Thursday, December 31, 2009
Trainmen talking about BC Rail ...
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Railroad Forum ... sightings, credits, history ... a little treat for BC Rail buffs.
See it here.
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Railroad Forum ... sightings, credits, history ... a little treat for BC Rail buffs.
See it here.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tip o'the Tuque to RCMP Staff Sgt John Ward on the 6th anniversary of his press conference explaining the police raids on the BC Legislature
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It wasn't the BC premier who stepped forward to reassure the public. It wasn't Canada's Prime Minister who behaved like a statesman, either. Both these guys (Campbell and Martin) waited many days before ambling back from their Christmas holiday and shrugged, "I know nothing," leaving the stunned public as nothing more than part of the devastation.
It was RCMP Staff Sgt. John Ward who explained. He held a press conference, at which he thanked the media for coming ... which, given that we'd just had something like a train-wreck based upon a high-jacking ... was a bit alarming, too ... I mean, he thought they might not attend? Well ... perhaps we should bear in mind, as we re-read this, that Big Media would very soon begin trying to discredit Sgt Ward, as well as the Victoria Police Chief. Also remember that Big Media completely forgot to mention that one of the 9 persons arrested (thought to be Mr. Big) was tried, found guilty, and sentenced, in June 2008. So, yes, Big Media: thank you for attending that press conference. Too bad you couldn't follow through ...
From:
Search Warrants Executed on BC Legislature: News Media Statement
RCMP Media Relations Website - issued 10:00 am December 29, 2003
John Ward said:
... Let me start by saying that illegal drug activity, by organized crime in British Columbia, has reached critical mass. The value of the illegal marijuana trade alone is estimated at over $6billion a year. The result is that today we have murders, beatings, extortion, and gang warfare at a level never before seen in this province. It's not an exaggeration to say that organized crime is a cancer eating away at the social and moral fabric of British Columbia. And it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better ... {snip}
Recently in Victoria a 20-month joint operation by the RCMP and the Victoria Police Department resulted in the arrest of 9 individuals in Victoria, Vancouver, and Toronto. Those individuals are alleged to have been involved in an organized crime network that exchanged BC marijuana in the United States for cocaine that was then sold to victims across the country.
Sometimes in the course of a complex and lengthy police investigation, other related and unrelated information surfaces, suggesting possible criminal activity. This was the case with the RCMP - Victoria Police Department investigation of organized crime ...
And, like I say, some "crimes" against the common good are never prosecuted, such as failing to publish the truth and avoiding unfair bias in reporting news events. There are other savage crimes against the public interest which do get prosecuted and go unreported ... Click HERE for "Jasmohan Singh Bains sentenced to 9 years".
Grant Gough put all this into perspective when he wrote, on Sept. 15, 2009, "British Columbia, a Crime Story". To see Grant's approach, just click HERE. [Also, please note the two white-clad figures kneeling in the street behind the policeman ... don't those police paramedics look like the Torch Relay Runners? and is it merely a coincidence that the Torch Runners are costumed to look like psychiatric paramedics?]
Many people feel that this whole terrible betrayal of the B.C. public, would be swept aside and forgotten if it weren't for the simple fact that, dammit, the people do care about this province, and these publicly-owned Crown corporations which were established for the economic health of the province.
So Happy New Year to those who, like Sgt John Ward and like Grant Gough and you, me, all of us who keep asking what happened to the big railway we once owned, and to the splendid BC Hydro authority, and to our own BC Ferries ... and that whole long list of similar, mysterious economic tragedies.
If this era is so golden, so great ... tell us the details: how did it happen that we lost the railway, the power generator, the section of our highways known as BC Ferries ... all of it. - BC Mary.
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It wasn't the BC premier who stepped forward to reassure the public. It wasn't Canada's Prime Minister who behaved like a statesman, either. Both these guys (Campbell and Martin) waited many days before ambling back from their Christmas holiday and shrugged, "I know nothing," leaving the stunned public as nothing more than part of the devastation.
It was RCMP Staff Sgt. John Ward who explained. He held a press conference, at which he thanked the media for coming ... which, given that we'd just had something like a train-wreck based upon a high-jacking ... was a bit alarming, too ... I mean, he thought they might not attend? Well ... perhaps we should bear in mind, as we re-read this, that Big Media would very soon begin trying to discredit Sgt Ward, as well as the Victoria Police Chief. Also remember that Big Media completely forgot to mention that one of the 9 persons arrested (thought to be Mr. Big) was tried, found guilty, and sentenced, in June 2008. So, yes, Big Media: thank you for attending that press conference. Too bad you couldn't follow through ...
