how the prosecution would respond to and rebut them. We have to wait and see. As regards to this high-profile, intriguing and very significant court case, the Chinese media should work harder to follow and report it so that it won’t be left behind, and the interest of the public can be served. BC Rail Timeline ================ 1996 BC election. Gordon Campbell stated in his platform the goal to privatize BC Rail. The BC Liberals were narrowly defeated in that election. 2001 BC election. Although Campbell was asked about it repeatedly, he promised that he wouldn’t privatize BC Rail. The ruling NDP lost the election. The Liberals formed the government and Gordon Campbell became the premier. 2002 August. BC Transportation Minister Judith Reid disclosed her government is planning to sell BC Rail. Nov. 13. Liberal backbencher Paul Nettleton publicly accused the Liberal Party of having a secret agenda to privatize BC Rail. Nov 19. Paul Nettleton was kicked out of the Liberal caucus and became an independent MLA. 2003 October. Former Social Credit premier Bill Vander Zalm publicly opposed the privatizing of BC Rail. November. One week before the announcement of the bidding outcome, CP Rail withdrew from bidding and stated that a “clear breach” of fairness had occurred when other bidders obtained confidential government information about BC Rail. Nov 25. The government announced the outcome of the BC Rail bidding. CN Rail’s $1 billion won the contest. Premier Campbell argued that the government didn’t sell BC Rail. Dec 12. Finance Minister Gary Collins met 2 executives of OmniTRAX in a Vancouver restaurant. Dec 18. A team of RCMP raided the legislature and searched the offices of two ministers. many boxes of materials and computers were seized. The police had also searched and visited other places, including the lobbyist company, the home of Deputy Premier Christy Clark (Clark’s husband Mark Marissen was connected to Dave Basi in federal Liberal work). 2004 Jan 26. Premier Campbell reshuffled his cabinet. Transportation Minister Judith Reid was out. She declared that she wouldn’t run for re-election. Mar 10. Transportation Minister Kelvin Falcon announced the cancellation of the Roberts Bank spur line bidding, because the RCMP disclosed that classified government information had been leaked and it undermined the fairness of the bidding. Later, the minister disclosed that the cancellation cost the government $900,000. Sept 16. Deputy Premier Christy Clark announced that in order to take care of her son, she was stepping down from politics and wouldn’t seek re-election. Dec 14. Finance Minister Gary Collins announced he was leaving politics. He joined Harmony Airways. 2007 April. The trial of Dave Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi opens in BC Supreme Court. What Has Been Alleged In Court ==============================

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The BC Liberal Party gave Dave Basi $20,000 contracts for “media monitoring,” but what he did was pay operatives to call up open-line radio shows to praise the premier, Liberal government policies and to give political opponents a “rough ride.” The premier’s press secretary is involved in these dirty political tricks. An email the premier’s press secretary, Mike Morton, sent to Dave Basi said, “Thanks Dave – I’ll let the premier know your team is in place, whereas MM’s is not. The premier will be on John McComb’s show – there will be a call-in…” Premier Campbell was aware of Basi’s dirty political tricks. Basi was instructed to arrange calls to CKNW’s Bill Good Show to ambush NDP leader Carole James on Nov. 2003. On Nov. 3, 2003, BC Liberal Party’s communication director, Mike McDonald, discussed with Dave Basi about getting Liberals supporters to give a “rough ride” to former premier Bill Vander Zalm. On Nov 25, 2003, Basi claimed to be a man named Don and called a radio station when the premier was being interviewed. He praised Campbell for privatizing BC Rail, It was “the best thing you could have done for the province.” On Nov 27, 2003, Basi was told by an MLA and deputy house leader that the premier mentioned in a caucus meeting that he thought “one of Dave’s callers” was good when the premier appeared earlier that morning on a CFAX radio program in Victoria. Basi had organized and paid a heckler $100 to harass environmental protesters outside a Victoria Safeway store. Dave Basi worked with the BC Liberal Party executive director Kelly Reichert to “find a way to get Paul Nettleton’s expenses out.” (Nettleton had publicly criticized the Liberal Party had a secret agenda to sell off BC Rail; he was later booted out of caucus). Dave Basi had left a message on the answering machine of the Victoria Solidarity Coalition, saying he was a “mill owner” whose operations had been shut down by the NDP. Former Finance Minister Gary Collins was being investigated in Nov. 2003 before RCMP raided the legislature. The allegation immediately drew the response from Collins that he was not being investigated. Premier Campbell blew his top at the BC Liberal Party executive director Kelly Reichert because his press secretary Mike Morton had “fucked up” and sat at a fundraising dinner with executives from OmniTRAX. OmniTRAX was one of the bidders of BC Rail. The government hadn’t announced the outcome of the bidding at that time. One of the lead RCMP investigators, Kevin DeBruyckere, is the brother-in-law of BC Liberal Party executive director, Kelly Reichert. Premier Campbell was tipped off about part of the police investigation into Dave Basi, by BC Liberal Party executive director Key Reichert in Jun 2005. Alleged RCMP misled the public by saying no “elected officials” were being investigated.