A who’s who of politicians, highly placed bureaucrats, back-room operatives and corporate executives has been subpoenaed to testify in a long-awaited political corruption case that continues to cast a shadow over the first administration of Premier Gordon Campbell.
Among those on the witness list are Mr. Campbell’s chief of staff, Martin Brown, two of the Premier’s former deputy ministers, Ken Dobell and Brenda Eaton, his former finance minister Gary Collins, and key federal Liberal strategist Mark Marissen.
The Crown’s roster of 44 witnesses was read to prospective jurors in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday, providing a tantalizing glimpse of what promises to be one of the most dramatic political trials in the province’s turbulent history.
Moments earlier, defendants Dave Basi and Bobby Virk – ministerial aides in the early years of the Campbell government – stood and pleaded not guilty in loud, clear voices to multiple charges of accepting bribes and fraud.
A third defendant, Aneal Basi, a cousin of Dave Basi, pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering.
The trial, which arose out of an RCMP raid on legislative offices in Victoria shortly after Christmas in 2003, is set to begin May 17, after years of preliminary legal wrangles over document disclosures.
The main charges concern alleged peddling of information by Dave Basi and Mr. Virk in connection with the government’s sale of Crown-owned BC Rail to Canadian National.
Defence lawyers have suggested in earlier court procedures that the pair was simply following directives from their political masters.
While individual premiers and cabinet ministers have been tried before in British Columbia, the Basi-Virk trial appears to cast a wider net than a single politician.
“Wow,” said veteran political commentator Norman Ruff, on hearing some of the names on the witness list. “Those are many of the central players in the first Campbell administration.
“That’s what makes this case so intriguing. It takes in the whole centre of the government. Look for it on the front page. It certainly won’t be dull.”
Also summoned to testify are Claude Mongeau, president and CEO of Canadian National Railway, and the former head of Canadian Pacific, Rob Ritchie.
Canadian Pacific pulled out of the bidding for BC Rail over stated concerns that the government had already decided to award the line to CN.
Judith Reid, provincial transportation minister at the time of the sale, is on the witness list as well.
It took two hours before a jury of seven men and five women was selected from a pool of 133 individuals, who crowded the courtroom, their summons in hand, to be scrutinized by lawyers for all sides in the case.
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Presiding judge Anne MacKenzie, promoted earlier this week to Associate Chief Justice for the B.C. Supreme Court, has imposed a strict publication ban on proceedings, preventing the media from reporting any trial-related material that is not presented with the jury in the courtroom.
Because of the ban, normally quotable defence lawyers were reluctant to comment on the looming trial.
“It’s going ahead,” said Michael Bolton, who represents Mr. Basi.
During the prolonged selection of the jury, the three defendants, wearing jackets and ties, sat together in the prisoner’s dock, listening and watching intently. All are free on their own recognizance.