From:
Search Warrants Executed on BC Legislature: News Media Statement
RCMP Media Relations Website - issued 10:00 am December 29, 2003
John Ward said:
... Let me start by saying that illegal drug activity, by organized crime in British Columbia, has reached critical mass. The value of the illegal marijuana trade alone is estimated at over $6billion a year. The result is that today we have murders, beatings, extortion, and gang warfare at a level never before seen in this province. It's not an exaggeration to say that organized crime is a cancer eating away at the social and moral fabric of British Columbia. And it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better ... {snip}
Recently in Victoria a 20-month joint operation by the RCMP and the Victoria Police Department resulted in the arrest of 9 individuals in Victoria, Vancouver, and Toronto. Those individuals are alleged to have been involved in an organized crime network that exchanged BC marijuana in the United States for cocaine that was then sold to victims across the country.
Sometimes in the course of a complex and lengthy police investigation, other related and unrelated information surfaces, suggesting possible criminal activity. This was the case with the RCMP - Victoria Police Department investigation of organized crime ...
And, like I say, some "crimes" against the common good are never prosecuted, such as failing to publish the truth and avoiding unfair bias in reporting news events. There are other savage crimes against the public interest which do get prosecuted and go unreported ... Click HERE for "Jasmohan Singh Bains sentenced to 9 years".
Grant Gough put all this into perspective when he wrote, on Sept. 15, 2009, "British Columbia, a Crime Story". To see Grant's approach, just click HERE. [Also, please note the two white-clad figures kneeling in the street behind the policeman ... don't those police paramedics look like the Torch Relay Runners? and is it merely a coincidence that the Torch Runners are costumed to look like psychiatric paramedics?]
Many people feel that this whole terrible betrayal of the B.C. public, would be swept aside and forgotten if it weren't for the simple fact that, dammit, the people do care about this province, and these publicly-owned Crown corporations which were established for the economic health of the province.
So Happy New Year to those who, like Sgt John Ward and like Grant Gough and you, me, all of us who keep asking what happened to the big railway we once owned, and to the splendid BC Hydro authority, and to our own BC Ferries ... and that whole long list of similar, mysterious economic tragedies.
If this era is so golden, so great ... tell us the details: how did it happen that we lost the railway, the power generator, the section of our highways known as BC Ferries ... all of it. - BC Mary.
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Sunday, December 27, 2009
For Year 2010, best wishes
.
To British Columbia
for a
SAFE, HEALTHY, HAPPY NEW YEAR
Spirits of the past and present,
keep evil sorts at bay;
harmony and joy prevail,
at the turning of the day.
We absolutely must hear this BC Rail trial explained under oath. Picture it. Imagine it. Hope for it. Make it real, make it happen.
That's my New Year wish for us all.
SAFE, HEALTHY, HAPPY NEW YEAR
Spirits of the past and present,
keep evil sorts at bay;
harmony and joy prevail,
at the turning of the day.
We absolutely must hear this BC Rail trial explained under oath. Picture it. Imagine it. Hope for it. Make it real, make it happen.
That's my New Year wish for us all.
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Full disclosure for Gordon Campbell in 2010 for the Basi Virk trial
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December 28, 2009 is the 6th anniversary of the historic police raid on the BC Legislature. Such a breach of parliament had never happened before in the British Commonwealth of nations.
By Dec. 28, 2007, it was common knowledge that the Basi Virk Basi trial was being bungled. The normally mild-mannered Paul Willcocks headlined his 4th anniversary column this way: "Police, prosecutors look bad in raid case". Read Paul's column HERE.
Voice-on-Line was more blunt: "Basi-Virk case: Does the prosecution know what it's doing? The prosecution seems to be screwing up big-time in the so-called BC legislature raid case ... which was supposed to start June 5, 2006 ..." Read that HERE.
The thing is, journalists and bloggers have had to be cautious. If we spoke openly about our doubts and fears in the BC Rail Case, we risked being sued for libel if we couldn't show proof. Well ... how could we show proof? The old laws seemed designed to keep us quiet.
Certainly we knew Gordon Campbell's government lost a big railroad, crippled a dazzling Hydro corporation, dealt off ownership of the BC Ferries corporation, and much more.
Most of us knew that the media let Gordo get by without scrutiny ... their excuse being that they might be sued for "libel" but also because we believe big media protected the Gordo Gang.
