BC Rail Trial Began Today

[whatnext]

Finally, after 6+ years, the trial begins. How ironic that Gordo's first broken promise may come back to hammer the final nail in the BC Libs coffin.

After watching the Global BC piece I was struck by the fact that most of Gordo's crew whose names are linked to this are mysteriously no longer in government: Gary Collins, Judith Reid, Christy Clark.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Rail+corruption+saga/3036141/story.html

[BCPhil]

There is so much confusion over the whole BC Rail scandal that most people don't even know what the court case is about.

Virk and Basi are accused of taking bribes from OmniTrax, the USA company that lost in the bidding.

Most people think the deal to sell to CN was made over bribes, when really it was these 2 men ( who were found out via being under surveillance in a GIANT DRUG STING, and Basi is also accused of accepting bribes over land in the ALR) trying to make a quick buck selling some secrets about their boss and the bids by CN to the competition. And OmniTrax wasn't even interested in all of BC Rail, all they wanted was the section of track between the BCER and Roberts Bank, which, because of the complaints by CP Rail against CN and Omnitrax, wasn't sold as part of the deal to CN or OmniTrax and I think is still in the hands of the Government being governed by BC Rail.

In the end I still think CN won the bidding process fair and square for what they got. The government should not be involved in owning entities that directly compete with private business. According to a recent report, CN made $25 million in profit off their BC Rail holdings last year, we walked away with $1billion. It was bad politics, political favors and ass covering that landed BC Rail (then the PGE) in the hands of the government in the first place, and it took over a half century before it even became anything.

Interesting fun fact, the PGE (Prince George Eventually) wound up in government hands after the then (1916) liberals accused the conservatives of taking bribes from the RR, and after the liberals won the election found that $5 million of the guaranteed bonds was unaccounted for. The railway was handed over to the government as settlement on the debt.

Besides, all the land and actual tracks are still owned by the government as well as a lot of additional properties that were part of the BC Rail portfolio.

P.S. I don't see how Basi and Virk's defense today was any good. They claim they are not guilty, yet basically asked Martyn Brown to say they were acting on his behalf. Committing crimes on behalf of someone else is still a crime, so is their lawyer's defense that they were doing it under orders, or that it was OK? If so, shouldn't their pleas be guilty?

[touraccuracy]

^very interesting. i wish i knew more about the case but more so i wish everyone knew more about the case. it seems that any kind of court date involving people that worked for the government at some point is an instant reason to freak out and demand a coup.

Finally, after 6+ years, the trial begins. How ironic that Gordo's first broken promise may come back to hammer the final nail in the BC Libs coffin.

After watching the Global BC piece I was struck by the fact that most of Gordo's crew whose names are linked to this are mysteriously no longer in government: Gary Collins, Judith Reid, Christy Clark.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Rail+corruption+saga/3036141/story.html

aren't you supposed to get rid of people involved in scandals?

[flight_from_kamakura]

this should be pretty interesting, assuming the publications bans don't get in the way. let's nail these slitherers!

[Conrad Yablonski]

Virk and Basi have the misfortune to dress like they're guilty.

Short haircuts, clean shaven and a low key button down look would help their case immensely.

It shouldn't matter in a Court of Law but it does-as they will soon find out.

[whatnext]

Gordo's rep is taking a beating at the trail. Coming off as a vainglorious micromanager, who insists underlings praise him at every public opportunity. He's gone before the next election. :cheers:

[whatnext]

So now it comes out that Basi and Virk were being paid by one of the bidders for BC Rail basically as soon as Campbell and the BC Libs took power! :whatthefuck:
..The documents show that Erik Bornman, a director of Pilothouse Public Affairs, told police he began paying Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk for “political support … and for assistance” on a variety of matters almost from the day the Liberals took office in 2001.

And Brian Kieran, another director of the lobbying firm, told police he handed Mr. Basi $3,000 cash in a hotel lobby to compensate him for a trip to a Denver Broncos football game, where he was entertained by a U.S. company then bidding for BC Rail...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/basi-virk-allegedly-paid-before-bc-rail-deal/article1838155/

So not only is it apparent the whole bidding process was tainted, but it proves that lying smarmeister Campbell was basically determined to sell BCR despite saying otherwise during the campaign. The NDP might just have a shot yet, especially if Krusty Clarke gets dragged into this through her familial connections with the case.

