The Legislature Raids

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BC Mary comment:  Nope ... wait ... I found this:

http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-20/cnr-s-c-1-billion-acquisition-of-bc-rail-was-rigged-lawyer-says-at-trial.html

and I got this:


By Joe Schneider - May 20, 2010
Read his full report HERE. 

Canadian National Railway Co., the winner of a C$1 billion ($960 million) auction for BC Rail Ltd. in 2003, contributed C$269,000 over nine years to the governing Liberal Party that sold the railway in a rigged auction, a lawyer said at a corruption trial.

David McLean, chairman of Canadian National, had persuaded Gordon Campbell to run for the leadership of the British Columbia Liberal Party and was his chief fundraiser during a 1996 campaign, the lawyer, Kevin McCullough, told a jury in Vancouver yesterday.

“The fix was in for CNR to get the assets from the beginning,” said McCullough, a lawyer for Bob Virk, who is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for information about the sale while working as assistant to the province’s transportation minister.

{Snip} ...

“I don’t believe that’s true,” Brown told the six-man, six-woman jury in British Columbia Supreme Court. He called the bidding process “fair and open.”

Brown said he wasn’t aware how much Canadian National had contributed to the Liberal Party because he works for the government, not the party.

‘Sad State’

“Donations should never factor into the government’s decisions,” Brown said. “That would be a pretty sad state of affairs.”

Canadian National, North America’s largest hauler of forest products, won the exclusive use of BC Rail’s 2,315 kilometers (1,450 miles) of track in November 2003. The losing bidders for the renewable 60-year contract were Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and a joint venture of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and closely held OmniTrax Inc.

Virk, who sat on a government committee evaluating bids for the railway, provided Erik Bornman, a partner at Pilothouse Public Affairs Group, which represented Denver-based OmniTrax, with the bids that were submitted, at least three days before they were presented to the committee, William Berardino, a special prosecutor, said in his opening statement on May 18.

{Snip} ...

To contact the reporter on this story:
Joe Schneider in Vancouver at jschneider5@bloomberg.net.