That's what has always made the Basi Virk Basi trial so important ... yes, it's all about BC Rail ... but yes, it's also all about things we couldn't talk freely about. Hearing the evidence under oath, will be our first opportunity to hear how BC Rail actually slid from our hands and into private pockets ... nobody could charge us with libel for reporting that.
But with the New Year 2010, it gets better. All that fear is brushed aside.
Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the media does owe better service to the public by providing information even on doubts they cannot prove yet. Go here to see the Reasons for Judgment. Here's one small quote:
In determining whether a publication is on a matter of public interest, the judge must consider the subject matter of the publication as a whole. The defamatory statement should not be scrutinized in isolation. To be of public interest, the subject matter must be shown to be one inviting public attention, or about which the public, or a segment of the public, has some substantial concern because it affects the welfare of citizens, or one to which considerable public notoriety or controversy has attached.
Does that spell "BC Rail" or what.
Terrace Daily Online explains that now, for the first time, they can expose a certain letter (now before the courts) showing that Gordo was at work on a backroom deal intended to double-cross the Haisla Nation, BC Hydro and the watchdog BC Utilities Commission. It is part of a court case ongoing in Terrace, B.C. It's good to read the Terrace daily online info here. I recommend it.
And so, from New Year's Eve 2010 onward, the media big and small, should feel free to do better work.
From Day One, 6 years ago, I had no doubt that Gordon Campbell himself -- in charge of British Columbia's government -- got rid of BC Rail on terms which caused police to come running. Nor was I surprised that Organized Crime was part of this police alarm ... not with 135 Organized Crime groups in B.C. (900 identifiable crime groups in Canada).
I haven't the slightest doubt that Gordo exerted strong personal influence over the decision to sell BC Rail, and continued to exert his influence over the way in which BC Rail was sold.
Therefore, my New Year's wish for British Columbia 6 years later, is that as the Basi Virk Basi trial gets to the truth of that transaction, the presiding judge and/or the defence team will force full disclosure.
My New Year's wish for British Columbia under the new libel ruling, includes Gordon Campbell himself becoming the proper subject of full disclosure as the trial goes forward. Enough with the sheltering protection. No public figure is more deserving of cross-examination.
There's much more to Gordo's giveaway of BC Rail than meets the eye. And once we know what happened to BC Rail, we'll know what happened in every other major loss which befell BC Crown corporations in the past 9 years.
It's in the public interest to be fully informed of that. - BC Mary.
.
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December 28, 2009 is the 6th anniversary of the historic police raid on the BC Legislature. Such a breach of parliament had never happened before in the British Commonwealth of nations.
By Dec. 28, 2007, it was common knowledge that the Basi Virk Basi trial was being bungled. The normally mild-mannered Paul Willcocks headlined his 4th anniversary column this way: "Police, prosecutors look bad in raid case". Read Paul's column HERE.
Voice-on-Line was more blunt: "Basi-Virk case: Does the prosecution know what it's doing? The prosecution seems to be screwing up big-time in the so-called BC legislature raid case ... which was supposed to start June 5, 2006 ..." Read that HERE.
The thing is, journalists and bloggers have had to be cautious. If we spoke openly about our doubts and fears in the BC Rail Case, we risked being sued for libel if we couldn't show proof. Well ... how could we show proof? The old laws seemed designed to keep us quiet.
Certainly we knew Gordon Campbell's government lost a big railroad, crippled a dazzling Hydro corporation, dealt off ownership of the BC Ferries corporation, and much more.
Most of us knew that the media let Gordo get by without scrutiny ... their excuse being that they might be sued for "libel" but also because we believe big media protected the Gordo Gang.
That's what has always made the Basi Virk Basi trial so important ... yes, it's all about BC Rail ... but yes, it's also all about things we couldn't talk freely about. Hearing the evidence under oath, will be our first opportunity to hear how BC Rail actually slid from our hands and into private pockets ... nobody could charge us with libel for reporting that.
But with the New Year 2010, it gets better. All that fear is brushed aside.
Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the media does owe better service to the public by providing information even on doubts they cannot prove yet. Go here to see the Reasons for Judgment. Here's one small quote:
In determining whether a publication is on a matter of public interest, the judge must consider the subject matter of the publication as a whole. The defamatory statement should not be scrutinized in isolation. To be of public interest, the subject matter must be shown to be one inviting public attention, or about which the public, or a segment of the public, has some substantial concern because it affects the welfare of citizens, or one to which considerable public notoriety or controversy has attached.
Does that spell "BC Rail" or what.
