Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Basi-Virk Defence wants premier to answer questions without consultation
.
Neal Hall
Vancouver Sun - Monday, April 14, 2008
VANCOUVER - A defence lawyer representing one of three former government aides accused of corruption wants to know why Premier Gordon Campbell changed the protocol in vetting government documents. {Snip} ... the change in the protocol may have involved political intereference. {Snip} ...
The matter has been put over to May 5 at the Vancouver Law Courts for further legal argument.
The document vetting protocol, which was in place for three years, involved the cabinet secretary deciding what documents the government could possibly assert either a cabinet privilege or a solicitor-client privilege.
Last spring, the premier announced he was placing vetting decisions in the hands of deputy attorney-general Allan Seckel to avoid any potential for political interference.
Today, NDP attorney general critic Leonard Krog, who attended court today, accused the premier of "stonewalling."
The pre-trial proceedings in the case have been bogged down for months in a series of defence applications for government email and other documents related to the government's controversial $1-billion privatization sale of BC Rail in 2003 to Canadian National Railway. {Snip} ...
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=010be284-fc9b-409e-9bd8-2bda6cc4c2f9&k=88398
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Neal Hall
Vancouver Sun - Monday, April 14, 2008
VANCOUVER - A defence lawyer representing one of three former government aides accused of corruption wants to know why Premier Gordon Campbell changed the protocol in vetting government documents. {Snip} ... the change in the protocol may have involved political intereference. {Snip} ...
The matter has been put over to May 5 at the Vancouver Law Courts for further legal argument.
The document vetting protocol, which was in place for three years, involved the cabinet secretary deciding what documents the government could possibly assert either a cabinet privilege or a solicitor-client privilege.
Last spring, the premier announced he was placing vetting decisions in the hands of deputy attorney-general Allan Seckel to avoid any potential for political interference.
Today, NDP attorney general critic Leonard Krog, who attended court today, accused the premier of "stonewalling."
The pre-trial proceedings in the case have been bogged down for months in a series of defence applications for government email and other documents related to the government's controversial $1-billion privatization sale of BC Rail in 2003 to Canadian National Railway. {Snip} ...
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=010be284-fc9b-409e-9bd8-2bda6cc4c2f9&k=88398
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
