Friday, December 05, 2008

 

Neal Hall confirms Basi Virk schedule

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As we all know, BC Mary and friends have been battling the Forces of Chaos, trying to get this small piece of BloggerEmpire to work properly. Finally, in desperation, I wrote to Neal Hall, at Vancouver Sun, as follows:


Neal,

I'm having Internet/Blogger problems ... then CanWest introduced grey type and a New Look so I can't read or even find specific items like Basi-Virk ... and neither Robin Mathews nor Bill Tieleman have attended recent hearings.

I'm left with the virtual bag over my head, knowing nothing.

Would you mind ... please? ... to tell me if it's true (as a commentor mentioned) that the Hearings have been wrapped up until December 8? Thanks, if you can.

BC Mary
The Legislature Raids
http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/



and Neal replied generously:


Yes, that's right, the Basi-Virk case returns to court Monday for more exciting legal antics.

After weeks of legal arguments, Justice Elizabeth Bennett is expected to rule Monday on the extent of the litigation privilege as it relates to about three hundred documents that remain in dispute. The judge will give a similar ruling on solicitor-client privilege.

Then, Friday morning, a scheduling hearing will be held to discuss a third-party records application related to BC Rail documents, which the government objects to handing over.
This matter will likely be argued some time in January.

And the Supreme Court of Canada has set a hearing date – April 22, 2009 – for the Basi-Virk informer privilege appeal sought by the special prosecutor.

That means the key trial voir dires on defence constitutional challenges of wiretap and search warrants won't be held until after the hearing in the nation's top court.

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Many thanks, Neal. - BC Mary

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Supreme Court to hear appeal in Basi-Virk Case
Financial Post (Dec. 6, 2008) Neal Hall
:

The nation's highest court has set an expedited date of April 22 to hear an appeal involving a dispute over whether defence lawyers should be excluded from an in-camera hearing about a confidential informant in the Basi-Virk case ...

The appeal is expected to delay the timing of key voir dires, which will involve defence constitutional challenges of wiretap and search warrants, before the trial starts next year.

The Basi-Virk case will be back at the Vancouver Law Courts on Monday with an expected ruling by the trial judge on the extent of the litigation privilege as it relates to about 300 documents that remain in dispute. The judge is expected to make a similar ruling on solicitor-client privilege ...

Friday, a scheduling hearing will be held to discuss a third-party records application related to B.C. Rail documents, which the government objects to handing over. This matter will likely be argued some time in January.

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Comments:
Gee thanks Bill Berardino, you have just allowed another provincial election to occur without the true facts of this case coming to light for the people of BC to see.

You have once again protected the Campbell government from any scrutiny.

2 elections Bill Berardino. I hope that the public inquiry also examines your behaviour in this scandal.
 
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Can't disagree, Anon 6:39,

and the legal costs must be astronomical.

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Berardino is just following marching orders, like all the other lawyers on the BC Liberal bankroll. That's what lawyers do, what their clients tell them to do. He's just a puppet to the Machiavellians hidden away in the attic of the BC Liberal house.

Someone ought to do a Freedom of Information request to find out how much money Legal Services Branch has cost taxpayers in each of the last 7 years. It's sure to stagger the public. How many lawsuits, how many Human Rights cases, how many times they've been sued, how many special investigators hired to investigate MLA's and senior bureaucrats? Negotiating and signing BC to trade agreements. The list goes on and on.

I speculate of course, but I suspect that Gordon Campbell's BC Liberal government has probably spent more in legal fees than any government in the history of BC. In translation, GC and his gang have probably cost _taxpayers_ more than any government in our history.
 
BCLS,

Interesting thoughts.

As an idea, anybody wishing to do something truly significant for British Columbia might undertake a Freedom of Information search in one specific area, and then post the information wherever possible.

I especially would like to have an F.o.I. search of the Public Affairs Bureau, to ask:

- how many employees?
- what do they do?
- what is the latet annual budget?
- who guarantees ethical, unbiased information and/or advertising is being provided to the public?

I've been digging a bit on my own but even with the Vancouver Sun's recent new feature showing top salaries for government employees, it hasn't been exactly easy to get an understanding of a department like Public Affairs Bureau. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised to find that it's made purposely difficult.

The costs of an F.o.I. search are also daunting, so anybody thinking of undertaking this kind of search, should ask first about the cost involved.

But it certainly would be a great boost for people trying to get a clearer picture of how information is provided -- or not provided -- in B.C. government circles.

I think you're correct, BCLS, that the $$$ spent by the current government even in this one Basi-Virk case must be enormous.

So a good F.o.I. question would be: How much has BCSC Case #23299 cost the public so far?

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