Terrace Daily Online explains that now, for the first time, they can expose a certain letter (now before the courts) showing that Gordo was at work on a backroom deal intended to double-cross the Haisla Nation, BC Hydro and the watchdog BC Utilities Commission. It is part of a court case ongoing in Terrace, B.C. It's good to read the Terrace daily online info here. I recommend it.
And so, from New Year's Eve 2010 onward, the media big and small, should feel free to do better work.
From Day One, 6 years ago, I had no doubt that Gordon Campbell himself -- in charge of British Columbia's government -- got rid of BC Rail on terms which caused police to come running. Nor was I surprised that Organized Crime was part of this police alarm ... not with 135 Organized Crime groups in B.C. (900 identifiable crime groups in Canada).
I haven't the slightest doubt that Gordo exerted strong personal influence over the decision to sell BC Rail, and continued to exert his influence over the way in which BC Rail was sold.
Therefore, my New Year's wish for British Columbia 6 years later, is that as the Basi Virk Basi trial gets to the truth of that transaction, the presiding judge and/or the defence team will force full disclosure.
My New Year's wish for British Columbia under the new libel ruling, includes Gordon Campbell himself becoming the proper subject of full disclosure as the trial goes forward. Enough with the sheltering protection. No public figure is more deserving of cross-examination.
There's much more to Gordo's giveaway of BC Rail than meets the eye. And once we know what happened to BC Rail, we'll know what happened in every other major loss which befell BC Crown corporations in the past 9 years.
It's in the public interest to be fully informed of that. - BC Mary.
.
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Thursday, December 24, 2009
From BC Mary: best wishes
.
for a
SAFE, HEALTHY, HAPPY NEW YEAR
Spirits of the past and present,
keep evil sorts at bay;
harmony and joy prevail,
at the turning of the day.
Posted by Ceritanne:
Hi Mary,
I counted. There were, in total including the three engines...176 rolling stock. We all know what has happened in the past when CN hauls long lines of railcars through BC mountain passes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
for a
SAFE, HEALTHY, HAPPY NEW YEAR
Spirits of the past and present,
keep evil sorts at bay;
harmony and joy prevail,
at the turning of the day.
Posted by Ceritanne:
Hi Mary,
I counted. There were, in total including the three engines...176 rolling stock. We all know what has happened in the past when CN hauls long lines of railcars through BC mountain passes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
BCRail engine and a long, long train
How many boxcars and oil tankers make up this incredible train ... click HERE to see it on the Ontario-Quebec border.
YouTube - BC Rail (CN) 4641, Illinois Central 1001, CN 2616 - 4th ...
On a bitterly cold winter day (-22C windchill) and filmed with bare hands with no tripod as the photographer rushed out of his car to capture this train on video ... British Columbia Railway 4641, a Dash 9-44CWL built in 1995, Illinois Central 1001, an SD70 built in 1995, and CN 2616, a Dash 9-44CW built in 2000, lead a long Canadian National freight train west from the Province of Quebec into the Province of Ontario.
This train had made a stop at Coteau Quebec but was seen building up speed in anticipation of its trip down the old Kingston Subdivision to Toronto.
British Columbia Railway 4641, was the first Dash 9-44CWL in its class for that railway. Illinois Central 1001 was the second SD70 built in its class for that railway. CN 2616...well...she was 14th built Dash 9-44CW for CN in the year 2000.
Did you see the two Pan Am Railways boxcars in the train consist? Pan Am lives.....but not as the airline I [the photographer] remember it as. Now it's a railroad based in North Billerica MA.
Mile 47.02 CN Kingston Subdivision
By ConrailSD70MAC
February 28 2000, 2005
Click on YouTube.
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Noted in passing: Click HERE for evidence that CN destroys boxcars but no evidence anywhere (so far as I know) as to whether CN added the promised 600 new boxcars to the former BCR fleet ... as part of the unpopular deal to "sell" BC Rail to CN. That CN promise to buy 600 new boxcars was one of the deal-breakers which should have come up for review on the 5th anniversary of the deal. Maybe the review is before the courts as the "Basi Virk Basi" trial.
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BC Mary says: I hope somebody counts these rail-cars. There must be 150 or 200 of them? In British Columbia, flat-lands like this are rare. I couldn't help thinking of BC Rail's knowledge (when we still owned BC Rail) of how best to navigate challenging territory such as mountain-sides, valleys, and rivers' edges.
In fact ... here's a little trip down memory lane ...
