Premier Gordon Campbell has been portrayed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia as a "micro-manager" who frets about his own image and is so hands-on that he personally approved the designs of new highway signs.
Court heard that Mr. Campbell has instructed cabinet ministers to praise his "strong leadership," and senior staff are assigned to read and approve every letter to the editor written by government members.
The picture of tight control emanating from the top emerged Monday as Kevin McCullough, a defence lawyer in the BC Rail political corruption trial, continued to cross-examine the Crown's first witness, Martyn Brown, chief of staff to the Premier.
Mr. Brown, who has repeatedly told court he can't recall events, conversations or e-mail exchanges surrounding the sale of BC Rail in 2003-2004, again had trouble remembering some of the things the defence has alleged took place under his watch.
"You are asking me . . .about issues that are six or sever years [old]" Mr. Brown said at one point. "Frankly I don't [recall]and I don't think that's out of the ordinary,"
He said if he was being asked about more recent events he probably could have recalled them.
When Mr. McCullough put a lengthy e-mail string in front of him, in the hopes of jogging his memory, Mr. Brown spent several minutes reading the document before telling the jury it hadn't helped.
But Mr. Brown did agree the e-mail exchange was typical of the matters handled by the "issues management" team in the Premier's office.
The e-mails, court learned through a series of questions and answers, dealt with the government's communications strategy concerning the awarding of a junior hockey tournament to B.C.
"It's a very typical kind of document that summarizes a number of different stories that have been in the news," Mr. Brown said.
"Is it typical for Gordon Campbell to want others to talk about his strong leadership?" asked Mr. McCullough.
Mr. Brown replied Mr. Campbell had done that "more than once ... but [it's]not something we see regularly."
The contents of the e-mail string weren't read out in court and the document wasn't entered as evidence.
In an attempt to illustrate how Mr. Campbell was involved in the minutia of his government's operations, Mr. McCullough asked Mr. Brown if he knew his boss personally approved how new highway signs looked.
"I can't recall if he did or didn't but that wouldn't surprise me . . . that would be something he would have seen," Mr. Brown said.
"They are highly visible. They are widely seen by the public," he said to explain why Mr. Campbell would have been concerned about highway signage.
Mr. Brown also agreed the Premier's office routinely reviewed letters written by government members to newspaper editors.
"I'm going to suggest to you Gordon Campbell is a micro-manager," said Mr. McCullough, who represents Bob Virk.
"I think it's fair to say the Premier is very interested in the issues of the day; how the government communicates and how others communicate about us ... I don't know that that's micro-management," Mr. Brown said.
At trial, facing charges of fraud and breach of trust for allegedly trading in confidential government documents related to the $1-billion sale of BC Rail, are former government employees Dave Basi, Mr. Virk and Aneal Basi.
Mark Hume