[Stingray2004]

whatnext, I've never really paid much attention to this whole BC Rail matter - too many conspiracy theories abound. That said, a Mustel opinion poll from June, 2002 showed that 40% wanted BC Rail to be privatized (versus 46% against). Technically, it wasn't even privatized but sold off in a quasi-typical "land-lease" arrangement. Certainly good synergies with CN Rail (which was also privatized in the 1990's).

http://www.mustelgroup.com/pr/20020621.htm

Then an unnamed individual from the 5th estate recently stated:

The BC Rail deal is not “sexy”. It does not excite, nor interest the average viewer/listener/reader. It was intriguing for a while when we saw the images of police raiding Legislature offices, but then the story went nowhere and became stale.

We are talking about something that happened in the past - ~7 years ago.

And then I read this yesterday:

Basi was approached by a New Democrat who wanted to know a good firm to use in dealing with government.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Dave+Basi+took+lobbyist+bribes+years+court+documents+state/3971905/story.html#ixzz18AMvbr00

Frankly who cares? The matter has been horse-whipped to death and doesn't seem to have any political legs, after all of these years, save and except for conspiracy theorists and other hangers on. :tup:

[whatnext]

...Frankly who cares? The matter has been horse-whipped to death and doesn't seem to have any political legs, after all of these years, save and except for conspiracy theorists and other hangers on. :tup:

Spoken like a true Christy supporter! ;)

It will be interesting to see how her fellow Liberal leadership contenders discreetly try to nudge this into the foreground too help torpedo her chances.

As to the sale, it was a disgracefull sell-off of WAC Bennett's patrimony to the province. The only saving grace of the whole fiasco is it may have scared Campbell off from a sale of BC Hydro, something I'm sure he would dearly have loved to do, to the enrichment of his backers.

[Stingray2004]

Remember though, that the McKenzie Royal Commission was set-up in 1978 to investigate some of the financial boondoggles of BC Rail esp. the expensive Dease Lake Extension that was eventually abandoned.

With the onset of the softwood lumber dispute after BC Rail's sale and the subsequent crash in the US lumber market, BC Rail would have heavily bled red ink over the past 6+ years considering that lumber represents ~80% of its cargo.

As for privatization, I certainly didn't miss Air Canada, Petro Canada, or CN Rail when they were privatized.

And as for your assertion to selling off BC Hydro, only 19% in the Mustel poll agreed to that concept. That would have been political suicide.

Nevertheless, 52% favoured the privatization of the LDB and 43% approved the privatization of ICBC in that same Mustel poll from 2002. In my mind, those are much more attractive investments to an outsider than BC Hydro (in terms of cash flow/debt load/future capital requirements/financial return/captive market/etc.), albeit I'm also in favour of keeping them as crown corps. as well.

http://www.mustelgroup.com/pr/20020621.htm

[Zassk]

I don't see BC Rail affecting the next election at all. The election(s) that BC Rail would have affected have already occurred. These additional bits of info are just historical footnotes at this point. On the timeline of BC history, the BC Rail scandal is closer to the Pacificats and Bingogate than to today. Dredging up BC Rail would be like dredging up those 1990's NDP issues.

[BCPhil]

It's also just plain confusing. It's hard to say the liberal party leadership encouraged Basi et all to do what they did. Basi and Virk were dealing with Rail America, the long shot bidders, the bidders that didn't win. It's hard to try to say it was party corruption when the corrupt people lost the bid.

Basi, Virk and their friends and family are also accused of being downright criminals with charges of money laundering, selling pieces of the ALR and dealing pot and cocaine. The RCMP were first led to Basi and Virk through a drug bust. They are two unsavory characters, beyond just simple corruption, and it is hard to believe anything they have said the entire time.

[whatnext]

Remember though, that the McKenzie Royal Commission was set-up in 1978 to investigate some of the financial boondoggles of BC Rail esp. the expensive Dease Lake Extension that was eventually abandoned...

The Dease Lake Extension may have been an overreach by WAC Bennett, but if/when the rail link with Alaska ever happens, it will start off following that alignment.

[whatnext]

Nice to see that Lib contender George Abbott at least has the stones to call for an inquiry as to why the BC taxpayer is picking up Basi/Virk's $6 million legal bill:

..Why did the government pay $6 million to the lawyers of two men who pleaded guilty to charges that included accepting bribes and leaking inside information? Why didn't the government try to recover at least part of the costs from Basi and Virk themselves? Why didn't the government seize their assets or garnishee their wages?

Why did B.C. taxpayers get burned to a crisp to halt a criminal trial that threatened to embarrass so many powerful people?..
http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/victoriassecrets/archive/2011/01/05/toward-a-b-c-rail-inquiry.aspx

[CameronT120]

How much will that inquiry cost us?