Riding BC Rail: Bygone Days of the "Cariboo Prospector"
On October 31, 2002, Canada’s rugged British Columbia province lost its last regularly scheduled Vancouver–Prince George passenger train, and tourists lost one of the most scenic rides in North America. To me, there is nothing that soothes the soul so much as a long train ride through lonesome country. To experience such a ride, and to share that experience with your fellow travelers, is to encounter the meaning of a journey. We’ve already lost too many of these trains; at least for me, this was one I’ve preserved in brain cells and digital bits. - YouTube 2000, 2005. Daniel B. Zukowski.
[Just to be sure you got it, it's HERE.]
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Sunday, December 20, 2009
Trio accused in Basi-Virk case wants charges stayed
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BY KEITH FRASER
The Province - Dec. 20, 2009
Three former government aides accused in the Basi-Virk corruption case are applying to have their criminal charges stayed on the grounds of an unreasonable delay in getting to trial.
The application before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie is expected to be heard when court resumes Jan. 11.
But given the fact that the new trial judge has apparently not made a single ruling in favor of the defence since she took over the case in the summer, it'll be an uphill battle for the accused. {Snip} ...
The judge also rejected a request by the defence that the court review 427 so-called source witness debriefings that have not been disclosed and were at the centre of a battle that landed in the Supreme Court of Canada and delayed the protracted case by two years.
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BY KEITH FRASER
The Province - Dec. 20, 2009
Three former government aides accused in the Basi-Virk corruption case are applying to have their criminal charges stayed on the grounds of an unreasonable delay in getting to trial.
The application before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie is expected to be heard when court resumes Jan. 11.
But given the fact that the new trial judge has apparently not made a single ruling in favor of the defence since she took over the case in the summer, it'll be an uphill battle for the accused. {Snip} ...
The judge also rejected a request by the defence that the court review 427 so-called source witness debriefings that have not been disclosed and were at the centre of a battle that landed in the Supreme Court of Canada and delayed the protracted case by two years.
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Saturday, December 19, 2009
Crown wins ruling on Basi Virk files
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Mark Hume
The Globe and Mail - Dec. 19, 2009
Vancouver - Notes RCMP investigators made while debriefing secret informants in a political corruption case can be withheld by the Crown, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has ruled.
In a brief statement Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie dismissed applications by the lawyers defending Dave Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi on charges of fraud, breach of trust and money laundering. The three former government employees allegedly traded in confidential information concerning the $1-billion sale of B.C. Rail in 2003.
The defence had sought more complete disclosure of 21 police reports that have already been released in a heavily redacted form, and to have the court review 427 source debriefing reports that the Crown has been withholding because the material could identify informants, or is irrelevant.
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Mark Hume
The Globe and Mail - Dec. 19, 2009
Vancouver - Notes RCMP investigators made while debriefing secret informants in a political corruption case can be withheld by the Crown, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has ruled.
In a brief statement Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie dismissed applications by the lawyers defending Dave Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi on charges of fraud, breach of trust and money laundering. The three former government employees allegedly traded in confidential information concerning the $1-billion sale of B.C. Rail in 2003.
The defence had sought more complete disclosure of 21 police reports that have already been released in a heavily redacted form, and to have the court review 427 source debriefing reports that the Crown has been withholding because the material could identify informants, or is irrelevant.
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Basi Virk: Seven Minutes in Courtroom 54, December 18, 2009
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By Robin Mathews
The court was thinly populated. No Michael Bolton, no William Berardino, no Kevin McCullough, no Joseph Doyle. Five lawyers in court. Two "mainstream media journalists". Two other observers in the gallery.
The reason was clear. Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie was arriving to deliver her decision on the Defence application for disclosure of miscellaneous redacted documents and 427 source witness reports (involving, I believe, briefing notes by officers involved with the informers who have claimed "informer privilege" over much of the material).
We sat the other day some hours as Ms. Winteringham (for the Special Crown Prosecutorial team) went through "redacted" documents in which only she and Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie could see what was being discussed - the "redacted" parts.
The word "redacted" is one of those words that is badly chosen and badly used. It is, in fact, a cover-up word. It's correct meaning is "edited, prepared for publication". The courts have mangled the word to make it mean "material that has been blanked out in a text so it can't be read". It would be much closer to the court's meaning if the word chosen was "censored", then the public would know the material is not edited, not revised, not re-written, not re-organized, but censored, blacked out.
When Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm "redacted" and "released" the search warrants from the famous legislature and other location "raids" of December 28, 2003 - all he did was to blacken about 80% of the text to protect people that I believe (under standard search warrant protocols) were not entitled to be so "protected". The public's right-to-know and right to "participate" in the administration of justice in British Columbia is under unceasing attack. Mr. Dohm's "redaction", I believe, constituted just such an attack by withholding material the public has a right to examine.
With Dohm's censored search warrants we saw a piece of the iceberg below the water line - the tip of that iceberg being the RCMP announcement on the day of the search warrant raids (before any of the gathered material could be examined) that no elected official was being (or would be) investigated. The announcement, we know, was just short of a lie because up until December 12, then Finance Minister Gary Collins was under investigation and surveillance (the Defence counsel insist).
"Redaction" in the Basi, Virk, and Basi matter has very often been, I believe, a sign of the class war that is being fought over the wrongdoing involved in the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to CNR: "the BC Rail Scandal".
To put the matter crudely (the most precise way to put it in this case), three cabinet aides appointed, in fact, by Gordon Campbell are charged with (variously) 14 counts of fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering as part of a mammoth set of highly dubious, complex, and wide-ranging manipulations, transactions, negotiations, misrepresentations, and - finally - falsifications that constitute "the BC Rail Scandal". That mammoth scenario could not have been master-minded and carried forward by the three men charged - but they are the only ones against whom accusations of criminal wrongdoing have been brought in relation to the scenario. Their counsel insist they are not guilty as charged.
Today's appearance of Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie and her decision on the application for disclosure by the Defence counsel was I believe another (extremely important) clash in that class war.
Put briefly: one force wishes to convey to the British Columbia public that an alleged criminal wrong-doing in the transfer of BC Rail to CNR occurred when the three men charged (cabinet aides) engaged in alleged illegal actions. Those three - the force says - did criminal acts and no one else did in that transfer. Embarrassingly, that "force" appears to be made up of what one might properly speak of as "power" in British Columbia, the "Establishment" in British Columbia, what the Left would call "the ruling class".
In the terminology of "Class": the "Establishment", and "the ruling class" refer to the corporate capitalists, the political party in power, the (so-called) "mainstream press and media", the upper ranks of police forces, the courts, and the legal 'establishment' that serves those others.
The divide - that first showed itself as a crack in the surface when the announcement was made that no elected officials were under investigation in the BC Rail Scandal - has spread now to the size and depth, at least, of the Fraser Canyon.
It may be that Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett stepped down from the case for that reason. She did NOT "recuse herself". She had no visible conflict of interest that would make her "recuse herself". Visibly, she freely and voluntarily - seeking her own pleasure - stepped away. And, visibly, she was replaced by Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie.
[Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett's "free and voluntary" stepping away from the Basi, Virk, and Basi case is complicated just a little by the bizarre hearing in which William Berardino made a motion to Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm to have Madam Justice Bennett removed on the ground that she couldn't be in two places at once and on the ground that she did some things wrong in the procedures thus far. Though it was a hearing at which a motion was first presented, and nothing whatever proved, quite strangely Mr. Dohm seemed, somehow, to have already decided, because he informed the assembly that he had already chosen the judge who would replace Madam Justice Bennett!]
Invisibly, some might say, 'the ruling class' decided Elizabeth Bennett was allowing the Defence altogether too much room to (A) point to the divide between 'the ruling class' and the accused three men. She was, some might say, (B) permitting a Defence program and policy that more and more and more pointed to the possibility of wrongdoing among the "Establishment", among members of "the ruling class". Some might suggest (C) that the wrongdoings pointed at might well be criminal wrongdoings. When Defence counsel claimed that cabinet materials, BC Rail management materials, RCMP records and briefing notes, etc. were important to the defence of their clients, Madam Justice Bennett said something like: "Well, let's look at them to see if they are, indeed, relevant." And many of them were found to be relevant to the the conduct of the defence of the accused men - and Madam Justice Bennett admitted them to be used as evidence if required.
All the while the people of British Columbia were being given a look at the extraordinary set of actions by the Gordon Campbell government which - against the people's wishes - transferred "their" railway to a private corporate entity now in fact headquartered in the U.S.A. Some people connected to the Gordon Campbell government might, moreover - the people of British Columbia began to see - just have done it in a way that involved criminal behaviour.
Since Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has taken over as presiding judge on the Basi, Virk, and Basi case nothing that the Defence counsel has sought - as far as I know - has been granted by her. A spokesperson for her and Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm has even refused to supply me with a professional resume for her - the judge sitting on the most important criminal trial concerning public affairs in British Columbia's history. Her record of work as a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia I was told - in effect - is none of my business.
It may not come as a complete surprise to readers that Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie took something less than seven minutes this morning to dismiss both parts of the Defence application for disclosure (to give reasons later). She based her dismissal, for the most part, on the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in the Stinchcombe case (1991). All that needs to be said about it is that "Stinchcombe" sets the terms for disclosure of materials to the Defence. Primarily, Mr. Justice Sopinka, for the Supreme Court of Canada, made clear that evidence in the hands of the Crown is "the property of the public to ensure justice is done". It is not the personal holding of the Crown and so it must be released to Defence in most instances.
The Crown may delay the disclosure. On that basis, I believe, Madam Justice MacKenzie announced her decision today. Defence had argued that, under a ruling by Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett, the Crown cannot unilaterally decide what is relevant to the case for the Defence. Stinchcombe supports that view. Ms. Winteringham, however, claimed irrelevance of material (ostensibly for all concerned). Madam Justice MacKenzie could have reviewed the material right away for relevance. She could have said: "Well let's look at those documents to see if they are, indeed, relevant to the defence of the accused". Instead, she decided to dismiss the application - which doesn't prevent it from being re-born later.
The next meeting of the court on the Basi, Virk, and Basi matter will be held on January 11, 2010. Still to be heard are Defence applications on wire-taps, delay of proceedings, abuse of process, reelection to jury, and change of venue from Vancouver to somewhere else for the trial. All of those matters, however, may take different shape in the next weeks and a wholly different schedule appear before or on January 11, 2010.
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Very special thanks to Robin Mathews for his very special reports. This will be his last column for 2009. I believe that Robin Mathews is providing us with a unique set of observations of a trial-event unique in British Columbia. Let's hope that he will be sending us reports on the trial itself in 2010. Happy New Year, Robin. - BC Mary.
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By Robin Mathews
The court was thinly populated. No Michael Bolton, no William Berardino, no Kevin McCullough, no Joseph Doyle. Five lawyers in court. Two "mainstream media journalists". Two other observers in the gallery.
The reason was clear. Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie was arriving to deliver her decision on the Defence application for disclosure of miscellaneous redacted documents and 427 source witness reports (involving, I believe, briefing notes by officers involved with the informers who have claimed "informer privilege" over much of the material).
We sat the other day some hours as Ms. Winteringham (for the Special Crown Prosecutorial team) went through "redacted" documents in which only she and Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie could see what was being discussed - the "redacted" parts.
The word "redacted" is one of those words that is badly chosen and badly used. It is, in fact, a cover-up word. It's correct meaning is "edited, prepared for publication". The courts have mangled the word to make it mean "material that has been blanked out in a text so it can't be read". It would be much closer to the court's meaning if the word chosen was "censored", then the public would know the material is not edited, not revised, not re-written, not re-organized, but censored, blacked out.
When Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm "redacted" and "released" the search warrants from the famous legislature and other location "raids" of December 28, 2003 - all he did was to blacken about 80% of the text to protect people that I believe (under standard search warrant protocols) were not entitled to be so "protected". The public's right-to-know and right to "participate" in the administration of justice in British Columbia is under unceasing attack. Mr. Dohm's "redaction", I believe, constituted just such an attack by withholding material the public has a right to examine.
With Dohm's censored search warrants we saw a piece of the iceberg below the water line - the tip of that iceberg being the RCMP announcement on the day of the search warrant raids (before any of the gathered material could be examined) that no elected official was being (or would be) investigated. The announcement, we know, was just short of a lie because up until December 12, then Finance Minister Gary Collins was under investigation and surveillance (the Defence counsel insist).
"Redaction" in the Basi, Virk, and Basi matter has very often been, I believe, a sign of the class war that is being fought over the wrongdoing involved in the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to CNR: "the BC Rail Scandal".
To put the matter crudely (the most precise way to put it in this case), three cabinet aides appointed, in fact, by Gordon Campbell are charged with (variously) 14 counts of fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering as part of a mammoth set of highly dubious, complex, and wide-ranging manipulations, transactions, negotiations, misrepresentations, and - finally - falsifications that constitute "the BC Rail Scandal". That mammoth scenario could not have been master-minded and carried forward by the three men charged - but they are the only ones against whom accusations of criminal wrongdoing have been brought in relation to the scenario. Their counsel insist they are not guilty as charged.
Today's appearance of Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie and her decision on the application for disclosure by the Defence counsel was I believe another (extremely important) clash in that class war.
Put briefly: one force wishes to convey to the British Columbia public that an alleged criminal wrong-doing in the transfer of BC Rail to CNR occurred when the three men charged (cabinet aides) engaged in alleged illegal actions. Those three - the force says - did criminal acts and no one else did in that transfer. Embarrassingly, that "force" appears to be made up of what one might properly speak of as "power" in British Columbia, the "Establishment" in British Columbia, what the Left would call "the ruling class".
In the terminology of "Class": the "Establishment", and "the ruling class" refer to the corporate capitalists, the political party in power, the (so-called) "mainstream press and media", the upper ranks of police forces, the courts, and the legal 'establishment' that serves those others.
The divide - that first showed itself as a crack in the surface when the announcement was made that no elected officials were under investigation in the BC Rail Scandal - has spread now to the size and depth, at least, of the Fraser Canyon.
It may be that Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett stepped down from the case for that reason. She did NOT "recuse herself". She had no visible conflict of interest that would make her "recuse herself". Visibly, she freely and voluntarily - seeking her own pleasure - stepped away. And, visibly, she was replaced by Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie.
[Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett's "free and voluntary" stepping away from the Basi, Virk, and Basi case is complicated just a little by the bizarre hearing in which William Berardino made a motion to Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm to have Madam Justice Bennett removed on the ground that she couldn't be in two places at once and on the ground that she did some things wrong in the procedures thus far. Though it was a hearing at which a motion was first presented, and nothing whatever proved, quite strangely Mr. Dohm seemed, somehow, to have already decided, because he informed the assembly that he had already chosen the judge who would replace Madam Justice Bennett!]
Invisibly, some might say, 'the ruling class' decided Elizabeth Bennett was allowing the Defence altogether too much room to (A) point to the divide between 'the ruling class' and the accused three men. She was, some might say, (B) permitting a Defence program and policy that more and more and more pointed to the possibility of wrongdoing among the "Establishment", among members of "the ruling class". Some might suggest (C) that the wrongdoings pointed at might well be criminal wrongdoings. When Defence counsel claimed that cabinet materials, BC Rail management materials, RCMP records and briefing notes, etc. were important to the defence of their clients, Madam Justice Bennett said something like: "Well, let's look at them to see if they are, indeed, relevant." And many of them were found to be relevant to the the conduct of the defence of the accused men - and Madam Justice Bennett admitted them to be used as evidence if required.
All the while the people of British Columbia were being given a look at the extraordinary set of actions by the Gordon Campbell government which - against the people's wishes - transferred "their" railway to a private corporate entity now in fact headquartered in the U.S.A. Some people connected to the Gordon Campbell government might, moreover - the people of British Columbia began to see - just have done it in a way that involved criminal behaviour.
Since Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has taken over as presiding judge on the Basi, Virk, and Basi case nothing that the Defence counsel has sought - as far as I know - has been granted by her. A spokesperson for her and Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm has even refused to supply me with a professional resume for her - the judge sitting on the most important criminal trial concerning public affairs in British Columbia's history. Her record of work as a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia I was told - in effect - is none of my business.
It may not come as a complete surprise to readers that Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie took something less than seven minutes this morning to dismiss both parts of the Defence application for disclosure (to give reasons later). She based her dismissal, for the most part, on the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in the Stinchcombe case (1991). All that needs to be said about it is that "Stinchcombe" sets the terms for disclosure of materials to the Defence. Primarily, Mr. Justice Sopinka, for the Supreme Court of Canada, made clear that evidence in the hands of the Crown is "the property of the public to ensure justice is done". It is not the personal holding of the Crown and so it must be released to Defence in most instances.
The Crown may delay the disclosure. On that basis, I believe, Madam Justice MacKenzie announced her decision today. Defence had argued that, under a ruling by Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett, the Crown cannot unilaterally decide what is relevant to the case for the Defence. Stinchcombe supports that view. Ms. Winteringham, however, claimed irrelevance of material (ostensibly for all concerned). Madam Justice MacKenzie could have reviewed the material right away for relevance. She could have said: "Well let's look at those documents to see if they are, indeed, relevant to the defence of the accused". Instead, she decided to dismiss the application - which doesn't prevent it from being re-born later.
The next meeting of the court on the Basi, Virk, and Basi matter will be held on January 11, 2010. Still to be heard are Defence applications on wire-taps, delay of proceedings, abuse of process, reelection to jury, and change of venue from Vancouver to somewhere else for the trial. All of those matters, however, may take different shape in the next weeks and a wholly different schedule appear before or on January 11, 2010.
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Very special thanks to Robin Mathews for his very special reports. This will be his last column for 2009. I believe that Robin Mathews is providing us with a unique set of observations of a trial-event unique in British Columbia. Let's hope that he will be sending us reports on the trial itself in 2010. Happy New Year, Robin. - BC Mary.
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